photography

How far can I see?

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If it’s clear and there’s a high pressure, at least 86 miles. Here’s our view of Mount Washington last night.

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It has to do with how high we both (Mt. Washington and Seguin Lighthouse) are above the earth. Wikipedia lays it out here:

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And here. If it was at sea level, we could only see about 30 miles because of the earth’s curvature but since we’re both tall, we can see farther.

I’m keeping a cricket and visitor count and they’re pretty close. I remember this from prior years. Every morning we find cricket(s) trapped in the sink. Total count thus far, 5; visitors: 16.

I gave up on a knitting a tomtem jacket, for now, and the games begin. First “climbing deer” hat in progress.

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The first one is in exchange for venison from my postmaster. We have the best post office. Once a package with only my name and town made it to my PO Box! Next I owe several to kids who actually asked for them last Christmas. I hear my needles clacking.

Northern lights?

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I may have seen Northern Lights. I definitely saw lights in the north. No photos to prove it but the sky was clear, I saw continuous flashes of green through a mountain pass to the north and even the sky overhead had circular bursts of light. No reports of increased activity on September 10 but…

Tim surprised me by renting a cabin at Elk Lake Lodge, in North Hudson, NY for our anniversary. It was sweeeeet!

First day was cloudy and cool so we hiked around the west side of the lake where I nearly got sucked up to my calves in mud.

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The mountain view was obscured by fog our first day. That night I was awakened by something skittering around and the noticed the flashing lights outside and went out and sat by the lake for an hour. Even if it was lightening, it was awesome.

The next day was clear, we kayaked, sat by the lake, enjoyed the views and swam.

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Here’s a panorama taken from the kayak in the middle of the lake.

But, alas, there’s no such thing as paradise. A yellow jacket stung me multiple times on my foot as I danced to the car. Ouch!

Balanced rocks and pickles

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Yesterday was bracketed by bread and butter pickles. I salted the cukes, peppers and onions before heading out for a hike with friends.

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The day was perfect and we walked to Balanced Rocks, which offered beautiful views of the High Peaks and the slide on Cascade Mountain. The wind was whipping around the top and I’m surprised those rocks (or we) didn’t blow away.

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Here’s a link to my 360 app panorama.
When I got back home, I made bread and butter pickles. Why are they called that?

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At home in the high peaks

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There’s no denying there’s culture shock upon reentering society after five weeks on a remote Alaskan island. I had to go shopping for some essentials and was overwhelmed by the choices in the store. That’s saying a lot for my rural town in the Adirondacks.

The sounds of crickets and birds replace whales. Mountainscapes replace seascapes. I can run for a while without fear of falling in the ocean.

Today we took a nice walk in the woods in an attempt to prepare me hike
in the White Mountains in a couple of weeks.

Here’s a link to a panoramic shot of a viewpoint. http://360.io/3xNdSy

And here’s a snapshot.

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Home sweet home, briefly. Tomorrow I leave to visit my darling daughter in DC.

Off island

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Back on the mainland of the Alaskan panhandle. Yesterday began with a whale just next to the island.
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We were picked up and got to watch long lines of halibut (and lots of starfish) brought on board.

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This starfish was sort of creepy and only a few inches.

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After the fish was prepared and iced, we steamed north to Juneau and passed six rainbows!

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All in all, a beautiful trip. This morning began with a four am alarm and our journey home will end three pm tomorrow: twelve hours today (cheap flights, too many connections) an overnight in Manhattan (island to island travel) and a six hour train home. Phew.

Doing the happy dance

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Me and the whales.  They do it just  because they can, I do it because we are getting ready to head home.

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Today is our last full day on the island and it looks like it will be a beauty.  There’s not much packing up to do because others will stay here after we leave.  Our food held out and I’ve been foraging a little on the island.  Just a little because the plant books say you can eat one plant but be careful because there’s a poisonous plant which looks just like it.  Thimble berries are in season and taste sort of like a raspberry but not as sweet.

I’ve feasted on salmon for weeks.  Tim wrinkles his nose.

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We’ve had pizzas, bagels, apple pies, custards and all sorts of goodies and unfortunately the hula hooping wasn’t as much of a success as I had hoped.  I ran around the heliport once or twice but it was a tight circle.  The best exercise is climbing up the tower steps, 75 or so. So one of the things I’m looking forward to when I get home is stretching my legs and going for a run.   Also to sleep in my own bed.

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I’ve had a bunk bed all month, and a low one to boot.  If I sit up too quickly I bang my head.  And when I get out of bed, I have to arch my back in such a way that I don’t hit the bunk above me, which is thankfully unoccupied.  Just as well because the upper bunk acts as my spider shield.  Spiders hang out on the ceiling. I have had a chance to remember how much I love my sleeping bag. (notice how I roll it up each morning to prevent spiders from entering it when my back is turned).  I’m also looking forward to dry dishes.  Everything is so damp here, when I sniffed the bouquet of my first glass of wine, I was mildly nauseated.  We’ve been out of wine for a while but I still sniff the plates and mugs.  Not a nice habit.

Otherwise, the quarters are very comfortable.

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It really has all the comforts.  But there’s no place like home.

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Another whale of a day

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Ho hum.  Tim has told me he is tired of my unending good humor.  But he’s not seeing straight.

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The whale songs began the moment I woke up ( notice I don’t say at dawn, when they probably did) and continued all day.  It was impossible to get anything done because there would be more action somewhere around the island.

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They were swimming, sleeping, playing and feeding, solo, in pairs or in groups of up to ten.  What fun.  Noise and blow spouts all around us.  The otter swam peacefully by as well and I found the fledgling eagle.  I heard him clumsily clamber up a rock when I found my own perch on the heliport.  He sat there for an hour and wasn’t disturbed by me, whale activity, other birds or salmon leaping right in front of him.  When he looked like he was about to take off, I began shooting video only to catch him dropping a load.  Sweet.  But a boat of visitors from one of the local fishing lodges stopped by and they got to see him fly off to the little rock offshore the older eagles have occupied since we have been here, and probably for all time.

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Any dreams of returning to one of those rustic lodges were shattered when we saw the rates.  Oh my!

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After our visitors left, the last of the whales swam off into the sunset.

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Whale watching

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The strangest thing about being in this lighthouse is most of the creatures around us breathe above water.  Other places fish swim and we never know they are out there.  Here they sigh all day: whales, seals, sea lions, otters, and orcas.  We can hear whales breaching and splashing 10 miles away but the audio video isn’t aligned.  First there is a big splash off in the distance and then ten seconds later we hear it.  Go figure.  Yesterday morning was windy so there was no audio but lots of  visuals.  There was a pod of whales heading north, which stalled offshore the island.  There were at least six breath bursts in a line while some whales dove.

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Later in the day, the wind settled down and a whale came right by the edge of the island and the water was so clear, its fins were visible underwater.

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I went to sit on the new bench on the south end of the island and on my way back, thought I saw a chicken in the tree.  A chicken in the tree?  Why would it be sitting right next to the eagle’s nest?  Because it wasn’t a chicken, it was a young eagle, one of two fledglings we saw for the first time.  They weren’t impressed by our presence at all.

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Tonight, while we were eating dinner outside, a fledgling took its maiden flight accompanied by an adult bald eagle.  The adult landed on its usual offshore perch, but we never saw where the young one ended.  I’m sure I heard it whining though.

Last night I finally got to stargaze because the days are getting shorter, only 15 hours now and the sky is clear.  The sun rises at 5:15 am and sets at 8:44.  I managed to get out in the dark for one of the few times and was greeted by the big dipper low in the sky to the north.  No wonder it is the symbol on the Alaskan flag.  I also got to see the lighthouse functioning as it should.

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Today brought all sorts of whale hi jinx.  They were breaching all over the place but none too close to the island.  One pair seemed to be sleeping for a while because they weren’t really moving and they rose and fell with their breaths.  Then when they woke up, the games began.

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A good time was had by all.

 

 

Small projects

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We had a day on our own before an unexpected visitor arrived for an overnight stay before he was picked up by tender to be a naturalist advisor for a BBC documentary. Never a dull moment on a remote island.

Here’s yesterday’s radar image:

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This morning brought a quiet fog with lots of whale sounds around us. I couldn’t see them but heard them all around us. I may upload an audio recording if I can figure it out.

I found this landscape on the windowsill.

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I’ve been playing around with knots and may have gotten carried away.

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My leftover sock yarn blanket is moving along. It’s simple knitting and since we have internet we can stream videos. Sherlock, a modern BBC remake has caught our attention.

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Here’s an unedited video. The sound isn’t great but any breaths are not mine or Tim’s and I’m pretty sure we’re the only ones here at the moment.

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Wild life

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Whale activity ebbs and flows, not predictably with the tide or weather.  There were a lot of passersby today.

By some miracle, the internet turned on and I may be able to upload pictures.

We’ve had whale breaches, breaths and dives.  Ravens and crows yell all day, black turnstones circumnavigate the island in a flock and harlequin ducks float off the south end of the island.

We’ve been busy with houseguests and projects but are once again the only human inhabitants on the island.

Visitors arrived by landing craft, tour boats, helicopter, schooners, kayaks and a rowing dory. Time to take a breath myself.

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