Hunting and Gathering

Last week, the salmon started running. It's that time of year: time to return to the rivers and streams of their birth to lay eggs and start the cycle anew. You know when it's time for the salmon to run when you see them jumping out of the water. We've seen a lot of this, since we spend almost everyday out on the Sitka Sound. No, those fish are not leaping for joy because it's time to make babies. They are jumping out of the water and slapping down on their sides to break up their egg sacks. A friend recently told me a helpful visualization to understand what's going on here. Think of a bag of frozen peas. The salmon's egg sacks are like bags of frozen peas. When it's time to get cooking, you have to whack the bag against the kitchen counter a few times to break up the ice. Well that's what the salmon are doing.
Every morning (or at least every morning that I'm able to get out of the house a few minutes early) I walk through Totem Park on my way to work so that I can see if the salmon have made it up Indian River. Last week, we noticed that some Pink Salmon were hanging out near the mouth of the river. Skeeter, and many others in the neighborhood, like to go fishing there at low tide because the salmon get really thick in the shallow water. Some people like to use this opportunity to "snag" a few fish. They cast a line and then reel it in very fast to try to snag an unfortunate fish anywhere on the body. A lot of serious fisherman look down on this method. I've seen quite a few salmon swimming by with little chunks missing, a narrow escape from a snagging hook. Skeeter caught a few and cooked some up for us. It was delicious. And not only that, it was probably one of the healthiest meals I've ever had. Wild fish are much healthier than farmed fish; full of Omega-3 fatty acids.
Everyday the salmon get farther up stream. This morning, the river was thick with them. I'm told that it gets even more crowded. And stinky.

Those little gray blurs are salmon!
Also, today was my day off. My coworker Dana and I had planned to kayak out to a "secret spot" to harvest sea asparagus. It looks like tiny asparagus and it tastes salty. I've added it to stir fry and omelets, but I've never harvested it myself. We planned to wake up early and get out there during low tide (8:30 am today.) Alas, the weather was not cooperating this morning. So we went blueberry picking instead!
Here's Dana with her dog Bailey:

 It was raining on and off. We were both wearing rain pants, rain jackets and our Xtra-tuf boots. There's no trail, so we knew we'd get soaking wet walking through the wet bushes and woods. There were loads of blueberries. At one point, Bailey started barking. We backtracked to the car and waited to make sure there wasn't a bear. They have been pretty active lately. The salmonberries did not fruit like they normally do, and the salmon are a little late. They are hungry. Here's a shot of the warning sign posted at Totem Park:

 There has been some bear scat on the trail and a few days ago, someone saw a bear in the park. But this doesn't keep people from walking there dogs, jogging, or passing through. "Relax. This ain't the lower 48."
Bailey came back to us and we didn't see, hear, or smell a bear so we moved on to another spot. We spent a couple hours picking and chatting. It was great. I think that a long time ago, some of my ancient female ancestors were probably doing the same thing: foraging for food and socializing with girlfriends.
When our bags were full, we went back to Dana's. She is freezing her blueberries and when she has 9 lbs, she's going to make blueberry wine. (We went to a wine making class last week.) I decided to make blueberry crumble and save a few for oatmeal and yogurt. I road my bike back home to begin sorting through my berries:

Alison and Dana both warned me that wild blueberries usually get teeny tiny grub worms, so you have to decide: just eat them or soak your berries in water to make the worms come out. I'm not too concerned about eating them; they're full of protein right? I pulled off the ones I could see. And I figure the rest will get sterilized when I bake them in the oven. (Relax. This ain't the lower 48.)
I collected 5 cups of berries, enough to fill an old yogurt container.

 And I used the recipe from the Moosewood Cookbook to make the crumble. I cut the recipe in half:
Put about 2 cups of blueberries in a baking dish and sprinkle with 1/3 cup of sugar
Crumble:
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup oats
1/8 cup brown sugar (I just eyeballed this one)
1/4 cup melted butter (1/2 a stick)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Put the crumble mixture on top of blueberries and pat down
Bake for about 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
Yummy

Cheers!

Evening Hike on Harbor Mountain

Yesterday after work, I felt restless. I decided to drive to the end of the Harbor Mountain road and hike a little bit of the trail. The mountain road was made by the army in WWII. They had a radio tower/radar station on the mountain, I believe. The road is still used today, mostly by hikers and campers. It's about 3 miles to the trailhead, but it took me about 20 minutes to get there with the car. It's a narrow, winding road and there are lots of potholes from all the rain we've been having. But it was a nice drive. I listened to NPR the whole way and near the top, I had a great view of Sitka Sound.
The trail itself is 6 miles one way. I knew I didn't have time for that, so I just walked along and then turned around when I started to get hungry.
The whole ridge was covered by a cloud. It was really beautiful and eerie. I'll go back on a clear day so I can see the view of Sitka and the sound below. Here are some pictures from the trail:

 I guess this counts as alpine meadow. I think the elevation on the ridge is about 2500 ft.

 Sitka Trail Works does a really good job of maintaining the trails. I'm always so impressed with the boardwalks and staircases.

The only thing I can say is that it was really beautiful and peaceful. A few times, I had to just stop and listen. It was very surreal. The environment up there is totally different from the forest below.

In other news, business is good. It's about midway through the season and I have to admit I'm feeling a little tired. I have a hard time motivating myself to do fun things after work. It's very tempting to just go home, bundle up in warm clothes and stay in for the rest of the evening. But I feel compelled to take advantage of the long daylight hours. I hope to do more mini hikes soon.

Cheers!

Rogue Wave and Marine Mammals

The past few weeks have been very busy. I haven't had a 'real' day off in a while. Saturday, the entire company took off for the "Crew Paddle and Picnic." (More about that to come.) And Sunday was my real day off, but I ended up guiding a tour of 5 Alaska Airlines crew members (2 pilots and 3 flight attendants) in the afternoon. I had just walked into the library when Alison called and asked if I could lead a tour. All the other guides were out. This group had just flown into Sitka and were leaving at 6 am the next morning. I really wanted to say 'no,' but I took it anyway. And it's a good thing I did. They were a fun and easygoing group to lead and they tipped me very well at the end. Not only that, Skeeter and I ran into them at the local Mexican restaurant later. They invited us to join them and at the end of dinner, the captain surprised us all and paid for everyone. It was a very nice experience.

Eventually, I will be able to catch up on everything. But I gotta be honest, I'm not motivated to do a whole lot when I get home at the end of the day.

But I am motivated to attend to this blog, and I have a great story for you. Unfortunately, there aren't really any pictures.

Saturday was the "Crew Paddle." Every summer, John and Alison take their crew out to paddle and picnic somewhere in Sitka Sound. It just so happened that there were no reservations for Saturday, so we closed up the bus and loaded John's Carolina Skiff with 4 double kayaks and 10 people. It was a tight squeeze. 

The morning was overcast and a little rainy, "vegetable mister rain" as Alison calls it. We were bundled up, but riding in the skiff is always cold. We made our way out to Kruzof Island, the volcano island where we looked at some of the rock formations on the southern coast. 

Kruzof on a sunny day:

After checking out the shoreline from the boat, we began looking for a spot to launch the kayaks. Unfortunately, the tide prevented us from finding a good beach for the skiff. We launched the kayaks from the boat and climbed in over the side. It sounds like a hassle, but it was actually not that bad. A few of us paddled over to a rocky beach nearby for a bathroom break. A lot of trash gets washed up on the eastern and southern coasts of Kruzof, including stuff carried along by the Japanese current. We found a few bottles with foreign writing and a life ring that said "cosco hongkong."
Back in the kayaks, we started heading east along the coast, while John and Alison followed in the skiff. After about 5 minutes, we saw two brown bears on shore. They were small, probably yearlings, and they looked skinny and hungry. We suspect that they are some yearlings that were reported a few weeks ago: their mother and a cub were killed, leaving the yearlings behind to fend for themselves. I was glad that I saw my first brown bear in the wild, but it was another reminder of the destructive and tragic relationship between humans and nature. There were more reminders to come later.
Yearling (all pictures from here out are from google):

After the bear siting, we continued to explore the coast. We paddled into a few caves that had been carved out of the cliffs. One had a halo, an opening in the ceiling, and we could see the sky and trees on the land above us.
Alison and John felt confident that we would be ok on our own, so they drove ahead of us to do some fishing. Meanwhile, we are paddling along quietly, scanning the shore for wildlife, scanning the water for marine mammals. Skeeter and I were sharing a double and we were paddling a little ahead of the group. One of our companions turned to us and said, "look behind you." We were lifted up by a swell. No harm done. But then we looked back and a second wave was coming toward us. First of all, let me say that we were paddling in an area where no waves were breaking. This really was a set of rogue waves. Anyway... I'm staring at a huge swell that looks as if it is going to curl any second. I'm having a silent freak-out inside. Skeeter turns the boat to face the wave head on, and we paddle really hard up the crest. The wave was about 30 feet from trough to crest according to one of our coworkers who was watching. The kayak is 20 ft long and apparently the wave was longer. We paddled up the wave, see-sawed over the top, and slapped down hard on the other side. Everyone was silent for about 5 seconds and then everyone laughed. Apparently the sight of our kayak teetering over the wave, Skeeter and I both airborne, was really funny. Our coworker Matt giggled about it for the rest of the day. I'm glad Alison didn't see that.
Just picture our kayak on top of this (what you get when you type "huge wave" into google):

At about 1 pm, we stopped at a beach for a campfire and picnic. Picnics with Alison are extraordinary. She brought marinated strips of chicken and beef which we skewered and roasted over the fire. We also had pasta salad with shrimp and s'mores. Yeah.
We rested and digested for a while and then continued paddling. Just off of shore, we saw the spray of a blowhole. We paddled toward it and a small grey whale sounded about 15 feet from us. I've been told that grey whales have bad breath, but I didn't smell anything.
Pacific Grey Whale:

We kayaked all the way to Shoals Point, the southeastern tip of Kruzof and kept going. We paddled to Lowe Island, a low island that is big at low tide and really small at high tide. There are kelp beds surrounding the island, so it's hard for motor boats to get close. Hundreds of harbor seals were hauled out on shore and bellied into the water when we got close. Have you ever seen a seal move on land? They scoot around on their bellies. Really funny looking. They popped their heads out of the water to look at us, then popped back down and swim a little farther away. Cute. Dead harbor seal: not cute. We saw one floating among the kelp. I think it was decapitated by a boat. Why would a predator bite the head cleanly off and leave the rest?
Harbor seal with a head:

By then, it was getting late, so we loaded the kayaks and ourselves back into the skiff. From the water. Difficult, but manageable. We had one more stop to make before we went home. We dropped off Stephanie and her boyfriend Micah on Gagarin Island. They were camping out there and then kayaking home the next day. On Bieli Rocks, beside Gagarin, we saw a sea lion. As we got closer we noticed that he had a large salmon fishing flasher hanging from his face. A fishing line was wrapped around his head. He looked really pitiful. I swear, he had that sad puppy look. Alison took a picture with her phone and I filed a report with the fish and game department. They recorded the incident, but at the moment, they have no protocol for helping entangled marine mammals. They are trying to come up with a rescue plan, but this sea lion is probably toast.
Stellar Sea Lion:

WAHHHHHHHHHH!

Then we went home, put all the gear away, and Skeeter and I made pancakes. Talk to you soon!

Desperate times call for...

…short hair and big earrings. 

Yes. Life is stressful sometimes. In the past couple years, I’ve come up with some great coping mechanisms. And one of them is changing my hair: cutting it all off, dying it, etc. My friend Dana knows all about this, because she was usually the one cutting or dying my hair at the time. Oh, and she just moved too. And cut her hair:

O hey, girl.

“Why the hair?” you may ask.

Change can cause a lot of stress, both good and bad. For example, moving to Alaska (as fun as that sounds) has been pretty stressful. New place, new living situation, new job, new coworkers/cohabiters. I haven’t lived in one place for more than a year since I started college 5 years ago. In my experience, it takes approximately a month to get settled and content in a new place. (But that’s just me.) Anyway, the best way to deal with change that you can’t control is to make change you CAN control! Cutting your hair or changing your look is a great way to do that. It’s a fresh start, especially if you do something drastic. When I chopped my hair off for the first time, I felt like people treated me differently, took me more seriously (I mean, who takes a sweet, plain white girl with straight brown hair seriously. I’m not saying it’s right, it just seems to be the norm.) But maybe they didn’t treat me differently. Maybe my perception of myself changed, so I related to people differently. Maybe short hair makes me feel more confident. Maybe I feel like Halle Berry when I wake up in the morning.

Yeah Halle Berry. That brings me to the next coping mechanism: big earrings. I need to cover some backstory here. Back when I was living in the Henhouse, we started this thing called “Diva Thursday.” (yeah hens, this is a shout out to you ladies.) It was senior year in college, and it seemed like all six of us had crazy schedules on Thursday. It wasn’t the weekend yet, but we were running out of steam. OVERWHELMED is what that is called. And sadly, it’s a fact of life for everyone. The coping mechanism? When feeling overwhelmed, it’s time to change your attitude and strategy. It’s time to do battle. On Diva Thursday, the hens just didn’t have time to deal with any outside distractions or additional stress. We had to be Divas. If you aren’t on my agenda, if you are only in my way, if you can’t offer me something useful: GET OUT OF MY WAY before I squash you with my cherry red, 4-inch high heals. And you must use the Diva Thursday catchphrase:

 "um....exCUse me." If you're feeling especially DIVA, say that to someone's face. Or say it under your breath. Feel free to say it to inanimate objects (malfunctioning computers, etc.) 

This all sounds mean and snotty, but if that’s what it takes to get through the day… (Disclaimer, please do not go out and start pushing people off the sidewalk or ramming into cars during rush hour. Remember, a real diva is subtle.) 

Diva Thursday is mostly about dress code. BIG sunglasses, BIG earrings, several large, flamboyant necklaces, bright colors (red, orange, pink,) black, blood red nail polish, lipstick, mascara……….etc. It’s amazing how this can bolster your confidence. OOOH OOOOH I used to walk up into class on exam day like I OWNED that campus. I have no idea what the professor or other students thought. And I didn’t care, because divas don’t have time to care about trivial things like that.

Short hair and big earrings. This is about self-care. You must BE AWARE of stress in your life, because it can manifest itself in some ugly ways. Someone once told me that depression and anxiety are monsters. And you have to push those monsters out of the way. I like to think of Halle Berry (wearing a Diva Thursday outfit) pushing my monsters out of the way.

Self-care is unique to everyone. You have to find what works for you. Go walking in the woods, meditate, do yoga, maybe put a ‘lil Kahlua in your coffee (maybe don’t), go sit in a coffee shop and read a book, maybe dress like a man and ride the public bus and see if anyone notices. Bahahahahahha! Just kidding. Whatever you do for self-care, make sure you do it!

<3

Just some pictures...

I've taken lots of pictures recently. So many in fact, that I'm not sure how best to organize them into posts. So, I'm just going to post pictures and write descriptions.

 These little guys are "fiddle heads." They are actually baby fern leaves. They pop up in Spring and eventually unfurl completely. But when they are in the "fiddle head" state, they are tender and edible. I'm told they are good with salads. I've eaten one, but I didn't have it with salad.

 This yellow flower is "skunk cabbage," because it smells bad. But actually, it doesn't smell bad. I don't smell anything, and I've been around these guys a lot. Even Skeeter doesn't smell them, and he has a nose like a bloodhound.

 A little grove of skunk cabbage. They grow everywhere in the spring. When bears come out of hibernation, they eat these. The hard stalk that grows in the middle is crunchy and helps get their digestive systems moving. Sometimes on the trail, you'll see half eaten skunk cabbages. You should always be aware and alert when hiking, but especially if you see half eaten skunk cabbage. Or bear poop. Or a sneaker that's been gnawed on.
I talked to everyone about bears when I got here. I wanted to be fully prepared in case I did run into a brown bear. They are bigger here, because of the healthy salmon diet. They will typically run away if they hear, smell, or see you. They will be aggressive if they are 'surprised' by a quiet hiker. So, make noise on the trail. Talk to your buddies and dig your feet into the gravel path. Or step on every single twig that crosses your path. And barrel through the bushes. Sound BIG.
If you DO happen upon a bear. You should very calmly introduce yourself: "Hi bear. I'm Amanda. I live over in Sitka. I was just leaving." Then slowly back away, keeping you eye on it. Make sure the bear has an escape route. You don't want him/her/them to feel trapped. If it shows signs of aggression, take out your bear mace and get it ready. Make sure you are upwind of the bear. And make sure there is a tree between you and it. It may "false charge" at you. If it comes after you, wait until it's within 10 feet and spray him/her/them. Get away.
No lie, that is what I've been told to do in that situation.

 An eagle.

 Two eagles.

 OMG.  Three eagles. There were actually four eagles sitting together in the trees one evening but my wide angle lens just wasn't wide enough to get all four in a picture.

He looks too big for that skinny branch.

 Bear.

 Less blurry bear. These photos were taken from Blue Lake road, looking into Fortress of the Bear. The 'fortress' doesn't look very accommodating to me, but I guess it's a good place for these rescues.

 Silver Bay. I took a walk while Skeeter did some fishing.

 A beautiful birds nest. I almost missed it; it was disguised so well.

 And there he is.

 Mt. Edgecombe and Sitka from Totem Park.

 We've had some really low tides this week. The lowest tide of the summer usually happens in May. Negative tides are kind of cool, unless you have to carry 2 double kayaks 10 extra feet.

 I love low tide.

 On one of our slow days at work, John took us on a boat ride to the southern half of Sitka Sound, to look at possible kayak routes and picnic beaches. It was a beautiful day. There were lots of kelp beds (above.)

 Willow, ever vigilant. Willow is John and Alison's dog. She is one of the best dogs I've ever met. She's smart and lovable. If you take her hiking, she will run ahead to check the trail for bears, and then run back to you. If there is a bear, she will sit at your feet and whine. She hangs out with us at the bus sometimes when we are working. She attracts business, hehehe.

 Great views of Mt. Edgecombe, the volcano. A few years ago, some coast guard guys played a really good April Fools joke. They used a helicopter to drop a bunch of old tires into the volcano. Then they lit those suckers up. Have you ever seen a tire fire? Well it makes huge black billowy smoke. So everyone thought Mt. Edgecombe was gonna blow. The coast guard outfit in Juneau was alerted and flew in to check it out. April Fools! Bahahahahahaha!

 It's hard to see, but that is a little otter poking his head up to check us out.

 More kelp beds and rocks and mountains.

 More otters.

 HUMPBACK WHALE. They are amazing. They pop for a second and then go down. You have to just sit and wait, because you never know where they'll pop up next.

We watched this guy for a while. Alison and John have seen lots of whales, but they say they never get tired of watching them.

Well, I have tons more to share, but this is a blog post not a novel. More soon!