New pictures from Klukwan

               Ready to deal with fish!  You wear a mesh glove on your left hand - if you're right-handed!

My partner who went to Klukwan with me in August just gave me new pictures today after we spent the "debriefing" weekend with 30 other people who went to Culture Camps all around the state of Alaska with Alaska Native communities.

I wrote "travel haiku" everyday while I was gone, having heard something about it on NPR just before I left.  We learned to process the salmon (sockeyes), from the time they were caught (we didn't do the fishing) through cutting, brining, preparing, drying, smoking, canning, processing in the pressure-cooker, etc.  We were a group of all ages from a 4 month-old baby through - well, maybe I was the oldest, but there were several of us "there-abouts!"

Drying fish point upstream
Our lives are close by our food
Their spirits live on

Everyday I awoke to the mountains in front of me, often partially obscured by clouds and fog.

Shapes emerge in gray fog
The mountains revealing themselves
The Chilkat rushes by

Alaska Native villages hold these culture camps primarily for youth around the state of Alaska, often so that Native youth will remember and carry on the traditions of their culture.  Many of the camps include the Native language, which often has been lost and was for years forbidden to them to learn or to use in the public schools.  Klukwan has few children in the village, but a few of the youth performed dances and traditional songs for tourist groups in the summer.

Renewal and remembrance
Old ways, forgotten in new times
We reach back to learn.

The Weekend in Anchorage (and beyond!)

Brian went to the Kenai fishing by himself for a few days - well, 2 days by himself and the third day on a charter.  The first two days were on the Swanson River, but the salmon had moved on, so no luck.  Today he was on the Kenai River with a charter (small boat) with 3 other people fishing and caught two big silvers - could have kept 3 if another one had shown up!

Here is a picture of the Kenai River, which is more perilous than it looks.  It's cold, and it's rushing, moving deceivingly fast!  Because it's been doing so much raining, it's high also.  They left in the pitch black dark, 6 am, and you had to put your faith in the captain!  The fishing charter is at www.kingoftheriver.com.  Here is the captain filleting the fish -- Brian said he did an excellent job -- we'll see when we eat it tonight!

The others with Brian were a couple and their daughter -- the woman caught three, had a fourth on the line that took off with her pole!  Husband caught two and daughter caught none.

In the meantime, back at the ranch, I was INSIDE all weekend so far, which I intend to correct as soon as Brian takes a shower and gets cleaned up -- I had a debriefing weekend for the Educators Cross Cultural Immersion program from going to rural Alaska (Klukwan) in August.  It was very moving to listen to everyone's trips - there were 32 of us and think about what we were taking away as our gifts from participating.   I wrote "travel haiku" while I was gone in my journal and shared it as my experience of the trip.  Here is one:

Our life is close by our food,
Our drumbeats close by our hearts,
An ancient village, Klukwan.

Hopefully a FULL day of hiking tomorrow in the Chugach Mts. -- more on that later!  







 

Hiking for Labor Day Weekend

Finally back in the mountains this weekend - we've been busy since we got back to Anchorage.  Saturday we hiked Rendezvous Peak on a day which was overcast but at least rain-free!  Usually this is a good berry-picking spot too, but they had some sort of caterpillar that ate the leaves on the blueberry bushes this year and . . . no blueberries.  We hiked with our landlords, Mary and Lance Mearig.  The 2 1/2 hour hike was enough to challenge our un-used muscles, since we planned to go again on Monday.

Sunday we cleaned house, went to the Farmer's Market, bought some new lamps for our bedroom, made an apple pie and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and went to see The Help -- which we recommend seeing.  Yesterday we headed back to hiking from Glenn Alps, a loop trail to the Williwaw Lakes that takes you straight up first through what is called "The Ballpark,"  a very large, open, cirque dotted with low growth that is now bright red and gold against the green and brown of the hills, very pretty.

From here we could see a grizzly bear, first just with binoculars, then easily with the naked eye as we started moving in his direction!  We kept watching him and could tell when he spotted us, but he moved away from us, obviously not interested.  The hike was long considering it rained the entire day - which never happens in Anchorage - 5 1/2 hours, and muddy!  Once we gained the elevation, though, to 4,000 feet, it was just up and down.  One really long, steep down to Black Lake, a bit of a scramble down rocks and scree.  It was a beautiful spot but too cold and windy to get the camera out again.

This picture I stopped and took of what I thought was Black Lake, but we weren't there yet.  These small lakes in the mountains are just gorgeous with clear blue-green water against the background of the mountains, and you can see there are still pockets of snow against the mountain from last year!

On the way back, we saw about 8 or 10 Dall sheep up high on the cliffs. Oh, and we saw a moose, very far away when we first started the hike.  We were glad to get home, warmed up, fed, and then try to stay awake until bedtime.  Brian is looking at buying a van today to start a home remodeling/handyman business.

Grizzlies on the Chilkoot River

On Friday, just before leaving Klukwan on Saturday, we drove to Haines for dinner and errands and detoured to the Chilkoot River where it feeds into Chilkoot Lake, a common playing and fishing ground for Grizzly bears.  We saw two mamas with their nearly year-old now babies, and I wanted to share some of their playful pictures with you in the beautiful river.

Klukwan, "An Ancient Village"

I spent a week in Klukwan, mile 22 on the Haines Highway and the only Alaska Native village accessible on the highway system.  Klukwan is on the Chilkat River and home to the Tlingit Indians; the population of the village is only 95 in last Census.  I was able to come courtesy of the Rose Rural Exchange Program, sponsored by the Alaska Humanities Forum and hosted in Klukwan by Kimberly Strong and Lani Jones.  Kimberly's house is a bed and breakfast, and she is the Tribal Council President.

We flew from Anchorage to Juneau and then on Wings of Alaska from Juneau to Haines on a prop 8-seater -- only at 1500 feet.  Mostly we were there to learn traditional ways of preserving salmon, and from Monday to Friday we learned to cut up salmon (Sockeyes or Reds) and then dried fish, smoked fish, canned fresh-pack, and prepared naayadi, half-smoked squares of fish that you then boil or bake and serve with red potatoes!  We came home with lots of examples of all to eat and learned a lot in the process.  We also had baked fish heads one day, and I did actually try a fish eye -- which I was told is similar in texture to a raw oyster, which I also don't like!

I hope you enjoy the pictures of us working together in Klukwan and the view from my bedroom overlooking the Chilkat River and Takshanuk Mts.  They were socked in much of the week with gray clouds and drizzle but still beautiful!  We had fish hash for breakfast this morning with some of our fresh-pak!

  

Going to Klukwan

View from my front door - mountains are hazy in the background - flowers are glorious!

I'm back in Alaska, as of Sunday, and I'm so glad to have cooler weather than we were having on the east coast.  The last few days have been sunny and pleasant and only about 60 degrees.  It's felt warm though, and I wish I'd taken pictures of people lying in the grass, running in jog bras, everyone out walking around in shorts, just like we're in southern California!  Everything's relative, and in Alaska, this is summer!

Xtra Tufs - my new Alaska boots!

I'm back at work a week and getting ready for the fall semester, but I'm also getting ready for my week-long trip to Klukwan, a rural Alaskan village, for a cross-cultural immersion experience sponsored by Take Wing Alaska and the Alaska Humanities Forum in partnership with UAA and the Anchorage School District.  I'll be going to a Traditional Fish Camp, which educates younger people in traditional Alaskan ways (as well as me!)  My new "Alaska" boots, appropriate for everything except formal dinners, are going with me - it's rainy, and I'll be cleaning fish, and learning to smoke, can, and dry fish the traditional way.

Klukwan 1997 

 The following is heavily plagarized from State of Alaska Community Information Summaries to tell you more about Klukwan.  I'll give you my own version when I return! Klukwan is pronounced CLUCK-wahn, and has a population in the 2010 Census of 95.

It's located on the north bank of the Chilkat River, about 22 miles north of Haines, off the Haines Highway and lies at the junction of the Kleheni and Tsirku Rivers, 100 miles northeast of Juneau. It is the only inland settlement in Southeast Alaska. I'll take two planes to get there on Sunday, Anchorage to Juneau, then Juneau to Haines on a much smaller plane.  Coming back on Saturday, I'll take the ferry from Haines to Juneau and then fly from Juneau to Anchorage. 


Klukwan has a maritime climate characterized by cool summers and mild winters. Average summer temperatures range from 42 to 66 °F; winter temperatures average from 4 to 31 °F. They receive much less precipitation than is typical of Southeast Alaska. Total precipitation averages 23 inches a year, with 104 inches of snow.

In 1880, the U.S. Navy reported the name of the village as "Chilcat of Klukquan," which is said to mean  "the old town." The Chilkat tightly controlled the trails to trade with Interior Indians. At that time, the  Chilkat numbered approximately 1,000 among five area villages. In 1881, the Willard Mission and  School was constructed in Haines. Four canneries were built in the area by the turn of the century.  In the late 1890s, the Dalton Trail from Chilkat Inlet to Whitehorse offered an easier route for wagons  and cattle to the Klondike gold fields. However, the Chilkoot Trail out of Skagway was used by most prospectors. By the early 1900s, Klukwan was the last remaining Chilkat village in the area.  A federally-recognized tribe is located in the community -- the Chilkat Indian Village. The Klukwan Whale House - circa 1895 Klukwan is a traditional Tlingit village, well known for its Chilkat blankets and dance robes woven from mountain goat hair and cedar bark. Fishing, logging, and subsistence activities support the community,  and it has the largest concentration of bald eagles in the world, at the Chilkat Bald Eagle Reserve.  Population is 80 percent American Indian or Alaska Native. Logging on village corporation lands on  Prince of Wales Island provides seasonal jobs, and the community is also dependent on subsistence.  Salmon, halibut, shellfish, deer, mountain sheep, bear, and berries are harvested in season. Several  residents participate in blanket weaving, jewelry making, and moccasin sewing.

See you when I return!

Summer in Upstate New York

How about a post from "not Alaska?"  We've been in upstate New York since late May, though Judy was traveling to conferences through much of June in Albany, NY, NYC, Roanoke, VA, & Boston.  Brian was working on getting our 32' Allied Seawind, "Petrel", ready for sailing, and she's been out on the water in Oneida Lake many times now!  As I'm writing this, we're anchored in the South Bay overnight, and we're planning to head through the canal system to Lake Ontario, then up to the Thousand Islands, on Monday, July 11, returning in 2-3 weeks.  We'll post our sailing adventures along the way!

We've been combining staying on the boat with staying at Judy's mothers and seeing as many relatives and friends as we can -- the time goes so quickly!  Judy's also training to be a Wisdom Course leader with Landmark Education (www.landmarkeducation.com) along the way, and we're climbing our last two peaks to complete the 46 "High Peaks" of the Adirondack Mountains -- we did Marcy last week and are planning to do Allen Mt. tomorrow to finish them. The High Peaks are all of the mountains over 4,000 feet.

We have five adult children all roughly in this northeast area for the moment, and it's been great to spend time with each of them.  After this summer, they will be more scattered -- Jessica, Judy's daughter is planning a move to Los Angeles at the end of July, and Colleen, Brian's daughter, just graduated from RIT and is looking for a job out west.  We treasure this last summer when everyone can be together - who knows when that will happen again!