Mt. Edgecumbe Trip

The dome of Mt. Edgecumbe hidden in the clouds

This past week I had the amazing opportunity to accompany our resident soil scientist, Jacquie, on her trip up Mt. Edgecumbe, an extinct volcano on the south end of Kruzof Island, a 40-minute boat ride from Sitka. (Because of the lack of time, this is going to be a quick synopsis, I may add more later.) Not only was it a nice hiatus from working up fish, but it also gave me the chance to see another part of the area and get a glance into the world of soil. It was a 4-day trip in which we hiked 6-10 miles a day, mostly uphill, through muskegs and up into alpine tundra. We went up Edgecumbe, the Saddle between the ridges, and Crater Mountain, one each day, respectively. We were also relatively lucky in that we had two nice days, thus only two rainy ones, in which I did get thoroughly soaked!

Soil sampling included digging pits, describing the number and type of layers, their structure, texture, and color, among other things. I mostly surveyed the vegetation and acted as note taker and rifle barrier. We also had to take 3 kg soil samples at a number of different holes, which added weight to our already heavy packs. Anyway, enough writing, here’s some pictures!

The 3-sided shelter we stayed in 4 miles up the trail

Darren, the soil scientist from Ketchikan, digging a hole

pH sampling the soil layers

Eroded creek bank showing soil stratification

Jacquie in the alpine tundra on top of Mt. Edgecumbe

Pumice, e.g. volcanic stone

Hiking up Crater Mt. on the third day

Taking a nap in the sun on a plateau between the two ridges

Hiking back down the trail on the last day to meet the boat

Things I learned on this trip:
- it rains A LOT in South Eastern Alaska
- always pack extra layers and socks
- make sure these extra clothes are packed in Ziplocs (or the dry socks you take out of your pack to change into may be soaking wet, as mine were)
- my rain jacket is NOT rainproof
- rain pants are a must, and I don’t have any
- keep a smile on your face – it turns an cold, wet situation into a more tolerable “comically soaked”

Redoubt Lake

Here's a USGS topo map of Redoubt Bay and Lake compliments of my Psychology of Religion professor Colleen. The "outlet" where the island our cabin is on is in the little bubble between the bay and lake (near the red arrow), and the falls/rapids are on the bay side of it.

DA BEARS!

The resident bears are finally out in full force, which means almost daily human/bear interactions for us. Pretty much our policy when it comes to the bears and the weir is if they were there first, they get dibs, if we were, they better stay off until we’re done working up fish. Because of noise from the falls and low visibility around the weir due to dense brush, many times we don’t realize the bears are approaching until they are right up next to the weir, and then we haze the hell out of them. The last thing we ever want is for us, or someone else, to shoot one of our bears, so hazing them helps enforce the humans = bad mentality and keep them from becoming “problem bears”. Hazing consists of yelling, blowing the air horn and shooting them with rubber slugs. It’s gotten to the point where all you have to do is cock the shotgun for them to run in the other direction, they catch on quickly.

Our most problematic bears our two juvenile bears (approx. 3-4 years old), nicknamed Little Bastard and Little Bear, that have been hanging around each other. They spend a good part of their time fighting, which is pretty cool if you’ve ever heard a bear growl, and fishing together behind the weir. Unfortunately, since they’re so preoccupied with each other they tend not to be very conscientious of us. The other day while carrying supplies from the bay side over the hill to the lake side the bears started fighting less then 10 yards away from us in the brush, so we could hear them but not see them, scary. Luckily, one warning shot in their direction got them both to scamper off.

I wish I had better pictures of the bears, the unfortunately my camera doesn’t have great zoom, but hopefully I can get some pictures from Joe, who just won 1st place in a photo contest in-town for a picture he took of one of the bears.


The bears are really smart too, they’ll wait in the bushes just watching us for hours, and as soon as they see us leave the weir and hear the boat engine they come running out to claim their fishing spot. The weir provides an interesting scenario for the bears: they can catch a lot of fish with little energy output since the weir is blocking the fish’s escape. And it’s a skill they seem to have learned quickly.

Seeing the same bears day after day and learning their space boundaries and how they’re going to react to us can, at times, make us complacent. We have to remind ourselves that they are wild animals who can be unpredictable and that we always have to be aware of our surroundings.

Sex That Salmon!

Here’s a little game I thought everyone might appreciate, sex the salmon! Part of our job when working up fish includes determining whether they are male or female, which, especially as spawning time draws closer, becomes easier and easier to do: males have HUGE Gonzo-like schnozes. These are used as weapons to fight over female nests for fertilizing rights. See if you can figure out which is which!

(Answer: Female on left, male on right)

Free-time Explorations

The first few weeks before the salmon run started picking up we had a lot of free time around camp, so here’s a few pictures and descriptions to show you some of the ways we’ve been finding to fill our time:

While the weir effectively does the job of stopping the salmon from migrating upstream, it also blocks the passage of fish, such as steelhead, that are trying to leave the lake and head out into the ocean. Releasing the steelhead on the other side of the weir is a task that the boys have been taking very seriously, e.g. by fishing for them every few nights, what a chore! Sometimes Laura and I will join them and they patiently (most of the time) try to teach us casting and reeling techniques that more often then not end up with lures stuck in trees, on rocks and even rod tips flying off into the water. I think it might be time for me to get my own rod… Steelhead are pretty smart/sensitive fish that only fall for the lure a few times, so you usually get only a few casts before they catch on.







In Redoubt Bay (on the ocean side of the outlet) we like to explore the tide pools at low tide and watch the salmon struggle against the falls. When the tide goes down you can see an abundance of sea life, such as crabs, starfish, jellyfish and lots of mussels. Another cool thing to watch is the subsistence fishermen who fish the falls with dip nets from the shore; they’re allowed 10 sockeye a day using this method. (Lots of pictures, I know.)
















































If you haven’t realized yet, the boys REALLY enjoy fishing, so on slow days that’s usually the first thing suggested to fill our time. One day we were able to boat out to Symonds Bay (on the North side of Biorka island) to go halibut fishing. Evidently, this is not my forte and all I managed to catch was little rockfish, but Joe caught a 55-pound halibut that took him about 10 minutes to fight up into the boat. He was very pleased with himself and we were happy because we had wonderful fish tacos that night, fresh off the fish.


We had an exciting addition to our usual routine the other day when we noticed an injured eagle on one of the logs near the weir that seemed unable to fly away even when we approached. Ben and Joe, being the wildlife-loving men they are, decided that we needed to rescue it. So they ran back to the cabin, got a net, and captured it, evidently with very little resistance. Upon closer inspection, the eagle had a ripped beak, wounds to its torso and an injured wing. We think he probably got in a fight with another eagle over a salmon carcass; we have seen eagles knock each other out of the sky before. We spent a good chunk of the night building a cage for it and hand-feeding it herring. It was really amazing to be that close to such a big, wild bird. The next day Joe drove it back to Sitka in the boat and conveniently got stuck there for three days due to weather conditions. To the best of our knowledge it is recovering well.


And of course, there are always things to do around camp to make our living situation more “lush”. Firewood needs to be cut on almost a daily basis (a skill I have yet to master) to feed our little wood stove that heats the cabin; luckily, this is a job that Ben seems to enjoy immensely. Other DIYs around camp have included a new oven handle, handmade by Ben and myself out of driftwood, and a new linoleum counter top for our food prep, compliments of Joe.

Redoubt and the Weir

For those of you who are still having trouble picturing exactly what a weir is, I thought I’d give a little more in-depth explanation, plus some pictures to get you up close and personal to it. Our three weirs are set up at the Redoubt Lake Outlet where Redoubt Lake empties into the ocean. The weirs block the migration of the salmon (Sockeye are our species of main concern) from the ocean back into the lake where they spawn towards the end of the summer. I tried to find a map of the lake to better show the location of everything, but Google doesn’t seem to have one…

The first step to setting the weir up was hauling tripods (150 lbs. each) down from an adjacent bank where they had been stored for the winter into the water to set up at the tops of our two falls that lead out to the ocean. Then channels connect the tripods and pickets are slid through the holes in the channels to form a fence.

Everyday we have a quota of how many fish we have to “work up” (weigh, measure and collect scale samples from). This is done by corralling them through a funnel into a trap set up on one side of the weir. We net them out of the trap, knock them out in a cooler filled with water spiked with clove oil and Everclear, do our stuff and then send them to the recovery tank before setting them free.

We also recently had our first wild bear sighting of the summer. An eight-year-old female named “Sly” who’s been coming around the weir for the past 5+ years. Luckily, she seems to want nothing to do with us and leaves as soon as we drive up in the boat. We have had the chance to see her catching fish up close and personal and find bear signs, including lots of half eaten carcasses all over the place.

Another part of our job is fertilizing the lake. Redoubt is one of the largest meromictic lakes in North America, with a distinctive bottom layer of salt water that doesn’t turn over so a lot of nutrients get lost to the bottom. Since the 80’s the Forest Service has been fertilizing the lake because of a decrease in salmon productivity. This wonderful job entails hauling 1000 lbs. of fertilizer down to the water every 4 days and tying bags up at different drop points at the North end of the lake. While not entirely enjoyable, at least it makes you feel like you’ve worked for your food that day.

The Fourth

As some of you may have heard, I had the distinct honor of being Sammy the Salmon in this year’s 4th of July parade. This consisted of a wonderful neon green neoprene body suit that I not only couldn’t see out of or breathe in, but could only waddle in. Therefore, since I wasn’t able to keep up with the rest of my Forest Service buddies, Tripp pushed me around in my very own salmon chariot (e.g. a power carrier used to carry heavy loads of wood, tools, etc.). I also wasn’t allowed to talk because that would ruin the “Sammy persona” and the little kids would realize I wasn’t a real fish. Smart kids.

Unfortunately, since salmon don’t have hands, only fins, my pictures from this day are very limited, but hopefully in the future I’ll be able to get my hands on some photos that other people took. The trail and cabin guys looked dapper in their yellow and green uniforms carrying chain saws and axes and Smokey traumatized a little boy who's mother forced him into his arms for a picture.

This year because of the low cloud cover and rain the fireworks were canceled on both the 3rd and 4th of July and postponed until the 9th (when I will be back out at Redoubt), although who knows, maybe they’ll be postponed yet another week. We did get together with some people the 3rd for a barbecue over at Joe’s house and then hit the bars afterward which was a nice welcome back to Sitka after eleven days out in the field.