Anchorage—July 11-18

On my return to Anchorage from Kodiak yesterday I had to go back to Eklutna Lake where I had left my trailer while on my trip.  I hooked up and headed to Fred Meyers in Eagle River where I was able to dump and fill up with water.  On the morning of the 11^th I headed to the ABC Trailer Repair where I dropped the trailer for them to repair the awning.  Then I headed to get my oil changed.  At Jiffy Lube they gave me the sales pitch that my differential oil need changing in both the front and rear.  I have never in all my years had the oil in a differential changed especially at 18000 miles!  I looked in my owner’s manual and it said that it should be changed at 100,000 miles.  Then they found some other oil that needed changing and I finally said—“Just change the damn oil”.  Finally, they finished and I had a call from Brian that they were at the airport.  So I headed to the airport to pick up Brian, Elizabeth, Colton and Carter and we headed to Snow City Café for breakfast.  I had made reservations so we had only a short wait.  After breakfast I took Elizabeth and Colton to the theater to see a movie and Brian, Carter and I went to pick up my trailer and take it to Cabela’s where I intended to park for the next three days.  By the time that was done it was time to pick up Elizabeth and Colton and we then went to Mooses’ Tooth for an early lunch before they had to be at the airport for a 4 o’clock flight.  After dropping them off I went to Puffin Inn and checked in the hotel.  My daughter Portia and her husband Tony and the two grandchildren—Amber and Bronson—were coming in on the 12:30 AM flight form Austin for the week.  I left instructions at the desk to give them the keys and I headed back to the trailer for a bit of rest.  I did not plan on seeing Portia and family until around 10:00 on Tuesday to give them some time to rest after the long and late arriving flight.

Tuesday morning, I picked Portia up while the others slept and we went to Fred Meyers for her to shop for some food for their stay.  The hotel has a refrigerator.  We picked up the rest of the group and headed to WeeB’s for lunch before heading up to Flat Top to see the amazing view of Anchorage, Cook Inlet, Turnigan Arm and, today, we could clearly see Denali (Mt. McKinley) from there.  In fact, the entire week that they visited we had incredible weather for Anchorage and the surrounding area.  Temperatures in the 70’s, sunny and just beautiful.  We also visited Westchester Lagoon and the Tony Knowles trail along Cook Inlet.  After that I took them back to the hotel so they could catch up on their rest for Wednesday.

While they were here we visited the Portage Glacier, the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Association facility at the end of Turnigan Arm, Potter’s Marsh, Eklutna Lake, Eagle River Nature Center, Mirror Lake and on Saturday drove to Seward where we spend a beautiful day in Resurrection Bay and the Kenai Fjord NWR.  During this outing we saw humpback whales, puffins, gulls, sea lions, sea otters and got to get up close to Holgate Glacier to observe this tidewater glacier calve into the ocean.  We were joined on this trip by my new friends Mike and Terri Church and everyone had a wonderful time in this amazingly beautiful place on a spectacular clear, warm day.  In addition, we were lucky to have as our ship Captain, Tanya and her mate Tammy who were awesome.  Tanya has been my sea Captain the last two years with the TOS group.  Then after supper at Salmon Bake in Seward we drove back to Anchorage getting home about 1 AM.

On the final day we just met and they wanted to go to Best Buy and the Dimond Mall.  They had learned that there is no sales tax in Anchorage and the prices for what they wanted in Anchorage at Best Buy were the same as in Austin so they took advantage of the opportunity.  While there I purchased a waterproof camera to carry in my new kayak which I recently purchased here in Anchorage.  In the afternoon I dropped them off in downtown Anchorage where they wanted to do some trinket shopping and I headed to get my trailer, do some grocery shopping and then about 4 on Monday, a day ahead of my planed departure, I headed for Whitehorse.

It was good have Portia and family here and show them some of the beauty of Alaska and they were truly impressed it all.

Kodiak—July 5-10

To say the least, I have been remiss in keeping up with my blog, however, I plead family as my only defense.  On Tuesday, July 5, Dulce (her maiden voyage in an airplane) and I boarded an Alaska Airlines flight to Kodiak.  The flight was totally booked because many of the passengers had made this same flight over to the island this morning only to have to fly back because they could not land due to inclement conditions.  This is not an unusual situation when flying to many places in Alaska.  The afternoon light was able to make the landing and Brian (my son-in-law), Colton (grandson) and two of their friends, Steven and Betsy Post, were there to greet me.  Stephen and Betsy were scheduled to leave on a later flight.  We then drove up a local mountain for a majestic view of Kodiak harbor down below.  The weather was overcast and fog lingered in the distance.  This was an incredible view and it was made even more dramatic by the light drizzle which is very characteristic of daily life on Kodiak.  After a quick stop for dinner, we returned to the airport and said good-bye to Stephen and Betsy. We then departed for the 45-minute drive out to the Still cabin on Pasashak Bay. Brian’s parents, Barry and Karen, were there to greet me.  I had come a couple of days early at their request to have a chance to see them as they would be leaving on the morning of the 7^th.  Barry had a building project going.  They were adding a shed to one that already existed to house his newly acquired Yamaha Ranger and to provide additional space to store two more 4 wheelers that Brian is planning to get for there.  At this remote cove, the small community is nestled in a large valley surrounded by some rugged mountains.  From the cabin windows I was able to observe black-tailed deer high above and I believe a grizzly bear although I did not confirm that sighting.  From the deck I did observe all three scoters—black, surf and white-winged.  I also had two gulls—glaucous and mew, Harlequin Ducks, and Pigeon Guillemot.  The area has many Bald Eagles, which were a concern of mine for Dulce’s safety, several Northwestern Crow, and the predominate bird species was Savannah Sparrows which were singing everywhere.  I also observed several Lesser Yellowlegs, Spotted Sandpiper, Semipalmated Plover, lots of America Robin, a single Solitary Sandpiper and several Least Sandpiper.  This was about the extent of the bird life I found in the area around the cabin.

Brian and his dad were anxious to get their project completed before they left, so they worked on it while Karen, his sister Elizabeth and I entertained Colton and Carter.  Carter was easy to take care of by letting him play in the Ranger or on a 4 wheeler and it became standard practice for me to take him for a ride in the Ranger to put him to sleep.  If I got him in the Ranger, rolled up the windows and let it get warm while I drove slowly he would soon be out.  This became a daily practice while I was there.  Colton on the other hand was entertained by Elizabeth and Karen while she was there playing board games or chicken foot.  He never wanted to quit.  The weather was overcast and rainy for the first and second day and then we had two very warm, sunny days, followed by another rainy day, and the final day there was another beautiful sunny day.  After Barry left, Brian continued to work on the shed and by the time I left he had completely weathered it in.  This was important because Barry would not be back to the cabin until sometime in September and they wanted to have protection for their equipment form the severe weather which I am told can have winds up to 130 miles per hour in gust. 

On the final day I was there Brian, myself and the boys drove the only other road on the island to the end of it.  This was the road I had driven back in 1998 when Ermine and I had taken the ferry from Homer to Kodiak and returned the following night.  While there on that visit, Ermine took a flight over to the mainland where she was able to view the Kodiak Bears feeding on Salmon and I rented a car and drove the roads of the island.  On that drive I came upon a bay that was filled with an estimated 2000 Harlequin Ducks, all male, who gather to migrate together.  This time they were not present but we did find American Robin, Bald Eagle, Yellow and Wilson’s Warbler, and a singing Golden-crowned Sparrow.  On our way home we gathered and ate many ripening Salmon Berries, a local tradition.  Later that afternoon Dulce and I caught our flight back to the mainland.  Kodiak is a very lush and beautiful island covered in magnificent Sitka Spruce, various popular species and alder bush.   Locals call it the Emerald Island and I can certainly see why.  I have visited Adak way out the Aleutian Chain and Saint Lawrence Island just 50 miles from Siberia and I can say they are devoid of trees and are primarily tundra and alder landscape.  

Eklutna Lake—July 2-4

On Sunday the 2^nd Michelle and I birded the Twin Peaks Trail at Eklutna.  This is a very steep hike and there were not many birds, mainly yellow-rumps, varied thrush and some black-capped chickadees.  After covering a portion of the trail we decided to turn back for lack of action and try the lake shore edge again.  About the only thing new we encountered along the lake were a few Savannah Sparrows, Spotted Sandpiper and a Belted Kingfisher.  We were very disappointed our immature suspected goldeneye was no longer in the small pond where we spotted it a few days ago. What did surprise me was a group of teenagers heading to a small swimming hole nearby.  I can’t imagine going swimming here.  It was in the upper 50s and the water is very cold.  The water is so cold in the lake that many people who have turned over in the kayaks or canoes have died of hypothermia.  Oh, well, if you are from here there probably is no good time to go swimming.   I returned in time for lunch, built a small campfire in the late afternoon and was once again visited by Asher and Journey, Michelle’s children.  Actually they didn’t come to visit me but to visit and hold Dulce.   Journey (the young girl) is particularly taken by Dulce.  She sat for a good hour with her in her lap.  I think Dulce likes this. 

Today is the 4^th of July and it is time for me to get packed and ready to head to Kodiak tomorrow to be with all the Still’s.  I’m looking forward to spending some time with Colton and Carter (two of my grandsons).  I understand that Colton was so excited about coming to Alaska that he packed his suitcase a week in advance.  I have seen some pictures on Facebook of him fishing and I understand he visited the Seal training camp in Kodiak and scaled the 50-foot vertical wall by himself.  So tomorrow afternoon I will be flying to Kodiak for 6 days.  Today has been spent mainly in getting things together for the trip and packing up camp for a departure in the morning.  I have made arrangements to leave the trailer nearby for the time I’m gone and will come back get it, and take it to Anchorage on Monday morning when I return to have the awning fixed.  That will complete all the repairs and on that same day my daughter and her husband and two more grandchildren will be joining me for a week before I begin to head back to Texas.  The next blog will come from Kodiak.[JH1] 

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 [JH1]

Eklutna Lake—June 29-July 2

Wednesday the 29^th was the morning I had decided to take the pickup to the car wash and start the process of cleaning it up.  So I headed to Peter’s Creek nearby where I had notice a car wash on my way into Anchorage.   I sent about an hour there washing and vacuuming the truck before heading back to the campsite.  Upon arrival at the camp I set out with rag and spray cleaner to remove the great number of kamikaze bugs that dotted the entire front end of the vehicle.  Six thousand miles of bugs takes a bit of time to get off, but in the end “mission accomplished”.  In addition, I went over the rest of the vehicle and removed the dirt which the wash had failed to remove and then turned to doing the inside.  It was a very nice day to do this because the sun was out and the temperature was in the low 70s.  After a shower, I headed into Anchorage to pick up Mike and Terri Church, my new friends who were going to attend the Whale Fat Follies with me this evening.  Before the show we had dinner at one of the old time favorites places in Anchorage.  Both Mike and Terri were one time residents of Anchorage, that is where they met.  Then on to the show.  I cannot tell anyone how much I enjoy going to this spoof on Alaska and politicians.  I have attended this show at least 6 times in the past and look forward to seeing it each year.  It is so fast moving and well done that I highly recommend anyone attending if in Anchorage.  So, with and aching side from laughing, we headed back to camp after the show.  By the time I got back to the trailer the rain had set in.

Every time I woke up during the night I could hear the rain, pretty heavy by Alaska standards, beating down on the room.  The rain continued throughout the night and well into the afternoon.  So I took advantage of the time to head into Anchorage to get the part for my awning that I had been notified was ready to pick up.  Later that afternoon I tried to put the new gas strut on the awning even recruiting the new camp host friend Keith to help me.  We worked about an hour trying to figure out how to make the installation, but we were not successful.  So the next step is to set up an appointment to get the local dealer to install it.  Just another small frustration.  Later Mike and Terri showed up at the camp to visit.  After a very nice visit they invited me to dinner and we headed into Eagle River for pizza at a locally popular restaurant.  While at dinner White Keys called and we arranged to meet in the morning at Fred Meyers for a birding day.  Then back to the trailer

While at the follies I visited with White Keys (he is a birder and president of the local Audubon) about going birding on Friday.  When I awoke it was raining, but Michele and I were planning on birding with and we headed out in the rain in our rain gear.  One thing about rain in Alaska as it often doesn’t last long or rain hard.  We had a text from White Keys that he was going to stay in and will keep in touch and meet us later.  So Michele and I headed to Hillside Park in Anchorage to do some birding.  She is new to birding but very interested.  At Hillside we were greeted as we got out of the car (and the rain had stopped) by a fly in Varied Thrush who was singing from atop a Spruce right above us.  As we wandered around the trails in the park we were able to find Black-capped & Boreal Chickadee, Yellow-rump Warbler, Golden-crown and Ruby-crown Kinglet, a Pine Siskin, and Red-breasted Nuthatch.  While birding we got another text from White Keys and we agreed to meet at Potter’s Marsh shortly.  Once there the three of us did the boardwalk.  We found a nice group of Short-billed Dowitchers, Green-wing Teal, Lesser Yellowlegs, Tree Swallow, of course Mew Gull and we did locate the unusual Short-eared Owl that is being see here this year.  In addition, we added Sandhill Crane, Lincoln’s Sparrow and Yellow rumps to the list.  We spent some time watching the eagle nest at the end of the boardwalk and observed the parent Bald Eagles bring food to their young—a couple of fish and a small mammal.  We also had good looks at Muskrat out of the water which is rather unusual.  Then we proceeded to the Old Seward Highway to try and find a life bird for Michele—Northern Waterthrush.  As we stepped from the car one flew into the tree adjacent to our car and started singing.  So, today she added 3 new life birds, the waterthrush, the owl and the golden-crowned kinglet.  On the way home she informed me that she now has 301 life birds—she is an avid Ebird listser.