Change of seasons

Tried some moose hunting for a day and a half when the winds were low.  Beautiful water and weather, lots of griz, but no moose or deer.  Maybe I'll get a chance again in October.  

So far 13 days in a row of no rain and the forecast says ...

JUNEAU BOROUGH AND NORTHERN ADMIRALTY ISLAND-
400 PM AKDT THU SEP 23 2010 
 

.TONIGHT... 

   PERIODS OF RAIN. LOWS AROUND 46. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 

   15 MPH. 
 

.FRIDAY...

   RAIN...BREEZY. HIGHS AROUND 53. SOUTHEAST WIND 15 TO 

   25 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 100 PERCENT.
 

.FRIDAY NIGHT... 

   RAIN. LOWS AROUND 46. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 

   20 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 90 PERCENT. 
 

.SATURDAY... 

   RAIN. HIGHS AROUND 52. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 20 MPH. 

   CHANCE OF RAIN 100 PERCENT. 
 

.SATURDAY NIGHT... 

   RAIN. LOWS AROUND 48. SOUTHEAST WIND 10 TO 

   15 MPH. CHANCE OF RAIN 100 PERCENT. 

.SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY...

   RAIN. HIGHS AROUND 53. LOWS AROUND 47. 

.MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY... 

  RAIN LIKELY. LOWS AROUND 44. HIGHS 

  AROUND 52. 

.TUESDAY NIGHT...RAIN LIKELY. LOWS AROUND 43. 

.WEDNESDAY...RAIN. HIGHS AROUND 51. 
 

.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...RAIN LIKELY. LOWS AROUND 43. 
 

.THURSDAY...RAIN LIKELY. HIGHS AROUND 51. 

Incredible September weather

So I don't think we have seen a cloud in about 8 days at this point and it is supposed to remain clear through next week! Highs around 70, lows 35-45. Evenings and weekends have been filled with lots of hiking, trail running, berry picking, beach walking, swimming, camping, smoking coho and salmon jerky, and some half-ass hunting effort. Typically it is raining about an inch a day every day this time of the year, so we have been taking advantage of the sun.

Eatin' his stick on the beach

Beach pit stop after picking red huckleberries for some jam

Good boy

Sunset on the way home last Sunday

A rough day for Teddy ... watch out Mr. Whale

Hiking up Mt. Juneau during the week

No messing around .... up, up, up!

Stout leading the way

Mr. Energy

He even has time to pose for a picture since he is ahead of us

Hey, we're not to the top yet, but it looks like he is getting pretty tired

Maybe you should learn to pace yourself a bit

Don't worry he made it to the top

Towards Juneau from near the top.  Not bad after I took Stout on a 3.5 hour run up here and along some of the ridges two days earlier.

First batch of coho to smoke ... also made some pink salmon jerky

Trail run up Eaglecrest after work ... made it to the alpine

A break on top of the ridge

Made it!  Mt. Ben Stewart and Cropley Lake in the background

Running the ridge near sunset

Hillary Stout and I stayed at a cabin on Admiralty Is. on Friday night to check out bears and try to find some deer if we were lucky.  With the salmon in the brown bears are everywhere, so you need to be on guard!

Walking the intertidal after watching a mom bear with THREE cubs closer to the salmon stream.  We watch with the binocs from a couple hundred yards away.

Contemplating life as a Labrador

While I was out stalking muskegs for an hour or two for deer, Hillary stands guard at the cabin.  Stout gets nervous, so Hillary walks out to the porch and peers around the cabin .... right there about 10 ft away is an adolescent brown bear!  He doesn't really care that she is there, but she promptly went back into the cabin, closed the door, and hugged Stout while he fell asleep.  Actually, she got the nerves to venture back out on the porch for some pics.  Here it is about 40 yds from the cabin.

Try to find some dinner

Keep the great weather coming!

Admiralty work party ... whale watching

Last weekend Hillary and I went on a whale watching tour courtesy of her bosses David and Diana.  We were fortunate to see a group of about 7 whales for awhile.  We even saw one group bubble net feed shortly after we got there.  What is bubble net feeding?  From National Geographic online:  "Each whale has its own role in the process: one blows bubbles around the herring school to keep the fish from escaping, others vocalize to scare or confuse the fish and help bring them to the surface, and others herd the fish together and upwards. Once the fish are at the surface, all the whales lunge upwards with their huge mouths wide open and try to gulp as many herring as they can."

As the whales abruptly surfaced from the bubble feed