Central to the Story — Redoubt Writers Contest

The Redoubt Reporter is proud to announce the results of our Redoubt Writers Contest. Central Kenai Peninsula residents — adult and youth divisions — were invited to send in original works of fiction, nonfiction and poetry relating to life on the Kenai. A prompt was given for fiction entries: “This sort of thing hadn’t happened since the last time Mount Redoubt erupted.”

Poetry and nonfiction entries were asked to address the theme: “The moment you were struck with the realization you were in Alaska.”

We got some excellent entries and appreciate everyone who put pen to paper, fingers to keys, quill to parchment or whatever means preferred to capture their creativity in print.

Following are the results and a selection of judges’ comments. Winners receive:

• Adult Fiction — $50, a $20 gift certificate from River City Books; two tickets to a Kenai Performers show of choice; and a $30 gift certificate from Triumvirate Theatre (redeemable for purchases in the Triumvirate Book Store in the Peninsula Center Mall in Soldotna, or in purchasing tickets to a Triumvirate show).
• Adult nonfiction — $50, a $20 gift certificate from River City Books; two tickets to a Kenai Performers show of choice; and a $30 gift certificate from Triumvirate Theatre (redeemable for purchases in the Triumvirate Book Store in the Peninsula Center Mall in Soldotna, or in purchasing tickets to a Triumvirate show).
• Adult poetry — $50, a $20 gift certificate from River City Books; two tickets to a Kenai Performers show of choice; and a $30 gift certificate from Triumvirate Theatre (redeemable for purchases in the Triumvirate Book Store in the Peninsula Center Mall in Soldotna, or in purchasing tickets to a Triumvirate show).
• Youth fiction — $250

Keep an eye out for our next writing contest. Creativity enriches a community, so let no good story go untold!

Bold bear draws crowd — Young bruin peeks in van on Skilak Road

By Joseph Robertia

Photos courtesy of Heidi Hanson. A young black bear put on a lengthy show for vehicles along Skilak Lake Loop Road last week. The bear didn’t seem to mind people watching it, and even approached a van bearing a load of kids on a hiking trip in the Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area. The bear walked right up to the van and circled it, leading biologists to wonder if its lack of wariness comes from the bear being fed illegally by people.

Redoubt Reporter

While there have been numerous negative encounters between bears and humans in the Anchorage area, on the Kenai Peninsula problems with bears have been few and far between this season — until last week, when children in a summer program got a firsthand lesson on bear behavior.

“It was amazing. We got nearly a half an hour with him,” said Katherine Quelland, an individual service provider with Central Peninsula Community Services.

Quelland, along with two other adults and eight children, were returning from a daylong summer outing in the Skilak Wildlife Recreation Area of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

“We were coming back from hiking the Kenai River Overlook Trail, where we hadn’t seen any bears or signs of bears, just lots of mosquitoes,” she said.

But while driving the 19-mile gravel road that winds back to the Sterling Highway, they noticed a couple of cars pulled over not far past, fittingly enough, the Bear Mountain trailhead. Drivers and passengers were watching a young, 2- to 3-year-old black bear that had appeared from out of the woods.

“It didn’t approach the cars at all, but it seemed interested in us. It came right up to us. It was searching the van and seemed to be sticking around waiting for something,” Quelland said.

With a van load of children, it was imperative to model appropriate behavior around the bruin, and Quelland said she and the other adults instructed the kids on what to do and what not to do. Then they just sat back and enjoyed the natural spectacle.

“They were really excited, so we told them to keep their voices down and stay in their seats to watch it, and it worked out that everyone got to see it because it came around all sides of the van,” she said. “It came very close. It put its paws on the van and got up and looked in the windows. It was totally comfortable with it all and at no time did it act aggressive.”

Bridge Access to get better for bike riders — Club promotes painting project

By Jenny Neyman

Photos by Jenny Neyman, Redoubt Reporter. Young bike riders wait to cross the Sterling Highway at Binkley Street in Soldotna during a family bike safe event May 12. Bicycling is become more and more popular, raising interest in projects to improve safety.

Redoubt Reporter

The idea, advocates say, is a no-brainer — add some high-visibility paint to the shoulder of Bridge Access Road and Warren Ames Memorial Bridge over the Kenai River to make motorists better aware that they’re sharing the space with bicyclists.

“That Warren Ames Bridge is so bad for bikers. What we would love to see happen is just some kind of an orange line drawn along the side of it so motorists are aware they’re sharing the road with pedestrians and bikers. We don’t want to change any traffic patterns, we don’t want to move anything — we just want it more differentiated. Of course, in our mind, it’s just a little paint. How hard could that be?” said Tami Marsters, of Sterling, a member of the Peninsula Change Club that is pursuing the painting project.

The reality, however, is that Bridge Access is a state-maintained road. And when the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities is involved, it can sometimes feel like local wishes get tangled in red tape.

“It’s not so easy because dealing with the state takes a long time — that whole chain of command. We knew from the beginning that it was not going to be an easy process,” Marsters said.

The Peninsula Change Club — dedicated to increasing physical activity in the community — and the larger People Promoting Wellness group, with which the club is affiliated, endorse the idea. All the bicyclists the club has spoken to think it’s a great idea. Governmental representatives in the community have responded favorably, as well, she said.

But even if everybody and their brother — and, in this case, their mayor and local DOT representative — agrees it is a great idea doesn’t guarantee swift, or any, action.

“Everybody we talk to says, ‘Oh my gosh, yes, we need to do something there.’ We offered to paint it, we offered to buy the paint — whatever we could do to make it happen, we offered to do it. But I think the whole chain of command with the state just takes a long time,” Marsters said. “My first thought was, ‘I’m just going to go paint it in the middle of the night, but I knew that probably wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Cycling through recycling — Nikiski youth rescues, repairs, redistributes junk bicycles

By Joseph Robertia

Photo courtesy of Boatright family. Daniel Boatright, of Nikiski, works on a bike in his garage. He’s rescued and repaired more than 40 bikes.

Redoubt Reporter

While some teens are content to mow lawns, bag groceries or flip burgers at a fast-food chain to make a couple of bucks, Daniel Boatright, a 14-year-old from Nikiski, is an entrepreneur in the business of bicycle repair and refurbishing other people’s two-wheeled rubbish.

“It started about two years ago when I got one from the dump,” he said.

Pulling in with his parents he saw a typical sight — items left off to the side of the trash bins that someone no longer wanted but thought someone else might. From appliances to furniture to, in this case, a bicycle, this is a common occurrence at the Kenai Peninsula Borough’s transfer stations.

“It’s very common to see a bike off to the side. People throw them away because a chain will break or they’ll bend a fender. It’s really wasteful,” he said.

That’s not how the boy was raised, according to his mother, Kirsten Boatright.

“It’s a throwaway society, but we’ve always recycled — newspaper, plastics, cardboard — and I’ve tried to teach all of my five children that through the years. When their sweatpants would get holes in the knees, I’d have them turn them around and keep wearing them, and even with our meals, we always make something out of the leftovers. There’s no wasting at our house,” she said.

Watching out for whale science — ID project utilizes citizens to help track sightings

By Naomi Klouda

Photos courtesy of Homer Tribune. A humpback whale extends its tail from the waters of Kachemak Bay in view of the Rainbow Connection boat. Rainbow Tours has been helping catalog 500 humpbacks visiting the bay.

Homer Tribune

People aboard the Rainbow Connection were granted a delightful sight last week when the humpback whales Bullet and Tophat appeared in Kachemak Bay for the first time since 2006-07.

Rainbow Tours, which has a catalog of 500 humpback whales, was able to spot the individuals by the identifying scars on their flukes.

“It was exciting to see two of the six of the whales coming into the bay were returning,” though late May can be an early show for the whales. said Ginger Moore, of Rainbow Tours.

The whales’ genders can’t be discerned from a boat, but one had a calf alongside, so it might be assumed that either Bullet or Tophat is female.

The crew of the Rainbow Connection and Rainbow Tours, owned by Jack and Fran Montgomery, began keeping track and identifying humpbacks about 16 years ago. Each time a whale is spotted and photographed, a record is made of the flukes’ characteristics.

“Our whales are divided into four categories — W, X, Y, and Z — based on the distribution of pigment on the ventral side of their flukes,” Moore said.

On the website, kbaywhales.com, it explains further that orca or other predator tooth rakes and barnacle scars can accumulate over time, basic pigmentation is individual and forever.

Plan calls for rebuilding cliff to save highway

By Naomi Klouda

Photo courtesy of Homer Tribune. Geologist Ed Berg leans over to pick up a tool used when he measured the length of land separating the Sterling Highway at MP 153 from a gaping hole that drops straight down 100 feet.

Homer Tribune

The bluff north of Anchor Point took another hit this winter, crumbling off four feet of topography and sending the Sterling Highway at Mile Post 153 ever closer to caving in.

A strip of land separating the highway from a gapping, 3.5-acre hole is now the size of a small garage. When geologist Ed Berg took measurements Sept. 27, 2011, he found the road poised 53.5 feet from the cliff. To measure, he hammers a nail into the edge of the pavement and pays out tape from there to the edge of the cliff.

At Thursday’s measurement, he used the same methodology. The tape stretched 49.4 feet, showing a loss of more than four feet.

“I am amazed it was that much. In the Google Earth view of 1996 and 2006, the distance from the hole to the highway edge showed a loss of 25 feet in a 10-year period, which is 2.5 feet per year,” Berg said. “Here, we are seeing a greatly accelerated loss of 4.1 feet in eight months, which would be about 6.1 feet per year.”

The point of reference Berg used in September — an old stump on the cliff edge — fell off during the winter.

A look over the edge proves daunting. Dropping straight down 100 feet is a barren valley stripped of topsoil by an ever-present northeastern wind. Draped around the rim, grasses form an overhanging lip, dangerous for viewers stepping too close to the edge for a better look.

Using LiDAR imagery, elevation at the top of the bluff measures 231 feet. LiDAR, Light Detection and Ranging, is a new form of topographic mapping based on aerial surveying with a laser beam.

“The drop more or less straight down is about 100 feet, as shown on the profile. The slide hole is 475 feet wide, measured parallel to the Sterling Highway,” Berg said.

These numbers spell concern for the stability of the Sterling Highway at that point. What happens if an earthquake rolls through? What about the continuous pressure of freight trucks and fuel tankers shaking the substrata?

Almanac: Barely alive, widely famous — Mauling story garners lots of attention

Editor’s note: It is still a special occasion these days when residents of the central Kenai Peninsula make a big splash in a regional or national publication, but several decades ago the event was a bona fide rarity. Forty years ago this fall, what is arguably the peninsula’s most famous bear mauling occurred on the Kenai National Moose Range, and while it received strong newspaper coverage at the time and magazine coverage a year later, it really sparked interest in 1983 when it was included as the first full story in Larry Kaniut’s “Alaska Bear Tales.” Almost 30 years earlier, however, the rigors and joys of peninsula homesteading life received national attention when a Ridgeway couple was highlighted in a multipage, 13-photograph spread in Better Homes and Gardens. This week’s Almanac will recap the story of the bear attack, and next week’s edition will discuss the homesteading tale.

By Clark Fair

File photo by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. A brown bear attacked Al and Joyce Thompson, of Ridgeway, during a moose hunt in 1972. The tale eventually made it into a book and a spread in Better Homes and Gardens.

Redoubt Reporter

“Wilderness Nightmare”
When state game warden Al Thompson, severely injured and with a piece of his scalp missing, staggered out of the wilderness and onto Funny River Road in September 1972, he slumped to the ground along the roadside.

His left arm was in a sling, and his face, hands and makeshift bandages — formed mostly by strips of muslin torn from game bags — were covered with dried blood. He was exhausted from the laborious task of hiking more than 10 miles out from the camp he had been sharing with his wife, Joyce, during a moose-hunting expedition gone horribly wrong.

Fortunately for Thompson, as he waited for Joyce to catch up to him, a vehicle drove up the graveled road and the driver, who knew Thompson, spotted him and she stopped. By the time Joyce emerged from the Funny River Horse Trail, Al was asking the driver to head on in to Soldotna, to notify the Alaska State Troopers and the hospital, and to have an ambulance sent his way.

Twenty minutes later, an emergency crew was loading Thompson into an ambulance, and the media storm cranked up shortly thereafter. Articles appeared locally in the Cheechako News and the Peninsula Clarion, but also in the Anchorage Daily News and Anchorage Times, before the story began to receive national attention — and, according to Joyce, to distort the facts.

In order to set the record straight, she wrote her own personal account, entitled “Wilderness Nightmare,” and, after having that account included in a 1973 issue of Alaska Magazine, she later handed it over to Anchorage high school teacher, Larry Kaniut, who was compiling a book of Alaska bear stories. That book, “Alaska Bear Tales,” went public in May 1983 and is now in its 19th printing.

According to Joyce’s narrative, she and Al had planned a 10-day, late-season hunt for a trophy bull moose in the high bench lands near the headwaters of the Funny River near the base of the Kenai Mountains. Although Al was hoping to kill his bull with a bow and arrow, he had also packed a .30-06 rifle and a .44-caliber Magnum, the first to use in case he couldn’t maneuver close enough with his bow after several attempts, and the second to use in case of bear problems.

After eight and a half hours, the Thompsons reached their intended campsite, where they fashioned a comfortable shelter from Visqueen, logs and branches, gathered firewood and tinder to cook and to ward off the cool of the season, and then promptly turned in for the night.

After seeing only small bulls on their first day of hunting, they spotted two large bulls the next time out. Unfortunately, Al couldn’t get close enough for a sure shot with his bow, so they decided to try again the following morning. They whiled away the evening at camp and then climbed into their sleeping bags, determined to have better luck the next day.

As they had done on previous nights, they slept armed. Al kept the top of his sleeping bag unzipped so that his arm could easily reach out to grab either the rifle or the pistol. The attack, when it came, however, was so sudden and so violent that he had no chance to use either gun.

Art Seen: Creative craft — Painter, crafter coordinate in vibrant show

By Zirrus VanDevere, for the Redoubt Reporter

“Emotionally Lost and Alone” by Lynda K. Smith

In Lynda K. Smith’s artist statement, she talks of the extreme winters in more than 30 years of Alaska living forcing her, not only as an artist but as a person, to “strive, grow and finally bloom.” I took an art class with Smith probably 15 years ago, and I thought her work was pretty “blooming” good at that point, so it was really exciting to find a whole body of work displayed at the Kenai Fine Arts Center in Gallery One.

“Feather Totem” by Lynda K. Smith

Her pieces are exhibited in conjunction with another whole body of work by craftsperson and educator Jenne Long, who has recently moved here from Seward. I have to admit the cluttered effect was startling in an exhibit space I know to be expansive and serene (and yet I must admit to filling that space in the past with a controlled chaos — an installation called “Inner Atmospheres: An Installation in Four Parts” that Theresa Napolitano and I repeated after exhibiting at the Gary L. Freeburg Gallery at Kenai Peninsula College). It felt like the sales gallery had exploded into the main gallery, which was not at all the effect of the prior mentioned installation, but equally alarming.

Once I relaxed to the altered space, I found piece after piece of original and soulful works by Smith. Her most impressive pieces were framed, and the exhibit space has far too many windows and light sources to gather good shots of large images through glazing.

Plugged In: Cellphones muscle into niche of camera market

By Joe Kashi, for the Redoubt Reporter

Although cellphone cameras are not particularly good, they’re convenient and essentially free with your phone. Better cellphone cameras can produce photos whose image quality is comparable to low-end, point-and-shoot cameras.

As a result, the low-end consumer camera market is stagnant at best, more likely dying. These cameras have been low-profit, or no-profit, items for most name-brand camera makers for the past few years. Olympus is merely the most recent major camera maker to announce plans to abandon the low-end consumer camera market.

Most major cameras makers are now openly reorienting their product lines toward superzoom cameras and higher-end models that offer greater flexibility and/or superior still and video image quality, not to mention superior profit per sale. As a result, we’ll see an increase in new high-end cameras reaching the market over the next several months. That shift toward higher quality is occurring, in part, because improved technology allows larger sensors with better image quality to be built into increasingly smaller camera bodies every year.

Photokina, the world’s largest photographic exhibition, is held in Cologne, Germany, every two years. During the few months preceding Photokina, most new camera models are introduced as vendors vie for favorable publicity. With Photokina 2012 now only three months away, new models are already reaching the market, some of which are major leaps forward in either design or technology.