BOW and drive to Valdez
We are in Valdez relaxing at the Bed and Breakfast. On Friday Bonnie picked mom and I up and we drove to Lost Lake, like an hour away. Three of Bonnie's friends were also there and stayed in our cabin too..that was cool, it was like a sleepover haha. After unpacking and lunch was the first class, Wild Edibles for me and Bonnie. It was AWESOME. It was taught by the same lady, Leslie, who helped with What's in the Woods? when I went to summer BOW the first time and whose house we went to when we did the Beyond BOW Track and Sign. She's so cool! She had this cream made of yarrow, beeswax and other things in it that we put on our hands and arms, and we put some yarrow flowers in our hair..yarrow is a natural mosquito repellent, and it actually worked! The mosquitoes flew around us and maybe landed for a second, but were like "ew" and left. I LOVED that cream, I wish I had some haha. That's definitely one of the most valuable things I learned..there was lots of yarrow around so for the rest of the trip we kept putting it in our hair. We also learned about berries and plants (like willow) that are natural painkillers (yeah, I chewed on some willow LOL..I feel like a hippie :P). Great class and valuable info! Then we had dinner and had a round robin of different skills. After that someone was leading a hike to a gorgeous view of the Tanana River and Alaska Range so we went on that. The view was definitely lovely. After we got back we went to bed
My first class on Saturday was survival. We made fires and shelters from trash bags..kinda fun. We had a "home tour" haha of everyone's shelters..people were like "this is the Hilton with two stories and a library and a pool!" So funny. :P I called mine "Alaska Inn and Suites" haha. After that class and lunch (the food wasn't as good as it usually is..boo) was Track and Sign for me. It was taught by Mike, who identified a Swainson's Thrush for me and did the Beyond BOW Track and Sign too (I think Leslie and him are good friends, which is cool). He knows so much about everything, it's amazing. We first learned about the characteristics of tracks and gaits of animals and stuff, then went to a slough of the Tanana River to find some tracks. We were walking through the woods to the river when all of a sudden BAM! I felt something really sharp on my leg. I'm used to getting scratched up by thorns when geocaching but this felt way sharper and different. Then I realized..I got stung by a bee or yellow jacket or something!! I yelled out I got stung and then the person behind me was like "OMG me too!!" We must have been way too close to their nest. I only got stung once, but the other person got stung four times!! It definitely hurt a lot. We got out of there quickly and finally got to the river. We saw moose, fox, rodent, etc tracks..cool, though I would have cared more if I hadn't just got stung haha
After that class I saw Leslie, and she gave me a leaf from one of the plants we talked about..it draws out toxins when you make a poultice. I put that on the sting and then mom put some baking soda and water on it (she pulled out the stinger later in the cabin). After dinner was this "survival fashion show" skit thing..everyone in our group was like NOPE and snuck out and went geocaching instead LOL. That was way more fun. :D One cache was under a cairn with a beautiful view of the Alaska Range and Tanana River..awesome!! After having lots of fun we drove back and went to bed
Yesterday my first class was Birding in Alaska. We learned some bird calls and about the optics you can use to spot them and stuff. We went down to the lake and saw an osprey hunting and diving for fish..cool!! We saw a crossbill too. We also went for a walk and heard some finches. Cool, I love birds haha. After lunch we packed up and started the drive to Valdez. It took a long time to get there since we geocached on the way (I was super tired and needed a shower and just wanted to get to Valdez haha). The first three we couldn't find, but we found three too. One was inside the old Black Rapids Lodge!! Cool, I had never been in there before! I'm glad I got to see the inside of the lodge that almost got run over by the glacier. :D I was so glad when we got to the B&B (it was after 11!!). A shower and sleep was definitely amazing :D
Today we're gonna do more caching and maybe go kayaking at Valdez Glacier. I'm glad we have time to relax first though :D
My first class on Saturday was survival. We made fires and shelters from trash bags..kinda fun. We had a "home tour" haha of everyone's shelters..people were like "this is the Hilton with two stories and a library and a pool!" So funny. :P I called mine "Alaska Inn and Suites" haha. After that class and lunch (the food wasn't as good as it usually is..boo) was Track and Sign for me. It was taught by Mike, who identified a Swainson's Thrush for me and did the Beyond BOW Track and Sign too (I think Leslie and him are good friends, which is cool). He knows so much about everything, it's amazing. We first learned about the characteristics of tracks and gaits of animals and stuff, then went to a slough of the Tanana River to find some tracks. We were walking through the woods to the river when all of a sudden BAM! I felt something really sharp on my leg. I'm used to getting scratched up by thorns when geocaching but this felt way sharper and different. Then I realized..I got stung by a bee or yellow jacket or something!! I yelled out I got stung and then the person behind me was like "OMG me too!!" We must have been way too close to their nest. I only got stung once, but the other person got stung four times!! It definitely hurt a lot. We got out of there quickly and finally got to the river. We saw moose, fox, rodent, etc tracks..cool, though I would have cared more if I hadn't just got stung haha
After that class I saw Leslie, and she gave me a leaf from one of the plants we talked about..it draws out toxins when you make a poultice. I put that on the sting and then mom put some baking soda and water on it (she pulled out the stinger later in the cabin). After dinner was this "survival fashion show" skit thing..everyone in our group was like NOPE and snuck out and went geocaching instead LOL. That was way more fun. :D One cache was under a cairn with a beautiful view of the Alaska Range and Tanana River..awesome!! After having lots of fun we drove back and went to bed
Yesterday my first class was Birding in Alaska. We learned some bird calls and about the optics you can use to spot them and stuff. We went down to the lake and saw an osprey hunting and diving for fish..cool!! We saw a crossbill too. We also went for a walk and heard some finches. Cool, I love birds haha. After lunch we packed up and started the drive to Valdez. It took a long time to get there since we geocached on the way (I was super tired and needed a shower and just wanted to get to Valdez haha). The first three we couldn't find, but we found three too. One was inside the old Black Rapids Lodge!! Cool, I had never been in there before! I'm glad I got to see the inside of the lodge that almost got run over by the glacier. :D I was so glad when we got to the B&B (it was after 11!!). A shower and sleep was definitely amazing :D
Today we're gonna do more caching and maybe go kayaking at Valdez Glacier. I'm glad we have time to relax first though :D