it was another pretty day so i decided to head to seward. i'd thought about homer, but that is a long drive and i figured i'd test out a shorter run to seward first. this was the sunset over turnigan as i headed back to anchorage. i think it was about 9:30pm.
got slow moving...as usual. took the dogs over to jodphur parking lot in kincaid. i started on the coastal trail there, but still a bit snowy/icy in parts so always fear rio slipping down the cliff so i backtracked and took another route. the dogs got worn out and blossom got lots of tennis ball tosses in on the dunes before we left.
lovely day so i decided to stop by the conservation center and have a look at the beasts. the bears were very active....at least the grizzleys
fun to watch them run around. the big 900 pound bear was so chill with the two smaller bears.
loved him trying to get up. jackknife sit ups..not easy at all
but he did it!
quite a few people out there today. there was actually tons of traffic heading out turnigan yesterday. those trails clear of snow fastest...and tend to have early bear sightings. but all the trailheads were packed with cars and there were also quite a few out practicing their rock climbing on the sides of the road.
signs of spring starting to emerge.
didn't get home until after 10pm. was able to look at all these pictures but too late to write a blog. besides, may as well let everyone enjoy the black bears from the other day. we actually could see the cars and papparazzi from rovers run today. went with amy/sri and elizabeth.
rovers was fine til the horses appeared. hate that feeling of feeling responsible for another persons dogs behaviour. i have worked hard to train my dogs, but when other dogs misbehave everyone gets the nasty look. i felt so bad. horses are always supposed to get the right of way. blossom was off leash on this not off leash trail, but she came right to me and i had her quick lead on..that rad dog collar, plus i had her spare collar in case.
had a blast yesterday watching the wood bison. they were quite active. many of the younger ones were frolicing out there.
things are looking better and better for their release into the wild to be happening sooner than later. they've been hanging here for several years since being brought over from canada to repopulate alaska. they used to roam further north and hopefully will roam again. the musk ox were hunted out at one point and were re-introduced. overall those populations are doing well.
less red tape many years back when the musk ox were released...that hasn't been the case for these guys. so here they are, waiting for release. they'll have a feeding station until they start to get used to being totally on their own.
a handsome bunch. i think there are at least 2 or 3 places that they wish to release them back into wild.
loved this guy totally hoping off the ground in his frolic. so cute!!
i circled the park twice. just can't get enough. it's great though as the animals really have large enough area to romp and play so they do. probably will be even more room for the other animals they have once the bison move on. great to see animals so active. i still want to stop and see the baby polar bear. perhaps tomorrow.
want to check on road in denali national park too. they are plowing it and anyone can drive as far as it's plowed before the season starts up. it's great. every year is a bit different as to what, if anything you will see, but usually you have to ride the bus out there. this way you get at least the first 30miles or so.
it's clouding up now. it was still nice and blue out today. i attempted to clean up the poop in the back yard, but it is all totally frozen in. spring clean up could be messy. wonder how good dog poop is as fertilizer. these bison have unloaded in their enclosure.
has been a good day to catch up on some of those chores that have been skipped for a bit.
my leg is feeling better...almost normal so that is cool. catch up time. the back deck is a sheet of ice right as you walk out the back door. haven't gotten very far on de-icing that today.
turned off news as they have stopped reporting news again and are instead spinning. there is still news to report, but they get so stuck on one news piece and are incapable of moving on from it before they have made every attempt to creat news stories to keep the viewer in. it's always annoying to me.
hoping to get to the pool tonight. i feel ready. it's five so i will try for 6pm and get a few laps in. time to get my arse back in shape. no more excuses. need to do some jack knife sit ups like that bear was doing. haha.
the musk ox were pretty active as well. was a bit bummed as they have a few new tiny babies but they've kept them inside as it's still getting chilly at night and they don't want them to be chilled.
this must be a younger one...perhaps last years baby. getting older. both males and females have the horns though.
these are elk. took me a minute to figure that out. at first i thought they were caribou, but then i knew they didn't look like caribou. don't think i even got any photo's of the caribou. the black bears were feeding. i'm told they actually prefer dog kibble. so they were right by fence and in the shade.
this guy looked handsome.
didn't like me being there. blossom sat up front and enjoyed watching the animals. not too many places you can take you dog into like this. she did bark at the bears a few times.
the bears didn't seem to notice her barking.
i think the big guy did notice me sitting in my car eating my subway sandwich. he started sniffing and headed to the front of the enclosure. oops...so i put it away. bears have an amazing sense of smell.
i'm happy i don't have that keen sense of smell. most stuff in my work it's a perk to have a lousy sense of smell.
the ice is thinning everywhere. they have a little pond/lake under this ice and they were walking in water in some places.
blossom was thrilled when we got to seward and hit lowel point. she got to go swimming in the ocean. it was a real treat for her. rio also went wading. there was an otter out there being lazy. didn't get much of a picture of it. i left out several pictures as i had so many from the animals...so hopefully i can load those in tomorrow some time.
decided on second loop to try a few black and whites on the bison. i forget sometimes. like that bear the other day in the tree...i should have attempted a few black and whites..i love black and white so much. just way cooler for some reason. retro.
thought they turned out cool.
i will for sure return here. pretty cheap and a great way to get good views of the animals.
this is a house that once was part of the community of portage. the wildlife conservation center sits there where portage used to sit. the big quake of 1964 caused a tsunami. the ground went down like 10 feet and there are dead trees all over leftover from that day. eerie...so many years later.
these are in seward. it had clouded up there so black and white was a fun option.
this boat and house are at lowell point. not sure that boat ever leaves that spot.
have always liked this little bird house at the main harbor. it's right by the restaurant that i was choking in last year. i didn't go back there.
various boats in the harbor.
most of my boat pictures didn't come out as hoped. i think i was getting antsy to get on the road back to anchorage. i'd brought food for the dogs though so i fed them after they played at the beach. they were all happy for the drive home. even rio layed down and relaxed for most of it.
rewarded with these great sunset views soon after getting back on turnigan arm. these are just past portage, before girdwood.
these are actually from drive out. blue skies.
always great to see trains ...they add a little something extra.
a few back at the wildlife place. this is actually the end of turnigan arm.
the moose were all laying around so i took a picture from above them. kinda fun. they haven't been overly active either time i've been there.
more refuge shots.
part of the bison enclosure is under water from the melt.
these are closer to seward. i think this is kenai lake.
rail tracks out of seward. no time for exit glacier to see what the melt is there. will have to get my arse moving earlier next time i head out there.
again out of seward. a bridge crossing. the river below. just liked the colours of the evening.
back at kenai lake. partly frozen, partly open...the frozen bits aren't safe to be on anymore. winter is retreating and soon we will green up and it will all begin again.
maybe tomorrow will be final monday walk of season. we shall see. i should grab a bag to toss in and clean up our tree for the season. it's time...
quick power nap and then off to swim. the water will feel so great!!
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