Seen This Week

Tuesday, we hiked to the Osborn Homestead here in Mueller. In 1915, Earl Nealy Osborn built his home on this land and lived there with his family until the mid-1920s. At that point, they moved into nearby Divide so the children could attend school more regularly. The cabin is in really rough condition, but it was interesting to look at the homestead. They raised cattle and grew potatoes.



John took some interesting photos of the cabin construction. It looks like all the work was done by hand, without benefit of electric saws. The interior had been covered with cardboard. The family did have glass windows.



I found a dark-eyed junco that was building its nest.



We also saw an evening grosbeak.



However, the highlight of the week was a black bear. Thursday, we were driving our mule along the main park road when we saw Rich and Penny taking pictures down the hill. We stopped to see what was so exciting and saw this bear. The photo was taken with my phone and it isn't really great.



Rich had a much better camera and emailed me copies of his photos. Isn't this a good looking bear? We loved sighting this type of wildlife.

Alaska -- Day 83

What are all of these gulls waiting for?



Something to eat! In case you can't tell, the dark areas in this water are virtual rivers of pink salmon, moving toward Solomon Gulch to spawn.







Here you see them crowded up against the wire of a fish weir. It diverts many of the returning salmon to the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery, from where they were released a year or so ago.



Part of the wier is stretched across the river. Only the strongest-jumping fish make it on up the river.





The rest are diverted into the fish runs to the hatchery.





We were there before the hatchery opens at 8 am, but a walkway is open so we could see the raceways and read about the fish. The salmon eggs that are deposited in the hatchery are artificially fertilized. The fish had returned to Solomon Gulch because they had been released here. However, the stream itself can't accomodate all the fry (little fish) that will hatch next year. That is where the hatchery comes into play each year.



We found the morning absolutely fascinating, even if it wasn't what we had planned. These signs show why were out there.





We didn't see any bear, but we can certainly understand why they are in this area some time each day.

After returning to the RV for breakfast, we went for a walk. We found this bus in our RV park. We have seen another of these buses somewhere in the past. Click to learn about the Green Tortoisee.

Here you can see the travelers' gear and water supply in the bus basement. Look carefully and you can see two tables on the other side of the buss, one with their breakfast dishes dripping dry and the other where breakfast was prepared.



These are the travelers' tents.



Our walk took us out of town north, where we saw these peaceful wetlands. Look at the reflection in the water.



On the other side of the road, there was fog on the bay. And it was clearing from the mountain tops.





One more great sight.



I have seen bald eagles somewhere every day since we arrived in Valdez.

Alaska -- Day 82

We have never seen something like this! And it was great. About 10 am we set out for a walk, after the morning rain stopped. As we left the RV park, we saw a bear near the camper cabins.



When we came back at noon, the neighbor leaned out her window and told us there had just been a bear walking there. Another woman said Animal Control had chased it off. And here came Animal Control, checking again.



About 3:45 the bear was back, trying to get into some sort of cooker in front of a nearby RV. We didn't get the camera out in time for that, just to catch these three men trying to burn up the grease the bear wanted to eat.



The black bear hadn't been deterred, however. Here he (or she) is at 4:06, still trying to get something to eat.



One of the neighbors threw something at him and he left. That was a deterrent for a little over an hour. At 5:18, he was back in the same place.





John raced out to take some pictures.



After sniffing and licking for a while, the bear decided to check out other parts of the park.



And sauntered across the road.

'

He checked out this truck camper.



Until something spooked him and he sprinted back the way he had come.



These were incredible bear sightings--a first for us in some place we have been parked. How exciting!

We did see some other sights, as well. We had watched the fog float around the valley while it was raining. When the rain ended, there was still some fog sitting at the base of the mountains. It sure is pretty.



The sun actually came out for a while this afternoon. Hopefully, we will see some more tomorrow. But, if we do, it won't compare to what we saw today.

Alaska -- Day 32

Another long drive--280+ miles from Dawson Creek to Fort Nelson. First, the highlights. We saw lots of wildlife. A moose, several deer and a fox, none of which I took pictures of. However, I did capture this black bear along the side of the road.



And even better, we spent about 10 minutes watching and photographing this blond grizzly.



When he stood up, I wondered if I had gotten too close and strayed too far from the RV.



But, not to fear, he (she?) went right back to eating.

The scenery was beautiful. This is Mount Yakatchie.



There is lots of logging up here, which is no surprise. They also have a lot of oil and gas exploration. In fact, Fort Nelson has the largest natural gas processing plant in North America. We kept seeing signs like this, saying open camp. Some said dinner, some room and board.




Finally, we figured out they were temporary buildings that provide housing and meals for oil field workers. In Texas and other places we have seen RV parks set up for those workers.



We have seen quite a few electric poles with these orange and white stripes. I wonder what they mean?

Alaska -- Day 22

There was more rain over night, but Thursday dawned clear and cool.  We decided to hike the Valley of Five Lakes trail just south of town.  When we drove by yesterday, the parking lot was packed.  That sounded like a good place to walk in the woods in bear country.  We would have plenty of company. 

 

On the way to the trailhead, we saw more evidence of the heavy rain Tuesday night.
  The Athabasca River is over its banks, flooding the adjoining forest land along the highway.



 
We came on a large traffic backup.  We were concerned until we realized it was a bear jam.



  There was a black bear and a grizzly bear eating very near each other on the hill above the highway.

 

We had a good hike of about four and a half miles around the five lakes.


  There was quite a bit of up and down to the trail.  We had expected it to be flat.  But it was a good hike.  The lakes are pretty, and surprisingly clear.  I wonder why they aren't muddy like the river?

 

Back in town, we sought out a laundromat that has wifi.  We had to pay for it, but the area was quieter than Lulu's restaurant yesterday or the food court in Banff.
  It is an interesting place with washing machines, a fancy coffee bar, computers to rent at $2 for 20 minutes, and pay showers.  A creative entrepreneur owns it.

 

 On the street we saw an interesting bike with a seat that looks like a merry-go-round horse.


  And we enjoyed seeing the 1923 Canadian National steam engine on display at the train station.