Just Plain Fun ...

Greetings Everyone!

Life at the cabin has been wonderful - who could ask for more?  The weather is fantastic, the lake is 'flat', the scenery is amazing and --- there's lots to do. 

Below - Ernie is continuing to work on his project with the side deck stairs. His plan is to add a drift wood side rail.  So we'll see how that turns out.

The other day we decided to take our boat out and check to see how the motor is running - since we've not been using the boat too much this year.  We only got just past Tater's place when we saw our friend 'Lucky Mike' working on his boat motor.  It turns out his boat motor is more of a pain for him to fiddle with -- so we towed him and his boat over to the Upper Landing. 

Since we were headed across the lake -- we decided to take a load of trash that we gathered from last falls storm.  Below Ernie and Mike are looking over at Vince's Place -- as Vince is walking up from the beach to his cabin.  We all gave each other a big hand wave and continued on.

Later -- we decided to go check on our friends - Gunter and Bridgett -- and check-out 'Lucky Mike's' work.  Gunter and Bridgett are adding an addition on to their cabin this year. So to help them out - 'Lucky Mike' used his John Deer to plow and level off the site where Gunter and Bridgett will be laying the foundation.

While visiting them, Bridgett received a call to pick up Jan over at the Upper Landing -- so I 'pushed' Bridgett from the shore, she waved good-bye and she took off across the lake.

Remember when I shared that I tried using some duck hunter decoy's as a buoy and they both sunk?  Well, I graduated up to a goose.  Below - I'm once again attaching a fowl buoy -- only this time I'm attaching the goose buoy to the west side of our boat to mark a row of rocks.  So far the goose is still floating -- I believe it was a success - it hasn't sunk.

Yesterday it was near 78  -- so some of the other cabin owners were out playing on the lake in their Kayaks. There were also a number of other boats passing our cabin -- I didn't recognize any of them. 

Since it was such a beautiful day -- I took advantage of the sun to wash clothes.  Nothing smells so good as clean clothes dried in the sun.

With all the warm weather -- thunderheads are appearing in the sky above.  So far - they've only drifted by and not become an actual thunderstorm -- dumping rain on us.  The thunderstorms can be beautiful - but they are also very frightening because of the lightening -- there's no telling where the lightening will strike -- causing a wildfire -- lightening is not welcome at the island!

Last evening we went over to the other side of the island for a very tasty bar-b-que at Niles cabin.  He and his wife, Chris flew in for a couple of days and I just had to have a picture of  their plane moored to their beach -- its so Alaskan.

    This summer it seems that Swallows are nesting everywhere.  Below - at Niles cabin their gourd has a pair of nesting swallows right above the deck.

On the way back to our cabin - we stopped to take photo of the sunset taking place in front of Clancy's cabin.

Speaking of Clancy -- he wants to give a 'shout-out' to all his friends on the North Slope reading the blog.  Here you go Clancy -- he does like to have fun!!

Today - Ernie is having a small gathering at our cabin for the NBA sport fans (Clancy, Vince, Gunter and Big Keith) who are into watching the basketball final playoffs.  After the game, we'll have a bar-b-que -- and I'm sure there will be lots of talk about the game.

Since I'm not into basketball -- maybe I'll take the canoe out and go for a paddle or take 'Lucky Mike's' remote control boat and play with it in the lake -- if the lake is calm.

Take care everyone -- and enjoy this beautiful day!

Keep on Rolling...

Greetings Everyone!

Summer is getting underway at the island.  The buds on the deciduous trees have opened and now we have leaves on the trees -- it seems to have happened quickly - like overnight.  Everything looks so new.

As the lake water continues to rise to its summer level - I decided to tie a plastic hunting duck along side our white buoy -- the buoy helps identify where a large rock is so that when we come to shore with our boat - the propeller won't hit the rock -- an expensive oops. I'm sitting on the rock holding the intended duck.

With all the nice weather -- we took the opportunity to check Tater's mooring lines and attached a yellow cord.  The cord will help locate the mooring lines under high water.

While Ernie worked on the mooring lines -- I went about collecting wild chives. Below - Ernie catches me in the act of snipping and bagging chives.  One thing I noticed -- were all the mosquitoes I disturbed along the shoreline. Not too fun.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of the homemade honey wheat bread I made the other day.  It was yummy and made some great French Toast for breakfast.

On Facebook a few weeks ago, my daughter had posted a suggestion -- rather than toss out the bottom part of celery - put the cut off section in some water and the celery will regrow.  So I tired it -- and sure enough - I have new stalks of celery growing. Now I'm going to see how long it takes to grow an edible piece of celery - and if it really tastes like fresh celery.

Well, remember the duck I attached to the white buoy?  The duck sank -- so I went out and retrieved it - seems there was a hairline crack that sucked in water and sank the duck.  As you can see in the photo below -- the water now covers the large rock.  Lesson learned - don't attached a leaking duck to a buoy.  Right?  Well, I got another duck and reattached it to the white buoy and it too sank -- suffering from the same hairline crack syndrome.  Lesson learned - forget playing with cracked ducks.

      


Before the water level rises much more -- Ernie and I went out and laid our summer water hose.  Below - Ernie is preparing to secure the electrical water pump.

But -- before we could finish the water hose and pump chore -- I spotted a moose trotting up the shore from our friend Tater's cabin.  So we carefully and quickly went up the side deck stairs to our deck and watched the moose.  Her behavior was sort of odd -- to me anyway -- she would leave the shoreline and go into the trees - then, come back out and trot up the beach - then - go back into the trees.  Below - Ernie took a photo of her stopping to check things out by our cabin. 

Anyway, she continued up the shoreline -- going between the beach and trees.  This moose appeared to be young - perhaps her first year alone.  She doesn't appear to be the same moose that had the twin calves -- she is smaller.

Oh well - that is island living.  We completed our water hose chores successfully. 

Take care - and we'll touch base again!

Fun and Sun....

Greetings Everyone!

We have been experiencing some awesome and beautiful weather for the past couple of days.  There have been some light winds -- but other than that -- the days have been glorious. 

 

Yesterday - we took a break from chores - and went into town to get our mail and some supplies.  We took the Lower Skilak Loop Road.  With all the recent warm weather - the road had dried out quite a bit -- leaving some very dry and deep ruts to maneuver over -- but all doable without 4-wheel drive.  In fact four trucks pulling skiffs and one truck pulling a trailer passed us by.

On our return from town - we met up with one of the "Islanders" -- Kirt Smith -- at the Upper Landing.  He and some of his helpers had just finished loading building supplies into their Searunner and were headed back to the Island -- to continue working on their cabin.  Kirt mentioned they had seen the cow moose again with a calf.  So it seems the cow moose that charged Clancy the other day -- had twins -- one obviously didn't make it much past a few hours after birth.

When we returned to our cabin -- we felt like jumping into the lake it was so warm!  It must have been near 80 degrees in the sun because it was 75 degrees in the shade!  Both Ernie and I are now supporting tans.  We will enjoy the warm days while we can -- because it's suppose to rain this weekend.

One of the chores Ernie completed -- was fixing the side stairs leading up to the cabin.  Rather than replace all the pebbles that were washed out by last years fall storm -- he used all weather wood to make steps.

Another task Ernie completed -- with the help of our friend Tater -- was aligning the satellite dish -- a success after many attempts at finding the 'sweet spot.'

We also had to rebuild our fire pit -- since it had been dismantled by storm waves last fall.  In addition, we continue to clean up all the driftwood out of the yard. At least we are having fun and enjoying the weather at the same time. 

This spring we have a number of Swallows nesting at the cabin and they seem not to be bothered by us -- which is good since the little birds spend quite a bit of time flying about catching mosquitoes -- so we've not had to use our mosquito magnet -- yet.

We've also noticed that the rabbits are back -- there are about half a dozen hopping about in the yard during early morning and late evening.  Last year there was a family of owls nesting on the island -- so they may have contributed to the decline in the rabbit population.  Anyway -- I'm sure we'll have more rabbits hopping about before long.

The above photo is my little wagon loaded with driftwood -- the wood will come in handy for the sauna once its dried.  Where to store it all is the question.

When we were crossing the lake -- and almost home -- we noticed that our friend, Vince had arrived at his cabin for the summer.  Later, he stopped by to say hello and leave his boat until he replaces his mooring lines that were washed out during last years fall storm.  He wants to get the new moorings in as soon as possible because the lake water is rising - so he expects to have the task completed tomorrow. 

Take Care Everyone and thank you for checking - in !!!

Returned ....

Greetings Everyone!

We are back and ready for more island adventures and yes, chores.

I snapped a photo looking back towards the Upper Landing showing our boat load with supplies. Generally in the spring - we get to the Upper Landing by traveling over the Lower Skilak Loop Road -- but this year -- friends informed us that the lower road was 'pretty bad' - meaning there were a number of mud ruts along stretches of the road -- some deep.  So - with all that information - we drove the Upper Skilak Loop Road to the Upper Landing -- there were some mud ruts but they were passable and no problem.

However, before we could even drive the road -- we had to get our boat out of storage at our friends' -- Mike and Billi. Once again -- 'generally' no problem -- but this time we discovered the tire on the boat trailer was flatter than a fritter!  We were very fortunate that Mike was home from the Slope because all of our tire changing tools were loaded in our truck under all of our supplies -- and I wasn't looking forward to unloading and reloading the truck.

Mike is a real friend -- he took the time to drag his tools out and help with the flat tire.  A BIG THANK YOU to Mike!!

Once we arrived at the cabin  about 4:PM-- we unloaded all of our supplies and hauled them up to the cabin with the 4-wheeler and trailer.  That part of the operation went smoothly. Opening up the cabin and hauling all of our supplies took us awhile -- and we were ready to relax.  Our friends, Gunter and Bridgett had invited us to dinner -- so it was wonderful to share a yummy dinner with good friends and catch-up on news.

Being home again is absolutely wonderful -- especially now that we are gaining more and more daylight -- however, Ernie was able to capture a springtime moon about 2:00 AM.

The other day - May 22nd - while we were doing spring chores outside -- we spotted a cow moose swimming from the mainland to the island. Mid-to-late May is traditionally the time cow moose 'drop their calf/calves' -- so we suspected the cow moose came to the island to safely give birth -- because she appeared very pregnant.

Then, on May 26th the islands' traditional Memorial Day Gathering was held at Gunter and Bridgett's cabin.  While at the gathering, someone mentioned they had seen a new born calf walking about the other day -- but now there was a dead calf moose over by Big Wave Dave's hot tub.  So -- I went down to Dave's place with Jeanie and snapped a photo.  At the time I told Jeanie we needed to be careful because sometimes a cow moose will stand guard over a dead calf for a few days. So we took off back to the gathering.

Later that night when the gathering broke-up - some folks left to return to their own cabins  -- either walking or on 4-wheelers.  When we got up the next morning we had a voice message from Clancy -- warning us to be on the alert for a VERY ANGRY and AGGRESSIVE cow moose -- because she attacked him as he was walking home from the gathering. From Clancy's description of the incident - it sounded frightening.  The cow moose had come running out of the bushes near Big Wave Dave's and her dead calf - stomping her hooves and charging -- forcing Clancy to run around bushes and trees -- in the meantime Clancy's German Shepard, Kara sprang into action to protect Clancy as the cow moose persisted with her attack.  Between Clancy's throwing rocks, taking evasive action and Kara's protective assaults -- the cow moose  knocked Clancy into the bushes onto his back!   As she was coming around to stomp him - Clancy's dog chopped the cow on the butt and shoulder drawing her away -- and finally chasing the moose off.  Clancy made it home - somewhat shaken but finally safe -- and he has no doubt the Kara saved his life!!

And -- to think how many folks had walked past the dead calf throughout the day - with no incident occurring! That's a chilling thought because I was one of those folks!

Clancy has alerted everyone to be on alert - so we now remain cautious and on the look out.  Hopefully, the cow moose will calm down and swim off the island -- we'll see.

Take Care -- and thank you all for checking in after our absence.

Crossing The Lake...

Greetings Everyone!

It's amazing to know about a week ago -- the lake was a body of water -- and now, its a sheet of ice!  For the past few days Ernie and Gunter were out testing the ice thickness of the lake so that we could safely cross. 

Why do we want to cross the lake?  Well, because we have planned a spring vacation and need to catch our flight to the 'Lower - 48'.  When the lake broke-up a couple of weeks back -- I was almost certain that we'd need to charter a helicopter out.  Ernie however was convinced the lake would refreeze and we could snowmachine or walk out.  Our friends Gunter and Bridgett, figured either way we left the island -- they'd be there to see us off.

So - with all that said -- Ernie and Gunter began testing the ice on Monday. On Wednesday they measured good ice thickness readings and that we could cross the ice safely on Thursday.   Thus, on Thursday we began our journey across the ice. 

Below - Ernie and I arrive at Thursday's meeting place -- near Clancy's cabin -- and waited for Gunter and Bridgett to arrive.  Since we anticipated walking the last 200 yards of the lake -- we only packed a few personal items to take -- including about 15 spruce boughs because Ernie and Gunter planned to re-test the ice along the way.

Shortly afterwards, Gunter and Bridgett joined us driving their snowmachine and then, we loaded the ice auger onto the small sled.  The ice auger is electric - meaning it uses a rechargeable battery for operation.  Mike McGyver loaned it to all of us for our drilling pleasure.  The auger is a handy tool and so much easier to use than our heavy gas auger. THANK YOU MIKE!!!

Below - I snapped a photo during the beginning of our trip across the lake.  We crossed the lake near Clancy's place and went straight across and followed the shore line.  The snowmachine tracks in the photo are from Ernie and Gunter's previous trips across the ice as they made their ice testing runs. 

As we cruised along -- we were greeted by an awesome sight!  About 75 - 100 Trumpeter Swans had gathered out on the snow covered ice.  Some of the swans didn't care for us zooming along and took off -- showing us their amazing wing span and graceful flight. 

 After watching the swans for a bit and taking photos -- we took off again -- heading out more towards the lower landing.

Soon we came upon one of Ernie and Gunter's test holes which they had noted with the number 8 - for 8 inches.

We stopped at this hole so that Ernie and Gunter could drill a new hole and take a current ice depth reading.  After they drilled a new hole - Ernie measured for a new depth reading.  The ice had 'grown' 1 inch -- so now the depth of the hole was 9 inches.  Bridgett and I then took one of the spruce boughs, placed it in the new hole and packed ice shavings around the spruce bough to visually continue marking the route.

Because we were approaching the 200 yard mark from the lower landing -- Bridgett and I decided to walk as Ernie and Gunter re-tested the ice. 

In the photo above -- there appears to be an open lead -- but it's frozen.  However, we all stayed clear of the area -- the photo looks close - but it's not.  Since I was now walking -- I decided to take my ear plugs out (we use ear plugs while riding on our snowmachine) and was greeted by ice noises!  It's one thing to hear the lake make ice noises when standing on land -- but when your out on the lake and hear those sounds -- it can be a bit nerve wracking.  I didn't hear any cracking sounds -- just sounds similar to a whale moaning.

Below Ernie is returning to get his snowmachine after walking ahead to locate the next test hole on the lake. The test hole was marked with the number 9 written in the snow.  Gunter waited behind on his snowmachine before going forward.

In the meantime, Bridgett and I continued to slowly walk along following Ernie and Gunter -- taking pictures and enjoying the sights.  Every so often the lake would moan -- and we'd look at each other with raised eyebrows, shrug and continue walking.

Below -- Ernie takes a new measurement at the 9 inch hole while Gunter walks ahead to the next hole.  The new measurement at the 9 inch hole was 10 inches. 

Since I was walking along with Bridgett -- why not take a photo of her all dressed up?  In the background, Ernie and Gunter are moving forward to the next ice hole.

Finally, it's my turn to be photographed all dressed up.

Below -- we are almost to the lower landing -- you can sort of make it out in the upper left hand corner of the photo.  In the foreground is a section of frozen clear ice -- which we skirted around.  The new ice measurements near this clear ice were 12 and 13 inches.

 

By the time Ernie and Gunter completed all the new ice measurement -- Bridgett and I reached the lower landing -- you can see our foot prints coming across.  After we got to shore -- Ernie and Gunter came zooming up on their snowmachines.  In the photo below you can also see lots of snowmachine tracks -- those tracks were made by fishermen snowmachining down to the lower Keani to ice fish.



Safe and sound on shore!  After giving us farewell wishes, Gunter and Bridgett get ready to re-cross the lake back to their cabin.

 

Thank you everyone for checking in with us.  Take care -- and even though we measured the ice for our crossing -- if you plan to cross the lake -- re-test the ice -- because conditions change and the weather forecast is calling for warmer weather!

A Re-freeze...

Greetings Everyone!

Since I had mentioned that the lake had opened up because of warm weather and high winds -- I thought you'd like to see that one of our cabin neighbors came across by boat to check on his cabin. The photo below was taken on or about March 9th.

In speaking with one of the old timers - who is familiar with Skilak Lake - I was informed that back in 1944, the lake had opened up - just like we are experiencing this year.  Then, a cold spell with north winds came in and froze the lake 'over night.'

And wouldn't you know the old timer was right?  On March 12th, the lake began to freeze up again and quickly! The temperatures dropped -- giving us a stretch of cold nights, cold days and no winds. Our friend Clancy was planning to come out to his cabin on the 14th by boat -- but the lake was freezing over.  So he had to nix that idea -- and coming across by snow machine was out of the equation.

In the photo below, looking up lake, the lake is refreezing.

As the lake began freezing again -- I took a walk around the island and noticed the Trumpeter Swans had come ashore to check things out.  I snapped the photo below showing one of their tracks.  In following the tracks -- it appeared this swan was 'running' along the shore to gain speed for flight -- because the tracks just disappeared.

 

Since there were no winds -- as the lake froze -- it took on the appearance of a glass mirror. So while we were out walking with Gunter and Bridgett -- we started a game of 'rock curling'.  The game was simple -- just find a semi-flat rock and skid it across the lake's smooth surface.  Ernie and Gunter were able to slide their selected stones quite far out -- but Bridgett was a close third. 

 

Below -- Ernie is back to drilling a water hole so that we can pump water. Now that the lake has had about a week to freeze up again -- we've been hearing the lake make all sorts of noises as it 'makes ice' -- my favorite sounds are the ones that sound like rifle reports.

Not all of the lake is totally frozen - there are some open leads that we can see way across over by the upper landing.  A friend of ours was at the upper landing on Saturday and confirmed what we've been seeing from this side of the lake.  We were also informed by our friends that the lower landing appeared to have open water about 200 yards out from the dock.

On Ernie's birthday -- St. Partricks' Day -- he and Gunter began to test the ice again.  They started over on the southwest side and went along the shoreline -- getting readings anywhere from 12 to 16 inches -- until they reached about 200 yards from the lower landing -- there they began to get 6 inch readings and then 3 inches.  So they stopped and didn't get over to the lower landing. 

For Ernie's birthday -- Gunter and Bridgett came for dinner -- Bridgett made a yummy carrot cake!  Afterwards, we settled down and watched "The Last of The Mohican's".

While I was out walking yesterday, I came across a dome ridge that had formed close to shore across from Vince's place.  The dome is surrounded by water and is hollow.

 

Take care - and thank you for checking in!