AlaskaSweetHome

With a little help from my friend ...

2011-08-29T21:48:00.000-07:00

So, I am not in Juneau...but I do happen to have AMAZING friends there and they are out enjoying the wonderful world of Southeast Alaska. This is a little bit of what they are seeing!

These photos are courtesy of my dear friend Linda. She and her husband went to the Glacier and got to have a nice visit with this young cub. At first he was just sleeping balanced on a tree branch, but he woke up and listened to Linda talk to him for a while. I sure hope to get back up there to grab more photos, but I am going through my images, so there will probably still be more posting in the future (between what I have and what Linda sends to me - surely we have stuff to share!!!)

A little bit of Juneau, Alaska

2010-10-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Our travel plans dropped us back in Juneau for just moments, but I was able to get a few photos before we got back on the ferry to head to Prince Rupert.

We made a quick stop to at Mendenhall Glacier to see the giant calvings that have been taking place in the ice and the beautiful Fall colors. Walked around the trail of time. Took a photo of the East Glacier Trail sign, although we didn't have time to hike it unfortunately. Then we headed over to Statter Harbor to walk around a bit...we even got a visit from an adorable little harbor seal. before our ferry ride on the Matanuska.

A little bit of Haines, Alaska

2010-10-08T16:21:00.000-07:00

Here are a few images from Haines in September 2010. It was rainy & cold and at times, there was snow mixed in. The snow dusted the mountains and came pretty low the day we left Haines. It had to be in the 30°s while we were there...brrrrrr

The Chilkoot Barracs is a national historic site in Haines.

The government built a permanent Army post here in the early 1900's.

We took the Haines Highway to Canada (turned around) and came back to Haines. In the picture below, you will see the beauty of Autumn along the Haines Highway and the snow covered mountains in the background are in British Columbia, Canada.

The cutest little sight. As we drove along we saw this 'Honey Moon Hotel' and just had to stop for a photo.

There were Trumpeter Swans swimming in a river. You can see the leaves that have already fallen in the water. It was very beautiful and peaceful. The swans were very calm and didn't seem to be bothered by us stopping to get their photo.
The gray colored ones are immature swans.

As we drove around town we saw this boat wreck. It just looked so neat and there was a little park near it, so you can have a picnic (if you don't mind the rain).

I love the Native Artwork in Alaska. There are many wood carvings with brightly colored designs.

These guys were fly-fishing in the rain. It was cold, but I guess if you get some yummy salmon then it was worth it, right?

Why we didn't drive NORTH afterall...

2010-10-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

We planned to make a trip north to Haines, AK and then driving north through the Yukon and parts of Alaska we hadn't been before. Our plans changed. It all started as we drove onto the fast ferry. We made it to Haines, and started toward the Canadian Border.Shortly after arriving in Canada the rain turned into slush.The snow started...and then it continued... and kept coming. ugh.

We turned around and started making a new plan. We decided we better head south if we wanted to get out before winter was over. Along the drive, we got to see some rock ptarmigans, and some beautiful snow covered trees, and before long we were back in Alaska.

Point Bridget

2010-08-21T22:31:00.000-07:00

Today Mike went for a hike to Point Bridget.

Alyx & I went last Summer and got these first two pictures (the trail sign and the picture of the trailhead) we were joined by a blackbear - which we didn't photograph.

Sometimes you gotta know when to take a picture and when to walk away...we walked away. Mike took the last four pictures today (with his cell phone's camera). It is really a beautiful place. He said he didn't see any wildlife, just a few other hikers.

This is such a beautiful hike. It takes you past a forestry cabin and to the ocean.

A Hike to Mendenhall Glacier...

2010-08-15T21:30:00.001-07:00

Mike & his friend Todd took a hike (6.8 mile round trip) up West Glacier Trail yesterday in the 85° Sunny weather.

Mike said it was an amazing thing to actually stand on the glacier.

I am so glad he had the opportunity to go and have this experience.

These are a few pictures he took of the ice with is cell phone:Apparently the sun causes the ice to melt and the glacier has these streams of amazing BLUE water on top.

Wow!I have been asking him to take pictures for two years! I think he did a great job & can't wait to see more pictures from him!

Feel free to leave a comment to let him know what you think.

I took a little break...

2010-08-12T22:01:00.000-07:00

I don't know if anyone noticed, but I took a little break from blogging for a short time. Just disappeared. If you didn't notice, that is ok...but it happened. I'm back.

If you visit my blogs, I would love if you left a comment now and again. I don't hear from many people but if you are here, feel free to drop a note and let me know how you are doing or what you think about what I am doing.

Some Southeast Alaska Flowers...

2010-07-13T22:35:00.001-07:00

...that were blooming over the 4th of July weekend.

Dwarf Fireweed growing out of a rock - amazing! Wintergreen

This plant gets its name not because it is the 'wintergreen' we are familiar with as a minty plant, but simply because the little plant stays green in the winter. Columbine Fireweed Wild Purple Iris Wild Daisies Queen Anne's Lace (well this is growing on an Indian Celery plant, but the flower is also refered to as Queen Anne's Lace)

Lots of other stuff out there too that I didn't get a picture of...

...oh and we looked for a chocolate lily, but think it may have been too late in the season for that.

It was a BERRY nice weekend...

2010-07-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

...although it rained on us nearly the entire time. We did get to enjoy some wonderful berries.

We hiked, took photos and munched on yummy WILD berries all weekend.

Here are a few photos of the berries we saw [and ate] last weekend.

Blueberries along a trail near Eagle River teeny tiny Wild Strawberries on Eagle Beach

(so sweet and tasty - did I mention that my fingers smelled like strawberries for hours after picking them? WONDERFUL!!!) Salmonberries at the Shrine of St. Therese

(super juicy! The yellow & red do have the same flavor) Thimble Berries

(not quite ripe so we didn't eat these, however they are some of the BEST when they are ripe...)

And the fog rolled in.....

2010-07-11T09:37:00.001-07:00

Fog rolled in while we were visiting Skater's Cabin. It was as if a veil was pulled over Juneau. It was beautiful and a little sad.

Some of the Birds in the Capital of Wild

2010-07-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

Here are several of the birds we saw on our weekend in Juneau.

We enjoyed seeing the baby arctic terns on the beach near Mendenhall Glacier a barn swallow some red breasted sap suckers ducks a blue heron ravens stellar jays and of course there were lots & lots of eagles

Have I Ever Told You?

2010-07-07T20:54:00.001-07:00

Did I ever tell you that if a PLACE can be a favorite...then this is mine? Just kind of takes my breath away.

Forget me not...

2010-05-31T14:08:00.000-07:00

Wow, that was a long-time with no new blog-posts!

Lots has been happening in our lives, but we are doing well and hopefully everything settles down soon.

Alyx & I are safely in AZ, but I am going to keep this Alaska Blog updated, because we still have lots of pictures and adventures to share. (Besides, I will be heading back up from time to time and will have new stuff to write about.)

We had a very busy month of May with the house selling and the move. We have a new blog to introduce... Arizona Sweet Home visit anytime. We will be updating this (hopefully often) and sharing the new adventures this chaper of our lives is bringing to us. I do have a few pictures to share that were taken just before we left Juneau...

Here are some beautiful forget-me-nots. Of course this is the state flower of Alaska, and it just seems so right to add this picture to this post. I sure do miss that rainforest, but can't wait to get back up and visit.

Also, here is a picture of a bald eagle that was taken the day before we moved out of the house. Oh and of course, the "SOLD" sign in our yard :)

Went to find a bear but found a bird instead...

2010-04-29T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well, there are plenty of bears out there these days, but we didn't find one tonight.

We went on a couple of trails and on our way back to the car we saw this Lesser Yellowlegs in the Mendenhall River.

(I googled it)

It is a really loud bird and there was a dog that REALLY wanted to catch it, but didn't want to go into the water, so the bird was safe for today :)Too cute.

Another driver in the family...

2010-04-21T06:15:00.000-07:00

Well folks, it is true - Alyx has her driver's license. She turned 16 back in December, but we weren't really keen on the idea of her taking her driving test on ice & snow, so we waited. It is official.

A day at the beach

2010-04-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

We drove out to Eagle Beach with Cassie on Saturday.

The sun was shining and there was even a little warmth in the air.

It was beautiful.

The strawberry plants are starting to grow and the Canadian Geese are visiting. What a nice place to be.

It was really cute

(well, maybe not cute)

but still ...

I watched a Canadian Goose fly over the water and all of a sudden a seal just jumped right out of the water trying to catch it.

(it missed.)

We drove out the road a bit further and saw something in the water...I got the camera out to take a picture and holy cow!

This is what we saw. Can you believe someone is actually doing this? At least he had good scuba gear...but was he warm?

Bald Eagle

2010-04-17T23:00:00.001-07:00

I just had to share...we were driving out the road and I started yelling 'stop-stop-stop' and as soon as the car stopped, I jumped out and got this picture! Can you believe the beauty of these birds? Wowza!!!

Northern Lights ...

2010-04-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

We had an opportunity to see the Aurora Borealis from Juneau this weekend. We saw that the forecast was good for Saturday and we sat at a very dark point on Douglas Island for nearly two hours waiting for the lights, but no luck. Then Sunday Night we looked out our window and saw this: Mike & I drove over to the glacier and stood at the look-out area and got a few photographs. It has been difficult for us to see the Northern Lights in the past two years since we have been here. Juneau is pretty far south, so it is usually not included in the forecast area but when it is, we usually have clouds/rain/fog or it is too light for us to see them (summer). Last night was just perfect conditions. We were included in the band forecasted and we had clear skies. What a gift!

Fun with friends...

2010-04-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

I didn't post the picture I took on Saturday because I wanted to make sure that Linda wouldn't mind. She is so great, she said "Yes"... so here is the picture I took of Rick & Linda at the beaver pond behind Juneau Police Department:We saw lots of wind, a little rain, but no beavers. I must go back again for pictures! The beaver dam is visible in the picture...this thing is HUGE!

Turns out Linda was taking pictures of me too...here is a photo she took of me while I was getting ready to take this photo of the blueberry blooms. We hung out for a while watching the adorable mink...FUN!

Beautiful April Day in Juneau

2010-04-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today was an absolutely beautiful day!

I went with some friends to the University Campus to visit the little mink.

We got to see a beautiful rainbow in the trees
The blueberries are starting to bloom - there are little 'bells' all over the bushes. Gonna be loaded with blueberries this summer :) Bears will LOVE it! A woodpecker created this piece of art - cute

A nice day in March...

2010-03-26T07:17:00.001-07:00

After a beautiful day of sunshine (but having been inside an office all day), Alyx & I decided to go out yesterday evening and take photographs of some Juneau sights. First we went to the Glacier and took some pictures of the sun hitting the Mountains.Then we went to the university campus to see if we could spot any wildlife. We did see this adorable bird perched on a branch in a cluster of trees. We also got a couple of shots of the totem poles. In the Tlingit culture of Southeast Alaska, the raven & eagle represent balance.

The Raven pole is in place on the campus.

The Eagle totem is completed, but is awaiting placement. It was very interesting to see the way they made this totem.

Skunk Cabbage plants are starting to peek out of the ground. They are so interesting to see. Alyx learned that these plants warm the ground (melting any snow or ice) and then push through. When they first begin growing, they have a beautiful yellow flower similar to a calla lily, then they grow into very large leaf plants (there is a picture of Chris on the side column next to one of these).

We went to Auke Bay to greet Mike as he arrived home from work at 7:15 pm

...and as we were walking around on the docks, we unexpectedly ran into Jon & Joanna and got to have a really fun visit :)

We are getting so anxious to meet their baby...she is due ANYDAY now :)

We had beautiful sunshine!!!

2010-03-22T21:56:00.000-07:00

We had a beautiful weekend full of sunshine with warmth! We didn't waste any time getting out to enjoy the sun. We headed out the road and watched many eagles stretching their wings to enjoy the nice warm day.

This is a photo of an immature bald eagle that was just gracefully soaring overhead. Of course I had to get this picture again

(I just never get tired of looking at this view!) On our way back home we pulled off to the side of the road and enjoyed the sunset at Sunshine Cove.
Peaceful, isn't it?
And today we went back to work and the clouds were more than happy to join us. Glad we had this beautiful weekend!

We have signs of Spring!!!

2010-03-16T21:00:00.000-07:00

We had a BEAUTIFUL sunny day today but we were stuck inside an office all day!

After work we got to take a few pictures!

(Yes, I said 'after work' - it is now light enough after work to get out and play a bit!!!)

First we drove over to the glacier to see what was new there......we saw some ice melting...

Isn't that a BEAUTIFUL reflection?

...and some sprigs starting to sprout. We also got to watch as they ran the street-sweeper. I imagine that must mean we are getting ready for TOURISTS!!!!!! Yippie!

The forest is getting ready to EXPLODE with leaves and green,

here is a last look at Winter before we say 'hello' to Spring.

(You can see the grass is even starting to green up already...woohoo!)

After leaving the glacier, we drove over to Brotherhood Bridge Trail and walked around a little bit.

Alyx was here today with her class and told me that the Devil's Club are starting to get buds, so of course I had to take a picture.

(or two)The little blueberry bushes just loved the sunshine today too.

Yesterday when I saw them, there were buds but after that wonderful gift of sunshine the leaves started peeking through today.

I could almost hear them yawning as they woke up!

Auke Lake Trail

2010-03-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we walked on Auke Lake Trail...very fun.

The lake was covered in snow yesterday - today it is covered in water :)

Of course the ice is still out there, but it is getting so much closer to sinking!!!

I am getting so excited to get out and visit wildlife again. I saw a little black bear on campus last Tuesday, but he was not there long and so...no picture. As we were walking along the trail yesterday, we did find some black-bear hair on the trail and other signs that they are out (no picture - ha ha ha)

...frost and melt at the same time?

2010-02-22T13:37:00.000-08:00

We had a very beautiful, sunny, warm day on Sunday.

Alyx even got to wear her sunglasses

YAY !!!

Mike, Alyx and I went to Mendenhall Glacier for a nice hike around the back-side of the Visitor's Center.

There were parts of the trail that had some ice.

We had to climb over this tall Spruce Tree that fell onto the trail sometime during the winter.

There was still plenty of frost & ice, but it is really only in the shaded areas.

We didn't see wildlife, but we got to see some amazingly beautiful things.

It is fascinating to see the melt take place. It happens so fast. The sun was shining, not a single cloud in the sky, but there was so much water falling on us, it felt like it was raining. The ice on the trees was just melting off so quickly.

Here is a picture of some ice melting and moss growing at the same time. Could it be an early Spring? Could the groundhog (marmot) have been mistaken?

I sure do hope so!!!

There was a heavy frost on the railing of a bridge crossing a creek on the trail.

There are beautiful patches of moss growing on the ground, on rocks, on trees, all over...some of the moss looks like little, tiny, baby ferns... ...and the buds are coming out on the trees...yippeeee

Lunchtime Visitor...

2010-02-17T20:38:00.000-08:00

Today on my lunch hour I came home and while walking through the house I heard the sounds of a bald eagle outside. I peeked through the bedroom window and this guy was in a tree in our backyard.

If you have ever heard this bird sing, you will know it is one of the most beautiful sounds you can hear in the wild.
(a little history ... we have a raptor sanctuary near our home, so we often get visitors of the 'wild' variety.)

The photo below is a picture of the greenbelt in our back yard. I circled the eagle so you can see just where he was perched. These guys like to sit WAY up high. It is neat to watch them fly around too. They seem to soar so far above all the other birds.
This past weekend I went to Auke Bay and watched someone throw some fish out ... birds (seagulls, crows, ravens, and 1 bald eagle) all flew in to grab some. The eagle was amazing to watch. He dove straight down and just before he hit the ground, he flipped upside down and flew under the other birds, grabbing the food and then back up to the top of a tall spruce tree. Those other birds didn't see him coming. Very cool.

Of course, I was watching with amazement and then I realized I better get the camera, but the show was over before I got a single picture of that feast.

(So...you will have to take my word for it.)

AND...did you notice? No snow in the yard.

none.

I am loving it! This winter is just so much milder than last year.

There is even beginnings of GREEN peeking through. The red branches you see low on the hill are the blueberry bushes. The yard is just covered with blueberries. YUM

Juneau in February

2010-02-13T15:44:00.000-08:00

Long time no blog!

We have had lots going on but haven't been out much to see the beauty around us. Today we had some light cloud cover, but no rain or snow...so it felt like the perfect time to get out and start getting pictures again. Besides, I want to play with the new camera.

We started at the glacier and ended up at Auke Bay. Mendenhall Glacier was the MOST beautiful color of blue today. Wow, it was just breathtaking. Makes you wonder why I am not there more often, doesn't it?
Auke Bay was beautiful today with a very slight breeze but the sun was peeking through the clouds as we were walking around the docks.
While we were there we got to watch seagulls... ...harbor seals... (This little guy was really playful and was as curious about us as we were about him.) He even played while we watched... ...and stellar sealions were right there too! A crow posed for a picture. And on the way home, I couldn't resist pulling off at the bridge that crosses Mendenhall River to get this great picture of a bald eagle.

A day with SUNSHINE in Juneau...

2010-01-23T16:54:00.001-08:00

Today we had beautiful, beautiful sunshine and we just had to get out there and take advantage of the vitamin D!!!

Alyx and I hiked around the Trail of Time at the glacier and watched as some brave souls hiked out a bit onto the lake. To me it looks like there are some areas that are (maybe) not quite frozen enough, but they all seemed fine.

I am loving the new camera and how it captures the way the sunshine hits the peaks of ice. It almost looks to me like it is in motion!

We also drove around town a while and took pictures of Bald Eagles. There were trees with lots of eagles, but I had difficulty finding a place to shoot from that didn't include power lines in the shot. I finally got a great vantage point for this guy perched up over the Lemon Creek area. I love the way the sun hit his tail feathers.

We are planning to get out there again tomorrow. We didn't get everything done that we wanted to do, but hopefully there is some sunshine tomorrow too and we can venture out again.

New Camera

2010-01-22T23:19:00.000-08:00

Pictures coming soon!!!

We are supposed to have a nice clear day tomorrow, so maybe we can get out and find something pretty to take a picture of...now where is my manual so I can learn how to use that camera?

Night Flights

2009-12-18T18:00:00.000-08:00

Alyxandra and I went to the Night Flights. It was so much fun. Even though it was snowing, we had a wonderful time. The helicopter flight was a joint fundraiser between Coastal Helicopters and the Lion's Club with proceeds benefiting Children's Tumor Foundation and Lion's Sight Projects.

Here is a photo of the helicopter landing (lots of snow blowing)

This is Alyxandra getting ready to board the flight

Here she is sitting next to the pilot

I was sitting in the back seat. We couldn't use flash photography so it looks pretty dark. We flew over the Mendenhall Valley to view Christmas Lights from above. It was snowing so hard that they stopped flights briefly after ours until the weather was more cooperative. I heard they were able to raise lots of money for some great charities.

Happy Birthday Alyxandra

2009-12-08T13:35:00.000-08:00

Alyxandra Rachel is officially 16 years old now!

We had a great weekend with her and celebrated early just in case Mike would not be able to be home on her big day, but he was so we got to celebrate all over again!

Here she is with her cake. Of course it was mostly all frosting, but she loved it because it reminded her of a chocolate version of Monty (my boss & his wife's dog).

She & Mike fought over her presents for a little while, but she eventually won and got to open them. Funny, in Alaska, her presents are in Parcel boxes instead of wrapping paper, ha! I guess I should start wrapping them as they arrive and that might be better???

Here is our angel just after she was born. Hard to believe it has been 16 years already. We love you StinkerBelle!

Icy Auke Lake

2009-12-07T20:11:00.001-08:00

Alyx and I spent part of the day on Sunday at Auke Lake. There were beautiful formations in the ice as it was starting to cover the surface. In some areas the ice looked like feathers. It was really amazing to see how much contrast there is between the ice and the water, but at this point, it is still so clear you can see the rocks underneath. Very amazing.

Here is a photo of a frozen moss-covered log in the ice along the edge of the lake. The ice has the look of motion here on the edge. So cool!!!

Frost was covering our world all weekend. The snow has all melted (for now) but the temps are not getting up above freezing, so the frost seems to get thicker everyday. It is a beautiful thing to see. It is so hard to describe when the camera doesn't quite capture the true beauty, but everything looks like it has chunky glitter sprinkled on it!

It's dark...

2009-11-17T19:54:00.000-08:00

Mike & I went for a drive out the road on Sunday and this is the picture I took near 'Sunshine Cove' overlooking the ocean...yep, it is out there somewhere (behind all that snow) ...and somewhere out there are islands and a beautiful mountain range too. Maybe we will get to see it in May when all the white stuff starts melting?
On the way back we were commenting about HOW dark it is!!! So, just for grins I thought I would take a picture of the clock and the windshield. The headlights are lighting up the snow that is beginning to stick on the road. (It wasn't there when we were driving out, but was starting to really stick on the drive back home.)

Happy Halloween - with snow???

2009-10-31T21:13:00.001-07:00

Yep, we got our first snow this morning. It cleared out by mid-day thankfully, but Mike & I went to the glacier and got a few pictures of the beautiful sights.

Bald Eagles were everywhere, perched high on tree tops and loving the fresh coat of snow.

Here is a picture of the railing after a bald eagle walked across it. Very cool!!!

A bald eagle watched over Mendenhall Lake and the glacier

Mendenhall Glacier was stunning with the fresh snow covering and the water (not yet frozen) was acting as a mirror to capture all its glory.

Alyxandra dressed up for Halloween as ... I don't know what, someone with a black dress & a black wig... funny girl.

Anyway, the wig was a bother so it disappeared quickly. Here is a picture of her cooking some dinner and - yes - you guessed it - texting!

...and tomorrow we 'fall-back' as we are visited by daylight savings time... That is a difficult concept for these Arizona people to get used to!

Sweet little Babies in the Wild

2009-10-11T12:17:00.000-07:00

As we walked around the trail at the glacier, we came across this little fella...eating leaves on the new growth on the forest floor. This baby porcupine was no larger than a football...so cute too. The quills are still soft and look like fur.

And - here is a picture of Alyxandra and Ted Sadtler (Mattress Ranch). He was in the mall while Mike & I were there having lunch and I had to take Aly back so she could get her picture with him. FUN - and he is so tall. 6'9" (Aly isn't short, well...maybe, she is 5'4") He didn't dance for us, but we got to chat with him for about 10 minutes, before the next person wanted a picture.

Back-Loop Bear

2009-10-03T17:07:00.001-07:00

This bear was just rooting around for something yummy on the ground to munch on this afternoon. He must have had a pretty good supply, because he just hung out and let us watch him for about 20 minutes or so this afternoon on Back-Loop. He stayed in the same place and just dug around in the ground and munched on some grubs or something tasty. Cute guy, isn't he? You can sure see how fat the bears are getting. The weather is starting to cool down and we are beginning to have frost in the mornings and I think they are rushing to get last-minute calories before their big sleep. Yawn - I am getting tired just thinking about winter. Here is a great photo of Aly posing for me at Mendenhall Glacier yesterday.

She is such a sweetie!

Termination Dust

2009-09-28T23:02:00.000-07:00

We got dusted this week! Well, the mountains around town did anyway.

Here is a photo of "Termination Dust" on a mountain to the west of Mendenhall GlacierWhy they call it 'termination dust' I can only guess, because it marks the termination of summer? It is when we get the look of powdered sugar being sprinkled on the tippy-tops of the mountains, and a sneak peek of what we are in-for. We did have a beautiful summer and with a WHITE world coming quickly, I thought I better get out there and grab some photos of COLOR before it is gone. Here is what I have come up with so far...

A veiw of Mendenhall Glacier from the beaver pond near the entrance of Tongass National Park

Fall colors on the treesFall colors on the groundEven the moss on the rocks & trees is starting to change color. With views like this reflection, it is hard to remember that we are in the 'real world' and not in an enchanted forest.

Mushrooms Everywhere!!!

2009-09-25T00:18:00.000-07:00

These little mushroom villages are EVERYWHERE...I need to get more pictures, they are so adorable. There is a huge variety of mushrooms, some of them have tops as big as plates.

Some of these are getting so big now with all the rain that they are literally knee high!

These are 'shelf mushrooms' they are really beautiful and they grow on the trees.

This mushroom is as big as a pumpkin and the same color too. We were out walking and a lady & her husband said they had just had this for dinner the night before. The nick-name for this shroom is 'chicken of the woods'. We passed on the taste-test.

Also, this is a little visitor that came up on the garden blocks. Yep, it is a little slug. EWE - but kind-of cute, huh?

Just a matter of time...

2009-09-18T23:39:00.001-07:00

Well, there was apparently a 'bear-attack' at the glacier today on the Trail of Time. I was at work and missed all the excitement, but for some...I bet it was a pretty interesting day.

I went by the glacier this evening with Rick & Linda and visited with a ranger that we are on a first-name-basis with (he hee hee - I know, we are frequent fliers there)

It seems that a cinnamon black-bear that the rangers have named 'Nicky' wandered onto the trail this afternoon around 2PM and encountered a large group of tourists. Unclear what happened next, but after she threatened them by popping her jaws at them they contacted a ranger for assistance. By the time the ranger arrived, she was pretty upset and did not respond to the horns they were blowing to encourage her & the cubs to move along. She lunged at a ranger and in defense, he sprayed her with pepper-spray. She and the cubs left the area and to give her a chance to have some time to chill - the forestry service shut the glacier down for the night tonight at 8pm. It will reopen tomorrow at 8am, but hopefully she will have a chance to catch her breath and get a 'do-over'

This is a photo (taken in July) of the bear and her cubs:This is a photo of the beautiful colors the devil's club is beginning to turn. There is a lot of yellow in the leaves that are changing, but I hope to get some very colorful photos this weekend if the weather permits.This very large immature bald eagle was soaring around steep creek and rested on this branch posing so Bertha, Linda & I could all take photos. I would love to see how their pictures turned out!!!

Bears, Mink, and Birds

2009-09-05T23:32:00.000-07:00

After a fun lunch with Joanna this afternoon, we went for a walk to the waterfall near the glacier. While we were out, we also got to see some amazing sights.

There were some beautiful birds enjoying the sunny warm day. We also got to spy a fat little black bear with a large sockeye salmon in his mouth.On the way back to the car, we sat on the ground for several minutes and enjoyed the show as some active little minks invaded a beaver dam.

Setting Bald Eagles Free in Juneau

2009-09-03T18:14:00.000-07:00

Alyx and I heard about two bald eagles that were going to be released back to the wild yesterday and we thought, hey...it isn't every day that you get to see that! So...off we went to the parking lot by Brotherhood field that overlooks Mendenhall Glacier at 7:00 pm to see Montana & Bully being set free.

Here is a photo of Alyx with a crowd of people waiting for the release:This is the view of the field. The fireweed has lost its purple flowers and is seeding out now with a cottony white tops. Kids were picking these flowers (up to 6 feet tall) and running around with them and it looked like a feather pillow fight with all the white pollen/seeds flying around. So funny :)Montana is an adult female bald eagle that was found on the Montana Creek Trail in July 2009. She was very sick with lead poisoning. She apparently ingested lead shot from eating an animal that had been shot. After treatment for the lead poisoning, some antibiotics and a healthy salmon diet, Montana was ready to be released. Here is a video of her flight back to freedom:

Bully is a female juvenile bald eagle that was found on South Shelter Island in July 2008 suffering from malnourishment. She was brought to the Juneau Raptor Center where she was nursed back to health. When she became strong enough to fly, she was placed into the 'flight mew' where she promptly broke her tail. After being tasked with growing a new tail, she was ready to return to the wild too. The reason she was named 'Bully' was because she gained a reputation for beating-up other birds in the flight mew. I am sure they were all happy to see her go too! Here is a video of Miss Bully as she flies into the trees near Mendenhall River:

Harbor Seal in Echo Bay

2009-08-31T21:14:00.000-07:00

This harbor seal was all alone in the waters near Echo Bay.

The rain was just pouring down around him, but he seemed to be as curious about us as we were about him. What a cute little guy! This was taken on August 24th while Cliff, Mom & Jordan were here visiting.

Mom, Cliff, & Jordan in Juneau

2009-08-22T22:40:00.000-07:00

We are so excited that Mom, Cliff & Jordan are here for a visit. We are going crazy showing them everything we can think of...maybe we should slow down to enjoy a little??? It is just so wonderful to have them here.

This is a photo of Mike, Cliff, Mom & Jordan watching the Salmon in Steep Creek

Cliff & Jordan at Mendenhall Glacier

Max became best friends with Jordan as soon as she walked in the door.

Cliff on a huge glacial rock above the visitor's center at the glacier

Mom on a bridge near a waterfall on a hike near the glacierWe are so excited to have this time to share Juneau with our family...
lots of stuff planned, so little time!

Some nice things to see in Alaska in August...

2009-08-13T00:19:00.000-07:00

Anywhere you go in Juneau - any month of the year, you will see our beautiful world. August is no exception. The late berries are beginning to ripen and are so beautiful.

This is Devil's Club. The berries are poison but before you have a chance to get to them, the plant will let you know to stay away - thorns EVERYWHERE on this plant. Even on the leaves!

This one is called 'bunchberry' - it grows on the dwarf dogwood plant. I understand these berries are edible, but I haven't tasted them yet...supposed to taste like apple and I understand the local deer just love them.

This is high-bush cranberry - nearly ripe. They are turning red so quickly.

(We are keeping Alyx away from these!)

I try to take pictures of every mushroom I see. I think they are so cute. With so little rain this summer, we don't have as many as usual.

Does this guy look familiar? Yep, he is the one that walked right up to me the other day. Today I was using a ZOOM lens to get a picture. He was having a restful afternoon. Some walking around, climbing in trees, some scratching and napping.

He didn't bother me, I didn't bother him.

This was a fairly large black-bear. He climbed up this tree and peeled the bark back. I didn't get to see him stripping the bark, but I got there just after. Here is a photo of him sticking his tongue out at us. After I took this photo, I hung around for about a half hour to try to get another picture......but he just hugged the tree and took a nap.

Sockeye Salmon - and MORE - Sockeye Salmon!!!

2009-08-10T22:06:00.000-07:00

So many salmon in the creeks! We walked around and found a nice deep area that the salmon really seemed to be happy in. We watched them spawn and chase after dolly varden trout that were interested in snacking on their eggs. What a neat thing to witness.

Sad when you think this is the end for them, but it is their life. This is how they go out. Glad we get to share some of the experience with them.Here is a small Dolly Varden Trout that kept getting chased off by the Sockeyes! The sockeye have their start in the streams & creeks they are spawned in and then as they grow out of the 'fry' stage, they venture out to the sea. They live their lives in a salt-water home but when it is time, they make the journey back to the fresh-water stream they were born in... (hatched) whatever... When they arrive in the fresh water, they go through some physical changes.
One of the changes is skin color. They become very bright and beautiful.
Another change is that they will no longer be eating. They come for a purpose, to spawn, to protect their nest and to die.
The 'slime-coat' that once protected their skin is now gone and they begin to have illness and disease until they ultimately die. If you have a fish tank, you may have seen fish with 'ick'... these guys start looking something like that.They don't get to just die in peace either. They spend their last moments alive ensuring a safe nesting area for their eggs and fighting to protect their little family from trout who want to eat them and from other sockeye that may disturb their nice tidy nest. But the other fish aren't the only threat. The streams become heavily populated with hungry mink, beavers, bears and eagles to mention a few. It is interesting to see how their life cycle attracts so many other critters. (Not to mention the humans!)

Oh My

2009-08-05T22:42:00.000-07:00

We have been having an amazing summer. Juneau has been blessed with warm temperatures and much sun! Believe it or not, we went out and bought a water hose and sprinkler, because the grass was starting to yellow with so little rain.With the amazing weather, tourism has been blessed as well. The visitor center at the glacier seems crowded as do the trails and viewpoint lookouts when we visit. The wildlife has been abundant with bear spottings nearly every time we visit the glacier.

This photo was taken last night: Of course, this is very real and these are wild animals, but with the heavily populated trails, we can often stand on a bridge or look-out point and watch safely as these bears search for salmon snacks and care for their young. Of course, there are occasions when you can find yourself alone on a bridge or a trail. That very thing happened to me this evening.

I knew of a young bear that had gone into the area and decided I would stand on the bridge just next to the parking lot and try to get a video or photo of him walking along the stream below me - looking for his dinner. I waited for several minutes before I decided to leave the trail. I turned and took a step toward the parking lot and when I looked up, I was about 3-4 feet away from a little black bear who was walking toward me, ON THE TRAIL. "Go back," I told him. He ignored my request. uuummmmm...okay...now what? I know that if a bear is on a trail with you, you are not supposed to run and it is suggested to get out of the way of the bear, so I stepped up onto the park-bench and got as far off the trail as I could without jumping over into the creek. It occurred to me that I should be making a video of this, so I caught him on video about half way across the bridge. Here is that video:

Just as this bear passed me, a man appeared and behind him about 9 more people - chasing after the bear for photos. I went the opposite direction - whew!!! Thank the Lord he was little and although he definitely noticed me, he wasn't interested in me for a main-dish.

Mary - I promise to NOT go alone on trails anymore. I will be safe - and I am looking for a new camera with a better zoom, so I can still get my photos, but from a safer distance!!!

The funny thing is that I have been injured 2 times since arriving in Juneau. One time falling on the stairs in our house injuring my ankle and the second time falling in the mall parking-lot fracturing my elbow. No bears associated with my injuries, I think the larger danger is my stupidity and inability to walk without falling! he he heee...

Beach Berries

2009-08-02T11:40:00.001-07:00

I took a drive over to Eagle Beach yesterday to pick some wild strawberries. They were so tiny but SUPER sweet! They are in my freezer now - waiting for us to make a yummy snack.We also got to visit a little cub that decided to climb up a tree.

Weekend to Sitka

2009-07-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

We went to Sitka this weekend by ferry to attend the wedding of Jon & Joanna. We had never been on a ferry before and it was a nice trip. We did get to see plenty of whales and great views along the ride.

Bo, JoAnn and Mike aboard the ferry to Sitka, AK

Once there, we got on a whale-watching boat for the wedding. A very nice man named Joe picked us up at the ferry terminal and took us everywhere we needed to go. Never met him before, but he was one of the kindest people and just made us feel so welcome. We came home the next day, but before we left Sitka, Joe took us around and gave us a mini-tour. So much fun packed into such a short time.

The wedding was beautiful!
This humpback surfaced just after the vows

Sea Otters in Sitka, AK

Brown bear in Sitka, AK... and ...

this fellow was in our back yard eating blueberries the morning we left for Sitka.

Momma black bear with cubs in the pouring rain

2009-07-22T23:36:00.001-07:00

We visited the glacier to see if the salmon are running and guess what, they are! We saw sockeye salmon in the stream, bald eagles in the trees watching and the bear family next to the stream. Momma bear was on the ground under a tree resting while the cubs (one black and one cinnamon colored) climbed and played in the tree. Papa bear was on the trail making rounds. He didn't mind all of us taking pictures of his family, but he did come up to make sure everything was safe a few times.

This black bear sow was a mix of cinnamon and black, I haven't seen one with this type of coloring before. She just watched her cubs so lovingly and then took a little nap while they played on the branches WAY up high in that tree.

Here are the cubs in the tree - the black cub was so curious and his cinnamon brother was just relaxing on the branch...
Here is a video of the cubs climbing back down the tree...

This is a video of momma bear nursing the babies. They got a little frisky and she had to 'discipline' them at the end of the video. Too cute!

By the way, I lost the lens cap to my camera just below the platform we were standing on and needless to say - it will stay until a ranger goes to get it because I don't feel like getting eaten over a lens cap. I'd rather buy a new camera!

Trip to Glacier Bay

2009-07-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Mike & I went on a wonderful day cruise through Icy Straights to Glacier Bay yesterday. The day was beautiful, sun was shining all day with some light clouds and the fog rolled in to greet us as we arrived back in Juneau. While we were out and about, this is what we experienced:

The boat left Auke Harbor at 5:00 am. The sunrise was at 4:20, and this is what it looked like as we were leaving Juneau.

We had very calm seas all day long as we enjoyed our ride to Glacier Bay

This is a beautiful lighthouse on Point Retreat

Our first stop of the day was to enjoy Orcas. There were so many of them swimming and feeding. Noone on board had ever seen so many killer whales in one place before. It was spectacular to see. Here is a video of many killer whales

We even got to see a young orca breaching.

Here is a video of the killer whale breaching:

The second stop of the day was at Point Adolphus to see a pod of humpback whales

This is a video of a pod of humpbacks

The trip allowed us to experience some breathtaking scenery in the Icy Straights
Our next stop was to visit a large group of sea otters

Stellar Sealions were all over Marble Island and the closer we got, the louder they were. The large males were really making loud noises letting us know that they were in charge. It was VERY clear that these guys like to eat fish for dinner...
whew - the smell!!!
Lots of cormorants on Marble Island

One of the many glaciers we visited
Two of the beautiful cormorants resting on an ice berg
Another glacier
Harbor Seals (and a pup) resting on an iceberg
Here is a video of a little guy trying to hide from our boat - so adorable!!!

It was a great day - we got home after 10pm

We were welcomed back to Juneau with the rain & fog rolling in...it was ok though - we had perfect weather for our trip.

Some Nice Alaska Scenery

2009-07-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

We went out the road to Point Bridget and took a little hike, drove around a little bit and saw some beautiful sights.

Here is a picture of Mike & Alyx hiking the trail. It is a boggy, wet area most of the time, so boards are down to walk on. The plants make you feel like you are in a tropical jungle here - so pretty!

This is a photo that Mike took of Alyx and I near the trailhead at Point Bridget.

(Don't tell her that she is as tall as I am...) This beautiful pond near Amalga Harbor is always a perfect place for a peaceful photo.
Another perfect sunset...

The waters were so clear and blue-green today, it just made all the other colors seem that much brighter!

I was standing on top of the hill here looking down over the rocks & trees to the ocean below.

Porcupine in July

2009-07-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

This porcupine was sitting on the ground just resting for a while and I was able to walk right up to him and get this photograph. Isn't he precious? He he heeeThis Yellow Warbler was enjoying the blue lupins and sat still long enough for me to get this picture then flew away .Lots of wildlife out there today. I saw a small mink this morning too, but he moved very quickly under some tall grasses and I was not able to get a picture of him.

I went to the Glacier last night after 10pm and it was so peaceful and calm with only a few people there. I was able to see some large fish splashing around in the lake - it looks like the salmon will be in the streams anyday now. I haven't seen anything but the fry yet, but I am sure there will be lots of activity soon when the coho & sockeye arrive.

Auke Lake

2009-07-08T23:10:00.000-07:00

Today was a beautiful warm day and we decided to go to Auke Lake

It is an amazing place to be. The lake is big enough that people regularly jet-ski, fish, swim and even land float planes on it. It has VERY deep waters that look black. On a very calm day you can stand next to the water and the reflection is nearly as perfect as looking into a mirror. Lots of people enjoy the beauty of this amazing lake. It is right next to the ocean and it has an amazing view of Mendenhall Glacier. Today the sky was nearly the same color as the ice, so it isn't too obvious in the distance but if you look, you can see it there.

We were able to see the beautiful lily pads that are blooming...
There were Salmonberries beginning to ripen - YUM We also visited the glacier. This is a view of the parking for the tour-busses. I don't know if you can see it in the background, but there is a little wedge-shaped hill behind the busses. It has dirt covering it, but folks, that is a pile of snow! Yes, that is right - SNOW. This is snow that was removed from streets in this area during our long winter. The mountain was about 3 times this size a couple of months ago. We have been experiencing HIGH temps (in the 80°s) and this pile of snow remains... Yep, it is July in Juneau.

While visiting the glacier, we got to see this swan-shaped iceberg floating around in the lake.

Aly posed for a picture in-front of a hill covered in fireweed blooms

Locals here chat about how when the 'top of the fireweed blooms' summer is over and we are back on our way to winter. Well, I know that it is coming, but I also know we have other things to look forward to first - like salmon arriving in the nearby streams and the bears, wolves & bald eagles arriving soon after for a yummy snack...I will keep an eye out for all of those critters for future blog updates.

☺

July in Juneau

2009-07-04T16:55:00.001-07:00

We are loving all of the beautiful green-ness of Juneau in July!!!

We have past our longest day of the year and are on the downhill slide toward darkness again. The fireworks went off last night around midnight but there was still some light in the sky. Here is a picture of the moon just before midnight...you can see that there was a light hazy feel to the night, but no clouds and it was still a little light. There is a visible outline of the trees and the snow-capped mountains are still easy to see. By the middle of winter, this is what it will look like at 3:45 in the afternoon.

These are some grasses that are starting to seed out. I am not sure what type of grass it is, but it makes a beautiful display.

Alyxandra walking on the Steep-Creek trail.

This is a view of the glacier from the trail 'look-out' with the trees in the foreground. Amazing at this angle to see how the ice starts breaking so far back in the glacier and it is easy to see why it calves off as it comes to the water.

We hope you have a wonderful 4th of July! Thanks to everyone who has served or is serving to keep us free!

Neighborhood Goose

2009-06-23T00:52:00.000-07:00

This naughty goose is our neighbor. He likes to hang out at the pond across from our backyard and bully the ducks when he isn't in the middle of the street bullying the cars. This fellow will stand in the middle of the street, directing traffic, only letting one car go at a time. It is all fun & good until I am running late for work in the mornings, but I don't think he cares.

Here he is patroling our street in the morning.

These are some wild Canadian Geese at Eagle Beach.

Amazing Beauty

2009-06-18T00:03:00.000-07:00

We continue to be amazed by the beauty that surrounds us here. It is different everytime we walk outside. Today the birds seemed particularly interested in singing. Everytime I left the office to cross campus I was able to listen to bald-eagles & ravens in the trees. (By the way, if it was a competition, the Bald-Eagles would definitely win, they are so much more beautiful sounding than the Ravens in my opinion.)

Here is a picture of a Bald-Eagle in flight

This is a photo of a wild Columbine flower growing near a streamDogwood flowersWild Geraniums we saw near Perserverence Trail beside a creek we stopped to gold-pan in...And these are Forget-Me-Nots (Alaska's State Flower)

A visit to the Shrine

2009-06-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

It was a sad day as Maeghan lost her grandpa today.We stopped to admire the Mendenhall River and then we went to the Shrine of St. Therese to spend a quiet evening just being together. This is a photo of Chris & Alyx walking back to the car.
We saw this fellow along the road near the Shrine. He was having some fresh salad and didn't seem to mind posing for a few photos. He was certainly aware we were there, but did not seem to be bothered by us at all.We were at a very safe distance ... we were inside the car getting these photos. The picture of Chris is through the moon-roof in the car.

Happy Birthday Christopher

2009-06-08T01:20:00.000-07:00

Today was Christopher's 19th Birthday. We had a very nice time and are so happy we were able to spend it with him. It was 1 year ago today that we moved to Juneau.

Chris in Juneau

2009-06-08T01:09:00.000-07:00

We are so happy that Christopher has arrived in Juneau. He & his fiance Maeghan are here for a nice visit. So far we have gone on a tram ride up Mt. Roberts, been to the glacier, for a walk on Douglas Island, to Eagle Beach and to the end of the road. We went on a 3.5 mile hike up the East Glacier trail this afternoon and had a very nice time, then over to Eagle Beach and to the end of the road. The critters we have seen so far: 2 bears, 1 beaver, 5 porcupines, lots of ducks, seals, steller sealions, humpback whales, bald eagles, seagulls, and 2 Sitka blacktail deer.

Sitka Black Tail Buck

2009-06-02T23:16:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been wonderful, but today we went over 80° - a rare event for Juneau. Mike & I took a wonderful motorcycle drive out to Eagle Beach and along the way we got a surprise visit from this fellow:

He still has velvet on his antlers for now, but hopefully we are able to get another picture when they are grown all the way in. Mike is hoping to get to see him through the scope of his rifle...we will have to see how that turns out.

Chocolate Lilies

2009-06-01T13:35:00.000-07:00

We finally got a chance to see some chocolate lilies on our hike yesterday afternoon. We were on a hiking trail just outside of downtown on Mt. Juneau and these flowers were along the trail. They are a small lily with a brownish color ... and they don't smell so great!

This guy kept an eye on us from a tall spruce tree near the road as we drove up to the trail.

Arctic Terns

2009-05-31T10:50:00.001-07:00

Arctic Terns are nesting near Mendenhall Glacier. The Forestry Service has an area sectioned off for protection, but we can watch them as the male birds hover over the water...

...searching for small fish to offer to the lucky female bird they happen to be courting. The female bird acts uninterested for a little while until she finally accepts the little fish and then flies away without saying thank-you. They come to Alaska from Antarctica traveling over 20,000 miles every year. They come here in the summertime when the days are very long and then travel back to Antarctica during our winter when Antarctica doesn't get dark. They are beautiful birds that look like a cross between a hummingbird & a butterfly when they are flying over the lakes & rivers.

Plants & Flowers - I am loving the springtime!

2009-05-30T13:09:00.000-07:00

I thought I would take a break from posting photos of predators that could eat me and take picture of something a little safer, tee he hee.

Here are some pictures of plants & flowers that grow wild in Juneau...

I have become familiar with some of the names, but am still learning others. There are wild strawberries growing next to the beach, salmon berries (like raspberries) that are blooming right now, blueberries, cranberries, devil's club, wild irises, chocolate lilies, tropical looking plants, evergreens and more. I am sure I will get photos of all of them before it is over, but so far...this is a sampling what I have photographed:

These frigid shooting stars are abundant near the beach.

Wild strawberries growing next to Eagle Beach - I hear the berries are small, but very tasty & super sweet. Hope to get one before the bears & birds do!

We have seen these blue lupins all over the place, in town, on trails, near the beach...beautiful! We even have some in our backyard.

These little white flowers are on a low-growing groundcover type plant.

This whispy white flower is pretty commonly found and it has a very sweet, but mild scent. I would wear this if it were a perfume!!!

No flower yet on this tropical looking plant, but I am sure I will get one before it is all said and done!

This beautiful bright pink flower is on a SalmonBerry bush. The berries are assorted reds, yellows & oranges...I will try to get pics of them when they are ripening.

I have no idea what these reddish flowers are, but they sure are pretty!

This is devils' club...barbs on the stem, barbs on the leaves - not fun to play with.

This is a mossy ground-covering flower. I am not sure what it is, but it is sure pretty.

Jack in Juneau

2009-05-25T06:53:00.000-07:00

We did some driving around and went to the Glacier with Jack & Elaine today after they got to Juneau. We hiked around Steep Creek trail - not a bear in sight - not a porcupine in sight. So we decided to walk around the trail behind the visitor's center - not a beaver in sight. We decided it was ok, at least they could see a big ice-cube!

As we crossed the bridge and started heading around toward the end of the trail, this is what we saw: We had a nice warm day with no rain until the evening, so we had an opportunity to hike a little past the archery range and found some snow for a fun snow-ball fight.We also hiked up a trail downtown to see if we could find a good place to goldpan.

It was a fun day.

Busy beavers

2009-05-21T23:33:00.001-07:00

Today Mike & I went to this peaceful pond to visit some busy little beavers.

(By the way, this picture was taken at 9:00 pm tonight. The sun had not even set yet! We are well on our way to the LONG days of summer!!! Yippee)

Aren't they awesome?

Here is a tree that they are working on for a future project.

One was just swimming around and I had a chance to videotape it. I turned the camera off because he wasn't afraid of me and started swimming right up to the edge where I was standing. I have seen what they can do to a tree, so yes...I am afraid of them!

This little guy swam with an entire branch of a tree across the pond and took it under!

Holy Cow!!!

Humpback Surprise

2009-05-18T13:54:00.000-07:00

This photo was taken in Berner's Bay by one of Mike's co-workers.

Isn't this amazing!

These whales are bubble feeding. They go under the schools of fish and make bubbles confusing the fish and then they dive up with their mouths wide open ready for a nice snack.

Wonder what the guy in the kayak is thinking?

Another Day ... Another Bear ... and ... Another Beaver

2009-05-13T23:05:00.001-07:00

This guy was pretty small, but he seemed to be on his own out there, maybe it is his first year out away from his mom. We always get a little nervous if the bears we see are small, usually means there is a momma-bear somewhere close.

Got a pretty good picture of his claws. Even for a little guy, this scares me!

This cinnamon black bear was a little bit smaller than the one we saw yesterday. There were lots & lots of visitors on the trail and he just went about his own business munching on grass & leaves.

We also got to see another little beaver tonight as we drove around.

They're here...

2009-05-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

The tourists have arrived!

It is always exciting when the cruise ships begin coming back and tour-busses are traveling through town! This place really is a fun environment.

Here is a picture of 'fruit' on the black birch tree. The bears & other critters apparently like to eat this stuff. I understand that they are pretty high in nutrition, are kind-of like milled flour and have a broccoli flavor...according to the forest ranger we spoke to. I didn't taste them, probably too many carbs for my diet, he he hee.

This deer was walking along the road next to us and we were just sitting there taking pictures of it. Mike was trying to get it to stop grazing for a while and look up. After making several different sounds to try to attract it, he finally said, 'Look at me you stupid deer' and the deer looked up and we got this picture. Funny!!!

This is another beaver dam on Steep Creek near Mendenhall Glacier. These things are all over the place, the little beavers are so busy building!

We watched this porcupine climb up a little tree and pose for a few pictures. So ugly he is cute. Nah, just ugly. But I am sure his mommy loves him.

Here is a video of the little guy climbing up the tree...

A young cinnamon black bear was wandering around -

- munching on some grasses and eating some new growth on the little trees as we got a few pictures... ...and this video

By the way, these pictures were taken around 9:00 pm. I am loving the extra long days we have this time of year!!! We can work until 5:00 pm and still have plenty of daylight to go play.

Our Adventure Today...

2009-05-09T20:19:00.000-07:00

Today Mike had to work and Alyx and I decided to have an adventure ... We drove over to DownTown to see what was open in the way of shopping, but the big 'opening' day seems to be tomorrow, so we will maybe try this again next weekend. We had some errands to run, so after the 'work' was out of the way, we decided to have a little fun. We started our day with a trip to the Glacier. We saw a cute little duck swimming so peacefully and as we walked around the trail, and that is where we got to see a black-bear.Thankfully we were on the wooden walkway above him since he seemed to be a little spunky!!!

Short video ... but I was a little spooked, so I turned off the camera.

We then decided it might be a good idea to take our adventure elsewhere...so Out-The-Road we went. We had an opportunity to see a couple of beautiful Sitka Black Tail deer. They posed for a couple of pictures before they walked right up a rock cliff.

What should we do tomorrow? Maybe we will try to get more pictures of great stuff outdoors - taking the bear-spray with us!!!

Peaceful

2009-05-01T00:03:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of a retired pier in Gastineau Channel. Mike & I drove out to a beach on Douglas Island to check out a possible stream that might be a good place to pan for gold and this is one of the sights there. Just across the channel is where the cruise ships park. I will try to get out there and take some pictures this weekend. The official 'tourist season' started yesterday. There are changes in town too...everyone goes out of their way to make guests feel welcome. It is neat to see.

Here is my story for today...no picture to accompany unfortunately. I went to the Glacier to get a picture of a trumpeter swan since they have been flying in and swimming on the lake. I walked around on a trail at the glacier to see if some of the ponds have been melting enough for swans to gather, but they were still pretty icy. As I walked I enjoyed the smell of fresh spruce trees, new growth on bushes and leaves bursting into green. I was all alone on the trail listening to the water in the creek rushing and the birds singing. I stopped to look over a rail at the clear water and the beauty below me and then continued on the trail. I got another 15 feet or so and I heard crackling as if someone stepped on a small branch on the ground...and then...I heard something (I think maybe it might have been a bear) exhale loudly. Not far from me obviously, but there was a pretty thick wooded area I couldn't tell exactly. I froze for a moment and thought maybe I imagined it. Nope... there it was again. Another loud exhale and then a couple more steps. Still nobody around me on the trail, so I began humming loudly and slowly turned myself around and marched right off that trail!!! Nothing to take a picture of since I couldn't see it, but I don't think I would have paused to capture the moment if I did. Next time I carry some Bear-Spray with me just in case. Still looking for those swans.

Trip out the road...again...

2009-04-27T22:42:00.000-07:00

We went out to the end of the road again this evening. Alyx was the driver today. It is a wonderful to just spend this time together. She gets to practice her driving skills & we also get the added bonus of her getting to practice pulling over so Mom can take some pictures.

Here is a sampling of what we enjoyed today:

This rock cliff is right next to the road. Just down a little ways there were some people rock-climbing on it, (should have got a picture of that too...)

This little guy is waiting for the pond to finish thawing. Me too!

The water was so still that you could just see right through to the rocks on the bottom! It is usually pretty rough, but we just had such a beautiful day today and the sea was so very calm.

Here is a video of some seals we saw this evening. Somebody was shooting a gun nearby and you can hear that in the video (bummer) but it is neat to watch these guys!

This is our place and the snow is ALMOST gone in the front yard!!! According to the weather station, we had a total of 195.5 inches this past winter. (I got my calculator out and discovered that is a little over 16¼ feet of snow.) Whew, that was a lot of shoveling!!!

If we have temps tomorrow like we did today, I'm thinking we will be done with the snow until next year!!!

Time to start planting the seeds Mary sent to us.

*Ü*

Robin

2009-04-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Aly & I went for a little walk yesterday and saw this little Robin. She was hopping from tree to tree. So cute! There were lots of people on the trail and the weather was beautiful. Nice to be able to walk without slipping on ice!

More Signs of Spring...

2009-04-25T10:20:00.000-07:00

We went up to Mendenhall Glacier again yesterday and got to see some more sights. There were new signs of spring as the sprigs are working very hard to produce leaves!!! The ice is starting to crack on the lake & ponds and the water coming through making everything a beautiful blue again. A duck was swiming in a little stream. The water is so clear you can see his little legs just kicking along as he swam.This beaver was busy working on gathering some wood for his dam. He seemed very serious about his work and we kept bothering him with the camera so he swam away.

Marmot

2009-04-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

At Eagle Beach, we got to meet this little marmot. He sat on the side of the road eating and just let us take as many pictures of him as we wanted. Isn't he cute? We have seen dozens of these guys and haven't been able to get a photo yet. Not that they are fast, but they just walk under the ferns & grasses when we drive by and they hide. We got lucky I guess, because the ferns & grasses are just starting to grow again after our LONG winter and the plants aren't tall enough to hide in yet. While at Eagle Beach we also got to see the beautiful sun!

A drive to Eagle Beach

2009-04-18T16:40:00.000-07:00

We drove out to Eagle Beach and got this great picture of the sun shining through a break in the clouds onto the water...

There were also some Harbor Seals playing in a shallow spot over a sand-bar.

ZeppLynn had a birthday

2009-04-15T13:51:00.000-07:00

ZeppLynn turned 4 on tax day! She is so funny...

Romeo - Easter 2009

2009-04-13T22:50:00.001-07:00

My dear friend Linda took this photo of Romeo near Skater's Cabin on Easter Sunday. She said she & Rick drove down the road and saw him sitting on-top of a pile of snow, so they stopped, sat, and watched him for over 30 minutes!

Mike, Alyx & I drove over and saw him last Tuesday and wouldn't-you-believe-it ... we didn't take the camera. He came over a mound of snow and walked right up next to the truck. We couldn't have been more than 8 feet from him. I tell you, his head looked like it was the size of a basketball! He is HUGE. I have been driving back everyday hoping to get a glance (yes, I am aware I have an illness, he he) and I am taking my camera in hopes I am able to get a photo.

Here are some pictures of Skater's Cabin:

Oh, yes...there is phone service @ Skater's Cabin...

First Signs of Spring

2009-04-05T19:06:00.001-07:00

Last Thursday Morning we got a little visitor.

A small bear came into the back yard, down the hill, and up to the back door of the garage. He slammed into the door a couple of times (and left a small dent) before he decided to move on.

This is our first sign of Spring, the little black bears are beginning to wake up! Yawn...Stretch...and go looking for some food...

Here are his tracks & a picture of the small dent he put in the door:
We heard the noise, but by the time we got down there, he was already gone through our driveway and over towards the neighbor's house.

Go Rest High On That Mountain

2009-03-17T19:58:00.000-07:00

We are in the process of making a complete slideshow to post on Dad's blog. That should be available soon at http://dalekeith.blogspot.com

The slideshow here is only a portion of the photographs from that day. On the playlist to the right, select "Go Rest High" to play while you watch if you desire. Enjoy.

We spent Saturday, March 14th, Dad's birthday, with close family members in a private celebration of his life in one of his favorite places on God's Earth - the Galiuro Mountains near Mammoth, AZ.

Beautiful words were spoken, prayers were said, tears fell and laughter was heard.

It was a perfect day.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Last Weekend...

2009-03-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of Max sitting on the arm of the sofa looking out the livingroom window. See how high the snow still is in our front yard? (Still higher than my car!) Whew, I am so glad the rain is supposed to start in the next few days. So far according to the weather page I looked up, we have already had more than 14 feet of snow so far and yep, the white stuff is STILL falling! We have been shoveling non-stop since Friday (nice neighbor got the driveway this afternoon - thank you so much!!! super cool).

This is a picture taken on a drive out to Lena Cove. The sea was pretty rough that day. I mean it had white-caps in the cove, so it was probably 5 or six foot seas ... glad Mike wasn't on a boat on Saturday!

When the wind gets to blowing the snow off the tops of the nearby mountains, it looks like clouds forming. Very pretty!

(We had a pretty fresh layer of snow from the day before so the trees are dusted pretty well too.)

Next weekend...will be very different scenery, that's for sure!!!

Oh, there you are Romeo...

2009-03-06T16:55:00.000-08:00

We went for a little drive out to Skater's Cabin this afternoon and got to see Romeo (black wolf) out on Mendenhall Lake. He was howling and it was so neat to see him all alone out there. Very cool!

It was snowing very hard so that is why the pictures look a little gray & blurry.

Mike's Ride

2009-02-22T14:07:00.000-08:00

This is the boat Mike rides to & from work each week. Last week a pod of Killer Whales swam near the boat. Mike said there were lots of them, even babies, jumping out of the water and swimming around. Must have been awesome to see! He is going to take the camera with him to work so we can get a chance to see some of the great sights he sees coming & going.

Valentine's Day Kitty

2009-02-19T23:50:00.001-08:00

I put some flowers up on top of the entertainment center on Valentine's Day and ZeppLynn decided they were for her. She checked them out and tasted them, then she posed for this picture. She left them alone after that (we are all astounded) and the flowers are still there.

Will try to post some great pictures this weekend. Today the City & Borough of Juneau spend hours clearing snow off our street & sidewalk. They packed it into trucks and carried it away instead of piling it up which is wonderful, since the sides of our road are already piled with snow higher than my car! We are ready for a nice THAW.

We got a Sunny Day!!!

2009-02-13T08:16:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the wonderful SUN that we haven't seen in so very long. This picture was taken from our front yard on my lunch hour yesterday. See how low the sun is in the sky? It really is never over-head, instead it is to the south of us all day long. (But we don't care where it is as long as it shines on us.)

We do have a little bit of a trade-off this time of year though... if we have a sunny day in the winter, it normally means the temperatures drop. Needless to say, we dipped back below zero a bit, but it is ok we love that wonderful light.

My Drive to Work

2009-02-09T21:58:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would share with you what I get to see everyday on my drive to work. It is so pretty, even when it is all covered in snow. One of these days I will get some better pictures of the campus, but here are a few of what I saw today on my way back to work from lunch...

This is crossing Montana Creek...one of these days I need to get some pictures of this when it is all green so you can see the contrast, but it looks like a postcard in the winter!

A couple of weeks ago I saw three deer coming out of the woods chest-deep in snow, they walked across the road into these bushes. I wish I had the camera that day!

Yeah, we have plenty of gray in the sky here but what do you expect when you live in a rain-forest, right?

This is the drive into the campus. Oh ... look ... the sun is peeking through the clouds! Isn't it pretty???

And here is where my lunch-hour ends. Back to work!

Juneau Avalanche

2009-02-08T16:02:00.000-08:00

There was an avalanche around 1pm yesterday afternoon just past downtown Juneau. It is a known avalanche zone but this was a pretty bad one.

We drove out to Douglas Island today and got some photographs. There was a large section of the road affected and it went all the way down to the ocean. I really feel for the people that live on the other side of that area. I would imagine they will have to take boats to get around until they get the road cleared...

Here is a side view from the bridge that crosses to Douglas Island. You can see that it isn't too far from businesses.

No trees here anymore!

In this picture you can see how deep it is over the road. It had to have some amazing force behind it!

And in this picture you can see the equipment working very hard to clear the road.

More Snow?

2009-02-03T23:14:00.001-08:00

Well, we have a number for January. They are telling us that we received over 75 inches of snow for the month of January 2009.

Let's see how February goes ... We woke up this morning to shovel so we could get out of the driveway. Must have been another 9 inches and at lunch a very kind neighbor cleared our drive (maybe another 4-6 inches) and it is supposed to snow again tonight! On the bright-side, we are getting more daylight. We are up to 8 hours a day of light and gaining at a pace of about 5 minutes a day. When I get off work at 5pm now it is twilight. Woo Hoo!!! I love the super-long days. I can't wait for the sunny nights!

Here is a picture of a silly girl in the snow!

We have ELECTRICITY!!!

2009-02-01T19:18:00.000-08:00

Our electricity has been restored! We were down since January 12 due to an avalanche but tonight about 14 minutes before the Superbowl was over we got our electric back! WOO HOO! We have not been without power, we have been on backup generators that are fueled with diesel, so our power has been about 2-3 times more expensive!

The Cardinals didn't quite make it, but at least our electricity did!

Here is a picture taken a little while back when we had a full-moon (and no clouds keeping us from seeing it). We have been getting lots of snow and rain and snow and rain and tomorrow we expect more snow, so I look at pictures to remind myself that sometimes we get a treat and get to see the moon & stars instead of just dark at night.

A Hike to the Glacier...

2009-01-25T19:47:00.000-08:00

Today we had an adventure! We hiked all the way up to Mendenhall Glacier on the lake. It was about a mile to the glacier from the visitor's center and what a RUSH!

Above is a picture of Mike & Aly when I said I didn't want to walk further because there were some pretty big cracks in the ice.

(You could see down about 1½ feet in some of them and that spooked me)

Here is my foot next to some of the cracks in the ice... see what I mean???

Anyway, I started to walk back and then decided that I wouldn't trade this moment, so I went back to meet Mike & Aly and we walked the rest of the way up. I was wearing 'spikeys' on my shoes and so I was able to walk normally, but Mike & Aly had to shuffle their feet like they were skating to keep from falling down.

Here is Alyx next to a 'tip of an ice-berg' that had fallen off during warmer weather and floated downstream.

Mike next to a very large ice berg...

Aly next to a giant ice berg

And here are some awesome pictures of the Mountain of ICE

(up close)

It was a strange feeling because you could hear the constant cracking of the ice and the shifting sound the entire time. There was even a little mini avalanche on the mountain next to the glacier and there was a big poof of white snow that lingered like smoke. It was awesome to see!!!

See how the ice on the lake at the bottom of the glacier is choppy? That is due to the movement of the glacier. It is constantly moving and pushing the ice down toward the ocean, so it causes the frozen lake to chunk up into pieces at the base.
The ice is different every where you turn, you see a different view! Wow, that was just facinating to see!

Here the ice looks like it is a wave of water!

Here is Aly as we were hiking (1 mile) back to the visitor's center.

It was a great day and we had an opportunity to see up close how massive that glacier is. We met lots of interesting people along the way today, along with a fellow that just got home from Iraq 2 days ago. (We thanked him) We also met some people that have been in Juneau for years and they said the lake doesn't freeze well enough to hike out to the glacier every year, so we were blessed to have this opportunity!

And finally, Here is a video of Aly goofing around and falling down on the ice...

Bald Eagle

2009-01-19T16:25:00.000-08:00

Today as I was driving across town I just had to stop to get this picture. As I crossed Mendenhall River Bridge I saw this Bald Eagle sitting in a tree but when I got out of the car and walked across the bridge to get the photo, I looked down in the river and there had to be 30 or more around on the beach and in trees! WOW

Hike in the Snow...

2009-01-18T12:04:00.000-08:00

Wow, today the weather is sunny & warm (55° outside!!!). The snow is melting & everything is glistening in the sun. Yesterday we went to the Glacier & took a hike. Here are some pictures of our adventure in the snow... by the way, it was about 34° up there yesterday, cool but not too cold to enjoy ourselves!

This is a picture of Mike & I taken on the trail under the visitor center at the glacier. We were standing in snow that was knee deep!

Here are a couple of pictures of Mendenhall Glacier with snow on the ice. Amazing to see the color of blue... you really have to see that for yourself to appreciate the beauty of it. Hope you all make plans to come visit!

Here is Aly on the hiking trail (of course, we stayed on the trail that circled around the back side of the visitor's center) but it was knee deep snow that we were hiking through.

This picture is taken at the same location that an earlier picture was taken. This is a hillside with a big moss covered rock that has water falling down the front. Aly posed here yesterday for a picture with the frozen waterfall!
This little guy was hanging out in a tree munching on nuts I guess. He was so cute and didn't even seem to be afraid of us.

This pond is below the glacier and we just couldn't get over the beautiful color of the water. It was a milky, baby-blue color. Just amazing to see!

Snow Day

2009-01-12T19:02:00.000-08:00

Wow, Aly's school did finally have their first snow day on Friday. Between the past two storms we think there may have been an accumulation of about 5 ft of snow... Here is a picture of the front of the house the other day:We planned to visit the glacier and see some wonderful things on Saturday but instead it turned into a work day shoveling the driveway, side of the house and a trail to the fuel tank in back... AND several of the men from the neighborhood worked on the common area trying to get it clear so there will be room to drive cars through. Here are some pictures of that job.

It is a little difficult to see at a glance how deep the snow is, but when you see these men that are nearly 6 feet tall out there, it puts it into perspective. (You can see the driveways down the street too, the snow is higher than the cars!!!)

(In the second picture Mike is on top of the snow pile, Andy is on the ground and Brian is in the truck.)

Wonderful Christmas & New Year in Arizona

2009-01-09T23:28:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful time in Arizona for Christmas & New Year! Here is a scrapbook of our trip and some of the wonderful family and friends we got to see!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Mike flew to Seattle & drove the rest of the way down and Alyx & I flew in on Christmas Eve. We had a wonderful trip and had a very relaxing time...even got to shop a bit! It was amazing to see Chris and he seems so very happy. We were able to spend lots of time with he & Maeghan and even got to meet her family!

The trip back was not as nice unfortunately. We had some delays at the Seattle Airport (things just have been so busy for them). Here is how our trip home went:

Airline sold too many seats and asked Aly & I to wait for another flight. We said 'no'
Long wait ensued while we waited for 7 people to volunteer to give up their seats
At 11:15 we were finally boarded onto the plane in Seattle and then we sat on plane at the gate for 1½ hours while there were 'mechanical problems'
When we finally approached Juneau, the storm become so severe that the pilot MISSED the runway. That was scary!!! We came down really low and then just went straight back up.
We landed in Sitka, refueled and were off for another try at the Juneau airport.
Missed again
Pilot informed us we were going to Seattle
Snow in Seattle
Landed in Bellingham
Bussed to Seattle
Stood in long, LONG line at airport to be told that airline is not responsible for the weather ...Der!
Stood in long, LONG line for a taxi
Got to hotel a little after 3:00 am
Stayed in hotel for 2 nights waiting for a flight to Juneau
Finally got a flight to Juneau
Ready to board airplane and they stopped us because the left wing was BROKE
Waited for wing to be fixed
Got on plane
6½ hours later landed in Juneau

That's really not the end of the story... When we got back we had to dig the car out of piles of snow. It snowed 3 ft at our house while we were in AZ and since we have been back home we have received about 2 more ft. of snow. Expecting another foot tonight. Whew!!! But the BEST part of the trip to back to Juneau was: when we got home, we were greeted by a clear driveway. Our wonderful neighbors kept our driveway shoveled the entire time we were gone! They are so AWESOME!!!

Here are some pictures of our Adventure sitting in the airport, getting on the bus and waiting in line...

Here is the guy working on the 'broken' wing...

And here is the car as Mike was sweeping the snow off the doors and digging it out of the parking space...

We do plan to visit the glacier tomorrow if the snow isn't too deep to walk through. Keep checking in for more pictures!

2009-01-09T11:32:00.000-08:00

Here is the car before Mike started clearing the snow... Isn't this AMAZING?

Fortunately there is less snow near the airport than at our house...

Here is what happens in the winter under the Juneau Ice Field

2008-12-20T14:30:00.000-08:00

People are walking around on the Mendenhall River & Mendenhall Lake. Here is a video of some of the insanity:

I took a few pics today. Hope you enjoy!!

Mendenhall Glacier and people out walking and skating on the river

I walked around the trail near the glacier a little and got this picture of a spruce with some snow & ice:

This is the street we live on! Isn't it a pretty view to see everyday??? By the way, that isn't snow on the street, it is ice. I would say it is about an inch or so thick... urggghhhhhhhh!

It's 7° outside today!!!

2008-12-14T12:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, it is pretty cold today so we are staying inside, but yesterday when we had a warming trend (up to 15°) we went for a drive with Joanna.

Here are the pictures and videos from our day together...

Harbor Seals at Eagle Beach
And here is the video of the harbor seals swimming around and did you notice all the seagulls in the background???

We did go to the end of the road...

...on the way back, we stopped to get this picture of the wind blowing across the road. It really looks like dry ice, doesn't it? (Yeah, I know I really needed a script, or maybe I shouldn't have said anything, but it was really cool to watch)

Who is Joanna you are asking? Fun story:

As many of you know, I (Becca) am working at the University of Alaska - UAS now. A couple of weeks after I started there, I got to talking with the student employee in our office, Joanna. She asked where we moved from and I told her AZ. She asked why we came to Juneau and I told her that we came for Mike's job. She said, 'that's funny, because my grandma told me about her cousin moving to Juneau from AZ to work in the gold mine.' I asked her who her grandparents were and she said, Pat & Bob DeArman!!! I almost fell off my chair, Pat DeArman is Jack's first cousin and Bob performed our wedding ceremony. Of course we invited her over for lunch and we spent the day together yesterday.

Taken at Eagle Beach

We had SUN yesterday, so I was really squinty trying to pose for this picture.

Happy 15th Birthday Alyxandra!!!

2008-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

Alyxandra is 15 years old today! Happy Happy Birthday Baby Girl, We love you!

We watched an Eagle watching Fish... Want to watch with us???

2008-11-30T20:15:00.000-08:00

We took a little drive today when it started snowing to see what we could find in the WILD. Here is a little sampling of what lives in the Alaska Winter, he he he...

This video was taken at Mendenhall Glacier. I think it very well may be the same Bald Eagle sitting in that tree as we got to see last time. He is enormous!!! Would have been cool to see him get a snack, but we didn't stay too long because it was COLD.

This is what the Bald Eagle was watching... a few salmon were swimming around in Steep Creek.

The Christmas lights are beginning to go up around town and we saw a huge Christmas tree and thought it belonged to a business. Turns out it just goes to someone's house. I will try to get a picture to post sometime this week.

The days are getting shorter now. We are driving to work/school in the dark and coming home in the dark. BUT on the weekends, we are enjoying our 6-or-so hours of daylight. I will try to get some night-time pics to post. I haven't played with my camera and taking pictures in the dark yet... I guess we will see how that works.

Great Weekend!!!

2008-11-13T20:56:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful weekend! Mom came up and visited for three great days! It is true, you know you miss someone but when you get to be with them you realize how MUCH you missed them. This visit was so needed! I sure am glad she was able to come up. The flight was delayed in Seattle a couple hours on the way up, but after catching up on some sleep Saturday morning, we were able to have a great weekend!!!

We drove around and looked at sights, we ate at a restaurant looking out over the ocean one day and watched a fishing boat trolly along...

There were alot of Bald Eagles and seagulls, and we got to see a seal bobbing his head up out of the water a few times (unfortunately he didn't stay up long enough to get a photo) but little other wildlife out and about. I understand the bears may not be hibernating quite yet, but they are starting to get all tucked-in for the winter and we didn't see them.

We did see some salmon in Steep Creek (that was a little bit of a surprise) and it was really neat to see how BIG they are! They were so close you could have reached into the water and grabbed one...very cool.

The most surprising thing about the weekend is the fact that it didn't rain AT ALL! Unfortunately at 7:45 am on Tuesday morning (just as mom's flight was leaving Juneau) the rain/snow started again. Couldn't have had better timing if we tried, that is for sure, and... it hasn't stopped raining since.

2008-11-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow