northernXposed

Dangerous Waters

2012-01-26T12:12:00.001-10:00

Stay tuned for a tv show on HDNET called Dangerous Waters which will feature several of my panoramic photos of False Pass, Alaska on episode 7.

Info from their web site states- "Dangerous Waters is a new reality television show coming in March 2012. Follow five Dangerous Waters crewmembers as they embark upon an epic adventure riding their SeaDoo personal watercraft from Seattle up through Alaska and across the Bering Strait to Russia".

Winter Solstice Sunset in Nelson Lagoon, Alaska last night

2011-12-22T14:07:00.000-10:00

More from Nelson Lagoon

2011-12-21T13:41:00.000-10:00

Twin Sisters

Sunset and Crescent Moon Rise

Hole in the log

Driftwood

Amazing sunset in Nelson Lagoon

2011-09-19T07:36:00.002-10:00

One of the nicest sunsets I've seen in a while! Photo taken last night 9/18.
Bering Sea 3 shot panoramic

From Whittier to Nelson Lagoon

2011-09-18T09:40:00.001-10:00

A new feature from Blogspot, click a photo and view the rest of the photos in the post as a slideshow!

A creek in Whittier with spawning salmon.

The green was amazing, I don't even think I was able to capture what it really looked like.

A spawning "humpy" pink salmon.

Portage Glacier

Nelson Lagoon Panorama

Bering Sea beach from Nelson Lagoon, AK

My impromptu walking partner. He followed me on my walk and seemed to love my company as much as I enjoyed his. I don't know his name but I called him Sunny cause he showed up on the the first sunny day we've had in a week.

"Sunny" enjoying the view and salty air

What can I say.

Bering Sea panorama

2011-09-01T14:08:00.000-10:00

Sea Lions in the Northern Pacific Ocean near Adak Island.

Adak Fishing Boats After Dark

2011-08-19T14:00:00.000-10:00

F/V - EARLY DAWN

F/V - LARISSA M

USCGC Munro in Adak today

2011-07-28T15:25:00.000-10:00

USCGC Munro (WHEC-724) is a High Endurance Cutter

The Rhino and Solstice

2011-06-22T17:44:00.010-10:00

It's pretty rainy here. Thankfully I have a golf cart on steroids at my disposal. This Yamaha Rhino has been my safari vehicle here in False Pass the past several weeks. On a side-note; This buggy is tough, it survived 100mph+ winds a few months back. After being tossed about 100ft away from where it was parked the only real damage was to that broken-in door, causing all the glass to break and.. Anyway, so just now I was thinking, I should go for a ride. Then I remembered I forgot to get gas earlier; Its kinda gettin low now... See, you can only get gas here at 1:00pm at the Peter Pan dock, and it closes after the last person leaves. Hm, just like the bar in Adak... Anyway, this morning I met the guy that runs the fuel and ops at Peter Pan..He seemed like a nice guy. He even told me I can go get gas earlier than 1:00... I was thinking, Like right now, cool?..."You can go at 12:59", he replied.. So needless to say, my short term memory hasn't been the best lately cause I forgot to get gas. Now I have to think about how much gas do I really have, and i wonder how far can I go? I guess I have some time to think about it. it's still early at 7:30pm. Which translates to about 5 more hours of daylight. At least it's not windy! Happy Summer Solstice!!

Blue Lupine and websites that I have bookmarked.

2011-06-21T18:34:00.001-10:00

If you find you have some downtime, go check out some websites that I have bookmarked, [in the box to the lower right of this page]. Especially check out the photo of the 2 sea otters and other cool pics and info on a blog maintained by my friend Isaac in Adak at his his blog @ AdakBirding.com and then visit Alaska FAA web cams. Click on that link, then scroll down to False Pass and you can see links to 2 web cams located about a 200ft away from the airport here. Oh, and enjoy the the vertical panoramic blue lupine pic below.

Lupinus nootkatensis

False Pass- Panoramas

2011-06-20T14:36:00.000-10:00

A Cherokeee 180 landing at False Pass Airport, Its a succession of the same airplane in 4 photos

(unknown name) mountain across Isanotski Strait from False Pass Village

False Pass Harbor in Isanostki Strait, facing North, North East

Another view of the (unknown name) mountain with crab pots in foreground waiting to get wet this coming fall and winter.

I posted this photo a few weeks back. It's the view of False Pass Village taken from the Tustamena Ferry. The old Peter Pan dock is toward the left of the photo.

Back in False Pass

2011-06-15T17:31:00.000-10:00

Long story. Don't ask.

Flying from False Pass to King Cove; a 25 minute thrill ride!

2011-06-14T12:54:00.006-10:00

The pilot arrived in the Cherokee 180 to pick me up in False Pass at about 10 am. He was a very nice guy and seemed pleased to know that I was the only passenger bound for King Cove. The resulting trip proved just that as it was undoubtedly one of the best flights I've had in 15 years in Alaska. On the way we saw about a dozen bears and he gave me more than one opportunity to take some photos. The scenery was amazing and he took the time to point out a few landmarks and made me feel very comfortable and relaxed. I truly felt like I could trust his skills and will never forget that experience. Below are a few of the better photos I took of the bears. As you can imagine, it was a little difficult to locate and focus on a bear from a few hundred feet in the air cruising at flight speed. But the pilot did a great job throttling down and turning the plane at the right time to give me some chances to document this experience. Thanks Eric!
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Oh, don't forget to click each photo for a full size version. The pics posted below have been scaled down for the web page.

I can see 3! Click the pic if you can't see them.

This one and the following 2 are the same bear, zoomed in as much as I could.

It was kinda cool to see how it was just sitting there on that steep slope.

Sow and triplets!

It's hard to tell but this is a rock arch with a pond or something underneath. It looked a lot cooler in real life.

Nice waterfall!

A decent end to an otherwise bad day. Wildlife sightings in False Pass.

2011-06-08T20:51:00.005-10:00

The following is a short photo essay of my evening in False Pass, Alaska on June 08, 2011 around 9:30pm. I suggest you try and scroll down slowly and take the time to read each caption one at a time, enjoying each photo before proceeding on the next. Thanks for looking and please leave a comment if you feel so inclined.

So yesterday evening I went for a ride to the north edge of town and came across this nice little stream. Tonight, I decided to go back and check it out hoping to see some wildlife along the way.

Once I turned onto the road that I was searching for, it wasn't long before I saw this Alaskan Red Fox (Vulpes v. alascensis) cruising across the road.

It really looked like it was on a mission...

I'd be surprised if it even noticed me.

This fox really seemed to have it's eyes, or ears, on something else.

I was curious.

All the sudden it crouched down.

It seemed to spot what it had been hunting.

I was surprised with how quick it moved as it pounced on something...

DINNER!! It looks like a juicy Norway Rat.

All of the sudden something else seemed to catch it's attention


Whatever it was, it seemed that it got what it came for then took off in the opposite direction. Now I was curious again and proceeded down the road. Until...

WOW! Awesome..I felt my heart start to race a little.

What an amazing creature! An Alaskan Brown Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis).

I turned my little Yamaha Rhino buggy around at about 150yds, kept the engine idling and left the door open as I stepped out to start snapping away photos.

This bear is exactly what I was hoping to see. And it appeared it really didn't care about me at all, barely lifting his head to even gaze in my direction.

I couldn't tell if it was a sow or a boar but I anxiously looked around for any signs of cubs.

After it made a trip across the road and back, I saw no cubs.

It was hard to estimate how big he was (assuming now that its a boar). But if I had to guess, I'd say maybe around 6 feet from butt to nose and maybe 4 feet tall at the shoulders. That would probably be about 8-9 feet tall if he were to stand up on hind legs!!

He walked a little closer toward me but was still over 100yds away off the side of the road, still not paying any attention to me at all.

Just sniffing around for some grub.

Seriously, these 15 minutes was awesome for me even though it maybe felt like like double that time easy.

What a cool beast of an animal. Even in this vast landscape he proved to be a nice mighty Alaskan Brown Bear.


He meandered up the hill then I lost sight of him as he vanished in the alder bushes.

The End.
p.s.
GO BOSTON BRUINS!!

2011-06-01T09:36:00.001-10:00

Panoramic view of the False Pass Small Boat Harbor this morning, facing north in Isanotski Strait

A gorgeous sunrise to greet me in False Pass, Alaska

2011-05-29T08:59:00.001-10:00

4 shot Panorama of the village of False Pass (Isanax̂ in Aleut)

Spring travels continue

2011-05-24T09:23:00.005-10:00

If all goes well, I will travel from Akutan to False Pass via the Alaska Marine Highway System on the MV Tustamena. Below is a photo I took of the ship when it came into Akutan 2 Saturdays ago. My trip to False Pass will be this coming Saturday, 5/28 departing at 0545am heading West and arriving at Dutch Harbor at 0915am. The ferry docks there for the day departing at 1600pm then heads back East back to Akutan for an hour before proceeding to False Pass arriving on Sunday around 0645am. That will give me the day in Dutch Harbor to do some shopping and have lunch which will be nice. I've never been on a ship like this so I'm really looking forward to this experience. I will be in False Pass for 2 weeks then will head to King Cove for 2 weeks before I go home for my R&R. I anticipate being able to take some decent photos on the ferry of marine wildlife then I should have plenty of time at my next 2 destinations for more photos. This will be my first time in False Pass and King Cove, adding to the long list of Alaska communities I've been to. I still hope to get back to Adak at the end of July or August as well. Gotta love Spring and Summer in Alaska!

MV Tustamena

Pen Air's Grumman Goose coming in for a landing

Goose splash down!

Alaska State Trooper vessel Stimson docked at the Akutan dock


View from Akutan Harbor. Trident's Safe Harbor Church on the left and the dock in the distance.

Akutan Island (Akutanax̂ in Aleut) is an island in the Fox Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska

2011-05-17T10:56:00.000-10:00

Sea Otter, 10 May 2011

Red Fox at Sunrise, 11 May 2011

Found some fresh water

The following photos were taken in Adak, Alaska in the first few days of March 2011

2011-05-11T07:56:00.004-10:00

Please be sure to click on each photo to see the full size high-res image. I believe it makes for a more pleasurable viewing experience. Thanks for looking, comments are welcome and please share the link to my site if you wish. I have some photos that I will post later today that were taken in Akutan, Alaska so check back later.

Heart Lake

Heart Lake and Mt. Moffett

Sunrise

Amazing how the colors can change once the sun actually becomes visible.

This photo is the winner of the ADAK TU telephone directory

When viewing the full size photo, you can just see Alaska Airlines 737-400 Flight 160 on it's final approach to the Adak Airport.

Nice weather 2 days in a row!

2011-02-18T13:31:00.004-10:00

Mt. Moffett. 02/18/11

Shagak Bay Sunset from atop White Alice

On the same horizon, just to the right of the above sunset beyond Shagak Bay
is Kanaga Island Volcano.

As if the daytime weather wasn't nice enough we had a full moon as well.

Adak Island full moon over Kuluk Bay.

Kuluk Bay full moon rising.

Adak full moon lighting up the night sky at approx 22:30

2011-02-16T11:42:00.001-10:00

2010-12-18T07:56:00.001-10:00

Went for a walk this morning to Lake Hood here in Anchorage.
The lights in the distance are from the Ted Stevens International Airport.

The point of view is looking South and the temperature is about -10 f.

2010-12-17T17:07:00.000-10:00

The following is from a recent Facebook conversation.

Dave: Good for you. Laying down is the worse thing you can do. Stand up and face forward. Lash yourself off to something if you get sleepy.

Me: Laying down was the only way I (and the others) got through it. Imagining that I was on the longest roller coaster ride ever. Standing up was not an option. In fact, I learned that urinating in a boat's bathroom in 30 ft seas requires a great amount of balance, bladder control and impeccable timing, lol.

The beginning of the end of the beginning of my Akutan Adventures

2010-12-16T10:21:00.003-10:00

There have been no planes into Akutan for 2 weeks. The winds have been ridiculous with gusts upwards to 60-70mph. The odds were getting slimmer and slimmer that there would be a plane to get me out of there before Christmas. The incoming provider arrived a few days ago on a tug boat hauling a barge to the Trident plant on the other side of town. Then yesterday I got a phone call from a safety guy for the plant. I met and had dinner with him last week. He told me to pack and be ready because at the crack of crack a.ka. 0200am, I would have an opportunity to hitch a ride on the F/V Amatuli that was charted by Trident to pick up some higher-ups to get them out of Akutan to Dutch Harbor. I accepted the challenge with Meclizine in hand (anti-puking pill). Myself and 11 other guys sprawled out on any floor space we could get to lay down in 30 foot seas for about 6 of the 7 hrs!! Yup, 7 hours! But we made it to Dutch safely and though I'm exhausted and have a killer headache, I'm happy that I should indeed, barring any other natural catastrophe, be home for Christmas. I have to wait all day here because I'm one of the lucky ones that has a confirmed seat on Pen Air out of here, all other seats on their 4 planes a day are booked through Sunday. But I do have to wait in Anchorage starting tonight until Saturday before I get to begin the remaining 3500 miles home to Florida. I should be home by Sunday. I miss my wife and kids so much, I just can't wait to get home.

Akutan, Alaska

2010-11-26T12:27:00.003-10:00

After 7 full days of waiting in Dutch Harbor, I finally arrived in Akutan.
It's a small, very pretty village with a near by large Trident Sea-foods processing plant.
There are no roads, only boardwalks just wide enough for quads or the like to drive on.

This is a small mirror on the right wing float of the Goose sea plane. I thought it was a cool view where you can see the front of the plane.

Leaving Dutch Harbor

Arriving in Akutan

Window view of town

Splashdown!

I'm not sure how old this sign is but I doubt the population count has changed much

Russian Orthodox Church

5 shot Panoramic view of the village of Akutan

3 shot panoramic of Akutan's small boat harbor

The view just outside my door of the Bay View Hotel

2010-11-17T08:39:00.007-10:00

I'm supposed to leave Adak tomorrow to go to Akutan by way of Anchorage and Dutch Harbor (yes, I have to fly nearly 2000 miles to get to an island thats 480 miles away. I love Alaska...

...but looking at the forecast (see below)... I'm somehow skeptical...

....Adak Weather....

Today...Mostly cloudy with a chance of rain. Highs in the mid 40s. East wind 30 to 45 mph with gusts to 60 mph

Thursday...Rain. Highs in the mid 40s. Southeast wind 35 to 50 mph with gusts to 65 mph.

Thursday Night...Rain. Lows in the upper 30s. Southeast wind 30 t...o 45 mph with gusts to 65 mph.

Friday...a nearly identical day as yesterday

2010-11-16T08:27:00.004-10:00

Photo edited pic of a pair of eagles. 11/15. I printed this pic on 8x11 paper and it looks awesome!

Crazy lookin eagle staring me down. It was pretty cool.

This stellar eagle gave me a gorgeous shot. I had 3 pics of him flying away, but I think I may have accidentally deleted from my card before I uploaded to my computer. I did print them in 4x6's, so I guess they are now 1 of a kind. They'll frame up nicely together.

This juvenile eagle let me drive up by em and struck a nice pose.

The above is a single eagle taking off in a stitched succession of shots.
It's not pro quality but I still think it's pretty cool.
Summer 2010.

Horseshoe Bay, 11/13. North part of Adak island near the LORAN station.

Town of Adak, 11/15.

Photo taken July 2010. Quonset hut bunkers. They're all over the island.

Mt. Moffett above in August from the White Alice overlook. I saw caribou there yesterday. I took pics but they were a bit far for a great photo.

The above pic was taken yesterday, 11/15. A different view of Mt. Moffett from mid-way up water tower hill near town.

Caribou at lower Mt. Moffett.

The down the road a bit, looking NE this is a 3 shot panoramic over looking Kuluk Bay with Rhino (Zeto) Point then Great Sitkin Volcano off in the distance. What a gorgeous day we had yesterday. In a few days I fly to Akutan. It's a place I have never been so I'm looking forward to looking through my camera there.

2010-09-03T10:11:00.000-10:00

2010-07-28T07:46:00.003-10:00

I found this photo from a previous post. The following series of shots were taken from the same spot as this photo of Great Sitkin Volcano, Fall 2009.

2010-07-27T10:21:00.006-10:00

Alaska Airlines 737-400 flight 160 from PANC to PADK landing on Runway 5

25 July 2010

2010-07-21T08:02:00.002-10:00

2010-07-06T13:02:00.010-10:00

9 shot panorama of the town of Adak looking from

Northeast of town to (left side of photo) to Southeast (right side photo).

This view displays the South face of Great Sitkin Mountain which lies beyond Kuluk Bay. Kuluk Bay has a nice long beach-line with multiple entrance points which always seem to make for a memorable walk. The southern part of the bay lines the town of Adak then sweeps down in to Adak Harbor with the Red, White and Blue (Sheds). Finally, Sweeper Cove is where the small boat harbor is.

June 2010 (brown hills)

July 2010 (green hills)

Adak small boat harbor

2010-06-30T05:34:00.002-10:00

One of the trailheads in the Redwood National Park.

5 shot Panorama.

June 2010.

2010-03-26T07:36:00.005-10:00

14 shot panoramic taken March 29. its still not the best stitch job. but I'm improving my technique each time. Its very difficult to take the right photos of a beach that's nearly a mile long with waves and contrasting colors due to shadows and such. though still not nearly perfect, a pretty decent photo i think.

This photo was taken summer of 2009. I don't think there is a name for this log bridge at a creek that is fed from Lake Betty to Finger Bay. I'll go back this summer to take a photo that portrays the width of the bridge.

Candle Stick Bridge

Zeto Point is the land mass to the left. A.K.A. Rhino Point. There was a negative tide this day which is nice for beach combing.

2010-03-11T10:00:00.004-10:00

Eagle taking in the morning sun. Summer 2009.

Kuluk Beach. Fall 2009.

Great Sitkin Volcano. Winter 2010.

Great Sitkin from Clam Lagoon. Winter 2010.

6 shot Panorama of the town of Adak. Spri

3 Shot Panorama, Adak. Spring 2009.

2010-01-19T15:00:00.003-10:00

Winter Caribou in Adak

2009-12-10T12:55:00.002-10:00

Photos from Fall 2009

2009-12-10T11:57:00.004-10:00

Adak's runway

view from Kuluk Beach

Alaska Railroad in Whittier

Have fun making snowflakes!!

2009-09-25T11:26:00.004-10:00

Whittier, Alaska. Part of the northernmost rainforest, averages over 400"of rain and 0ver 200" of snow each year. Surrounded by glaciers, gorgeous views and small town living. Below are pics from "my backyard" for the next 2 weeks. I'm staying at the tippy top of the 15 story Begich Towers. This building is home to a majority of the Whitter residents, as well as the Post Office, Police Dept, City Offices, a store and the Whittier Medical Clinic. Look here for a webcam from a resident's 14th floor apartment.

2009-05-04T12:04:00.000-10:00

Birds of Adak Island.

It's that time of year when new birds arrive and the year-rounders are easily seen.

Bald Eagle, sitting in the morning sun...

...until an un-stealthy Chris scares it away.

Gorgeous weather yesterday provided flat calm water in the harbour.

Ptarmigan are shedding their white feathers.

2009-05-02T15:42:00.000-10:00

The photo of this young moose was taken at Lake Hood inside Anchorage, Alaska city limits. It's not uncommon at all to see moose throughout the city.

2009-05-02T15:37:00.000-10:00

The photo above was taken at the Seward Hwy entrance of the Chugach National Forest and the photos below were taken at Lake Hood in Anchorage, the world's busiest seaplane base.

2009-02-27T15:21:00.000-10:00

2008-12-22T09:25:00.000-10:00

We've had close to 3ft of snow here in Spokane since last Wednesday. Unlike snow in Alaska, the snow here falls straight down. The overall accumulation is absolutely insane and it's still not over. I guess there's no doubt we'll have a white Christmas.

Ya, it's a lot of shoveling, but at least Alena is having fun.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2008-11-29T11:27:00.000-10:00

We arrived to Adak Island on September 28 and I can literally count on one hand how many nice days we've had here. Yesterday the most recent and even though it was cold, it provided a nice clear day to take some photos. The first shot is 6 photos stitched together for a panoramic of the town of Adak. The other 2 photos were taken after capturing a dozen or so still shots of the young eagle. I stood and waited for about 20 minutes waiting for it to fly off so I could capture it in flight. I almost missed too, but the wait was worth it. Adrian and I have one more week here before we fly back home for Christmas with the rest of the family. I hope to get one more nice day to get more photos of all there is to see here before we return in January when there's sure to be a lot more snow a lot less time. We'll have less daylight and add to that A season for Cod fishery and Opilio crab. It's bound to be a busy time at the clinic. Hope you enjoy the following pics.

AND DON'T FORGET, YOU CAN CLICK ON EACH INDIVUAL PHOTO TO SEE THE FULL SIZE IMAGE<>

2008-08-19T07:14:00.000-10:00

One of my goals for this summer was to get pictures of a Puffin. My daughter really wanted to see a pic and I really wanted to take one. Well I got some pictures earlier this summer, one of which was the banner for this site. But last night I got lucky and got some really great shots so these are today's pics.

I removed the banner pic and replaced it with a panoramic shot that I took last night. Just below that cliff is where I got the photos of the birds.

I couldn't believe how close I was able to get resulting in some great shots so I had a hard time deciding which ones to post. This is a Horned Puffin, so I still need to find a Tufted Puffin.

Play by FoxSaver®

2008-08-15T21:25:00.000-10:00

Between the visual color show and the feel of a cool comfortable breeze combined with the salty aroma and the subtle sounds of the splashing waves below me and the birds circling above, I can truly say that not many sunsets compare to this one seen over the Bering Sea tonight.

This particular sunset can be described many ways and from my experience, I can call it rare, but I must also call it breathtaking.

2008-08-14T13:44:00.000-10:00

This is probably my last month here in St. George. I've been coming here for a little over a year now and I've really enjoyed being a part of this community. I will definitely miss being here, the people, the environment, the wildlife...everything. Most people that have ever come to know me, also know that it's hard to get rid of me and somehow, sometime, I'm sure I'll make it back.

I am partly excited to visit a new place and hopefully make a difference there, like I like to think that I have here. But parting will also be sweet sorrow as I will miss the connections that I have established here.

So for now, enjoy some photos of fur seals above, because I enjoyed watching them and taking the pictures.

Early mornings or late at night when it's quiet, foggy and/or dark is a cool time because you can't always see them, but you know they're there when you can hear them barking off in the distance.

I have about 3 more weeks to take more pictures on St. George Island. I hope to find something that people will enjoy seeing.

2008-08-12T12:42:00.000-10:00

Photo of the day. This is a pic I took a few weeks ago. The weather here hasn't been ideal for photo taking so I'm posting this one. Cute 'lil pup huh?

I'll try and and post at least one photo a day, past or present, even if I have nothing to say.

2008-08-11T09:35:00.000-10:00

Photography being my most enjoyed hobby, most of my posts will be focused around photos. So I was searching through my archived photos trying to decide on a photo to add to my first blog and this one popped right out. This a SUNRISE taken from Atka Island, Alaska in the Aleutain Chain.

"I do not worship the sun; rather I regard the shining orb as an appropriate symbol of the Great and Good Spirit who forever radiates life". -Author Unknown

I feel this embodies the philosophy of treating others how I would like to be treated myself and living life to the fullest. I do not judge but instead, accept every person I meet for their individualism. I take pride in living each day as if it were my last and feeling that I have accomplished much in my short time on this Earth, but also knowing that I have much more to give and receive. I learn from my experiences and try to pass on what I can, with each day finding something new to learn. The sun to me, reflects a spirit of everlasting power that provides life to everyone and everything around us.

The Sun, like Life is not to be taken lightly rather brightly.