We’ve left our backyard natural; trees, shrubs and all. Our dog, Willis, loves hanging out and exploring in the backyard. And he obsesses over the squirrels who chatter at and relentlessly tease him. He’ll frequently be seen standing staring up into a tree for 5 to 10 minutes or more without moving. A couple days ago Willis had been out for quite a while. A squirrel was chattering nonstop but Willis was surprisingly quiet, so I checked on him. This is what I saw:
I checked again half an hour later. The squirrel was still chattering and Willis hadn’t moved a bit. I looked up and there was the squirrel on a branch not 10 feet up. It was time to get out the camera.
I’m not sure how long the squirrel hung around but Willis didn’t budge and kept staring up at the tree for hours. Like I said earlier, he’s obsessed
Huckleberry, our neighbor Jack’s dog, is a big, friendly, goofy fella that loves frisbee. He drops the frisbee at your feet and barks until you throw it. Lori and I hear Huck’s loud, husky bark several times a day as he and Jack are out front playing. Yesterday, however, we heard Huck make an odd, almost torturous sound we’d never heard before. Turns out, the local family of raccoons were out wandering and took exception to Huck’s running over to greet them. Apparently, they attacked Huck en mass, thus Huck’s painful wail.
By the time Lori and I got outside Jack had chased the raccoons up a cedar in our front yard. There they were, four or five of them, two-thirds of the way up the 75 foot tree just hanging out.
It was tough getting good shots, these raccoons would look away whenever they noticed my camera aimed at them. Apparently they’re a camera-shy bunch. I did manage to get a few good shots and thought I’d share.
Lori had been to all of the states in the USA with one exception: Alaska. I’d never been to Alaska either, so in September of last year we jetted up to Anchorage for some exploring. Our first stop was the AirBnB that would act as our base of operations. It was a small apartment in the basement of a house that we enjoyed. Until evening when it sounded like furniture was being moved. Every evening.
We got up early the next day and drove to Whittier for a day long glacier cruise. It was a beautiful drive southeast on the Seward Highway along the edge of Chugach National Forest on the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. Plenty of turnouts provided ample opportunity for photos.
The Portage Glacier Highway took us into Whittier. But before getting to Whittier you have to pass through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel, also known as the Whittier Tunnel. The Whittier Tunnel is a 2.5 mile long, one lane tunnel through Maynard Mountain. The tunnel is shared between cars and trains. Passage through the tunnel is scheduled, something you have to take into account when traveling to and from Whittier.
There are about 200 permanent residents in Whittier, most of whom live in the same 14 story building, and it seems to be primarily a tourist destination these days. Our glacier cruise with Phillips Cruises set sail from Whittier for a 5 hour cruise.
The cruise took us on Prince William Sound into College Fjord, Harriman Fjord and much more. I was too busy taking pictures to take notes so I’m not sure which glacier is which.
Wildlife sightings were limited to Stellar Sea Lions, Harbor Seals and Sea Otters. Well, there was also a bear sighting but I was on the wrong side of the boat and it had run into the woods before I could get around to that side.
We started day three with a walk on the Tony Knowle Coastal Trail, a 22 mile long trail along the Anchorage waterfront. We started at Kincaid Park, the halfway point, sharing the trail with other walkers and bicyclists. After an hour or so we decided to explore outside of Anchorage.
We then headed north out of Anchorage without a destination. Along the way we decided to to have lunch in Wasilla then hike the Chuoilintnu/Wasilla Creek Trail in the Palmer Hay Flats State Game Refuge. Lunch was at the Cadillac Cafe, a small diner attached to a gas station. The food was the best we had in Alaska, thank you Yelp for your guidance.
It was a beautiful hike on the Chuoilintnu/Wasilla Creek Trail, or at least we thought it was. After a half hour so, the trail we were on didn’t seem to match the description of the Chuoilintnu/Wasilla Creek Trail so we turned back. Shortly after turning around we heard some yelling. “ Hey! Hey you! What are you doing here?” Looking back up the small hill we’d just come down was a man carrying a rifle in front of a truck. In the short discussion that ensued we did determine that we were not on the correct trail but on private property and that we were not welcome there. Apologizing profusely (he was carrying a rifle after all), we quickly walked back to the trail head and got on the right trail.
The rest of the hike was uneventful, fortunately. A quick stop at Bearpaw River Brewing Company to wet our whistles then back to Anchorage.
On the fourth day we headed home, our Alaska adventure complete.
Port Ludlow, “A Village in the Woods by the Bay”, was a logging and sawmill community in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Port Ludlow became the site of a resort, marina and several planned communities in the late 20th century. Home to around 3,000 people, including Lori and me, it is also home to a vast array of wildlife including deer, raccoon, possum, bobcat, bear and cougar, all of which have visited our yard. Deer frequently walk onto our back deck to get apples higher up in our trees. And birds too numerous to mention. Our house is surrounded by tall trees, cedar, fir, pine and aspen. We literally live in the woods. Lori and I moved here from the Palm Springs area almost three years ago and haven’t looked back since.
Our village is situated in the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula on Port Ludlow Bay, an inlet off Puget Sound, and just south of Port Townsend (see my Port Townsend blog https://jmacdphoto.com/port-townsend-waterfront/). “Downtown“ is a gas station with a mini mart post office, medical clinic, a couple restaurants and several small businesses. “Uptown” (across the street and uphill) has a church and several businesses. The marina area has, yes, the Marina but also the Resort, Yacht Club, Beach Club and condos, many of which are vacation rentals. There are also incredible views of the Olympic Mountains from the marina. Port Ludlow is on the edge of the Olympic Rain Shadow, a phenomenon that spares us from much of the rain northwest Washington is known for. This means we can enjoy the 30+ miles of hiking trails in the village without getting as wet.
Here are a few photos of our Village in the Woods by the Bay.
The Yacht Club
Yacht races on the lagoon
The Olympic Mountains
The trails
One of the many trails
The Port Ludlow Waterfall
A sample of the wildlife (haven’t gotten pictures of cougar, bear and bobcat. Yet.)
Yesterday, Lori and I took the van out to the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula in search of camping areas we’d want to spend time at. The weather was rainy and cold, but we did find a couple areas that we will visit in better weather. Because of the weather, my camera stayed in the van. Until our final stop. We walked out to Tongue Point to see the view and found, sitting atop the remnants of a tree on an island about 200 yards away, a bald eagle. I ran back to the van, collected my camera and managed to get a couple good shots from different angles.
Every year my buddies Paul and Al and I go camping in the eastern Sierras. We go to the same campground every year, Big Bend, just outside the east entrance to Yosemite. For four or five days Paul and Al fish, I take photographs and some guitar playing gets done. A few years back we were sitting around our campsite when we noticed a commotion, other campers crowded around near the creek. Not wanting to be left out, we jumped up and ran over to the group, me grabbing my camera just in case. We were rewarded with a bear crossing to the other side of the creek on some fallen logs. While Paul, Al and the other campers stood and watched, I sat down at the edge of the creek and started shooting. The bear put on quite a show; sitting up watching us campers, scratching in places that shall remain unnamed and pacing back and forth, as well as using a tree to scratch its back. I continued to shoot as the bear moved around until I heard someone from behind (Paul or Al, not sure which) say quietly: “John”. Looking back I noticed everyone was slowly backing away. Looking forward I noticed that the bear was on the logs crossing the creek, much closer than I realized and moving in our direction. While picking myself up off the ground, I looked back to ensure there were others that I could out run should the bear decide to charge (you don’t have to be the fastest, just not the slowest). Fortunately, the bear only wanted some fish in a pool on our side of the creek. Neither the bear nor any campers were harmed in the production of these photos. Wildlife photography.
