Caution

These beautiful animals look so at peace and docile in the surroundings where they are well cared for at the Tiger Rescue. They are not tame and are treated here not like pets but as wild animals who have a great place to live out their lives. The stories of how they were rescued to live here are amazing to someone like myself who did not even begin to realize how many of these animals are kept as pets privately across the country.

“The wicked run away when no one is chasing them, but the godly are as bold as lions.” Proverbs 28:1 NLT

Experience

At a small museum in Telkeetna there was a model of Mount Denali. I was able to catch a talk by this gentleman who had climbed it five times and scores of others mountains in North America primarily. He was no longer doing “the big mountain” - I think he said his last climb was six years ago, but was still actively climbing. The stories were great. Love to hear from people who have expertise and are passionate about what they do.

Almost

It has been a mild winter here so far. February is often full of surprises but we are also getting closer to March and the start of spring.. Yay.

Do Stripes Make Me Look Fat?

DONT ANSWER YES!

Carolina Tiger Rescure near Pittsboro, NC. And, yes, he is behind a chain link fence.

Hot n' Cold

Sunrise over the Blue Ridge Mountains near Fishersville, Virginia. It snowed the day before and left a beautiful morning.

Having a Blast on their night out.

Cindy and I were walking along the coast in Washington at a WWI era fort where these ladies were being photographed. I think they were from the same office but not sure. Anyway, I like the photo.

Interruption

This Black Bear, spoted near Hyder, AK, stopped eating a freshly caught salmon long enough to stare at the photographer. Fortunately salmon dinner was the overwhelming favorite.

The Real Reason...

… you might want to stay in Stewart BC (see yesterday’s post) is the Toaster Museum. Sadly it was not open the day we were there so, of course, that is a reason to return. Full disclosure, I have a stop planned at the National Mustard Museum in Wisconsin this summer.

“Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!” What do people get for all their hard work under the sun?” Ecclesiastes 1: 2,3 NLT

Reservations

This active hotel offers “modern rooms in rustic settings” so you know what you are getting into but I would imagine your might have a bit of apprehension as you find the “lobby” of your hotel in Stewart, BC. Stewart is at the head of the Portland Canel and the northern most ice free harbor in Canada. Before WWI the population was over 10,000 people and nearby Hyder, AK (only accessible via Canada) was also a large booming mining town. Today, Hyder has a population of about 80 and Start less than 500. Beautiful scenery and lots of bears!

Glide

Serene moment across the glassy lake in British Columbia off the Cassier Highway.

Klaune National Park in Canada

This is a vast wilderness area seen in the distance across this small lake in the upper portion of British Columbia. It joins the Wrangell St Elias NP in Alaska and some smaller units in Canada.

Before Its Time

This car is an Owen Magnito that used a gasoline engine to charge an electric motor that drove the rear wheels. It used regenerative braking like in the newest F-1 cars and an electromagnetic transmission - both very creative approaches to driving an automobile. This early true hybrid was very expensive, 6,500.00 and never worked as well in life as it did in theory. However, it is a beautiful car, particularly in this color scheme a deep grey, bright blue wheels and some purple hued metal work.

Distance

We were quite fortunate to see many animals from a safe distance yet many were very close. In Alaska you will also see animals from a significant distance that you would love to see closer. So take a good pair of binoculars. These Dall Sheep were shot with my telephoto lens at 350 focal length. You can see two in the right side of the frame and five more well down slope from the pair. There were more higher up the mountain not in this shot.

Fading Light

The tundra by this date near the end of August in central Alaska was a bright red and it was spectacular. This shot was near our campsite for the night from about 300 feet off the road - which took awhile to navigate the spongy and uneven terrain.

Majestic

“You are glorious and more majestic than the everlasting mountains.” Psalm 76:4 NLT

Not the Westminster

They have their own version in Alaska. Here a young trainer puts his dog through the paces. Note this is a brown & white dog of medium size with perky ears - if you need specifics.

Blue Ribbon Winner

From the Alaska State Fair, loved the color on this one.

Odds Are...

Alaska has a fair share of the unusual. At the State Fair we saw The Rat Race and that certainly fits in the “really” category. A gerbil is released from a small space in the middle of this wheel. It stares for a minute or two at the crowd and then darts for a hole. If your 25 cent bet is on the color that corresponds with the hole you can win up to a dollar. The Alaska legislature had to pass special rules to allow this long tradition to continue at the fair. I lost 50 cents - I think the gerbil did not like pink.

Off

The Seaplane from Alaska Bear Adventures leaving us behind at Lake Clark National Park where we transferred to an airboat to cross the wide mud flats to view grizzly bears. It did return:)

Bird's Eye View

Flying over Glacier Bay National Park was one of the highlights of our Alaska trip. This is one of the glaciers that you might see from a cruise liner - but a very different perspective.