Salmon Cam

Jonny and I decided to visit Salmon Creek by the hatchery today. We walked into the wetlands and dropped our underwater camera into the creek amongst hundreds of spawning dog salmon! It was really quite an exciting place to be. Just below us, we could see countless fish swarming, fighting against the rushing water. Many of them were laying eggs!

On our video, you can see how the salmon seem to be falling apart. Once they hit the fresh water again, they go through a strange transformation. Each species goes through their own unique changes. Dog salmon, the fish in this video, develop green and purple bars on their sides and display long, hooked teeth. They completely stop eating and do nothing but devote themselves to reproduction. Many of them have bacterial and fungal infections. Their flesh is squishy and practically rotten while they're still alive. After they finally make it back to the streams they were hatched in, they spawn. After that, the fish just wait around until they starve to death and die. Jonny and I could see how weak and tired the salmon appeared. Many fish rested in the shallow water, struggling to breathe as they barely clung to life. Along the banks we could see dead carcasses being torn apart by gulls. It was quite sad, really. But the salmon do this every year, and their dead bodies bring life to all of Alaska.

WARNING: This video is not for the faint of heart! This video contains fish on fish violence, bad fishy behavior, lewd sexual acts with fish, and graphic fish images..

If you would still like to see this video, click HERE! :)

That's all for now!

Conquering Mt. Jumbo!

Jonny and I decided to take on Mt. Jumbo today!

This is the tallest mountain on Douglas Island at 3337 ft. The trail that leads up the mountain to the summit is about three miles.

The start of the trail goes through a beautiful old growth forest. You can see the glowing green from the plants all around as the trail ascends gradually. Once you hit this beautiful waterfall and cross the bridge into the bog, things get STEEP!

A beautiful bridge.

Some steps make the beginning of the trail a little easier.

A glowing green forest.

Jonny leads the way!

The peak is in the distance. That's where we're going!

There was quite a bit of snow, even in late July! I just had to build a little snowman.

Basins filled with snow.

Juneau sure looks tiny from the summit! You can see the Gastineau Channel that divides Juneau from Douglas Island with some very tiny cruise ships in port.

Yay! We did it! Such an amazing view!

We sure got a workout, but the views made the entire hike totally worth it!

Jonny takes in the views before we make our way back down.

Heading back for Juneau. We can see our condo from here!

If you would like to see the panoramic view from the summit, just click HERE!!

We sure had an amazing day conquering this steep summit! We hope your day was just as adventurous!

Fun on Mt. Roberts

Recently I've been guiding lots of tours up on Mt. Roberts. Mt. Roberts is a tall mountain located right by downtown Juneau where the AJ Mining and Processing Mill used to be. It's been said that if you could see into Mt. Roberts, the inside would look like a piece of swiss cheese from all of the mining tunnels that were created when the gold rush was occurring in the late 1800's to the mid 1900's. Our tours get to ride the tram up the mountain! Here's an image of the Mt. Roberts tramway. It goes 1800 vertical feet and is the steepest aerial tram in North America.

One of the first things you see after exiting the Mountain House at the top is a carving on a tree next to the Nature Center. All of the carvings along the alpine loop trail are examples of native Tlingit artwork. The Mt. Roberts Tramway is owned and operated by Goldbelt Inc., a local native corporation. That's why much of what you can find up on Mt. Roberts pays homage to the native Alaskans.

This is the Sentry. He's the silent observer who watches all guests that arrive onto Mt. Roberts. He relays messages to the next carving on the trail.

This is the Caretaker. From this carving, you can tell that the figure is a male by examining the head. He is of the Killer Whale clan (note the orca stretched across his shoulders) and of the Eagle moiety (the Eagle is on the pelvic region). He receives the Sentry's messages and offers an exchange- safe passage on the mountain in return for a promise to respect your surroundings. He also lets Raven, the next carving, know that there are visitors up on the mountain.

This is Raven. Raven is one of the two Tlingit moieties (Raven and Eagle). Raven was thought to be an extremely intelligent being and the trickster responsible for forming the earth, releasing man from the clam shell, and bringing daylight to the world. He is distinguished from images of Eagle by his longer beak.

After examining the carvings, the trail ascends into an alpine meadow. Here, a number of beautiful wildflowers are in bloom!

These are wild geraniums.

A chocolate lily graces the mountainside with its presence.

Here are some small alpine violets.

One of my favorite alpine flowers is the yellow violet because you can eat them! They have a light, sweet flavor.

A bit higher up on the trail I found this. I'm not quite sure what it is yet, but it sure was pretty!

Here's a shot of the meadow filled with a mixture of different flowers. You can see the prominent lupines in the foreground.

Some Rosy Twisted Stalk shows off its delicate dangling flowers.

And here are some of the views! See the snow? You can also see some muddy streaks where landslides and avalanches have occurred.

Long, sleek waterfalls cascade down the sides of the mountains from the snow melting at the peaks.

The trees in the alpine zone are uniquely shaped. They're twisted and have branches on only one side. They've been shaped by snow pack and heavy winds.

This tree is my favorite! It broke twice, started growing down, then looped all the way around before it grew back up! A complete loop!

And here's the best part about the mountain- the views! Here you can see Father Brown's Cross in the foreground. I believe it to be a memorial to a man who helped with the Boy Scouts in the area.

Leading out to Stephen's Passage.

The Gastineau Channel. You can see how it divides Juneau into two parts. One side is the mainland with downtown Juneau below, and the other is the community of Douglas on Douglas Island.

This is the wildlife I saw at the top of the mountain. A lone dragonfly.

Before I made my way back down, I made sure not forget about Lady Baltimore! She's an injured bald eagle that is currently cared for by the Juneau Raptor Center. She was shot in the beak, so she's blind in one eye and has bad rotator cuff damage. If she is allowed to fly, she just goes in a circle and does more damage to herself. She lives a happy life though with all of the wonderful care she receives! She even posed for this picture! Isn't she beautiful?

So if you're ever in Juneau, be sure to make your way up the tram and see all that Mt. Robers has to offer! Maybe I'll see you on the mountain next time!

Hungry Porcupine!

Jonny and I took a walk down to Steep Creek today to look for bears and salmon.. but instead, we ran into this little guy!

This is a porcupine! We often see them climbing up trees, munching on leaves. He's actually a pretty good size, and was struggling to stay in the tree as he lazily reached for more branches.

Being near a porcupine is completely harmless. Unlike what a lot of people think, a porcupine cannot throw its quills. Instead, if threatened, a porcupine will roll up in a ball with its quills pointed up. The only way one becomes injured is if they try to touch it, the quills will get stuck in the assailant. They're pretty harmless and move quite slowly. I think it's really fun watching them climb trees.

If you would like to see the video of him eating, just click HERE!

Enjoy!

Rainforest Secrets

The rainforest is such a beautiful place. The more often I walk through it, the more I start to wonder why anyone would ever want to live anywhere else but here.

Yesterday Jonny and I did a Guide's Choice Hike together on the West Glacier Trail. We had a really good time with our hikers, but BOY did it RAIN! If you'd like to see how rainy it was, just click HERE! As you can see, a rainforest can be just as amazing in the rain as it is in the sun.

Today we decided to walk along the Outer Point Trail. This is my absolute favorite trail to walk along. It's on North Douglas, so we had to drive across the Gastineau Channel and down the Douglas Highway to get there.

At the trail head!

Here's a map of the trail. It opens up to the beach through the forest, goes through a bog, and then back to the road. 

 This trail is so beautiful. All you have to do is follow the wooden path.

This is where I stopped for lunch!

Jonny walks across one of the many bridges.

The stairway to the beach.

When I go walking through nature, I like to search for the hidden things. Sometimes you have to move a few leaves aside and get a little closer. Here, you can see my hand silhouetted behind a huge skunk cabbage leaf.

There is a lot of skunk cabbage on this trail, and it's all gigantic!

Skunk cabbage grows in really marshy areas. There are many creeks and streams flowing through this area, and all long them is plenty of skunk cabbage!

Here I am straddling a fallen log! It sure was slippery!

The spiny Devil's Club along the trail also has gigantic leaves.

I love watching the sunlight shine down through them.

Just look at the size of these leaves!

A little closer to the forest floor, there is an array of beautiful flowers blooming. These are bright yellow buttercups!

And here we have Dwarf Dogwood, or Bunch Berry. Aren't they pretty?

These tiny little star-shaped flowers are called Shy Maidens. They face the ground as if they're shy. Once pollinated, however, they face straight up! 

I believe that these are Forget Me Nots, Alaska's state flower.

All along the trail, blueberries dot the shrubs.

This yellowish string is called Old Man's Beard. It's lichen- a symbiotic relationship between fungus and algae that is non-parasitic and doesn't harm the trees.

 Some trees are completely covered by it!

There's nothing better than kicking back in the rainforest!

And here are some mossy logs! These large trees lack deep taproots, so when the winds blow in the wintertime, they blow right over. Some of them are incredibly twisted and sticking up straight in the air!

This tree snapped in half!

 Most of these trees are hemlocks and spruces. Take a look at how beautiful they are!

Looking around between the trees, you can find tiny hidden treasures. Here, a small spider hides on the underside of a leaf.

 This Twisted Stalk has small berries developing on the undersides of its leaves.

These little ferns make up a large portion of the forest floor.

Also comprising most of the floor cover is moss! There are over 700 different species here, and anywhere you stop you can see a different type. The ground is a patchwork quilt of different colors and textures.

And let's not forget about all of the little mushrooms sticking up out of the moss!

I've never seen this fungus before. I think it looks like large gobs of gooey toasted marshmallows!

Next, we happened through a bog! All of this tall grass is actually growing in very deep mud!

My boots sink deep into the mud.

...a little TOO deep actually. See how my left leg is wet up to my knee? I sank into the mud and got stuck! Jonny had to pull me out. It's a good thing he came with me or I might still be there!

The trees in this area were strange and twisted.

The trail opens up to a beautiful black sand beach.

This is Outer Point on the horizon.

If you'd like to see a little peek of what this trail looks like, just click HERE! See how peaceful it is in the forest?

I spent hours out in the woods today. Even though this trail is short, you can spend all day looking around at all the forest has to offer. I hope you all enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! See you next time!