Auk Rec Area - One of my favorites

The Auk Recreation area has always been one of my favorite places to visit for taking a walk or just being out in the elements. There is always something interesting to see there and you usually don't need special equipment (snowshoes or microcleats) to get to the beach. This was this taken this past weekend.

On one of our first walks here after moving to Juneau, there were people with scuba gear entering the water. Apparently there are a couple of submerged vessels that you can explore and is considered a great place for beginner divers.

having some fun with panorama's

The beach is rocky. It isn't very easy to walk on. But if you don't want to walk on the beach then there is a pathway through the forest which is well packed.

Last summer the forest service chopped down some very big trees and left the rounds.

I like to go here for salmon berries in late July-August, although I think a lot of other people also like to pick here so you have to have pretty good timing.

Also last fall you can see interesting lifeforms taking nourishment from the surroundings.

Squirrel Stash

or

You can walk out to Point Louisa and look out over the beginnings of Lynn Canal. On a really clear day you can see over to Admiralty Island. This weekend we had some cloud cover.

Thanks for bearing with my obsession with panoramas!

Where were you when you heard Palin resigned?

We were out at Auke Rec enjoying the start of the 4th of July weekend at the beach. Claudia sent Tim a text message but we didn't have very good cell phone covereage where we were so we didn't get any of the details until we got back to the house.

What a shocker! Of course there is lots of speculation about the real reasons but I doubt that we will ever know for sure!

We watched three ferrys come in to Auke Bay while we had a picnic lunch, sitting in our beach chairs, soaking up the sun. We listened to the kids laughing as they waded in the cool water, the powerboat making big circles pulling wakeboards, and the crazy crows dropping mussels from the sky in hope of getting a tasty morsel for their lunch. They weren't getting any of ours!

Weekend fun

Auke Bay is home to a lot of Harlequin Ducks - here's a group of males looking beautiful in their prime breeding colors.


Look closely - these are not harbor seals or sea lions - these are scuba divers!


We've been using the grill all winter long and one of our favorite Spring items to put on the grill is fresh asparagus. We received asparagus in our weekly food box. The stocks were pretty fat but they looked really fresh. We drizzled them in a little olive oil and added on a sprinkle of sea salt. We've had this prepared for us by Zac in the past but couldn't remember how long he left it on the grill. We decided to shoot for 3-5 minutes since they were so thick. I'd say that the base of these asparagus was about the size of a dime. I meant to get a picture but they were so good that they were snapped up quickly. By the way, the only way to eat grilled asparagus is to pick it up with your fingers and eat it like a breadstick. They just don't taste as good if you use a fork.

Winter Scenes from Auke Rec Area

There are several places we go when the sun is out to take full advantage of the clear skies and radiant heat from the sun. One of those places is Auke Rec Area. Its a lovely rocky/sandy beach which faces mostly south. If the wind gets really wicked, there's a pathway through the trees you can take. Mostly we walk on the beach, looking for interesting shells, pieces of sea glass, starfish and other marine life.

Here a small stream flows towards the waters edge, ice sickles forming on the leaves of a long ago expired plant.

Icy fingers reaching for the warmth of the cool unfrozen water.

Lovely Fall Weekend

We had a beautiful weekend down here. Its always pretty clear when the wind blows down from the North. I like to think that my family and friends from up north are sending their greetings to me, and sharing the clear skies that they often enjoy.

It also seems like the temperature seems to dip down (maybe by 10°) so its also a reminder of what I'm missing! Brrrr :)

We spend the weekend hiking. We're working our way through the 90 short trails of Juneau. We've been doing pretty good and have completed most of the longer ones. There are several listed in the book that are pretty short and/or tell you how to gain beach access. On Saturday we hit about 5 of these spots. Mostly for selfish reasons, but it gave up the opportunity to feel a sense of accomplishment when we got to tick off all five in one day! Whew, certainly deserved a beer after all that walking!

Amalga Harbor Salt Chuck and Earnest Gruening Historical State Park
(two tick marks for the driving of one!)

We've seen people out here fishing and thought it might be a good spot for dollys and trout but haven't made the first cast yet. The water originates in Peterson Creek. We'll have to come back next spring with our fly rods. The trail book says that when there is snow and the slough freezes over it makes for great skiing and you can actually sky over the another trail and end up at Boy Scout Beach.

At the mouth of the salt chuck, where the water flows into Eagle Harbor, you can see the below pictured rock outcropping at low tide. I was really surprised at how steep the waterfall was. We'll have to go back during a high tide to get a contrasting picture. Its called a reverse waterfall because at high tide the incoming water covers the rocks and the water flows the opposite direction. We know that salmon, dollys, and trout come through. At low tide this will make a good picnic spot! and if it had been about 50 degrees water there were several inviting pools that would be a good cooling off spot.


At this little point of land (I think its called Eagle Rock), Ernest Gruening's family built a large cabin and used it as a vacation home. The house isn't open to the public but it did look like someone was living there - at least part of the time. A short trail system takes you down to the falls. There's a great picture of Gruening and another guy going down the falls in a canoe. It looked like fun!

Auke Rec Area
It was a lovely evening and we had forgotten to eat our lunch so we stopped at Auke Rec to have a snack before heading home to make dinner. This is also where the video was taken.