i often accomplish so little in so much time...

the bear tracks from todays hike. you can see one of the dogs walked in the track after the bear had been through. below was one of the first shots i took with my new camera. these are all with my new canon rebel. i love the look when dogs do the big shake. i think it came out fun.

above is rio on todays hike. she really doesn't look that tired. i may just baby her due to her bum knee and blindness. she's pretty tough. below is the scenery of the trail ahead. we turned around here. i always hope i'm not holding kelly back as i know she can totally book it. i appreciate that she enjoys hiking with me and the dogs despite the fact that we aren't nearly as fit as she is. she never complains and seems happy to just be outside. like me, she is willing to do a great deal outdoors by herself,but it's nice to have a partner in the summer to avoid bears. we have always just gotten along so well, she is a pleasure to hike and hang with.

the picture below is my friend kelly with her dog mandee. i think it came out real nice.

cest la vive i guess. life can be bliss when it's not rushed. seems like everyday i get to experience a little of the cool alaskan life. today my friend was late as she stopped on my street to take a picture of a moose with her 2 babies and then we saw another moose with her 2 babies before we hit the trailhead in eagle river. baby moose are all over anchorage. so adorable!! of course, adorable to me is a meal to a bear. eek!! be careful little mooshka's!! i was planning to head out to hatchers pass, but a chance to hike with kelly is always great. so we went to eagle lake trail. it's one of my favorites in the fall as the colours are spectacular then. it was a bit rough on rio i think. lots of muddy patches and rocks and roots for her to work through. we forget that she is blind and i know i ran her into a few big rocks. she is a trooper though. she never ceases to impress me. i know she's sleepy and every day i think...i should take her for a short walk and then leave her home, but then i load her up. hate to make her miss out. blossom and i could walk further and faster without her....always a quandry. on the way back i spotted fresh bear tracks on the trail. i'm always looking down and up and around. must be alert at all times during bear season. never saw the bear though i suspect it was near. the dogs were on alert. mostly bears try and avoid you. these tracks looked to be that of a black bear.

was trying to test out my new mosquito repelling clip on. there was a breeze though and so mosquito's weren't really an issue. i did put it on in the backyard while i did yard work, talked to my sister and tossed a frisbee for blossom (that is multi-tasking)...anyway, i got a few bites so i'm not so sold on the $10 gadget. will experiement more with it. i'd love to be able to avoid spraying myself with deet if possible. the buggers get into the house and into the car. i've almost had several accidents over the years attempting to kill a mosquito in the car. that would be hard to explain to the insurance people i imagine.

i think i'll take some time before i crash to start figuring out my next trek. kelly and i are headed off for a roadtrip on the denali highway. she was thinking of biking it, but isn't so sure about that now. i also need to get some reservations made for the big summer trip to kodiak and on to dutch harbor. i've got the ferry and plane tickets, now i just need places to stay. i'm not sure how many people are going so i'll have to make some calls and pin folks down a bit on dates so i know who will be where when. the great thing about this trek is that i could just go alone...many trips require a certain number of people to make it work so those take some more intensive planning and advertisment. selling people on round island was probably the most difficult. i needed a total of 6 to make it less costly per person. trying to convince people how cool it would be to camp out with walruses for $1000.00 is not the easiest thing. though once i returned with the amazing pictures i got there were many who wished they'd gone.

while i cooked dinner i watched a show on beluga whales. these are amazing looking whales. i rarely have spotted them in the turnigan arm...but have seen them a few times. our anchorage group is genetically distinct and seperate from others and the numbers have declined. i guess there are only 300 left. if they go, they won't be replaced. they just got put on the endangered list i believe. the natives don't hunt these and still the numbers have decreased. some studies on other populations show the older whales dying of cancers and the younger ones of parasites. i think ocean pollution and toxins put in the ocean are getting into the whales systems. humans can have such a negative impact on this world we live in. it's embarrassing to be human sometimes and realize what damage we all do.

watched my netflix movie already tonight. i was sleepy after my walk. it was "martian child" with john cusack. it was actually really a good movie. very sweet, touching. i'd highly recommend it.

just waiting for the pictures to load. always such a slow process. much faster here than on facebook. i have little patience for such things. the blog is much more fun with the pictures though i think.