Adjust Your Altitude Challenge - Heitman Lake and Mountain

Yesterday the kids and I joined the cousins on a hike to the top of Heitman Mountain.  We dropped a car at the Heitman Lake trailhead and made a loop out of the hike.  Heitman Mountain is one of the Adjust your Altitude challenge peaks and the lake is part of the 'foothills' challenge - so the 3 of us got to check them both off our AYA scorecards.  For Stuey it is 5 down and just Barometer and Kashevaroff to go.  This is the first summit on Nora's list, but we got a lot of time to finish.  Last year Nora and I did not even start the challenge until July 29th.  So we are ahead in the game.

It was a perfect day for a hike.  Not too hot or too sunny and there was a breeze. Only disappointment was that there were so many people at Heitman Lake that swimming was not really an option.  Stuey and Nora did have some fractious moments, but overall it was a very good time.  Summertime green with lots of flowers.  A great time of year to be in the alpine!  We love hiking with the cousins.

Patrick

Rain Day

Sunday was my one day off for the week and it rained hard.  Perfect downtime weather!  I got to rest and hangout, and the rain made it cozy in the house.  There is nothing worse than needing a day of rest when it is sunny outside.

In the afternoon I took the dogs for a slow walk in the rain.  I noticed that the blueberries are getting ripe.  However, this year there are also so few blueberries that I am not sure it is worth picking them.  I may stick to salmonberries and mix them with last year's blueberries to make jam.  Also it looks like there will be a bumper crop of raspberries.

Then in the evening we went to White Sands beach.  Stuey played in the surf and got soaked.

A good day.
Patrick

Salad Days

Right now my garden is at its peak and looks pretty good.  From experience I know that mid July is generally the tipping point when 'lush' turns to 'jungle'.  Today the weeds are at bay and everything is upright and healthy.  It looks like a garden from a magazine.  Pretty soon the weeds start to take over, slugs slime the lettuce, and the potatoes get blown over by wind etc.  It'll start to look more like a 'working' garden.

But right now all is good. It is the 'salad days' before the corruption takes over. I am eating garlic scapes, kale and lettuce, and just starting to eat carrots.  I think I will have potatoes and beets in a couple of weeks.

This year I also planted nettles in an old raised bed.  So far they are doing great.  I am not harvesting them this year because I want them to take over the bed.  They are one of my favorite vegetables and hard to find in the wild close to town here in Kodiak.  Pretty soon I'll have my own supply!

Patrick

Life before the dig

Ever since the 4rth of July weekend I have been wrapped up with work on an archaeological excavation.  It has been 10 hours days for 6 days a week and I have had time for practically nothing else.  When I get home I have been too tired to even walk the dogs.  I've been too busy even for recreational photography!  Now that's busy.

I saw these images in my iPhoto folders and it reminded me of the summer days before the dig.  Evening walks on the beach with the dogs.  Taking pictures of flowers.  Normal, sun-filled and less hectic times.  And in a week, when the dig ends, those days will return!

I can't wait!

Patrick

Chiniak

All last week I was out at Chiniak on an archaeological dig.  Rather than do the 1 1/4 hour drive back and forth every morning and evening, I opted to camp out. Such a good idea!  The weather was great and I had a very relaxed time.

The first day after work I loaded up my kayak with all my gear and went in search of a good camping spot.  I paddled several miles down the coast and decided that the best spot was back where I started out.  So I paddled back and camped about 300 yards from where I first launched the kayak.  Pretty funny actually.

It turned out to be a GREAT camping spot.  It faced north so during the day the spot was in the shade - but for the sunrise and sunset it was awash in golden light.  Pretty spectacular spot.  And every morning is was just a 10 minute walk to get to work.
Patrick

I loaded up my. kayak to find a spot to camp and ended up camping 300 yards from where I started!

View from inside the teepee

I added this 'pigweed' (seashore saltbush) from the beach to my dinners

Pyramid

Today Stuey and I along with his friend Marcel climbed Pyramid in the fog.  For Stuey it is the 4rth of the 7 peaks in the Adjust Your Altitude Challenge.  With 4 down and 3 to go we are over halfway done with the challenge!

It was pretty misty and 'atmospheric' up there today, but we took the requisite pictures for both the AYA peaks and 'foothills' challenge.  Three quarters of the way up at the plateau counts for the 'foothills' challenge while we had to go up into the pea soup fog to the very summit for the 'peaks' challenge.

The light was not great and I did not take very many photographs.  But I kind of liked the cool weather and no sunshine.  I remember last summer Nora and I got sun-blasted on most of the summit hikes.  Cloudy and cool is comfortable hiking weather.
Patrick

Fireworks

After the Sharatin camping trip we had fireworks off the front deck of the house.  Lots and lots of fireworks.  Happy birthday USA!  And I certainly appreciate what happened on that long ago Fourth of July day.  That was one brave act and I and the rest of the citizens today are certainly beneficiaries.  Thank You!

At our fireworks celebration we did the usual bottle rockets, sparklers and mortars.  Mike P cam over and brought these Chinese lantern like things that were a HUGE hit.  They floated up like big hot air balloons and disappeared over the horizon.  WOW!
Patrick