Category Archives: outdoor pursuits

Fungus Festival!

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Every fall in Cordova, when the always-too-short summer winds down and all the berries have been picked, there is still a secret treasure covering the forest floors… mushrooms!

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And if there’s one thing Cordovans know how to do, it is to feast on and celebrate the bounty of goodness this land provides!  Enter…  Cordova Fungus Festival!

This year, the festivities commence Sept. 7th – 9th and feature a variety of events.

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Starting on Friday, 9/7/12, go gather your fungus-grabbing fingers off and then come in any time for the all-day Fungus ID Tables with:

  • Steve Trudell (PNW “Fungus Master” and co-author of the Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest.)
  • Else Vellinga (Mycological researcher)
  • Kate Mohatt (Local Forest Service Mycologist)
  • Then, later that night, join in on the Evening Program at the USFS Courtroom, where (among others) award-winning nature photographer and writer Amy Gulick talks about ‘Salmon in the Trees: Life in AK Tongass Rain Forest’

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Don’t get too comfortable – Return of the Snow!

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That tricky sunshine.  We get 4 days of it and start thinking we won’t have to get the shovels out again til next winter.  It’s silly, really.  It’s only January, and February & March are our snowiest months here in Cordova.  So we should have known better.  But you can always dream… until you see this.  Here’s a snapshot of the weather report from weather.com today:

Yep, think there might be a tad more snow in our future!

Eight of the next 10 days call for snow, with one day of rain in there just to mix it up.  I’m especially looking forward to next Saturday when we’re supposed to get SNOW at 35 degree temps!  That’s like margarita snow.

Last night we got a foot of light, fluffy snow.  Yes, waking up to 12 new inches of snow used to be a shock to me.  Now, I just sigh, put on my Otter skin topped Xtratuf boots and tromp through the tunnels of white.

Fur-topped Xtratufs made by Cordova's own Gloria Cunningham!

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Ski Town, AK!

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I just moved here from a ski town in Colorado. Have I mentioned that? Well, I guess I’m a snow thief then because I seem to have taken it all with me when I left there last year. Say what you will: I may be a thief, but I’m no hog! They can send a giant cooler up here and haul as much as they want to back to Steamboat.

We have a ski resort here, too, you know. Mt. Eyak actually has the oldest operating chair lift in North America. That’s kind of a fun fact, but it doesn’t help us when there’s too much snow for the lift to even run!

This was taken at the top of the chairlift, the chair buried in snow.

The season started here with about 2 feet of fresh powder on Thanksgiving. New Year’s weekend 2012 was also pretty epic (to employ Cordova’s most overused term of the year). Check out these great videos by John Giardina.

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The Snowpocalypse Diet

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I lost 15 lbs in 3 weeks. Thank you Snowpocalypse for helping me get into the pre-wedding shape I’ve always dreamed of. *warning, Snowpocalypse is not for everyone, talk to your doctor before taking on Snowpocalypse, side effects may vary. Some people have experienced fatigue, lower pack pain, vomiting, dizziness, anxiety, feelings of depression, muscle cramps, numbness in fingers, minor bleeding, and bruising. If you experience these symptoms, it is not recommended to quit taking on Snowpocalypse as symptoms may worsen. However, some people experience temporary relief by mixing Snowpocaliypse with alcohol.

 

Vivian Lian wrote this great quip.  Regardless of all this crazy weather, I feel pretty lucky to live in Cordova with such great people.  We’ve got some pretty funny ones here.

Snowpocalypse Update 1.12.12

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Here’s the latest from Cordova Snowpocalypse 2012.  I took these beauties last night and this morning.

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Snowpocalyspe turns into Slop-pocalypse in Cordova

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So what happens when 18 feet of snow turns into slush?  Can you imagine?  We don’t really want to think about that, but unfortunately we’re not blind.  So if we have to see it, so do you!  Here’s a video I shot this morning, January 11th 2012.

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More pictures from Cordova Snowpocalypse 2012

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Here are some more great Cordova Snowpocalypse pictures from locals Signe Fritsch, Beth Poole, Jordan Watson, and Alyssa Kleissler.

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Cordova Snowpocalypse 2012

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My dog loves snow.  She rolls in it, eats it, buries herself, and chases snowballs until she can’t walk.  To her, when it snows, it’s like the whole world is covered in one big edible toy.  But for the rest of us, snow is only fun until… well… until it’s not.  Here in Cordova, we’ve had a lot of snow lately.  Over 15 feet, according to NOAA.  We all heard about it… heck, most of us have been breaking our back for the last week shoveling it out of our driveways, sidewalks, doorways, lives.

I’ve been skiing the heck out of some skiing here at Mt. Eyak, but there comes a point when enough snow is enough.  Generally that point comes somewhere in the same region as 3 avalanches and some roof collapses.  Thus far, Copper River Seafoods, Orca Adventure Lodge, and at least 6 residences have experienced cave-ins and it hasn’t stopped yet!  We even made the newspapers, Anchorage news channel, and (most importantly) cable TV!

Thanks, Kevin Kimber and Rochelle Van Den Broek for helping out those poor LA folks that will never know the blessing of a Cordova winter.  I just tweeted a few pictures, and all the sudden I’m getting asked for an interview as well!  Man, if we’re not careful, we’re going to start feeling like movie stars here.  Wait, no that will never happen unless there is a reunion episode of Northern Exposure coming up that I don’t know about.

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How to speak Cordovan

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Here in Cordova, we kind of have a language all our own. Every day, I learn new expressions and  colloqualisms. Recently, I came across this prime example and couldn’t pass it up:

“We went out in my bowpicker to try and catch some humpie and we were really in em on the opener on the flats but we got corked so we just went back and went out the road. Guess we won’t be highliners this season.”

Calm waters in Cordova

There are several interesting Cordova vocab words and phrases in here.

For example…

  • Bowpicker – A bowpicker is a fishing boat used on the Copper River and Prince William Sound for the salmon gillnet fishery, called such because the net is dragged in over the bow, at which place fish are “picked” from it.
  • Humpie – Another name for pink salmon, called such because they develop a large hump near the head while spawning. Humpies, although not thought of as such a delicacy for dinner, are often a very valuable salmon catch because of their plenitude and the abundance of buyers. Continue reading →

Winter in Cordova

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If you’re like me, you just got a little bit more excited about winter in Cordova. Points North Heli are the folks to see for adventure like this. Either that, or hike it yourself like my friends Rob and Lauren did.

Rob Campbell and Lauren Padawer backcountry skiing, Cordova AK

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