pictures of southeast alaska...

since i've not taken new exciting photos, i will take this opportunity to load some older southeast photos on. as i'll soon be on yet another ferry adventure a few of these are from another ferry trip taken from ketchikan to juneau and back. first, is the strange, flamingos in the tree's photo. some silly alaska strung these 20-30 plastic flamingos up a tree on some remote island in southeast. couldn't tell you where abouts on the run this happened except it was after the wrangell narrows somewhere. i thought it quite comical in that it was a huge feat. i mean who goes this far for a joke....hehe.

above and below pictures were taken in a stopover in sitka alaska. wish i'd had more time there and would love to go back someday. have had friends that seem to keep ending up there so maybe next time they move back if not sooner. my old truck lives in sitka last i heard. i was happy that the old dodge dakota ended up back in southeast alaska. it's where the truck belongs. i had it for 11 years. would be funny to visit and see my truck go by. i believe the mountain in the background below is mount edgecomb.

these are a few favorite photos from that trip. the clouds and sky above juneau were just amazing. so many rainbows in southeast. i love rainbows so i was always happy to see them. loved the lighting below. taken on douglas island across from juneau.

while i await more photos i will update you on my dull life at the moment. my activities have continued to be hampered by lower back spasms. these are greatly improved and i think a second massage today really is helping. i've also been able to imbide in the alaska clubs pool and jacuzzi which has helped immensely. i've discovered the most pain is when i drive the element...making me realize that though i love the practicality of the car, the comfort is no doubt a bit compromised on a long trip. it won't stop me from taking road trips, but i did buy a few lumbar support type things today in hopes that it will help prevent this pain in the future. i have my dalton highway trip planned for august.

plans move forward for the long awaited trip to dutch harbor. i leave next monday for kodiak and friends join on wednesday for the ferry ride out to dutch. 3 days on sea and then chill in dutch/unalaska for a few days. hoping the weather and the wildlife cooperate. in those seas anything can happen. we missed the trip last year due to being weathered in on shuyak island. travel in alaska is always weather dependant and always an adventure.

above is a lovely double rainbow in juneau. below is in ketchikan..i always loved the huge "bear bread". i think they actually a fungus with a scientific name. i have no clue what that is, but locally they always called it "bear bread"...not even sure if bear like em. i really should ask more questions.

have been taxing my brain...it's been almost 7 years since i lived in southeast alaska...lived there for 6 years and hiked all over ketchikan. thought i'd never forget the names of all those lakes i walked, but once again my memory is failing me. my mom always said to write stuff on the back of pictures..now i blog so maybe that is like writing on the back of the picture. i believe above is a picture looking down on perseverence lake and either connel or talbot lake. just checked atlas..connel lake is first then in the third lake would be talbot...can't really see that though. it was taken from the top of signal mountain. i used to follow the old tagged trail up there. very pretty. i think the trail up to perseverence lake now goes up to the top of signal hill. below is obviously ketchikan with gravina island across the way. that is where the airport is and the now famous proposed bridge to nowhere is to go. i was always happy taking the little ferry across to the airport. the island sticking out between is pennock island. there are homes scattered on that smaller island.

okay...below i believe i'm on mahoney mountain looking down at silvas lakes (upper and lower) and across at twin peaks. that is if my memory serves. this is a trail that i usually just took to lower silvas, occasionally to upper silvis and rarely into the back country. very pretty though. camping in ketchikan and southeast can be a bit of a drag as it generally rains. i prefered to take long day hikes and be able to get dry and warm later. this trail does traverse over to deer mountain for those who want the adventure. my friend, janet went for that once and ended up falling 100ft or so, requiring rescue and a night out before rescue. she had fractures to face, hands and pelvis but was quite lucky to have gotten off the mountain with so few injuries. i was off on square island with a beau at the time and so i skipped the hike. in general though i prefer to avoid going uphill unless there will be views and that particular weekend it was foggy southeast weather.