Hiking Barometer

Joe came home last Wednesday with another one of his wild ideas.

"Wanna hike Barometer Mountain tomorrow morning? I took the day off work!", he asked.

"Let's do it!", I replied, and called my friend Joellen to reschedule our coffee date.

As I have previously mentioned, I try to never say no to an idea that Joe has, especially if it is one that requires us to spend lots of time together. I LOVE spending lots of time with Joe doing activities that are productive and/or challenging. Nothing brings us closer.

Now, if you've been following our adventures up here at all, then you've seen Barometer Mountain. It is the one you see from our living room and deck as well as the one in the background of our "playing with Jack" pictures from the winter.

It is a mountain that everyone hopes to climb at least once while they live here, though most won't, due to its perceived difficulty (which I now understand). It is not a good trail to take children on unless they are securely strapped to your back or have the sure-footing of a mountain goat, so many parents are simply unable to make the trek. For us, however, it is a perfect challenge.

Barometer Mountain has an elevation of 2500 feet. The trail runs up the ridge of it, completely exposed and visible from the road below (with binoculars). The 2400 feet climb from the base to the peak occurs in just about a mile and a half. Translation: this is a steep climb. There are no trees to grab onto to aid in the ascent (or descent, for that matter), so good balance is very helpful.

We started our journey at 9:30a.m. after a good breakfast of oatmeal and omelets. We had our camelbaks filled with water, snacks, a camera, emergency raincoats and a loaded "bear" gun (a 500 S&W) and were full of energy. Looking up from the road, we could see that we would be hiking up into the clouds, which was very exciting for me. I had visions of having cloudball fights with Joe (yes, I know this is impossible, but I can dream, right?) and couldn't wait to make lots of jokes about having my "head in the clouds".

The hike started through an area that has lots of tall vegetation and salmonberry bushes.

I worried a little bit about stumbling onto a bear (we were very much in "bear country"), but relaxed somewhat when I reasoned myself into thinking that a bear wouldn't be very good at hiding its huge, smelly body and I would probably notice it before it noticed me. Plus, I had Joe with me and a huge gun in my backpack and that made me feel safer. I'll admit though, every time Joe casually said something about the berry bushes, my brain would only hear "bear" and I would tense up for a second until my senses caught up with what he was actually saying. I was very on-guard, but still relaxed enough to enjoy everything around us.

About a third of a mile up, the terrain moved from taller vegetation and shrubbery to open fields of flowers, low bushes, grasses, mosses, and rocks.

The trail kept a steady incline and mainly consisted of loose rocks, packed dirt, and some thick clumps of grass.

Due to the lack of surrounding trees, the view was always huge and beautiful any time we turned around to look at it. We could easily see the airport and the Coast Guard housing areas, and in the distance we could spy the city of Kodiak jutting out into the huge expanse of Alaskan ocean.

The trail provided a series of deceptive points that confused us as to how close we were to reaching the summit of the mountain. When we looked up, we saw a ridge, but had no idea if it was the final summit or not because we couldn't see beyond it, especially once we were in the clouds.

The ridges forced steep climbing efforts that involved almost crawling up the mountain on our hands and feet.

I was glad that I had worked so hard on building up my hamstring muscles over the previous year because they proved very helpful. Getting to the top of the ridge and looking up to see another one was a little disheartening but at the same time it was motivating to see the next obstacle that needed overcoming. We still never knew if that next obstacle was the final one.

Once we entered the cloud layer, breathing became a tiny bit more difficult and there was an added chill to the air that was refreshing while we were moving but a bit cold while we were resting. We could no longer turn around to see an expansive view and our drive to get to the top increased.

I became quite a self-motivating-pep-talker during the difficult second half of the upward climb. Where Joe and I had enjoyed chatting with each other on the first part of the journey, we were both now turning inward and focusing our minds and muscles on the challenge ahead of us. I was huffing and puffing, pushing my muscles to their limits, and lecturing myself in my head about the virtues of never giving up. I reminded myself that just because I was mad that the peak was so high and seeming so far away, my anger wouldn't bring that peak any closer and I just needed to push through it. I knew I had the strength and the will to do it if I channeled my energies. I don't know exactly what Joe was telling himself in order to keep going but I know he mumbled something likened to "we'd better find the Ten Commandment Tablets at the top". I had to laugh and was sort of glad that he was finding the hike as much of a challenge as I was.

After five or six or the aforementioned "pseudo-summits", I looked up at one last summit and noticed that Joe, who had already reached the top of it, was smiling and walking at a more level elevation. He was at the top!  I scrambled up to meet him.

The feeling of being at the top was wonderful. It had been a tough 2 1/2-hour climb and we had finished it! For the most part, the clouds obscured any views that we might have enjoyed as a reward, so I instead focused on how beautiful it was that Joe and I's bodies had allowed us to come this far. We were strong, healthy, and determined and we enjoyed being together. The journey up had reminded me of that.

During a small break in the clouds, we were able to see part of Bell's Flats and the road that works its way out to Fossil Beach. We could see eagles and a small layer of clouds floating below us. We felt so high up and our energy was quickly restored.

After a short rest, lots of pictures, some snacks, and good rehydration, we started our trip down the mountain. The same trail is used and I was worried about getting down the parts where we had needed to crawl up. There were lots of loose rocks and some muddy spots that were perfect for slipping down.

We took it slow and sidetracked through the grass whenever possible. There were times that I was crab-crawling down in an effort to not lose my balance and go tumbling down part of the mountain.

We broke through the clouds and enjoyed a beautiful panoramic view. Joe took pictures that I later stitched together for a 180 degree view (see here). A Coast Guard helicopter flew right in front of us and we scrambled to get the camera out to photograph it, but missed our chance by a few seconds. We caught it on its next fly-by when it was a little bit above our heads.

We enjoyed seeing our house from the mountain instead of our usual view of seeing the mountain from our house. We were sure we would look at Barometer differently every time we looked at it from the living room window now.

We focused on noticing and taking pictures of the beautiful little flowers and plants that we saw on the side of the trail. I loved what I called the "diamond" plants which were little leaves that cradled shimmering balls of water that sparkled in the light. Joe  perused options for flora to plant in our gardens next year (things that obviously are accustomed to Kodiak lighting conditions).

The trip down took just under two hours and in total, we had spent five hours on the mountain. We unloaded the gun and drove into town to get halibut fish and chips from The Chowderhouse.

The food was delicious and comforting to our tired bodies. We looked through our pictures, chatted about our adventure, came up with ideas for what our next hike should be, and agreed on our need for a nice long nap (which we took, right when we got home!)

The soreness I felt for the next few days was a pleasant reminder of our fun "date". I'm almost looking forward to hiking Barometer again. Almost.

Feeling better

I'm glad I wrote that post on the 17th about the "reality of my days". I had a little bit of worry that I would concern family and friends with how I was feeling, but I wanted to be honest. I knew writing it down would help jar me into proactivity. Yes, I am fighting seasonal depression here....I guess that's pretty obvious. But I realize it and therefore can work at options to help ease the feelings I have. I had the same issues when we lived in Homer but because I didn't understand what I was feeling back then, it consumed me to even deeper levels. I didn't even want to leave the house.
We haven't had any sunshine since I wrote that post and I'm doing just fine. The embarrassment of admittance forced me into action that day and being in action is what helps ease my heavy feelings. I have stayed quite busy and happy for the past 12 days. My house is clean, and has stayed that way. We've had some awesome dinners, including fire-grilled pesto chicken pizza on homemade wheat crust. I've been working out like a crazy person. And where I know that logically these things do not equate with happiness, they are a for-sure sign that I'm my normal "me" again, which is a person I really like being. :)

Thank you all for your prayers and concern. God, family, and good friends are the greatest healers. I love you all!

Hiking Kashevaroff

We had an unforgettable journey last weekend that led to me standing on the very tip-top of a mountain here in Kodiak, feeling amazingly accomplished and soaking in the wonderous heights and depths of God's creation. Our adventure was a 6-mile-round-trip hike to the top of Kashevaroff Mountain, which stands 2005 feet above sea level. Yeah, I know this isn't supremely tall but when you are standing on the road looking up at the top it seems to extend up into the clouds. I honestly never thought we would actually stand on the peak of it.

We had planned to take a hike that day with our friends, Ryan and Lindsay, but had assumed it would be up Barometer Mountain (the one that we can see from our living room view) since Barometer is a very common hike that we hadn't embarked on yet. Over lunch with our  friends, we decided that Barometer might be a little tough (it goes straight up and there are spots where you literally have to crawl) and that Kashevaroff might be a little more up our alley. Well, I should say might be a little bit more up the girls' alley: Ryan and Joe are in excellent shape but Lindsay and I needed some more practice.

The trail starts off as a 4-wheeler track so it is easy to navigate, but it stays at a relatively steep incline and does not have switchbacks.

It was discovered early on that Lindsay and I were not going to be able to keep up with the super-speedy guys so we hiked at our own pace while the guys hiked a bit ahead of us. They never let us out of their sight, however, being the loving and protective guys that they are, and we enjoyed being able to stop when needed to catch our breath or enjoy viewing a winding river or interesting plant.

The guys chatted nonstop in an attempt to get to know one another (they had just met that morning) and Lindsay and I chatted nonstop about anything and everything we could think of simply because that is what girls do.  The air temperature was absolutely perfect and the sunshine was gently warm on our skin. The pleasantness of the whole situation helped shroud the burn we felt in our hamstrings and lungs as we ascended the trail.

About two-thirds of the way up the trail the landscape took on a more tundra-ish feel, with low-lying plants and an absence of trees, and the trail we were following became covered in snow. Overall the area wasn't snowy, but the particular area where the path meandered was, so we began blazing our own trail over the rock covered terrain.

The ground was squishy with lichen and moss and it seemed to glow with beautiful greens, yellows, browns, and pinks.

The rocks were craggy, yet easy to navigate. Lindsay and I kept looking up at the seemingly far away peak, thinking we would be turning around at any point to head back down the mountain but he guys plodded on, and we followed.

We were tired but our energy seemed to magically increase as we got closer and closer to the top of the mountain. Lindsay and I reached a point where we knew we weren't stopping until that goal was reached and it fueled our excitement to know that we would soon be able to feel the sense of accomplishment that would come with having no further to go. Through groaning breaths, we kept reminding each other about how wonderful it would be to stand at the top - something neither of us had done before or had really expected to do that day.

And a wonderful feeling it was. The world stretched out in beautiful blues, greens, whites, and browns for what seemed like forever. To one side was the city of Kodiak, to another was an endless landscape of snow-covered mountains. The trek to the top had taken us just over 3 1/2 hours.

We were joyfully standing at the top of it all.

And then we were silly standing at the top of it all.

The guys went off to search for signs of Mountain Goats (that they hopefully intend to hunt at a later date) and Lindsay and I just soaked up the views from the top. It was a moment of forced appreciation for Kodiak and what it has to offer. There were no thoughts of rain, jobs, or messy houses - the bigness of what we were seeing crowded everything else out.

The boys barely made it back from their precarious ridge-trekking adventure with a small tuft of what we presumed to be mountain goat hair. There was hope that this might be a good place to return to for hunting later on in the season. 

We started back down the mountain on an emotional high, with the powerful drive of grumbling tummies longing to be satiated with sushi motivating us to keep a steady pace.

The trek down was relatively easy, albeit quite hard on my knees with the steep angle of the path. Halfway down we were entertained by some Ptarmigan that allowed us to watch from a very close distance as they cooed and chased and flirted. I felt like were were watching a National Geographic special. The guys wished they had their guns. Ptarmigan are good eating.

We made it to the bottom in just under 2 hours. They sky had clouded over a little bit and and when we turned to look back up the mountain it seemed so distant. It was hard to believe we had just conquered it. Kashevaroff had taught me a lot about what I was capable of that day and had given the four of us a wonderful platform for strengthening what I hope to be long-lasting friendships.

Oh, and we made it back to town just in time for sushi before the restaurant closed. Tummies satiated!

The dog flies.

We found this great little lake on the back side of the Coast Guard base.  Most people like to fish in it for trout, but not us. We like to watch our dog fly there.

You read that right: Jack flies. All it takes is a nubby orange stick thingee and a good arm.

It goes a little something like this: We wave the nubby in front of him and he focuses on it reaaaaalllly hard:

We wind up, throw the nubby into the lake, then stand back in amazement and watch as our dog flies:

He grabs the nubby and brings it back to us:

Pretty cool, huh? I'll show you again, just in case you don't believe me. :)

Jack focuses really hard:

We throw the nubby into the water and watch as he flies:

Then he brings it back to us:

And the process repeats. Over and over and over and over again. It's quite amazing.

Then sometimes, just to show off, Jack practices levitating while he's doing the simple task of fetching on dry land - with his front legs then his back ones:

He thinks he's so cool (We do too!)

Joe rewards Jack's awesomeness with a hip massage

and a nice towel-drying

And when we get home, Jack gets a luxurious bubble bath, an ear-cleaning, a pedicure (nails clipped), and a 20-minute brushing. He is SO spoiled. But wouldn't you spoil a dog that can fly too? :)

Our house

Ok, you guys wanted it so here it is: our house. I figured a little video would be more descriptive than pictures. We'd really prefer that you come see it in person. :)

The reality of my days

I always wake up with good intentions: I'm going to get the house super clean, get some laundry done, write a blog or two, have coffee with a friend, design a few of the web pages that I'm very behind on, and maybe spend an hour or two working out. Oh, and plan, shop for, and cook a new, delicious, amazingly healthy dinner.

What really happens: I wake up, cook our oatmeal and chat with Joe until he leaves for work. I pile the breakfast dishes in the sink (the dishwasher is already full of clean dishes.....I'll put them away later), look out the windows for traces of sunshine, find only clouds and head back to bed for a couple of hours. I get up, mad that I wasted two good hours sleeping, and head to the office to sit in front of the sunlamp and write a blog about my fabulous weekend/idea/memory. I get distracted on facebook and then on iPhoto instead. Joe comes home for lunch and I'm still in my jammies.  I feel guilty so I unload the dishwasher and load up the dirty dishes. I start to tidy up the living room then remember I have a coffee date in 30 minutes so instead  jump in the shower and brush my teeth. The coffee date is fantastic and lasts almost 2 hours. On my drive home I get slowly bummed out as the incessant clouds suck away my joy with whatever unexplainable power they seem to have over me. I head back up to the office to sit in front of the sunlamp for a little bit and get a few web pages done. Joe comes home and I realize I forgot to go shopping for dinner. I throw an emergency pizza in the oven and feel guilty the whole time I eat it because it is dripping with fat and excessive calories. Joe and I spend some time together watching a movie or playing some Guitar Hero.  My day ends with a bubble bath and some crossword puzzles then  I head to bed. The house isn't clean, I didn't work out, I never wrote a blog, and we had pizza. Does this make me a failure? Nah. I got to have coffee with a friend, spend time with Joe, get some web pages done, and have a bubble bath. Oh, and Joe really likes pizza. :) Would I call this day a complete success? Nope. I was capable of so much more than I did and there was a lot of wasted time.

Now, when I look out the windows and I actually do see sunshine my day is drastically different - more like I intended it to be and I get a lot done. Sunshine energizes me. It's like fuel for my "getting things accomplished" tank. This is the reason that I try to use the sunlamp as much as possible when I can't get real sun.

Yes, I'm a bit disappointed in the way my days have been going and I'm working on ways to improve them. Joe needs me to do my part around the house as it helps him relax after a long day at work. When I keep that in the forefront of my mind it helps because I truly want him to be happy. Today, it is cloudy and I'm managing to stay on the ball. I've already cleaned the kitchen and gotten a blog written!

Keep praying for me, please, but don't spend any time worrying about me. Overall, I'm still quite happy and appreciative of my life. I'm blessed beyond belief!

Rain. Again.

Disclaimer: this post is depressing. I feel like I need to be honest on my blog since it is about my life and I shouldn't "fluff" everything up. Proceed with caution.

AAAARRRGGGHH! It won't stop raining. Where is this "summer" that people keep saying is coming? We had one "nice" day this week. Everyone dropped everything they were doing and went outside. I, regretfully, had a lot of indoor stuff that I needed to get done that day but I still enjoyed the sun drenching my face with light through the window. It really lifted my spirits. Today (technically yesterday since I am writing this post a day late) it is raining, hailing, and blowing 50mph winds. I hope the freshly planted garden lives through it.

Jack even wants it to stop so that he can enjoy his life a little more. I mean, of course he still does "his stuff" out in the rain but we aren't so good at playing ball with him when it's wet out. We don't want him to break a leg. He's getting old and the vet is too expensive here. So, he mournfully watches through the gate and hopes and prays that everything will dry up so he can chase his ball a bit. He really wishes he was back in Long Beach with Grandpa. Grandpa ALWAYS played ball with him.

Luckily, the rain didn't stop Joe from grilling up the beautiful red salmon he brought home the other day. See, the rain doesn't seem to bother Joe much and I can't figure out why. I think that his emotions, unlike mine, are not somehow directly influenced by the amount of sunlight a day produces. He's pretty steady all the time, no matter what the weather is like. The things that make him happy are all in this picture: fish, beer, nature, and his wife hanging out with him while he grills on his deck. Look at that smile!

And by the way: those red salmon are hard to catch! He's been getting up every morning at 5:00 to go salmon fishing and has come home empty handed almost every day. I truly enjoyed eating this fish with the knowledge that a lot of work went into catching it. It was simply delicious!

You know what would have been even better? If the rain would have stopped. I think I might lose my mind.

How our garden grows

Our living room is being overrun with plants. Over 125 of them. We started them as seeds a couple of weeks ago and so far, they are growing like crazy. It is our hope that this summer we will be able to enjoy the conglomeration of colors and smells that the poppies, hollyhocks, black-eyed susans, sunflowers, english roses, and zinnias will provide should their full growth come to fruition.

There is something so amazing and mysterious about watching a little plant pop up through the soil and reach its leaves up to the sunshine (or in our case, sunlamp). It's so natural and perfect and something inside me stirs when it happens, as if I am somehow nurturing the process just by caring about their progress. Even such a small thing reminds me of God's power for giving life and His amazing knack for creating beautiful things that we inherently were meant to enjoy.

Every morning, Joe and I check on the progress of the bright green stalks and we eagerly announce to each other when we see new growth. We've worked together to transplant each little plant as it outgrows its pod and have baskets and pots ready outside for when it is finally time to create our gardens. Joe spends time after work moving the plants back and forth from the living room to the deck to the living room to help "harden" them up and ready them for their new home. I make sure their soil never gets too dried out. Now, we are just waiting for the rain to ease up so that the transition to the outdoors won't result in "death by drowning" before the plants even get a chance to try to live in a habitat much more natural than our living room window sill. We hope it won't be too long now....we're running out of window space!

I'll keep you posted as to the progress. I hope that in a month or two I'll be able to post pictures of actual flowers!

Like father, like son

Is it just me, or are they starting to look like each other?

A half-done camping weekend

Last weekend's aforementioned camping trip got rained out. Are you surprised?

I have to say that we all tried though. The trip involved three families: us and two of our neighbors, the Barnetts (Jake, Megan, and Allison) and the Cunninghams (Dana, Jennifer, Trevor, and Tyce). We got our tents and camper set up, pulled on our rain gear, huddled by the fire, roasted marshmallows, and chatted till 12:30 in the morning (about the time that it officially got dark).  Joe wasn't there because the bug he had a couple of weeks ago resurrected itself and he needed to be home and I didn't end up actually sleeping in the tent I set up because it got soaked through with rain. Instead, I cuddled up in my nice warm bed after taking a hot bath at home. The Barnetts and the Cunninghams braved the rainy night in their camper and tent and by the morning when we all gathered at the campsite for breakfast, it was obvious that the camping trip was not going to last through lunch. Kids were chilled, tents were wet, and mommies were tired. We packed everything up and took the 5-minute drive home (everything is SO close in Kodiak!)

Now, prior to the trip, plans for food were made that involved each family taking charge of 1-2 meals. That meant the Cunninghams had already prepped dinner and we had already prepped breakfast for 12 people. As a solution to this problem of having lots of food ready, we just spent the rest of the weekend eating at each others' houses. We also simulated a campfire on Saturday night by having a bonfire at the Barnett's instead. So even though the camping trip was technically over, we still spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and having fun. We just didn't have to be cold, wet, and smelly while we did it!

Our Saturday night "campfire"

Sunday morning breakfast at our house.

I hear that the Barnetts and the Cunninghams camped almost every weekend last summer so I know we will still be in for some fun times this year. It can't rain every weekend, right?