Winter Survey

Yesterday it snowed some more and this morning at the house it is 17 degrees.  So here on the rock it is still very much winter.  And yet on Sunday I jetted off in a helicopter to do an archaeological survey.  

I'll admit that when we left I was a little worried that the snow would cover up the house depressions etc.  But no - the snow actually made the archaeological features easier to see - especially from the helicopter.  The ground is frozen so no test pits or soil probes to help with assessing site deposits.  But here on Kodiak there is always some sort of erosion at a site to expose the deposits.  So, in a nutshell, winter conditions did not prove to be an impediment to our survey at all.  And I'd much rather do an archaeological survey in winter than in the summer when the vegetation does obscure the sites.

I have also never flown around the island when it is winter and the landscape is covered with snow.  It was very much surreal to jet along across broad white plains.  And there were deer everywhere.  It was like the Serengeti Plain - animals everywhere.  They had no where to hide in the barren landscape.

Patrick
 

Field Season Begins!

 

I spent all day Sunday in a helicopter.  The 2021 archaeological field season has begun!  Our purpose was to re locate, check, and document some reported petroglyphs and pictographs, and to map any associated villages.

It was a perfect day for a helicopter ride, sunny and warm (around 40 degrees) with no wind.  First off, we found and determined that there was nothing painted on the 'pictograph' rock.  Back in 1989 archaeologists working on the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill clean up effort had reported and video taped a bullseye painted on the rock. We found the exact same rock and nothing on it anymore - we think it might have been an impromptu rifle target that in the 30+ intervening years has washed away.

The next stop was much more productive - a big boulder with a great many holes pecked into its surface located right in front of a large late prehistoric village.  Based on old maps we think this village was named Waayaq - it was abandoned shortly after the arrival of the Russians. We mapped the village and drew the petroglyphs.  Drawing the holes pecked into the rock was a nightmare - so many holes and some of them were really ephemeral.  I was reminded of those lines from the Beatles song.

I read the news today, oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall
I'd love to turn you on

And count and measure them all we did!  Including their depth and orientation to the boulder.  And the boulder was not flat either.  Needless to say, but the villages with their house depressions were far, far easier to map. We ended up mapping 2 nearby villages.

On the flight there and back the pilot showed us another big boulder with pecked holes on it.  Also in front of another large village.  This is quite exciting and it looks like a pattern is emerging - big boulders with pecked holes in them in front of large late prehistoric houses on the outer coast.  Now we'll have to keep our eyes open for more of them - to fill out the pattern so-to-speak.

We also saw from the air another 4 previously unknown village sites and a possible fishing weir on a small river.  The possible weir looks good and with the new pecked boulder they will both need to be revisited and better documented.  All and all a very productive day!

Patrick

Documenting the petroglyphs

A lot of holes to draw and measure!

Relocating the rock with the reported pictograph

Nothing on it - we think it was modern paint

A possible fish weir - we need to check this one out further

A village site we mapped - if you look closely you can see 2 house foundations

This was a big village that we mapped possibly the historic village of Waayaq

Another big boulder with holes on it - something to document on another day!

Dog walks - cottonwoods and low tide

 

After Friday's snow storm Kodiak experienced extreme high winds which kept us from the mountains.  So after a morning cross country ski through the trees on the upper Buskin, the kids and I took the dogs to Buskin Beach for a low tide beach walk.  

Buskin beach is a big place at low tide.  The water retreats and suddenly the beach is hundreds of yards wide.  Plenty of room for the dogs to sprint about and all sorts of interesting things to see on the newly exposed sand.

Best of all the beach is in the lee of high cliffs topped with taller spruce trees so there was very little wind on the beach.  But you could look on high and see the plumes of blowing snow streaming from the mountain tops.  Patrick

Skiing through the trees on the upper Buskin - no wind!

Dry snow right to the edge of the beach - Brewster amongst the driftwood and beach rye grass

sand doodle on the beach - this is about the size of my thumb nail

The upper Buskin River has no water and plenty of snow!

sand tide pool

Wind and nasty blown off snow on high! Look closely and see the snow plumes

Even blowing snow on the airport runways beyond Nora

New Snow

 

On Friday it snowed. All snow and no rain either - the best kind of snow.  Near the end of the height of the storm Stuey and I took the dogs to the golf course to go cross country skiing.  New snow on the cottonwood trees and doggies bounding through the snow.  The snow was so light that even with the deep snow you still went fast on the  downhills even without a track.  By the time we quit you could see the sun trying to break through the clouds.  Patrick

And Stuey got new pants for the new snow!

Garden Greens

 

Yesterday it snowed maybe 4 to 5 inches at the house.  In the morning before it got too deep I checked out the yard for signs of spring and found that my garden nettles have sprouted! I dug around under the snow and leaves and there they were - already bright green and close to big enough to harvest.  This means that my garden will be producing greens in March!  That's pretty early for an outside garden in Alaska.

Nettles are one of my favorite greens and when camping I have frequently picked them and cooked them with ham (salt pork) or SPAM (click here for some posts pesto recipes and Spam Recipe).  But I have never had a supply of nettles.  There was a small patch at Abercrombie growing on an archaeological site but the Park Rangers, for some unknown reason, eradicated them.  So no local nettles to harvest.

To remedy this I planted nettles in my garden last spring.  They did great but I wanted them to get really established before I picked them.  It looks like I succeeded.  Now I have my very own bed of nettles!

Patrick

Red alder catkin

Sitka Alder in yesterday's snow

Crusty Cross Country Skiing

 

Thank God it is snowing today because lately the ski conditions have been pretty icy.  These pictures are from my off trail excursions to the area above Buskin Lake with the dogs and Nora.  Last week there was finally enough snow that I could XC on the usually rocky riverbed.  This is my favorite place to XC ski - but there is still a creek crossing at the very start where you have to wade across in ankle deep water.  Nora and I found that if you cross fast your feet do not get very wet!

The snow has been so crusty that for the last few days I have just been taking the dogs to the golf course and going skate skiing. Fast conditions, and the dogs get a serious workout chasing me around and around.

Patrick

Nora's New Boots

After 2 years of hard use Nora's old ski boots have worn out.  So a couple of days ago I got her a new pair of boots.  On the old boots the plastic cuff was splitting and liners completely frayed - it was time.  And yesterday for the first time she got to try them out. The new boots are significantly lighter. With less drag on her feet I noticed that she raced up the mountain far more quickly than usual.  She claims that they are super comfortable and even feel tighter and more secure than the old ones.

The top 4 pictures are from yesterday.  It was sunny when we got to the pass, but as we were climbing up a snow squall moved in and we skied down in blinding snow and poor light.  The bottom pictures are all from last week, and in them you can see Nora in her old boots.  She loved those boots.  They served her well and got her to love skiing. 

The bottom photos also show how windblown it has been of late on Pyramid.  We have been having some HIGH winds.  On Sunday we experienced 75 mph winds and the harbor was totally white with wind thrift.  There Wass no climbing the mountain in those winds!  On high all our powder has been drifted and it is often a bumpy ride down.  Yesterday in the low light you had to go slowly to make sure you did not unexpectedly ski into or off the backside of a big icy snow drift.

Patrick