A basic veggi-licious stir fry being enjoyed with friends... no none of these veggis were local, but maybe this summer if Emily and I have more success with our garden... we are going to be a little more basic this year. 
Sourdough bread, this is something that I have just dipped my fingers into... delicious, and easy. I used to bake cookies, now I still bake cookies, but I bread is climbing the charts.
This yummy recipe my mother gave because she knows my love of sweet potatoes, sweet potato chili... mmmm I can taste it now (on a homemade chopping block table made by my buddy TJ for my birthday last year, isn't it beautiful?)
Food, something designed for pleasure in a world of hurry up and go. Here in Sitka eating isn't rushed. I love that about this town, people cook and enjoy meals together all the time. One of my my roommate Em and I when we aren't busy climbing mountains can often times be found doing our other favorite thing: cooking together, and then of coarse, eating. We make beautiful, when I say beautiful I mean delicious meals all the time. I have been trying to capture some of my creations on camera so perhaps they will inspire others to to take time to stop, relax and enjoy good food with good friends...
" Look at those big boulders, they appear to be coming towards us. " - Aaron Routon
Well those big boulders were coming towards us but they weren't boulders...
This past weekend Aaron, Thomas, and I decided to take a trip up Bear Mnt. to do some boarding. I've been up Bear Mnt. several times but this is a first for boarding. Bear Mnt. is a 4,200 ft. mnt. and is much more difficult to reach than my typical snowboarding mountain, Verstovia which sits at about 2,700 ft. However due to the ideal conditions we decided to make the trek. Four hours into our hike we had an interesting turn of events. Our ultimate goal was the summit, which if reached would of allowed us a sweet 2,000 ft. drop in fluffy alpine powder, however the dreams of the summit was thwarted after Thomas realized that those boulders that happened to be moving towards us looked an awful lot like bears! We changed our coarse of action. The summit wouldn't be attained today anyway. Instead we were forced to board only the lower half of the mountain, allowing for a 1,000 ft. drop, still pretty sweet. I have a video that Aaron took of one of the runs and I will try to post it soon. We will be going back. I love winter, even if bears are out of there den, Weird!
Also, if you are at all interested in looking at the video Aaron took of the snowboarding experience it is well worth checking out, my computer is much too slow to upload it but here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-jddJOY50k&feature=channel_page
Here I am with a map and compass shooting a line across the glacier.
Crossing one of the ridge lines in the fog and mist.
Here we are hurrying to take a picture during a 5 minute, period where the clouds have broken.
The journey has ended we are about to hop on The Beaver, leave Baranof Warm Springs and return to Sitka.
Here is just a shot of an assent. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip, it captures the journey well.
So I am an island dweller. Now you probably wouldn't compare this island to Maui or Jamaica, but it is an island none the less and in my humble opinion it much more delightful than the tropics. And this summer I was lucky enough actually to hike across the island. It was a coveted trip, more delightful than I could have ever imagined, even with the weather worse than typical. This means even though I was hiking across long gorgeous ridge lines and beside glacier lakes all I saw was a gray fog. I had to make those mental images of nature and its beauty in my mind.
However thanks to a friend of mine, Marty Manes who recorded his trip, made a video and posted it on teacher tube I can forever remember the experience and share it with others. He also had better luck with the weather. Marty no longer lives here in Sitka unfortunately because he was a great part of the community here. But he is still off doing wonderful things, this fall he and his wife moved to Arctic Village:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Village,_AK
So if you have 5 minutes and would like to see the island I call home I would recommend you watch this video:
http://www.teachertube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=bd4ab51e9b50ff0a1a88
This yummy recipe my mother gave because she knows my love of sweet potatoes, sweet potato chili... mmmm I can taste it now (on a homemade chopping block table made by my buddy TJ for my birthday last year, isn't it beautiful?)
