Too Nice to Stay In

Towards the end of August we get some spectacular days, touched with enough chill at night to remind us that summer is nearing its end and we better take advantage of the warm days we have left. So we ordered take out at the Thai Kitchen and headed down the Seward Highway. We had made reservations for a table with a view at McHugh Creek.









Then an after dinner stroll. There were red berries everywhere. In this picture they are mostly wild mountain ash (small leaves), and a few devil's club (large leaves).

The Tlingit have turned to devil's club for a list of ailments you wouldn't wish on an enemy: from coughs and colds to stomach ulcers, tuberculosis and hypoglycemia. Tribe members steep it into teas, mash it into salves, chew, sip and steam it. It's also used to ward off evil. The plant, dubbed the "Tlingit aspirin" has not been approved for medicinal use by the Food and Drug Administration.

You can hear this piece on the Tlingit's use of Devil's Club on an NPR site with Quetzel Levine.








2BNTheWild.com says this about baneberries:

White Baneberry (Actaea pachypoda)
White Baneberry is also known as Doll's Eyes.

Plant Type: This is a herbaceous plant, it is a perennial which can reach 80cm in height (31inches).
Leaves: The leaves are alternate. Each leaf is divided.
Flowers: The flower parts are not discernable with the naked eye and are up to 1cm wide (0.4 inches). They are white. Blooms first appear in mid spring and continue into late spring. Numerous filaments obscure the petals and sepals.
Fruit: Conspicuous white berries, sometimes red, in a terminal spike on thick pedicels. The shinny white berries have dark spots hence the vernacular name or Doll's Eyes. The name Bainberry refers to the fact that the attractive berries are poisonous.
Habitat: Rich woods.

Looking south down Turnagain Arm.

Rose hips have been an important food for all Native American tribes where any kind of roses can be found. Most of them are very sweet. They are extremely high in vitamin C, much more so than oranges, for example. Dried, they keep well, and will always be available in winter. Rose hips have a tangy, yet sweet, flavor and can be used fresh, dried, or preserved. The simplest use is to steep them for tea. Rose hip syrup, puree, jam, jelly, and sauce can be used as is or as a flavoring in other recipes.

from Jolene Adams

Abundant on the trail, they make for a great snack. They're still a little hard now and full of seeds. They get softer and sweeter after the first frost. But I like being able to pick them as I walk and pop them in my mouth.













Looking up toward Anchorage along the tracks about 9:45pm.