When we got down near Redoubt we left the fog and it was once again clear going. We arrived around one and found some stuff still at the cabin. It turned out that the people who were there before us were getting picked up and their ride couldn't get them before 3pm. They had forgotten that the check out time was supposed to be noon and they were out kayaking when we arrived. It was not a big deal though especially since they had most of their stuff packed up already.
There was not too much to do except sit and relax. This is one of the points of spending some time out at a cabin, I think. Randy and I did play some wiffle ball on the rocky beach when the tide was out. It is also not difficut to wander around a bit in the woods and along the beach. If you go directly behind the cabin through the woods, you come to the shore on the other side. Since the sun goes behind the trees on the cabin side around 5pm in the summer, I headed over to the other side in the evening.
The sun was still shining brightly and it was tempting to just lay on the rocks and relax for a while, so I did so and ended up taking about an hour long nap. When I woke up, I noticed a tree a short distance away that was covered in white blossoms. I made my way over to it and discovered it to be a crab apple tree in full bloom. I also saw that there were many black lilies in bloom between the high tide line and the trees.
Black lilies have edible bulbs and so I decided to dig one up and cook it to see how it tasted. It turns out that it is actually much better to collect these bulbs in the fall or early spring when the plant has stored more sugars and starches in the bulb, but it can be eaten at any time. It was not hard to find the bulb in the ground and when I got back to the cabin side where a fire was going, I wrapped the bulb in leaves and put it in the ashes of the fire for a time. I left it in a little too long and part of it was charred, though the rest was fine. It didn't have much flavor at all, but I guess that there is more flavor in the fall.
On the fourth, Faith, Jason, Yvonne, and Megan Christner came out to the cabin. Jason, Randy, and I went over to Redoubt to see if we could snag some sockeye. There were already a number of boats in there, and they seemed to be having a fair bit of success catching fish. After we finally got the anchor to hold (it took many tries, and one time we even pulled up a small rusty old rod and reel) we found ourselves in pretty good position to cast into the school of fish and snag some. Randy and Jason ended up catching three apiece (I casted a few times, but after I lost one of the two treble hooks we had, I decided to just let them do it) before we headed back to Kanga Bay for dinner. They cleaned the fish when we got back to the bay and we cooked one of them over the fire for dinner.
After dinner Randy, Jason, and I played homerun derby on the beach. When it got a bit dark for that we all sat around the fire for a while and talked. Jason is actually someone who will engage in fire "management" even more than I do. I don't meet too many people who are like that. Inevitably they seem to be guys. My current theory is that there is no such thing as the perfect fire. A fire evolves, and it is my purpose to help it evolve into a better fire. Or maybe I am just fascinated by it and like to poke around in it.