New Pics from the Neighborhood
Hilary is in the field this week, collaring polar bears out on the Chukchi Sea pack ice. They're basing out of the Red Dog Mine facilities. I'm sure the scene looks like this. That's one of those North Slope pig-bear hybrids. Or maybe its a grizzly or polar bear in a flimsy harness. Either way, hand-feeding it a frozen seal head probably isn't the best idea (note his buddies' expressions).
Do the these faces remind you of Max from Where the Wild Things Are?
Warmer days are bringing the moose out.
Someday The Deadliest Catch will expose the real story of the Bering Sea crab fishery: Tsunami of Terror!
This area at the end of King's Way will all be houses in the next 5 years.
The mud lurks just below.
I passed an elf and some guy named Golem in here the other day.
Crow berries, buried under the snow, seem to survive the winter just fine.
Only one drift left on the airstrip.
Hil and I shot in a bunch of elevation points so I could make a contour map so the draftswoman could draw up the garage plan so the concrete guy could give us a $30,000 bid for a garage foundation (excavation not included). I think we'll just go to the mall next time.
Knik River side channel.
Moose gangs with strong penmanship skills displace hoards of illiterate hobos. Downtown Anchorage businesses cheer.
Matanuska River Valley. One of Alaska's earliest USGS geologic maps was made for this area and the coal prospects nearby.
The Chugach Mountains grow with distance up the Knik River.
Wasilla gets a bad rap for its abundant strip malls, Bubbas, and jacked-up trucks. But Wasilla's mountain views (and pawn shops) are actually pretty good.
A girl dances with hula hoops on the beach along the ice-choked Knik River.
My daily walk around Bear Valley as interpreted by Rockwell Kent. Those are Socialist yachts down there.
Mt. Spurr and houses along Carl Road from a vantage point near the old cabin above Brewsters Road where the ridge trail meets the road. Its just down from the Moose Hospital. You know the place.
Mt. Susitna from the deck.
Mt. Iliamna volcano in morning light on my drive to work.
Busiest guardrail in Anchorage: Heights Hill Rd and Jamie Rd intersection.
Denali and Foraker.
The big culvert is still flowing.
Upper Carl Road.
Next year's firewood.
Fire Island in storm light.
The neighborhood's junior moose walks this path through the yard every couple of days around mid-day.
The Mushin' Mortician is at it again.
The ever vigilent Piggy keeps watch.
Glacierized 2015.
Stands of mountain Hemlock growth thick on the north aspects, where soils are thicker.
Downtown Anchorage (108' elevation) is 25 minutes away. The mountain (20,332' elevation) is 4 hours away.
Probably a squirrel, real or imagined.
Three ridges: Rabbit Creek Heights-Bear Valley, Bear Valley-Upper Rabbit Creek drainage, Chugach Park peaks-blue sky.
Our house is bottom-left, between the two trees.
Denali over Knik Arm.
Mt. Spurr, Fire Island, Potter Marsh from the end of Paine Road. No belugas today.
Mt. Spurr from the deck.
The second snow of the season marks the return of periglacial conditions.
View from the end of the spur road.
There is a surprising amount of windblown silt in the local soil profile.
