SUNSHINE ALL DAY - 11/16/08

We had sunshine on Sunday, Nov 16, 2008. I took a drive to take pictures. I went to Mendenhall Glacier and it was absolutely beautiful. Some more ice broke into the lake so there is fresh blue ice to see. The lake is lightly frozen. I also met the fellow who drove my pickup truck today. He told me he liked my truck. I bought a used forest Service truck which was for sell in Juneau.

I drove down the road to nowhere and hiked as well as taking this picture. On the way back, the moisture on the road froze and turned to black ice. Two vehicles went off the road. One was upside down and the other went into the trees. I made it with no problem.
The police and tow truck were helping the vehicle who went off the road.

Sunshine!! 11/16/08

We had sunshine 11/16/08 - ALL DAY!!

Uncle Alton

I want to say goodbye to my Uncle Alton. He was a fellow that played his guitar whenever he was able. Singing was just a part of him. He passed away a week ago and he will be missed. I hadn't seen him in many years but I have some pleasant memories about Uncle Alton. The following link is Uncle Alton playing some of his music.

CUT AND PASTE if you want to see it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZXoV9CTf4

Beaver Dam

Beaver Dam: Since I put up the tree the beaver cut down, I thought I should show his finished product. They have dams all over the place at Mendenhall Glacier Park. The Eagles, Bears and Beaver hang around in the same area. Most of the animal pctures were taken right by the Beaver dams.

Beaver Activity/ Uncle Alton

There is a beaver family at Mendenhall. They have made a good sized pond. They took down a good sized tree. I did get a picture of one beaver's head in the water but was not too great of a shot.

Did you know: The beavers front teeth continually grow. If they do not chew, the teeth would grow through their lower chin. They must keep chewing or they will die.

The video is my Uncle Alton playing the guitar and singing. He passed away last week.
Whenever I saw Uncle Alton, he had his guitar and loved to play it. He was a good man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSZXoV9CTf4

Ghostly presence?

I was hiking to Herman Glacier and saw 3 old cars, rusting out. I took a picture of this and it was foggy. I took another picture - it came out foggier and the third foggier still. THERE WAS NO FOG AT THE CAR! It was damp but no cloud - Ghostly!!!

I did hear weird wind sounds by the car as I was hiking out. I said bye and have a good evening to my ghostly friend.

Hiking to Herman Glacier

Here I was about 1.5 miles from Herman Glacier and I started seeing snow.

two eagles

Here are two eagles. I saw about 4 eagles flying around like they were playing. They were chirping a lot too. They have big wing spans so seeing them fly around together was pretty spectacular. I did not have a lot of time to shoot pictures as they flew around so I just watched.

A true bear story!

A parent told me this at a parent conference today:
Her relative sent her a 300 bear picture on her cell phone - amazing.

There was a dead beached whale here in Alaska. On the dead whale were 300 bears, having dinner. I did not see the picture, but I could sure imagine. I think the place she was talking about has Grizzly bears, not our cute black bears. That would be a pretty amazing picture.

Bear on the trail!

This was about 3 weeks ago. I was hiking. I walked around a corner and came within about 5 feet of this bear. He was in the grass and bushes digging. I saw him, stopped and backed up. As I was backing up, I took out the camera and took a few pictures.

Bear

I saw this bear about 3 weeks ago. I was on a viewing platform, so I could watch and take pictures - no big deal. He went around the corner, jumped in the water, got a salmon and took it to some trees and ate.

It is getting dark about 4:00 PM.

Porcupine

This little Porcupine was nibblin grass at Mendenhall Glacier. See him smile for the camera? Things are freezing up so getting food in the future will mean digging through snow.

6 eagles or more

Today, I saw at least 6 different eagles at Mendenhall Glacier. What was amazing is that they talk to each other. They were chirping away and it is quite loud too. They seem to like to stay in groups. I saw a lot of pairs of two. There wss one very large bird. I was walking down the path and heard this flapping. There was this big eagle just above leaving a tree. I had been looking down when I should have looked up.

No Bears: I think they have gone up higher to where the deer are. The snow is just now starting to build up and the snow drives the deer down off the mountains. The bear go where the food is and the deer are still up higher than Mendenhall. There are no fish in the streams right now for the bear to eat.

Mendenhall Glacier

See the Eagle?

Keith Olberman made a statement on CA Prop 8, which I think people need to hear.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#27652443

Car anyone?

It has a couple of bullet holes in it. I don't think it has run in awhile. Actually, there are 3 cars hiding in the woods.

one more Mendenhall Picture

This too is from North Douglas Island. It gives a good overall view from 10 miles away.

Mendenhall Glacier from Douglas Island

Here pictures of Mendenhall Glacier from North Douglas Island. Most of the other shots were taken at the Glacier. These shots are from about 10 miles away. The ice field did not shrink this past year. They got so much snow and had such a cold and miserable summer that the ice field did not shrink. It stayed about the same or maybe even grew a little.

Fresh Snow

This picture is from our snow a couple of weeks ago. Fresh snow is always great. A fresh start with a new President is great also. History was made this week!

Time to go to the store!

I guess I need to go to the store to buy food. I went to costco last week and when I looked at what I bought, it was long johns, school pants and instant oatmeal. I ate instant oatmeal for dinner and need to actually buy food.

Mendenhall Glacier

I hope to hike up to Mendenhall Glacier today. I will go up the left side and maybe even get on the ice to take a few pictures.

Herman Glacier

Herman Glacier. I had wanted to get up to the glacier before the snow. I am checking out cross country trails too. I found this to be a good cross country trail.

Herman Glacier, Alaska Politics update

Another Herman Glacier shot with the mountain in the background.

Alaska Politics: Ted Stevens is now a convicted felon and he was down in all polls up to the election by 20 points. It appears that he is in a dead even race - weird. There are even fewer people voting than voted in the primary elections. There are about 10% fewer people that voted in the Presidential election than the primary. Even the historically blue voting areas were red. There is talk of election fraud in Alaska. This might be interesting.

Herman Glacier

I got within about 100 yards of the Herman Glacier. Water kept me from getting closer. There is a blue that oomes through the glacial ice when the sun is shining. The color is interesting.
There was raging water coming off the glacier and there was no easy way to get across and I had hiking shoes and not muk boots. By the way, Muk Books are the normal wear in Alaska. They are the rubber mud boots that people wear on farms in the lower 48. I try not to wear them for hiking.

This Herman Glacier trail is a geat bike trail and cross country skiing trail as well.

Herman Glacier

The Herman Glacier is about 20 miles from the Mendenhall Glacier. It is part of the same icefield. Behind the mountain, there is 9000 square miles of ice fields. The ice field itself is over a hundred miles long, I was told. One person said it is 150 miles long. That is quite an ice cube.

Herman Glacier

This is the Herman Glacier. I hiked 4 miles in the woods to see it. (4 Miles out too.)

Mendenhall Glacier

These pictures are of Mendenhall Glacier or the park at Mendenhall. We had snow for 2 days and I raced off and got pictures when the snow was fresh. I passed about 5 cars which had slid off the road. It was a bit slick. The snow lasted for about 5 days before the rain washed it away.

President Obama, Great Speech!

I just heard President-elect Obama give his speech and I am feeling good. We have a President who sounds Presidential. It has been 8 years of cowboy talk and fear mongering. Bush led people by pointing to the worst that anyone could imagine and blaming others. He had inept people making inept decisions and tried hard to bankrupt our nation.

I am feeling hopeful after listening to President Obama. I am proud to see our first black President in my lifetime. Thank you to the people of the United States.

President Obama, Bye Toot

It is 7 PM Alaska time and we now know it is President Obama. I am pleased! The alternative probably would have been the thing to have me move to a foreign country.

I will be trying to get my blog back to just being a boring little thing showing off Juneau, Alaska. I am tired. The polls still are open for 1 more hour in Alaska.

Thank You America for picking the man I felt would be best for a difficult job. Bush is sure leaving a mess for Obama to clean up after.

Vote Obama

Vote Obama!!! For our future! The past 8 years have been disaster! Enough already. Time for change!

Soon, this blog will get back to being my normal, boring, blog with pictures of where ever I am hanging out.

Vote Obama!! Today is the day to make history.

Vote Obama, Juneau, AK rally

Vote Obama.

Pictures are from an Obama rally in Juneau, AK, held a few weeks ago. It was a downpour but more and more people came Many hockey moms and dads against Palin showed up.

Get out and Vote FOR OBAMA, because we need to get as far away from the failed Bush policies as we can. (Bush has made such a big hole - it is going to take a lot to get us out of it but I feel Obama can do a better job than McCain and Palin.)

Vote Obama!

Vote Obama for my Grandkids

Juneau, AK Rally: There were a lot of hockey moms and dads against Palin at this rally.

Bush and the Republicans have run up up over 10 TRILLION dollars of debt because they spend but do not pay as they go. They like to fight wars and give 800 Billion for bailouts but then ask future generations to pay.

It is time for change!

Vote OBAMA - BIDEN!

Vote Obama for my Grandkids

This is from a rally in Juneau, AK.

The Bush legacy is debt, wars on credit cards and ineptness.

TIME FOR CHANGE

Vote for Obama!

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/466.html

Vote Obama, my snowboard

Ash, here is my snowboard. Got a season pass. Guess I am ready.

Since I am trying to get into shape for winter sports, I went hiking today to a glacier. It was a bit over 8 miles in and back. I got to about 100 yards from the glacier but raging water kept me from getting closer. I took pictures and will get those up after the election. This glacier is about 20 miles from Mendenhall but it is part of the same ice field.

Vote Obama, Juneau Rally

Vote Obama! The tilted sign says: PALIN - Not Qualified, Not Ethical, Not Honest