Psagshack Whale Watching Trip

Today dawned a day that makes you want to live forever.  It was one of those glorious days that make your cares seem far away and inspires .....nay demands that you spend some time in the good ole' out of doors!  It also is the time of year that Gray Whales make there reappearance in the Kodiak Island Area following a centuries old instinct to migrate.

That being said, Pasagshack is the place to go to find these critters.  It's also the end of the road in Kodiak.  Packing up snacks, water, and diet coke I drove down the road towards Psagshack.  Along the way, horses had gotten on the road and were interested in any handouts I might have in my car.

Note to self...Don't stop the car unless you want the road blocked by soft nosed creatures looking longingly in your car for a forbidden tidbit or two.

Continuing on I hit a Y in the road and just to prove that there is such a place as Pasagshack and that yes, I have indeed, spelled it correctly - I took a picture of the sign:)

Lucy bundled up and rarin to go!

After traveling a few more miles down a paved road, you will hit the Kodiak Launch Center.  You actually have to travel along a dirt road(now you are really at the end of the road!)  Parking here I met up with my friends Mike and Katie Buchinger (and Lucy Goosey too:).

Let's Go Dad!

Bison overlooking the beach

There were bison on the side of the hill on one side and the start of the trail on the other.

Start of the Trail to Narrow Cape

Straight ahead was the ocean of course and what a site it was.  Sparkling and Glimmering in all it's glory.  Days like these really make me realize just how lucky I am to live in Kodiak.

We headed up the trail, which was a little steep but the views were worth it!  When we got to the top, we headed for the first WWII bunker along the way.  These are found scattered all along the island.  Most are still in relatively good condition, which just goes to show that the military knows how to build them right:)

Whale from Two year's ago at Dig Afognak

We saw whales all around in the distance.  They were kind of hard to see as they were in the distance but once you know what to look for, the ocean was calm enough that you could see them spouting with the naked eye and using binoculars offered a better view of them coming up for air.  We were hoping to see the whale breach (jump up and fall back in the water) but didn't have any luck.  I was hoping to take good photos of the whales like I did in Dig Afognak but they were to far.  I included both photos for comparison.

Whale spout in middle of photo.

Still no breaching whales.. There was lots of other wildlife though.

We walked along the edges of the cliffs and looking down the power of the ocean takes your breath away.  The waves create varying colors in the ocean and around the rocks.  The sound could lull me to sleep any day.









Further down the cliff we looked down and saw a deer munching on some sea weed.  He looked right at us.  The sides are relatively steep and we were a little concerned about Juneau(the dog) trying to find her way down to the water.  (Juneau likes to swim...ALOT) .  I was wondering where the rest of the herd might be as there was only one of the beach.

We continued on and looking behind us...there was the deer.  It had scrambled right up that steep cliff.












We spent a lot of time on those bluffs nosing around before I realized I hadn't taken any pictures of people...So here's a family portrait of the folks I was with!  Don't think there are any whale spouts in the background though!

After the spouts settled down a bit. I raised my face to the sun and was able to catch the next few pictures of some local Eagles enjoying the day.  

Juvenile eagle (no white head yet)

Pair of eagles circling next to the cliff

Finally we realized the time and headed back to the cars for some much needed flip flops and dinner.   Lucy got her first taste of Fig Newtons courtesy of you know who:)  and she liked them very much.  Juneau go tot run around and beg us all for snacks with liquid eyes.. poor puppy..NOT!   On the way back, Mike was very careful to let Juneau know what a great puppy she is.  She listened intently of course.  Who doesn't like to hear all that praise?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juneau packing her snacks on her back.

Finally we left for home.  Even though the sun was still high in the sky it was around 7:00 P.M.  So easy to lose track of time in the spring and summer here!  I gotta say I love the sunshine though!
  While we were packing up I was talking to Mike.  He asked me a question and I turned to answer him when I say a LARGE dark shape landing, Splash!  back in the water.  I had seen a breaching whale.  Mission Accomplished but of course the camera was in the car and my "oooh ooh oh!" came too late for anyone else to have seen it.  Still breaching whale can be crossed off of the bucket list!  Last week climbing a mountain... this week breaching whale...who knows what the future will hold!

Sea Lion Feeding

Today posed one of those impossible questions...Do I stay in and clean my house or do I go out and enjoy some of the glorious weather God provided today.  hmmmmmm....I think WE all know which one one:) 

I grabbed some lunch and went to sit down at Oscar's Dock, one of my favorite places to watch the ocean and ocean life.  Suddenly a HUGE sea lion rose from the depths.  He arched his back and exposed his teeth in a huge yawn.  Did I have my camera ready?  Sadly ....no. 

Am I EVER gong to get a good shot of a sea lion -  besides my usual of disappearing Sea Lion butt?  The answer to this question - ABSOLUTELY.  4 to 5 of these wonderful creatures decided to fish right off the end of the dock and I mean right there.  Check out the photos below...What a great day!

Started out with pictures like this.  I borrowed a better camera (now thinking I have to have one eventually as there is no delay) .  So the sea lions were a bit out but still very close to shore. 

So here I was standing on shore when I noticed a sea lion waving at me with his rear flippers right off the end of the dock.  What a friendly fellow.  I've never noticed them fishing here before so I was curious.

There were 4 or 5 of them.  Several quite big and one that had to be fairly young as he was sticking close to the others and mimicking what they did. 

Fairly soon I got a great shot of the little one with a fish:)

Down the hatch!  So cute.  The bigger ones are kinda scary though.  Wouldn't want to fall into the water while they were fishing. 

Pretty soon I decided that I had to have a shot of the critters off the dock.  You aren't supposed to drive on it but I was assuming walking was okay:)  Hope so anyways..

My favorite shot of the whole day was this one.  They come up with fish and then slap them on the water to stun or kill them before eating them.  I gotta say....Glad I'm not a fish....

When I was done after about and hour and a half of watching them.  Truly a glorious day here...

I turned around and had to laugh and take a picture.  I'm having flashbacks of the movie Jaws!  LOL.

I also saw an eagle fishing and just missed his skimming the water with his talons..Seagulls were all around the sea lions hoping to get just a little bit of that fish here or there. lol.

That's it.  That was the Sea Lion Adventure!  Now if I could just get a pic of those Orcas......

Pillar Mountain Hike

I never cease to be amazed at how beautiful it is here.  The sky is blue (or gray depending on the day!), the water sparkles and the mountains soar.  The air is very clear which equals good breathing for those of us with allergies:)  I got the brilliant idea that I wanted to hike up Pillar Mountain.

Let me give you a little background on Pillar.  Pillar is the only mountain you can drive up.  The road is not paved.  At the top of Pillar Mountain are three wind turbines that spin in the wind.  They don't really look that big until you get right up on top of them.  It stands a mile and a half tall.  That being said when you are hiking the road it turns out to be 21/2 miles...one way...up all the way..

Here are a few pics and some thoughts I had while hiking.

This is the view from about a quarter of the way up the mountain.  I had to stop and take a photo through the break in the trees.  Actually I had to take several simply to have a rest break.  I was only just beginning to think I might die on this trek...lol.   You can see the Orthodox Russian Church with it's blue "onion bulbs".  Such pretty architecture.

I'm a sucker for waterfalls and this one afforded a beautiful picture (and another rest stop..pant...pant)

 We went from gravel road to this.  At first it was a new experience.  Walking in the snow.  After a few minutes not so much fun.  It was funny you would be walking along as the snow was fairly strong and then one foot would sink and you would end up floundering around.:)  The up side is that I can say I hiked up a mountain in the snow;) By the way -- I'm about 3/4 of the way dead by now and regretting this fabulous idea I had.  Good thing my friend Lindsey was with me cause I would have given up at about the waterfall other wise.

 Light at the end of the tunnel.  I can see the tops of the turbines! We MUST be near the summit.....

Ummm I hate to complain (okay but not really obviously) but it's 10 minutes later and aren't those actually farther away than before?  Oh well it's not gonna take long....

You know .... it should count that I can see all of them.  Wonder if Lindsey would notice if I just crawled the last million feet?

Success!  I made it!  See that wasn't too hard...

My goal is to get in good enough shape to go up Barometer, you know, without actually having my lungs explode from my lungs.   Barometer is over my left shoulder as you look at me.  It is about twice Pillar height and is straight up.  Takes two or so hours to go up and is STEEP! So basically Pillar is the bunny slope in comparison.

Absolutely would NOT have made it by myself so glad that Lindsey was able to go with me on my first hike up the mountain!  

Time to go back.   Down!  Down is good!   I like down..Sooooo much easier:)

Got back home just in time to see this guy land on the shore of the lake I live on.  Pretty unusual they tend to hang out in trees and on the buildings.  Thought maybe something was wrong until I saw his.....

LUNCH!  Spring is around the corner.  The ducks are on the lake again. 

That's pretty much my adventure in hiking Pillar Mountain.  I 'm glad I did it but am so very very sore this morning;)  Hope you enjoyed the read!

FINALLY

Well I attempted to start this when I first got up here but with one thing or another....never had the time. Pretty much have been using facebook as a blogging spot but in the interests of keeping my mother informed:) (Love you mom!) I decided that since I have the time now - I'd give it another shot! So hope you all are well and enjoy the view!