alaska scenery...hanging valley

 onto september pictures...there is hope.  these are from yesterdays hike to hanging valley with bob, tanya and maddie.  blossom is above.  these are with 50mm and wide angle.  she's so cute in wide angle.  i was debating a trek to the brown jug ( a local alcohol retailer) but it is getting late.  i have some unopened bottles of vodka and rum i think.  need a few more bottles.  should do some mixed drink parties.  learn a few new drinks.

 back is still sore.  mostly sitting and changing positions.  walking i do pretty much fine. that is my best.  i always figure i should try to walk it out.  does feel better until i sit down again.  robaxin and sleep tonight.
you can see the valley we are heading to in the picture above.  it's called hanging valley as it's another valley up off of the south fork trail system.  the south fork trails take you back to eagle and symphony lakes.  it's also a beautiful hike.  i always seem to make sure i get there for fall as it's spectacular in fall.  i especially love hanging valley though.  i still haven't been all the way back in the valley.  it's a bit of a trek and not that it's especially tough, but it is a time commitment.  would be great to just backpack up and camp over night, explore a bit and head back.  didn't see much of bear signs but i am liking the idea of an electric fence. still have to investigate that more.  has to be lightweight enough to carry and easy to set up without electrocuting yourself.

 the color of the creek is so pretty.  a bit higher than usual but with all this rain it's no surprise.  i grew up on the los angeles area and this would be considered a river there.  rivers are gigantic up here though, as are most things.  so this gets downgraded to a creek.

 we didn't hit the peak peak of fall colors though some stuff didnt seem to have changed yet at all.  i love fall in alaska though.

 there is loads of water on this trail for the dogs.  rio stayed back as i knew it would be a long day for a dog her size.  she had a hell of a time on todays hike with all the roots.  we did some loops around north bivuoac.  poor dog.  it's rough out there for her.

 was so excited, my 6th season of "the Big Bang" arrived from amazon.com.  since it was a day of cleaning and such i decided clean for a bit, then stop and watch an episode, back to clean...i need to bribe myself to clean.  i am also well aware that my clean is not the same as other peoples clean.  party tomorrow..i don't think anyone will be taking a white glove to my place...if they do i am not paying to have those cleaned at a dry cleaners.  haha.

 today felt more like a normal day for me.  that made me happy.  not sure i'm ready to venture out on my own too much yet, but feeling less anxious overall.  i think hearing about the guy punching this grizzly helped...it is a bear with an issue.  someone wrote in a comment that he was basically in idiot to be camping near a creek as there are salmon running.  someone else is getting monday morning quarterbacking too.  so annoying.  really, people aren't suppose to camp anywhere there could be salmon...better ban all tents in alaska every summer.

 the guy was woken by a grizzly, he reacted by punching the thing.  he's alive and he stopped the grizzly from getting further in the tent.  seems to me he did the right thing.  it worked.  like me i'm sure he wasn't thinking of the next thing in that moment just what he had to deal with.  keeping a bear on the other side...i'm happy i had a car for protection rather than a tent.  that would have been a whole lot more sticky.

 the honey crisp apples are in and the one i'm eating now tastes great.  i love honey crisps.

 flipped it to black and white a few times.  scenery is always fun in black and white on days like this.

 some guy in a village up north shot and killed his toddler. the mom was cheating on him or so he suspected.  there are some crazy people out there..how could you shoot your own child.  just hard to believe.

 another kid apparently died from a dog attack.  loose dogs i think.  not sure.  i read later that the dog was killed.

 not sure what sorts of appetizers to set out there.  i just got some basics, cheese, crackers, chocolate and chips.

 i'm no fancy chef sort...can't clean, can't cook much...clear evidence of why i couldn't lasso a man.  haha.

 a few stands of birch out there..looking good,

 got most of the stuff on my to do list done!!  even called to see if i can get my cable fixed.  it keeps coming and going.  don't think it's the tv...it's annoying though.

 blossom did not seem the least bit sleepy today, always amazing how dogs rebound from stuff.  i could feel the little uphills on todays hike in my thighs.  blossom happily chased her toy for most of the walk.  if finally disappeared...i donate a lot of tennis balls.

 always love this spot and how this rock mimics the mountain behind it. they call big rocks like these eratics.  an eratic is a left over rock from the glacier retreat.

 was talking with bob about how i needed to do some good deeds.  i suspect i used up most of my good kharma in my kharma bank.  time to give it back so i can rebuild that bank in case i have another scary event come my way.

 doesn't hurt to do kind deeds anyway...

 we passed a few smaller tarns before settling on this larger one to lunch at.  we were chasing the sun though as the big mountain was blocking it through much of the valley.

 the sun was out when we first arrived, but we had to chase it.

 all the white stuff out there is caribou moss...a lichen.  not sure if caribou actually eat it or like it or why it is called that.  sure looks pretty out there.

 another of blossoms photo shoot. she's such a glam dog

 i used the self timer on the rebel to get a few of me with blossom

 i forget it has that feature, but it was fun to get it in the wide angle.

 we were out there picking blueberries.  it's a secret stash of them. not too many make the hike up there for them and we saw no signs of bears either.  don't tell.

 the colours of the tundra

 reflections on the tarn...just so darn cool.

think i'll watch another episode and call it a day.  can't sit too long or i'll be whining too much.  have a good one...