watching "romy and michelles high school reunion". always a fun, no brainer movie!! my brain likes to not to function some days. not sure what walrus think about. they do fart on a regular basis and we were convinced pooping on another walrus was a punishment for bad behaviour. there is a bit of an odor at times on round island. it's not captured on film, but it does exist. the farting is just part of the ambience of the island there.
had fun trying to get pictures of walrus getting splashed in the waves. it was great to have them come and go over the days we were there. much less activity when the sun is shining. apparently, according to the visiting fish and game person they masturbate more when it's sunny out. only saw a few "rockets" as they referred to them on the island. it was sunnier 10 years ago and i did get some photo's of walrus in action with thier "rockets".
walrus are like dogs in that they both have an os penis, meaning they both have a bone in thier penis. the native term for the walrus bone is oosik, though i may have spelled it wrong. i have a scrimshawed oosik on my fireplace mantel. very cool.
this big guy seems to be a wave stopper.
ate lunch with my friend leslie, always fun. she will be moving south in the fall, good for her and her family, but i will miss lunches and such with her. then i took the dogs to the dog park. i've been very dull on my walks this week, i'll have to get in some longer hikes. i'm thinking now that i probably banged up this calf out there at some point that last day and burst something. it's still a bit hard, red/bruised so i was thinking i probably shouldn't do any long hikes til it's settled a bit. so it's not just laziness. the dogs are perfectly happy at the dog park. if i say walk to rio she is not very interested, but if i say dog park, she jumps off the couch. ran into a few friends out there as always so that is always nice.
the big boys head out to sea. must be nice to be able to easily ride out those huge waves. we humans make those silly boats and hope they survive the rough waters. i feel the same with birds, as humans we slowly make our way up these trails while the birds soar over and are there in minutes. quite impressive.
i'm sure i have tons more of these pictures, easy to settle in at the viewing spot and just start snapping away.
shows are the various weather changes our little island went through in that week. lots of fog, not really downpours, but for sure periods of rain. that island got saturated. had to be careful walking on the trails. wet, wet, wet!
too loud in this water to hear chiming.
another day, sunshine and relaxed walrus.
these were all at beach one i think.
what a handsome, large boy!
dropped the girls off and headed to the mall. i'm not really a mall person, but every so often i have needs. wanted to work on some thank you gift bags for lena and michelle for watching the pups. headed to the body shop. i was out of all my favorite body shop products anyway. then...there were sales, the girls there loved me. in the end i got my stuff at a nearly $70 discount! sweet! bought one for a friends birthday down south, but when i got home i decided to keep it and get her a gift card, the thing is heavy. better to just let her go to her local body shop. i've never really liked that other store bath and body works? luckily we don't have one here. will be great to smell all nice again. have to be careful when i use the lotions though as it's bear season. so i just wear that stuff when i'm working or in the winters when the bears are sleeping.
also hit jcpenny's for the sales. could always use shirts that aren't just alaskan t-shirts. really should buy some real clothes to go out in and then figure out a way to go out again. it's been awhile. occasionally i feel the need to put myself out there. it may be about that time again.
they look good in black and white, but it hides their cool pink hues!
cormorant.
next post will be more fox again probably. i try to trade off.
these guys were at first beach heading out. i took a few photo's and then did video of them. the video was pretty cool. posted it on facebook. takes forever to post videos.
puffins.
more kersplashing.
and relaxing!
my body is bit sore from my swim last night. haven't used those muscles for a bit. upper back is knotted up, but so worth it!!
love the whole flipper to the head thing.
guess i can start clearing out all the email exchanges related to the trip out there. it's amazing how many correspondences one collects in planning this stuff. they were all printed off and put in the file though so i'm sure i''ll hang onto that...just in case i ever decide to make the trek out there again...!
not sure i'll be up for it 10 years from now. may have to act my age at some point. also not sure what next years trip will be. have been asked several times. i've some idea's. next years trip will probably be an easier planning trip. have wanted to hit adak, i think bob liked this idea as it's got alot of wwII history on the island. i've also wanted to check out some other places like nome or barrow, or nunivak or st lawerence islands...in general i begin to work on that as winter darkness decends upon us.
it was kinda a cool that the biologists and the boat captain thought it was cool that we'd been here 10 years ago and that over the years we have gone to some cool places as a group. something started years ago and i never would have predicted that we'd be here on our 10th trip. we have been to some awesome places and if it hadn't been for that first wild trip to an island with walrus....
people ask which was my favorite. all were great in thier own ways. round island is still a favorite i'd say. just no other place like it, the island has a beauty and a mystique that is unique and awe inspiring.
our buddy again.
kayak island was cool, landing on the beach at low tide, battling the wind and weather to hike to the lighthouse over huge boulders and log jams. that was 2004, 2005 we hit the pribilofs. i figured we should go to both st paul and st george as long as we were going. st george was far more picturesque and i'm so happy we didn't miss it. we got there right at the right time and were witnesses to many fur seal births. very cool. 2006 churchill, canada to watch the polar bears collect awaiting the ice. amazing to watch them in thier natural habitat. 2007 we hiked the famous chilkoot trail. great sense of accomplishment. 2008 we paddled on shuyak island and then got weathered in 3 extra days....we laughed and played nertz through it all. the next year we completed the second part of the trip we planned for 2008 by taking the ferry from kodiak island to dutch harbor. 2010 we drove to deadhorse, always an adventure, 2011 out to gustavus to paddle from george island, through the inian islands to pt adolphus with loads of humpback and wildlife sightings...then back to round island. all different, but all great.
this guy looks to be meditating!
crashed out.
managed to get a few not too bad photo's of puffins in flight. they are so dang fast. i had to use the delete button alot when going through these photo's.
bird again. he came back like 10 times to sing for us. couldn't resist photographing him. how cute is he?!?
didn't catch everyone with the walrus skull, but got a few of em. val is great to travel with and she had fun with the walrus photo op!!
now i'll have to find a cool walrus knit ski hat! wonder if they have those on the spit where i got this cute dog hat. i need to take a few days and make the drive down there. i think i'll try to get a hotel room at the dog friendly place by bishops beach. then i'll head down with just me and the girls. i'll look for a new hat!! sounds like a good enough reason to head to homer...unless someone out there thinks they can knit me a cool walrus hat!! it would have to be pink, of course!!
my dog hat is always popular though. i dropped it on the trails one day out there, luckily someone found that...and a lens cap. i was always worried the wind would blow something of mine down onto the walrus, didn't want to have to explain that to the biologists. i managed to keep my stuff from flying off though. i was careful! of course, i will need to buy some new rain pants. someone thought i had toilet paper hanging off my arse on like one of the last days...turns out it was my rain pants in tatters. guess i got my money's worth out of those things. luckily i'd taken my helly hansens as a back up for totally foul weather. those things never fail ya.
loved this brief time when the sun was out, highlighting the wave action and the walrus.
scott and tanya have some laughs. this is why i plan these trips!! great to see people so totally happy and enjoying thier time out in nature!!
i'm sure scott took a few pictures but mostly he just enjoyed being there and seeing all the life on the island.
biologists again working on thier poo poo palace. what a legacy to leave behind!!
tanya photographs a fox visitor.
the official sign on the fish and game cabin. i'll have to look at the pictures from the 2003 cabin. it was much smaller, but i'm sure this same sign was on it.
bob, tanya and i enjoy a walrus photo op.
the skull and tusks were pretty heavy.
first heard about round island in a book by national geographic. "guide to america's outdoors, alaska". reading it right now some of the information is less than accurate. apparently walrus do not use thier tusks for feeding and digging. they drag those on the surface while they use thier many whiskers to work on clams and suck out the meat. each whisker is controlled individually. the male walrus weigh like 2500-3000 pounds. huge! for sure smaller, younger walrus out there on the island. watched one pretty quickly skirt over the tops of the older larger ones to get down to the beach. he took a bit of a beating as you get poked from all sides doing this.
tanya and i at second beach enjoying the views.
the fog goes up, the fog comes down.
fog is low in these next shots. you can see some walrus on flat rock at high tide. changeovers happened at the flat rocks more at high tide. easier access to the spot.
my sweet northface tent! this tent has served me well! bought if originally 10 years ago for this trip. they wanted a 4 season tent that could withstand winds over 60 mph. she was proven wind worthy saturday night.
fox in the fog.
scott down on the beach trail, watching the walrus swim by. they seemed to be constantly out there, swimming one way or the other.
another view of the fish and game cabin
my weather vane (rain gear) is indicating increasing winds.
a variety of appetizers were created on the island that week.
laughter was often heard in the cook tent
guess i will again head to bed. back to work for two nights.
watching "romy and michelles high school reunion". always a fun, no brainer movie!! my brain likes to not to function some days. not sure what walrus think about. they do fart on a regular basis and we were convinced pooping on another walrus was a punishment for bad behaviour. there is a bit of an odor at times on round island. it's not captured on film, but it does exist. the farting is just part of the ambience of the island there.
had fun trying to get pictures of walrus getting splashed in the waves. it was great to have them come and go over the days we were there. much less activity when the sun is shining. apparently, according to the visiting fish and game person they masturbate more when it's sunny out. only saw a few "rockets" as they referred to them on the island. it was sunnier 10 years ago and i did get some photo's of walrus in action with thier "rockets". 
walrus are like dogs in that they both have an os penis, meaning they both have a bone in thier penis. the native term for the walrus bone is oosik, though i may have spelled it wrong. i have a scrimshawed oosik on my fireplace mantel. very cool. 
this big guy seems to be a wave stopper.
ate lunch with my friend leslie, always fun. she will be moving south in the fall, good for her and her family, but i will miss lunches and such with her. then i took the dogs to the dog park. i've been very dull on my walks this week, i'll have to get in some longer hikes. i'm thinking now that i probably banged up this calf out there at some point that last day and burst something. it's still a bit hard, red/bruised so i was thinking i probably shouldn't do any long hikes til it's settled a bit. so it's not just laziness. the dogs are perfectly happy at the dog park. if i say walk to rio she is not very interested, but if i say dog park, she jumps off the couch. ran into a few friends out there as always so that is always nice. 
the big boys head out to sea. must be nice to be able to easily ride out those huge waves. we humans make those silly boats and hope they survive the rough waters. i feel the same with birds, as humans we slowly make our way up these trails while the birds soar over and are there in minutes. quite impressive.
i'm sure i have tons more of these pictures, easy to settle in at the viewing spot and just start snapping away. 
shows are the various weather changes our little island went through in that week. lots of fog, not really downpours, but for sure periods of rain. that island got saturated. had to be careful walking on the trails. wet, wet, wet!
too loud in this water to hear chiming. 
another day, sunshine and relaxed walrus. 
these were all at beach one i think.
what a handsome, large boy!
dropped the girls off and headed to the mall. i'm not really a mall person, but every so often i have needs. wanted to work on some thank you gift bags for lena and michelle for watching the pups. headed to the body shop. i was out of all my favorite body shop products anyway. then...there were sales, the girls there loved me. in the end i got my stuff at a nearly $70 discount! sweet! bought one for a friends birthday down south, but when i got home i decided to keep it and get her a gift card, the thing is heavy. better to just let her go to her local body shop. i've never really liked that other store bath and body works? luckily we don't have one here. will be great to smell all nice again. have to be careful when i use the lotions though as it's bear season. so i just wear that stuff when i'm working or in the winters when the bears are sleeping.
also hit jcpenny's for the sales. could always use shirts that aren't just alaskan t-shirts. really should buy some real clothes to go out in and then figure out a way to go out again. it's been awhile. occasionally i feel the need to put myself out there. it may be about that time again.
they look good in black and white, but it hides their cool pink hues!
cormorant.
next post will be more fox again probably. i try to trade off. 
these guys were at first beach heading out. i took a few photo's and then did video of them. the video was pretty cool. posted it on facebook. takes forever to post videos.
puffins. 
more kersplashing.
and relaxing!
my body is bit sore from my swim last night. haven't used those muscles for a bit. upper back is knotted up, but so worth it!! 
love the whole flipper to the head thing. 
guess i can start clearing out all the email exchanges related to the trip out there. it's amazing how many correspondences one collects in planning this stuff. they were all printed off and put in the file though so i'm sure i''ll hang onto that...just in case i ever decide to make the trek out there again...!
not sure i'll be up for it 10 years from now. may have to act my age at some point. also not sure what next years trip will be. have been asked several times. i've some idea's. next years trip will probably be an easier planning trip. have wanted to hit adak, i think bob liked this idea as it's got alot of wwII history on the island. i've also wanted to check out some other places like nome or barrow, or nunivak or st lawerence islands...in general i begin to work on that as winter darkness decends upon us. 
it was kinda a cool that the biologists and the boat captain thought it was cool that we'd been here 10 years ago and that over the years we have gone to some cool places as a group. something started years ago and i never would have predicted that we'd be here on our 10th trip. we have been to some awesome places and if it hadn't been for that first wild trip to an island with walrus....
people ask which was my favorite. all were great in thier own ways. round island is still a favorite i'd say. just no other place like it, the island has a beauty and a mystique that is unique and awe inspiring. 
our buddy again. 
kayak island was cool, landing on the beach at low tide, battling the wind and weather to hike to the lighthouse over huge boulders and log jams. that was 2004, 2005 we hit the pribilofs. i figured we should go to both st paul and st george as long as we were going. st george was far more picturesque and i'm so happy we didn't miss it. we got there right at the right time and were witnesses to many fur seal births. very cool. 2006 churchill, canada to watch the polar bears collect awaiting the ice. amazing to watch them in thier natural habitat. 2007 we hiked the famous chilkoot trail. great sense of accomplishment. 2008 we paddled on shuyak island and then got weathered in 3 extra days....we laughed and played nertz through it all. the next year we completed the second part of the trip we planned for 2008 by taking the ferry from kodiak island to dutch harbor. 2010 we drove to deadhorse, always an adventure, 2011 out to gustavus to paddle from george island, through the inian islands to pt adolphus with loads of humpback and wildlife sightings...then back to round island. all different, but all great. 
this guy looks to be meditating!
crashed out.
managed to get a few not too bad photo's of puffins in flight. they are so dang fast. i had to use the delete button alot when going through these photo's.
bird again. he came back like 10 times to sing for us. couldn't resist photographing him. how cute is he?!?
didn't catch everyone with the walrus skull, but got a few of em. val is great to travel with and she had fun with the walrus photo op!!
now i'll have to find a cool walrus knit ski hat! wonder if they have those on the spit where i got this cute dog hat. i need to take a few days and make the drive down there. i think i'll try to get a hotel room at the dog friendly place by bishops beach. then i'll head down with just me and the girls. i'll look for a new hat!! sounds like a good enough reason to head to homer...unless someone out there thinks they can knit me a cool walrus hat!! it would have to be pink, of course!!
my dog hat is always popular though. i dropped it on the trails one day out there, luckily someone found that...and a lens cap. i was always worried the wind would blow something of mine down onto the walrus, didn't want to have to explain that to the biologists. i managed to keep my stuff from flying off though. i was careful! of course, i will need to buy some new rain pants. someone thought i had toilet paper hanging off my arse on like one of the last days...turns out it was my rain pants in tatters. guess i got my money's worth out of those things. luckily i'd taken my helly hansens as a back up for totally foul weather. those things never fail ya.
loved this brief time when the sun was out, highlighting the wave action and the walrus.
scott and tanya have some laughs. this is why i plan these trips!! great to see people so totally happy and enjoying thier time out in nature!!
i'm sure scott took a few pictures but mostly he just enjoyed being there and seeing all the life on the island.
biologists again working on thier poo poo palace. what a legacy to leave behind!!
tanya photographs a fox visitor.
the official sign on the fish and game cabin. i'll have to look at the pictures from the 2003 cabin. it was much smaller, but i'm sure this same sign was on it.
bob, tanya and i enjoy a walrus photo op.
the skull and tusks were pretty heavy. 
first heard about round island in a book by national geographic. "guide to america's outdoors, alaska". reading it right now some of the information is less than accurate. apparently walrus do not use thier tusks for feeding and digging. they drag those on the surface while they use thier many whiskers to work on clams and suck out the meat. each whisker is controlled individually. the male walrus weigh like 2500-3000 pounds. huge! for sure smaller, younger walrus out there on the island. watched one pretty quickly skirt over the tops of the older larger ones to get down to the beach. he took a bit of a beating as you get poked from all sides doing this.
tanya and i at second beach enjoying the views.
the fog goes up, the fog comes down.
fog is low in these next shots. you can see some walrus on flat rock at high tide. changeovers happened at the flat rocks more at high tide. easier access to the spot. 
my sweet northface tent! this tent has served me well! bought if originally 10 years ago for this trip. they wanted a 4 season tent that could withstand winds over 60 mph. she was proven wind worthy saturday night.
fox in the fog.
scott down on the beach trail, watching the walrus swim by. they seemed to be constantly out there, swimming one way or the other. 
another view of the fish and game cabin
my weather vane (rain gear) is indicating increasing winds.
a variety of appetizers were created on the island that week.
laughter was often heard in the cook tent
guess i will again head to bed. back to work for two nights.
WOW. Would love to see this (more than smell it LOL) someday!
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