Karst Caves

For one of the classes that I am currently taking, I recently had to do a "field observation" of a land area that I explored/ hiked through. After this field observation I had to write a description of what I saw. I thought that this description may make a good blog, so here it is:

Karst Caves on Prince of Wales Island is an area with boardwalk trails through the muskeg with old growth forest at the bottom of the hilled area. Karst Caves is a drive in Park area with a small crushed gravel parking area that leads to a raised platform with a placard that describes the karst caves, their formations, and the area of muskeg. There is an outhouse off the side and the area is designed to be hiker and tourist friendly.

A boardwalk trail leads from the raised platform and leads through the muskeg. The majority of the area as you walk down the boardwalk trail appears fairly treacherous if you were to accidentally step off the side. Most of the areas that are quite high off the ground floor have rails around the boardwalk.

The boardwalk gradually heads downhill and you see small pools of water teeming with water striders and other bugs amongst the grass, moss, and muskeg area. There are small cedar trees as toward the beginning of the trail and as the trail turns the trees get larger and older and you start to see the first outcroppings of karst. As you go farther down the trail and go deeper into the old growth forest there is less light that comes through and there are still some patches of snow, even at the beginning of June, especially in the deeply shaded areas. Continuing down the boardwalk you begin to see the first of the sinkholes, water runoffs, and small waterfalls falling into the sinkholes. Deeper into the old growth the canopy above us is thick and the entire ground is covered in moss and rotting trees, which have fallen over the course of time. We cross an area on the trail where a tree has fallen, crashed through the railing, and exploded onto the boardwalk. At the farthest point of the trail the largest sinkhole with a large basin floor was water flowing through. Currently the water is low, but it is evident from watermarks on the sides of the rock face wall how high the water can get, approximately 10 to 15 feet up the rock face. The boardwalk here is about 20 to 25 feet above the ground floor, less than 10 feet above where the water can rise up to.

It is surprising to me, but I hear very little evidence of animal life as we walk through. We can hear the water falling, especially the closer we got to the end of the trail and the largest of the sinkholes. The occasional bird sounds, which type(s) I’m unsure of. We do not see any of the birds, but the forest canopy is very thick through here. The most animal life we see are the water bugs and the constant presence of small biting flies and mosquitoes that we must constantly shoo away and keep moving to avoid.

Bambi

Nature is an amazing thing.  Beauty abounds in nature.  

Southeast Alaska is an amazing and beautiful place, full of the glories of nature.  One of the awe-inspiring aspects of nature is the bountiful wildlife in SE Alaska, and in particular on Prince of Wales island where I live.  The deer on Prince of Wales do not have the same fear of people as I am used to from Michigan.  They come into town, often right up by homes or businesses, they are along the roadways grazing in the grass and will stare as you drive past rather than bolting instantly, and they are also not always found in small groups but are often seen alone.  The past week has shown even more of the beauty of nature as it is the time that the does are having their fawns.  

Nearly every evening for the past week I've seen a newly born baby deer along the roadside with it's mother.  A couple have been so new to this world that they were still wet and being cleaned by their mother from birth, or trying to get their feet up under them when they tried to walk.  They will stand right along the side of the road with their mother.  The trend has shown the mothers walking away into the wooded areas to hide when a car approaches, careful to stay where the fawn can see but far enough off to not be in dangers way.  The fawn, not quite so quick yet as it's mother, will gradually follow after the mother deer, looking back between the people that it knows are there and it's mother who has began to make space between them.  Once the baby gets scared it will hunker down in the weeds and try to hide, often losing sight of momma deer in the process.

I do not observe for too long or too near to the doe and her fawn.  I do not wish to frighten the animals anymore than they already are.  It's an amazing site though and one worth taking the time to see if able.  I tried at first to get pictures, but only ever seemed to have my camera on my phone with me.  I began taking my camera anytime I left the house.  The boys have also been on lookout duty when we're out for the does and their fawns and also for the male deer who are beginning to get their horns.  The boys think the baby deer are "so cute" and Zeke continues to say how they look just like one of his stuffed animals and that they're just as small too.  Not quite, but close.  :)

Super Chill

Super Chill.  It just doesn't even compare to Faygo.  Super Chill is an off brand soft drink that they sell in Alaska, like Michigan has Faygo.  It's cheaper and there are all sorts of flavors, pretty much the same as Faygo.  But, it's just not the same.  Nothing compares to Faygo.  I wasn't even a big Faygo drinker, but when you're in the mood for Faygo Red Pop, nothing else is the same.  

I miss the little things like Faygo pop sometimes.  I knew I would miss family and friends of course, but I never really thought about the little things like Faygo.  Zac and I were talking about it the other day.  We were making potato salad for Memorial Day weekend, just like we do every year.  Potato salad is just not the same without Koegels.  Ok, so I knew before we left that I would miss Koegels.  Nothing compares to a Koegels hot dog, but I can usually avoid hot dogs and not think about it.  But, in order to make mom's potato salad it has to be done right, you can't be missing ingredients.  So, we had to substitute Oscar Meyer's for Koegels and it's just not the same.  So this got us talking about all of the little things that we miss that we can't get here and random as it may be that's what I decided to write about - the things we can't get or have to substitute.

So, let's start with the obvious ones - the afore mentioned Faygo, Koegels, and then of course there's Vernor's.  I don't really care for ginger ale myself and didn't drink Vernor's, but Zac always liked Vernor's.  Especially if he wasn't feeling well, he said there was no substitute for a Vernor's.  Now, it's Canada Dry or nothing.  I'm kind of glad I didn't like Vernor's because I know multiple people who raved about Vernor's floats and if I had drank them, I would probably miss them - but no worries...  Ok, and how about Halo Burger and Big John's Steak and Onions.  A big homemade olive burger and cheese will do, but it's still just not the same.  Same with a homemade steak, mushroom, and cheese.  There's something about a Big John's that makes it better than homemade.

Some of the other things we didn't even realize or miss at first.  Little Debbie Snacks for one.  Seriously, no Little Debbie's.  I never realized that they wouldn't be available out here.  Zac and I each had our own favorites and there are other things that work sometimes, but not all Little Debbie's have a substitute.  I tend to go for Twinkies if I'm in the mood for that sort of a thing, although you can't buy a full box of them, just one pack at a time.  Zac and the boys prefer to go for Moon Pies.  Xavier really likes the chocolate ones.  And then there's the individual Hostess fruit pies.  You can find a couple of flavors of them, cherry, black berry, and occasionally apple.  But never chocolate.  Every once in a while a Hostess Chocolate Fruit Pie just sounds so good... ok so the chocolate ones aren't really "fruit" pies, but they're still yummy.  Last on my list (at least that's at the top of my head right now), is ice cream.  Yes, we have ice cream and actually there's a brand, Tillamock, that is REALLY good.  My absolute favorite flavor of ice cream though - Mackinac Island Fudge.  Yeah, not exactly available here.  Sherbets are hard to find to, especially orange and I really like orange sherbet.

Just the random ramblings of a girl missing her sweets and Koegels...