Berries: Fruit of the Northern Climes

Check out the hands of real berry-pickers!

Earlier this year, I made up my mind that I was going to pick berries – whatever it took, wherever I was, whatever weather!  And luckily for us up here in the north, this Summer has been one of the best in recorded memory!  I picked soap berries in Whitehorse, Huckleberries in Haines, nagoon berries in Juneau and raspberries and blueberries in  Hoonah!  I make my fortune by making myself fortunate in taking advantage of the fruits of our land — golly, and imagine all the berries that are out there that never get picked!

Wayne and Cherri Price, Teahonna James and Clarissa Rizal enjoyed an afternoon of picking huckleberries up a mountain on the other side of the Chilkat River in Haines, Alaska

Always pick berries with friends and relatives.  Never go alone.  Remember:  we have bears who feast on berries just like we do at this time of year.  Even though we see them as relatives, bears are much bigger and stronger than us and therefore, we must respect them, right?  Right.

Tim Ackerman always comes prepared with his chainsaw in the back of the truck; never know when you’ll come across a fallen tree on the narrow dirt road to the mountainside berry patches. Wayne Price helps set aside the logs (that will eventually become somebody’s firewood).

Soapberries are named according to the high amount of saponin content — the chemical compound that makes the berries foam up when whipped or shaken with water.

We do not have soap berries in Southeast Alaska, so I never picked them.  I remember my grandmother and mother would receive a precious jar of soapberries during a potlatch; it was always a prized possession.  In fact, so prized that I was given a tiny jar of soapberries from a potlatch that I attended about 5 years ago – I still have it; never opened.  I told myself that I would never open it until I meet the soapberry and pick ’em myself – I had this chance back in July – I picked all I could in a short amount of time and hand-carried it on a plane to my friend in Hoonah in honor of her mother who had recently passed.

Vanessa Morgan picking soapberries along the woodland path outside of our campus apartment in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

Nagoon berries are the bestest berry in the world!  They grow in open boggy fields in the northern part of Southeast Alaska — nagoon berry pickers do not let out where their special patches of berries are located – if so, then you must be someone very very very special – so take heed to those three people to whom I let my secret!

The “cloud berries” of Yukon, if I am not mistaken, seem to be a relative of the Nagoon, but do not quote me on this.  These berries are generally the last berry to harvest, ripening in mid to late August.  However, the berries are all in a bumper crop this year which of course puts stress on us berry pickers.  The raspberries, nagoons, blueberries, and thimble berries are all ripe at the same time!

Washed and cleaned Nagoon berries hold their shape

The fragrance of the nagoon is like nothing else, just like its flavor.  If you’ve never had nagoon, if you’ve never even picked a fresh nagoon from it’s habitat and popped it into your mouth, you have not yet lived!

Two 2-qt buckets were filled in 3 hours during hot muggy weather

What do we do after an afternoon in the nagoon-berry bogs? Wash up in a river beach!

 

Visiting Yakutat After 36 Years

Harry K. Bremner, Sr. and Clarissa - Yakutat airport - April 1975

For the first time in 1975 upon an invite to see what Native elders called “the land of milk and honey”; I went to Yakutat to visit “Grandpa” Harry K. Bremner, Sr. (In an upcoming blog entry, I will write about the influence of Grandpa Harry in my life).  Take note of the above photograph; the airport road is newly-paved and the trees are so much shorter than what they are today! — for those of you who are wondering where the heck is Yakutat, Alaska, look at a map of Alaska, find Anchorage, then locate Juneau and look about half way in between the two and you will find Yakutat on the coast, right up there with the big Malaspina Glacier.  Pretty awesome!  As most of you know, Alaska is Alyeska, the Great Land! And we Alaskans are proud of our country!

June 2011 – It’s been 36 years since I set foot in Yakutat.  Upon an invite by my friend Jan the traveling accupuncturist, and a reminder from my friend Preston who was guest speaker at the 1st Annual Yakutat Tern Festival this past weekend and, since my children and grand-children all flew south to attend their other grandparent’s family reunion, and I’ve gone through some heavy-duty, non-stop,  life-changing events over the past three years, (golly!) I decided it was high time to take some R&R and visit Yakutat again!  Yet, as usual I had to do something to offset my travel costs, so with the support and assistance of Walter and MaryAnn Porter, I taught a class in spinning Chilkat warp.   (For those interested in the cedar bark class, look for the blog entry recently posted “Spinning Chilkat In Yakutat).

The following photographs are the day trip to the biggest beach I’ve ever seen that runs North/South called Canon Beach:

As we approach Canon Beach, we pass over a waterway of lily pads

As we came across this bridge and saw this view of the pond, I remembered the swans we saw here in 1975 – it was the first time in my life I had ever seen swans.  And since then, every time I see swans, I have thought of this place here in Yakutat.

36 years ago, we had lunch with Grandpa Harry in this spot - it was a good feeling to be here again!

I have a few more photos taken back in 1975 during my visit in Yakutat; I’m not sure where they are, but I’ll have to do some investigating!  I want to include them sometime sooner than later.

Boogie Boarders skim the shore's wild surface of icy cold Yakutat waters - I tell ya, if I were 16 again, I'd be out there boarding - so much fun!

The very first time I had ever seen big waves like these were in Yakutat at this beach in ’75.  Then a few years ago, I had heard that surfers came from around the world to surf this beach.  We’ll yeah, man!

Although there were none today, surfers from around the world ride Yakutat waves

Sand Texture - I remember the beach sands being whiter, hmmm...I'm going to have to find those photos from 36 years ago and compare!

I swear - in Yakutat, there are more eagles riding the rip tides of the wind than there are seagulls!

Laying on the beach and admiring the textures of the sky while a lone comber goes to that place of meditation where water meets shore

Had to go find out what that thing was over there...(?)--Obviously something that didn't make it back afloat!

A rotting barge adds rustic color as tides ebb and flow

"Windows" of the sea

A lone pebble

When the tide goes out, there are thousands of small, polished pebbles on this beach.  It was odd to find one all by its lonesome.

Like I did 36 years ago, I will be taking memories of the land and sea, yet this time, with little pebbles for little grand-daughter hands in Colorado

You are probably wondering where are the photos of the actual village of Yakutat?  Well, when I post the blog entry about Harry K. Bremner, Sr., I will include a few shots of the village.  Stay tuned.

The Reliance – over 100-year-old sailing ship being restored

Jan and Greg

I played match-maker for two of my friends, Greg Garrison and Jan Parrish.  I was driving up to Alaska from Colorado in mid-March 2007 and brought Jan with me to meet Greg.  Since, they’ve been two peas in a pod.

Up to the Reliance

I’ve known Greg for a long time; he’s born and bred in Juneau.  We home-schooled our kids together back in the late 80’s.  Owning Harbor Marine in Hoonah since the mid-90s, he’s the only boat mechanic/refurbisher of his caliber in the entire Glacier Bay area.  He bought the famed “Reliance” sail boat years ago; it’s a beauty.  Being on board the Reliance reminds me of my childhood days fishing with my father and living across the street from the Juneau Float.  I wonder about having a boat when I permanently move back to Alaska – in Haines, of course!

Hooray for Greg; he is  finally making time to remodel and rebuild his own boat.  I look forward to her first sail!

Jan, Greg and Clarissa

Greg explains how the engines took 3 entire days to move from one part of the ship to the other

The diningroom will be able to seat 8 comfortably

Jan and Greg stand in one part of the livingroom

A suggestion in the bathroom

The Reliance's hull

Hull colors

Best wishes for Jan and Greg in completing the Reliance's remodel

Blueberry/Huckleberry Harvest

Greg and Clarissa act as if they're gonna eat a berry while Jan keeps the bucket from tipping over

Like I said in my previous blog entry yesterday, instead of celebrating Hoonah’s veterans and doing the ANB Hall fundraising event, I chose berry-picking on a sunny day in Hoonah, Alaska!

Blueberries, Black & Red Huckleberries are there for our taking!

The red huckleberries are Jan's favorites - a good year for plump ones

Our berry-pickin' view couldn't get any better

4 gallons of berries in a silver bucket

Between the three of us, we picked about 6 gallons of berries in 2 hours! - whadda day!

Natural Sculptures Around Juneau, Alaska – Group 2

This is my 2nd group of Natural Sculptures around Juneau.  As I had stated in my first group, I do not tamper with the natural image before I take the photo, nor do I enhance in any way shape or form.  The natural image and photo of the image is what it is!

An alien checking out pebbles on the beach?

Not a Barbie doll?

Wish y'all coulda seen this!

A hawk with a "bad hair" day?

He ain't nothing but a hound dog crying all the time!

Somebody help get me outa here!

Huh? So what IS it?

Appreciating the Beauty of Juneau, Alaska

I’ve temporarily moved back to my hometown of Juneau, Alaska.  When I lived here year-round until 18 years ago, from the time began a family in 1977 until the time I moved away in 1993, I rarely hiked or beach-combed.  I was too busy running self-employed businesses in art, landscaping and sign-painting, while raising a family.  I’m still busy with running a business, but I don’t have a family to raise full-time.  So, I’ve actually made time to go on walks in our beautiful surroundings.  Juneau is one of the most beautiful Capital cities in America – even when it rains!  From time to time, I will post photographs of various walks in our city.  Here are a few photographs of our Mendenhall Glacier taken at the end of July during our drizzling rain around 10pm:

Mendenhall Glacier at 10pm in July, 2010

Mendenhall Glacier's Icebergs

For the entire month of July, we hadn’t any sunshine; the temperature remained pretty steady between 52 – 55 degrees.  Yet, we still had enough warmth for the Mendenhall to calve off and create icebergs like I hadn’t ever experienced before.  They say the Mendenhall is receeding 120 feet per year; maybe this is that time of year – and as I mentioned earlier, I hadn’t gone out and enjoyed our surroundings for a number of years until recently, so how would I know if this is the largest number of icebergs ever?

Mendenhall Glacier on a Sunny Day(!) taken from 10-mile North Douglas Hwy