Off Roading Fun

In an attempt to pick blueberries that were allegedly the size of grapes, Karl's dad took us out to Sutton (about an hour away) to head to a blueberry patch he'd seen in the past.  We loaded up the little white truck (which is a bizarre combination of truck and 4-wheeler), and headed to Kings River Trail.

I had decided to ride in the back with Karl, but I didn't realize that the trail was incredibly long, bumpy, and muddy.  We aren't talking little bumps either - I thanked Karl about a million times for strapping the seat into the bed.  Otherwise, we would have surely flown out the back.

About halfway in, we stopped at Ruby Lake for a quick break.  It was gorgeous, and great timing as it had just started to rain.  We waited it out under a tree before hopping back in and heading up.  A minute or two later, we came across two moose grazing in the forest.

They waited patiently as I took a few photos, and stared as we drove off.  This was the first time I actually got to stop and take a good look at a moose!

We travelled higher and higher up the mountain, and my inherited fear of heights kicked in a bit as we were near the edge of a VERY high drop off.  Beautiful view, but I kept my distance.

The trail got rougher and more boulder filled the higher we went.  The rain from the past several weeks made for some really tricky situations, and we ended up a bit off the trail!

Luckily this truck is so light, the three of us were able to lift the back end up and kind of throw it back on track.  We didn't make it too much further before we realized that the rocks were too big and we just weren't going to make it through with this vehicle.  Just one more time when I really wished we had some four wheelers!  I can just imagine throwing on some old clothes and flying through the mud puddles and up the trail!

We stopped and nibbled on some cranberries on the way back to make up for missing out on blueberries.  We had a yummy lunch of sandwiches and fruit salad back at Ruby Lake and headed home.  One last stop at the river by the road to give Luke a quick bath (he was coated in mud from head to toe), then on to the bar for Taco Tuesday!

A Visit to the Blueberry Festival

To finish out Blueberry Week, let's take a trip to the Girdwood Blueberry Festival!

While advertised as being all things blueberry, I was a bit disappointed in the amount of blueberry deliciousness.  We were able to find a few yummy treats, like blueberry cobbler:

And oatmeal, raisin, & blueberry cookies:

Even though the festival left a bit to be desired, it was held at the absolutely gorgeous Hotel Alyeska.

This is one of those fancypants hotels you only dream of being able to afford!  It's probably a little cheaper in the summer, but I'm sure it costs a fortune in the winter as Alyeska is Alaska's premier ski resort.

Fun with Jam!

Welcome to Day Three of Blueberry Week!

Obviously, jam is delicious on toast and in PB&J sandwiches, but what other yummy ways can you use it? I decided to make fresh blueberry pancakes one morning, and figured a little extra sweet never hurt anyone.  I took a bit of the leftover strawberry & blueberry jam and thinned it out a bit with some hot water.  It made an absolutely delicious fruit syrup for the pancakes!

It also made a killer ice cream topper!

Strawberry & Blueberry Jam

Blueberry Week continues!

Well I obviously had to do something with our piles of blueberries, and one of my favorite things to make is jam!  I was a bit disillusioned with the amount of blueberries I would need to make pure blueberry jam (basically everything we had picked for just 6 jars), so I decided to make a combination of blueberry and strawberry.  I took my classic strawberry jam recipe and adjusted it for 60% strawberries and 40% blueberries.  Here's my recipe:

3 cups crushed strawberries (I sometimes use a blender if I'm feeling lazy, but make sure you do in very small amounts and only for a few seconds.  If you blend it too much your jam will end up a soupy mess.)

2 cups crushed blueberries

7 cups sugar

1 box Sure-Jell

Follow your typical canning instructions (sterilize jars and all that good stuff).  Combine your fruits and pectin and bring to a full rolling boil, then add your sugar and boil again for 1 minute.  Process your jars of jam for 10 minutes.  I got ten 8 oz jars with this recipe.

It's very sweet, but that's just how I like it!  Check back tomorrow for a great way to use this jam!

Blueberry Picking in Hatcher Pass

Welcome to Day 1 of Blueberry Week!

In a spurt of nice weather, Karl and I decided to head back to Hatcher Pass and hunt for some blueberries.  Without a four-wheeler, we had to find a place to hike to that might have a berry patch.  We headed up Hatcher Pass Road and turned onto Archangel Road, which took us to the Reed Lakes Trail.  Archangel Road was a typical unmaintained Alaska road, which meant your max speed was about 3 MPH.  It was a beautiful day for a hike, and we got an up close glimpse of some of the mountains that have already collected some snow.

About 1.5 miles in, we came to the last remnant of the Snowbird Mine Village, an active mineral mine from 1939 to 1959.

You would not believe the number of abandoned mines in Hatcher Pass (the most popular being Independence Mine - I'll show you that someday too!).

Seriously, look at the view outside this window.  Makes you feel a little bit better for the miners that were basically stuck here working until every last resource was extracted from the mine!

After we passed the mine, the trail became a lot rougher.  There were makeshift bridges and lots of boulders to climb over and around.

We passed gorgeous Lower Reed Lake, which I of course didn't manage to get a picture of...

Just as the the trail started to get a lot steeper, we came across a TON of blueberry bushes that were almost completely ripe!  We'd seen a few bushes lower on the trail, but most of the berries were still a few weeks from edible.  It seems that the higher elevation helped the berries out a bit.  We sat and berry picked for about two hours, all the while being eaten alive by mosquitos because someone forgot the bug dope.  We both felt like we'd rolled around in poison ivy by the time we headed back to the car.  Once all the berries were washed at home, we were able to get a good look at what we got.

And to think, we only stole a few handfuls on our hike!  I'd definitely like to hike the entire trail, but I think we'll need to be a bit more prepared to go further than a couple of miles.  One of the coolest things about Alaska is you are basically allowed to plop a tent down anywhere in the state.  Perhaps an overnight in Hatcher Pass is in order?

More blueberry fun coming tomorrow!

Blueberry Week!

I'm a busy little bee up here in the last frontier and I'm announcing Blueberry Week here at my blog!  Next week will be all things blueberry because they sure are ripe here in Alaska.  First we'll go berry picking, then see what fun things we can do with fresh blueberries!

Have a great weekend everyone - I wish you were all here to share in the berry harvest!

Wild Berries

The types and numbers of wild berries everywhere in Alaska continually surprise me.  I found a big patch of wild raspberries in front of the cabin and collected a bowlful.

There wasn’t enough to collect for jam, so what’s the next best thing?  Fresh raspberry pancakes!  

These wild berries were so sweet and delicious, and made for a wonderful breakfast!