Oregon Tour

              

Amazing hiking trail on Mt. Hood

 

It is hard to decide where to start, where to resume our story from our last post. We have had an adventurous and exciting tale since our move back to Sitka. We spent June house sitting for our friends the Adams in Sitka and looking semi-aggressively at housing. We realized we had our hands full with the housing search. Prices are high and the options are limited.

Sarah and Emily on Mt. Hood

As July arrived, we ended our house sitting and decided to venture south, to Oregon to visit family and escape the uncertainty of where we were going to live. Our trip in July was the relaxation and family time we needed and desired. We spent the days deciding what our adventure would be and then eating delicious food cooked by Mary Ann. The weather was amazing, sun and warmth filled the days and the nights were comfortable and clear. We were able to squeeze in trips to Mt. Hood and the Columbia Gorge. We jumped in multiple creeks flowing down from the mountain and peered at waterfalls throughout the Gorge that flow towards the immense Columbia River. It was my first time in Oregon during the summer and I was enamored with the abundance of fun and exciting things to do. And of course we had the ability to hang out with family and friends, making the visit even sweeter.

Us with the Loeb clan--before we got soaking wet!

                Along with the countless days of mountain hopping and waterfall spotting, we had an EPIC water balloon fight with Mary, Lucy, and even Ryan at Megan and Curtis’ house. The boundary of the battle consisted of the fenced-in backyard, which made for opposing sides to be close together. With the proximity, strategy was a key component for one to stay dry. But, none would be dry by the end of the hour-long balloon battle. I do want all to know that I was teamed up against by Emily, Lucy, and Mary. I felt that the Buck blood boiled still from the Triathlon in Sitka. Their competitive spirits overwhelmed their rationality and decided to take it out on my poor unsuspecting soul. But, as many Clarks know, we are a smart and resourceful bunch. Although I was clearly outnumbered and out ballooned, I made sure none of the girls went home dry.

Going for a walk with Chena and Mary and Lucy

Jim and little Ryan! 



Em and Mary Ann



Ramona Falls



CHENA turned TWO!  Mary Ann baked her a dog treat cake for her special day!

Sunset at Crater Lake

                The balloon battle was not the only epic adventure. Emily, Mary Ann, Jim, and I drove down to Bend, Oregon where Tom, Amy, Chiara, Liesl, and, now, Pascal live. Jim had a bike race and we spent a long weekend enjoying the dry, warm climate of Bend. Emily and I visited Crater Lake National Park, which is a spectacular park with an amazing crater ridge drive that allowed us to drive around the entirety of the lake and view the surrounding mountains and terrain. We loved the visit but we struggled with sleep at the National Park’s campground. It seemed that the natural beauty of Crater Lake sunk deep into many folks, inspiring them to visit the campground. That inspiration also encouraged them to drink heavily in the campground. We had multiple groups around us having parties and drinking, while being loud and rowdy. Someone next to us ended up getting arrested. What was even more ironic was that we slept in the backyard of Amy and Tom’s place a few nights, located in a developed neighborhood of Bend, and woke up to a deer walking past our tent and slept with ease and quietness.

Beautiful Crater Lake



                When returning from Crater Lake we were met with even more water balloons. As Emily and I unsuspectingly walked into the house, from the balcony above the garage came water balloons whizzing by. Splash, splash by our feet. We tried to combat back, but with the high ground Liesl and Chiara had the upper hand. We could only try to hide and stay dry. The two girls showed us their biking skills later and also took us to the local playground. We had a wonderful time with the Bahrman crew and were ecstatic to be able to visit so much family!

Bahrman biker gang

Chiara, Liesl, and the newest addition- Pascal!

                After our visit to Oregon, which was hard to leave after family, fun, and delicious food, we came back to Sitka. Without a place to rent, we moved in to our friend Matt’s house. Matt Hunter has been both of our friends since we separately arrived in Sitka. He lives with our other friend Patrick. The two were so flexible and understanding of our situation that they opened their doors to us. We were so thankful to have friends like these two, no matter where we lived.

Smith Rocks- where all the German tourists are!

                We spent the next month living with the two and showing Chena her new home in Sitka. We were afraid of how Chena would adapt to the Southeast, but with each day she seemed more and more comfortable with her new surroundings. She seemed ready to be a wet, muskeg jumping pup of the Alexander Archipelago.

One of the many times, chena has fallen face first into mud puddles or muskegs

                From mid-July to mid-August we spent most of our time with the apprehension of the start of school looming. Not that we were not excited, but both Emily and I were nervous to start our positions at Sitka High. We knew how busy we were about to be and tried desperately to enjoy every last second of our work-free summer. But, as school has been going for a month now, we are definitely busy but we are definitely in high spirits and loving what we do. It is hard work but rewarding. Emily is teaching three Health classes, two College prep courses, and a Shape and Tone class. I am teaching three sessions of Freshman history and English block classes. It is great to spend our lunches together and keep each other motivated about the day.

                As the summer ended we talked about what to do next summer. But with so many adventurous days ahead at the school and at our new apartment, we will enjoy each passing day and put our energy into our new work one day at a time, all the while, of course, walking and hiking with Chena in her new stomping grounds.   More posts to come about some of our other fun summer adventures in Sitka.      

The Epic Summer of 2013

The Clarks reunited with Verstovia

We have been in Sitka now about three weeks and the sun has only rarely stopped shining on us.   The weather has been incredible and will go down in Sitka’s record books.  I can already hear the conversation that will take place in years to come during a typical rainy summer day….. “Remember that one REALLY amazing summer back in 2013?” and everyone will smile and shake their heads at the fond memory and recount their amazing adventure tales.

In addition to the spectacular weather, Ben and I have been showered with warmth and love from our friends and fellow community members.  Numerous people that we have run into on the street have phrased our return perfectly by shouting out to us, ”Welcome back home!”  It truly does feel like a homecoming to us.   

Finding housing has been very difficult, especially because of our sweet dog Chena having entered our life.  It turns out, you really shouldn’t adopt a dog until you have your own house because people are not keen on renting their places to dog owners.  Thankfully, our friends have taken care of us.  The Routons welcomed us to their beautiful home and treated us like family for nearly a full week.  Delicious meals appeared daily and we were supplied with any piece of gear we may have left in the interior.  Chena was united with Puffin (who is the reason we how have Chena if you recall Chena “Puff” Clark’s adoption story).  They have become fast friends who love to run the trails together and wrestle on the foof.  We have also been blessed with a month-long house-sitting gig for our friends Dave and Shelley (and now Lucas too!) who are traveling abroad.  Having their place as our home base while we continue to search the housing front has been nothing short of a miracle.   Sitkans truly open their doors for people in need!

Chaichis Beach on one of the hottest days in Sitka

Potentially one of the prettiest beaches in the world--and Kristin and I had it all to ourselves

The adventures here have already been too many to tell.  Chena thinks she died and went straight to Southeast Heaven.  She has already climbed 5 mountain tops, runs on the cross trail daily- zipping through the forest and learning about muskegs (the hard way), and has met so many new dog friends!  She loves Sitka! 

A beautiful dog in a beautiful place

St. Lazaria with Baranof Island in the background

Another view of St. Lazaria

We have camped on Starrigavan ridge with the Routons, boated out to St. Lazaria to see the puffins with Aaron and Patrick, and kayaked to the magical Chaichis just to name a few of the adventures.  We really couldn’t be happier to be back in Sitka, especially during this epic summer of 2013!  

Sunny day on Verstovia with the Routons and Patrick

Our campsite on Starrigavan

Ben and the Routons enjoying the fire and the beginning of the sunset on Starrigavan

My view from our tent in the morning

Chena, finally tuckered out after a long day of hiking

Ben's alpine lake cannonball

Mad dash out of the frozen lake for me...

Aaron jumping in--Puffin decided to stay on the snow

Even Baby Bump Routon took a quick dip (but still not Puffin)!

Flying Puffin (not the Routon's dog)!

All of those black and white shapes on this cliff are nesting Murres--seabirds that look like little penguins. There were thousands of them....noisy little community

One of the 2 whale sightings on the way back from St. Lazaria

Arriving at Chaichis.  Oh how I have missed Spouty Blue (my kayak seen above)

Kristin, the recent Sitka bride, being surronded by three porpoises on our kayak to the Chaichis

Enjoying the view of Edgecumbe and the gorgeous turquoise ocean

Not too many days a year is it warm enough to swim in the ocean!

Changing Scenery

Swans migrating through Delta

Although my last entry spoke of the spring break up starting—it quickly became an inaccurate statement . The weatherman actually showed a posting stating, “Spring is Cancelled” shortly after my entry.  Winter continued to last up until the last couple of weeks.  In any typical year, break up would’ve happened when I posted that entry, but this was not a typical year.  Everyone in the interior was getting quite cranky and lamenting the fact that May is supposed to be a summer month and so far, it was far from it.  The Fairbanks’s newspaper was calling it Mayvember, due to the lack of above freezing temperatures. It was snowing on graduation day at the high school on May 17th.  Long time residents recalled at the library that they had never seen such a persistent winter (lucky us!). 

There was a positive side, though, to spring/summer being delayed and that was  the birds that typically migrate to northern Alaska paused in the farm fields of Delta Junction for a couple of weeks to wait out the cold weather.  We saw literally hundreds of tundra and trumpeter swans, thousands of cranes and geese, and so many species of finches, warblers, sparrows, and hawks.  The birding was out of control!  Our landlord, who is an avid birder, said she had never seen birds in such abundance here.

Hundreds of swans on a layover in the agricultural fields 

Chena and her boyfriend, Toklat

On Saturday May 18^th, winter delivered its closing assault to snow 3 inches and once again cover the ground that had literally just started to be revealed. Our toilet then proceeded to freeze once more, just as a final insult from our dear friend Winter.

Ben, Chena and Toklat going for a walk on May 18th

Chena and Ben soaking up the sunshine

But yesterday, summer arrived with a bang.  It was in the mid-60s and sunny!  It truly felt HOT.  Poor Chena was sweltering and on our mid-day walk, took the opportunity to wade through every mud puddle and snowmelt puddle along the way to cool off.   I saw my first giant mosquito, so summer must officially be here.   I also saw my first bear of the year—from my deck!  I was excitedly hanging clothes up to dry, taking advantage of the heat, when I heard the thrashing of tree limbs coming my direction from the forest behind our cabin.  I fully expected to see a moose emerge, and was quite startled when a bear popped out 25 feet from me. Coming out of hibernation late, though, it was in a hurry to make up for lost time.  It didn’t even pause at my presence and just kept trotting through the woods in its search for sustenance (which thankfully it did not associate with me). 

Now that summer is finally here, I guess it’s time for us to say our goodbyes.  Ben and I will be leaving Delta Junction to move back to Sitka!  Ben was hired to be a freshman English/Social Studies teacher at Sitka High, and I was fortunate to secure a job teaching Health at Sitka High for the fall semester, filling in for a teacher on maternity leave.  Planning our move back to Sitka really seems like a homecoming for us.  We have received so many phone calls and letters from Sitkans excited to hear about our return.   The Interior has blessed us in many ways and we will definitely be back to visit, but Sitka still has our heart!  It is time to don our xtra-tuffs and pull our rain jackets out of storage!  We cannot WAIT to see our wonderful fellow Sitkans again!   

Chena is ready for her roadtrip to SITKA!  

  

Break-Up Time

A recent outing up Donnelly Dome

Although winter is hanging on strong (it’s still frequently below zero in the evening and morning), it seems that we are in the last few weeks of its brawny grasp.  The daytime temperatures are now consistently hovering around freezing or above.  We also have 14 solid hours of daylight!  The depths of winter are fading from our memories.   From this point on, there should be no more:

-frozen, square tires on our cars

-frozen everything inside our cars- batteries, steering wheel, stick shift, brake pedal, etc

-frozen toilets and showers

-frozen floor in our cabin (in which our shoes are literally stuck to the floor in the morning)

-extremely high electricity and oil bills

This makes me very happy (understatement).

Rather than actually being called spring, the season that is approaching us is referred to as Break-Up season.  It occurs when the ice on the rivers begins to break apart, changing from solid to liquid.  It is also marked by the melting of the snow that has been on the ground since the beginning of October.  

In my own mind, I feel that there is a double meaning to the term “break-up” season.  I envision the term as also referring to me ending a tumultuous and semi-painful relationship with Winter.   It’s been a long seven months and although Winter and I shared many good times together, it is evident that we both need a break from each other’s company, meaning it’s time to go our separate ways.   I don’t envision myself shedding any tears over our break-up.  I eagerly look forward to dating Summer once again. 

Winter wasn’t all pain and sorrow, though.  Winter was also beautiful with powdery, sparkling white snow, gliding ski tracks, dancing Northern Lights in the sky, and a peaceful silence that encompassed the land .  As we kiss Winter goodbye, here’s a look back at some fond memories we shared: 

Cross country skiing through the powder, straight from our front door

Lots of caribou sightings in Donnelly Flats

Ditto from the previous caption

Passing the sign that always cracks us up on the Richardson.  Pipeline viewpoint to the left?  Seriously? I think I'll take the snow capped,  MAJESTIC viewpoint dead ahead of Mt.Moffit!  Where's the sign for that one?????  

Snowshoeing in the fluffiest powder I have ever experienced

Escaping from snow by hiking on windblown Donnelly Dome

Moose crossing!  (A whole lot of moose!)

The five moose after crossing the road prior to intimidating a herd of caribou forty strong 

Two cuties out hiking recently