Fish ON

Meghan lifts weights the Kodiak way

"Fish ON!" Our landlord, friend and all around good guy Stan shouts as he runs past me from the cabin of the F/V Buccaneer to the starboard trawl line. Before I have time to gather my senses Stan hands me the pole and impels me to "reel 'em in." As I take the pole it is immediately pulled by a very strong force down toward the sea. The downward force is a large king salmon. Soon Meg and skipper John are at the stern shouting commands and encouragement. Later, John will compare learning to fish with a king salmon on the line to learning to shoot a rifle while in battle. The commands I am able to understand instruct me to keep constant tension on the line and keep reeling. After what seems like minutes of fighting my left forearm, holding the pole, soon reaches a threshold of fatigue and I am forced to focus on the water, my feet on the deck, anything to relieve the thought that I might not be able to hold on much longer. The fish rises and dives several times before offering himself to the surface. A large net will lift him from the icy blue North Pacific to the ship's white deck. Seconds later our next catch is netted, an equally magnificent king salmon, and dropped on deck. Within moments after a couple of hours of trawling in Mormot Bay near Kodiak we've caught to two king salmon weighing a combined 55 lbs.

Pacific grey cod; man

Reeling from the success of our salmon haul, Stan and the Skipper decide to drop anchor and retool to hook halibut. Soon the tide levels out, good for fishing we are told, and the Buccaneer brings us another round of luck. Off the port side Skipper John soon hooks a few halibut and flounder. We keep the largest halibut and Meghan gets to kiss her first flatfish, a local tradition. After watching skipper John's success I reel in my line to check the bait. Sure enough a lucky halibut has bitten off the tail end of the herring on my hook and escaped unscathed. I string another herring to the hook and soon feel a tug. Stan and the Skipper instruct me to "reel 'em in slowly." Pulling the line from a depth of 140 ft. a Pacific grey cod soon presents himself to the surface. After 4 hours at sea we sailed back to port with two king salmon, cod, halibut, and a experience we will not soon forget.

Back to harbor

Low Tide

After work today Meghan practiced yoga while Reb and I took a hike around Fort Abercrombie State Park. Although we've hiked in the park dozens of times, we found our way to the shoreline about an hour after low tide. The receded water level revealed new colors and points of view. Rebel and I were able to step out past our usual paths to climb beneath cliffs often guarded by cold surf. A result of the sun, moon and earth's rotation, tides are stronger during the new and full phases of the moon when the sun, earth and moon line up to form a syzygy. As you can see from the image below the moon is in the waxing gibbous phase on its way to full on Tuesday. As the days grow longer we can feel our energy levels increase and the urge to explore seems to strengthen daily. At 11 hours and 4 minutes of daylight, we have gained 2 hours of light in the last month. For an individual who is constantly amazed by the power of natural forces, living in Alaska is like living in playground.

Ptarmigan Convert

Last night we joined the Saltonstalls and some of their lovely friends for dinner. We had a delicous meal and enjoyed great conversation. The entertainment for the evening was provided by CeCe, Nora and Stuart, stars of the Young Players Theater Company and Bruce was happy to get in on some of the action.

The dinner menu included ptarmigan, a bird that I had never eaten before. It was so tasty-many compliments to the chef!

Resolution Mt. from the Fowler-Hilliard Hut

I have seen ptarmigan on several occasions while hiking-the most memorable sighting took

place during the forced death march outside of Aspen, under the auspices of a hut trip. I remember feeling ready to collapse into the snow after climbing yet another mountain in my nordic skis, continuously breaking through the crust, when, suddenly, the snow screen lifted momentarily and a ptarmigan appeared. It was quite a vision, let me tell you, and I think the bird leant me its strength to finish the hike and to find the hut. The GPS that a friend was carrying didn't hurt, either.

My friend Shelley and I saw some ptarmigan on our climb up Pyramid last fall.

We were excited by our encounter with Kodiak's wildlife. On our hike back down the mountain, we ran into a man who was making his way up to do a little ptarmigan hunting-we suspected his hunt was successful. The circle of life...

Anchorage Hop

In preparation for our move to Anchorage in August I have been applying for jobs like mad from Kodiak. Most of the positions have held telephone interviews with me. One employer, after conducting a telephone interview, decided to fly me over to Anchorage for a tour of their school and a second interview. I jumped at the chance for a "free ride" over to the mainland and packed my skis.

Halfway down the North Face looking into the Turnagain Arm

After the interview on Thursday I headed down to Alyeska Ski Resort on Friday. Clear and sunny, Alyeska offered pockets of soft snow, splendid views and no lift lines. Perhaps the best skiing was off the High Traverse and North Face - nice and steep. It will be nice to have a place to ski next year even when the avalanche conditions in the backcountry are hazardous.

A moose wanders through the parking lot of Ian and Sammy's building.

While in Anchorage I stayed with Ian - a friend whom I have known since middle school. Ian and his girlfriend Sammy are teachers who moved up to Alaska from Colorado a week before Meghan and me. We swapped "new to Alaska" stories, shared photos and dined at the Bear Tooth (Meghan's favorite).

Following Ian through Kincaid snow

Saturday: snow, lots of snow. Ian and I drove to Kincaid Park to nordic ski. Part of me wishes that I could have been at Alyeska shredding the 8" of new snow. Then again, I enjoyed the peaceful meditation of sliding through the woods on Kincaid Park's miles of nordic ski trails. Kincaid, the city's largest park, offers lit and groomed nordic ski trails surrounded by birch and spruce trees - Meghan will love it. Often a great place to spot moose, Ian and I only saw white on our 2.5 hour ski. Funny thing about Anchorage, sometimes the wild is right out your door.

Wild and Scenic Film Festival

Last night I attended the "Sundance of Kodiak." Well...it was a film festival, in any case, and the only one that has taken place since we arrived last fall.

The South Yuba River Citizens League's Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival was presented at the Kodiak High School. We arrived late and were seated in the drama pod-appropriately enough-the main showing was in the choral pod. An interesting and diverse crowd was in attendance-representing many different facets of Kodiak society. There was a silent auction during the intermission and my friend won a beautiful pendant. I was happy to walk away with some festival swag-Tom's of Maine toothpaste, Patagonia stickers, Clif Bars and Sierra Nevada bottle openers.

My favorite film of the night was called "Goldfish" (watch it here), recipient of an Audience Award at the Austin Film Festival. I also enjoyed the eye-opening tear-jerker "Burning the Future: Coal in America"(Montana CINE Best of Fest winner) and the heart-warming "Sand Dancer" about an artist in New Zealand. "Homegrown Revolution" was inspiring and I wished Bruce had been there to see it. The Future Farmers of America, Kodiak Chapter, the Alaska Marine Conservation Council and a local sports store sponsored the event.

I suspect that most of the crowd was very excited to view the last film on the program, called "AK the Hard Way," which follows a group of skiers on their road trip from Squaw Valley to southern Alaska, with stops at Mt. Baker, Whistler and Smithers, BC. Unfortunately, before the last selection could start, a future farmer stopped the projector, telling us that there wasn't time to view the last short. I feared that the audience might start pelting him with toothpaste and Clif Bars, but, eventually, folks filed out of the drama pod without incident.

These photos depict the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, home of the Porcupine River Caribou herd and the Gwich'in Nation.

We are at the solar minimum...

I was really looking forward to seeing the Northern Lights up here on the Last Frontier...alas...its seems that the requisite solar activity is at the bottom of its 22 year cycle.

Just my luck!

The Fairbanks Daily Newsminer reports: — Ester photographer LeRoy Zimmerman made the switch to digital cameras this year to better capture the phenomenon known as the aurora borealis. Now he just needs some aurora to work with. “There’s nothing; it’s really disappointing,” Zimmerman said. “I’ve got my digital camera. I’m ready. Let’s go.” Zimmerman isn’t the only one wondering where the aurora borealis, commonly referred to as northern lights, are this winter. The Interior’s normal wintertime light show has been noticeably absent this winter. “I talk to people in town and everybody who knows what I do asks me, ‘Where is the aurora? What’s happening?’” said Dirk Lummerzheim, a research professor who studies the aurora borealis for the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. It’s a legitimate question, and Lummerzheim has the answer. “We are at the solar minimum,” the UAF professor said. “When solar activity dies down like this, the aurora activity also diminishes in the north.” Aurora borealis, a curtain-like, luminous glow in the upper atmosphere, is caused when energy particles from the sun collide with the Earth’s magnetic field. Solar activity runs on a 22-year cycle — 11 positive years and 11 negative years. The cycle is at the bottom of the negative cycle, Lummerzheim said. This is the second winter in a row the aurora has been “quiet,” as Lummerzheim put it.

Read the rest of the article here.

Steller Views

After an “ice hike” on Saturday Meghan got a call from the Judge who said that St. Herman's Harbor was full of sea lions. Immediately, I thought of predator-prey interactions. Perhaps the sea lions were in the harbor to avoid a pod of orcas that have been known to swim through the area as early as February. Hopeful that we might see the first orcas of the spring we dropped Rebel at home and sped to the harbor. Once on the dock we could see and hear 10 - 15 Steller sea lions gorging on flat fish and rock fish. When a sea lion would bring a fish to the surface it would shake the fish to tear it apart. Meghan made sure to avoid contact with the humongous bulls. The Judge, eager to capture a “National Geographic moment” with his camera faced a large bull that swam at the Judge and raised its enormous head out of the water.
In the air above, gulls and bald eagles took their chances at a free meal, swooping down to retrieve fish flesh discarded by the sea lions.
A friend of ours, born on Kodiak Island, suggested that the nets of a “dragger” might have been emptied out in the harbor. Indeed, an Alaska State Trooper standing aboard the Patrol Vessel Wolstad said that someone may have “done somethin’ illegal.” Although I had nothing to hide and even standing there with the judge and clerk of the Kodiak court, I felt his suspicious eye scan my movements for clues.

Meghan politely avoiding eye contact

From the Alaska Fisheries Science Center: The Steller sea lion (Eumetopias jubatus) is the largest member of the Otariid (eared seal) family. Males may be up to 10 ft in length and can weigh up to 2,400 lbs. The species exhibits a high level of sexual dimorphism. For example, a typical female may only weigh 1/3 of the weight of the largest males.
Steller sea lion are distributed across the North Pacific Ocean rim from northern Hokkaido, Japan, through the Kuril Islands, Okhotsk Sea, and Commander Islands in Russia, the Aleutian Islands, central Bering Sea, and southern coast of Alaska, and south to the Channel Islands off California. During the May-to-July breeding season, Steller sea lions congregate at more that 40 rookeries, where adult males defend territories, pups are born, and mating takes place. Non-reproductive animals congregate to rest at more than 200 haul-out sites where little or no breeding takes place. Sea lions continue to gather at both rookeries and haul-out sites outside of the breeding season.

Who's the boss?

Click here to find a database of Steller sea lion food habits.

Kodiak Ice

During the past few weeks Meghan, Rebel and I have encountered lots of ice on nearly every trail when we go out for a hike. Although the cold temperatures allow water to form beautiful icefalls like the one above (found on Spruce Cape), it makes for interesting walks through the woods. Our friends say that last winter was much worse for icy conditions. We can't imagine what the hiking/ driving surfaces might have looked like last winter.

I have found that the brown neoprene boots made by XTRATUF, ubiquitous around Kodiak, actually grip better to the ice than my Vasque Gore-Tex hiking boots. I discovered this fact while on a walk to one of our favorite beaches near town. Much of the trail was covered with a thick layer of ice. Meghan wore her Xtratufs and I wore hiking boots. I seemed to slip and slide much more often than Meghan during the walk. A confounding factor, however, may have been my foolhardy approach to hiking. As you can see Meghan attacks the Kodiak ice in her Xtratuf's with aplomb during a Saturday afternoon hike.

While I might be able to change my footwear to reduce slipping an sliding, poor Rebel is stuck with his short little legs and bossy nose. Scrambling to follow a scent Rebel often slips on the ice and loses his balance. Luckily, he doesn't have very far to fall.

Blueberries - Cuawak

Today is gray and wet, and I have been thinking back to some of our early adventures here on the Rock. The pictures below were taken on a beautiful day we spent hiking the Anton Larsen Loop. The wild thing pictured below enjoyed sampling some of nature's bounty...

"The Kodiak Archipelago is home to two species of blueberries, the early blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium), also known the blue huckleberry, and the alpine blueberry (Vaccinium uliginosum). The early blueberry is a spreading shrub that grows in moist forests and bogs at lower elevations. In contrast, the alpine blueberry thrives on mountain slopes and coastal tundra. Both species are prolific, creating large annual crops that ripen in late summer. The Alutiiq people typically gather blueberries in August and September. Blueberries are primarily harvested for food, although their juice can also be used as a dye.

Today, fresh blueberries are eaten with meat and fish, or added to Eskimo ice cream - akutaq - with a variety of other ingredients. Seal oil, lard, dried fish, fish eggs, sugar, and mashed potatoes are all potential additions to this traditional dish. They are also made into a variety of jams, jellies, and luscious deserts. In the past, blueberries were harvesting in quantity and preserved for use throughout the winter. In the Kodiak region, the Alutiiq families stored blueberries in seal stomach containers filled with water or oil. In Prince William Sound, they dried blueberries on special wooden grates over an open fire. The berries were then stored in containers and re-hydrated as needed. The Chugach Alutiiq also mashed fresh berries into a paste and spread them on skunk cabbage leaves. The paste was allowed to dried and then stored on the leaves for later use. "

This information comes from the Aluutiq Museum and Archeological Repository-a great resource for learning more about the rich history of the island and its inhabitants.

squirrely behavior

Bruce and Rebel squirrel hunting...this one got away, thanks to some ice...

Tonight's sunset, Fort Abercrombie State Park

Telepalooza

Got a little chill after finding the event poster for the 6th Annual Jeff Nissman Memorial Telemark Festival and 2009 World Telemark Freeskiing Championships. Telepalooza is part of a series of freeskiing events that begin in California at Alpine Meadows on Feb. 26th, then head to Crested Butte and finish at Alyeska in April. I wonder if the competition is as stiff as the 3 Pin Grin Telemark Festival at Loveland where I finished in the middle of the pack -- yeah, most likely a lot stiffer. Although I am not prepared for the event this year, Telepalooza will be an incentive to get whipped into shape next winter. Not to mention the Chugach will be at our doorstep. Perhaps I had better start with 100 lunges right now. But first, I have to get clearance from my Athletic Director (Meghan).

Adventures at Dog Bay

Bruce and I took a Valentine's walk around the beaches of Dog Harbor, where the float planes dock, on Near Island. We saw two planes land, which was exciting-planes landing on water seems to defy nature. A schipperke disembarked from this craft at left, which delighted us. He was all business on the docks and could not linger for me to pet him.

Another strange presence on the docks: this electric car. Bruce was afraid to get too close, but I managed to snap this quick shot. Which Kodiakan owns this vehicle? Such a mystery...

While doing some beachcombing I came across the partial remains of a starfish, which was pink and therefore Valentine-esq, but also stinky and partially decomposed. I didn't hold it for long after we finished our examination. Interesting fact of the day: starfish lack brains, something I have been accused of from time to time.

Bruce sighted a merganser which we viewed through the binoculars for some time as he swam around, clearly miffed by the presence of interlopers in his bay. We weren't sure if it was a common merganser or a red-breasted merganser. My eyes need a more powerful scope for birding. We also sighted a heron-Bruce thinks it was a black-crowned night heron, but I don't think their range extends this far north...we'll likely never know.

The beach and rocks were covered with barnacles. A barnacle is a type of arthropod belonging to the infraclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence distantly related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosive settings. They are sessile suspension feeders, and have two nektonic larval stages.
Around 1,220 barnacle species are currently known. The name "Cirripedia" is Latin, meaning "curl-footed".

We rounded out our 2009 Valentine's Day celebration by sharing a lovely dinner with lovely friends. The menu: a choice of seafood chowder or tomato basil soup, salad, Tanner crab legs and prime rib, followed by creme brule and a chocolate souffle. Yum...

Luck and Amore

So, today is the day before Valentine's Day, which is one of my favorite days.

It is also Friday the Thirteenth, which makes me feel tense. I got to thinking about the superstitions surrounding the thirteenth day of the month which happens to fall on Friday.

According to Wikipedia, the fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia, a word derived from the concatenation of the Greek words Paraskeví(Παρασκευή) (meaning Friday), and dekatreís (δεκατρείς) (meaning thirteen), attached to phobia (φοβία) (meaning fear).

Folks apparently did not start worrying about this ominous day until sometime during the nineteenth century. "There are conflicting studies about the risk of accidents on Friday the 13th. The Dutch Centre for Insurance Statistics (CVS) on June 12, 2008, stated that "fewer accidents and reports of fire and theft occur when the 13th of the month falls on a Friday than on other Fridays, because people are more careful or just stay home; but statistically speaking, driving is a little bit safer on Friday 13th."

Many people hate Valentine's Day. I love the colors, the prettiness of the occasion. I love the tradition of sending notes telling people they are important to you and that you love them. I love that chocolate is involved and that flowers are almost obligatory.

So, here's wishing you a Happy Valentine's Day, and saying "be mine!"

Watchin' the Weather

Commenting on the weather is a state pasttime up here in the Frontier. Predicting it is another story. Today, for instance, we are under a Winter Weather Advisory until 4p AKST with up to 8" of snow expected. Looking out of the window at work right now though the clouds are patchy and no precipitation is falling. In fact, while driving a student to her job this morning we saw the sun poking through the clouds.
The image at left shows part of the Global Infrared Mosaic from NASA satellites. The image at right shows NOAA's satellite for the Alaska Region. The weather felt in Alaska - and eventually the L48 - is generated near the Equator off of the Indonesian Archipelago (bottom left of the first image). To predict weather in the L48 climatologists examine Sea Surface Temperatures (SSTs) near Indonesia. Warm SSTs usually cause active weather tracks that generate storms. Cooler SSTs create milder conditions. Often, climatologists are unable to accurately predict the long range forecast for Alaska due to several confounding variables such as sea currents and Arctic winds. Looking at the global mosaic (image at left), the North Pacific is experiencing an active storm track this month. As a result, places in Alaska like Juneau are getting slammed with round after round of heavy snowfall. In fact, Juneau has dug itself out of at least two major avalanches this winter already. These snowslides have left people without power for days at a time. In Kodiak, however, warmer winter weather has melted the snow that's hit the island. Today it's about 36 degrees and the 3-4" of snow that blanket the island's lower elevations in danger of melting away.

My Favorite Anchorage Daily News Headline of the Day

"Boozy Mayhem in Unalaska Draws International Audience" proclaims Alaska's largest paper.

THE POLICE BLOTTER READ AROUND THE WORLD(L.A.Times): The weekly cop report in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor documents what happens when thousands of fishermen from all over the world descend on one small port: bar fights, dockside melees, eagle attacks -- even African tribal disputes.

Hello Reader:
A new development on the last frontier-Bruce has ceded some of the composition authority and asked me to contribute to N2Future, as well. So here goes nothing...

This weekend we took to the SNOW! It was a glorious two days-truly Kodiak on its best behavior. Snowflakes falling on Saturday and Sunday sun shining on soft snow.

Saturday I snowshoed with some friends at Heitman Lake while Bruce climbed up Kashevaroff Mountain seeking some turns. He says that he had gotten tired of sitting in his office looking out at peaks he had not climbed. Although our Kodiak hiking guide describes Kashevaroff as "one of the most straightforward hikes in the area," Bruce became disoriented in the windy conditions near the summit. This reinforced my desire for him to find a skiing buddy. We snowshoers, in the meantime, were not able to discover the lake, despite our best efforts. So, we're both hoping for more success on our next excursion...

Today we joined a friend for some quick loops on our x-country skis around Lake Gertrude at Fort Abercrombie State Park. It felt wonderful to be out gliding on the frozen water, sun shining on our backs.

We drove out to White Sands Beach in Monashka where we found the tide was out. I discovered a treasure (tubular barnacles) while Bruce took artful photographs. It was too cold to linger for long-on our way back to the car we passed a family building a fire at the forest’s edge.

The moon (which will be full tomorrow) was rising as we returned to town. There is nothing like a moonrise, no matter where you may be.

Sweet Dreams,
Meghan

CLAIM

A teacher at Kodiak's High School and I got to talking one day after school about skiing -- in the parking lot he saw me rearranging my BD's in the roof box. He started telling me about the new ski movie "CLAIM" by Match Stick Productions. The movie 'claims' to be the best ski film ever shot. For me the mantle spot for that honor has been occupied for 15 years by Warren Miller's "Steeper and Deeper" (psych). So, like a dutiful consumer I asked Amazon to ship up a copy so that I can determine whether the movie lives up to its billing. So far I have only viewed first ten minutes, but the opening sequence, shot in BC, is ridiculous. We will have to stop in "The Greatest Place on Earth" aka BC on our way down to the states for a taste the Canadian Powder.

Tickle These Ivories

Although daylight is nearly visible on our way to work these days, the evening darkness limits us to indoor activities after work. As a result I have been shopping (online) for a keyboard on which to lay down some tracks. Lacking any formal training however, I am looking for the 'board that offers a combination of the right price and the right features. The two images shown here depict a midi controller keyboard which plays the notes and sounds through a computer. While the production options are limitless with a midi controller I should probably learn a few chords on something like the ol' Casio in the other photo. Also, I should probably wait until next month to splurge -- I've already done some impulse shopping this month (new iPod nano: "nanoCoug III") in addition to V-Day gifts.

Sapuraanga

One of the many planes grounded for 5 days.

Sapuraanga -- "I am weathered in"

We flew in to Akhiok Tuesday morning battling 30 - 40 knot winds and freezing rain. The dispatcher for the air service said that we should call him as soon as we were ready to leave so that he could arrange for a flight to pick us up. We called at 1:30 and the dispatcher said that his planes were on a weather hold. We called again at 3:30 and got the answering machine -- everyone at the office had gone home for the day. Needless to say we weren't going home until the next day. So we found a spot on the school floor and crawled into our sleeping bags.

The next morning we awoke to howling winds that made the school walls creak and moan. The rain was heavy and the forecast called for 40 knot winds across the island. We started making dinner plans for the night and rescheduling appointments for the day.

On the third day the weather looked promising. During a morning walk through the village we noticed that the clouds seemed to be lifting -- the wind was certainly more calm than days prior. After the walk we called three air services in Kodiak to find out if anyone would pick us up that afternoon. The fog in Kodiak was too low and noone was flying. So we ate lunch and joined in the badmitton unit during PE. After chasing the birdie we learned that a plane had made it to Old Harbor but could not leave due to fog. Again, we began thinking of dinner plans for the third night.

Day four offered much the same as day three. Low clouds in Akhiok and light rain. The dispatcher at the air service said that the Kodiak airport, shrouded in fog, didn't see a plane land or take off all morning. Meghan's birthday present traveling via UPS Second Day Air -- for an extra $16 -- did not make it to Kodiak either. At the Akhiok school we found another book, settled in, and periodically checked the weather cameras. Needless to say, the fog did not lift. In the late afternoon, around 3:30, we took a walk to the end of the road. The end of the road in Akhiok leads to the southern end of Kodiak Island. For a few minutes the sky opened to reveal a brilliant blue sky and a bright 1st Quarter moon. At the water's edge we scattered two large eagles and ravens from an empty deer carcass. Then, as quickly as it opened, the ceiling closed and darkness fell. We noticed bear tracks near the end of the landing strip and hustled back to the school. Bedding down for the fourth night, I was optimistic for a break in the weather. Perhaps Mother Nature and Brother Wind might rest on the weekend.

Without really looking I knew that the weather on day five was not promising. A grey fog sat over Village in Akhiok. On the camera Kodiak's weather, 90 miles to the North, looked just as bleak.

On the morning of the sixth day, the view from the school was spectactular. A bright orange ribbon of sun laced the horizon over the bay south of the village. The sky remained clear throughout the morning and we were picked up at 11:40 ending our extended stay in the village of Akhiok.

The village of Akhiok from the air; The village school in Akhiok