Ptarmigan Tour

Nora experiences skiing in the south bowl sunshine

Saturday was the Christmas Bird count.  Every year it is my job for the Kodiak version of the count to climb a mountain and find a ptarmigan.  I generally do this alone.  When I go, I go where I hope to find a ptarmigan and not necessarily the best place place to go skiing.  Also I do not quit until I have really given it my best shot.  But this year the new powder snow was just so enticing that I had to bring along Nora and some other members of the COVID ski club.  At the start they all agreed with the terms to my 'ptarmigan tour'.

And the skiing was unbelievable.  2 feet of dry powder in places and no wind.  Stunning.  The mountain was covered with skiers.  I counted 23 other skiers just on the way up.  WOW!  That's the most I have ever seen at one time on Pyramid.

When we got to the top the place to go was the south bowl.  It was in the sunshine and not too many people had already skied it.  It was where I would have gone if we did not have to find a ptarmigan.  The place to find a ptarmigan was in the valley to the northeast of Pyramid.  And the top of the North Bowl and start of the route to ptarmigan land was a sheet of windblown ice.  Ughhhhhh.  

But we persevered, and discovered to our delight that 100 feet down into the North Bowl it was all powder.  WHOOOO hoooo.  And down in the valley where we hope to find the ptarmigan there was 2 feet of new dry and un wind effected powder!  Some of the best powder skiing I have ever experienced on Kodiak.  I was glad that the ptarmigan had to taken us to where otherwise we would never have gone.

But there were also no ptarmigan or even ptarmigan tracks.  On the way up we had seen a Northern Hawk Owl - sort of a rare bird on count day - but no ptarmigan.  And so we climbed up back to the top of Pyramid - this was a LONG climb too - and checked out the south bowl.  Maybe the ptarmigan did not like the shade and wanted to hang out in the south bowl sunshine?

So in the end we got to ski the south bowl in the sunshine.  And not too many people had skied it before us.  So we got our cake and got to eat it too!  But no ptarmigan or even ptarmigan tracks down there either.  Just a Northern Shrike in a tree.  We skied on down to the road - bird count failures for not finding a ptarmigan.  But we'd given it our best shot, and had had a very good time.  

Final bird count numbers: 3 mature bald eagles, 6 ravens, 1 hawk owl, 1 northern shrike and nothing else.  Not too many birds in the alpine and no ptarmigan!

Patrick

 

Northern Hawk Owl

North Bowl powder

Skiing the trees in ptarmigan land

South Bowl Sunshine

Kodiak 'Pow'

 

Thursday we skied the storm.  On Friday we skied in a winter wonderland.  There was over a foot of new snow and overnight the snow had dried out.  And no wind either.  You just do not get those conditions very often on Kodiak.  

After work we met up with the usual 'ski club' crowd at the pass and headed up the mountain.  We were not the only ones either - the mountain was actually fairly crowded.  On the way up Nora was worried that everything would be 'cut up' before she could ski it.  She need not of worried - 'crowded' on Kodiak has a completely different meaning than say 'crowded' at Aspen.

The snow conditions were best on the lower mountain.  Up high the wind Nora and I had encountered on our Friday storm ski had made huge drifts and scoured down to ice in places.

This morning I woke up to another 6 inches of powder and no wind at my house.  So we'll be going up again today.  It is also the Christmas Bird count so it will be my job to find a ptarmigan and maybe a golden eagle.  I am bringing up my telephoto lens so I can take bird pictures.  I have not been seeing many ptarmigan on Pyramid but I have been seeing Golden eagles.  I'm a little worried that the golden eagles have eaten them all.  Patrick

Skiing the storm

 

Yesterday after work Nora and I caught some storm skiing.  It was raining in town but we knew that it would be snowing on the mountain.  We also knew that there would be about 8-10 inches of new snow.  And we were right on both counts.  The snow was fantastic.  The only problem was that it was snowing so hard when we skied down that we could not see.  And up high it was frightfully windy (see video at bottom).  Nora opined that a pair of snow goggles would have really helped.  So this morning I threw a pair into the car for next time.

Of course we also went skiing today. ... But that's a story for another post.

Patrick

Afternoon ski club

 

These days just like last spring due to COVID all the Kodiak schools are all shut down.  Every weekday morning Nora 'virtually' and electronically attends the Kodiak High School while Stuey meets as a part of a 'pod' of four kids with one teacher.  And it is not just the kids - like last spring I have been mostly working from home rather than going into the museum.  Such is life in the COVID 19 world.  

But it is not all bad - I get to ski with the kids practically every afternoon.  In normal times there would not be enough time in the winter afternoons for such after school activities.  Nearing the Winter Solstice the sun sets near 4:30.  So to get in a ski we have to leave town by 2PM if we want to get home before dark.  This year due to COVID the kids are free by 2 PM - and skiing counts as 'physical exercise'.  So we got a ski club.  A few other kids join us on occasion too.  So it really is a ski club like you generally only find in a big city like Anchorage or Fairbanks.  Places where they have organized activities on snow.  

I've always been slightly jealous of the ski programs for kids in these cities, and had resigned myself to the fact that this sort of activity would never be a part of the program for my kids.  Kodiak is just too small and never really has enough snow to support such a ski culture.  Ironically with COVID, this year in the big cities I have a feeling that the ski programs for kids are much more curtailed if not cancelled outright.  At the very least I bet the kids in Anchorage have to wear masks while they ski.

I got to admit I am looking forward to later on in the winter and spring when with the longer days I can go on longer 'after school' on snow outings with the kids! 

Patrick

If you look closely in the background of this picture you can see Navy SEALs training

Ice, Ice!

 

Since Friday afternoon is has been steadily raining - so the title of this post should be 'Rain, Rain!'  But I have not been taking any pictures of the grey dismal weather.  I just have these from last week when everything was very icy.  

The recent rain helps me appreciate the icy sunshine from earlier in the week.  It was icy but not boilerplate and we still got out skiing everyday.  We even got in some cross country skiing.  And every day  we experienced glorious sunshine.  Now it is warm, dismal and grey - ughhh.  Patrick

Bode Update

 

Bode has been a Saltonstall for over a week now, and all is well.  He LOVE loves his food and is 'practically' potty trained.  Early every morning he does his thing in the same spot deep in the rose bushes, but we still do step in puddles on occasion.  He is also way less hyper and chews far less on shoes than other puppies from the past. This is a very good thing. He has also perked Brewster right up.  No more staid pack sleeping on couches.  There is a little guy in the house! Brewster is very patient with Bode biting his ears.  Bode loves to be near Brewster.

Best of all he likes hikes.  We have been taking him on short walks and he sticks with the pack.  Nora often takes both dogs outside to play.  Bode is so tiny and just bounds around. He sprints like a little black soccer ball bouncing along the ground. Nora wants him to stay small forever.

Patrick

Bode's Tank pose