More grizzlies

A bit farther down the road, was another paddock with two grizzlies in it; mother and cub. They seemed bored and restless, pacing up and down the same lenght of fence over and over again. The only bit of entertainment came when some complete fuckin moron dragged his DOG down there, to look at the bears. The poor animal was having a hysterical breakdown and the bears strode towards them with "lunch time" clearly written in their faces. Both dog (happily) and owner (sadly) were lucky there was a strong fence in place.

Cute little cub with fluffy ears. And sharp teeth.




"Lunch is served"

Grizzly bear!

Wednesday, Court went out fishing and Albie and moi went to the Alaskan Wildlife Conservation Center. It wasn't all it was cracked up to be, but still provided some nice photo ops. I'll start off with this lone, male grizzly bear who was quite the entertainer. We were quite lucky in that just as we were going to leave, an employee came over to feed him some liver, so we got in some good shots of that. All grizzly pics here.

At first he seemed a bit bored, playing with everything in sight.

Wheeeeeeeee!








This trunk really had it coming.




On the one hand, seeing a bear come running towards you, is a frightening sight. On the other hand, not so much when he ends up looking like this.


He was scratching the ground impatiently.


He got his piece of liver, which he proceeded to lick thoroughly before biting into it.




Nom, nom.

A not so gracious bald eagle

The bald eagle is the national symbol of America. Most pictures show it soaring across the sky in majestic flight. It is considered a noble and gracious creature. So I thought I'd show you the other side. As we were driving home from Exit glacier, we took a little sidetrip down a small road, because I thought (mistakenly) that it would provide access to the river. Instead we got in lots and lot of pictures of this bald eagle perched in a fir tree. I'm sorry to say this, but he spent most of his time scratching.

All pics here.

"IT ITCHES!"


"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh..."


"Let's see what I've got in my inner pockets..."


"Awww for fucks sake!"


"Sweet bliss"


It's hard to look dignified after that.


The light that evening was just fantastic.

Exit Glacier

Just outside our final Alaskan city of Seward, lies Exit Glacier. It's not particularly big, but it is quite accessible, and the surroundings are pretty. Also, there's BEARS around there.

I went up there by my own sweet self on Tuesday morning, while Albie and Court were on a boat cruise, then we all went in the evening, lack of daylight not posing a big problem this far north... All pics here.

Just before the glacier is a wild and wonderful national forest. Clutching bear spray in a sweaty hand, I ventured 10-15 minutes into the forest on the right hand side of the river.


At this nice little stream I turned back.


The forest.


The glacier.


The conqueror.


Nice area, but sadly devoid of bears.


The road goes ever on and on...


Two weeks before we came, the snow went OVER this rock according to the park rangers.

Quote of the Day

You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who can do nothing for them or to them.
- Malcolm Forbes

Quote of the Day

I know of no more disagreeable situation than to be left feeling generally angry without anybody in particular to be angry at.
- Frank Colby

Quote of the Day

Saxum volutum non obducitur musco
[A rolling stone does not gather moss]
- Publilius Syrus

The Seward Highway

Monday evening, we began our last trek down from Anchorage to Seward. It was one of the nicest drives I've ever taken; it felt like we were going through a 3D postcard. Snow covered mountains, blue water, green fields, it was all just stunning. All pics here.

The road down from Anchorage. On the left were tons of waterfalls, which I plan to photograph on the way back.






Eh? Eh!

Bald Eagle

No, this is not a self portrait. We actually saw a bald eagle on the way to Anchorage Monday, it swept across the road a few meters from our car and came to a halt on a fallen tree some ways behind us. We promptly stopped and started taking pictures. A few minutes later, a huge truck came roaring by, which scared the birdie up into a tree on the other side of the road. We must have been there a good ten minutes, taking pictures and watching the eagle.

All pics here.

Pondering life.


Reaching a conclusion.


Fucking off outta there.


Wheeeeee.


Ahhhh, much better.

Fairbanks to Anchorage

Monday, we drove all the way from Fairbanks down to Anchorage, the same way we'd come up a (frighteningly) few days earlier. I took some nice pics this time too, including of a moose. We also saw a fox running over the road, but I was to busy to LOOK to get my camera up.

All pics from Alaska Route 3 here.

"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up"

Quote of the Day

Solitude, in the sense of being often alone, is essential to any depth of meditation or of character; and solitude in the presence of natural beauty and grandeur, is the cradle of thought and aspirations which are not only good for the individual, but which society could ill do without.
- John Stuart Mill

Quote of the Day

Teamwork is wasting half of one's time explaining to others why they are wrong.
- Georges Wolinski

Sunset over Fairbanks

The sun doesn't set for long in these parts, but we had quite a show when we came out of WalMart in Fairbanks around midnight Sunday. For once, I'll shut up and let the pics do the talking.

It's not often you find beauty in a WalMart parking lot...




Heaven's on fire.