Another trip up the Butte!

I was lucky enough to have family visit me! My Uncle Ed and Aunt Bonnie drove their motorhome up from Phoenix, AZ, toured Alaska, and then spent the weekend in our neck of the woods before they headed back down to their cabin in Ely, MN.  My cousin, Jay, who I haven't seen since he's was twelve, joined them for a week.  Gus and I took them to our local hotspot hike, the Butte.

Jay, Ed, Star, Angel, and Gus on top the Butte

Pretty tiny flowers - not sure of the name

Full Circle

We've come full circle. In 2005, Bryant set up his river raft with a motor and floor board to use on the ocean for fishing and exploring. We went to Homer caught a few halibut and . . . . . .



2005 - The first halibut caught from the raft.

. . . the desire for a bigger boat was born.   A cuddy cabin on an 18' bayrunner aluminum skiff caught our attention.  We soon became proud owners of the Predato(r) (the r was missing and we adopted the name Pre-da-to.) 

For 2 1/2 summers, we used the Predato.

After spending about 70 nights in the cramped hard cabin of the Predato, I willingly agreed with Bryant when he said we needed a bigger boat. That is when we bought Sol Searching.

Sol Searching in Seldovia Harbor - Summer 2008

In November of 2009, Sol Searching was trailered to the Sea of Cortez and now we are back to where we started from, camping on spit and fishing from the river raft.  Only this time, we are missing the motor. 

Memorial Weekend 2011 - Bryant rowing to our fishing hole.

The first day out, I caught the bigger fish.  

These halibut weigh about 20 - 25 pounds. 

I took some pictures of my favorite Homer scenes. 

Bald Eagle in the weeds

Immature Bald Eagle looking at fish carcasses

Homer Spit beach



Good Morning - coffee time!

Then on our last day out, with one more fish needed to limit, and two bits of bait left to use . . . Bryant hooks a big one.  After gaffing it, we managed to finagle the fish aboard and subdue it with a piece of driftwood and a borrowed fish club from the nearby dingy.  Bryant used an NRS rafting strap to tie it to the raft floorboard and other than an occasional tail flop on the row in, the big fish didn't have any opportunity to give us any grief . . . although it did allow us the opportunity tell a good fish story! 

This halibut measured 4'6" and weighed about 80 lbs.

Autumn Graduates!

Bryant went down to Arkansas for a quick trip to watch his daughter, Autumn, graduate from high school.   She lives in Monticello, Arkansas and graduated from Drew High School. Congrads Autumn!

From chainsaws to pocket knives . . .

Last weekend we were out at the property finishing up those last few interior details.  I had to chuckle when Bryant pulled out the leatherman to trim a little more off the door frame, and I said to him, "This is the shabin (shack/cabin combo) that was built with everything from chainsaws to pocket knives."  Two and a half years ago, he used a chain saw to cut the holes out for the windows (October 2008 post:  http://jillcaho.blogspot.com/2008/11/another-14-and-ill-have-it.html ).

The door trim gave him trouble because we used wood slabs to trim the corner.  A few years ago, we bought a whole trailer full of slabs for $30 so Bryant could make log furniture for the house.  I found a few extras in the bundle that were really nice pieces of wood, cleaned them up, and put them in our shed at our house thinking that some day we might find some use for them.  As we were contemplating what to use for that corner trim in the cabin, I was reminded of those slabs with the cool burl sticking out and interesting knots.  They did the trick and after finishing the other loft railing, we are ready to call it quits with the interior. 

Still Recovering from "The Ride"

"The Ride" took place on Sunday, and I thought by taking Monday off and only swimming on Tuesday that I ought to feel pretty good with a pair of running shoes on my feet on Wednesday morning.  It wasn't the case, but I trudged on with lead laden legs thinking it could possibly be the overcast skies or my not so uplifting audiobook I was listening to about chemists experimenting on mice to find cures for bacterial infections in the 1900's.  Then today at school, I needed to head upstairs to get some art supplies from our workroom only to find I didn't feel my usual bounce heading up or the skippy slip step on the way down.  Maybe it's the tail end of this sinus cold, I told myself. 

While the cold may be contributing, I decided I needed to face reality . . . "The Ride" wiped me out!  "The Ride" pushed me to the next level.  Even though I managed to survive the ride and not slow the speedster Bryant down too much, I didn't yet have what it takes to continue exercise at my usual pace after a day like Sunday.  My legs needed recovery time, which means swimming and working my fingers on the keyboard to catch up on a blog entry. 

Last Friday, I purposely ran a double (a.m. and p.m. runs) figuring Bryant would want to bike over the weekend.  My seat time has been limited, so I eagerly agreed to a 18 mile ride on Saturday.  When our neighbor saw us returning, she jokingly asked us how the trip was to Hatcher's Pass.  We laughed accordingly and peddled on home.  Earlier I had mentioned  to her that we planned on biking up there sometime, but I assumed it would be a ride for much later in the summer.  So when Bryant suggested we bike up to the Hatcher's Pass intersection on Sunday, I was taken back by his desire to want to go this early in the season. Not wanting to be the party pooper, I asked a few details about the mileage and convinced myself that I would make it. 

I say biking "up there" because Hatcher's Pass is a 3,000 foot elevation climb.  Luckily the first 20 miles are mostly flat and the next 7 are a steady incline in the 7-9 mph range, but the last 5 are "my goal is to stay out of granny gear as much as possible" speed. That's right the barely moving, heart pounding, legs aching, how far until this flattens? speed.  When I finally reached our destination (32.5 miles from our house) at the Intersection to Willow, AK by the Hatcher's Pass Lodge, I was beat!  We did enjoy beautiful views, snacks, and sunshine, but only after I laid my body down on the pavement to rest for awhile. Eventually, I did find enough energy to make my way back home, another 32.5 miles.

And it looks like that was all the energy I did have as I've been recovering from "The Ride" now for the last 4 days  This is not the case with Bryant as he's been making a hobby of climbing Arctic Valley Road after work, which is an 7 mile ascent gaining 2,300 feet of elevation.