Alaska from Ryan's Camera

On one of my brother's visits this summer, his co-pilot Ryan joined us for a quick tour around the South Central Anchorage area. Below are some of his pictures. (Jerry said I could put one on the blog...he didn't say which one though so I took some liberties and put several!)

Alaska from the 737 cockpit.

Robert, Janet and my brother, Jerry - of course Robert wouldn't look at the camera.

This is one way we can tell when wildlife is in the area. Everyone stops regardless of where they are.
A bear washing his food...
A different bear having a snack
Flattop mountain. This is a great hike and where we start when looking for moose.

Sadly, we didn't get a picture of Ryan. Full photo credit goes to him and I appreciate him sharing and letting me share. Thanks Ryan!

Almost Back Country

Saturday, we packed up the ATV and met up with friends north of town to check out some trails on King's River. There were 5 of us on 3 ATVs of which one of us was a teenager ready to go to the end of the earth or trail - whichever came first. We had a blast.

Our friends had been out to this set of trails a couple of times and already knew where to take us. The first area we went to ended up on a bluff overlooking a valley. We could hear the creek/river running. It was so quiet and amazing. (Look for that picture in our Christmas cards if it turned out.)

Keep in mind, Robert and I are still still coming to grips with both of us on the same machine and the power at Robert's fingertips. For example, previously when we went to Bird Creek, it was a gentle ride, meandering along, slowly going over bumps. Here on the open road, it was no problem for him to gun it and almost send me over the back of the ATV. (Which would have resulted in an entirely different post had that happened.)

This weekend we were on a mission. To the end of the trail - as far as we could go as fast as we could go (which in fact turned out to be where the mud was so deep each of us got stuck at least once - yes, we have a winch and it works very well). I believe we went over 6 miles down one of the trails and the colors were beautiful. We discovered our ATV doesn't turn on a dime and our Mud Lite tires spew mud at an terrific volume right up your back, helmet, pants, shirts, etc. when you are stuck and attempting to get out. Needless to say, we provided entertainment for all and the next ATV accessory will be mud flaps.

At one point, Robert told me to get off so he could get through a particularly rough and muddy section. Ever the one to follow instructions without arguing, I promptly did, then attempted to cross the creek and proceeded to step into water up to my knees. Of course, when I tried to step out, my boot stayed in the mud and to avoid falling, I stepped back in the water. Luckily it wasn't that cold and we were on our way out when this happened. (More entertainment.)

All in all it was a wonderful afternoon. Unfortunately, the only wildlife we saw were other ATV riders, however, we laughed, had fun, saw more incredible country and everyone returned safely. I can't accurately describe the beauty of our state. I only hope you will experience it someday if you haven't already. Special thanks to our friends who invited us and showed us the places they have been. I look forward to the next time we can get together and check out new trails.

The only downside happened Sunday...when I woke up...I felt like I had been run over. Hanging on for dear life over rough and tumble country for 2 hours works muscles I don't normally have to work that hard sitting at my desk. I am beginning to think Alaska is for a younger generation...

Termination Dust

As the fireweed finishes blooming, swans along with geese stop by Potter's Marsh while migrating south, and the moose gather in the valley for moose events (see yesterday's post), the last, sure sign of impending winter is termination dust. When snow appears on the highest peaks around the Anchorage bowl, people know summer is coming to an end.

While today's generation appear to associate the term with getting snow skis ready to go, historically, the first snow was a sign to seasonal workers their jobs would be terminating soon. Hence the name termination dust.

We got quite a bit of "dust" over the weekend. It is rapidly marching down the mountains. This morning when I checked the temperature, it was 33 degrees. Since it is clear outside and no warm front passed through today, I brought six of our ten hanging baskets of flowers in. The four I didn't get to this evening will just have to buck up and survive until Robert gets home. I'll give them an extra drink of water. Sadly, the plants in the pots we had setting on the porch are in the same boat.

Other happenings...

We took the ATV out Saturday to Bird Creek Trail south of town and had a blast on the trails. We only missed one turn on the way home but saw some beautiful country while retracing our steps. It seems so very easy to get back to where you started from but I was VERY happy to have the GPS with us. I have no doubt we could have gotten back without the GPS...I was just worried we would run out of gas and have to push the ATV. That might have soured me on the whole ATV thing. However, all was well and we are going back out this weekend north of town. Once we get it cleaned up, I will take some pictures in the daylight and post.

Last week, we had another 4+ magnitude earthquake at 3:46pm. Once again, I missed it. I must just concentrate too hard at work. :)

Love is in the Air!

We walked out to Powerline Pass last night and there was a whole covey(?) of moose, both males and females. One male had a HUGE rack making Robert wish he had his gun and it was legal to shoot something in the Chugach State Park. All of the boy moose were pushing, shoving and fighting over the pretty girl moose hanging around on the fringe. It was cold,windy and a little damp.

Enough that there was termination dust this morning on the tallest peaks.

Winter is coming!

Alas - No Moose

It didn't happen. No moose were seen, let alone bulls good for shooting.

However, I mistakenly said “first annual moose hunt”. Robert is ready to go in January. All I have to say to that is BRRR and have fun. Squirt and I will be waiting here in our nice warm home for his successful return.

On a different note – what would you have done with your life if as a 10 year old you found a mammoth tooth on the way home from school as this child did. How many of us would have become archeologists? http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/9292005p-9206491c.html

I think I will start paying more attention to the rocks when hiking….

BTW - we had enough apples in the yard for 1 3/4 gallons of applesauce (which I actually put up), one apple crisp and maybe one pie depending on how many are eaten before I make it.

First Annual(?) Moose Hunt Begins

Squirt and I have been left to our own devices this weekend. I arrived back from from Prudhoe last night in time to help get Robert ready to leave at 10:45pm to meet up with buddies for the first annual moose hunt north of Denali. I recently asked Robert when he last went hunting and he thought it was in about 1992....for birds. I'm really glad he is going with a couple of guys who go a little more regularly.

And by the way....who knew moose hunting could be so expensive??

So far we have invested in an ATV, meat wagon and 14 ft trailer (OK - that isn't just for moose hunting), brand new skinning knife with 3 different blades, range finder, spotting scope, backpack, meat sacks, rifle, rifle case, shotgun case, 3 different hitches, trailer wheel, tie downs, electric bear fence and a water filtration system. I am sure I have left the list short but you get the idea. Like the tomatoes mentioned in earlier blogs, this first moose will be very expensive per pound. I hope he gets one - then we will be set for fish and game for the winter. (I wonder if the freezer is big enough - thank goodness we are sharing!) I just wish I would have had time to take pictures of all of the new toys in the daylight before he took off as they will never be as clean again. However, one of the many great things to come out of this...we had to clean the garage to get the new toys in. :)

Of course, nothing has changed with regards to Robert leaving. Something always happens that would be much easier to deal with if there were two of us. This time, we had a horrible wind storm last night that did a number on all of our hanging baskets and planters. I was out at 4am (in the rain) trying to get them safely tucked away after hearing one of them fall. Unfortunately, the wind whipped around after I went back to bed and sent one of our flower baskets into the street. I found it at 8am this morning (in the rain), tucked it away with all of the other plants in a different spot. I had to leave the house for the morning and upon returning after noon was able to hang them back up (in the rain - looks like a pattern). The baskets are looking pretty bad. And to top it off, the tomato plant fell over just when it was starting to seriously produce. Luckily it didn't look too mangled.

On a brighter note, one year ago today, September 8th, 2006, Robert, Squirt and I pulled in to Anchorage to start our Alaskan adventures. Glancing back over the year of posts, I'd say we had some great times and we look forward to the coming year!

Especially if there is moose chili, moose sausage, moose jerky, mooseroni involved!

User Error??

Somehow, today's post ended up with a date on the blog of Sunday - two days ago. I can't believe it was user error but have nothing else to blame it on.

Regardless - here is the link to The Dichotomy of Bear Bells.

Happy Labor Day!

Enjoy the sun and fun and have a safe day!

The Dichotomy of Bear Bells

We woke up to very thick fog on Sunday – a perfect day to go hiking in the forest. We headed to our old standby hiking trail parking lot about 10:00am. Due to the foggy/misty weather, there weren’t many people around and we expected the wildlife to be a little closer to the trails. Required Squirt attire for the morning must include bear bells.

We started the morning with full intentions of crossing the valley (where many moose hang out and the occasional bear) but ran into another couple talking about a moose on the path a little farther along. Because of the low visibility, higher than expected animal activity and potential moose watching ahead, we decided to stay on the main trail. We thought for sure we the moose would be gone because of the noise Squirt was making and there would be more people on the main path in case we did get in trouble.

Even with the damp weather, it was a very enjoyable morning to be out. Walking along the path all we heard was the tinkle of Squirt’s bells (I wonder how irritating that is to the dog) and all we saw was Squirt’s tummy getting blacker and blacker because of the mud he was kicking up (I didn’t know it was going to be THAT muddy). We did keep a sharp eye out though.

Robert spotted the moose before I did about 30 yards away. She moved off to the East side of the path and the ears were flashing back and forth actually looking a little tense. We slowed down and she charged directly at us. (When moose come at you directly, it is rather intimidating.) We immediately stopped (as did she) and here came two joggers around the bend in the trail. One of them was trying to silence their bell and said there was an agitated momma moose and we said “yep – here she comes!” I think momma heard their bell and saw us on the initial charge.

No time for pictures! We turned around and I quickly removed Squirt’s bear bell heading back from whence we came. Upon the last look back, we saw momma leave the trail and head off into the brush on the other side after following us for a few feet. We walked the other direction for about 30 minutes with no more animal encounters.

Important note to self….bear bells warn bears of impending traffic and anger momma moose into charging. Makes a person question the safety factor in using them.

Threatened Tomatoes

Bright and early Friday morning around 6:45, Squirt and I went outside for the first yard perimeter check of the day. We walked along the back deck to the gate and as I opened the gate, I noticed the grass had been crushed in small areas. I got off of the deck for a closer look - EGAD - there were moose tracks imprinted in the freshly cut grass. You could see them plain as day in certain areas where they stomped a little harder. As my eyes followed the indentions, panic started to set in. A pair of moose walked right by the tomatoes and our plants are now starting to produce!

Normally, I would have grabbed Squirt until I had established there were no moose in the yard or within his line of sight. But this time, thoughts of a stripped stalk standing there were racing through my mind and I hurried around the tree. Whew....all the little green and lightly colored orange balls were still in tact. What a close call.

While I was mentally processing the threat to the tomatoes and establishing they were OK, Squirt was going nuts running around the yard following the tracks the moose left. I am not sure he associates the smells and tracks a with those really big, brown "dogs" we see every now and then but he knows something besides him was in the yard.

I checked out a couple other hanging flower baskets and all appeared to be in the same state we left them the previous night. Even the apples and raspberries successfully avoided eating and tromping by this pair.

BTW - I hope you are duly impressed by the fact I could tell there were two moose in the yard just by the tracks on the grass. It could have been one moose frolicking....

OK - I confess - As I walked back up the steps I heard "Crunch Crunch Crunch". Looking in the back yard 2 houses down, I saw Momma and Baby moose (who isn't so much of a baby anymore) munching on the neighbor's trees. Squirt never saw them but he did scare the moose on down the trail once he started to inform the entire neighborhood he had been a good boy and should get a biscuit. :)

Really Big Vegetables

We went to the Alaska State Fair Friday. It was actually rather warm walking around. Bright and sunny with temps in the 70's. OK - it was perfect weather.

Of course there was the traditional midway with rides and tons of food spots which definitely had a greater slant towards halibut, salmon and other seafood than we normally see in the Oklahoma or Texas fairs. We bought a few snacks and a few odds and ends including a Christmas present, fish batters, a baby present and most importantly, two smoked turkey legs wrapped up for dinner last night. Those were pretty darn good.

One of my favorite things the fair brings is the animals and now, here in Alaska, the vegetables. We watched the little tykes running around after piglets, goats, calves and ducks in the petting zoo. (I forgot to borrow a small child for the afternoon to be able to go in.) There were 3 day old piglets to see, baby chickens hatching, lops to pet, turkeys to stare at and we happened on a girl trying to catch a goat in a pen set up with rocks for the goats to climb on. That was entertaining.

Then we found the BIG VEGETABLE exhibit. They weren't kidding. The pictures below don't do them justice. It would have been better if we could have actually picked these up or at least been able to climb on the exhibit to help provide perspective but hopefully you will get the idea. I have attached local newspaper articles to help if they were available....

Here are the 87 lb cabbages (and yes - there were at least 2)
Here is the world record kale at 105 lbs (link is a video). 10 lb radish with 2 lb potatoes
I had never heard of a Marrow vegetable but was very impressed that it would grow to 82 lbs.

10 lb turnips
13 lb puffball mushroom
2.5 lb carrot

And - while this isn't exactly a vegetable, we wanted our friend Bill to know he could visit and not have any Apple purchasing withdrawals!

Alaska is so Amazing!

Last night was a banner wildlife viewing evening – another first!

My brother flew into town for dinner and opted for a pub crawl. Because it was such a beautiful evening, we started at the Snow Goose sitting on the back deck. The sun was out - the water calm with no wind. Perfection would have been a clear view of Denali. Regardless, it was very relaxing and we enjoyed chatting about the trials and tribulations of our lives.

Next stop was Humpy’s. You can’t do a pub crawl in Anchorage without hitting this spot and eating the standard pub grub fish and chips. I really think this little place has the best halibut chips in town. King Crab cakes were also on the menu which turned out to be pretty tasty. As always, Humpy’s was packed and we soon moved on.

We finished the evening at the Peanut Farm. (Some people might consider this a short pub crawl.) By this time, Monday Night Football was over and the crowd had thinned out. There was plenty of prime seating on the deck where we could watch people fishing and enjoy the weather. As we were waiting for our drinks, I looked over and there was a beaver swimming upstream. I couldn't believe it. Of course where was the camera? Anyone want to guess? Safely tucked away in the car. This beaver leisurely swam up the creek a little way, around the little bend, hopped out of the water and went merrily along the shore. I was so excited. I had not seen a beaver in the wild just meandering along enjoying life before.

We returned to the simple pleasures of the evening… beautiful weather….good food….great Alaska brewed beer….wildlife spotting..could the evening get any better…??

Yes!

Another beaver swam by…well…it either it was another beaver or the first one was training for a biathlon. I assumed this was Ms Beaver and of course I spent the rest of the evening waiting for little baby beavers to go past. They never did. (And no…I didn’t run to the car to get the camera between the 2 beavers…one is so rare I never dreamed we would see two.)

How cool is that?

In other news, we currently have an erupting volcano called Pavlof quite far south of here. There is an orange aviation alert which as far as I can tell means watch out for the ash. It is currently spewing lava but hasn’t been overly explosive. I think the most we in Anchorage can expect is some pretty sunsets if we get ash in the air - and of course if the sun is out.

Rainbow Trout

The Rainbow trout and our guide Pat. Fresh grizzly tracks. Note the 5 toes and claw marks to the right side of the picture.

Fish, Fish and more Fish!

Robert informed me yesteray I have been a little slow blogging lately. Guess what they say is true! In the summer here you go and go and go! Inside work is best left for Winter (which is coming).

Regardless, I think we are now to about 90 lbs of fish in the freezer. That should be just about enough for the next few months (considering before moving here I normally had NO fish in the freezer). The big influx of 50 lbs over the last week is from two fishing trips.

Tuesday, Robert was lucky enough to go on a combo fishing trip (we are making plans for next year) and caught halibut, silver salmon, lingcod and rockfish. That was the 30 lb trip.

The Friday, Robert and I went to Deshka Landing and the the Little Willow Creek and brought back 20 lbs of mostly silver salmon. We did bring back one of the chum salmon (what goes to the lower 48) just to try it.

I also caught a 22 inch wild Rainbow Trout which impressed everyone that had seen a Rainbow in the wild before. We let it go though as you can't keep Rainbow's off the Deshka right now - but we have a picture!

We also saw fresh grizzly bear tracks. Some of them were fresh enough the guide figured we scared them off... They had been eating salmon by the river as they left evidence!

I will post pictures later once Robert reduces their size!

Now all we need is 300lbs of moose meat - and another freezer!

My brother is coming in for dinner tonight. He will be arriving early enough we can go to dinner and celebrate my 20 years with the company and his birthday next week. Tomorrow we are going to do the tourist circuit and go look for moose and maybe some blueberries!

Another Special Sighting

Yesterday at the office, someone noticed a pod of Beluga Whales in the inlet and called me. I was so excited as I had not seen a Beluga yet. Sure enough, there they were, bright, white whales against the blue water. The moved in very close to Ship Creek where there were several fisherman looking for those salmon. The Cook Inlet Beluga is close to being listed on the Endangered Species List especially since they can't figure out why they are disappearing. I am thankful I got to see them.

On a differen note, the summer harvest continues.Our yard is a plethora of goodies! We have picked and frozen 5 gallons of raspberries with lots more to come.

We had 6 more cherry tomatoes the other night. While the cost is now at about $10/ea, they are very tasty!

We have about ½ gallon of rhubarb in the freezer ready to put in a crisp.

The apples are turning. I would guess there is about a bushel total but they are small. It will take a lot of apples to make a pie but it will be doable.

Of course the chives are used almost daily.

I made pesto out of some cilantro we have growing outside. Fresh parsley went into the fettuccini the other night.

We are going to go look for blueberries this today and I think Robert has visions of 5 gallons of those.

Sadly, winter is coming. We are down to 16 hours and 13 minutes of sun now and loosing over 5 minutes a day. I was up and outside with Squirt before sunrise yesterdayand this morning it was only 47 degrees....a little nip of fall in the air.

All indications are we will be skiing in a few short months!

Good Friends and Great Times

One of our best friends from Oklahoma came to visit this week. She stopped off with a few fellow cruise-mates for a couple of days. We did a lot of the normal tourist things but the best best part was seeing someone from home.

Thanks for coming by! We really enjoyed seeing you!

Chugach Bear Sighting

It was so pretty Sunday night, we opted to go look for moose in the Chugach Park at Power Line Pass. We expected lots of people to be there (expectations met) and decided Squirt could safely go with us without his bear bell due to the noise everyone else makes.

Sure enough, we arrived at the parking lot and it was packed. Several cars parked along the road outside of the lot – ever the challenge to get in to and out of the lot without the need to back up on a curvy mountain road.

As we start off to our normal path, a group of 5 million tourists head down the path just in front of us. Pondering our choices, we opted to explore a path we hadn’t been on before. Excellent choice! It is a much nicer path to walk on, not as heavily used plus it comes out at exactly the same place the “usual” one does. The sun was in the Northwest and there were heavy dark clouds over the mountains. By the time we reached the overlook to the valley, we actually heard thunder. Somewhere back there, it was raining hard.

However, there were no moose to be found. It must have been too hot (70 degrees) for them to be up and moving. We waited and watched for about 10 minutes (way past Squirt’s attention span) and decided to head back to the car.

One last glance …

wait…

what is that…

Do you see that black spot over there? Was that there before? Is it a bush or an animal?

It’s moving…

Very rapidly…

Wow – A bear! (no wonder the moose aren’t out)

Black or brown?

COOL – A GRIZZLY!

And then it was gone in the bushes. (I need a better zoom lens on the camera!!!)

We watched a little longer to see if the bear comes out on the path the people were on but he was not to be seen by us again.

Once again we turned to go

And that’s when the lone bull moose stepped out from behind the bushes in the valley.

All and all a great Sunday evening!

Summer Harvest Starts

We have heard for years about the phenomenal vegetables grown here in Alaska due to the many hours of daylight in the summer. The season is short, but we get 20 hours of growing light during the season. So far that has been true of the Rhubarb. I don’t know how many stalks we have cut off of our one plant but it keeps coming.

The apples are looking good – well on their way to edible.

We have the biggest clover I have ever seen in my life. The stalks are about the size of a green onion stem. I filled two trash bags with clover today.

We have chives daily from the garden.

I picked the first quart of raspberries today. I picked two of them the other night as a test which Robert promptly ate calling them good. (Wonder if they make a raspberry picker??)

Apparently though, tomatoes prefer SUNSHINE over just plain daylight. We have spent a fortune between purchasing plants, watering, fertilizing and they are just LOADED with little green tomatoes. They have been for weeks and continue to put them on.

Finally - today – we picked our first two little guys. Here are our $80 tomatoes. Aren't they gorgeous?


Of course to put the size in perspective.


They were very tasty!

Fishing with Whales - Guess Who Wins

Talk about losing a fish ....

Beware - this has pretty raw language on it. Children should turn off the volume.

http://community.adn.com/?q=adn/node/109080

North - To the Slope!

Each summer, our company provides a fantastic opportunity for employees or guests of employees to tour the North Slope Oil Field and view/touch/swim in the Arctic Ocean. Because of the large number of employees and contractors doing work for us on the slope, we share Boeing 737's with another company making several flights a day. Yesterday, one of these flights was dedicated to a slope tour and Robert and I were lucky enough to get a spot on it.

Our pilots took us between Denali and Foraker mountains for some incredible viewing.



Here is a Reindeer near some of the pipelines. Unfortunately, we couldn't get off of the bus for pictures (we aren't supposed to bother wildlife on the slope) and my pictures of the four Reindeer with big racks under the pipelines didn't turn out. The big white bubble in the background is the US Defense Early Warning System.

Here's the Arctic Ocean. We had two people join the Polar Bear Club yesterday. Neither one of them were Robert or myself. Although, we did get our hands wet. Robert - step back just a couple more steps for a great picture... :) I actually have this same view from January - but you can't tell as it was dark when I took it!