Thursday, July 14, 2011

Day 29- Back on US soil, Alaska

First off to all my friends of French decent, you know who you are, I want to wish them a Happy Bastille Day, July 14th is the day the peasants stormed the infamous prison, freed the political prisoners wrongfully incarcerated and began the overthrow of the aristocracy. Within months the cells were once more full but this time it was the people of means, of royal blood even who found themselves in jeopardy, Most, in time, lost their head to Madame la Guillotine. Our day was almost as brutal. We left Squanga airstrip and continued on our way to Whitehorse, Haines Jct, and Beaver Creek , all gas stops. The gray skies of early morning turned into lowering rain filled clouds and by afternoon, we were in a constant and miserably cold rain. The roads we traveled today must win some kind of prize. Carl fought almost two hundred km of heaved, sunken, graveled, rutted and just plain miserable roads. As we drove, my eyes were constantly looking for something to lift our photographic spirits and we did find a very cooperative Bald Eagle just coming in for a landing in the top of a fir tree. It was just windy and wet enough where he or she kept fluffing the feathers and using the wings to steady it’s position in the tree. I just love eagles. In fact, truth be told, I am in awe of the beautiful diversity that the Lord has bestowed on our world. I find just as much joy in watching a squirrel scamper about looking for places to stash some booty for another time as I do the majestic Bison on the prowl for his ladies’ attention and both can be quite comical in their own right. I observed two different types of bears yesterday and could have stayed for hours watching their personalities develop. They are amazing creatures, one and all. Later in the day, while the roads were still pure crap, the clouds did lift some and we were treated to some of the Kluane ( clu Wa ne ) Range. If they are half as spectacular as I think they are, a clear day will know the wind right out of me. We skirted the Kluane Lake, a huge body of water and I was fascinated by this one island poking up through the low lying mist. It reminded me of Brigadoon appearing from the mists of time every 100 years. Okay, call me a romantic. We pass through the US Border with no trouble and headed for Tok, Alaska but didn’t quite make it that far. You see, we left an hour earlier than usual, gained another hour when we entered Alaska and fought those awful roads. Carl pulled into this lovely rest area overlooking the Tetlin Nature Preserve. Oh, and the second bright spot in our day was our first Alaska Moose browsing in a bog. She’s quite a ways from the road, I pulled her in the best I could with my lens at 300mm, the highest it would go and I will keep my fingers crossed. I’m really hoping for some wonderful wildlife experiences these next few weeks. And before I forget, on our way to the beautiful rest area we spotted two pairs of swans, one with 5 signets and a very brief glimpse of a Lynx. The photographer missed the lynx because her camera was in the case on the seat next to her (I confess!)

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