Griffin & Nicki go to Alaska

Kodiak Island,Part I

2010-08-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend, we took a trip to Kodiak Island. After a 13 hour tumultuous boat ride on the Pacific Ocean, we arrived in the "Emerald Isle of Alaska". Kodiak Island is most famous for being home to the "largest carnivore on planet Earth", the Kodiak Bear. However, after barely missing bears in parking lots and alongside the road this was the closest we actually got to a bear:

The real reason we came to Kodiak was research. While we've been in Alaska, I've been hard at work on my thesis paper - reading a bookcase full and making as many native connections as I can. Kodiak, the city, holds The Alutiiq Museum and the Alutiiq people are the basis of my work. Kodiak Island holds several native villages that are nearly completely populated by Alutiiq peoples.

DAY 1

The first two days in Kodiak were very exciting. I spent all day working with staff at The Alutiiq, studying their collections, and absorbing their knowledge. Here are a few beautiful things from the museum.

Griffin and I had planned on camping that night but the weather thought differently. Luckily, we found a cheap hostel and stayed dry for the night. While we were perusing the town of Kodiak on a nightly stroll we met a wonderful new friend, Jeff.

We had a flight chartered to take us to Ouzinkie, a native village, the next day where we were going to spend 48 hours. After some complaining, hilarious stories, and an hour of chain smoking Jeff offered to take us to Ouzinkie on his sailboat in the morning. He was a generous wonderful man that slightly resembled John Kerry.

DAY 2

Look I'm steering a boat through the Pacific Ocean!

More puffins than I have ever seen in one spot.

Ouzinkie is positioned in the valley to the right.

When we arrived to the tiny place that is Ouzinkie, we found that our connection was still out fishing for an undetermined amount of time. We met some nice young boys that were fishing off the dock and gave Griffin some cod eyeballs to hold.

This is our man, Herman Squartsoff, Alutiiq native of Ouzinkie. Herman took us home and showed us how to fillet a steelhead trout he had just caught. He had to run to church that evening because he is an official, so we were handed off to another lady that walked with us around town.

The Alutiiq people were basically invaded and enslaved by the Russians in the late 18th and early 19th century. I'm skipping over a few details here but the Alutiiq people are largely Russian Orthodox, a religion brought over from Ukraine, and practice to this day. Ouzinkie has one of the oldest Russian Orthodox churches in America.

Children in the community have been taught traditional Alutiiq dances as a way to stay connected to their heritage. Wearing traditional headdresses and costumes, they performed several of these dances just for Griffin and I. It was really special.

When we arrived back at the house, Herman led us into the enormous and beautiful spruce forest to gather some natural ingredients for our supper. We gathered patrushkie to season the fish and rubbed yarrow on our bodies as a mosquito repellent.

Kelo is the amazing dog walking behind Herman.

When we returned, we gathered salmon berries to make a traditional Alutiiq (debatable Yup'ik) dessert called akutaq.

Herman's song to teach children in Alutiiq on his refrigerator.

After dinner, we went on a walk to Marmot Bay (Herman's backyard as he referred to it) and marveled at the beauty of Kodiak Island.

Herman's dog provided entertainment as we talked about the plants and wildlife of the area with such an amazingly knowledgeable and connected man.

When we returned to the house, Herman showed us his traditional banya (Russian bathhouse) complete with rocks to steam and natural roots to exfoliate with.

Then, we visited his traditional dry smoke house where he smokes salmon for 4-5 days. It smelled unbelievable.

DAY 3

Part of the agreement in staying with Herman was that we attend church with him in the morning. We woke up early, put on our Sunday best, and walked toward the beautiful historic church for a traditional Russian Orthodox church service. It was really amazing. The church was beautiful, filled with different medieval style paintings dating from no one knew when. The service was sung completely through by Herman and a small choir in English, Slavonic, and Alutiiq. Men and women were seperated to different sides of the church and the women generally had something lace or cloth covering their heads.

Before we left Ouzinkie, Herman pulled out a secret stash of his smoked salmon! It was amazing.

We said goodbye to new friends at the "airport" (a stretch of paved road) and headed back to Kodiak Island on a tiny plane for two more days of adventure.

We'll be heading home on Monday morning. It's more bittersweet than I could explain in this blog. Tomorrow Griffin has planned some grand romantic day in Halibut Cove (think Middle Earth + Endor x amazing) including kayaking, horse ranch visiting, and the classiest of dining. I'm pretty excited about tomorrow. I'm just pretty excited about life, really. This has been the best summer I've ever had.

Grace Ridge - 1, Us - 0

2010-08-03T21:35:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took our first backpacking trip on the Grace Ridge Trail in Kachemak Bay State Park. The trail is open during the warmer parts of the summer months because only then has enough snow melted to make it passable.

We read that some people made the 8.8 mile hike in a day. We decided to give ourselves 2 days and nights. In hindsight it seems like complete b.s. that people made this trek in a day.

DAY 1

We met up with our water taxi early on Saturday morning and picked up our rental kayak, which was left at the end of our trail. We made plans to spend 2 days hiking and one day relaxing and paddling.

From the water taxi we could see what awaited us across the bay. Grace Ridge is the mountain on the right. We climbed up and over that whole thing, all 3150 feet high.

Despite the lousy weather our trail began with high spirits as we soon found some delicious blueberries.

But the blueberries couldn't hold a candle to wild salmon berries!

They looked and tasted a lot like large raspberries.

Score!

The concern of bears was very real on Grace Ridge.
Luckily, we didn't have any bear encounters, however we came across lots of proof that they were not far off.

Within the first mile of the trail is an elevation increase of 15oo feet.

It was a rough first mile, but the view was so worth it.

The clouds couldn't fully hide the beauty of the mountains.

We saw lots of Mountain Lupine. After buying a book detailing the wildflowers of Alaska, we've become much more acquainted to the ridiculously beautiful flowers that 24 hours of sunlight will bring.

After three miles of heavily wooded switchbacks we began hiking at an even steeper elevation into the alpine region of our tour. Keep in mind we have all our supplies on our backs. That's about 50 pounds each between tents, stove, food, etc.

After hiking for another mile and another thousand feet, we stopped for a scenic photo

At one point during this part of the hike we glanced down a few hundred feet to see an eagle soaring. Looking down and seeing an eagle was something new for both of us.

After the first mile into the alpine region of the hike the trail became less obvious and more 'implied.'

With nothing else in front of us but huge ridges we carried on for another hour.

Around 6pm we decided to make camp. It had been a long and tiring day and we were hungry.
We made the wise decision of hitting up the bulk dehydrated soup section at the grocery store before heading out on our journey. We made the very unwise decision of purchasing vegetarian chili instead of any one of the many other dehydrated soups available.

While resting at our camp near the summit we were able to appreciate the toughness of all the plants that were able to live in such inhospitable conditions. These flowers, no larger than the size of you pinky fingernail, were everywhere. While they appear to be pretty and dainty they are tough. Really really tough.

Soon after dinner we settled down for what we hoped would be a solid night's sleep after a demanding day. I was slowly getting comfortable in our tent when the rain started. This is nothing too unexpected. Every time we go camping it rains. It's kind of the Murphy's Law of camping.
But then the wind came. As we were literally camping in the valley of a mountain ridge, our tent was situated in a crazy wind tunnel. The rustling of gusts blowing through our tent along with the tapping of rain kept us up all night. At points it seemed like our tent was going to fly off of the mountain top. There's also some terribly unsettling feeling about sleeping 2500 feet in the air. Your whole body seems very aware that you shouldn't be there. It was not fun.

DAY 2

The wind and rain did not let up by the morning. This made repacking everything, which was now soaked, quite the task. Still we managed to collect our belongings and make our way through the most challenging part of the 'trail.'

As I mentioned before, the trail was more 'implied' or totally non existent once we reached the higher altitudes. This didn't really pose too much of a challenge until our map blew away, along with my St. Louis Cardinals hat. The lowest ridge towards the bottom left was were me made camp. We started our day getting over one ridge to find another larger one waiting for us. This was not the best way to start the day. The photo below is a view backwards of the "easy" ridges.

There were points where there was not much space to walk on, maybe 18 inches surrounded by two sharp declines on either side. At times it felt like I was going to be knocked over by the power of the wind. It was scary. We did not get many photos of that section of the hike. It was during this time that the 60 - 70 mph winds threw Nicki into a rock and tore the cartilage connecting her ribs to her sternum. Luckily, she didn't feel much of this until the next day.

Here I am leaning into the wind

Where's the trail?

After loosing the trail for a few unnerving hours and a few exhausting miles we spotted it over a few ridges about a mile from where we were. We zagged when we should have zigged. Oops!
As we decreased in elevation the wind stopped pushing us around so much and we found a much needed water source which we filtered.

Before the alpine region gives way to the forested area there was this:

We were soon back in familiar (not scary) territory hiking down through the trees.

I heard a rustle in the trees and before I could grab my bear spray we saw this porcupine scrambling up a tree! It was the size of an enormous pig!

Our spirits were high as we hiked the last few miles down the trail, even though everything we wore/owned was wet.

Around 6pm we made it to the trailhead and found this campsite waiting for us. We quickly made a life affirming fire and began laying out our soaked belongings.

As we were settling in for the night, we realized that we had an alarming lack of water for the next two days. It was decided that we should set out on our kayak to a water source on a different part of the island. However, Nicki thought she was much stronger than she is and tried to carry the very heavy double kayak to the water. Once she dropped it and the kayak zoomed down the beach and was carried ten to twenty feet out into the water by the tide, I ran/swam after it wearing three layers, rain boots, my glasses, and a heavy raincoat. The water voyage was delayed until the next day.

DAY 3

After waking from a much more pleasant sleep, we set out for the water source and made breakfast with delicious hot chocolate. Then, we were off on our kayaking journey into Sadie Cove!

Radiolarian Chert

Majestic Eagle

We were very lucky to be out when we were. Something about the specific tide and the weather and the location where we were turned Sadie Cove into a jellyfish party. We passed HUNDREDS of jellyfish. They were all sorts of colors and sizes. There were so many that it was difficult to not hit them with our oars!

We stopped at a cove under Grace Ridge, enjoyed some tea from a thermos, and marveled at our accomplishment the day prior. Then, we spent the rest of our afternoon walking along the beach, studying the hundreds of jellyfish that the tide had brought to shore.

Responsible things.

2010-07-29T10:28:00.000-07:00

What an interesting title, right? I've been thinking that based solely on these blogs it would seem as though Griffin and I have just been playing around Alaska enjoying a footloose and fancy free vacation. This is true on the weekends. However, during the week we have both been putting in a hard 40 hours to finance our magical summer. I decided it was time for a blog on the job that brought us here and financed our trip. Sorry, I know this isn't as exciting as whales.

I work at the Pratt Museum. The Pratt Museum is one of THREE American Association of Museums accredited museums in ALL OF ALASKA. To put this in perspective, Illinois has 30-40 accredited museums (source: Jay Rounds). It's a wonderful little museum that shares the same problem that many Alaskan museums do; they are in possession of some of the most precious and quickly deterorating artifacts of the world and they have access to the fewest professionals to care for them. This is where I come in. My grant asks that I help the museum review their collections and help them organize their database and reassess the situation. I'm going to leave the description at this and not get into some of the nightmare-like dilemmas that have come up. (Okay, one example: the day I spent trying to identify the correct way to label six pairs of dentures belonging to a Homer homesteading family.)

While that is the bulk of my job here, I've also had other great opportunities. Next week, I'll be working along visiting curator Ron Senungetuk, "the father of Alaskan contemporary art", to install a new Alaskan native art exhibit. A few weeks ago I flew into Seldovia Bay on a tiny plane and hosted Culture Camp for several native children. It was pretty weird "teaching" the children about Alaskan peoples when they were clearly far more Alaskan than I would ever be. Alaskan children really have some special sense of wonder and appreciation for nature. They were all jumping in the water, climbing trees and rocks, and generally being completely free. The obsessive self-awareness that plagues our preteens and teenagers was hardly ever there.

Culture Camp location:

Dena'ina Athabascan and Alutiiq storytelling:

Artifact discovery!

We set up an archeological dig site for the kids that actually included different layers based on time periods. Each child had a tool kit and used proper procedure to excavate the area.

We were situated in a place where cave paintings by the Dena'ina had actually been found nearby. After taking a short walk to the cave where the paintings were (and nearly getting stuck there at high tide), we made paint out of natural pigments in the area. The most successful was made from a dark red rock that washes up naturally on the shores here and was actually used by natives. Then, we painted!

Alexis chose to use her face rather than the rock.

Tl'ungugh (Dena'ina Athabascan name for Seward)

2010-07-19T21:00:00.000-07:00

I'm beginning this post with three progressively closer shots of where we camped to show just how amazing our position was.

A small part of the Kenai Mountain Range:

Mount Marathon of the Kenai Mountain Range hovering over Seward (no photoshopping has been done for these brilliant colors):

Our camping spot in Seward looking across Resurrection Bay:

DAY II

Now that that's been taken care of, it's time to discuss day 2 and 3 of our weekend getaway. After our glacial nightcap, we slept pretty peacefully under the mountains. Since the summer solstice it's been getting progressively darker every night which made outdoors sleeping much easier. When we woke up, we headed to our boat to explore Resurrection Bay. The ride provided more fantastic scenery. There are around 30 glaciers surrounded by bright green mountains in the area which makes for a pretty surreal landscape.

We immediately saw five otters rafting together. We see otters pretty much daily but I promise they are not getting old.

Lots of our good friend, the tufted puffin.

We saw brief glimpses of a few humpback whales, including one that had an all white tail. This mom and calf were the closest.

Our next stop was an enormous glacier known for its massive beauty, Aialik.

I've included this photo because it provides a size estimate. In the lower left hand corner there is another boat. It's that tiny white shape under the foot of the mountain.

Aialik is calving (losing giant chunks of ice) at a rate of 8-20 feet a day. It took a few seconds for us to hear the sound of thunder and a few more for us to see a minivan-sized hunk of ice fall into the ocean. This continued for the entirety of the 15 minutes we were here.

On our way back everyone became very still and silent at the sight of this very identifiable black and white dorsal fin:

It was a freaking pod of ORCAS!!! I think we saw about 20 in total. Some came really close to the ship. They were beautiful and amazing and majestic. Our tour was actually late in returning because of the insane amount of orcas that we saw that day.

Minutes later, we came across a crazy humpback whale that was flipping his tail around and showing off for everyone. Here are three different parts of the whale's body. The only way that I can explain the massive size of the humpback is to repeat the captain in saying that its jawbone is as big as a bedroom wall.

Pectoral fin:

Dorsal fin:

Tail fin:

This is the other side of his tail. The markings are referred to as their "thumbprint".

After such a majestic day, we were beat and ready for some food and sleep. Griffin made a giant fire like a very tough man.

After a good look around at the scenery it was decided that the only reasonable thing to do would be to immerse ourselves in this high glacial content water under the mountains despite the 30 degree temperature.

When we got back to the fire, Griffin appeared to be steaming next to it because of the temperature difference.

I saw an otter out in the water late that night and walked to take a look. It played with me for a good quarter of a mile down the beach by popping its head up close to me and then diving under far away. I thought the photo Griffin attempted to take of the whole ordeal was about as surreal as the whole story.

DAY III

On the third day of our trip, we went for a short kayak. We took a stroll down the beach while we were waiting to load out, enjoying one of the most beautiful days we have seen. During this walk, Griffin found a pair of wraparound sunglasses in a bunch of seaweed that he is still talking about right now.

Before heading out into the ocean, we took a short walk to a lovely waterfall.

This day was a great example of Alaska weather because by the time we were in the kayaks the fog had set and the mountains became this:

We've decided that we don't mind the fog so much because often the mountains then appear to float over the ocean . . . which is pretty cool.

We saw a lot of little glacial waterfalls coming down the mountains on our kayak.

We received the best goodbye ever as we headed out of Seward and saw this little guy/lady posing alongside the road:

Look how close it was to the road!

Gone Fishin'

2010-07-19T16:21:00.000-07:00

While you were at Pitchfork we went fishing!

Homer is the Halibut capitol of the world.

After assessing all our options we decided taking a half day trip on a charter boat was our best option. They provide poles & bait and take you to hot spots. They also fillet what you catch. Each year homer has a derby to see who can catch the biggest halibut of the season. Last year's winner caught a fish weighing 354.6 lbs.

Until arriving in Homer I'd never seen a Halibut. My first reaction was "Man. that's an ugly fish" and that hasn't changed much. Their flat stretched out bodies are perfectly designed for resting on the bottom of the ocean. Both eyes are on the top side with skin camouflaged to blend in with the sea floor. Their other side is white, hiding them from predators in the event they swim upward. While big fish like the one above are great for trophys, "chickens" or halibut weighing 10-30 lbs are generally regarded as having the most delicious meat.

Before heading out we picked up our derby tickets and one day fishing licenses. As non-residents we are allotted a 2 halibut limit per day. We boarded our fishing vessel, along with about two dozen others for the two our ride out to the "chicken patch." When we arrived we picked up our rods, already fitted with bait and weights that would drag them down to the bottom of the ocean.

Literally seconds after my weight touch the bottom my pole began to bend with the weight a fish on the line.

Soon after Nicki felt the same pull on her line.

The halibut put up a heckuva fight, but in the end we were victorious.

Ahhh, sweet sweet victory

With the assistance of a deckhand my first fish was tagged and thrown in the storage compartment (after a strategically placed stab wound to put it out of it's misery). Again I let my hook sink to the bottom and once again I felt a bite within seconds. After a few minutes I had my second fish and fulfilled my limit.

Nicki caught two more, but threw them back because they were too small.
About 15 minutes after I caught my second she met her limit too.

We rode out for 2 hours to be done fishing in 20 minutes. While those 20 minutes were exhilerating, the following 45 were slightly less so.
We learned a very important lesson the hard way:

ALWAYS BRING BEER WHEN YOU GO FISHING.

After everyone had caught their limit and the boat headed back to the harbor. The deckhands spent this time filleting the day's catch. Here they are cutting up one that we had caught.

We returned home for a victory feast. First I had to skin each of the 8 fillets. I've been working at a fish & chips restaurant all summer, so I have become immune to how gross skinning and cutting fish can be.

Then we bagged it up. The bag by itself is just the cheek meat, which is exceptionally delicious.

No Ashley, you can't have my fish!

Mmmmmm, the sweet smell of victory

That night we dined on toasted broccoli with toasted garlic, steamed smashed potatoes with green onions, and baked halibut that was swimming around in the ocean a few hours beforehand.

Exit Glacier

2010-07-14T17:59:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we journeyed to Seward, AK to camp and visit Kenai Fjords National Park. Initially we had hoped to take the 8 hour hike up to see The Harding Ice Field, which feeds into over 40 different glaciers and is one of only 4 ice fields left in the US. After arriving in Seward and setting up at camp we realized that we only had time for the Exit Glacier Hike. This was no surprise considering my relative concept of time vs. Nicki's more reality based sense of time.

It's easy to lose track of time when it only gets dark for a few hours a day.

Our campsite was in the Seward City Campground, which was conveniently right on the beach. After pitching our tent we made the brief drive to Kenai Fjords National Park.

Here I am, wearing the 'dad pants.'

Near the beginning of the trail we saw this newly constructed building, created with the aide of money from the stimulus package.

As we began making our way up the Exit Glacier Trail we saw a few familiar sights, including some beautiful flowers. We purchased a flower guide in hopes of identifying them on our hike. Unfortunately the guide we purchased was only for flowers seen on the Seward Highway, as mentioned in very small print under the large print boasting "Alaska Flower Guide"

We saw lots of moose poop on our trail.

Before heading directly to the glacier we took the trail to the outwash plain. We were pleased to find a stream of glacial water and our first view of Exit Glacier.

We encountered a few friendly French people collecting glacial ice for their nightly Scotch and water. Conveniently we had a little bit of whiskey back at our camp and decided to follow in suit, stowing them in our thermos.

I found one piece with a dip large enough to function as a cup

We were a little thirsty, so we had a quick sip of glacial water.

As we continued on, we passed signs marking when and where Exit had been in the past. The further we went the more apparent it was that this glacier is melting terribly fast, especially within the last 100 years.

We soon arrived at the end of the trail, which drops you off at the closest you can safely get to the glacier. In years past people were allowed to walk up and touch the glacier.

Hopefully you can appreciate just how enormous it is judging by the relative size of the rope and placard.

EXTREME CLOSEUP!!!

Glaciers give off this beautiful blue color because all other colors of the visible light spectrum are absorbed by the ice. As it ages it becomes more pure, melting and reforming, which eliminates air bubbles that would otherwise reflect white light.

After being in awe of the glaciers enormity and majesty, we decided to hike up the first portion on the Harding Ice Field trial. We hiked for about an hour and took an enjoyable rest at this stream crossing.

We made it back down to our camp around 9pm and made dinner of fresh Halibut, asperagus, and potatoes in a dutch oven.

As the sun went down around 1am we enjoyed a nightcap of Jim Beam and glacial ice.

America's Birthday.

2010-07-05T21:30:00.000-07:00

As previously mentioned, we went across the bay to Seldovia Village for our 4th of July. The town consists of one main dirt road, a decaying Russian Orthodox church, a few local art studios, and a ridiculous amount of beautiful scenery. The weirdness of a village of 300 people generally cut off from the rest of the world and their way of celebrating is the real appeal of Independence Day celebrations in Seldovia. It never gets dark enough for fireworks this time of the year so people have to get creative. The festivities for the day included an egg toss (which we sadly missed), a fish toss (which we sadly did not miss), wood carving, canoe jousting (our personal highlight), log rolling, and other fantastic things. I'll let the photos speak for themselves but it was a fantastic day in bizarro world that we left cold, wet, and full of St. Louis pride.

This baby seagull we saw before we left was too adorable to not be included.

Seldovia Village.

THE road.

Chainsaw carving. Everyone in town was a professional at this. Double click to see the awesome fish scene.

Bad "otter" puns were rampant here. Griffin was in heaven.

Our strategy for the fish toss was to combat the slippery of the fish with dirt. Here I am preparing my new friend.

We lost pretty early on. Dead fish weight is tricky! (We are so freakin' photogenic.)

After some street food, local art browsing, and scenery appreciating, we headed to canoe jousting. Minutes before the event was to begin a call for one last team was put out and we rose to the challenge! Griffin and I have kayaked before but neither of us have canoed. We were competing against some very competitive people that grew up in canoes, all of which were prepared with full body wetsuits and swimsuits. Some lady braided my hair, we took off our jackets, and conjured our warrior spirits.

This photo of us preparing for battle is mostly for scenery context.

Here's Griffin ready to attack as I paddle us into battle!

Griffin got knocked into the water after a few valiant seconds.

THEN, Griffin grabbed the boat, launched himself inside, and flipped the whole thing over so that I could join him in the icy ocean. It looks like I'm kicking him in the head in this action shot of that wonderful moment.

The graceful rescue. (Getting back into a tipped over canoe is nearly impossible.)

So, we lost. Cold, wet, and uncomfortable in our jeans and my very white t-shirt, we returned to shore. Upon arrival the announcer let the 1000+ people watching know of our inexperience and our hometown of St. Louis. Everyone cheered for us and I felt like we represented the Lou pretty hard that day.

After acquiring a hot toddy from the one bar in town, we quickly boarded our ferry and returned to Homer. We haven't bought red meat from the grocery store in over six months now but gave in for the occasion. Ribs, beans, and beer with friends was to be our crowning 4th of July treat. We should have known that no ribs compare to our Midwest ribs luxury. The 4th was a lot of fun but contained a lot of reminders of home.

Gettin' Glacial

2010-06-28T14:58:00.001-07:00

We took a hike/kayak trip on Saturday that was absolutely mindblowing. The photos have to be split up between the hiking portion and kayaking portion for your mental safety. Thus, here is the hiking part of our day:

(Note: The photos look like crap on here. The only way to see them correctly is double click on the ones you are interested in. It's very annoying but we don't know how to fix it.)

The hiking portion of our day was a hike to Greuwingk Glacier. We started off early in the morning and took a water taxi across the bay to the trailhead. On the ride over we saw this adorable family of otters. The pup is trying to sleep on its mother's belly.

...and this majestic eagle

This sign greeted us at the head of Glacier Spit trail
If a bear ****s in the woods...

they will probably do it on your hiking trail.
We saw a lot of bear and moose poop.
It didn't seem prudent to photograph,
but there was a lot of it.

We saw lots of beautiful flowers, kind of a running theme here.

I included this photo because I thought the eerie terrain was worth noting. You are walking through the middle of dense forest and then all of a sudden it's a sparsely vegetated area. This is because the glacier has melted so recently that things haven't had the time to grow. All of those rocks were left by the glacier, also.

There it is! Every several minutes the glacier would shift and sound like thunder. We didn't see it calve (when a piece falls off) but it was audibly melting.

A small lake of glacial water

I was able to fish out a relatively small piece of ice.

There were a lot of rocks with glacial striations
, marking the different levels of natural happenings in the area. Volcanic ash accounts for a lot of the striations in this glacier.

Glacier flowers:

(If this blog seems schizophrenic it's because we both wrote it.)

Yukon Island Kayaking

2010-06-28T12:59:00.002-07:00

When we reached the end of our hike we were greeted by the beautiful scene below. It was still early and the misty day created a surreal atmosphere for our adventure.

We took a boat to Yukon Island, an area known to harbor lots of beautiful scenery and wildlife. On the way there a magical thing happened! Griffin spotted a floating wine bottle near Gull Island. The kind lady driving the water taxi made a U-turn so that we could grab it on the off chance that there was a message inside and there was! Look how happy he is.

Inside was a dollar bill and a phone number. We called the number and recieved the confused brother of he who owned the bottle. Moments later, I spotted another bottle several hundred feet away! This bottle contained a child's handwriting, reading "Free role at Bread House" and a phone number. We have no idea where this Bread House is but we are planning on finding out.

This is where we launched our canoes from Yukon Island.

Griffin was particularly interested in the outhouse. There's a noticeable lack of flushing toilets in many areas of the Kenai Peninsula, especially on the opposite side of the bay. I promise you that getting creative with the aesthetics of the outhouse doesn't change the fact that it's an outhouse.

Finally, we took off on a double kayak into the open ocean! (Side note: Using a double kayak was really for the best considering that the last time we went kayaking Griffin ended up completely immersed in water. [Super side note: This is still really funny to me.])

The photo below is of an old sleepy man otter. They cover their face with their hands to keep warm and it is the most adorable thing you can imagine. Look how close I am to the otter. We ended up within arms reach of this otter from the kayak!

I could've taken a million photos of the rock formations. The rock layers are a phenomenon that happens around here known as "salacious chert". Each layer is a specific microorganism that evolved through specific environmental conditions and died out when they changed. Think about that and look at how many layers there are in this small small section of the rock.

This is Elephant Rock.

This is us kayaking through Elephant Rock!

Here's an eagle friend on top.

This is the point in the trip where I nearly pissed our double kayak right onto Griffin's back. We kayaked into a small cove and were surrounded by jellyfish. I wish I could remember the type of jellyfish they were. It has the word "fire" in it. I can't even describe how amazing they were. Every shade of orange, red, and yellow was in one of these streaming undulating creatures. Of course, the water prevented a good photo of them.

A little cave we went into.

Finally, a photo of Griffin and the beautiful scenery. If anyone can get him to shave that beard, I'll bring you an otter home in my bag.

We're getting geared up for a pretty exciting 4th of July. Apparently, the local festivities include things like "canoe jousting" and "greased totem pole climbing". Unfortunately, fireworks are less effective when it never gets dark so that will be missing from our holiday. We miss everyone terribly at home and wish we could spend the holiday together! Someone light a sparkler with us in mind.

Sailboat Racing!

2010-06-28T12:22:00.000-07:00

A pal invited us to help crew his sailboat for a sailboat race on Saturday. Griffin and I have zero knowledge of sailboat racing but he was a wonderful teacher and we finished 9th out of 11. Most of the day was just enjoying the scenery and the gentle rocking of the boat. Race seems like an inappropriate word for how laid back the whole ordeal was. As if the day wasn't lovely enough, when we arrived back at the harbor we were greeted by a keg of the local brewery's beer!

Our boat: Nereus, god of the Nyriads (water nymphs, if my Greek mythology is correct).

It was a cloudy day so you can't really see the mountains in the background.

Not our boat but certainly photoworthy.

As Requested by Drew *

2010-06-17T16:25:00.000-07:00

Down the street from us is a small clinic.

It looks like a house but really, it's a clinic
(look closely in the blurry spot)

We pass it every day. The other day Nicki spotted some patients eager to get an appointment.

I got home from work that night around 11pm and guess who was still in the neighborhood.

(This is how dark it is at 11pm)

Then this morning I cam back from taking Nicki to the museum to find McGee standing at attention, making the sad Chewbacca noise he makes when he sees other animals outside.

That red Blazer is on loan to us for the summer. This photo was taken from our front deck.

Considering conditions in St. Louis I feel I should note that it is currently sunny & 53 degrees in Homer and feels like 53 because there is no humidity.

* Drew's last name is Mossman and I thought I made a GREAT pun calling him Andrew MOOSEman when he asked for more moose photos, but then I saw this

Gull Island, Peterson Bay, and China Poot Bay.

2010-06-05T13:49:00.000-07:00

Let me begin this entry by saying "OTTERS!" We went on another trip across the bay yesterday and had our first close encounters with the adorable kind. I've seen several otters splashing around in the bay from afar but yesterday we saw two within jumping distance. They were spinning around and eating off of their bellies and being doggone adorable.

Our destination across the waters was The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies at Peterson Bay. This is apparently THE place to go for hiking, tide pooling, native archaeological sites, and awesome nature in general.

On the way there we circled Gull Island, a small island known for holding a crazy amount of rare birds.

Unfortunately, the birds were not quite as crazy as usual because this guy below (a teenage eagle) was hanging out.

We still saw these red-faced things that are apparently a once in a lifetime sight.

A puffin.
This group of rocks is called Otter Rocks because it looks so much like an otter on its back floating in the water.
We went on a hike through the mountains in what is apparently a temperate rainforest, which I didn't even know existed. It was an awesome nature overload. I've never been so consistently mesmerized by plants.

Here's some of the crazy fungus. (We were thinking of you the whole time, Ms. Schippers.)

A Venus Fly Trap-style plant.
Design left on tree by the Birch Bark Beetle.

Some trees this beetle destroyed, leaving us a beautiful mountain view.

The photo below is of a "ghost forest". After the Good Friday Earthquake, this circle of earth sank 10 feet and absorbed a ton of salt water from tsunami waves that killed all of the trees while pickling and preserving them from decay.

And, of course, Griffin wanted to document our snacks. This is elk jerky.

And caribou pepperoni.

Then, we went tidepooling at China Poot Bay. This might have been the most amazing thing I've ever done. Starfish, sea cucumbers, anemones, crabs . . . we saw so many amazing things.

Secret Garden-style entry to China Poot.

A chiton.

Sea star eating a chiton. It spit the shell out a moment later.
I took three photos of this, one further away and two of the actual tide pool, to show how the tide pools are just hidden in pools of water under rocks. This one was the most amazing. I strongly suggest double clicking on these photos.

Jellyfish!

Sea stars hold on to rocks with insane force.

This eagle and moose thing has to be addressed. I am certain that we will stop posting photos of moose and eagles after this week because we see them so often. We have seen ten moose since we got here eleven days ago. I can't even tell you how many bald eagles we've seen. There are bald eagles on top of light posts everywhere. As uncharacteristic as it is of me to say, I've never felt so patriotic as when I look up at those majestic creatures.

To Halibut Cove

2010-05-30T15:51:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we visited the magical Halibut Cove across the bay for an art gallery opening.

Halibut Cove is that tiny speckle of white dots hidden in the mountains to the right of the boat.

It's a real life ewok village for people! The entire town consists completely of small buildings on a boardwalk system in this hidden cove.
This is the art gallery, situated in this fantasy land with mountains in the backdrop.

The snacks were so ridiculous they have to be included. Here's elk-filled mushrooms.

Quiche with microgreens.

Focaccia with red wine sauteed onions and goat cheese.

Halibut and cilantro.

Strawberry and custard on a sweet cracker thing.

Coconut chocolate deliciousness

Another view of this ridiculous place.

Obligatory beautiful emo beach photo.

Each one of those white dots is the beginning of a mussel

There was also a beautiful horseranch in between the boardwalks.

No amount of photos can sufficiently display the beauty and magic of Halibut Cove.

In other news:

Today is one week since Nicki touched a cigarette.
It's been three and a half weeks since I shaved.
After a week to mull over the finale of LOST I am still satisfied with how it ended.
Aside from out two awesome human roommates, Ryan & Skippy, we share a roof with 2 dogs and 2 cats. After four days I am sold on getting a dog (eventually)

From Anchorage to Homer.

2010-05-27T20:22:00.001-07:00

This moose was running down the road next to us! It was one of three we saw on the way.

That jut of land below is Homer, our new home.

Bald eagles are everywhere. This is one of five or six we saw as we arrived in Homer.

We're in Homer now at the place we'll be living. Everything is unbelievably beautiful. I walked to work this morning and nearly ran into many things because of the mountain view.

Other cool things:

My first project at work includes an oral history of homesteading from the ancestors of Jewel, the famous Alaskan singer.
I haven't had a cigarette since I left St. Louis.
Griffin's beard looks fabulous.
We're surrounded by three active volcanoes.
We live with the two most amazing dogs and two cool ass cats. (Of course, the cats don't compare to George.)
I just found out today that otters hang out right by the shore a mile away!
No permits are required to carry and conceal guns.

From St. Louis to Anchorage.

2010-05-27T00:46:00.000-07:00

The airline overbooked one of our flights, so we volunteered to take a later flight. In exchange we received free dinner at SEATAC, some travel vouchers, and bumped up to first class from Seattle to Anchorage. Here is the first class snack tray, which came with a bottomless glass of wine.

Our first view of Alaska. This is at midnight.

Warning sign on Coastal Trail

Anchorage

Reindeer Sausage

Glacier Brewhouse Sampler

Good Beers

Great Label

After the Glacier BrewHouse we headed to
Snow Goose Restaurant & Sleeping Lady Brewing Co.
We started with another sampler.

(taste testing done outside in the shadow of mountains)

All this beer made us hungry. I got a Caribou burger. It was denser than beef but not as chewy as bison and certainly worth eating again. Being covered in melted swiss and caramelized onions didn't hurt.

Nicki swears this Alaskan salmon from Anchorage may has ruined her from

eating salmon from the Midwest ever again.