Alaska: Wrangell

July 11th - 14th: Wrangell bills itself as the friendliest town in Southeast Alaska. Despite our initial skepticism and a night at the weirdest bed and breakfast in which I have ever slept (CapriSun as juice for breakfast?), both Darcy and I had to agree with this statement by the end of our visit. Wrangell also represented the final stop in the "boondoggle" (aka research) which I have been fortunate enough to share with Darcy over the last few summers. Leaving Wrangell and Southeast at the end of our stay was definitely bittersweet; I am not sure when I will next visit Southeast but this part of the world seems to seep into a person and I know I will be back soon.

Looking down at the town of Wrangell from our picnic perch on the hill above town. Despite some of the thickest fog I have ever seen on the evening we arrived in town, it cleared the next day to reveal the absolutely gorgeous surroundings of this small logging town.

The fog returned later in our visit, allowing for some eerie scenes like this one Darcy took on her morning run.

The carvings outside of Chief Shakes house located on an island in the middle of the Wrangell Harbor.

Desperately Seeking Data ... Volumes 20 - 25: Field Researchers Hard at Work. We would like to take this moment to assure citizens of the State of Alaska that their research money is being well spent.

While this trip was not characterized by quite as many free trips as Darcy and I usually seem to fall into, we were invited to tag along to one of the premier destinations in the area, Anan Wildlife Observatory, on our last day in Wrangell. This area is made famous by the fifty or so black and brown bears that live in the area each summer to take advantage of the large run of pink salmon. While the bears were absolutely amazing, the experience was made that much more incredible by the beautiful old growth forest through which we walked, the bald eagles on every tree, and the seals that kept popping their heads our of the water to satisfy their curiosity as we approached.

To reach the bear viewing platform on the river, we had to walk about a mile on a boardwalk path through the forest. Bears rule the forest here and humans are made very aware that they are just visitors. Bear trails are visible on both sides of the trail and the path has many perfect paw prints impressed into the soft ground. Walking toward the platform, we were the ones who stepped off the trail when a bear decided that she wanted to walk on the path where we were standing. Despite the close proximity of bears and humans, the bears here are still entirely wild. The Forest Service has done an excellent job of controlling access to the area so it is not overrun with visitors and continues to ensure that humans remain passive observers at this amazing site.

As we reached the viewing platform, we had an incredible view out over the river where we could watch the bears fishing from the banks. It had rained a ton recently and the river was running extremely high. This meant that the bears couldn't use their usual fishing spots and more often then not, stood around looking confused wondering how they could get at the fish who were also being pummeled by the fast water. When Darcy and I got a turn down in the photo blind on the river level, we were amazed to watch a large female black bear fishing just four feet from our clicking cameras. Overall, the opportunity to watch these amazing mammals at such close range and for such a long period of time was one of the most incredible experiences I have ever had. Thank you Brenda!

Alaska: Petersburg

July 6th - 10th: Darcy and I fell in love with Petersburg the moment we arrived at the airport. A fishing town with a strong Norwegian heritage, Petersburg's cultural and physical landscape felt unique in comparison to many of the Southeast towns we have visited. Our several days in town were mostly spent working, but we did get out on runs through the muskeg each morning and took a day to drive out to the end of the road for some rainy, but beautiful hiking. The highlight, though, might have been the crab leg feast we enjoyed courtesy of the fantastic Australian family who shared our hostel.

Petersburg is located on the northern tip of Mitkof Island with views across Frederick Sound toward the mainland and the towering Boundary Range Mountains. We were particularly surprised at the amount of snow still left on many of the mountains in the area, the remains of one of the heaviest snow years ever in Southeast.

This is what happens when you give us free reign with the camera...

... but we managed to take a decent looking picture eventually.

We had a rainy hike out to Ideal Cove, which made the board walk trails very slippery and I took a couple of spectacular falls. Luckily, a stubbed toe was the extent of my injuries. Like most forested areas in southeast, the vegetation was incredibly lush and green, reminding this New Mexican exactly how far I was from home.

Darcy and I were very excited to have hard-boiled eggs for dinner on our hike. I am not really sure why... but they were pretty tasty.

By the time we got to Ideal Cove, the rain had just about stopped and we enjoyed a beautiful evening eating our picnic dinner and looking out across Frederick Sound toward the mainland. It never quite got clear enough to get a good look at Devils Thumb, a notable peak in the boundary range, but we could see icebergs coming off the LeConte Glacier which is visible in the valley in the center of the photo.

Being the responsible biologist that I am, I try not to anthropomorphize animals too much. I have to admit though... porcupines are incredibly cute and might win out for one of my favorite animals. This one couldn't quite decide why it was crossing the road... giving me plenty of opportunities to get a picture.

Alaska: Part 2

July 4th - 6th: Darcy and I headed to Juneau for the Fourth of July and got to spend a few days with Laura Baker. We managed to get some great hiking in despite the rainy weather including a long morning run out to some ice caves on the Mendenhall Glacier.

On our flight to Juneau from Anchorage, we had one of the clearest days I have seen while flying over Prince William Sound and the Wrangall/St. Elias area. This resulted in incredible views of the mountains and glaciers that form the boundary between Alaska and Canada including St. Elias (Canada) and Mt. Bona (US), both in the top ten tallest mountains in North America.

Darcy and Laura on a ridge above the glacier in the first of many silly pictures taken that morning (and just one of many for the whole trip).

Laura and I inside one of the coolest ice caves I have ever explored. The glacial blue and textured walls of the ice was otherworldly; I don't think I would have been surprised to see a woolly mammoth looking back at me from the ice!

More silly photos.

Darcy? Cold? I thought it would never happen! In all seriousness, the glacier significantly alters the air temperature in the Mendenhall Valley where it can often be 10 degrees cooler than in town. As we walked over the final ridge before the glacier, we could feel the wind sweeping freezing air off the ice.

The brave explorers have conquered the ice cave!

Up next... we head to Petersburg. Also, FYI- you can click on any of the photos in order to see a full sized image.

Alaska: Part 1

On my first day in Anchorage, I spent an beautiful day "combat" fishing for sockeye on the Kenai with Toby and Craig. Sadly we didn't catch any fish, but that was sort of besides the point anyway ....

Combat fishing involves standing so close to one another that you have to time your casts with the person next to you. Tangling your line with the person next to you earns plenty of dirty looks. .

We fished the area where the Russian River flows into the Kenai River. You can see the Kenai, silty from glacial runoff, in the top of the photo and the clear Russian below. The waters of the two rivers are identifiable for over a mile downstream by their distinctly different colors.

I spent the weekend backpacking on Kesugi Ridge with Toby and Darcy in Denali State Park. While the Alaska range was hidden in the clouds for most of the 28 mile hike, we did get to see a glimpse of the summit of Denali on Saturday morning.

The summit of Denali peaking out over the shifting clouds. Although you cannot see the rest of the Alaska range in this photo for perspective, it is still amazing how incredibly tall Denali is compared to the rest of the mountains in the area. It towers above pretty much everything!

The cairns along this trail were amazing. Someone had obviously taken quite a bit of time to artfully balance the rocks along the whole ridge trail. This, of course, required that we take time to appreciate them.

Darcy and Toby hanging out during a quick break with the Alaska range in the background.

While Denali was well hidden, Moose's Tooth decided to come out of the fog on Saturday evening.

More to come...

Welcome!

Hello Friends and Family,

Although it has taken me quite some time to get into the whole blog scene, I have finally decided to join the masses in putting my own two cents out there in my brand spankin' new blog. Actually, rather than spouting off opinions, this seemed like the most convenient way of sharing both pictures and stories from recent travels and adventures. I will hopefully be keeping it updated with more photos and such so keep checking back to see what sorts of things I have been up to!