Goat Hunt Part IV

Looking at the valley below the falls.

On the right, Glacier creek leaving glacier basin. On the left a creek flowing from behind Berg mountain. These are amazing falls. They can be easily heard from the top of Marsha Peak on a breezy day in the rain. The entire hillside echoes with the sound of the powerful water.

Mountain goat after a 30 or so yard shot.

The stalk with glacier basin in the background

Goat Hunt Part III

As we were stalking the billy goat I looked up at the ridge above us and the group of five goats I had seen earlier in the day and the day before were standing on the ridge watching us, framed in a cloud. I would give a lot to have had a picture of that. It will probably be the most lasting memory of the trip. One goat obliged and stayed on top of the ridge long enough for Nate to dig the camera out of his pack and get this picture.

Spotted five goats to the left the day before. Found them shortly after taking this picture on the small ridge to the right. The billy goat was next to them on another ridge farther right.
We would have to climb up that ridge behind us with much heavier gear. Little did we know at the time, but directly below us was our prey.
A glimpse of the top of the mountain about a mile away.

 

Goat Hunt Part II

What a difference a little bit of sunshine makes! Spectacular!

The first glimpse of sunshine occured in the evening of day two.

Goat camp. The smartest move we made was bring a tarp. Besides always having blue skies, we were able to stay relatively dry.

A pocket in the clouds at higher elevation. Hunting in the clouds was a new experience for me. My brother and I quickly discovered that depth perception is nonexistent in the thicker clounds. From sighting on two flowers that looked like horns (that one was Nate's idea). To stalking a marmot from about 75 yards away thinking it was something MUCH larger (I would have had him if he was a goat). To the very common mistake of sneaking up on a chunk of quartz, many times the chunk would turn out to be about the size of a softball. At least we were seeing things, just makes it that much more exciting.

Goat Hunt Part I

Nathan is a picture of misery. This was during a rain squall that decided to persist through lunch. Not exactly a warm and fuzzy feeling. The warm food helped.

So this is what it is like to be on top of the world...
... make that Marsha Peak. (a little bit below 5000')
Couldn't see much more than a few hundred feet if that.

Taking a break at the Porterfield Creek crossing.

Where to go?

 

Name-less flower

Honestly, I have no idea what kind of flower this is, but it's beautiful! They are alongside our driveway. They help brighten up those gray, cloudy, dreary days.

 

Here kitty-kitty!

There is so much beauty in the state of Alaska. This blog is packed full of beautiful scenery that we have captured with our camera, but I want to take a moment to say a little more about two very special "friends" in our lives. They have captured our hearts and not a day goes by that we don't find ourselves laughing hysterically over something they have done.

Awww....They can be the best of friends and the worst of friends...but this is a moment of the "best."


Tigger. He's the most friendly, out-going cat I know. Most cats keep to themselves and are well, rather "stuck-up," but Tig will greet everyone at the door! I caught him during one of his nap times with this photo.


Shadow. We named her that because she's just that, our shadow. This picture was taken right before she found and tore into a bag of catnip. All she had to do was take one giant leap from the bike seat to the top of the bookshelf. The rest is history. She was pretty crazy the rest of the evening...as you can imagine! She's very friendly too, but definitely more timid. She's incredibly sweet and affectionate.

Summer?

Last spring we would chuckle when we would hear the locals say "It's so hot out!" when it was only 60-something degrees. We thought, "If they only knew!" But the inevitable has happened! We too have come to the same conclusion that 60-something degrees is pretty hot! I guess that's what happens when one becomes accustomed to a climate such as this. Last year summer came and went, but it never felt like it came and it never felt like it went. All of a sudden it was fall (which I think derived it's name from the numerous amounts of raindrops). And I have a feeling that this summer will leave without us ever really taking notice of it. I think there was only a day that it actually got to 80 degrees (last summer there were only 2 days). Most days it's in the mid-50's. But I'm not complaining, no siree! I LOVE these temperatures! While the rest of the country has been hot, we have been wearing our fleece jackets and sweatshirts.

A Tale of Two Fishers, a Starfish, Cauliflower and TV

We docked our boat at St. John on Zarembo Island and walked around a little.

I thought this was a real pretty starfish. It was eating a jellyfish.

These little creatures (plants?) are intriguing. (The orange objects). They look like cauliflower, but if you touch them (or poke them a little with a stick) they shrivel up. It was kind of a cruel thing to do, but a lot of fun! You should try it sometime! Ha!

Haha!

 

Keeper!

Quent caught a keeper! It is some type of cod fish. It was pretty tasty too!

 

Fishing

Our goal was to catch some halibut. It never actually happened, but we had a great time anyway! Here's the captain of our ship.

Double for my trouble! My first catch was not one fish, but two. I laughed pretty hard when I pulled this up. I call the fish "Ugly Fish," but I guess the actual name for them is something like Irish Lord. We caught a lot of these, but didn't keep them. I'm not sure if we can eat these fish, but I wouldn't want to even if we could. They looked pretty UGLY!

I love taking pictures of water!

And I have a thing for clouds too!

To the top!

Whew! This was quite the hike! It was my (Christina's) first time up to the Shoemaker Overlook. It was 6.8 miles round trip. I'm not sure how high we went up, but I think it was somewhere between 1,000-2,000 feet.

 

4th of July

The 4th of July is a BIG day in Wrangell. A lot of people come to down for the events that take place in the street and all around town. "Toss your egg now" bellows through the streets and is part of a great tradition. Here we are in the gunny sack races. Yes, that's me (Christina) in the orange sweatshirt. My friends talked me into it...it was fun!

Quent and our friend Nic about to compete against one another in a gunny sack race! I think they tied.

 

Mendenhall Glacier

Juneau, Alaska

Me and my friend Dara in front of the glacier.