The Book Stops Here: Salmon In The Trees

The Book Stops Here: Salmon In The Trees: What a summer it has been! Spending four months in Colorado, surrounded by mountains, trees and water could only be topped by a week in sout...

Didn't even know there was an Alaskan earthquake while at sea!

Mother Nature continues to remind us of how fragile our earth is.  Our intrepid band of adventurers had a grand time on the Boat Company cruise of the Mist Cove for the final week of August.  Very little rain, mostly clouds and scattered showers and one glorious day of sun.  I was lucky enough to basked in that sun in a small skiff while fishing (and catching) for Halibut.  Since I'm not particularly fond of Halibut fishing, getting this "done" and "under my belt" on the first day was such a bonus.

The wildlife experiences were unmatched.  From watching cavorting Sea Lions at their Brothers Island haul-out, to soaring eagles and a great "nest watch of two young ones returning our gazes", to an extraordinarily (lucky) close view of three Humpback Whales bubble-net feeding, to stream side observations of Silver (Coho) Salmon males jousting for position to fertilize a female's egg nest, and finally a safe distance to watch two sow Grizzlies with their 5 cubs playing on the flats and learning to catch dinner!

My "first" for this year was catching a large Coho on a borrowed fly rod of friend Ed Innerarity, who expertly coached me through the  art form.  I've never been so thrilled standing on shore among the 10,000 Salmon cohabiting the cove and using my new under-water camera to capture their journeys.

A few pictures to share:

Surreal window

It is a bit surreal to be sitting in Juneau, Alaska watching our hometown assaulted by Hurricane Irene!  Have talked to all our family involved, and are watching the weather channel non-stop for two days through this.  As our guests gather here in Juneau and we prepare to embark on another grand adventure in SouthEast Alaska aboard the Mist Cove of the Boat Company, we muse that this happens often to our travel timing.  Oh well.  A tranquil day in Juneau eating our last fried foods and watching the giant cruise ships disgourge their passengers onto the streets of Juneau prepares us for our soon wilderness experience.  We're ready!

Alaska summer

Just arrived in Juneau after visiting with The Boat Company folks in Poulsbo, WA last night.  Weather here is warm (54) and dry today, but rain comes back in tomorrow.  We're preparing for another cruise on the Mist Cove with new and old friends for a week.  Will send pictures when I can, but not much WIFI out on the water.  Check out the twitter for a glimpse of what we see:  http://t.co/x0vAJWE

passages couverts a paris

If You Need Inspiration...

If You Need Inspiration...

Hot Air Balloon?

Irene Crowe, Winsome McIntosh, Caroline Gabel

My dear friend Irene Crowe has been "cooking" this idea up for almost a year and we finally nailed down a date that we and Caroline Gabel (close friend too) could drive to the Pennsylvania border with Maryland and fly free with the wind.  It was a wonderful experience, starting with our meet-up in Harve de Grace at an exceptionally "funky" and wonderful B&B for the night of "women talk" and dinner.

Best Friends Forever bracelets!

Up at 4:30 am and in the car traveling about an hour to meet our pilot, Mike.
Strangely, it was hot, but also foggy.  We had to wait for a time for the fog to lift before we could start the process (actually in was Mike and Jason who did the work) of sorting the "flight deck....a basket for four" and inflating the canopy/balloon.

Caroline's new Volt

The flight was glorious.  Who knew that you didn't "feel" wind at 1000 feet?  Your sense of height is minimized by the lack of sense of movement.  We were drifting with the currents.  We watched our shadow move below us, animals warily watch us above, get used to the sound and heat of the flames above us used to keep us afloat, and wonderful talk with our pilot.  Mike was a Navy pilot with a hobby of ballooning that turned into a very fine business in retirement.  His love of flight is enhanced by his love of poetry and quotations.

This is what you see when you look up from your basket

Our shadow passing below

Once packed up and ready to be returned to our cars/starting point by the chaser call, we stopped in a local state park by a lovely stream and toasted our journey with sparkling cider.  What a lovely morning we had before the long drive back to DC.   Thank you, Irene, for the celebration like no other!

Caroline, me and Irene grounded again!