Some final pictures from Terror Bay

 

inflatable kayaks on the go

Some final pictures from our Terror Bay survey. These pictures focus on the kayaking and camp life. The fun parts of the survey. If you just looked at these pictures you'd think the whole trip was a vacation. There are none of the bushwhacking pictures, or the 'climbing up onto a brushy hill because you have to check and make sure there are no house depressions up there' type pictures.

The survey was a lot of work and I was completely exhausted for a few days afterwards.  But the survey also had its fun moments. Also we did have some good weather, and Terror Bay is certainly a beautiful place.

Patrick

first camp

Kayaks and gear on the beach at the very start of the trip

The Archaeology of Terror Bay

 

The sites green up before the rest of the landscape

For a 3 day archaeology survey we did pretty well. We found 13 new sites and also documented another 4 sites that were already known.  At each site we made an accurate sketch map, and Sarah pinpointed the location of every house depression with a very accurate GPS unit. We also noted any site disturbances, the vegetation, and wrote down the site particulars. And we took plenty of pictures and videos of them too.

In general we found that all the sites are in pretty good condition.  None of them were eroding badly and they all looked pretty stable.  Like on Shuyak and in nearby Uganik Bay you could tell that the sites did erode quite a bit after the 1964 earthquake, but that the land has now rebounded enough out of the sea that the erosion has stopped.

The bay does have a steep and cliffy rocky shoreline and there were not a lot of flat places suitable to build villages.  There were sections of coastline miles long without any nice beaches. But when we did find a good protected beach, and it was backed by a flat, well' drained bench - we generally did find a site. We found a number of fish camp villages at the head of the bay.  We did not find any really large late prehistoric villages - and the Alutiiq people who used the bay probably had their big village on Uganik Island.  

We did not find any sites older than about 4000 years, but most of the sites we did find were in the 1000 to 3000 year old range. And the two biggest villages in the bay are around 2000 years old (Kachemak Tradition).

All and all it was a very successful survey!

Patrick

Eroding shell midden and fire-cracked rock.  This is a site!

Sarah documents evidence for camping activity on a site

Sarah GPS ing the location of a house depression

Fording the Terror River

Stuey's lost ski

 

Yesterday after work I went for a ski with the dogs and looked some more for Stuey's lost ski. Back in early February we were skiing down from the top just before dark (it gets dark early in early February) when Stuey wiped out and his ski released. It took off down the mountain and went into the North Bowl. We did not have a lot of time to look for it when it happened and then overnight it snowed almost a foot.  In the days immediately following I looked around where I thought it went a couple of times.  But then the snow built up and I realized that I would have to wait until spring and the snow melted to find it.

Well it is spring, the snow has melted, and I have searched and searched over a wide area and I have still not found it.  It is a big area! Yesterday I went down into the middle big ravine.  I have already checked the other 2 ravines.  The ravine I went into yesterday turns into a serious Grand Canyon. I spent an hour and a half looking for the ski.  Now I have searched everywhere.

On Friday I plan on going down and looking closely in the trees and bushes in the area it most likely slid into.  I already checked this area a couple of times, but I am now convinced it must be partially covered.

Patrick

Terror Bay

 

if you look closely you can see our second camp

These are some pretty pictures of things we saw in Terror Bay. Green up was well underway for our survey. Most of the alders and cottonwoods already had their leaves, and in the inner bay the pushki was already getting pretty tall. It is hard to find archaeological sites when the vegetation is well-advanced, and we got in the survey just in time. In another week it would have been difficult to see the sites.  The grass, nettles, fireweed were all still very short and the salmonberries did not yet have a lot of leaves.  In the outer bay things were still brown, and in the inner bay it was not yet too far advanced.

Terror Bay is not really a place people go to recreate in kayaks and camp. Hunters and commercial fishermen go there, but that's about it.  But it does have its own beauty.  The mountains loom straight up from the bay and there are some nice beaches at the head of the bay.  The waterfall in and of itself is worth a visit. That said, I think we were there at the perfect time.  It looks like it would be a pretty brushy place in the middle of summer and hard to find a campsite.

Patrick

bear tracks - we only saw 2 bears

big boulder left by a glacier

cottonwood with new leaves

cottonwoods and alders

Philip took this photo of aphids on newly sprouted alder leaves

Back from Terror Bay

 

Saturday night I got back from a 3 day archaeology survey of Terror Bay. This survey was a little different from usual in that instead of just Philip and I there were three of us.  Sarah joined us and helped a great deal with the archaeological documentation. Each of us had our own kayak, and other than there being three of us it was pretty much like all our other surveys. We'd kayak along the coast and get out to inspect all the likely spots for archaeological sites. And at night we'd camp where we ended up at the end of the day.

It was a successful survey - the weather cooperated, we covered about 25 miles of coastline, found 13 new sites. and documented another 4 already known sites. We basically quadrupled the number of known sites for the bay. 

The bay is surrounded by very tall mountains and much of the shoreline is very steep with rocky cliffs and all covered in brush. We generally found sites where there was a beach and some flat ground. One very cool feature in the bay is a HUGE waterfall on the east side.  It created a misty fog that rose above the brushy canyon.  In all honesty the only better waterfall I have ever seen is Victoria Falls in Africa.

Patrick