An update from Alaska

As Erin already posted, I found an amazing apartment in Sitka and moved in around August 16.  It is a major upgrade from the bunkhouse, even though I am living sans furniture... including a bed.  Sleeping on the floor was much more comfortable when I was a kid and would curl up on the floor with a blanket, but it is easy to get past the lack of usual comforts by knowing how nice it will be very soon.  I often look around and daydream about what it will look like when our stuff arrives and, most importantly, Erin is finally here!  Our very nice apartment will begin to evolve into our very nice Home.   

 

Earlier in the week I returned from my last extended trip to Falls Lake for the year as the sockeye salmon run has run its course and the fish are now beginning to spawn in the inlet creeks.  Work was pretty slow at the fish weir, but our local bear was actively feeding on pink salmon which attempt to spawn in the area between the two falls.  You can see all the fish carcasses next to the bear in some of the photos and video.  All the pictures are from my new camera, which has a great zoom.  Thanks Mom and Dad!

I love berries!  I loved the berries in Oregon, and it's hard to think of a better way to spend a Saturday than eating raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries while sitting at the Corvallis Farmer's Market with Erin, Jack, and Denise.  However, the wild berries up here have been keeping me very preoccupied and the muskeg areas around Falls Lake are filled with my favorite berry ever - the nagoonberry!  As much as I love looking for birds everywhere I go, my gaze is always drawn much lower while walking through potential nagoonberry habitat.  Nagoonberry plants grow close to the ground and only have one berry, so they can be difficult to find.  I also sampled some five-leaved bramble, thimbleberries, huckleberries, and some of the various types of blueberries.  Erin and I will keep ourselves busy making some jams next year!

Despite the look on my face, I really like berries. 
It's hard to eat and take a self portrait... damn you multitasking!
 

Nagoonberry!!!!!!

Thimbleberry

You want blueberries?  We have blueberries.

We began working at the other end of the lake where the sockeye are grouping up near the inlet creeks prior to spawning.  We captured a sample of them using a beach seine (long net) and looked for fish we had previously caught in our weir trap and marked.  The ratio of marked and unmarked fish allows us to estimate the total number of fish that entered the lake.  It was a great experience and a lot of fun, as I had never used a beach seine before.  Also, at this point the sockeye have changed from the bright silver color of their marine lives into a beautiful red.  It is amazing how much these fish change in a very short time.  I'll be back out for more captures next week, so expect more photos soon!

Sockeye salmon at one of the spawning areas

Back to the lack of furniture and other belongings before I finish this post.  When leaving Falls Lake, I would usually take a float plane back to Sitka.  However, the weather often gets worse in late August and September and makes float plane travel very unreliable.  Thus, we began flying in and out of the Village of Kake on regularly scheduled commuter planes then boating back and forth to Falls Lake.  On the last trip back to Kake I saw a barge heading toward Sitka.  I absolutely knew that had to be carrying the container with our stuff.  I was jumping for joy, took pictures, and fantasized about how great of a story this was turning into.  Little did I know that Erin was about to receive an email stating that our stuff had just recently arrived... in Seattle!  Wow, it really took about 17 days for everything to travel from Albany to Seattle - a drive we could make in 4 hours.  Alas, the story unfolds, even if it is not the one I imagined on that boat.

Not our stuff.