Black Bear Hunt

Wow, we sure have been enjoying some summer weather already. We were in the low 70's last Saturday. These temperatures are usually only felt in the summer months. We took advantage of the nice weather and went out black bear hunting.

Tyler and one of his co-workers ask me to come along on about a ten mile hike into prime bear country. I am not yet a resident, so I wasn't hunting, but was there to learn and pack out any bear that we might get. I really had a great time. I was anxious to get out and hike in the mountains. We didn't see any black bears, but we did find some absolutely HUGE brown bear tracks. They were fairly fresh and monstrous! The kind that sends a shiver down your spine when you find them. I also picked up a nice moose shed antler. This was quite a find. I also found four other sheds, but all were a year or two old (not worth keeping). However, this might prove to be a great moose hunting area due to all the sign and sheds.



This is Tyler trying to spot a bear. Notice how dry everything is. We figured that the bears and moose were closer to the river where there may be more food and not in the ravines where we were. In a week or two these mountains will be covered with green grasses, berries and hence, bears. Maybe we were too early.

Here is a nice moose shed (last year's) that must have fallen off the moose's head and into the brush. The antler is about four feet off the ground.

Here is the grizzly track. We figure it is an eight foot bear. You figure this out by measuring the width of the front foot and add 1 to get the estimated height.

Here is the fresh shed that I found (found in the ravine that is pictured above).

Not very tall or wide, but very heavy and nice mass. Maybe we can find this bull on this year's moose hunt in August. He would be a legal bull, due to the fact that he has three brow tines. The moose have to either be spikes, two points, over 50 inch spread or have at least three brow tines to be legal.

Everything else is going great. Shannon is fairing well in the pregnancy and Jaycie is learning many new phrases. My favorite is, "Daddy where are you?" She yells this in the house when I am in another room and she can't find me. She is also learning to sing some songs. She is learning Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star and The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

Thank You All for the Birthday Gifts

Thanks for all the gifts for my birthday. I don't feel like I am 30?




Here is the awesome cake Shannon made for me.


The snow was finally sticky enough for us to build a snowman (the only one of the year). Our snow is rapidly melting. Which is just fine with me.

Doesn't it look great?

It's a Girl

We found out yesterday that we are having a girl. We are so excited for Jaycie to have a little sister! Here is 3D ultrasound photo...

Learnin' Lots!

Jaycie, has become our little computer. She can repeat many of the words we say, especially if we ask her to try and say new words. The most impressive has been octopus! She can say it almost perfectly. She has also been learning how to care for her little friends...

She wrapped her doggie in a blanket. I am not sure where she picked that up (probably Mommy).

She will be quite the helper when our second little one arrives in August/September.

Here she is feeding her bunny some of her waffle. She even will lift her drink up to my elk head that is hung above the dining room table and make a drinking sound.

I have lots of fun asking her to identify family members when we look at the family portrait. She remembers a lot and points to almost everyone when I ask her who's who.

We have all heard of yellow snow...

...but Saturday we saw light brown snow! That's right we had ash fall in Eagle River Saturday evening. It was minimal (only a trace according the volcanologists), but it looked like a fine dusting on the deck and snow. I was all set to take a picture of it, but it snowed two inches before I could get out there. We are safe and sound, we were indoors and have sealed up all the intakes into the house. Church was cancelled Sunday due to the ash, but now Monday morning, we are back to usual.

Believe it or not, the volcano has now erupted 20 times in 7 days the latest eruption happened just about on hour ago)! The last time it erupted in 1990, it erupted 20 times over a few weeks or months. Hopefully, it is getting all of its energy out upfront, so we don't have to be watching it for much longer.

Here are some pics of the latest...

When the volconologists say, "explosive eruption," they mean it. This is a 60,000 ft ash cloud (our biggest yet).

Another look at the huge cloud.

Check out this picture of lightning striking the volcano. The ash clouds somehow cause this electric activity. The lightning is orange due to the brown ash cloud it is seen through.

Here is a great picture of the brown snow I eluded too. This is not our yard (thank goodness). This is someone's yard on the Kenai Peninsula. They got hammered last week. Dont' eat the snow!

The Pintail is Finished

Well, I finally got up the gusto to pull out the taxidermy supplies and mount my pintail. This is the one that Dad and Nathan will remember from our memorable 2007 trip to our secret, undisclosed duck hunting location. When I look at this duck, I will always remember the long row through icy waters, the rafts of ducks against the west bank, the hen mallard that came down right next to us and smacked Dad's coat, our trusty guide (Nathan), all the drakes that came to close, the long, tough retrieves (wishing we had a dog) and most importantly, the fun & adventure the "Moon Boys" always seem to find as we head out to the marsh like crazed lunatics.

I am glad I took the time to mount this duck. Unfortunately, with my lack of experience and equipment, it took me from 8:00 am Saturday morning until 1:30 am Sunday morning to complete it (taking only a few 1/2 hour breaks). During the process, I kept having those "why am I doing this" moments, but I pushed through. I had to make it a "resting on a log" mount due to me having trouble wiring the leg into the body for a standing mount, but I like how it turned out. I still have to paint the leg and foot greyish-black, and allow it to dry a little longer. Dad may recognize the wood I used for the duck to lay on. It is the wood that we found in a dry creek bed while we searched for a cou's whitetial deer in Arizona. I cut it in half, so I can use the other half on a future mount.

Hope you enjoy the pics, I am getting myself mentally prepared to mount the drake widgeon that I got during this past year's "Moon Boy's" marsh venture.

Redoubt Update

Well, Redoubt just doesn't want to simmer down just yet. We had eruptions #9 and #10 late last night. Ash fall occurred in Ninilchik (a.k.a. Halibut heaven) and other Kenai areas. Anchorage still has not seen any ash, thank goodness. We did have some ash pass over us early yesterday morning from eruption #8, but the ash was so high in elevation it did not fall to the ground. We also are expecting rain and snow for the next few days which helps to reduce the ash proliferation if we were to see any in our area.

We just keep keep an eye on the reports and live life as normal. We all are doing well and are anxious for spring to come. All this week it has been above the freezing mark for highs and the snow is starting to melt. I am getting spring fever now.