Blogiversary

Fall 08: Looking out into Womens Bay from the Kodiak harbor

The blog has been up for one year. We've found the blogosphere a great way to learn about the many fascinating lives people lead up in the Frontier. In fact, last night I met the author of the Anchorage Daily News Village Blog (find a link on the right). Give it a read if you have chance. The images posted here are the old banners from earlier editions of the blog. We've been trying to keep the titles seasonal. The current title is a picture from a ski outing in July. I am standing on the saddle between Erskine and Barometer peaks on Kodiak Island.

Winter 09: Meghan and a Steller sea lion in Kodiak harbor
(the boat pictured is actually named Provider and it fishes for scallops)

Spring 09: Meg paddling in Womens Bay in June

Whale Wallow

A pod of beluga keep cool while waiting for the tide to rise near Anchorage (Photo: AP)

On Saturday, while Sebastian and I were hiking at nearby Eklutna Lake, about 20 beluga whales found themselves trapped on the mudflats at the top of Knik Arm during an unusually low tide. Evidently the pod stuck together, dug a hole and waited a few hours for the water to rise. The Cook Inlet beluga have been a controversial topic in the past. In January, our former governor sued the Federal Government in an attempt to have their Endangered Species status rescinded claiming that the listing threatened vital economic interests in the Cook Inlet region. I wonder whether she'll have a chapter about whales in her new book.

More Kodiak Visitors

"Wo ist die Bodensee?"

This weekend, while Meghan continued her L48 Summer Tour (CO, CT, WI), I hosted a friend of a friend on his way home from Kodiak to Germany. Sebastian had been visiting our friend Missy in Kodiak for the last month. Many years ago Missy's family hosted Sebastian as a foreign exchange student. Before Meghan left Kodiak Sebastian asked her if he could stay with me in Anchorage before flying "over the pole" to Germany. Sebastian arrived on Thursday night and I did what any worthwhile American host would do, I took him to a 24 hour diner. Over sandwiches and fries I asked Sebastian about his exchange experience as a high schooler in Kentucky. With candor, Sebastian related several awkward stories of a European attempting to navigate the social labyrinth of an American high school - like asking the most popular girl in school to be his date for homecoming. His unabashed excitement, accent and the syllables that he stressed brought to mind my cousins in the Czech Republic. We hit it off immediately. Over the next few days we discussed everything from dachshunds (Ger., teckel) to the historic moments before the fall of the Berlin Wall. And, due to the close-knit nature of Kodiak, Sebastian shared my excitement when our friends Dirk and Jennifer called Saturday morning to arrange a get-together before meeting their parents at the airport in Anchorage (Sebastian had been to their house and paddled with Dirk). After catching up with Dirk and Jennifer we packed up Rebel and headed out to the Eklutna Lake Trailhead for a leisurely hike. Along the way Sebastian was able to snap a few pics of a moose and her two calves. On Sunday morning I dropped him at the Unc (Anchorage Airport) for his direct flight to Frankfurt (known as the "salmon bomber" as it is full of German fishermen) with a box full of Kodiak fillets. I hope that our path cross again soon.

Der Eklutnasee

Back in the Saddle (Hilltop Ride)

Ian takes a breather after a quick climb

Fellow Evergreen HS grad. Ian called me after work on Monday to arrange a ride on the new Hilltop Ski Area's singletrack trail system. The quarter-million dollar project completed last fall by Anchorage's Single Track Advocates offers nearly eight miles of dirt-pedaling bliss. Although the trails don't rival some the systems at some of the large mountain resorts in the L48, Hilltop does offer stunning views of the Anchorage Bowl and an iPod-free riding culture.

The Gasline Trail looking toward the Anchorage Bowl

Very few, if any, of the riders wear earphones at Hilltop because, as Ian and I found on Monday it is highly likely that one will cross a mammal of large dimensions on the trails. As a result, one's full attention is required to monitor both the trail ahead and anything brown and furry stirring in the bushes. Trying desperately to get home for dinner Monday night Ian and I were delayed several minutes as a cow and calf moose grazed while standing on the trail. Eventually we turned around, backtracking until we found a trail out of the woods. I look forward to getting to know the Hilltop system and avoiding ornery moose.

The young roadblock and mother

Powerline Pass Ride

The once-glaciated valley floor

My new office sits on the fourth floor of the Diplomacy Building at the southeast corner of town - in the morning shadow of the Chugach. Each day on my way to the copier I gaze, perhaps too long at times, toward the toothy peaks of North America' snowiest range. Today I finally got the chance to explore the expansive wilderness. I strapped the bike to the rack and drove toward the Glen Alps trailhead. When I arrived at the trailhead twosomes and threesomes in raingear headed off to the bushes hoping to fill their berry buckets. A light rain coated most everything in moisture. Donning a raincoat I pedaled onto the Powerline Pass Trail.

Atop Powerline Pass

Before leaving the range of the berry-pickers I spied three bull moose cavorting across the valley - their friendliness sure to vanish during fall rut. The valley soon turned to a bowl and I climbed to the top of the pass. A lone white dall sheep grazed on a nearby ridge. Kittiwakes swam in a blugreen tarn and seemed out of place. I reached the summit of the pass and paused, watching white clouds open and close like a ghostly curtain revealing treeless subalpine slopes. On the descent a rough-legged hawk kited just below the trail, circling then vanishing into the low white clouds. Farther, a large flock of ptarmigan sporting summer plumage crossed the trail clucking and cooing. Before long I was back to the trailhead where the numbers of berry-pickers had increased, swarming the valley slopes.

Trouble Bruin on the Kenai

A Kenai Brown Bear (photo by Daniel Ogden)

The Anchorage Daily News features a report this morning about a harrowing brown bear encounter in Soldotna - a town about 150 (road) miles south of the big city. Evidently local fishing guide, Greg Brush, was charged by an old, starving bear without any warning. Brush, alone but for his two dogs, was able to grab his handgun and fire a few rounds, killing the charging 900 pounder with a "lucky" shot . The bear collapsed and slid past Brush on its chin. The article goes on to mention that the number of bear-human interactions on the Kenai Peninsula is increasing. And compares the Kenai bruins to their Kodiak cousins who, as I have witnessed first hand, are much less interested in human encounters. While the debate over the best management practices for the omnivorous beasts will certainly continue, the conversations that I have had with Alaskans living rural communities is mixed. Some say that the bears are a nuisance and should be removed, while others recognize that they are part of Alaska's unique landscape and thus people should adapt their habits. Me, I'm not concerned at all about crossing a bear - Rebel is quite the bear dog (yeah right).

Anchorage Welcome Wagon

Some of our new neighbors stopped by today to welcome me to the neighborhood.

They were hungry, so we had a light snack.

They also said 'hello' to the great dane playing in the ball diamond across the street.

Friendly folk up here in the big city...

Visitors from Outer Space

"We totally trust Zula and Rebel together."

Earlier in the week our good friends Seth and Crystal McWheeler and their hound Zula stopped by our new place in Anchorage. The newlyweds tied the knot at the family spread in southern CO in July. We were happy to host them during a honeymoon drive up the Al-Can on the way back to Kodiak. Although we shared the same longings for sunny CO, the McWheelers planted roots in Kodiak and bought a fixer-upper overlooking the harbor. Needless to say their Subaru was loaded with necessary housewares including a wood stove.

We took the opportunity to sample the plethora of dining options in town. Although it was nice to dine al fresco, the food and service at our restaurant of choice left much to be desired. Alas, we enjoyed a stroll through downtown and a visit to the yard of the reindeer living downtown (still need to get the scoop on that one). We look forward to hearing of the progress on "their Old House."

Kodiak Bear Viewing

Ursus arctos middendorffii

This post is on behalf of Meghan who is "stranded" in Kodiak without a camera. Last night she and Alicia watched a young brown bear hunt for fish near our summer retreat. Says Meghan, "you should have seen him running through the water and throwing fish into the air." Thanks to Raymond Fletcher for the photo (he was out snapping pics last night). Meanwhile skiing buddy Mike Mannelin had a much closer encounter with the bruins (watch the video).

Stinky Whales

The gray whale in the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center smells just fine.

According to a report on Alaska Public Radio Russian subsistence hunters living across the dateline from Alaska are finding the meat of several recently harvested gray whales to emit a foul odor. Although the phenomenon has been observed in the past, the number of "stinkies" is increasing. Other marine mammals such as walruses have also been found with smelly meat as well. To biologists it's a mystery, yet perhaps traditional knowledge of indigenous groups may hold the answer.

In times of homelessness, my thoughts turn to home...

Over the weekend I moved into some new, temporary digs; my third Kodiak abode.

The rain over the last two days has been relentless, keeping me from honing my newly acquired fly fishing skills...the salmon are safe for yet another day. Bruce reports sunny weather with temperatures in the eighties in Anchorage.