Man Week!!! (girls allowed)

This year Beth and I hosted our first ever MAN WEEK (note: in 2012 women may attend and excel at man week activities, if they so desire)!!! My uncle Rob, cousin Austin and my dad all came into town for the last week or so of June to hike, see wildlife, fish and sightsee. I would add eating and drinking to that list as well, but I have a feeling that those things would've happened whether these guys were in Alaska or not.

When people arrived we were in the midst of one the our most spectacular stretches of weather that I have seen since I arrived in Alaska. For over a week we had temperatures in the middle and upper 70s with clear skies. Rob and Austin arrived first and then took off again the next morning for an excursion down to Seward. My dad arrived that evening and the following morning he, Beth and I headed off for a hike along the Eagle River. We had perfect conditions, spectacular scenery and well... that's actually all we could really say we were looking for.

One of many excellent views, looking up the Eagle River

Bella mid-leap, chasing a very important stick

Dad and Beth on "The Perch" a rock outcrop that was our destination for the day

82 degrees in our backyard! I'm not sure I've ever seen that before

Of course, the weather couldn't stay perfect forever, and by the time the 4 guys headed off for our big backpacking adventure conditions had taken a turn for the worse. As we drove down the highway south of town it was pouring rain with gusts so strong they were shaking the car. I was keeping my fingers tightly crossed that this was just the famously crappy weather of eastern Turnagain Arm and that conditions wouldn't be so bad by the time we reached our destination, but I wonder if the non-locals simply thought our plans to go outside in this were crazy.

Fortunately by the time we got to the trailhead things were much better. The rain had stopped and winds were light, so we set off hiking. One thing we quickly noticed was that water levels were high, and not because of the rain. Record snow last winter plus a cool spring meant that there was much more snow than usual in the mountains entering mid-June. Our Alaskan heat wave the previous week had set all of that snow to melting and now every creek was threatening to spill over its banks. We even hiked across one bridge where the water had risen so high that one end of the bridge was actually becoming a dam! Once again I was crossing my fingers, this time hoping that the bridge would still be there 2 days later when we hiked out.

After a 9-mile hike we made it to our cabin, which was just as I remembered it from a few years ago. Nothing even close to fancy, but well positioned with a nice view out to the lake, wood stove, campfire ring, a couple axes and saws, a canoe, sleeping platforms (essentially 2 bunk beds with no mattresses) a table and a small counter with a metal area on top for lighting a camping stove - essentially all the comforts you can ask for in a backcountry cabin. Austin and I collected some firewood - he seemed to catch on quickly to my method of finding dead trees and pushing them down - and built a fire. Then fishing rods were assembled and most of the rest of the evening was spent fishing, having dinner, trying to burn the extra 4 pounds of Mac 'n Cheese from Austin's dinner...

The next day we mad a quick breakfast, grabbed fishing rods and headed back out. My dad locked up the prizes for first, biggest and most fish when he caught a trout, then he rubbed it in our faces by catching another. I pretty much caught one trout - brought it to shore but not out of the water, and it slipped off the hook while I was getting out my camera - and lost another after it put up a beautifully acrobatic fight, but my dad was obviously the fishing champion.

As it approached lunchtime I spotted a moose in the clearing across the lake. My dad and I watched it for a minute or so before it disappeared into some brush, but when it reappeared a couple minutes later I ran back to the cabin to grab Rob and Austin. They ended up taking the canoe across the lake and getting some closeup views before coming back for lunch.

After lunch it started raining, so for the rest of the afternoon people would intermittently head outside to fish or take pictures and then come back in to get warm (we had a more-than-adequate fire going in the wood stove). I went for a couple mile fishing/hiking jaunt up past the end of our lake, but turned around when my route was completely underwater where it crossed the main creek. I ticked off some funny looking birds - they looked like shorebirds but kept landing on the very tips of trees - and they spent more than enough time screeching at me as I apparently hiked too close to their nest.

That evening we had an epic cribbage throwdown. It was your standard 4-person team cribbage, played sometimes with kings wild, sometimes with 9-card hands and sometimes with your opponents taking cards from your hand to make up their crib. I didn't have enough whiskey to take the edge off of the whipping that the old guys put on Austin and I, and even though we saved some face with a single late win the situation as a whole was pretty lopsided.

The next day's hike out was pretty non-eventful. All of the bridges were still in tact. Rob's feet were really bothering him but aside from taking maybe 4 extra 30 second breaks than we would have it didn't slow us down a bit. Near the end we saw a ptarmigan or grouse (someday I'll bother to figure out which is which) with her brood, and by early afternoon we were back at the cars having survived our adventure.

The falls on Juneau Creek were thundering!

Our home-away-from-home

The two brothers discuss fishing strategy

Austin's reflection fishes while Austin watches from the lake

My dad fishing

The moose, taken through binoculars

Rob and Austin on their way to go mooseviewing. They
got much closer than I did, so I can't wait to see Rob's
pictures next time I'm in Arden.

Some pretty lupines

This guy was so mad at me!

The last morning, before we say goodbye to our cabin

On the trail

I had everybody cross this bridge seperately, so I could get pictures of all three individually, but then I didn't like them as much as when I photoshopped them into a single frame.

1

2

3

We were actually all together for this one, though.

And this one

Ptarmigrouse?

After the backpacking trip I headed back to Anchorage to check in at the office while the 3 visitors headed to Homer for some halibut fishing and bear-viewing/flightseeing. While they were in Homer, my mom arrived for her part of the visit. The boys got back the next evening and on Friday morning I took the visitors back to Eagle River - this time to see where Linda lived during her time in Alaska in the 80s. After stopping by her old homestead, we took a detour up a road in the front range outside of Anchorage hoping for some sights to see. And we saw two bears! The first didn't stick around long and was still really cool. But the second one hung out for 10 minutes just mowing through dandelions while we parked beside him to take pictures. This time even the cell phone was enough for full-sized pictures, although I'll still be eager to see Rob's photos.

That night we had grilled halibut for dinner, fresh from the guys' fishing trip in Homer. We also got to enjoy cocktail hour in the backyard with a small campfire to keep the bugs at bay. Then for dessert we had some champagne and homemade limoncello, too!

The next morning I took our visitors up to Glen Alps, a popular entry point for Chugach State Park right on the southern corner of Anchorage. We were hoping to see more wildlife and although we didn't it was still a fun time. But on the way home, I spotted a cow moose at the side of the road. We circled back and she had a little calf with her so we watched and took some photos as they ambled up someone's driveway.

Rob and Austin left that afternoon and my parents followed the next morning, but not before we put them to work for a bit on our new workshop and they put on a little pre-birthday dinner for me. Burgers, salad and homemade cheesecake, oh my! 

All in all it was a great trip. Our house is a bit small for big crowds, but everything worked out fine and I can't wait until they all come back!

Mr. Bear goes to town on the dandelions... can I hire him for the neighbor's yard?

Momma moose was looking awfully skinny, but I wonder if that's because until just now she's been putting all her calories into making milk instead of putting on fat...

...and now that the little guy's eating his vegetables she'll be able to start bulking up.

One shot of the whole group in front of our house

First hike of the season

Last Saturday was a beautiful, sunny, day, which was a good thing because Beth and I had already decided to go on our first hike of the summer that day. Bryn and Dash joined the two of us and Bella, and we drove up to the Glen Alps parking lot in Chugach State Park. Part of the parking lot was still blocked by a snowbank, so we had to wait a couple of minutes for a spot to open up, but fortunately it didn't take long and soon we were on our way. The goal for the day was to hike up to a place called "The Ballfield," a gently sloping plateau that rises from about 3000' to 4000' elevation below O'Malley Peak in the front range east of Anchorage.

I picked our route because it faces south and I thought the snow would have pretty much melted away. I was basically right except for the fact that there were probably still 20 feet of snow on our route. We ended up paralleling the intended route to stay on dry ground and after a moderately short but very steep and sweaty ascent we were at the foot of "The Ballfield."

Up top we spent a bit of time basking in the sun, eating some tasty snacks, and briefly enjoying a few wildflowers before Bella would trample them. Then we turned around and headed back down for what would be the fun part of the trip. After skipping the very top of the descent which was really steep, I glissaded (aka: butt-slid) my way down the next several hundred feet in a matter of moments. Beth was apprehensive at first but then joined in as well and what would have been a steep and knee-hurty descent turned out to be a hoot!

Pictures and a couple videos below:

Dash checks back in with the group, tongue lolling out due to the sweltering mid-50s heat.

Maybe its not winter anymore, but the evidence of winter was still abundant.

Beth and Bryn hiking, with the toe of the Ballfield behind them.

Beth and Bryn hiking with O'Malley Peak and the Ballfield stretching out behind them

Bella on top of Little O'Malley, at the top of our hike.

Me, just happy to be here.

From the perspective of a soon-to-be-stompled flower, she's pretty scary looking.

Beth and Bryn work their way down the mountain after I slid way out in front of the group.

Butt tracks in the snow above...

Down at the bottom, stepping back onto dry land after our sledding adventure.

Heading back to the car after an excellent hike

Another Project!!!

Beth's parents came into town last Thursday night, and we allowed them nearly a full 12 hours to settle in before putting them to work. This post will end up mostly detailing Andy's work helping us with some rough construction, while I'll save Mary's tireless (she might argue that it was actually "tirefull") work in our garden(s) for a later post when I can include some pictures of more than bare dirt. Construction-wise, the goal for their visit was to replace our old work shed with a bigger, non-leaky, non-fall-aparty, shed. Step 1, of course, was to take the old shed down, so after emptying it out we removed the front and back walls, weakened some supports, and started that sucker rocking:

On the second try the rocking worked and we suddenly had a much lower shed roof, which Bella celebrated by jumping on top.

That was about it for construction (destruction?) on day 1. Next, Andy and I bonded on a trip to "the boneyard" at our local Spenard Builders Supply (think Home Depot, but with really knowledgeable staff and awesome service). "The boneyard" is full of custom windows that were ultimately not used for previous construction projects that SBS sells at cost, so given that we didn't have any specific needs for our windows other than that they be transparent it was the perfect place for us to show. We ended up buying 3 windows for about $275 (would have been $600 or more), then with a little time left over after shopping we made a quick run to the dump before cocktail hour.

- - - - -

The goal on day 2 was to build the foundation for the new shed. Most of the building supplies had been delivered earlier in the week, but we still had a number of additional supplies that we needed. Andy and I went on another dump run while Beth and Mary headed to Lowes to find supply #1: a door. After our dump run, Andy and I met them there, and together we also picked up pier blocks, cinder blocks, all sorts of joists and brackets, a Miter Saw Stand (actually got that on a side trip to home Depot) and some other building materials.

We used pier blocks with adjustable brackets to make a level foundation using 2x12" lumber, then hung 2x8" joists across the foundation.

Andy and Beth install joist hangers on the foundation

Once the foundation was build we laid down 3/4" OSB as flooring, which Bella celebrated by taking her rhino under.

 - - - - -


Day 3 dawned inauspiciously, by which I mean damply, by which I mean it then continued to rain all day. Being masters of backyard shanty construction, Beth and I whipped up a quick shelter for our saw station and we set to work undeterred by the weather.

Beth was #1 sawmaster for the weekend and managed to go 3 straight days with ZERO wrong cuts (or at least she managed to destroy all evidence of wrong cuts before anybody noticed. Maybe thats why she looks so pleased with herself here:

We laid out the walls on the floor of our shed-to-be, nailed the studs together and then covered them with 7/16" OSB, leaving about a 4" skirt of OSB below the bottom stud. When we lifter the walls into place this skirt pulled the wall right to the edge of the foundation, leaving it in virtually perfect position.

After a simple 1st wall, things got more complicated as we left spaces for windows and doors, but Beth was on the job and kept cranking out perfect cuts. After a long lunch break to dry off we still had no trouble getting all four walls up by the afternoon.

Once the walls were up we used the reciprocating saw to cut the rough openings for our 3 windows and a door.

When the battery ran out during the last window we declared cocktail hour.

- - - - -

Day 4 wasn't predicted to be as beautiful as it turned out to be, and we awoke to a Memorial Day full of blue skies and bright sunshine. Bella celebrated by checking out the window openings.

After finishing cutting out the 3rd window opening I climbed up on our roof for a couple pictures as Beth and Andy attached a temporary support for our roof trusses.

While Beth cut 2x4" studs for the trusses, I made gussets to secure the peaks (visible in the next picture after this one). Then Beth and Andy laid down a form for the trusses on the floor of the shed (not even built and already a valuable construction space!) and nailed them together.

One-by-one we lifted the trusses into place, leveled them, attached a cross-tie to hold them steady and then nailed them in place.

 Next, we attached OSB to the trusses and removed the cross-ties.

Once the panels were in place we temporarily put up a tarp over the roof to keep things dry for the next week or so until we can get roofing ordered. Construction went a little longer on day 4 (we finished a bit after 6), but we still managed to observe a full cocktail hour. Bella celebrated with kibbles and a nap.



And thats the story of our 4-day construction binge - but it didn't completely stop there. By now the windows and door have been installed (no pictures, sorry) and the plan is to order siding and roofing materials this weekend for installation by the time the next round of guests arrive in June.

Not to worry, though, even though this construction should be done by then I'm sure we'll find ways to put them to work as well (cocktail hour to be served after all power tools are put away).

Don't bring a bear to a gun fight...

Here's how I spent my workday yesterday:

This was the final stage of training for combined bear awareness and firearms safety. I'm still conflicted in many ways about guns, and the course was clearly taught from the perspective of "guns are a wonderful, fun and effective tool(!)," but it was interesting and potentially useful (and I'll even have to admit to the fun part, too).

We also used a can of bear spray as a demonstration, which was probably the most useful part of the day since that's going to be my preferred deterrent out in the wilderness. Definitely not a very long range for the spray, but even though I was standing back from the person with the spray and they were spraying with the wind there was a distinct burn in the eyes and throat that lasted about 5 minutes. I sure wouldn't want to be on the business end of that stuff.

One other note that I thought was kind of funny: throughout the class the various firearms were referred to as "deterrents." Um... does it look like I was trying to deter the bear in those videos?

Update: Here's a coworker's video of another exercise, where we started out with less ammunition loaded than we would need for the exercise and had to "port load" additional rounds. This means we had to load directly into the chamber through the ejection port for spent rounds, rather than loading shells into the magazine and then cycling them into the chamber.