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.

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

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 kids so much, I just can't wait to get home.

Akutan, Alaska

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

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

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.

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.

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

25 July 2010

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

One of the trailheads in the Redwood National Park.

5 shot Panorama.

June 2010.

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.

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.