alaska wildlife: Climb that mountain.... - 05/07/09 09:22 PM
I swore I would never, ever make that trip again.  The last time I did, it cost a pretty penny to charter a helicopter to fly me off the mountain.  For some reason I have an aversion to looking out the window of a bus (driven by an undoubtedly high college kid who looks like he's one toke away from driving us all to a certain death) and seeing terra firma... 1,500 feet straight down.  Nope.  Sorry. Just not gonna do it.

This past weekend the boss and I took some much needed R&R time and headed south to Denali … (28 comments)

alaska wildlife: Bullwinklette and Friends - 04/08/09 11:32 PM
One of the tidbits we always pass along to folks new to Alaska is to mind your pets and children when outside and never leave them unattended. Bears, wolves, and moose are routinely spotted in local neighborhoods.  While we're a little bigger than the fictional town of Cicely on Northern Exposure, we still regularly see critters wandering around town oblivious to the urban sprawl. 
This is still their country.
I snapped these photos this afternoon near the Airport Way/University Avenue intersection.  Although there were lots of rubberneckers and a few people, including yours truly, snapping photo's, Mamma and Baby were too … (55 comments)

alaska wildlife: Northern Lights - 11/18/08 09:40 PM
As can be attested to by the photo's on the right side of my blog I'm somewhat of an amateur photographer. Over the years I have taken tens of thousands of photo's that now sit in steamer trunks, photo albums, are stored on CD's and online and even have a few stacked in shoe boxes waiting to be organized. I've found it's a great way to take my mind off work. Scotch also works well but that's another story. to gather enough light for the photo. As I'm standing there I look across the river and see something moving. The cold … (30 comments)

alaska wildlife: They're Back.... - 01/09/08 08:25 PM
Not that long ago I posed a blog about the wolves that had been hanging around our area. Well, it looks like they're back. Two residents at 9.5 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road spotted the wolves in their driveways. The first report was of two very large black wolves; the second sighting was only one. One, however, is quite enough.
Please be diligent when letting your pets out or when you're outside. Although the wolves haven't shown any aggression toward humans, they have shown that they aren't afraid of us. The last sightings in early December had several in a driveway … (9 comments)

alaska wildlife: Use Caution: Local Wildlife Is Feeling Frisky - 12/04/07 05:35 PM
The Alaska Department of Fish and Game and the Alaska State Troopers are warning residents to be alert and take precautions again the pack of wolves that are currently roaming around the area.
Residents of 14-30 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road have reported several sightings including some very close encounters. Two dogs have reportedly been killed by very aggressive wolves. A third dog was almost killed but was saved by its owner by chasing the wolves in his vehicle. Other reports put the wolf pack around the Chena Lakes Recreation Area of North Pole.
We're very close to Chena Lakes and … (8 comments)