Just a reminder to send in your photos. Today’s come from reader Mark Richardson’s decade-old trip to Alaska. His notes are indented:
These are a mixture of wildlife and landscape photos from a 2006 fishing trip in Alaska. We flew into Anchorage and drove south toward the Kenai peninsula. We met our fishing guides at the Soldatna airport and took a small airplane up the Cook inlet to a secluded fishing cabin. We were fishing for Coho (silver) salmon as they were heading towards fresh water rivers to spawn. Since they were still in the ocean, they were feeding (salmon stop feeding once they hit fresh water). We were catching them using lightweight fly rods. It was a hoot!The first three are photos of wildlife, two of which are common animals seen on WEIT. The rest are landscapes- the first six were taken from the plane.A red fox (Vulpes vulpes) that hung around our camp looking for scraps. One of the fishing guides fed it pieces of steak, so no wonder it liked to loiter.
A juvenile Grizzly bear, Ursus arctos, combing the beach for noms. Grizzly bears were a common sight and this fact kept us all alert.
The ubiquitous (at least in Alaska) bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus.
Soldatna seen from the plane shortly after take-off.
A colorful landscape from the plane of an alpine lake.
Big country up in Alaska- there is a glacier in the background.
A beautiful braided river.
A steaming volcano in the far background.
The runway at our fishing camp- not cool!
Low tide, big sky and two fishermen.
Not wildlife…just some essentials for the perfect fishing trip!
Looks like an exhilarating trip
I don’t follow a couple of these pics – the zoomed in one – is that a bear?
The runway – under heavy clouds?
… you’re not the kind to release all your caught fish are you? I am impressed how people can do that, but I couldn’t- I’d want to eat ‘em all…
“I don’t follow a couple of these pics – the zoomed in one – is that a bear?”
I was momentarily confused too. The “white” water in the mid-ground of the photo blends in with WEIT’s color scheme – making it look like two photos. The bear, of course, is at the bottom of the single frame.
😉
No, the photo that goes with the title “The runway at our fishing camp- not cool!”, is the one below the words – showing the stony landing strip [the beach] parallel to the water’s edge. Looks OK to me – very flat & plenty long enough for a small plane [If my sense of scale is accurate].
Oh I see the low tide now – but I think that one also had a low tide…
… there was also a picture of beer … perhaps an explanation…. JK
I think you mixed up a couple captions. Some of the portrait shots look like two photos (as davidintoronto pointed out).
I catch and release trout and some other game fish. We kept the salmon. The limit was 3 per day per person. We all (6 of us) limited out every day. There are LOTS of salmon in those waters.
Alright I think I got it
As for catch-and-release, I think it’s abive all admirable (I’d want to EAT at least ONE…) and interesting- how many other hunting activities can be like that?
Yeah…I don’t think there are any other hunting activities like catch and release. Maybe there should be- how about non-subsistence hunters using paintball guns. Esp. big game hunters!
Miller Lite? I suppose it substitutes for bottled drinking water & might be a little cheaper? Can’t think of any other reason to take it fishing!
Reminds me of a fishing joke.
Never go fishing with a Mormon, go with two. If you bring one he’ll drink all your beer.
Cynic!
Yeah, the Miller Lite would have been for my uncle. I drank the IPA and Heineken. Though I’ve lost some enthusiasm for IPA’s over the years. The IBUs have gotten out of hand.
Big country up in Alaska- there is the remnant of a glacier in the background. There, I fixed it. 🙂
The glacier may be smaller now than it was in the past, but there are still clear moraine lines and increasing debris towards the toe, so it looks like it’s still moving to me. Which is what makes the difference between a snow patch (even if permanent) and a glacier in most definitions I’ve seen.
For a borderline case – Otzi the Otzthal Iceman was moved something over a metre in about 5000 years, producing the dislocation of the left shoulder, but not separating him from his equipment.
My quibble –
It’s meandering, but not braided. Looks like seepage-drainage from behind a gravel bar, but the viewpoint doesn’t show the entire path.
The Wikipedia page has better examples. Pedantically, there are statistical tools for differentiating between the cross-bedding structures produced by braided, meandering, delta-top and various wave-influenced sand deposits. Particularly if your outcrop consists of micro-resistivity traces around the inside of a wellbore and (if you’re lucky, and can afford it, and it doesn’t shatter) some core sample. It can make a difference to the likelihood of lateral and vertical continuity of productive porosity-permeability fairways through the sediment body, which in turn can make tens of percent difference in your predicted volumetrics for a prospect, and therefore to the economics of development.
Thanks for these clarifications.
Looks like a wonderful a fun trip Mark! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Glad you enjoyed the photos!
Spectacular scenery and, in my inexpert opinion, some really engrossing photographs with marvelous colour patterns.
Thank You 🙂
Looks great!
I can’t imagine camping in grizzly territory. But I’m so pleased to see the photos. Thank you!