My Alaskan Adventures

Photos of Kuiu Island

2010-02-07T10:47:00.006-09:00

Here are some photos from the Tebenkof Wilderness. Do not use them without my permission!

An Orca swimming in Elena Bay not far from the 18 foot skiff we were sitting in. I'm certainly not an Orca expert and we had a debate about whether it was a male or a female. The males have longer dorsal fins than females but juveniles obviously have smaller fins than adults and there was a much smaller animal swimming nearby. It was interesting to note it's fin was bent at the top. I'm not sure why.

A great blue heron lifts off in front of us in the Theitis Bay Area. It's a little blurry since the light was starting to fade.

Sea otters riding the waves.

I only had a 200mm lens which makes it tough to photograph these guys since they're quite wary of humans. They seem to ignore the boat until you speed up or slow down. I had to wait for them to pop up and hope for the best. This was one of my better shots.

Small but dangerous. This critter is a rough skinned newt. They look harmless but when alarmed they're skin secretes a deadly toxin. I read somewhere online that the toxin is strong enough to kill 30 humans when ingested. Their underside is bright orange which is supposed to be a warning for predators.

September 2009- Tebenkof Wilderness.

2010-02-07T09:11:00.007-09:00

The above photo is the USFWS vessel Curlew on a rare sunny moring in September.

While it's always important for me to keep my friends and family upated about my adventures I am appreciative of all the people who visit this site. This is not an official posting for any agency. These are merely my own thoughts and experiences while working and living in AK.

We went back to Kuiu Island again this year for about six weeks to continue our study of the marten population. This time was a bit different though. We did the first two weeks in the Tebenkof Wilderness working aboard the vessel Curlew. Using skiffs to get to shore was the only way to work efficiently in this roadless wilderness. To the best of my knowledge only a small portion of it was logged back in the 1940s and most of the places we worked were old growth forest. This was a strong contrast to the northern portion of the island which has been heavily logged.

We took the Curlew from Petersburg, AK around the north end of Kuiu Island taking a full day to make it to Tebenkof Bay. It was a bit of a rough day but not too rough for the 65 foot vessel and we saw numerous marine mammals including breaching humpback whales followed twenty minutes later by Orcas breaching. It was a good distraction from the knowledge that we had many rainy days of work ahead. Tebenkof is an incredibly beautiful place that's know in part for it's high sea otter population. I've always seen lots of them around Kuiu Island but there seemed to be more in Tebenkof where there were "rafts" of 40-50 at a time floating in the kelp. They are very charismatic creatures that are fun to watch as they float by in the Kelp grooming themselves. Unlike other marine mammals that depend on blubber to maintain body heat sea otters only have ~2% body fat. How do they keep warm when the water temperature is in the 40s? They have very dense fur which traps air to keep them warm. If their fur becomes matted with dirt or oil and can't trap air the they'll die of hypothermia. That's why they seemed to be constantly grooming themselves when they're not eating or playing. They're beautiful animals and entertaining to watch but they can be the bane of a commercial fishermans existence. Here in southeast AK there's lots of grumbling about all the shell fish they eat and there's currently at least one study to estimate the current population.

I grew up a mile from the Atlantic Ocean with white sandy beaches but Alaska is different. The tides can change by as much as 25 feet in a single day. Instead of sandy beaches most of the shoreline is very rocky in the area we were working. Every day the tide was different so we had to be extremely careful not to hit the hull (or worse the prop) on the rocks as we came in to shore. On many days water was too rough to keep the boat on shore so I'd have to jump off the bow of the boat and push it immediately back off shore while the operator backed away as quickly as possible. The fear was that the wind would blow the boat onto a rock with an out going tide and then the boat would get stuck and we'd spend the next six hours waiting for the tide to come back in hoping the waves wouldn't beat up the boat too much. Anyone who boats in southeast AK has to worry about this when the weather isn't cooperating. There's a lot to keep track of while boating in southeast Alaska. I've seen more than one boat (an even one float plane) go dry when someone didn't pay attention to the outgoing tide.

Sea otters weren't the only marine mammals in Tebenkof. There were also lots of harbor seals and we even had a couple of Orcas swimming around our skiffs on one of the rare sunny mornings. We had a truly surreal moment one day when I walked back to the boat which was near the mouth of a salmon stream. A bunch of harbor seals had gathered there to forage on the salmon and became curious about us. My boss was telling me he counted 34 seals swimming toward the boat which was beached and I was taking photos of them when suddenly we heard wolves howling less than 1000m away. It sounded like a pack of several wolves with pups yelping in the mix. We never saw them that day but I'll never get tired of that sound. It's quite an eerie feeling that I can't really describe well in words.

A few days later we saw a black bear sow with three spring cubs walking the coast in a nearby bay. It wasn't all fun. There were a lot of cold, windy, rainy days which meant putting some damp clothes back on day after day(typical when you work in the worlds largest temperate rainforest).

After about two weeks of work on the Curlew we dropped a few people off at Rowan Bay to begin the next month of work. Two of us took the boat ride back to Juneau so that we could help the captain tie off at the dock, etc. It turned out to be a gorgeous sunny day with a beautiful sunset and a full moon over the mountains. An amazing end to a great couple of weeks.

Summer of 2009 in Southeast Alaska

2009-08-13T12:58:00.003-08:00

The spring and summer have been the busiest I can ever remember. This year seems to have been almost the exact opposite of last summer. Instead of thirty plus straight days of rain we've had long periods of sunshine with record high temperatures. I think there were about 14 consecutive sunny days in both May and July with lots of partly sunny days mixed in. June was a bit wet but still no one can complain after the summer of 2008 or as we all said what summer?

What's been happining since I last wrote? I spent most of May and the beginning of June coordinating deer pellet surveys throughout the region. I was a manager for many years in the hectic EMS industry but I don't think I was ever quite so busy as this spring. Thankfully I had lots of coworkers and volunteers that helped conduct deer pellet surveys in over 50 different locations many of which could only be reached by boat or floatplane which meant they were dependent on the weather. It was a lot of work but it felt good to have the experience and to realize that even though I'm not a seasoned veteran I'm no longer the brand new guy.

I went straight from the deer pellet trips back to one of my favorite places of all, Pack Creek Brown Bear Viewing Area. It hasn't been the busiest year with bear numbers or people numbers but the dull moments don't last long when you work around unpredictable wild animals in close proximity to people.

We've had several subadult bears attempt to push us around which is always interesting. Imagine you're a brown bear cub that spent the last 3 years with 500 lbs of protection in the form of a huge fur covered sow with 3 inch long claws and sharp teeth that's always close by. Then suddenly in the spring of your 3rd year of life she turns on you and sends you off on your own so she can breed. Now your essentially a teenager without any back up and trying to make sense of the world. Everywhere you go there's other bears that might be dangerous so you spend your days looking over your shoulder and running away a lot. Except there are these two legged critters(humans) that have never behaved threateningly because you live in a bear sanctuary. So why not see if you can push them around a bit? That's essentially what happens to us every year. What makes things interesting is that a 3 year old sub adult brown bear can be bigger than some adult black bears and are equipped with bigger teeth and claws. We've had a few of these young bears approach within 20-40 feet of us on several occasions. It's very interesting to watch despite the fact that it can occasionally make the visitors nervous. Since we carry bear spray and a rifle we're never really in too much danger as long as we don't get careless. However, nobody has had to spray a bear at Pack Creek in over a decade and no bears have ever been shot there so none of us wants to be the first.

Lots of drama this year at the viewing area. We had one of my favorite sows come out with two beautiful new spring cubs and spend almost 3 hours trying to convince them to cross the creek and come closer to us on the viewing spit. The cubs would have no part of it until she finally picked them up in her mouth and dropped them in the water. I'll never forget they're wild animals but watching a sow with cubs in an area where she feels safe enough to behave naturally is surreal. 5 days later we got a harsh reminder of how tough life is for a bear cub when the sow came back with only one cub. Large males will occasionally kill cubs and we found positive evidence to confirm that was this little one's unfortunate fate. Happily the single remaining cub has put on lots of weight since it's gets all the milk to itself and doesn't have to share any fish or other food with any other cubs. He's been quite the crowd pleaser running after mom trying to learn how to catch fish and occasionally chasing ravens for fun or nursing in full view of 8-12 people.

Thanks to my girlfriend Allie and some incredibly generous friends I've got more fish in my freezer and some friends freezers than I know what to do with. I've caught all five species of salmon this year most notably my first King Salmon and my first Sockeye on a fly rod. I guess $300.00+ in fly fishing gear I had to get at least one keeper on a fly rod:) Allie and I even caught a 62 inch halibut July 4th! Quite the mind blowing experience to watch my friend Chris harpoon it(it took three tries but who's counting?) and then tied it off to the boat. Always adding to the fun in Coastal Alaska are the marine mammals. We came across a baby humpback whale tale slapping and breaching like crazy on the way back that day and we've seen bubble feeding humpbacks, orca feeding on salmon and many other critters. One crazy day my friend Randy caught a 40 inch long King Salmon and had to fend off a harbor seal that took the fish for about 5 minutes during the fight! Definitely a new experience for me to have to worry about the potential for marine mammals trying to steal a fish off the stringer or the fishing pole.

Well that's about all the time I have for an update at this point. I sure miss my friends and family down south. In case you guys aren't sure how this works. Planes can come to AK just as easily as they can leave from Alaska.:) I hope everyone is having an amazing summer! I'll try to put up some photos when I get a chance.

Heat Wave in Juneau?

2009-05-01T21:02:00.004-08:00

Well spring has definitely sprung here in Juneau. It's been in the 60s and lower 70s most of the week with barely a cloud in the sky. Spring can be very wet with all the fast melting snow causing lots of flooding with large holes over the creeks, rivers and lakes. It's kind of weird to ski on a frozen lake near a glacier one day and then see the float pond near the airport loaded with planes taking people to and from the bush again.

Wildlife are out and about everywhere. In the beginning it was deer and goats that were dying of starvation but as the snow melts the more the hope for survival increases as new vegetation is exposed almost daily giving a chance for sustenance and regeneration after the third tough winter in a row. Looking out the window from the office we can see the occasional mountain goat or black bear feeding on young plants in the avalanche shoots.

This week seems to have helped melt snow fast with temperatures in the 60s and 70s and bright sunshine most of the week. It's a pretty cool transition from a fun winter wonderland to a few weeks of nasty rain and unfomfortable temperatures which lead to spring fever the minute the weather improves. I've seen lots of people in shorts and even one person in a bikini down town today. That's a rare sight in Juneau on any day of the year much less the first of May!

As I drove out the road I saw miles of snow covered mountains with dozens of boats with fisherman all in search of the same thing-King Salmon! The diehard fisherman are out there despite the fact that it takes over 120 rod ours(in some cases) for each fish caught this time of year. Even though there aren't as many fish this time of year the salmon are in the best condition before they enter the rivers and "turn". Once the hormones kick in the fish will darken and the meat while start to decay even as they continue their last journey in life to spawn and die.

Now everyone becomes more alert while walking the dogs or else they risk running into a bear or a porcupine which are both common in southeast Alaska. Up near Anchorage they even had a wolf come after a dog just a week ago while it's owner was running with it. It's interesting to watch the news and hear the stories of people expecting the government to take care of the "nuisance" animals. In some ways I can't blame them except that they choose to live in a wild place like Alaska. What would you expect when you move the state with the highest brown and black bear populations in the U.S.?

Field season is about to begin and I'm looking forward to it even though there's an overwhelming amount of preparation with maps to make, float planes and boats to schedule, and all the other logisitics to consider. Soon there will be deer pellets to count, whales to navigate around, sea lions attempting to steal fish from lines and of course bears to watch and visitors to manage. That's all for now I'll try to update again when I can but as things get busier it's tough to update nearly as often as I'd like. I still appreciate all the comments I've gotten from people across the globe! Happy May everyone!

July 2008 On Admiralty Island

2009-03-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

During July, which was mostly wet and miserable here in the Juneau area, I met some very nice folks that boated all the way from Vancouver Island to Southeast Alaska! It's always nice to see people who live life and don't sweat the small stuff like pouring rain day after day after day:) Anyway their efforts paid off and they arrived on one of the best bear viewing days of the summer. The bears were so active that day that I decided to walk to the tower trail to check on the visitors since there are occasions when people go to the viewing tower and can't get down for a couple of hours until the bears leave. This turned out to be one of those days. After I climbed into the tower a sow had arrived and decided to lay down in the salmon berry bushes below the tower and take a nap. Since startling bears is always a bad idea we were "stuck" in the tower and forced to enjoy the moment out of the rain while watching for other bears.

Here are a few photos from July 23rd, 2008:

This bear was feeding right below the 15 foot viewing tower. One of the best places for capturing close up photos when the fish are in the creek.

The bear below is an adult sow that had a nose injury from a brawl with another bear but that didn't stop her from finding food. After she was done fishing she climbed the bank and layed down invisible in the salmon berry bushes. We had to keep watching to make sure she was gone before climbing down to leave. The bears put on a great show that day!

Photos

2009-03-05T20:40:00.000-09:00

Nice doggy? The local wolf approaches a friends dog. That's right thats a black wolf. That's taken to approaching people and dogs and even playing with the dogs. Unfortunately, he can catch canine diseases and he's picked up more than one small dog with a few dogs gone "missing". It's an amazing sight but also at times pretty disturbing.

His behavior can look almost pet like but when you look at his tell tale yellow eyes and his gait you can be sure he's not your neighborhood dog.
I had to zoom with my 200mm because he was so close! It's a bit tough to get a really good shot of a black wolf on white snow and have both come out but this one was my favorite.

Eventually he trotted off with a toothy yawn. A yawn can be a sign of stress in carnivores such as bears and wolves.

Moose, Marten, Wolves & Bears

2009-03-04T13:36:00.001-09:00

I hope I don't repeat myself too much but I've had numerous requests even from other countries to udate this blog which kind of blows my mind. So here's some things I've been up to in the past year:

Since I've last written I was crew leader on a marten collaring and small mammal trapping project on Kuiu Island again this year. It's was very wet most of the time continuing the insane amount of rainfall we had over the summer. Imagine donning fleece underneath thick PVC raingear with the preferred southeast alaskan footwear(Xtra Tuff rubber boots), bushwhacking in temperatures in the 30-40s with nearly continuous rainfall and then trying to process animals without allowing them to become hypothermic you'll get the idea. If you can also imagine you're working in a rainforest with one of the highest densities of black bears in Alaska and you're using jam, sardines, peanut butter and game meat as bait only to find many of the traps crushed flat by bears you'll get a feel for what it was like. Everyone has different comfort levels around bears and I've been getting very comfortable having worked two seasons at a brown bear viewing area with bears coming within 10 feet. However, seeing steel cage traps crushed flat as a pancake definitely makes ones heart race for a moment and reminds me to look over my shoulder more often.

Having said that it's an incredible place to work with very high densities of sea otters, wolf packs, moose and sitka black tailed deer with several class one salmon streams that still had a few Coho salmon in them. There's something surreal about seeing a wolf pack hunting or hearing them howl.

Then there's the local wolf in town that has been fed by humans and is so habituated that he came within 25 feet of me and the dogs whining like a puppy trying to get them to play and then watching them running around smelling each other. It's exciting to have a wolf that close and to be able to view him very often but it's sad to know he's being fed by people and that he can catch a disease from local dogs (some of which were on his menu). It's hard to believe I saw my first wolf in Denali NP in 2003 and now I can drive 20 minutes to go skiing and have to be careful to avoid the local wolf and frequently see him sneaking up behind me to try and "play" with the dogs. On one hand exciting on the other a dangerous situation that might end badly some day.

I did some moose work in November and again in February for 10 days at a time collecting foraging data. Basically I track in to the moose and then attempt to stay close enough to watch and record what they eat all day long. November makes things interesting because even though I'm only interested in what the cow moose are eating it's rutting season and the bulls are there pushing each other around which is an incredible sight(and sound). Watching 1,000 lb animals with antlers 50-60 inches across push each other around is quite a sight. Then add to that howling wolf packs and hiking in to recover radio collars from moose that were killed by wolves and seeing the sight of the kill with bones scattered and shattered by incredibly strong jaws and I have to remind myself that wolf attacks on humans are almost nonexistent. We ended the November trip with helicopter darting which is always exciting. The pilots here in AK have the be some of the best around. It's quite an amazing thing to watch the pilot open the door so he can lean out and check to make sure we're not going to get the skids caught on the brush we were landing next to and seeing the rotors mere feet fom trees as we lifted off. There's no landing zone set up in advance for safetly like the medical calls I've been on. These guys doing everything possible to get you as close to the moose as they can even if that means a river bank in six feet of snow with spruce trees 20 feet away!

In many places the brown bears had a tough year with heavy rainfall causing the streams they fish to be deeper and full of mud and silt. It was fun to see them court each other and a bit nerve wracking the hear them huffing in the woods and listen to branches breaking with the occasional sight of a juvenile rushing past us followed by a larger male or female that wanted to rid the area of any competitors or distractions. One female who wasn't "in the mood" walked within 6-8 feet of us to avoid one of the biggest males I've seen yet. So he stood huffing and puffing about 100 feet away very unhappy that she was using us for "protection". I was glad to carry the .338 rifle and large can of pepper spray but some times it's just a bit close for comfort. Then there was a big sow with a yearling cub that was just like my nephews when they were younger. He kept testing us to see how much he could get away with. Unfortunately, he seemed to know that he had about 500lbs of back up if anything went wrong as his mother was never far away. So I'm standing there with visitors that I'm supposed to protect and he walks up within 20 feet with me telling him to go away and the large sow(his mother) about 35 feet away huffing and puffing trying to get him to come back to her but not having much luck. I love the job and moments like that are unforgettable but I'm constantly aware of the fact that nobody has ever had to shoot a bear there in over 40 years but there's a first time for everything and I don't want to be that guy does it because there would be a ton of media attention and possibly a career ending decision. However, I'm not planning on ever being killed or disfigured either. The good news is I've gotten very good at judging bear behavior and 20 years in EMS has taught me that constantly running crisis rehearsal situations in my head allow me to remain calm when bears are close and agitated. I invested in a new camera this year and I was able to get some amazing shots which I hope to add soon.

The Family Visit to Southeast Alaska!

2008-09-01T11:05:00.000-08:00

I decided to add some photos from one of the best days of the family visit this summer. These are all from Tracy Arm one of the prettiest places on earth and pretty much a must see for any summer visitors to Juneau, AK! The whale photo was taken near Grand Island on the way back to town after the tour was over. There's lots more which I'll try to add when I get a chance. I'm going to have to figure out a faster way to do this. Maybe my flickr account or I'll have to look into this "facebook" that my sister and friends keep telling me to get. Unfortunately, we don't get internet in too many of the field camps I work in. The perils of life in the big wild.

Dad's Last Trip to Alaska!

2008-09-01T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well this summer has been crazy here in southeast Alaska. I've been working outside for a total of about 70 days between May 30th and August 28th and I'm going back out for another 3 weeks tomorrow in the rainiest coldest summer on record. I'm truly hoping that Fall is more like a late summer:) There's been days so cold, windy and rainy that my coworker would lay face down behind a rock to avoid the wind and rain despite the fact that we work on Admiralty island with one of the densest populations of Alaskan Brown Bears in North America. I guess the risk of a surprise close encounter is overshadowed by the need to avoid the numbing cold.lol

My family came out here in July to dispose of my dad's ashes and they only saw the sun briefly the entire week(maybe 4 or 5 hours combined) but the first time was when we were putting Dad's remains out to sea which allowed my brother in law Paul to take some great photos. My sister used her new Apple PC to make a beautiful video of the memorable day. You can see the video from the link I'm attaching to my "favorites" on this website on the right hand side. When you see how "sunny" the photos are you'll realize the kind of summer we had here.

There were some truly awesome days that felt like paradise (4 or 5) though. Like the day the family and I went to Tracy Arm aboard a tour boat and got to see the harbor seals hauled out on the ice with the glacier calving in the background and the boat navigating the canyons working its way through the ice and then inching up so close to waterfalls that some folks on the bow of the boat were actually able to dunk their heads under the icy cold water. I managed to catch some dungeoness crabs and halibut while watching humpback whales, Orca, sea lions, seals, harbor porpoise and Dalls porpoises all during the two or three nice days. I guess that's the reward we get for living in someplace so beautiful and remote and tolerating the bugs and the rainiest summer in decades! Anyway that's all for now. I'll try to add some photos next chance I get although that might not be until later this fall the way things have been going. I hope things are well in your neck of the woods!

Juneau Fireworks

2008-07-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

Well I decided to stay up late last night and see the fireworks in Juneau. They began at 11:59PM so that it would be dark enough for people to see them. It was a pretty fun thing to do. The fireworks themselves weren't much better than some I've seen down south in the tri-state area but standing on the bridge that seperates Juneau mainland from Douglas island and smelling the smoke from the bonfires which lined the "beach" about 75-100 feet apart and with the ambient light from the city buildings, boats and cruise ships illuminating the channel and Mount Roberts in the background they were definitely worth the trip.

The challenge was trying to take good photos at midnight with the wind blowing smoke from the fires and fireworks in my direction and the misty rain that was present the whole time. Also I made the classic rookie mistake of not bringing my tripod. However, I think I managed to get a few photos that at least give an idea of what the scene was like.

Admiralty Island Bear Photos

2008-06-08T17:47:00.003-08:00

I've been asked to add a few photos from my recent trip to Pack Creek. The bear on the left is a young female maybe 5 years old. They normally don't breed successfully on Admiralty until they're 7-8 years old but that doesn't mean the males aren't interested. The post behind her is about 40 feet from the viewing spit we were standing on. So she's obviously much closer.She wasn't any threat to us in fact she was probably just trying to avoid the big guy in the next photo.

When the above bear appeared this large male stopped eating and started huffing and puffing trying to get a good wiff to see if she was shall we say "in the mood". He's looking over at her in th e picture. Fortunately, he didn't seem to mind her using us as interference.

She was most concerned with him but also wanted to test us. After we shouted at her when she was within nearly 10 feet of us she changed course very slightly and continued on by while keeping a close eye on us. I'm still getting used to my new Nikon D40. I deliberately over exposed some of the shots because another local Alaskan told me over exposing dark animals like brown bears makes the details in the fur and eyes stand out. It worked okay but it's a bit much.

After she made a wide arc around him he must have been thirsty from all the huffing so he decided to get a drink.

May and June in Southeast Alaska

2008-06-07T11:07:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I've posted with lots happening now that the days are longer and field work has begun. I spent the first part of May doing deer pellet surveys (counting piles of poop). Normally we would have started in April but there was too much snow again this year. So we had to wait until May and even after waiting there were lots of places we had to because of too much snow even at less than 700 feet elevation. But we went to some pretty cool places like Admiralty, Baranof, Chichagof and Prince of Wales Island to name a few. It was kind of cool and a bit spooky bushwhacking through some of the most densely populated brown bear country in North America.

Nature is always fascinating and even though it can be harsh. We saw quite a bit of evidence of this while out doing surveys. I came upon the bones of a black bear cub that had been eaten by wolves on P.O.W. island. We saw some cubs and subadult black and brown bears that seemed to be having a tough spring. But there were also alot of animals that seem to be doing well like the Sea Lions hauled out on the south end of Catherine Island and all the seals, porpoises and humpback whales that were out feeding in the frigid waters around the islands we worked on. We need those kinds of sights around here to put up with the short rainy days in the fall.

After returning from all the deer pellet work we had just a few days to get settled before we headed to Pack Creek again. I got there around June 22 last year and it was cool to see the bears feeding out in the meadows and occasionally see a subadult bear approach close but things didn't really pick up until the salmon run in July. This trip was quite different and definitely kept us on our toes. We rode out there in the 19 ft work skiff for almost five hours in 3-4 foot seas. While we weren't in any danger, it wasn't exactly enjoyable except for the fact that it was sunny and the mountains were spectacular. Well at least when I could see them once in awhile after my eyes finally stopped burning from all the salt water that would crash over the bow and soak my classes and rain gear. After we arrived at our camp on Windfall Island we had to set up the wall tent and then we were finally able to relax for a bit while one of our coworkers that flew out earlier made steaks on the fire.

The next day we used the skiff to cart a 250 gallon tank back and forth between Admiralty and Windfall Island were we keep our camp. This involved the use of three fire pumps which the forest service has on back packs for firefighting. Basically a pump with a lawnmower type pull start. We could only fill the tank with 150 gallons of water at time or the boat wouldn't be able to go fast enough to get anything accomplished. The guys that have worked there for years developed a really efficient system so that in less than five hours we had shuttled 7 or 8 tank fulls which was enough to fill the 1,000 gallon tank on our island with some left over for to flush the filters.

The next task was to go over to pack creek and take care of several downed trees that were lying across the trails. In some places they would just let them be but we can't do that because if people veer too far off the trail they could surprise one of the bears that frequent the area. After we finished cutting the trees and hauling wood off the trails we walked up to the viewing tower a mile into the woods. It's a very cool spot and the beavers were quite active over the winter so we noticed some new damns and as if we had planned it they thinned a few of the areas that were blocking some of the better bear viewing so that will help at least a bit this season.

Finally, on June 1st my coworker and I went over to the south spit to meet a plane with visitors and upon arriving noticed a subadult that we think we recognized from last year. The bear wasn't afraid of us and frequently when young they'll approach to "test" you. They get sick of being bullied by the other bears but also don't have mom around as back up so it's almost like they decide to see if they can find a situation where they can be the boss.

We always stand our ground and sometimes even have to give them some gentle encouragement to move away if they get too close. Since the young bear was coming we moved away from the treeline so we could pay attention to what it was doing and keep on eye on our human guests as well.

The bear headed down the beach past us and then suddenly ran off the down the beach after it heard something in the trees nearby. As we watched and listened we soon heard some brush moving and saw a young female bear pop out of the woods. Then we heard branches breaking like all hell was breaking loose inside the trees and a huge male came out huffing and puffing following her sent all the way down the beach until she jogged away. We waited about 20 minutes since that was the direction we were headed and then we walked around the corner to the viewing spit only to see the male out eating sedges. He was such and impressive animal with huge hump and probably as big as any bear I saw last year except that this spring and this bear will gain a ton more weight by the time it dens up for the winter after feasting on salmon, berries and plants.

After about a 1/2 hour the female popped out of the woods and the male started huffing again so she came right up to us probably for protection from him. Despite our shouting she came withing about 8 feet before stopping and then barely changed course as she walked along about 6 feet away from me. It's pretty amazing how much more I know than last year. This bear was closer than any I've ever seen an yet I wasn't nearly as nervous as the beginning of last summer when they would come within 30 feet. Anyway thankfully the male stayed out in the sedge until she was well clear of us and then decided to move on off after her. She seemed somewhat interested but I guess they wanted some privacy so we never got to see if she cooperated.lol

The next day we got to see a sow and cub from last year and the cub was over 100 lbs. It's pretty amazing watching these coastal brown bears knowing that the bears on the Alaska Peninsula are even bigger and not quite as big as the bears on Kodiak! I was recently sent photos of an 11 year old black bear sow from MN that weighed only 165lbs.

The final bit of drama was when the same young subadult from the day before was out eating sedge and then got chased by the female right toward the viewing spit! The young bear ran around us within 50 feet but the female just ran right across the edge of the spit within 25-30 feet at a full sprint. Well I guess that's all for now. I'm hoping that after the first two days the rest of the season won't seem boring. But I doubt that since we've gotten reports of lots of cubs this year and a group of film makers from PBS are shooting an episode called "Fortress of the Bears" due to air hopefully next winter. There's even a slight chance that some of us will be on the show although I'm guessing it won't be the new guy.

Check out this website for some of the photos I took. I'll add more here later if I have time.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hikermedic/

More signs of spring in Juneau

2008-04-27T12:48:00.001-08:00

It's pretty amazing here in spring we've had temps up near sixty last week but on the clear days it was down to low 30s at night with everyone(except me it seems) seeing the northern lights.lol

Everytime we get sunny weather I'm reminded of how amazing the mountains are. Since Juneau is at sea level a 2,000 ft mountain seems gigantic. The other day I hiked up the Spaulding Meadows trail and decided not to bring the snow shoes because everything down low was snow free and the trails are pretty packed. Once I get up there I discovered some of the nicest views in Alaska and the snow was so deep that tree wells(pockets created at the base of conifers) were five feet deep in some places. If I walked off the packed trail I'd break through up to my thighs and have to post hole my way around.

As I hiked around I could hear "hooters" (blue grouse) calling and lots of other birds were out and about.

Here are some photos from the North Douglas highway and outer point trail about twenty minutes from where I live.

The outer point trail is really nice because it gives good views of coastal Alaska. You can find sea anemonies, gulls, seals, harlequin ducks, barrows goldeneye, ravens, crows, eagles and of course mountains!

Spring in Juneau

2008-04-27T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well it's been over a month since I've posted here. That's because the days have been getting much longer and it doesn't get dark until almost 9:00 at night. The big thaw was on and everything at sea level had melted completely with the roads finally dry and the everyone following the ordinance took their studded tires off the cars by April 15th only to be unprepared for the 12 inches of snow that dumped on us April 17th. Fortunately, the sun came out later that day and didn't go away for 8 days straight. I think that's the longest stretch that I've ever had in Alaska.

I'm about to start field work again very soon traveling to Sitka, Prince of Wales and then possibly somewhere else before I go to Pack Creek and the bears again at the end of May. I recently spent a week helping a biologist measure moose browse, collected pellet samples(aka moose poop) and then stayed behind for a few days working solo in order radio track in to find a few wild moose to see if they still had their calves.

After the week was over I'm pretty sure that I had about 15LBS of moose poop quadruple bagged in with my gear for the ride back to town on the Cessna. I got on the plane and barely had my seatbelt buckled when the other passenger complained to the pilot that the week before some new pilot(from a different air taxi) had forgotten to switch the fuel tanks and the engine quit so this guy puts on his life vest while the pilot is tapping the gauges and trying to figure out what happened.LOL! I was about to mention that it may be bad luck to discuss that kind of thing before you even get in the air when our pilot told a story of his own. Apparently when he was new the same thing happened to him with a plane load of tourists. He covered by saying "look at that moose down there" and then circled around the "moose" until the fuel line flowed again and they were none the wiser. I love to fly but it's occasionally very interesting as it was that day flying back in the snow with the pilot looking at the steering wheel of the plane 90% of the time because that's were the mapping instrument was and visibility was so low it was almost pointless to look out the windows until we got much closer to Juneau Airport.lol

This is a cow moose with last springs calf(a bull). She was one of the less cooperative moose I tracked that week. She was initially close but it took over an hour to finally sneak up enough to see the calf bedded down nearby. They were nice enough to stand up for a photo and then decided to continue browsing a bit further away.

Moose research photos

2008-03-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

Here's some photos of the moose research I was privelidged to take part in. In the first two I'm attaching an ear tag.

The snow was so deep that the moose seem to be using the creek beds to escape the wolves in the area. I quickly learned after sinking into deep snow that the moose were taking the smart approach. The weather was so perfect I couldn't help but smile.

Here I am preparing to "collect" a pellet sample.

Moose, Wolves, helicopters and other stuff

2008-03-16T09:40:00.000-08:00

When I moved to Alaska my friends a the moose pens told me that the short dark days in winter keep you sluggish and then the long days of spring and summer bring out an almost manic feeling. Sometimes that's the perfect description life in Alaska. Back in December sunrise was about 8:30-9:00am and a we could look out our office windows and see it get dark by about 3:15pm. Once we had a good snowfall things brightened up a bit but until then some days were a bit tough for most of us outdoor lovers. Now with the recent changing of the clocks sunsrise today is 7:09am and sunset is 7:04pm which seems very late even though summer will have sunsets at 11pm or later!
The longer days are good because they allow more time for field work. I recently got to help some of the best people in the busisness work on a moose study. After working at the Moose Pens on the Kenai I had learned an awful lot from the top moose people in the state which came in handy since it was my first time working out of a helicopter to capture moose. I have seen it from above several times but actually landing next to rivers and flying just over tree tops and seeing the places that the pilots can land was incredible! These studies are very important to the survival and management of moose populations so it was amazing to be able to help.
I've been around helicopters dozens of times during medical evacuations of critically ill patients down south but this was quite different. The main difference is that most of the medical evacuations where I came from included a fire department setting up a landing zone that was very safe and often the helicopter rotor was shut down until after the patient got loaded and everyone was safely clear of the rotors.
Field work in the wilderness using a helicopter is a totally different and amazing experience. First of all at the beginning of the day the helicopter lands and the door is remove on the passenger side and the rest of the day you fly without the door on that side! This is to facilitate safely and accurately darting the animal with tranquilizing drugs. To make the helicopter as maneuverable as possible they drop two of us off while the biologist goes with the pilot and darts the moose. Then depending on the situation he stays with the moose and we get picked up and dropped off as close as possible to the tranquilized moose. This means that for almost the entire day you climb out and stand on the skids of the helicopter with the rotor still going and grab your gear then while ducking low enough to avoid decapitation you try to walk on the snow hoping not to break through into the deeper stuff which slows you down alot. Often the helicopter is using some rotor power to keep from sinking into the snow and tipping over.
Once you move out of rotor range you get down on one knee with you're back to the chopper and get blasted by a huge rush of air and snow blowing at you and into any part of your clothes that aren't sealed tight. The wind is so strong that on one occasion I made the mistake of kneeling on both legs and when it took off it would have knocked me over if my coworker hadn't grabbed me. Once out of rotor range we had to get to the moose as fast as one can while occasionally breaking through up to our waist in the snow(in one case I was chest deep for several minutes). We were in chest waders and often got to the moose in or near streams. I soon learned from the experienced guys that if you could make it into the stream you could move much faster by walking in the stream as long as you could get back up the snow bank when you got close enough to the moose.
Imagine trudging across deep snow and through icy cold streams(I'm so glad they told me I needed insulated waders) and then reaching a moose that ways 800-1100lbs and lays down wherever it wants to. The biologist I got to work with is amazing and often had blood drawn before we even got to the moose. However, on some occasions the moose had layed down in streams and one of us had to hold it's head above water until after the work was done and the reversal drug had kicked in. This meant waiting until the last possible moment and then getting as far away as possible to avoid stressing the moose any further.
Where there's moose there are usually also wolves. While we were working on moose the spotter plane saw several moose kills and one was so fresh that the wolves were still feeding on it. Everywhere we went there were tons of tracks nearby and we even had to land on an old carcass to collect bone, teeth and what was left of an old radio collar. We can encourage hunters not take moose with collars(although they sometimes still do) but the wolves really don't care which moose they hunt as long as it's slow enough to kill. It always amazes me to see how clean the bones look after the wolves, ravens, magpies, etc. are done with it. As you can imagine it was a very interesting day. It was much needed after months of dull data entry. The field season is finally coming up again soon so I'll be away from the computer for up to to weeks at time but hope to update when possible. Thanks all the great comments on the blog. I'll try to update with photos as soon as I can get them from the gang.

Is spring on the way to Juneau?

2008-03-09T18:47:00.001-08:00

I decided to get some exercise yesterday and so I went for a hike on the treadwell ditch trail up the street from my house. Hiking this time of year is different because we've had some warm temperatures with rain and then colder temps with a snow rain mix and so there's kind of a freeze thaw thing happening. It seems like "break up" is definitely in full swing though with the channel completely clear of ice. Since the trail I was planning on hiking goes up the shady side of the mountain and seemed pretty firm I figured maybe I could do it without snow shoes. That is until I got out in the open and broke through the crust sinking up to my waist in slushy snow.
After extricating myself I decided to change the plan since I was solo hiking and didn't bring my snow shoes. I drove down the road a place called "otter point" that I hiked in 2003 with my parents. It's a very cool walk through the rainforest down to the rocky coast of the Gastineau Channel. When I got to the shoreline there were hundreds of Surf Scoaters along with Barrows Goldeneye, Harlequin Ducks, Mergansers and even a few harbor seals swimming around. Most of the birds were too far for good photos but it seems like the migration is in full swing. It's been warm enough that there's even been reports of bear activity in parts of southeast.
The best part of spring though is more daylight. Even before we turned the clocks forward we've had longer days. Today it was light out at about 6:45AM until almost 7PM which is having and effect on us all. When I first moved here a friend told me that winter everyone drags around in slow motion and then when spring hits the "manic" phase begins. I'm already starting to feel it alittle although not as much as when I lived on the Kenai where the sun is out longer an even the Moose get stir crazy! I just figured I'd give everyone an update since it's been awhile. No photos this time.lol

The Juneau Wolf

2008-03-02T21:59:00.000-09:00

A friend of mine mine gave me this photo of "Romeo." I've been hearing about Juneau's local resident wolf ever since I moved here. The black wolf, whom locals have come to call "Romeo," has created quite the controversy here in town. This wild wolf is frequently seen by locals and heard howling around the Mendenhall glacier, lake, visitor center and campground area during the winter months. I must admitt that the chilling sound has a profound effect on me until I'm reminded that he has become very habituated to humans.

Forest Service employees and Fish and Game staff repeatedly remind folks to keep their distance and shout at the wolf to scare him off when he approaches. Unfortunately these warnings seem to fall on deaf ears. Lots of people instead trying to chase the wolf off go looking for him while hiking or skiing with their dogs off leash with the hope that he'll "play" with their dogs. This creates quite the commotion when the wolf shows up. Last winter a pug ran up to him and the wolf suddenly reminded everyone that it is in fact a wild animal. The Juneau Empire got photos of the wolf as it picked up the pug and flung the terrified dog several feet. The stunned pug then layed there for a while playing oppossum. Thankfully the dog was left in one piece. But what will happen next time?

Hiking with dogs in deep snow

2008-02-13T21:42:00.000-09:00

Last weekend was very snowy with a storm that kept me inside until Sunday when my friend Allie invited me for a hike. The snow was very deep around the dredge lakes area and the moraine ecology trail we hiked. Maple the golden retriever and Bob the black lab were having a great time busting through chest deep snow for several hours while I huffed it on my snow shoes and Allie cross country skiied. The snow was so deep that it took quite a bit of energy to break trail in some places and the dogs soon figured out that they could have an easier time of things by following in our tracks. After a while they followed so close that I kept feeling a very heavy weight on my snow shoes and would have to catch my balance. I was amazed at how much engergy the dogs have and surprised we didn't see the "romeo" the local black wolf that Juneau Residents have been feeding and allowing their dogs to play with. This is quite a problem and has caused the wolf to become very brave around people especially when they bring their dogs along. I've been keeping my fingers crossed that the wolf doesn't harm a human or eat any more dogs(than it has already). In the mean time it seem seems to really like Maple and has surprised my friend with close encounters on several occasions. This whole doesn't seem to have a pack and often acts like it prefers the company of dogs which some folks gladly encourage despite the fact that it has killed at least a couple of dogs already and last winter it picked up a pug and tossed it much to the chagrine of it's panicked owner. Luckily the pug played possum and wasn't killed. It's fascinating and frustrating to see the types of problems that occur when people don't use common sense with wildlife. Oh well at least we had a fun day in the snow before the rain came back the next days:)

Crazy Commercial Fisherman

2008-02-11T19:28:00.000-09:00

It's a been a while since I've had a chance to update and I haven't had a chance to take too many photos but I was sent an email today with some of the craziest photos I've seen yet. First of all boating in Southeast Alaska can be quite dangerous with very rough seas, ice bergs, rocky shorelines and lots and lots of "dead heads" which are basically big logs that wash out with the high tides and storms that you can collide with and severly damage a boat hull. All summer long there were almost daily messages from the Coast Guard looking for missing boats, etc. Okay so now it's Febuary and we had a severe storm warning all weekend with about 18 inches of snow and winds 45 up to 80mph gusts at times the worst of which occurred on Saturday. One of my coworkers Lavern Beier lives on an awesome boat down at the harbor which isn't uncommon in Juneau. He relayed the following crazy story and photographs. Apparently a this commercial fishing boat drove 14 hours on Saturday from Cape Fanshaw to Juneau with salt spray and snow blasting across the vessel with higher winds coming from the starboard side of the boat. It was dark and they were using instruments and so much ice built up that they had to hold a heater against the windshield to keep about a 6 inch hole for visibility. The fact that there was more water hittting the starboard side and the weight of the ice was surely thousands of pounds didn't phase these lunatics despite the fact that an experienced captain like LaVern immediately recognized the fact that the boat was listing because of the weight of the ice and could have very easily capsized with one wrong wave. When he walked up to the boat they were taking photos with their cell phones to send to their girlfriends and when he mentioned that it was risky business they said something like "that's what fishermen do".LOL! Here's a tip for anyone who wants to visit AK. Most of the locals are much more adventurous than people from out of state(including me) so if they people here say that what your doing is crazy then your life expectancy is probably greatly reduced! Enjoy!

Note the small "viewing hole" in the windshield that was made by holding a heater against it for most of the 14 hour trip! I'm not sure how they got of the boat as the doors were probably frozen shut? LaVern told me a story of a many years ago when a mail delivery boat arrived in Juneau and the mailman couldn't get out of the cabin after it froze shut so he had to weight until someone happened along and "broke him out" gotta love fighting the elements. Kind of puts shoveling 18 inches of snow this weekend in perspective eh?LOL!

Winter Fun in Juneau

2008-01-26T17:51:00.000-09:00

I drove "out the road" the other day all the way to the end only to discover that the last 6 or 8 miles are barely maintained and I was driving on about 1-2 inches of ice. The parking lot at Point Bridget State Park wasn't plowed and had about 4 feet or more of snow so everyone had parked on the road. I snowshoed in a few miles and met some folks who were on the way out from one of the cabins you can rent. They were skiing but were towing lots of gear on sleds which looked like fun but a lot of work. It was a rare sunny three day weekend. On the way back down the road I came upon a beautiful sunset that began at about 3:30 PM and lasted for almost an hour. I took a bunch of photos since I'm still getting used to my camera. I played around with the cameras exposure settings in an attempt to keep the sunset from looking burned out. As I was finally getting the hang of it the sun had dropped down enough to send more horizontal light across the canal. It was too pretty to do justice with photos but I made a pretty good attempt I think.

This one is "downtown" Juneau a few miles from where I live. I stopped in for groceries after taking advantage of the sunshine and doing some photography. It was about 4:00 PM and the sun was still shining with blue sky and the moon was out over the mountains. I decided to take a few quick photos. I'm beginning to gain a lot more respect for professional photographers.

January in Juneau

2008-01-22T18:42:00.000-09:00

Well it's good to be home again after about two days in airports a week ago and weather delays, etc. I finally made it to Juneau Airport with a snow storm. Everyone keeps asking me for photos of where I live so I thought I'd finally take one with snow instead of rain. The picture doesn't do the driveway justice. It's so steep we don't park the cars there during winter and I often have to wear creepers(spikes) on the bottom of my boots to keep from breaking my neck on the way down to the house.

This photo is looking out the sliding glass door in the back of the house. The woods do a good job of hiding the "highway." We had all this snow when I took the photos and then after I rested for two days due to jet lag it was rained quite a bit turning the whole place into a slushy ice festival. It's interesting driving on inch thick ice almost made me feel like I was back on the ALCAN last winter.lol

After the slush fest the following weekend was bright and sunny and Monday was overcast but cold enough to avoid any possibility of rain. I found out there was still some snow out tby the glacier and lots more "out the road" so here's one photo I took while attempting to learn how to use the new camera(Nikon D40). I'll have more photos in my next post. Since everyone has been asking me for pictures I wanted to add this quick update.

New Favorite Place

2007-12-31T10:28:00.000-09:00

Hi Gang,
If you want to see a true Alaskan Adventure checkout my new favorite place titled Journey on the Wild Coast. I don't think I've seen many greater adventures than the one this couple is on. Great photos and great stories and it's for a good cause!

Happy New Year!

2007-12-31T06:38:00.001-09:00

Lots of people told me that Laird Hot Springs is a must stop when driving the ALCAN on the way to or from Alaska. It was cold and dark when I arrived in mid January but it's one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. I pulled into the lodge parking lot after an amazing day of seeing lynx, caribou and a wolf.

After dinner I put on my headlamp and walked down the trail listening to the crunching snow beneath my feet and considering taking a dip in the naturally heated hot springs. As I got closer I could hear voices of several others and I was afraid I would shine my headlamp on some skinny dippers or kill somebody's mojo. Also it was about -3 degrees so I chickened out.

The next day I got up early and decided to head back to the springs for some photos. It was amazing to see. Probably in the top 5 most beautiful things I've ever seen. I don't think I did it justice with my little point and shoot. Everything covered in snow and frozen except the warm water of the hot springs which can be up to 108F. There's steam everywhere from the springs which then freezes and falls down like snow on all the trees and other vegetation.

So it was less than ten degrees and the changing building isn't heated! I decided that you only live once, stripped off many layers of clothes, put on my bathing suit and made a run for the springs. What a great feeling to be soaking in the hot water looking at the beauty of nature all around me. After a few minutes a nice guy from Ft. Nelson and his ten year old son showed up. We got to talking and then his son told me I couldn't leave Laird Hot Springs without doing the most fun thing of all. Being adventurous I stand over in this warm spot with frozen overhanging branches of a huge tree above me. He stands nearby and counts to three then his father hurls a rock high up in the air knocking icy snow from the branches covering his son and I with ice! Talk about a wake up call.LOL! It was too funny:) I moved away while the kid made his father throw rocks until there were none left. Finally I climbed out of the water and went to the shack to towel off and realized the puddle forming at my feet had frozen causing my feet to stick to the floor and my bathing suit was stiff as a board while I walked back to the car. My New Years resolution? Find more beautiful places like this and go visit them! Have a Happy and Healthy New Year and thanks for visiting!

Winter Fun at Mendenhall Lake

2007-12-08T16:29:00.000-09:00

Well I had just gotten done complaining about not enough snow here in Juneau as it's been very warm(high 30's low 40s) through most of November. Then it hit single digits for several days and we had winds up to 68 MPH even knocking some boats off trailers in down town Douglas. That allowed the Mendenhall Lake to freeze and today I went there for some exercise and to see how close I could get to the glacier. There are always iceburgs but I didn't realize how huge some were until I today when I was able to walk right up to them.

This wasn't a very big iceberg but these kids were hanging from the ice axes and taking all sorts of fun action shots.

Here's two more adventurous folks(the tiny figures in the middle of the photo). I zoomed all the way in on these guys who were waking around about a thousand feet away on the Mendenhall Glacier. Seemed a bit risky as visibility was getting low with all the snow falling and the glacier making everything on top look white. The longer I live here the more toys(outdoor gear) I think I'll need to buy but then again maybe it's better if I stay away from ice climbing until I find somebody who knows what they're doing.

This one is the Glacier with a skier in front for perspective. It's tough to see with all the snow falling. There were many Xcountry skiers around the lake area today. I think that's my next investment. It seems like good exercise, lots of fun and probably less likely to cause me to use my health insurance.lol

Then I turned around and couldn't see the visitor center with all the snow falling. You can see the snow covered iceberg with the people on the right but the visitor center is only about 1/4 mile behind them and at this point was invisible until I got much closer. It was not even close to a white out but certainly gave me a friendly reminder to use caution.

West Juneau/Douglas Alaska area

2007-12-07T19:07:00.001-09:00

This is a view across the Gastineau Channel from the Douglas highway which is the road I take to work every day. The channel seperates Douglas Island where I live from the Juneau road system. The boats were out fishing for King Salmon in June. In the background is the Mendenhall Glacier which I think I posted photos a few months ago on this blog. It's one of the only glaciers that you can just drive to within about a 1/4 mile away and then get a very close up view.

This is what the "beaches" look like in Southeast Alaska it's another photo of Gastineau Channel form a different angle. I frequently see harbor seals there but there are also humpback whales, occasional Orca(which sometimes block the channel and shut down cruise ship traffic) and some other marine mammals such as sea lions. It's truly amazing especially on sunny days like this one last June. Imagine coming to visit one of the people that lives here and kayaking with marine mammals. I didn't get the chance last summer but it's on my list for next summer:)

More Juneau Alaska Area Photos

2007-12-07T18:42:00.000-09:00

To get to Juneau I drove from the Kenai so I went through Haines and took the Ferry. I spent a couple of days there at the Bear Creek Cabins which I highly recommend. The owner Mike is a great guy and told me a bunch of places to see wildlife. The young brown bear was eating grass right next to the Lutak Rd. Behind the bear is a view looking across Chilkoot inlet. The vessel in the background is mostlikely coming back from Skagway further north. If anyone wanted to come visit me (hint hint) this is only short 2-4 hour ferry ride(depending on which ferry) from Juneau. I think it cost about $109.00 including my subaru forester if I remember correctly. Anyway it's breathtakingly beautiful! My uncle Michael was there for the filming of the movie White Fang which was filmed somewhere in the Haines area.

This is Chilkoot Lake also in Haines. It's very tough to see but that v in the water in the right hand side is a beaver swimming away. Anyway the weather was pefect and as you can see the lake was so calm the mountains were giving a good reflection on the lake.

Juneau Photos

2007-12-02T18:47:00.000-09:00

A while ago my friend asked me to add photos of the Juneau area near where I live. This one is downtown Douglas Alaska taken when I first moved to the Juneau area.

In downtown Juneau they build the houses right up the mountainside because they don't really have a choice. Some folks have houses or apartments up several flights of stairs. This guy who looked to be in his early 70s designed a way to make his garbage can into a backpack. A neighbor saw me taking the photo and told me he fills it with firewood in the winter. I guess if you live here long enough you get in great shape. Amazing!

Here's the full view of the stairs. He climbs to the top set!
I'll try to get more Juneau area photos up soon. Hopefully before I come down south for a XMAS break:)

Life on the ALCAN in January

2007-11-30T17:50:00.000-09:00

During my drive to Alaska in January of 2007 I saw lots of wildlife. One of the coolest was this lynx in the Yukon near the ALCAN highway. I saw several but most were fleeing. I couldn't figure out why this one stayed next to the road and looked back. At first I thought it was looking at a prey but it didn't seem to be in stalking mode.

The answer became clear when I saw the second lynx climb up the snow bank. I was so excited to have such a shy animal staying within camera range for about five minutes that I took the first few photos through the windshield of my subaru. Most came out blurry but few were worth posting.

When I finally got out of the car they were moving quickly up the mountain on the opposite side of the road. Since lynx mate in March/April and this was January I'll have to do more research to find out if these two were siblings, adult and juvenile or male/female. That's what's so cool about nature you can study it forever and never really no more than tiny fraction of what's out there.

Neighborgoods and Friggin Fabulous Radio

2007-11-30T17:21:00.000-09:00

I feel the need to plug two great artists who just happen by coincidence to be my cousins:) Neighborgoods is a cool store that sells some great artwork, books, CDs ,etc. It's run by my very talented cousin Caitlyn who studied art in college. Be sure to check it out for some unique christmas gifts and more!
The other site Friggin Fabulous Radio is run my cousin Nick who is a great guitar player and music afficiando with some cool interviews and more! Luckily for us they're from the artistic side of my family. I seem to have missed out on that gene pool unless you count writing about nature which is still a work in progress for me:) Please give them a look today!

Winter's on it's way

2007-11-28T19:25:00.000-09:00

First I'd like to say welcome to visitors from afar. I've had people from as far away as Great Britain and Japan visit the site which is very cool. After enduring lots of darker rainy days we finally have some clearer skies on the way with plummeting temps. Today everything was covered in ice and I had trouble opening the fuel door to fill up my tank.

I've gotten some funny phone calls at work. A person from Anchorage called to ask me what she should do about the moose stuck in the Christmas lights down town. Apparently a bull moose picked the wrong ornamental plant to feed on.lol. It's supposed be down to 10 degrees this weekend with clear skies. Today was in the 20s and sunny which makes the outline of the snow covered mountains above the glacier look beautiful!

All this cold weather on the way reminds me of my move to Alaska from down south last January. It's quite a memorable experience to drive the ALCAN through the Yukon and British Columbia then through Tok and down into South Central AK. During one stretch highway they kept announcing warnings on the radio about a herd of bison in the road. Well I came across them and it was an awesome sight to watch such huge animals sweeping there furry faces back and forth to clear enough snow so they could reach the grasses underneath. Some were just lying around ruminating with steam coming out of their nostrils(it was about 5 degrees F). Anyway here's a photo I thought you might enjoy. I'll add more when I chance. It's taking forever to upload tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving

2007-11-22T10:18:00.000-09:00

Since Thanksgiving is a time for families to gather together and be thankful I thought I'd add some more photos of some families that I've seen over the past year. I hope you all have a great Turkey Day full of good food and good company!

This one is two brown bear sows with spring cubs(born this year). The one on the left has a big chum salmon.

Finally the other family gets to eat:) Note the immature bald eagle sitting on the stump, the raven nearby and the gulls overhead. Salmon spawning streams are one of the most amazing ecosystems. When the fish are in everybody gets to feast!

Zarembo Island

2007-11-18T21:22:00.001-09:00

Hi Gang,

I just got back from my trip to Zarembo Island. You can find it on the map in Southeast AK just south of Mitkoff Island where Petersburg is. Petersburg is an old fishing village with lots of Norwegian influence. It has a small town feel where everybody knows everyone else:) Pretty cool to meet people on the plane who were off getting braces done in Juneau because they missed the time of year when the dentist came through town while they were out moose hunting!LOL! My friend Dan says it's annoying but I think it has a Northern Exposure type feel with volunteer D.J.s on the radio interrupting songs to say things like "the pod of orca is now at hungry point. That's right the whales are a hungry point." Or "please stop feeding the deer because its stupid and if you do we'll all know it's you when we see then peeking in your living room window." LOL! They also have ads for things like trading stuff from your garage, etc. and everyone has the same exact area code and exchange so when someone asks your phone number if you live in P.Burg all you need to say is something like 2134 because everyone has the same six first digits.lol

While on Zarembo Island doing some more marten research we met lots of people hunting Sitka blacktail deer. It was really interesting to see kids on ATVS riding past me down the road weaving back and forth with one hand on the handle bar and the other holding the loaded rifle vertical. lol I got to see lots of wildlife(no martens unfortunately) and lots of interesting people. One guy who was hunting at age 77 y.o. told us it was only his second year using an ATV and most of his hunting was by proxy(hunting for other people who are "too old" to hunt). LOL! What a character. We met him lying on the ground and helped him up after he fell off his ATV and hurt his shoulder but refused medical attention. Next time we saw him he and his injured shoulder had harvested a deer and he even lifted it onto his ATV by himself. Jeez! Only in Alaska:)

We had a gale storm with 50MPH winds that sounded like it would rip the cabin down but luckily didn't really do any damage. Then on the second to last day of the trip our truck broke down and Gill(the 77 y.o.) walked out of the woods just as it rolled to a stop. We would have had to carry our gear 6 miles or sleep overnight in the truck until we could get help but he shuttled us and some of our gear back to camp. Imagine me on the back of a four-wheeler with a 77 y.o. who has trouble starting and shifting his much less driving! If you were ever around to see my uncle Campion drive my parents old VW Bug often getting up on two wheels around corners you can imagine what my trip was like.LOL! Actually I think my uncle was looking out for me because it seems pretty amazing to have a bad fuel pump all week and then break down at the most convenient time and place with someone right there to give us a ride!

Sometimes being "stuck" somewhere isn't all bad. We had to wait over an hour for our float plane ride from St Johns Bay(on Zarembo) back to Petersburg. While we waited there were lots of critters about. We could hear and occasionally see some humback whales way off in the distance along with loons, barrows goldeney, woodpeckers, eagles and some very curious harbor seals like the ones in these photos. Click to enlarge!

They kept surfacing real close and then moving in until I tried to get a photo and then would dive down. It became almost like a game but I got a few decent shots.

The curious little guys sure made the time pass more quickly:)

Here's how to make photos bigger

2007-11-04T17:22:00.000-09:00

I had a comment that the photos on this blog are too small. Some definitely came out smaller than I anticipated. However, you can click on any photo and make it bigger. I'll also try to find out from someone with more editing savy than me about methods to use photoshop or other software to make them better. Eventually I need to get a better camera but for now I only have a 3.2megapixel so there's limited room for improvement.lol

Kuiu Island Southeast Alaska

2007-11-03T08:55:00.002-08:00

Well I just got back from the camp at Rowan Bay on Kuiu Island which is west of Petersburg in S.E. AK. I was there for about 9 days at end of September and then I was back again for another eight days to finish the project and break down camp after we did some research on marten. It's a bit strange being at the mercy of the weather for flying but...

when I landed it was like paradise. There were sea otters everywhere and the sun was shining so bright I was in short sleeves which is rare enough in August but this was September 22nd. It was one of those days when I can't believe they pay me for this! Then for most of the next 7 days it was typical rainforest weather aka rain, rain and more rain. In fact I had to stay two days longer than expected and continue working by myself until the weather broke and my colleagues could arrive. To add to the fun we had to bushwhack through thick vegetation including a nasty plant called "devils club". It's covered in thorns everwhere except the roots so when you slip and reach for the nearest plant to catch your balance sometimes you get a nasty surprise!

But where else can I see sea otters, packs of wolves, blue grouse and over 30 black bears(yes we were bushwacking on the island in southeast with one of the highest density of black bears in North America). Information I could have used before I left for Kuiu without gun or pepper spray! It's a bit of an eye opener to see an empty marten live trap crushed flat by a bear and not knowing how long ago it was being crushed. The bears eat the bait(not the martens).lol Imagine carrying jam, sardines, moose meat and marten lure in the woods in bear country and you get the idea how alert I was:) Needless to say I made a bit of noise. If it had been brown bears I would have taken the .338 rifle for sure. I'm learning fast that I need to buy a better camera. Luckily we've gotten some colder weather and the food is running out so the bears are starting to den up already. So I saw only four on this last trip.

We were there to catch and release marten for a research project because marten are an important indicator species of the health of old growth forest. Unfortunately, on the first trip we only caught one marten while I was around. Arghh! Then I went to Anchorage for a law eforcement training and all hell broke loose while I was gone. Suddendly they were catching marten everywhere. By the time they asked me to go back and help wrap up the project they had used all the radio collars they brought with them! So I went back out to Kuiu island excited that the project was a success and my odds were much better. But then after setting up the live traps I went out and didn't catch any marten on day one. Here we go again I thought. By now I'm wondering if I have anti-marten pheremones or something. Everything changed on day 2. The very first trap I checked had movement inside. I crouched down and saw a little furry head with dark brown eyes peering out at me. Man how cute they are I thought. That is until I went to pick up the trap. Then I wondered if I had accidently captured a tazmanian devil! It began hissing at me with teeth bared snapping at me every I came within close proximity to the cage until I could lift the handle with a stick(which it also tried to bite). Then I had to bushwhack again while holding the trap with a marten bouncing around in it making my way out through the brush and devils club while trying to keep from falling or getting bitten.LOL! What fun! As you can see from the picture I successfully managed to calm her down with soothing words and gentle handling:) Yeah right! Obviously she was tranquilized. I'm happy to report I caught six martens and all were release alive and well no worse for the wear. Actually I even recaptured one the day after I release it:) I leave Monday for Zarembo Island and if we catch any marten there it will be the first proof of their existence on the Island.

I thought you might like to see one that isn't being handled. This photo was taken in January when I was at Laird Hot Springs in Canada. A must see if you're in the area. While walking down the snow covered board walk on my way for a quick dip I hear movement from the tree and saw this one climbing around on it's morning hunting trip. It was tough to take the photo since it kept moving around to the other side of the tree every time I moved. Sorry it's so far away they're excellent climbers and this one was up pretty high. They sure are amazing animals:)
You might have to click on the photo to get a good look.

Feeding The Moose

2007-10-22T17:46:00.001-08:00

Life at the moose pens was always interesting and feeding the moose was sometimes an adventure. In some pens all we had to do was open the back of the feeder and dump food in from outside the fence. Then the moose come running up and you get to watch the dominant moose eat first while the others try to squeeze in for their turn. Sometimes they get very aggressive charging each other or even rearing up and kicking each other with their hooves. It's always fun to watch them from outside the pens. But it can be quite the heart racing moment from inside. In this photo I pulled up on the snow mobile and dumped the first 50lb pound bag of feed and then went back to the sled to get the next one only to see George the bull chasing the others around to get to the food first. Some of the more wild moose(those that haven't been bottle fed) keep their distance. But then there's the more habituated moose like George. He's not afraid of humans or his fellow moose so he tends to push most of them around sometimes literally! My goal was to ride in on the snow mobile as quick as possible and then dump the food and get out of there but some of the moose have an almost Pavlovian response to the sound of snow machines or ATVs so it makes things very interesting.

One on one snowy day in March I was coming back from Monte's loop(the feeder in the photo above) and rounded a corner at about 25 MPH only to see this moose caused road block. After my heart rate slowed down a bit I took this photo. Then I fired up the snow mobile and headed back to the cabin. I got a strange feeling after about a hundred yards and turned around to see George hot on my tail about 75 feet behind the snow mobile. I was going about 20MPH. So I sped up to about 35MPH and he stayed on my tail for at least another 1/4 mile. I was glad to see him break off because I was running out of road and wondered if he could put the breaks on in time if I slowed down.LOL! Sometimes life is stranger than fiction:)

Here's another one of George and a smaller bull in the background.

Meeting the Moose

2007-10-18T19:02:00.000-08:00

My first day at the moose pens was very exciting. I got to practice with the radio telemetry and tracked a moose named Mattie who was one of the friendly moose at the pens and quite the mooch. So there I was walking on snow shoes that were a bit awkward in about 4 feet of snow and when I finally find Mattie instead of hiding or running away like a wild moose would she comes walking right up to me and lets me scratch her ears. Then nearly knocks me over when I decide to stop. So I'm taking photos of Mattie and suddenly she starts to put her ears back and and moan and move away. I'm wondering what I could have done to bother her and trying awkwardly to move away without falling only to hear movement behind me and see Melody come charging out of the trees in order to chase Mattie away! Well imagine trying to run on snow shoes that are about 32" long while avoiding a moose quarrel. I nearly needed new underwear and would soon learn this is everyday life at the moose pens. They rarely are out to get you but it's not always easy to get out of their way when they want at each other. Quite the amazing and exciting first day. These photos are both Mattie.

The Kenai Moose Research Center

2007-10-18T17:15:00.000-08:00

Well I have off for Alaska Day and decided to add a bit about one of my favorite places. The Kenai Moose Research Center on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. I applied for a volunteer internship there and live onsite in a remote cabin about 40 miles down dirt roads from the nearest town. The facility has approximately 20 captive moose at any given time. Many of these were bottled fed in order to have them become highly habituated to humans. This allows scientists to approach close up and study moose without them becoming fearful and running away. I was overwhelmed by the hospitality of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game staff at the MRC(Moose Research Center). I learned more about wildlife science from these folks than from any college course I have taken and just being able to spend time in a wilderness setting with these great people aiding in the study of one of my favorit mammals was the experience of a lifetime. I took many photos there and thought I'd share some with you. This first one is me and a moose named Peanut. She's a big cow moose that is the dominant one in her pen. When we weighed her in the spring she was about 430KG. As you can see her shoulder is almost at my head level and I'm 5' 10". If she hadn't been habituated I'd never get this close.lol

Mendenhal Glacier before and after

2007-10-12T19:17:00.000-08:00

These are photos of Mendenhal glacier. The first photo shows huge chunks of ice that broke of this spring. The third photo was taken 4 years ago in July of 2004. The last photo was taken June 2nd 2007. When you see it in person it's a bit scary how much has melted away. If I had realized I would want comparison shots I would have taken the recent one from further away.

Summer in Southeast Alaska

2007-10-11T20:41:00.001-08:00

Sunsets in southeast A.K. can be amazing. This one is from windfall island looking toward swan cove which is on Admiralty island. It was taken at 10:35P.M. in July.

These next two were taken during my "commute" to work in July. They're out the window of the floatplane(obviously). It's the only way to fly(weather permitting). lol

We talked a bored pilot into taking a different way home from windfall island. This is over the north end of Admiralty island. It's a lot of fun being able to get so close to the mountains although the margin for error is greatly reduced at this altitude:)

Everything is big in Alaska

2007-10-08T21:01:00.000-08:00

Sitka spruce trees can be over 700 years old in S.E. alaska. I thought you might enjoy a photo of me standing next to one that is ancient. It has10 "leaders"and is truly amazing. If you ever get to swan point off admiralty island in S.E. AK take a look for it but beware the "hot feet"(bear trails). That's what scientists call it when the trail is used over and over again with bears walking in the same foot prints over many years. This area is heavily used by brown bears. I'd never go there without making lots of noise, a can of pepper spray and preferably a rifle. lol Places like this make me realize just how small we really are and how amazing alaska really is!

More fun at Chugach State Park

2007-10-07T13:04:00.000-08:00

Hi gang,

I've returned from the anchorage area and noticed there was request for more upclose and personal moose photos. Here's a few from my recent trip. Fall in the Chugach is amazing! the first photo is a bull moose that was right next to the trail last fall during the wildlife society conference trip that some of us went on with Bob from ADFG leading the trip. The bull moose in the second photo was about 100 yards below me away from the trail earlier this week. It took forever to for him to lift his head and face the right direction. The top moose has a radio collar.

The photo on the left is an example of some future darwin award winners. If you look close you can see at least seven people some of which are way too close to some bull moose. The closest people were supposedly from N. Geographic! They were hitting the brush with sticks to call in the rutting bulls. Then I would watch them drop the tripods and run when the moose decided they'd had enough. LOL! I guess that's how they get the good shots. This all took place in a state park off the powerline pass trail.

This is popular hiking trail loaded with wild moose. The two moose in the photo are a cow and a calf. Luckily for her and her dog this cow moose didn't feel threatened. Even when she dragged the dog past them. lol

Moose encounters

2007-10-04T18:13:00.000-08:00

Hi Gang I just added a new link. It's called Fun Hog Fun Dogs and it's got some truly awesome photos of Alaska and the Anchorage "foothills", etc. I was out hiking the other day and saw lots of moose on the Powerline Pass trail. The blog has photos of where I've been hiking this week. I'll add more moose photos when I get back to town. I did see some amazing things I couldn't get photos of such as some guys off in the distance that were beating the brush in order to get bull moose to come very close for photos! There were about 8 people crowding around four wild bulls that were at times only about 30 feet away. A key point here is that the only reason they could call them in is that it's during the rut. I watched two huge bulls push each other around for about 2 minutes. These guys were being very foolish. It's one thing to call them in while hunting but it's another to get that close to a bull moose that's looking for a cow and may think of people as a nuisance. The day before I got a photo of a woman walking her dog(which a moose thinks of as a predator...wolves eat moose) and she got tired of waiting for a huge cow with a calf and decided to walk by with her dog frothing at the mouth! People are amazing. These moose are obviously very habituated but just picture an animal the size of a horse(actually bigger) with a show plow on it's head getting really annoyed and you realize what could happen.lol I'll try to ad more photos within the next few days. Alaska is amazing but there's way more people who are earning the darwin awards than I thought there would be.lol

Humpback Whales

2007-09-30T13:39:00.001-08:00

Humpback whales are abundant in Alaska especially in southeast. I took these photos on one of my rare days off this summer. These pictures don't do the animals justice. The spout of water that comes out when they exhale is fifteen feet high but what can you expect when one lung is the size of a VW Bug! Scientists can identify individuals from the unique markings on their tale fluke. Marine mammals are not my area of expertise but always fun to see.

Also just a quick disclaimer that all photos on this site are not to be reproduced without my permission. lol

A Plug for My Uncle Michael

2007-09-29T23:10:00.000-08:00

When I asked about creating this blog my cousin Miles reminded me that my Uncle Michael has his own blog. He's a very interesting guy and has always followed his dreams. He's a well known poet and writer. He's also been an actor and I hear his voice often for television commercials. But mostly he's a charasmatic guy who's had a lot more adventures than me. Check out his website when you get a chance and read his stuff. If you're on the East Coast look at his list of events and go hear him speak!

Encounters With A Brown Bear Sow

2007-09-29T22:17:00.000-08:00

This is a large sow(female) brown bear that had two spring cubs this year. She was walking down a beach and approached within thirty to forty feet with not much room for me to back away. Luckily the bears in this area are somewhat habituated to humans and she wasn't displaying any of the aggressive behavior that can make a sow very dangerous. After looking back for her cubs that were busy playing she decided to sit down about forty feet away from me and wait for them to catch up. It was truly amazing and also quite the heart racing moment. I got to know this bear over the summer and would normally recommend most people avoid these types of encounters without lots of training and perhaps an expert guide along with you. This took place in an area that has been managed to allow bears to become habituated to humans. Normally a sow with cubs can be incredibly dangerous and ferociously protective of their young. I can't be responsible for anyone who is injured on their own Alaskan Adventures.lol

Working in Bear Country

2007-09-29T21:41:00.000-08:00

This is a photo taken in Southeast Alaska where Brown Bears are common. It's never wise to turn your back on a bear of any species but fortunatley the person taking this photo was also armed and this bear was simply traveling from point a to point b with no consideration of us humans. Working around bears has taught me a great deal about bear behavior. However, I always remember that they are unpredictable wild animals and I'm in their home!There is always something more to learn from nature. Living and working in remote areas of Alaska and getting to see the natural wonders is truly incredible. Like most nature lovers being able to see bears is a fun and amazing experience. I'll have many more bear photos and tales as I get the time to add to my blog.

Welcome

2007-09-29T20:55:00.000-08:00

Hello and welcome to my blog. After much encouragement from friends and family I left a career on the east coast of the U.S. and moved 5,000+ miles(driving distance) to Alaska to follow my dream of working in this beautiful place. My journey has had many wonderful experiences as well as some trying moments and after much prodding from family members I've decided to create this blog so that friends, family and the world can read about and see photos of some of my adventures. Some of these adventures occurred while working with Alaska's wildlife but this is in no way an official agency website. It's just my thoughts, descriptions and photos for all to enjoy. I hope you all enjoy it and I'll be interested in feedback of any kind. Thanks for visiting my new blog!