Day +22 "M" Day

The migrating ducks and geese continue to enjoy the accommodations of Lower Kroc Pond, They have a good source of swimmin water as well as natural food supply supplemented with a 100 pound bag of cracked corn. Each evening, at the designated time following sundown, the local rabbit harem also come out to feed on the lawn. They have become so "regular" that even "Mama Cat" perches in the window waiting for their arrival.

Although, I have not done much in preparation for the forth coming onslaught of summer guests to the HITW, I intend to start soon. Really, I do! spent a few minutes in camp today to survey the area. Looking real good, have not had to pump for the past 48 hours. Currently, 62.6 percent of the parking area is now dry and dusty. The sand hill is dry and just waiting for the first little foot prints to conquer the hill. Bronco Lane is dry except for the historical frost heave by the "Welcome Sign". No one stole the Bronco over the winter months. Messican Lane is still covered with about three inches of snow, the last of the seasonal snow berms that were stocked piled. The slope melt down of snow and glaciers is 90% completed. The cabin sites ground area is dry, after surveying the fall "mud slides" that encroached onto the Wolf Den, I have come to the partial conclusion that it may have been a good thing. At least, I have a concept that that does not involve shoveling and hauling by wheelbarrow, 10 yards of silt. Lot's to get done, but it always looks that way this time of the season when you look at the calendar.

Floods Of 2009

Following heavy rains throughout the past night and into the majority of the day, as could be expected that we have some flooding at the Hole In the Wall. The weather has cleared in this area and now enjoying an evening sun. The ole reliable Doppler Radar shows no significant moisture laden weather fronts in the area. The water expulsion units were not activated yesterday due to low water volumes. Upon assessment this morning, the expulsion system was activated and should have any flooding under control by Monday afternoon, dependent on the saturation point of Moose Meadows.

We do need to develop some type of enforcement system at the HITW to insure our few regulations are adhered to. It appears that the Raven Clan could be violating their day use permit, not to mention payment of their fees.

The high water on Lower Kroc Lake was inviting enough that a
flock of transients decided to spend a little ground time. It appears that there is a green headed goose that thinks it is going unnoticed by the other geese.

Despite the appearance of the untrained eye, this is a "controlled flooding" situation. As I mentioned earlier, the excess water seen in this picture should be extricated no later than early afternoon on Monday. Again to the untrained eye, the flood management plan calls for the accumulation of excess water in lower lying elevations and disbursed from those points. The accumulation points were strategically located away from all dwellings and easy drainage access into the outlet. Note how well all defined creek beds are controlling the run off. Grannies Gulch has never been under this much control.

The creek running out of John's Glacier is also well contained and draining directly into the cistern where it is then pumped out to the drainage ditch on the other side of the parking area. Currently, it is flowing a full rate of water.

Bear Creek has been tamed thanks to the masonry skills of those trained in rock structures and natural mudding techniques.

The drainage creek into Upper Kroc Pond is flowing full force. Enough water is now contained within this drainage that a Pink Salmon enhancement project should be seriously considered in the future.

Since Arnie's Mother Lode was not discovered in the excavation of the new "Duck House" project. Grannies Gulch should be seriously explored for mineral content and nuggets washing out of the overburden.

As you can see, everything is under control. My blood pressure is down this year despite the heavy rains because I know, we have it under control and it will only get better as we do a little more work on the drainage system.
However, a continued problem exists and has to be addressed. Again this year, we are seeing some erosion from the bluff behind the former site of the Wolf Clan. Last fall their new site was also subject to mud slides. I have a plan, which we can discuss around the fire pit.
The Seven P's never fail.

Posted: No Huntin

Please try to keep this a secret, I don't want no Lynx Cat sneaking around my yard trying to catch my "pesky little rascals". We have been seeing what we thought was a single rabbit in our yard throughout the winter. Over the past couple of weeks it has become more brazen and will come up to the house. Tonight, we discovered it was not just a rabbit. At one time, we had two in the front yard and a third in the back yard.

The sad thing, after I have been fortunate to get some great shots of Dall Rams, Stone Rams, Big Horn Rams, Moose, Caribou, Deer, Elk, and even Buffalo. I am now relegated to shooting pictures of rabbits!

The three highly trained retrievers that live with us were sitting on the deck watching the flocks of Sandhill Cranes passing overhead today. They looked, but basically ignored them since they were to high, except "Ruger" dog. He gave fair chase to the flocks despite the fact they were cruising at an altitude of 1,000 feet. We get invaded by rabbits and they show even less concern.

Guess, it must be time to break out the old Parker Double "10" and put in a fresh supply of meat for Memorial Day weekend. We always have some type of chicken, I think we can pass off rabbit to the little ones as chicken without them knowing the difference. Grannie might object, she has develop a fondness for her "bunnies", for some reason, I can picture us having a garden this year just for the rabbits. Yes, sad to say she has named what we thought was a single rabbit, "Roger", now she has to go back to her "Name a Rabbit" book and select some more names, I am sure in a month or so we are going to be seeing a lot of little bunnies.


I Wonder Why They Are Called Snowshoe Rabbits?

Could Get 50 Bunny Leech Flies Out Of This Pelt

"Ah, Green Grass"

"Yikes, It Is A Dog"

Day +29 To "M" Day

Over the past couple of days since my last posting, the remaining wood has been cut, stacked, and covered. Now awaiting for the next shipment from the "Woodman". This a.m., I could walk through the center of the parking area without getting muddy, it is drying up nicely, however, we can expect some rain to fall. Each day, I am prouder of the drain system. It is staying ahead of the inflow and has to be shut down in order to have water to pump out. Working great.

Water flow should slow down a little as a cold trend is starting to set in. This morning it was cold enough to freeze the "balls off a brass monkey". Is that vulgar of me to say? Perhaps, we should investigate that saying.

On the old war ships, it was necessary to keep a good supply of cannon balls near the cannons. Since the cannon balls were round it was difficult to keep them in place on a rolling ship. However, to keep them from rolling, the method devised was to stack them as a square based pyramid, with one ball on top, resting on four, resting on nine which rested on sixteen. Consequently, a stack of 30 cannon balls could be stacked next to each cannon. The problem was how to keep the bottom layer from sliding or rolling from under the others.
The solution was a metal plate with 16 indentations, called for reasons unknown as a Monkey. But if this plate were made of iron, the iron cannon balls would quickly rust and stick to the Monkey.
So brass was used to make the Monkey, however, brass contracts much more and faster than iron when chilled. Consequently, when the temperatures dropped to far, the brass indentations would shrink so much that the iron cannon balls would roll off the monkey. Thus, it was quite literally cold enough to "freeze the balls off a brass monkey".

The "brass monkey" should not be confused nor construed the same as a "trunk monkey"

Just a thought to ponder in the event that we ever decide to rig up a cannon at the HITW in case "Blue Duck" comes riding in.

Day +32 To "M" Day

Thirty-two days to the "M" Day (Beginning of Memorial Day Weekend). The de-waterization project is working amazingly good. During the night, the pump caught up once again with the inflow and had to be shut down this morning for a period to gather more water. It is having a very positive effect on the drainage and drying of the area. Bear Creek and John's Glacier is each flowing about the same amount of water. The small rock wall that I built along Bear Creek is very effective and forcing the water into the pit. And, you all thought I was wasting my time by playing in the mud and making a rock wall. Love the fire hose, makes it so much easier to rig.

Day +32 consisted of monitoring the "controlled flooding"

It is going to take at least two days of work to finish the "water collection pit" project. Going to be a lot of shovel work to clean up the erosion that has occurred, square the walls of the pit for preparation for the cofferdam. Once the cofferdam is built and installed, will need to back fill the inside of the walls and build the deck over the top. Will secure the trap door that will access the pit and the pump so little ones can't use it for a hiding place. Be a great place for Arnie to sit and watch what is going on under the gazebo and listen to the exploding firewood.

And, of course there was two truck loads of slabs stacked up to be cut. The only snow remaining in the parking area lies underneath the slab pile so it was a priority to cut them up. I am sorry, I know how all of you wanted to help cut firewood this year. Woodman Bill is loading another trailer for delivery. The "little lady" and I should have the reminder of the wood cut and stacked by Day +31.

In my last posting, I admitted I had made an error. Quite uncommon for me to make an error but I reported, despite my prediction, the river broke out without flooding. I judged this from the bridge. Tonight, I went down river and discovered where all the ice went. I knew I did not make a mistake!

This picture is looking upstream from the Picnic Hole. Ice jammed in tight all the way to the top of Gus's Run. Water level is to the top of the bank at the Picnic Hole, remember, that is the Hole where I caught that 16.5 Pound Silver Salmon. I don't know if I ever told you the story about that big fish.

Looking downstream from the Picnic Hole into the corner at the top of the Dudas Hole. As best I could tell in the dusk, it appears the jam, goes around the corner and into the Dudas Hole. How much of that is jammed up, I do not know since I was not about to walk down there in the dusk. Saw a brown bear in this area once.

Anchor River ~ King Salmon Season

Thanks in part to Mt Redoubt, it now appears that my prognostication that we would see major flooding on the river this spring will not occur. The premature ice jams that occurred in the December breakup has given way to the April breakup and eased on out of the river. A clear channel of water is now flowing under the bridge, unencumbered to it's journey to the sea.

The 2009 Alaska Sport Fishing Regulations Summary is now on the street, having picked up two copies of the regulations today. One for my office and a extra copy for the "Duck House", thought it may provide some educational reading instead of looking at the pictures in the Sears and Sawbuck Catalog. This is not a year of "change of regulations" so the same rules apply this year on the Anchor River as they have for the past two years. Next year, we will need to re-learn the regulations as they will change during the winter of 2009 - 2010.

In the event you do not have a calendar that is correct or not clearly marked, the Anchor River will be open to King Salmon fishing on the following days and dates:

Saturday, May 16th ~ Monday, May 18th
Wednesday, May 20th
Saturday, May 23 ~ Monday, May 25th (Memorial Day Weekend)
Wednesday, May 27th
Saturday, May 30th ~ Monday, June 1st
Wednesday, June 3rd
Saturday, June 6th ~ Monday, June 8th
Wednesday, June 10th
Saturday, June 13th ~ Monday, June 15th
Wednesday, June 17th

Anchor River will close to all fishing at 12:01 a.m., June 18th and remained closed until July 1st. On July 1st, the Anchor River will open to fishing seven days a week for all species except King Salmon, closing again to all fishing on December 31st.

First "Sign" Of Spring

On a very recent trip to LA, I could not help but take a few snapshots
of the Turnagain Pass Winter Wonderland. The mountains were beautiful.

Despite the Winter Wonderland, I was also able to find the
first real "sign" of Spring.

One Step Fix!

It's all Good, No stress!

I have found the solution to many of the problems we are facing this summer. With all the BS flying around camp it will take no time at all! In one easy unbelievable easy step, if we all doo our part we will have fixed our erosion problem which would fix the flooding, and we can really use the Duck House II as a recreational building; and you know what? After one summer, I bet a garden will actually grow in the Hole, once Dad gets the goats we will be eating like kings.


You have to check this product out!

HITW Break-Up

Under beautiful., warm sunny skis this afternoon as I was enjoying a cup of coffee on the deck, I could not help but hear a familiar sound. Normally it would have been a sound that would have brought me to full attention, however, it sounded so nice I ignored it. The sound of runny water in Grannies Gulch and signaling that spring break-up had arrived at the Hole In The Wall.

Following my volcano observation trip to the beach, I did stop by the HITW to check it out. However, darkness had descended enough that I was unable to shoot any pictures, although I could tell there was not much to shoot. Grannies Gulch was handling the current load and the new diversion ditch was transporting the run off in the right direction. Bear Creek remains quiet.

By the time I return form my "road trip", it will be time to start rigging the emergency pumps and activate the emergency response team to monitor the situation. This task will be made much easier this year with the improvement of the de-waterization system. The monitoring crew is really going to enjoy the comforts of the heated observation cabins that have facilities to make hot coffee and even a bunk to take short naps between monitoring watches. A vast improvement in comparison to the seat of the maintenance truck.

On the Ides of April, preparations begin in earnest for the new season.

In my preparation for this season, I have made an modernization improvement to my "plow truck" to enhance the performance and make it easier to open the passenger door.

Way to Go Ash

Did a quick drive through at the HITWRA this afternoon. Things are looking great. I cannot believe the affect that volcanic ash has on snow. After being gone for eight days, 70% of the snowfall we had is now gone. Bronco Lane is clear and down to bare ground, looking more like asphalt due to the ash. As fast as the stock pile of snow that I had been storing in Messican Lane has been melting due to the ash, it now appears we will be out of snow by early May. The stock piles have diminished greatly.

Going to need several good rains before I cut the stock piled wood supply, unless I can borrow a chain saw from the Beaver, Wolf, or Moose Clan. I am not going to use my good saw to cut the wood as it sits right now. The ground surrounding the favorite resting area of the Snow Leopard is once again bare, however, the fish head attractant is still hanging from the branch. For some reason, it has not been eaten by wild critters.

Thanks to Mt. Redoubt, our spring flooding should not be the problem that it has been in the past. Although the slopes are still covered with snow pack, it is only a few inches deep. The Anchor River has water flowing on top of the ice, previous ice jams and new ice is still holding firm, currently it is at flood stage and I would expect to see some major flooding as spring comes on.

Perhaps there is a lesson to learn here. If we clean the fire pit, stock pile the ashes in a dry location come next spring we could have a ash spreading party and sprinkle ash over the accumulated snow in the event we do not have a volcanic eruption next year. This is going to be an easy break-up.

Already preparing for our annual Memorial Day gathering

There has already been a little talk
of what the menu might be for feeding
our large gathering of family and friends and
still keep our heads out of the trash.
Right, Bears?!

Most would agree that a cheap
recipe is a good find for a crowd.
Here's a couple to get the list started :

Moose-and-Squirrel Meat Balls
(Especially useful recipe if main ingredients have been dead for 24 or more hours before harvested)

Pan Braised Squirrel
(skinned and gutted squirrels -- feet also removed)

~More recipes here~

With the variety of meals found, I will scrap my
bird and stray dog repellent combat project and go with it.
This talk of food brings us to another possible dilemma.


Although a fine craftsman with wood he is
and God bless that wise Eagle, but
the new "Duck House II" may not be ready
to accommodate a second line after dinner
and we should be ready to use whatever
it takes to keep our pit sanitary.
Maybe thunder pots?

Safety if always a concern when plans
are made with such a group and fire will
be a big part of anyone's business. Providing
Eric doesn't deep fry fish,


our surprise fires should be minimum. At this point
we should all be savvy on third degree burns
and the treatments of such. Prevention
should be the key to a safe experience,
thus, due to a previous event involving
Mama Buffalo and flaming dessert,
it is highly recommended that the
following defense training course
be taken by one member of each
clan before the meeting of clans :

On Your Guard

More updates on preparation to follow.
Shout out some suggests, K?