Denali Camping

Once upon a time, a girl took her dad to the mountains to camp! They found a lovely site, though only after taking a drive through every spot possible. She was planning ahead and though the weather was lovely, she advised that they erect a tarp over the table, just in case (which turned out to be a wise decision).


As was typical in their growing up years, this campsite also was near water, sort-of. It was a small hike down to the creek, but on the way back, the discovery of blueberries made it fabulous!
Breakfast had always been a specialty of Dad's, so it was still given to him to fix.

We saw the road we would be traveling the next day on the 3-D map at the Visitor's Center. I was glad I took the photo since I referred back to it often on the trip! The trip had quick results on the wildlife viewing. The bus driver's told us that our command to stop and look was a simple "STOP!" It happened quickly, and it was a sign of things to come.

Did I mention we were in a fairly typical school bus? The seats were much nicer and the ride was pretty smooth, but still...we drove on this road in a bus. Oh, and there were other buses going the opposite direction that required one bus to stop while the other passed. Yeah, no guardrails, steep grade down to the abyss. In a bus.
Back to the wildlife! We saw so many bears. There were sows with cubs several times, and a really pretty Toklat (blonde) boar. I took many buffalo pictures, but refrained from sharing. If you don't know what buffalo pictures are, ask me or any of my family!
My eyes, as usual, were glued to the binoculars. Dad followed suit, especially when we tried to see the Dall Sheep. I tried to take a picture, and though you can see the white blur, it just didn't do it for me. We did see many sheep on several occasions, and we had some close encounters with the caribou. A couple of them chose to walk the road in front of us. This one paused for a nice photo op. I think he was posing.

Wow! What a sight! Never mind the slight crease to the left of the mountain.

O.K. Seriously, the clouds were pretty heavy, so despite all the wildlife sighting, there was no mountain sighting. The picture below is what we actually saw. I was standing where my height dictated to see the mountain where it was outlined on the window. Can you see the slight outline of the peaks? The picture below this one is what we were supposed to see on a clear day. Oh well.
We capped our Denali trip off with a moose steak dinner cooked on charcoals. As much as this may amaze y'all, this was my first time cooking on charcoal. I did have a bit of help, and it turned out perfectly. My mouth is watering again. Apparently it is supper time again...

The weekend was deemed a success, as it didn't rain until the last night. Fortunately, the tarp kept the table dry for our breakfast. The trip finished with a visit to the kennels and then back home.

Cuttin' and Dippin'

Recently, Pat got an uncontrollable urge to cut wood! Shocking, I know. He also gained permission to harvest wood in a nearby wooded property that really needed a cleaning of dead wood. Talk about fuel for the fire - pun intended! Pat loaded a couple full loads of birch and began to split it immediately to cure it better. It was gorgeous! We ended up with a cord and a half, conservatively, of birch for next winter (clarify - not this winter since birch has to dry out a year before it's good to burn).
Last Sunday we were invited to join some friends on their boat to try our hands at dipnetting! I'm sure you remember my last effort at dipnetting. They had a bit of a challenge to win me over, but I figured it couldn't be worse! We met with them and made it to the water by 8:30 or so. The weather was foggy and cooler, but since we were all garbed in our rubber rain gear, we were thankful. Millie was our mascot for the day and was ever alert on the gull spotting.
I'm sailing! Ah-hoy! Way far away from the dock, with the wind and the water and the wind and everything. I sail! Ah-hoy! (y'all know where that comes from, right?)
Pat did have a hand driving the boat. This was actually a much more difficult thing considering the tide changes, RPM issues, speed with the nets in the water at proper depths, and the many other boats! He did very well and did manage to pull in the most fish as well as the biggest, with this, his first King Salmon! Not one to add to the wall, but fun to eat!

To anyone who is unaware, dipnetting is the subsistence fishing method that the state allows to residents in order to garner freezer or canned winter food. One literally dips a large net into the water and pulls in the fish. Ideally, you would want to hit the big runs where there are stories of netting 50+ fish in single digit hours. We did not hit one of those particular runs, but we still enjoyed our day. The five of us brought in 22 salmon and we tried a couple sole (not really worth keeping, unless you are really hungry). In case you were wondering, our group potential haul limit would have been 100 reds total. As head of the household, Pat was allowed 25 and I was allotted an additional 10, giving us a potential total of 35. Way more than we would ever eat in a year.
And we don't particularly like to process fish. It was good that we didn't catch our limits! We all caught the rays and came out a bit burnt, but had a fabulous time with new friends. I have to be honest and say that dipnetting is still not my favorite way to fish, but I also discovered that it was more about the friends, so the experience was fantastic!

Crescent Creek Trail

This weekend we took our dogs on a little hike to Crescent Lake. It was the most gorgeous day and we found our own little bit of air conditioning! This snow was in this little valley all tucked in. Rowdy discovered moving water for the first time right here! He didn't mind the swim.


It sprinkled a little when we got to the lake, so no pictures there. We did find our inner explorer and posed accordingly. I really was on a mission. I brought home several plants and injured myself trying to retrieve more. So my injury was more akin to a paper cut: it still hurt!
Hydration is very important.
This was one talented bear. (or one really disturbed hiker)
The dogs loved, LOVED the hike! I think they went closer to 30 miles compared to our 12.5. They did seem to slow down a little by the time we got closer to the car.
Bella had no problem with the bridge, but Rowdy became quite low-centered when Pat shook it! He crept along like a cat. It was hysterical! We made him do it again! I'm reminded of my brother teasing his children!
I just enjoyed the view from the bridge! (and my smuggled goods)

Randomness!

We were driving home from something recently, I forget what, and we cruise past an open area in our neighborhood to find this fascinating sight. It was one of those double-take moments and we just had to back up and look again. At that moment, we did not have a camera; however, we were undeterred in procuring a photograph. We sped home, I ran into the house (not literally) and grabbed the camera, ran back out to the car, and sped back to the oreo moose who was still at her post. We stared at her for quite some time and Pat got out to get a closer view. She seemed preoccupied with what we figured was another moose cow and calf in the area that we had seen taking a sip from an outdoor pool (a moose-bath, as opposed to a birdbath, if you will, or won't, whatever). We are still unsure of why this stripe is down only one side of her, but she was quite a sight for us.

On a "high" note...
Pat installed the ceiling fan that we have had for 6 months or so. I did not envy this job, so I never nagged for it to be completed. I came home the other day to find my fearless man up on a ladder upon the scaffolding of death. I was unwilling to try it out, though the back of my legs felt like they were waking up from being completely asleep: that needle-sting-tingle feeling. Yeah, go ahead and laugh. I can so relate to my mom. I hate heights. And ladders/scaffolding of death. Fortunately, my fabulous husband completed the task and did a perfect job of concealing the wires and it works marvelously. We are looking forward to having a sauna-less loft this winter, and it looks very nice.

Our recent walk on the beach made us feel a bit concerned. We weren't sure if we should alert the authorities, but it seems there is either an effort to bury the trolls or we have a very alien form of flora arriving on our beaches. It would have been one thing if it were a one-time sighting, but there were two such scenes, about 25 yards apart. It made me a little leery. We turned back soon after. We'll keep you updated if we find anything suspicious.

It's Official

Summer is here.
The return of $3 gasoline. $3.07 to be exact. It doesn't warrant a picture. I won't give it the satisfaction. It will not win over our summer.
Well, maybe it will have a small effect.

Bested!

Lest anyone believe that Pat is at the grindstone all day and all night with home improvement projects, rest assured that he is getting some (much deserved) fun and relaxation! We have recently enjoyed the arrival of our camper guests, Terry and Katelyn (sp?) Maloney from New Mexico. Pat thought he'd take them out to our neighborhood hole, Cabin Lake to toodle around and maybe catch a little trout or two. Apparently, there are large trout in there! Pat reeled in this 22" momma Saturday evening.
This morning brought renewed excitement and the three of them headed out at 5 AM to hit it again!
Yeah, I slept in. I don't regret it, either.
Anyway, when I rolled out of bed at 8-something, Pat was home and busting to tell me about the fishing they had. I thought he was fibbing, but he was serious! After a first flub of a popped off eyeglass lens that was found in the water, the fishing commenced and exploded. None under 12", and the winner this trip was Katelyn with nothing shy of a 24" Rainbow! Hooked-jaw and all!

If I am correct, these three fish were all over 20". For any of you that don't know, that is ENORMOUS for a Rainbow trout! They didn't taste bad, either.

It would appear that Rowdy has his fill, but there was none left for him. I think he's still pretty content. Check out that lip! We get a kick out of those dogs.

Projects Galore

You all know how Pat cannot keep from doing projects. He has been home for a few weeks and has had the opportunity to get a lot done! A week or so ago, he brought a selection on cabinets home from a certain drop off location. Yes, it was the dump. Anyway, they were outdated, but still solid, more than our current kitchen cabinets, so he brought them home. Yes, they are on our front porch. I know. High class. We know you want to be like us.


After a little bit of paint and Pat's penchant for doing things as well as possible, we put a couple cabinets together to form a type of hutch/cabinet for the bathroom. Since there is no storage in the bathroom, this works so much nicer than my shower curtain-covered shelf-over-a-shoe-storage-thing. I couldn't take a picture of that part of the before. It was just too frightening.

Gosh, it looks so nice in there! It's much nicer to open a door to access supplies rather than lift a shower curtain and search through a cubbyhole.

Oh, there's much more!
A few days back, Pat started the project of the stairs to eliminate the ladder of death to access the loft in the garage. He's been diligently progressing on the project, and it came along very well.




The finished product has been a gorgeous sight to behold! He did a great job and the steps have the grating to prevent snow/ice from building up. He was quite the carpenter and made several difficult corners. I think his Grandad would be proud.
While Pat was preparing his steps, I got going on a few of my own. Beware of starting gardening projects. They grow, too! I guess I should've watered less. Actually, it was a fun project of creating a much needed path of steps down our yard.

We plan on continuing the terracing all the way back to the tree in the background. That tree will be gone soon as well. Cottonwoods are not our friends. We love the tree we planted. It is a Thompson Blue Spruce, a dwarf variety, that won't get over 8 feet or so. We got it to commemorate our 7th anniversary! Speaking of that, those stairs mentioned above were used that night to take me to "Frank's Steak House." After dancing, we had a marvelous moose steak dinner with some fabulous ambiance! Alas, Frank's seems to have disappeared as many restaurants do. At least the tree will be here a while!