Life on the Fly

 

The pictures in this post show what it is like on an archaeological survey using inflatable kayaks.  I'll be doing another kayak survey on Shuyak Island next week.  I like inflatable kayaks - mine are made by Innova or Gumotex (new name) - because they hold so much gear and are very easy to load and it is a snap to get in and out of the cockpits.  They also deflate and pack up small so that they fit into a float plane.

When on survey I get in and out of the kayak a lot - I have to check every possible spot on shore on foot.  So it is in and out and in and out of the kayak all the time.  It would be very difficult to do this in a normal kayak with its tiny cockpit.  Also the material on inflatable kayaks is incredibly rugged - barnacles and rocks do not damage it.  Hard shell kayak are much less durable when it comes to rocks and dings.  My kayaks are now over ten years old, have seen extensive abuse and have still not (fingers crossed) leaked.  In the old days they used to be cherry red but have faded over the years to a light red.

Last year I did not use the kayaks on survey.  All of our surveys were on foot, and we could carry much less gear.  That made for a far more austere experience.  In a kayak with a huge cockpit you can carry a lot more luxuries. A kayak survey is almost glamping.  We have a wood stove and a great big teepee for shelter.  When it rains, and it rained a lot on this trip, we are cozy and warm.

Philip made a video of the survey that shows what it was like while on the go.  Click here for link to video.

Patrick

My view on survey - I often kept my legs outside the cockpit to make it even quicker getting in and out

Uganik Scenery

 

Some pictures of the scenery from last week's survey of the Northeast Arm of Uganik Bay.  I noticed looking through the pictures for the post that a disproportionate number of them are from the first day - the one sunny day on the entire survey.  Sunshine clearly makes for better pictures.

Also, looking at the pictures, it is pretty clear that Uganik Bay is a very brushy place.  There are a lot of alder and salmonberry choked hillsides.  It is not a good place for hiking from the beach to the alpine.  In fact, hiking from the beach to the alpine looks darn near impossible in a lot of places. The West side of the arm is also very steep and the mountains on that side are up to 3,600 feet high.  That's sort of an amazing amount of altitude for such a short distance - and another reason why it is difficult to hike up the side of the bay on that side.  It's seriously steep.

But the Northeast Arm is beautiful, and I do have a thing for cottonwood trees.  I love their stark silhouettes against the sky.

Patrick

First Visit to Shuyak

 

If you look closely you can see the helicopter in this photo

Yesterday I did not post more about my Uganik Bay survey because I went on another survey to Shuyak Island.  It was just for the day, but we left Kodiak for the island via helicopter at 7 AM and did not get back until almost 6 PM.  Shuyak Island is at the north end of the Kodiak Archipelago and we will be surveying there all next week by kayak - camping as we go - the same technique we used in Uganik Bay.  Yesterday we used the helicopter to get a jump start on our survey and reach the places too difficult and dangerous to access by kayak - the off shore islands and outer coast.

It was exhilarating but also exhausting.  Molly and Keller checked the outer islands from the helicopter while I walked the coastline on the northwest end of the island.  I probably hiked around 8 miles in total.  Lots of jack spruce trees to negotiate, cliffs, and very uneven terrain.  I spent the day mostly by myself walking along a remote, rocky coastline with seagulls and geese wheeling around and squawking overhead. 

This was my first trip ever to Shuyak Island and I found it to be a pretty spectacular and unique place.  A remote and windswept outer coast with low flat lying terrain in the interior covered with trees.  I will do another post shortly with more pictures and more about what we found.

Patrick

Gulls and the Barren Islands in the distance

The shores of Dark Island

That's the Barren Islands in the far distance

Party Cape

The rocks on Shuyak are very green - not your normal Kodiak slate and greywacke

Back from Uganik

 

On Saturday I got back from a 5 day archaeological survey of the Northeast Arm of Uganik Bay.  Over the next few days I'll post more pictures and details about the trip.  This post will serve as a brief appetizer.

As is usual on these spring surveys I went with my friend Philip and we travelled by kayak - camping as we went. It was a successful survey - we found 30 new sites and checked on an additional 9 sites that were already known prior to our survey.  We had spectacular sunny weather for only the first day of the trip.  The rest of the trip was under grey clouds and spitting rain.  But, most importantly, it was never very windy.

We found only one big village in the bay.  Most of the sites that we did find lacked structure depressions and consisted of eroding fire-cracked rock and charcoal.  These are sites were Alutiiq people visited to process food or camp.  We also found a number of small sites with just a few or one house depression on top.

The bay is experiencing very little erosion.  In fact, there was so little erosion that I had a hard time finding soil exposures.  Usually, on Kodiak, I find sites by checking soil exposures for site indicators like fire-cracked rock and charcoal.  And in most areas of the Archipelago such exposures are very easy to find.  But not so in Uganik, and I had to use my soil probe a lot more than usual to find the well-hidden sites.

Patrick

Black Oystercatcher

Nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes

Slow Snow

 

Yesterday the whole family went skiing on Pyramid.  I was hoping for spring corn but we got spring slush powder instead.  It had snowed overnight on the mountain and the new, wet snow was super slow.  I was surprised at how much new snow we have gotten in the last few days above 1500 feet.  And we even experienced a snow squall just as we started to ski down the mountain.  But then,  moments later the sun broke out and it was sunglasses weather.

Despite the slow snow it was beautiful up there.  The sunshine in the fog made it seem other worldly.  Stuey said he expected to see a yeti appear out of the fog.

Spring skiing on Kodiak!

Patrick