Monthly Archives: October 2013

National Parks, Photography Experiment, Troy's Blog

Waterfalls

6 Comments

Salmon Cascades in Olympic National Park

Earlier this year I wrote about Chasing Waterfalls in my attempt at improving my photographs. You can read about that here…. While that portion of the photography experiment didn’t turn out very well, it did give me practice for this next opportunity at capturing waterfalls.

The Pacific Northwest is very scenic with a number of beautiful landscapes to enjoy. The combination of mountains and precipitation create stunning views. Of course finding a day without rain or snow to get out and explore these views is a little more challenging. Fortunately for our trip, there was very little rain allowing us to get out and see some amazing waterfalls. The photographs show this all for themselves so I’ll concentrate on showing them.

Madison Falls by the Elwha River

This waterfall is a very short hike from the nearest parking area by the Elwha River in Olympic National Park and is definitely worth taking time to see.

Even Driving There are Several Waterfalls Next to the Road

While stopped at a pull out near Crescent Lake to take in the view, this waterfall was right behind us.

Crescent Lake

The view we stopped to take in when we saw the waterfall next to the road.

Sol Duc Falls

This waterfall is a bit more of a hike but again was worth the time to explore.

Canyon Carved Out by the Sol Duc River

A beautiful canyon covered in mosses and plants carved by the Sol Duc River.

Exploring, Troy's Blog

Oh Look… A Park–Pokegama State Natural Area

1 Comment

_DSC5961

Recently we stayed in Superior, Wisconsin while in the area for a wedding in Duluth, Minnesota. The wedding took place on Friday night allowing time on Saturday to do some exploring. While planning this trip I came across a state natural area about 15 minutes away from our hotel and thought it looked like a nice scenic drive during the peak of fall colors in that area. Saturday morning I was laying in bed awake and it was still dark out. Well, getting back to sleep was a near impossible task for me, why not take this opportunity to get to Pokegama Wetland State Natural Area around sunrise and see if there is anything wondering about. By the time I arrived daylight was already showing up. A windy and cloudy morning told me the likelihood of seeing much for wildlife was little but the scenery was still worth the effort.

Beautiful Fall Colors

While driving in this state natural area I came upon a couple of trails. this was a little unexpected as they didn’t show up while reading about this spot. The trails are more for skiing than hiking. Still, they are there so why not use them. Turns out, there are a number of trails going through this area I didn’t know about. I’m a sucker for a good trail with nice scenery and a chance to see wildlife. Someplace else to explore if I’m in the area again. The original plan was to drive through this state natural area, stop once and awhile to take pictures and be back at the hotel to grab breakfast with everyone else. Ahh, the best of plans.

One of the Trails

Once on the trail I was making good time but the lure of what’s ahead kept motivating me to go further. Getting back in time to have breakfast with everyone else soon disappeared along with being back in about an hour. As I was making my way back to the car I took a wrong turn and did a loop back to trails I had walked earlier making the return that much later. Still, the fall landscape in Northern Wisconsin was more than enough to make this excursion worth while.

The Fall Landscape of Northern Wisconsin

Experience Gained: Taking note of the time and direction at the start of the hike using a compass or GPS if there is signal makes getting back to that spot  easier. Also, the speed of hiking easier trails is considerably faster especially when I’m the only one hiking. Not that hiking alone is my preference. Sharing the experience is important to me.

Some of the Wetland Areas

Gorgeous Fall Colors

Alaskan Adventure, Troy's Blog

A Day in Skagway

4 Comments

The Town of Skagway

Just coming off of a cruise ship and you’ve got a full day in Skagway. How to spend that day exploring? There are a number of things to see and do here. First off, the most popular attraction is to hop on the White Pass rail, sit back and enjoy the amazing countryside all the way to the Canadian Border and back. The mountains, lakes, and waterfalls are very impressive.

White Pass Train Pulling into the Canadian Border

We choose not to do this. Why? Partially because that’s what most people do and partially because of the cost. Is there a better way to spend our time for the money spent? Turns out, this was probably a very wise choice. During the summer it is very common to have cloudy, rainy, cool weather. This translates into very poor viewing conditions. Especially the morning we were there, visibility was about 50 –100 feet. That’s not to say that the entire train ride was like that but a good portion of it was on this day. The photo below shows the visibility most of the way up the mountain. If you can believe it there is a car not far in front of us with it’s lights on and you can’t see it. Neither could we making a trip up the mountain somewhat disappointing. Especially if you paid a hefty price for each person to ride a train through this incredibly scenic country. Don’t get the wrong idea. This wouldn’t be such a popular excursion unless most people enjoyed it and saw the countryside.

Dense Fog Surrounded Us All the Way up the Mountain

What else can you do in Skagway?A walk through this gold town is interesting however also obviously a tourist spot due to all of the souvenir stores. Part of this area contains the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park. Very interesting information about the beginnings of Skagway and its importance in US History. Part of this park include the Chilkoot Trail. From the cruise ships there are a few excursions you can take that will give you a feel for this trail and surrounding area that many people seeking gold over a hundred years ago walked. We did enjoy a short time downtown in Skagway and learned a little about the gold rush here.

Downtown Skagway

Another option for exploring this destination in a day is to rent a car. Sourdough Rental was the company we used. It took a little extra effort to reserve the rental but worked out quite well. We had three cars for our entire group and all of them had over 120,000 miles on them and all of them got us to where we wanted to go without any problems. Since the cruise ship was docked at this port for 13 hours we had plenty of time and flexibility with the freedom of our own car for the day to explore the many sights not available within walking distance of the ship. In addition, the cost was the same as one person taking the White Pass rail to Canada and back with more comfortable seats. Only we had five people in the car.

Our Rental Car

Sourdough Rental is a short walk from the port and they provide a suggested itinerary that allows you to see the  mountains, national park, and possibly wildlife at certain times of the day. That’s all for another post or two coming up however, the drive into the mountains is on the Klondike Highway which essentially follows the White Pass rail lines which is how we knew what conditions the train drove through. So if you’re feeling adventurous while in Skagway, a rental car may be the way to explore this area. Just make sure of one thing – keep track of time so you don’t miss your ship!

The Port in Skagway

Alaskan Adventure, Troy's Blog

Some of the Wildlife in Glacier Bay

5 Comments

A Pod of Orcas

While glaciers may be the focus of Glacier Bay National Park, wildlife is abundant and exciting to watch. Fortunately, most of the wildlife became visible after the glaciers were well in the rear view mirror so a decision on what to watch was not required. For some time whales were surfacing with some regularity with a spout over here or the back of a humpback off in the distance. A highlight was when you would see a tail reach out of the water. After a little while of whale watching we observed several spouts together indicating a number of whales close together which was abnormal with every other whale we had seen up to this point.

Zeroing in on this group with binoculars confirmed a group of whales until one of them came out of the water further. The distinctive white oval on the nose of this whale told of a pod of orcas coming our way. I had really hoped to see killer whales while exploring Alaska and couldn’t believe this was what I was looking at. In the picture above, several dorsal fins of these orcas are seen swimming together. Very exciting! Fortunately there were two more pods of orcas which could be seen from the cruise ship during the short time near Alaska. Unfortunately there where no real great pictures of these to show here. Especially since one of the killer whales came up out of the water creating a spectacular sight. It will have to live as a memory.

Sea Otter Swimming By

Another creature that became plentiful near the entrance to Glacier Bay were sea otters. They almost look as though they are just out for a casual swim enjoying the day. Maybe they were. Fun to watch as they troll along in the water not really paying attention to this huge cruise ship passing by. Probably have seen plenty of these ships throughout the summer as this was the last week in August.

Our most impressive memory from the wildlife in Glacier Bay National Park was seeing a humpback whale breach. I understand that this photo below is not all that spectacular but seeing in unfold with your own eyes is. Keep in mind that this photo was taken about 13 stories up using a wide view since you never know where something will happen. While cruising along in Glacier Bay we decided to set up a GoPro using the time-lapse function which allowed us to catch this event. Some of that time-lapse follows below.

Breaching Humpback Whale

 

Just Before the Whale Emerged

The Nose is Beginning to Show

 

Almost Completely Out of the Water

Fully Out of the Water

Returning to the Water with a Splash