these pics are just from leaving mud bay and getting to our lunch spot for the day. the weather just kept getting nicer and nicer.
self portrait...not shower for 3-4 days at this point.
spent some time after lunch exploring the little tide pools and feeding muscles to the little creatures in the pools. have to be patient. nervous crabs in there.
love the intertidal zone.
it's a good thing the tides change as i could wander these pools for hours.
anchorage lacks a good intertidal zone. my best bet for tidepooling/beach walking is to head to seward for the day or down to homer. haven't done too much of that this summer.
the summer is winding down. perhaps i can sneak in a trip out next week after my cabin trip. tanya still wants to get out to gold mint, as do i. we both want to hit ptarmigan lake as well.
another self portrait.
our kayaking day was pretty relaxed. nobody was in a hurry. just so great to paddle along enjoying all the sights and then stop for a leisurely lunch.
this corgi at my place doesn't know how to relax. i suspect duffy will be exhausted for a few days once he returns home. today we walked close to 4 miles and he's still rambling about. i think he is trying to keep track of the cats, and they move around alot. lots of puddles today and he got super dirty. hope his mom doesn't mind. he's probably got a bath in the near future. i think she comes home tomorrow. not sure what time though.
we saw more great blue herons than i expected. i remember in ketchikan having a rare sighting, but we had several sightings.
of course, no matter how regal the bird...poop happens.
had no idea i'd caught this action with my camera. stellar! am happy that they weren't flying directly overhead as that is one big poop!
the rocks at the point came out a bit and we all nailed one here and there.
kayaks don't need but maybe a foot to clear, but those shallow rocks can get ya.
loads of eagles as well.
rained all morning. it's so tough to get too movitated when it's coming down and the dogs are a bit put off by it as well. once we all get out there though everyone is happy. i have the gear so i do kick myself when i delay. walking in the rain isn't a big deal. it barely rained at all while we were out there today in the end. i waited just long enough.
more eagle action. tried to look for the eagle nest that i can see in the winter, but the trees were grown over. rovers run is known for having summer bear activity. i have avoided much of bicentennial park by my place most summers these past few years unless i have friends. i risked it today. started out hitting rovers and turned back, then i hit rovers from the other end. better for me to go this direction.
the trail is more open and doesn't hit the creek til you are far enough in that you don't want to turn around. trick my brain. suspect i burn extra calories from the added yelling and worry. in my work at the hospital i see the people who get torn up by these bears and i'm not too keen to join them as a bear attack victim. we all survived. despite all the fresh mud i saw no tracks and only a few scats.
had an interesting email this week. apparently, a guy who has studied the possibilty of there being a sasquatch saw my "sasquatch" footprint that i took this past spring. i'm cool with sharing it. i don't rule out the possibilty of sasquatch living on this earth. the tracks were odd and not ones i could easily rule out as bear. the most likely scenario being bear though.
many people claim to have seen sasquatch, i am not one of those. i'd be cool never running into a 9 foot furry biped on the trail though. i think that would be quite scarey. the pictures are always blurry...but then when i've run into bears on the trail i have rarely gotten a decent picture. you are trying to catch up the dogs and get the camera and frighten the bear...the photo op is difficult at best. it's also odd that nobody's been attacked by a big foot or that we've never found a dead one anywhere. of course, i've lived in alaska nearly 20 years and i've never seen a wolverine. i believe in being open minded about such things. nature has a way of surprising us. humans of the past were sure at one time that the earth was flat and the sun revolved around our earth...they were wrong then and we could be wrong too on various things.
back to point adolphus and whales. they do look pretty impressive when you are in a kayak and they are fairly close to you. often we saw activity far off like the one in the above picture who was tail slapping out there.
you never bore of seeing whales though. they are just so magnificent.
this one looks awful close. i had a 300 zoom. no doubler, nothing bigger than that. there is only so much camera gear i want to have on a kayak or in a packback with me. the places i go with my camera, even all the little local hikes. i like that i just grab the camera and toss it in there. will need to put my macro on my second camera body and carry that around. even that is a bother, but nice rather than changing lenses all the time. don't get me wrong, when i'm in the water like this you wonder...should i get a bigger lens, should i get a doubler? but really, one gets stressed carrying it all. it's expensive and i remind myself what my goals are.
there are so many wannabe professionals in alaska. pretty much anyone with decent camera gear that gets out will get great pictures. hell, i've seen some pretty awesome pictures from cell phones even. best to not get yourself dreaming of giving up your day job and selling a bunch of pictures. people come here to get thier own pictures. i prefer my own as well. that is what i want on my wall. since i can't paint worth a dam...i'm willing to buy paintings from time to time.
massive and seemingly gentle at the same time.
we also saw these bears out on the beach as we paddled by. that is the best way to see alaskan bears. either from a kayak or from a car or if you have the time go to mcneil or brooks where there are so many salmon the bears could give a crap about you.
this would also be the best way to see sasquatch as far as i'm concerned. i may have a chance to get a photo from a boat.
i am thinking that is rock below and not a whale. hmm...
dinner at the bear tooth was good. always crowded there, lots of locals. tanya's family is out of town til thursday so nice to have a girls night out.
val and scott were rebels and brought us closer to shore for this days paddle. i was quite grateful for this. i love paddling close to shore. safety for one, but i just love to explore all the stuff along the beach. the rocks, creatures and the water is so clear you can just tidepool from the boat kinda.
love getting the boat in pictures. thought this one came out cool.
must say something about the movie, "the hangover". went out to eat tonight at the bear tooth with friends and i mentioned that i hadn't seen "bridesmaids" yet but wanted to. my one friends responded that "you wouldn't like it, you don't like movies like that". ever since i saw the hangover with her and wasn't impressed she has acted like i don't like slapstick comedies like this. this is so odd to me as i've seen movies like that with her before and laughed my butt off.
have been trying to explain to her since that night that since she had seen the movie 7-8 times before we all watched it together she seemed to think she had it memorized and all through the movie she attempted to say the line with the actors and then began laughing. subsequently, i missed all the main lines of the movie. comedy is about timing and having someone talk/laugh in your ear screws it all up. as many times as i've mentioned this to her she never seems to get that she had any role in making this movie less appealing to me. i was a bit more abrupt today. one day i would like to try and watch the movie again, but as long as she keeps bringing it up as some example of how much i hate movies like this that night stays in my head and i can't watch it and enjoy it.
another funny thing about that night is that during the "turn off your cell phone" portion before the movie i was chatting with our friend on the other side of me and this same friend had shushed us!! then she talked through the whole movie. i'm in no way angry with her, she loved that movie and was just so astounded that i didn't. perhaps putting it in writing will help her understand my perspective better.
love these baleen baskets. baleen is in the mouths of filter feeder whales, such as the humpbacks we watched at point adolphus. the natives strip this and then weave it into baskets. they are simply amazing. i'd love to have a collection like this in my house, but they are really pricey. the smaller baskets in this display would sell for upwards of a thousand or more. i believe these are all just on display at the jade store. i doubt they would ever consider selling that huge baleen basket. it's priceless...i can't imagine what price could be put on it.
was in girdwood for the day a few weeks back and so i stopped by the jade store there. wanted to look at the baskets.
the other baskets in this display are made from grasses. the different baskets are made in different parts of alaska by different groups of alaska natives. i believe the grass baskets are more aleutian and the baleen are west and northern coast. the southeast natives make baskets and bentwood boxes out of the birch oftentimes.
the figures on the top are made from ivory.
girdwood was in the news today. the walk i took was taken by a family apparently but when they got to the tram the little toddler with them fell off the edge and went down the little cliff. lucky for this kid he didn't end up in the water. he would have been lost for sure. the water is all running pretty high from all the rain we've had. was just at campbell airstrip today and the creek was really booking. i opted to just put blossom back on her leash and skip it. would have been nice to clean them all off though as it was pretty muddy.
as you can see i'm adding back in a few more pictures from july. these are the geese from cheney lake. the babies are getting so big. they'll have to be ready to fly pretty soon. still so adorable. love to watch all the babies grow up.
this young guy almost looks like an adult.
the loons also hang out at cheney lake. love the call they make. so soothing.
can be tough to get the loons as they always seem so skittish and flip under the water before you can get a shot of them.
got a bit lucky this day.
sweet!
they are beautiful birds as well.
a few parting shots of miss blossom at the bog by the house.
it is her blog too.
still have lots of stuff to load and organize into these two rooms. spoke to my sister and she and her family are mid move right now and my brother jeff just moved as well. good night...
these pics are just from leaving mud bay and getting to our lunch spot for the day. the weather just kept getting nicer and nicer.
self portrait...not shower for 3-4 days at this point.
spent some time after lunch exploring the little tide pools and feeding muscles to the little creatures in the pools. have to be patient. nervous crabs in there.
love the intertidal zone.
it's a good thing the tides change as i could wander these pools for hours.
the summer is winding down. perhaps i can sneak in a trip out next week after my cabin trip. tanya still wants to get out to gold mint, as do i. we both want to hit ptarmigan lake as well.
another self portrait.
our kayaking day was pretty relaxed. nobody was in a hurry. just so great to paddle along enjoying all the sights and then stop for a leisurely lunch.
this corgi at my place doesn't know how to relax. i suspect duffy will be exhausted for a few days once he returns home. today we walked close to 4 miles and he's still rambling about. i think he is trying to keep track of the cats, and they move around alot. lots of puddles today and he got super dirty. hope his mom doesn't mind. he's probably got a bath in the near future. i think she comes home tomorrow. not sure what time though.
we saw more great blue herons than i expected. i remember in ketchikan having a rare sighting, but we had several sightings.
of course, no matter how regal the bird...poop happens.
had no idea i'd caught this action with my camera. stellar! am happy that they weren't flying directly overhead as that is one big poop!
the rocks at the point came out a bit and we all nailed one here and there.
kayaks don't need but maybe a foot to clear, but those shallow rocks can get ya.
loads of eagles as well.
rained all morning. it's so tough to get too movitated when it's coming down and the dogs are a bit put off by it as well. once we all get out there though everyone is happy. i have the gear so i do kick myself when i delay. walking in the rain isn't a big deal. it barely rained at all while we were out there today in the end. i waited just long enough.
more eagle action. tried to look for the eagle nest that i can see in the winter, but the trees were grown over. rovers run is known for having summer bear activity. i have avoided much of bicentennial park by my place most summers these past few years unless i have friends. i risked it today. started out hitting rovers and turned back, then i hit rovers from the other end. better for me to go this direction.
the trail is more open and doesn't hit the creek til you are far enough in that you don't want to turn around. trick my brain. suspect i burn extra calories from the added yelling and worry. in my work at the hospital i see the people who get torn up by these bears and i'm not too keen to join them as a bear attack victim. we all survived. despite all the fresh mud i saw no tracks and only a few scats.
had an interesting email this week. apparently, a guy who has studied the possibilty of there being a sasquatch saw my "sasquatch" footprint that i took this past spring. i'm cool with sharing it. i don't rule out the possibilty of sasquatch living on this earth. the tracks were odd and not ones i could easily rule out as bear. the most likely scenario being bear though.
many people claim to have seen sasquatch, i am not one of those. i'd be cool never running into a 9 foot furry biped on the trail though. i think that would be quite scarey. the pictures are always blurry...but then when i've run into bears on the trail i have rarely gotten a decent picture. you are trying to catch up the dogs and get the camera and frighten the bear...the photo op is difficult at best. it's also odd that nobody's been attacked by a big foot or that we've never found a dead one anywhere. of course, i've lived in alaska nearly 20 years and i've never seen a wolverine. i believe in being open minded about such things. nature has a way of surprising us. humans of the past were sure at one time that the earth was flat and the sun revolved around our earth...they were wrong then and we could be wrong too on various things.
back to point adolphus and whales. they do look pretty impressive when you are in a kayak and they are fairly close to you. often we saw activity far off like the one in the above picture who was tail slapping out there.
you never bore of seeing whales though. they are just so magnificent.
this one looks awful close. i had a 300 zoom. no doubler, nothing bigger than that. there is only so much camera gear i want to have on a kayak or in a packback with me. the places i go with my camera, even all the little local hikes. i like that i just grab the camera and toss it in there. will need to put my macro on my second camera body and carry that around. even that is a bother, but nice rather than changing lenses all the time. don't get me wrong, when i'm in the water like this you wonder...should i get a bigger lens, should i get a doubler? but really, one gets stressed carrying it all. it's expensive and i remind myself what my goals are.
there are so many wannabe professionals in alaska. pretty much anyone with decent camera gear that gets out will get great pictures. hell, i've seen some pretty awesome pictures from cell phones even. best to not get yourself dreaming of giving up your day job and selling a bunch of pictures. people come here to get thier own pictures. i prefer my own as well. that is what i want on my wall. since i can't paint worth a dam...i'm willing to buy paintings from time to time.
massive and seemingly gentle at the same time.
we also saw these bears out on the beach as we paddled by. that is the best way to see alaskan bears. either from a kayak or from a car or if you have the time go to mcneil or brooks where there are so many salmon the bears could give a crap about you.
this would also be the best way to see sasquatch as far as i'm concerned. i may have a chance to get a photo from a boat.
i am thinking that is rock below and not a whale. hmm...
dinner at the bear tooth was good. always crowded there, lots of locals. tanya's family is out of town til thursday so nice to have a girls night out.
val and scott were rebels and brought us closer to shore for this days paddle. i was quite grateful for this. i love paddling close to shore. safety for one, but i just love to explore all the stuff along the beach. the rocks, creatures and the water is so clear you can just tidepool from the boat kinda.
love getting the boat in pictures. thought this one came out cool.
must say something about the movie, "the hangover". went out to eat tonight at the bear tooth with friends and i mentioned that i hadn't seen "bridesmaids" yet but wanted to. my one friends responded that "you wouldn't like it, you don't like movies like that". ever since i saw the hangover with her and wasn't impressed she has acted like i don't like slapstick comedies like this. this is so odd to me as i've seen movies like that with her before and laughed my butt off.
have been trying to explain to her since that night that since she had seen the movie 7-8 times before we all watched it together she seemed to think she had it memorized and all through the movie she attempted to say the line with the actors and then began laughing. subsequently, i missed all the main lines of the movie. comedy is about timing and having someone talk/laugh in your ear screws it all up. as many times as i've mentioned this to her she never seems to get that she had any role in making this movie less appealing to me. i was a bit more abrupt today. one day i would like to try and watch the movie again, but as long as she keeps bringing it up as some example of how much i hate movies like this that night stays in my head and i can't watch it and enjoy it.
another funny thing about that night is that during the "turn off your cell phone" portion before the movie i was chatting with our friend on the other side of me and this same friend had shushed us!! then she talked through the whole movie. i'm in no way angry with her, she loved that movie and was just so astounded that i didn't. perhaps putting it in writing will help her understand my perspective better.
love these baleen baskets. baleen is in the mouths of filter feeder whales, such as the humpbacks we watched at point adolphus. the natives strip this and then weave it into baskets. they are simply amazing. i'd love to have a collection like this in my house, but they are really pricey. the smaller baskets in this display would sell for upwards of a thousand or more. i believe these are all just on display at the jade store. i doubt they would ever consider selling that huge baleen basket. it's priceless...i can't imagine what price could be put on it.
was in girdwood for the day a few weeks back and so i stopped by the jade store there. wanted to look at the baskets.
the other baskets in this display are made from grasses. the different baskets are made in different parts of alaska by different groups of alaska natives. i believe the grass baskets are more aleutian and the baleen are west and northern coast. the southeast natives make baskets and bentwood boxes out of the birch oftentimes.
the figures on the top are made from ivory.
girdwood was in the news today. the walk i took was taken by a family apparently but when they got to the tram the little toddler with them fell off the edge and went down the little cliff. lucky for this kid he didn't end up in the water. he would have been lost for sure. the water is all running pretty high from all the rain we've had. was just at campbell airstrip today and the creek was really booking. i opted to just put blossom back on her leash and skip it. would have been nice to clean them all off though as it was pretty muddy.
as you can see i'm adding back in a few more pictures from july. these are the geese from cheney lake. the babies are getting so big. they'll have to be ready to fly pretty soon. still so adorable. love to watch all the babies grow up.
this young guy almost looks like an adult.
the loons also hang out at cheney lake. love the call they make. so soothing.
can be tough to get the loons as they always seem so skittish and flip under the water before you can get a shot of them.
got a bit lucky this day.
sweet!
they are beautiful birds as well.
a few parting shots of miss blossom at the bog by the house.
it is her blog too.
still have lots of stuff to load and organize into these two rooms. spoke to my sister and she and her family are mid move right now and my brother jeff just moved as well. good night...
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