Moose Hunt - September 2010

The 2010 hunting season was sort of a bummer for D (and me, since it left us without a lot of meat). Normally, our two garage chest freezers and fridge are filled with bear, caribou, shrimp, salmon and halibut - plus anything D brings home from his trips back to the Midwest. With his 5 week across-the-inlet construction job in the spring, the wedding, and a busy fall season at work, he wasn't able to commit as much time to hunting last year and we went without bear and caribou meat. This year I'm saying GO FORTH AND HUNT! He'll take the boat out this spring for Prince William Sound black bear and probably hunt for grizzly up north using the snowmachine. This fall it'll be either caribou or moose.

D wanted to moose hunt up north near one of the lake systems, so we packed up for a September weekend trip. The temperatures at night were below freezing but these fall days still held a bit of warmth to them, enough for us to strip down to our t-shirts during the day.

(If you are my Facebook friend, these photos may look familiar since most were posted last fall.)

During our drive north to the lakes.

Juvenile bald eagle watching the boat launch.

Beautiful fall Alaska day.

Since we have a v-hull boat (and not a flat bottom river boat) D had to be careful at the launch and while we explored the lakes. Some parts were very shallow and the last thing we wanted was to bottom out and get stuck. Having a prop engine is great for deep rivers and our forays into Prince William Sound and Kachemak Bay, but a jet boat would be safer on lakes and shallow rivers.

Summer is officially over when fireweed looks like this.

Successful launch - we're on our way!

The channel crossings between lakes were extremely shallow. At one point the depth was around 1.5 feet! Needless to say it was slow going through these crossings.

Old Alaska sourdoughs would keep foodstuff in a high cache to deter bears and other wildlife from breaking in. Don't see them so much anymore.

Blue skies, not a cloud to be seen.

The lake water was clear and cold.

Fallen leaves and spongy moss.

Perfect little mushroom and a very delicate shell.

The blueberries were at the very end of their season. We had plenty at home courtesy of D's previous hunting trip, so we ate the ones we picked during the weekend.



Drift was one happy puppy.

It was obvious the blueberries had gone through a freeze/thaw cycle - but still tasty nonetheless.

More end-of-season fireweed.

Shore break!

Muskrat house.

Muskrats EVERYWHERE! At night they were circling the docked boat and I'm pretty sure one came into camp.

We tried fishing for lake trout and burbot but they weren't biting.

Our fish and muskrat early warning system.

Loved seeing the pops of color from aspen and birch trees.

The puppy was so tired at the end of the day and didn't want to jump out of the boat. He napped in the bow for a bit before dinner.

Luxurious moose camp. We had a fire and everything. Kept me warm while D glassed for moose.

Beautiful evening. Sad to see the sun go down earlier and earlier every day. Was very dark around 9 p.m. And cold.

Must save up for a lake house.

We brought out the down sleeping bags for this trip and were cozy in the tent even though outside temps were about 30 degrees. The dog had frost on his back in the morning! When D left early to hunt I hauled the dog in the tent and let him warm up and snooze.

Brrr, frosty morning.

Ready to go home!

I didn't post these photos to my blog at the time because when we returned to Anchorage after the trip I found Pepper to be very sick. She ended up passing away after a week-long stay at the vet's office. It still makes me sad to not have her around, but she is running around in kitty heaven now. :-)

Maui 12

Here are the last of the Maui photos. We stopped a few times for photo ops and to pull over for locals to pass. They drive so fast on these tiny little roads!

My $7 sunglasses from the Gap. I loved them!

It was an absolutely gorgeous day. We knew our days in Maui were counting down quickly so we tried to soak up as much sun as possible.



I've never been to Greece but for some reason this image makes me think of a narrow Santorini lane.



The sign, one of many on this long road, says "Limited Sight Distance."



Those white birds were everywhere, following around the livestock.

This was approximately the halfway point back to Kahului. Molokini Crater is off in the distance. If you recall, we snorkeled there at the beginning of our trip.

Wind farm on the mountainside.

The area below is most likely Big Beach, located between Makena Bay and Ahihi Bay.

And my attempt at a 360-degree panorama spread - courtesy of Stitch-Assist on my Canon and Adobe InDesign:

So, there it is - our honeymoon in photos. I'd love to go back every year if we could!

Maui 11

I promise that we are almost done with the Hawaii photos. Just this batch and then one more. And then I will have to totally leave our tropical honeymoon behind. *sob*

We spent just one night in Hana and the next morning the weather was fantastic - blue skies, no rain. After bidding all of the resident spiders a not-so-fond farewell, the Jeep was loaded up and we were off!

The front porch view from our Hana accomodations. A rocky beach and rough surf but really pretty.

Instead of driving back to Central Maui the way we came down (northern route), we decided to to take on the southern route of the Hana Highway. The road was still winding and not any shorter, but worth it - because when would we come this way again? The route took us past many cattle ranches - apparently back in the early 1900's this part of the island was a bustling beef hub.

Narrow 2-lane country highway with amazing vistas.

During our travels I noticed that all of the cattle had a little friend or two. Some of these white cranes or storks or ducks would even hang out atop the cattle's backs. It was pretty adorable.

Haleakala National Park extends down near Hana too and we took the opportunity to explore the Kipahula area. The Park Service runs a Visitor Center here with books, information and a few displays.

Traditional Hawaiian outrigger canoe. If you look closely at the photo (click to enlarge), you'll see a huge wasp sitting at the bow of the boat.

Most people come to this area to swim in Oheo Gulch. It's just a short walk to the multiple pools and mini-waterfalls. Have to pay to enter since it's located inside the national park.

On the trail to Oheo Gulch.

Almost there - the freshwater pools run out into the ocean.

Oheo Gulch. Can you see the bridge in the distance? We drove over it to get into the park.

Tiny people down below - this was a steep dropoff.

This next set of photos is from our hike up to Waimoku Falls. At this point I was so hot and had to keep slathering myself in sunscreen. And then we took off to see the falls on an uphill trail!

Nice to walk through shaded portions of the trail. The Hawaiian sun is HOT!

Remnants of an old pulley system across the way- there was a matching stone structure on the other side.

Since the day prior had been wet and rainy, the trails were all muddy and quite slippery in places. We stopped at a tiny fenced overlook area to take photos of Waimoku Falls. My pictures all had tree branches in the way because I am afraid of heights and wouldn't lean out over the cliff to take a clear photo. My husband on the other hand was fearless and took some really great images.

A view of the falls from way up high - D's photo.

Downhill on the way back - yay!

I think these are called painted eucalyptus trees.