West Glacier Trail 09

We had a nice walk on the West Glacier Trail. As we started out it started to rain but we were prepared for it. By the time we got done with the 5-mile hike it was pouring and we were very wet. Its always nice to get back to the nice, dry car and shed the sticky layers.

The first part of this trail would be a great little bike ride but it quickly starts uphill with switch backs and some boulder climbing. We have seen bikers on the upper trail but I'm just not that good of a mountain biker to attempt it.


Of course when it is cloudy you the blue of the old ice really shows better.


We haven't been up here for a couple of years but you can definitely seen the glacier mass decreasing in just that short time.

September 2009:


August 2007: (Boy that was a nice day!)


You definitely get a different view of the glacier from this side – here is Nugget Falls and the Visitor's Center from across the lake.


The trail – the rain had steadily gotten worse since we started out and the trail became a small creek bed!

Granite Creek

We made it to Granite Creek before the snow started flying - its been on our list ever since we made our first attempt a couple years ago but had to turn around due to snow cover over a steep ridge - and us without our ice picks (or whatever you call them).

It was a warm out and the clouds deceived us into wearing long pants. It was very windy along the first part of the trail around the "horn" on Perserverance Trail - at one point it was a bit much and you had to really lean into it! We got pelted with little stones from the cut bank.

But it was all worth it. There were so many people out and about on the trail - we didn't go more then a few minutes without passing some coming in or going out. Looking back towards the basin – I think this is Icy Gulch.




When we got to the turn-off for Granite Creek we met a group of people who said there was a large group of sheep on the ridge. We counted at least 25 – look at all the white streaks!

Oct COASST Survey/Fishing adventure

We had a beautiful weekend bird survey this month and celebrated our one-year anniversary of not finding any dead birds! YEAH! On this adventure, friends David and Kristy joined us on our quest.

In celebration, we decided to extend our stay on the beach and do a little casting. I would say fishing, but both Tim and David checked the regulations to see how many we could keep (6 each) and then I put an empty 40-gallon cooler in the back of the car. So we really only did some casting.


The wildlife viewing was really great though – we saw humbacks, harbor seals, a couple pods of killer whales, ducks, geese, ravens, eagles, and a ton of gulls. We even two a couple of fish follow the lures in but no bites.

Cappy in the Fog

Fog this morning - it is supposed to get up to 50 and sunshine today. If you look hard enough towards the sky you can see some blue up there.

There aren't any cruiseships scheduled but there is some big ship coming up the channel. It has been blowing its fog horn for about 25 minutes. It may be a supply barge or something else. It doesnot sound small.

We've had a small fishing boat and skiff anchored out in front of this house since this weekend. It it interesting to watch it when the tide changes. First it is right in front of the living room picture window and then it is gone - floating towards town. It seems like it is sitting right in the middle of the channel but boats don't seem to be bothered.

Oct is supposed to be the rainy month and so far yesterday was pretty rainy but today looks like a lovely, cool, autumn day - can't wait for the weekend!

Jami, Doug and Darby

We spend an afternoon with our friends from Sitka who were on their way over to Haines and the Yukon Territory. A walk at Mendenhall Glacier seemed like a good place to have a nice walk and a good visit.

At one point, Darby decided that walking wasn't fast enough and decided to slide down this big piece of granite.



I think maybe it might have been easier (and less of a burn) if there had been snow covering the rock facing! Those are some hot pants!



Darby had fun finding pieces of white quartz amongst darker rocks. We didn't see any gold seams in the quartz though. darn


Nugget Falls was really running after the rain we had earlier in the week.

Low bush Cranberries

I was in Fairbanks a couple weeks ago. I like Fairbanks in the fall, especially when I get a chance to be out in the woods. The smells are so alive when the temperature starts to drop and the added moisture of the cool temps which means dew (or frost) at night and the beginning decay of the plants. There aren't any low bush cranberries down here, or at least that I have been able to find. Someone told me that you could find that in the alpine meadows and I often see greenery that seems like it should be low bush but I never see any berries.

I found some along the ski trails at the university and I think I picked enough for cranberry sauce for 1 turkey!

When my sister came from Anchorage she brough a pint jar filled with lowbush cranberries so I think I'm now set for the winter!

Spicy Thai Sauce

Here is a great recipe for a spicy sauce to go with just about any combination of meat, fish, and veggies:

1 T fish sauce
1 t sugar
1 t soy
1 t chili sauce
2 T chicken broth
1 t minced garlic

This makes sauce for about 1 serving.

We have had it with halibut, chicken, pork, green beans, broccoli, bok choy, mushrooms, or whatever is left over in the frig. We usually serve with rice but it would be good with soba or rice noodles too.

Weekend with my Sister

My sister came this weekend and it sure what great to have her here! It was nice to show her more about what our surroundings are like and to experience some of things that we like to do.

And of course, a picture with Cappy was required!



There was a New York Times article printed recently that talked about what do to in Juneau if you only had 36 hours.

Here is a short list:

1. buy xtra tuffs - She already has nice hiking boots
2. switzer creek trail - We didn't do the switzer creek trail but we did go to Outer Point Trail in North Douglas. This trail goes through the rain forest and winds through a couple different ecosystems from the forest to the beach.
   
3. have fish at hangar on the wharf - we had a nice lunch at the hangar with Terry. We didn't haven't salmon though - Roxi had blackened chicken, I had Jambalaya and Terry had the seafood chowder!
   
4. perseverance theater - We went to "Skin of our Teeth" It was really long and a bit confusing but the acting was very good. We also went to the pipe organ concert that is offered at the state office building on Friday afternoon.
   
5. see sea life - We drove out to 32 mile and saw humpback whales and harbor seals from the house.
   
6. downtown bar hopping and mexican food - didn't go out drinking this time (have to save something for next time) but we had some delicious roasted anaheim peppers stuffed with blackbeans/corn/cheese in corn tortillas at the house
   
7. history: state museum/evergreen cemetery - we chose to learn our history with a tour of the UAS campus where we saw a totem pole that is in progress. We also walked back to Ernest Gruening's cabin at Amagla harbor.
   
8. downtown shopping while cruise ship in town - spend time (and money) at Changing Tides and a few other gift stores and watched all the people
   
9. bookstore
10. Mediterranean dining - is pastrami stromboli bread mediterranean?
    
11. Drink Coffee - We don't drink coffee - we drink tea and had some at the house
    
12. Mendenhall Glacier - we didn't hike back to the falls but we got a good look of the glacier, waterfall and ice bergs in the lake all from the pavillion.
    

Trail Mix Volunteer Opportunity

Tracy got us going and several of us went out to the Jensen-Olson Arboretum out the road, right past the Shrine, to help Trail Mix put in a trail through the woods from the highway to a nice look-out over the Breadline. I volunteered to wield a pulaski and attack roots and stumps that might trip someone up. It was great work for me to wack away with as much force as I could muster.


At some point I was I clearing away the muck to make room for a chainsaw to make quick work of some limbs that were in the way.



I think I was hitching a ride in one of the wheelbarrows when I took this one! But here is the gravel pathway that was being laid down.


And part of the trailing building included stripping logs that were cut from on-premise to be used as stairs. After about 4 hours of wielding my wacker my hards were tired and I couldn't hold my camera steady...


There was another work party a couple of weeks ago, but we couldn't make it. Hope to get out in the near future to see if the work was completed.

more on carrots - or their look alike

Tim and I had a nice walk up the road to the Salmon Creek Powerhouse. As we were walking up the very steep starting hill it reminded me a lot of the hill up to Ullerhaven, part of the equinox marathon trail. I know this picture doesn't give a good representation of the elevation but if you could have been walking beside me, you would have heard the elevation-exertion I felt by my hard breathing.



The leaves are being to change here and the fireweed has topped out. From very far away you could spot this fungus along the roadside.


I actually thought that someone had been making carrot flowers to decorate a fresh green salad!

Fun Carrots

We have been enjoying a variety of carrots lately, courtesy of our Full Circle Farm box: white, orange and purple. To me, they all have a similar taste but they sure add color when you mix them with other vegetables!


I've heard that if you over eat orange carrots and get too much beta carotene in your system your skin may turn orange so I wondered if the same thing would happen if you ate a bunch of purple carrots. I mean, that would be kind of cool if you were a Minnesota Vikings. Here is what I found out about purple carrots …

And of course you probably can't read this image (despite how good your eyes are from eating orange carrots ) so you'll have to go to this website were the image above is reprinted with permission: FirstJuice.

Wonder Chocolate Cake

Got the chocolate munchies late last night and wanted something quick so I pulled this recipe from my Mom's collection. She has Grandma written on the card. Also known and Wacky cake, the recipe became popular during war times as well as during the depression when it wasn't easy to get butter and eggs.

Preheat oven to 350°.

Put in shifter (ha!) below ingredient all together and sift in 8x8 cake pan (ungreased)
1 1/2 c flour
3 T cocoa
1/2 t salt
1 c sugar
1 t baking soda

If you don't use a sifter, then mix up dry ingredients with a fork until well blended.

Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients (1 large and 2 small). In large hole add 6 T vegetable oil, in 1 small hole pour 1 T vinegar and in the other small hole pour 1 t vanilla.

Pour 1 c cold water over mixture and stir with fork but do not beat. Stir quickly until just a few streaks of flour mixture remain. Since this recipe has no eggs in it, when the vinegar and baking soda meet their reaction causes the batter to rise.

Pop in a 350° oven for 35 minutes. Let cool and dust with powder sugar.

Tim is often suspicious when I bake something. I guess he expects baked goods to have flax seed or some kind of fruit replacement for shortening or extra fiber or some other hidden ingredient. Since he is also nut-sensitive maybe he is just making sure I'm not trying to poison him. When he accused me of doing something to the cake I realized that it is a special cake - its vegan!

We found something!

Last weekend was our 12th COASST dead bird survey on Boy Scout Beach. We chose a great time of the day to go - we got there about 30 minutes before the high tide. The day was overcast but warm - we wore t-shirts and shorts but had our rain gear with us just in case.

And we found a bird wing! whoo hooo - yippee!


We can't write it down on our survey sheet because it has to have a foot attached but we got out the identification book, measuring tool, and other scientific tools (plastic glove, etc.) and went through the motions. We knew right off it was a Glaucous-Winged Gull but we went through the identification process anyway just to make sure we remembered how to do it.

We did look around for other body parts but I'm sure they were picked up by a scavenger before we arrived.


We also saw a bunch of live birds too - mostly shore birds on their way south: Semipalmated Plover and some Least Sandpiper in a mixed group and a lone Whimbrel.

Egg Foo Yung

I've had this recipe for many years and have always found it to be delicious!

Egg Fog Young
4 eggs
1/2 c meat (we have never made it with any meat)
1 c bean sprouts (if using canned, drain and put in ice water to crisp. Drain well and pat dry)
1 T minced green onion
2 T soy sauce

In mixing bowl, beat eggs until frothy. Add meat, sprouts, onions and soy. Add oil to wok and heat to mideum. At 1/4 of mixture to pan and fry until golden on bottom. Turn over and brown. I usually add all the mixture to a large pan and then divide it into four sections before turning over.

*I 've tried making this with egg beaters and it didn't come out very well so since then I have only used real eggs.

This is probably the best part:

Brown Sauce
mix and heat over medium heat until thick
2 T soy
2 t sugar
2 T green onion, chopped
2 T oyster sauce
1 T sherry (or leave out)
1 c chicken broth
1 1/2 to 2 T corn starch

* this actually makes more sauce then you would probably need for the egg foo mixture. We always have a lot left over.

Blueberry Cream Cheese Dessert

Ah - I know that Kim has given me her recipe for this delicious blueberry dessert that she is always asked to bring to gatherings but I somehow lost the recipe and had to look online to find one. I found a substitute on Recipezaar and it is so yummy. If you have fresh or frozen berries that you want to use instead of the pie filling try: 3 c blueberries, 3T flour or tapioca 1 3/4 c sugar and 1/8 t salt. Might need to add a bit more thickening if the berries are frozen and retained water.

Perserverance Trail 2009

Information about the Perseverance trail.

We had a great hike last weekend along the popular Perseverance Trail. The trailhead is very close to the downtown area and if you can make it passed the first uphill section the trail follows the Gold Creek up the valley at a moderate incline.

Ebner Falls - probably the second most popular falls photographed in Juneau, falling second to Nugget falls at the Mendenhall Glacier.


Here's a look at the pool at the base of Ebner Falls. If the cliff hadn't been so steep (may 100 feet down?) a quick dip in the cool water might have been inviting.


This is a view from the upper trail looking down the Gold Creek valley.

Gold Creek - one of Juneau's water supplies and an important asset to mining operations in this basin.


This is the falls from Icy Gulch


Towards the end of the trail a spring flood must have taken out the boardwalk/bridge over the stream that comes from icy gulch. But the water wasn't so high that we couldn't make it across. Luckily I relied on my skills honed as a balance beam gymnast in 7th grade. I guess Tim has had practice from always walking a thin line...jk


Here is more evidence of flood damage - we had a lot of warm weather early on in the summer so I'm sure that the accumulated snow had a fast melt.



Unbeknownst to my hiking partner, the real goal for this hike was to find and pick salmonberries. One of his co-workers had mentioned seeing a bunch of berries along the trail earlier in the week. I had our trusty berry-picking bags in my backpack and quickly whipped them out. We taste tested on the way up and as we progressed up the trail they got better and better and then as we climbed higher we noticed that they weren't quite ripe yet.

We hit the mother load and came out with more than 3 gallons of berries. And if we had had the proper gear and had felt like crashing around in the bushes with the bears we could have picked more.


Salmonberry Jam! YUM

Can you drive and text at the same time?

I saw this Distraction Game on a blog that I follow, taken from the New York Times. Its an interactive game that combines driving with phone texting.

Car and Texting Game

What it tells me is that its all I can do to pay attention to changing lanes. I will say that my experience with 6 lanes of traffic is pretty low and who would really change lanes that quickly but I do see the idea behind paying attention to what the wheels on the road are doing.

They really need to add a couple of more elements to the game, picking music and drinking coffee. The other day while driving I saw someone brushing their teeth while they were making a turn!

Rhubarb Ginger Jam

Chris T gave me some delicious Rhubarb Ginger Marmalade and when I got a huge crop of nice red rhubarb from Kristi I knew just what I would do with it! I found this recipe for Rhubarb Ginger Jam and it is quite tasty. This was so easy and smelled delicious while it was cooking. I ran out of crystallized ginger and had to add in some of my Penzey's cracked ginger so every once in awhile you get a little burst of ginger to chew on.

Its good on toast but I'm thinking it might be really good on a pork roast or pork chop.

Lemon Creek Valley and Trail

We went on a new trail this weekend. Its one in the 99 Short Trail of Juneau book that we've been working on and its one that we haven't been on before. It was windy and rainy at the house on the channel so we thought it might be a little better in the valley. We also needed some light bulbs so thought we could hit the Home Depot before a little walk in the woods.

I understand that when they built several of the new box stores in Lemon Creek the trailhead was disturbed and it was very hard to get to. They have since contoured the hillside, put in a parking space and made a grand entrance to the trailhead.



First you go up over the first little hill and then the trail drops way down into the valley and you you begin to wonder what the return trip is going to do to your lungs!



I just love this florescent fungus. I figure if I every get lost in the woods I just need to find some of this and surround myself with it. It evens seems to glow in the semi-dark.



At the base of the hillside we came across a nice flat area with a little creek going through it. I'm guessing that this area is usually really wet but because of the dry summer we are having the creek has kept to his intended pathway. Whenever we come across large water area filled with Skunk cabbage it really does remind you of Land from the Lost or some other prehistoric setting. These particular cabbage must have come from really perfect growing conditions because they were all so huge. Most of them were as tall as me and had huge leaves. (Click on the image below to get a closer look)



Unexpected were the bike jumps that were carefully placed on what seemed the muddiest parts of the trail. I don't think this trail is hiked very often so I could see why the adventurous mountain bikers might like it. A little to steep and narrow for me though.