Anan

There were a few folks from out of town that were here for work related purposes. I helped show them around the district and we stopped at Anan Creek. The pink salmon are just beginning to run and the bears certainly seem ready. This is a black bear that was wandering around in the grass.

Brown bear cubs being frisky as their mother tries to catch lunch.

Anan

The stalk.

The leap.

Anan

The pounce.

The plunge.

The meal.

The envious cubs watch their mother eat. No, they didn't even get to lick the plate.

Eagles

I was showing some folks around the Wrangell Ranger District. This was taken at one of the Nemo campsites. This eagle is looking over its mate which is taking a turn on the nest next to this snag (Not pictured).

Back to Anan creek, right after the bear finished the salmon, this eagle flew down to nibble on the scraps. Not much was left.

"Is THIS all you left?" said the eagle to the bear.

High Country Part I

I hiked up to the North Wrangell High Country Shelter last night (6-15-07) after a baby shower. I didn't get started until 8:37pm and it was after 11 by the time I got to the top. This is a picture of Shoemaker Harbor with all it's lights while I'm trying to hold the camera still. My plan was to hike up by myself and spend the night out under the stars. I hiked up by myself but I wan't alone. When I got to the top there were a number of friends already there, making it a more enjoyable evening. And the sky full of stars didn't really turn out either. Seems like Alaska is the land of the midnight sun. We may not get the midnight sun here in Southeast but the sky still stays relatively light.

No, this isn't a hinged bridge. The extreme snow load of this past winter destroyed this pedistrian bridge.

The snow didn't just break the bridge, it broke much of the longer span step and run.

Rainbow falls has quite a bit of water cascading down over the edge that is generated by melting snow.

High Country Part II

A friend was kind enough to take a few pictures of me skiing a nice little line.

My campsite. I put the bottom of my sleeping bag in the backpack to keep my feet warm because of a moderately strong north wind. It seemed to work nicely. I stayed cozy and warm. In fact by 6 am I was starting to get a little too warm and decided to get up.

The evening light toward the North. This was at about 11:40pm. I went to sleep a little later and at 2:20am or so I was awakened by birds clucking. A pair of ptarmigan decided to visit me in the early morning light... Yes it was already getting light - it didn't get much darker than this even on a night with no moon. They came within about 20 feet before deciding that I wasn't particularly friendly looking. I fell back asleep and woke up about 15 minutes later to more cackling. A third ptarmigan came wandering by but that one decided it wasn't safe and flew off.

Mountains in Black and White

Castle Mountain.

Etolin Island.

Etolin Island - Virginia Peak.

Birds

The evening light did a nice job of enhancing this photo (taken 6-8-07).

This eagle flew directly over me after I had been taking pictures of the mountains in black and white. I was disappointed at first but it seemed to turn out quite well.

Bob Lippert's kite flies in the mostly clear skies above the North Wrangell High Country Shelter.

Ketchikan

Christina and I look into each others eyes as we sit in one of the log shelters on the shore of Ward Lake.

Just before this picture was taken a black bear crossed Ward Creek about a hundred yards away. We only got one picture of him and he was swimming so only his back and head were visible. Wasn't worth putting it on the blog.

Ketchikan and cruise ships.

A float plane coming in for a landing near downtown Ketchikan.

Ward Lake

Here are a few more picture from Ketchikan. This picture of the reflection was taken at about 5am. After I had already gone fishing. Yawn! It is kind of neat how the relfection seemed to turn out better than the actual scene.

Here is another nice reflection.

Here is a nice big Sitka Spruce with blueberry brush in the foreground.

Trees and more Trees

This root wad along the shore of Ward Lake in Ketchikan caught Christina's eye.

These Western Hemlock branches fan out like tailfeathers on a peacock.

There are many trees around Ward Lake like this Sitka Spruce that started growing on top of a large stump. As the old stump decomposed and the new tree grew, a void was formed where the old stump once sat. This results in some interesting features, such as this kick stand supporting a large spruce, a hemlock and part of another spruce.

There was no shortage of large spruce around our campground. Directly across from our campsite these two large spruce were close enough together to give Quent a chance to pose for this shot.