I am behind on posting but wanted to add a few.  Got 5-6 inches of snow at the Park and is currently snowing here in Anchorage.  Hoping to get out and fly the coastline Friday or early next week.  

Hiking and Bears, Again

 

 

I was told the trail wasn't really used much this time of the year so I was surprised by all of the tracks and just figured a group had gone in before me. 

Then I paid better attention to the tracks in the snow.  These weren't hikers.  It was about this time that I questioned my decision to not  bring the bear spray along with me. 

I hadn't planned on going all the way to the falls when I started my trip, but it was a pretty nice and peaceful walk and I had a few hours to spare. I hiked a little pass the trail, explored the area, and headed back to get a few more things done before the sunset. 

First Trip to the Park

Lake Contrashibuna

 

 

The lake has a large waterfall downstream that prevent the salmon and trout from migrating upstream to the lake so from what I understand the primary species are lake trout and artic char.  One local guide says it's the one place that he takes his guest to where they stop fishing, sit down and just take in the beauty of the clear lake surrounded by the mountain vistas.  

 

Views like this are pretty common hiking around the Park.  Supposedly in the spring and summer you can see Dall Sheep along the ridges, but it was hard to sport them in the snow. 

 

Mount Redoubt

This is one of two active volcanoes I have had the opportunity to fly by during my visit.  The last eruption was in 2009.  It had a major eruption in 1989 that ended up being the second most costly eruption in US history. 

First Week in Alaska

2018 - Alaska

 

I arrived in Alaska on Monday and have been getting into the office early and working late most days so I have not really had a chance to get and explore until this weekend.  I stopped by the Eagle River Outdoor Center grabbed a trail map, bought a few guides and got some recommendations from the very helpful staff.   It was a little chilly starting off but at about mile 2 when I was passed by a group of hikers carrying packrafts I suddenly didn't feel near as chilled.  I caught up with them at Echo bend where they were inflating their kayaks and gearing up.

 



 

 

Back on the trail and I am maybe 100 yards upstream of the rafters and I see something out of the corner of my eye leaving the river going into the hemlocks. Even though I only got a glimpse of it before it entered the hemlocks I was pretty sure it was a bear.  Sure enough it comes out of the hemlocks and is in a slow gallup right towards me.  I say hey bear and it stops, stands on it's rear legs looking around.  I wave so it can see me and it turns and eases off the trail away from the river.  I wait a couple of minutes to give it time to clear out and then back to hiking.  About a mile later I come to a nice overlook above the river.

 

Headed on up to my campsite at Icicle Creek.  SEtup my tent, explored the area, watched two dall sheep playing on the mountain behind me.   Crawled into my tent and read till I fell asleep.  Early in the morning I work to rain falling on the tent.   Turned my light on to check out my new tent and everything was dry so lights off and back to sleep.  I wake up at daylight (9am) crawl out and the rain is starting to turn into snow.  

 

 

I will try to post more photos from the trip this week.  Now I am off to make chilli (canned) and dry out my gear before I pack it tonight for a trip out tomorrow (weather depending) to the Park.



 





The Flying Cigar - Chimney Swifts

"No birds soars to high if he soars with his own wings"  - William Blake

The chimney swift is on the list of top ten birds in decline.  Part of the reason is because people are moving towards gas fireplaces and are starting to cover their chimneys.  The other reason, is because there are fewer old dead hollow trees since most people cut their timber before they reach that age. 

I was visiting a local Audubon Center recently and was surprised by all of the chimney swifts I saw.  I knew they had installed Chimney Swift Towers over the last 5 years to provide more nesting habitat for the chimney swifts, but I really did not expect to see as many as I did.  During the nesting phase, regardless of the size of the tower, there will only be one nest.   During the fall migration a tower the size of the one shown in the photo might hold 200 birds.  Some of the old industrial smokestacks in abandoned mills might hold 3000 plus.  I have not built a tower on my property yet, but I do plan to build one in the next year or so.  I mainly have to determine where I want to put it.  These birds eat about half their weight per day in insects so if you are having issues with mosquitos, etc why not try a chimney swift tower?   I will update this blog with my plans when I complete them.

Chimney Swifts migrate as far south as Ecuador in the Winter and as for North as Canada during the summer. 

Purple Coneflower

"Earth laughs in a flower. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson"

Echinacea purpurea - Echinacea comes from the Greek word Echinos meaning hedgehog.  The hedgehog mushroom has teeth that are somewhat similar to the cone portion of the coneflower. 

This has long been one of my favorite flowers.  It is a great flower for attracting butterflies and honeybees.  This flower readily self seeds if you allow the seedheads to remain. 

Worms and Vermicompost

Someone dumped a chest freezer out a while back and at first I was aggregated and then I remembered one of my great uncles used to raise worms in an old chest freezer.  I had been wanting to add a worm  bin to start vermicomposting so I did a little research, made a few mods to the freezer, and purchased my worms.  I ordered $40 worth of worms which is about 2000 worms.  They arrived 3 days later and I added them to my already prepared chest freezer.  All I had to do was drill a few holes in the bottom for drainage and fill the freezer about half full with sand.  I then added shredded water soaked cardboard and about 8 inches of shredded leaves.  I threw a few old coffee grounds in as well.  You need to make sure you have proper aeration so that gases can be expelled and oxygen can enter.  Since the lid does not close tight I don't need to really worry about it for now.  I plan to add a defensive plan in case ants decide to invade but I haven't decided which option I'm going with yet. 

Supposed once the worms get settled they can produce 1/4 to 1/2 their weight in compost per day.  So starting with 2 lbs of worms I'm hoping to achieve about 20 lbs of compost a month. 

Milkweed for Monarchs

"The fact that I can plant a seed and it becomes a flower, share a bit of knowledge and it becomes another's, smile at someone and receive a smile in return, are to me continual spiritual exercises." - Leo Buscaglia

Milkweed is the host plant of the Monarch Butterfly.  The Monarch has been in decline and there is a push for more milkweed to be planted to help its recovery.  I purchased some milkweed seed from rareseeds.com and was very pleased with the germination rate.  I believe it takes two years for the flower to bloom but occasionally some do bloom the first year.  I can't wait to get these in the garden.

Winter Hammocking - Hot Springs North Carolina

 

"Cold! If the thermometer had been an inch longer we'd have frozen to death."     -- Mark Twain

With the winter storm approaching we headed to Mt. Rogers in SW Virginia to do some hammock camping.  After driving for about 10 hours I started setting up my hammock when a Ranger pulled up and told me to hold up.  Evidently the Gov of Virginia made a decision to close all State Parks in Virginia for the storm.   So after about an hour talking with friends and coming up with an alternative plan we jumped in our cars and drove another 3 hours to Hot Springs, North Carolina.  Arriving after dark we setup, and opted to walk into town for a meal.  The next couple of days we took a few short hikes, visited the outfitter, did lots of cooking and eating, and played around with our hammock settings, insulation, etc.  I was greatly looking forward to Mt. Rogers but I have to say it was nice camping on the banks of the French Broad River.  We spent 3 nights camping and received about 6-8 inches of snow.  I enjoyed the snow, but I am ready for the spring. 

Oyster Mushroom

"Designers want me to dress like Spring, in billowing things. I don't feel like Spring. I feel like a warm red Autumn." - Marilyn Monroe

I have gotten better at finding and identifying spring mushrooms but I had a goal this year to practice identifying fall mushrooms.  I was out earlier this week and happened on these oyster mushrooms.  I am going to try and get a few tomorrow to saute.  I also found several other mushrooms that I will try to include in the next couple posts.

Eastern Box Turtle

 

 

Try to be like the turtle - at ease in your own shell. - Bill Copeland

 

This eastern box turtle seemed perfectly fine with me sitting there photographing it. Makes me wonder if this is one of the turtles I rescued last year.  Turtles may seem like they would make great pets but the truth is captivity is one of the reasons the these turtles are in decline.  It is estimated that there has been a 30% decline in population over the last three generations.  Every state has made it illegal to capture and sell these turtles for profit except for South Carolina.   It is widely believed that the average life of a turtle once it is captive is 3 years.  In the wild they typically live 25-30 years and have been known to reach ages of 50 years. 

 

Hurricane Danny

There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm. - Willa Cather

The formation of Hurricane Danny got me browsing my old photos from Hurricane Sandy.  This photo was taken not long after the storm and while the buildings were damaged on Liberty Island it was nice to see Lady Liberty weathered the storm quite well. 

Back on the Appalachian Trail - At least for the weekend.

"Civilization is like a thin layer of ice upon a deep ocean of chaos and darkness."
Werner Herzog

 

I was able to get back to North Georgia and hike a section of the Appalachian Trail from Unicoi Gap to Neel's Gap.  The fog had frozen to the trees, a condition called Hard Rime or Hoar Frost, and made for some really incredible views.  We hiked about 7 miles on Friday including a climb up Blue Mountain from Unicoi Gap.  We thought we had gone 8 miles and setup camp at what turned up to be a mile short of the Gap we thought we were at.

 

 

 



Tree Frog Likes My Grow Lights

" We think too small, like the frog at the bottom of the well. He thinks the sky is only as big as the top of the well. If he surfaced, he would have an entirely different view" - Mao Zedong

While working in the greenhouse today I kept hearing a tree frog but couldn't pinpoint the location.  A few hours later I ran into this little fellow while watering my cucumber seedlings.  I believe it is a Spring Peeper frog.  I will need to hear it again to confirm though.  

Adding Cattails to the Pond.

"Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong" - Winston Churchill

You are probably wondering why anyone would add cattails to their pond, but cattails are actually one of the more beneficial of all wild plants.  The roots for example contain more starch than potatoes and more protein than rice.  The tubers are supposedly very tasty when baked.  Some people ever use the pollen from cattails in their baked goods.  The flour in early spring is gluten free.   Songbirds use the fluff from the flowers in their nest and many wild birds including ducks nest in cattails.  My plan is to limit the areas that contain the cattails but I did want to add them to the site because they are so beneficial, not only as a food source, but for other purposes as well.  

Beekeeping - Captured Swarm of Bees at Permaculture Farm

I mentioned yesterday that I went down to check on the bees Saturday and I saw a swarm attached to a tree  branch.  I went up to the cabin to get some supplies and by the time I got back they were gone.  I assumed they had left, but now I am thinking they may have gone back into the hive.  I have heard that if you see your bees are about to swarm you can clang a pot and pan together to mimic the sound of thunder and sometimes the bees will move back into the hive.  They do not want to swarm before a storm.  It was raining Saturday, but I do not remember any thunder.  I was surprised to find the swarm on a branch of the same tree when I arrived home yesterday. 

A little info about swarms...  When a swarm starts it will only fly a very short distance from the hive where the queen will send out 20-50 scout bees.   The scout bees will inspect sites for their new home.  The scouts return and perform a dance.. the more excited the scout is about the location the more enthusiastic the dance is.  The scout tries to entice the other scouts to go with it to visit the site.  It may take a few hours or a few days for all of the scouts to agree on the same location.  At this time the swarm leaves for its new home.  

This is a closeup of the swarm.  It is hard to say how many bees are in the cluster but I would guess about 15000 bees.  Sound hard to believe?  When you order a package of bees you typically get a 3 lb package which is about 10,000-12,000 bees.   I have ordered a few packages in the past and this swarm was slightly larger than what would come in a package.   

 I quickly grabbed my supplies (suit, gloves, hive components, and shears).  I set the new hive up and then while holding the branch with one hand I carefully used my shears to cut the branch away from the tree.  I slowly walked with the cut branch and swarm over to the new box.  I placed the limb on the hive and then slowly started brushing the bees off of the branch (see brush in picture below).  

 After most of the bees were in the new box I closed the box.  I have my fingers crossed that the bees will stay.  I think often times people take a frame of brood from one of the existing hives to install into the new hive.  I will check this afternoon to make sure the bees are still here and if they are I will give them a few days to settle in before going into the hive.

Rose-Breasted Grosbeak

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.” 

― Willie Nelson

I was out on the property this weekend and spotted a Rose-Breasted Grosbeak.  This is the first one I have seen on the property.   They spend their winters in tropical areas and then migrate north for the summer.  Their summer range is from Tennessee to Canada.   I grabbed my camera as a second though this day, but I am fortunate to have it.   Ironically, later Saturday I walked down to check on the bees and there was a swarm on a branch a few feet of the ground (from one of my beehives).  I had a  box there but I went back up to the cabin to get my camera, gloves, and a few other things.  When I got back the swarm had already left.  I need to get back into the habit of always keeping a camera with me when I am out and about.  Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly

Tiger Swallowtail

"The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough." - Rabindranath Tagore 

Instead of driving my car down to my cabin I have an area at the top of the hill where I park it and then I walk along a little trail down to my cabin.  There was a small opening near where I park that was prone to erosion and had little vegetation.  Back last fall I planted the area in crimson clover.  The past couple of weeks it has been covered with insects and you can see where the deer have been bedding down in it as well.  I enjoy stopping by every day and looking for new insects and seeing signs of where other wildlife has been visiting the area.  I have started keeping a journal documenting what butterflies have been seen on the permaculture farm.  

The main host plants for the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail are the magnolia, peach, and the cherry.  They prefer to feed on the nectar of legumes, sunflowers, echinachia, marigolds, zinna, and yarrow.  

Solar Fish Feeder

"Our ability to create has outreached our ability to use wisely the products of our invention." - Whitney M. Young 

A surveying friend of mine was telling me about his dad making a fish feeder using the energy in the water flowing through his spillway to produce a small amount of electricity via a generator to have lights installed on float.  The lights attracted insects that would ultimately end up in the water where they would quickly become  a meal.  I had been wanting to build this for a while and found time this week to grab a few lights.  I went with two spotlights and 2 of the normal patio type solar lights.  I had some rigid foam board from a previous project so all I really needed was one treated 2 x 4 x 8' and one treated 1 x 6 x 8'.  I left the float sitting out overnight to make sure all of the lights were working.  I will the kayak out this weekend and place the fish feeder.  I have an eye bolt near the center and will be using a CMU block I have onsite as the anchor.  After a few days and letting the fish get used to it I will post back on the results.   

Hearts-A-Bustin - Softwood Cuttings - Propagation

Hearts-A-Bustin

"You live longer once you realize that any time spent being unhappy is wasted." Ruth E. Renkl

Hearts-A-Bustin is sometimes referred to as Ice Cream for Deer because it is supposedly there favorite plant to browse.  Are here the plant is somewhat hard to find because the deer population is so high.  I noticed this plant back last year at a nearby park so I went back a few days ago and took a few cuttings.  I took the cuttings at least 5 nodes back and trimmed the leaves off the first 3 nodes.  I then dipped the cuttings into glass of water and then into the rooting hormone.    This is my first time trying to propagate this plant so I will know in a few weeks how successful this project will be.   

On a side note, I ordered a few of these plants a few years ago and planted them on the edge of a field.  I didn't realize at the time that these plants do not do well in direct sunlight.  If you are able to get your hands on a few of these plants make sure you plant them in the shade.  I plan to install a chain link barrier around each shrub about 3 foot in diameter.  This will allow the deer to browse on them but not do enough damage to actually kill the plant.  

In addition to be a favorite food source for deer, they also have a wonderful fall color.  I will post a few pictures soon I took last fall of the flowers in bloom.