uncommonly feeble and random thoughts

 June 23, 24, 2018 Our stay here was at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge. The setting was fabulous, and we went for the King salmon fresh-caught that very morning. Pricey, but oh my! Al dente asparagus done just right, and of course, Yukon Gold mashed potatoes: Our table that evening had this view - I took the shot from outside the next morning, with the table we occupied dead center in the picture. Yes, that was our view during dinner: The light specks in the glass are two interior lights. Maybe three.  Our room faced this scene: But, adventures awaited, and we took off to the park itself: Our first stop, first chance to get out of the bus, was a rest stop, and ten steps from the bus I chanced upon this stump. I know I posted it on Facebook, but I like it so much... : The park is patrolled year-round. In the winter, by dogsled. Here's an actual working ranger's cabin. Must be quite the welcome sight after a day of mushing: We cruised fo...

June 23, 2018 Flush with our newfound wealth from the panning experience, we were ready to move on to new adventures. We boarded the bus in Fairbanks and headed south, destination Healy, AK. Halfway there we took a rest stop, and of course I took some photos: Clearly, a winter-time vehicle. I wonder how fast one has to travel in order to be able to turn? Anyway, same spot, I noticed a mangarage, Alaska-style. Count the toys and weep, gentlemen: It is my understanding that these types of traps are still legal, although they are rather cruel. We were told they are banned for use at the bear-size level, but only, apparently, because they are so powerful they present a danger to the human trying to set it. I say, Darwin rules: Once ensconced in the luxury of the Princess Denali Hotel, I took an awesome photo tour with Terry Boyd, tboydphoto.com who was exceptional. He introduced me to gradient neutral density filtration which I will explain momentarily. He also i...

We took an excursion to try our hand at panning for gold. The first stop on the tour included an informative presentation on the pipeline. That's a section of actual-size pipe in the lower left. The presenter stood on one of the cement "collars" used to weigh down the pipeline as it traverses open water. There were also major engineering problems needing solution relative to the challenges of permafrost. You can see from the lineup in the background that we were almost the only souls here. Almost:  The gold story in Alaska is pretty well known. It was interesting to be given a small sack of rocks and dirt, a pan, and water, to recreate the mining back in the day:  Obviously they were set up for hordes of panners. And of course, one must have an authentic local character for color and panning tips: Yes! We hit gold!!! The flecks you see leftmost in the pan, at nine o'clock.... that was weighed and is worth $26.  They use recycled plastic 35mm film c...

June 22, 2018 post 1 of 16 This was our view on final approach to Fairbanks. We flew in from O'Hare: Our first excursion was a riverboat tour on the Tanana River, past Susan Butcher's home.  She died in 2006 of leukemia at age 51. Susan Butcher was a four-time winner of sled-dog racing’s biggest event, the Iditarod. She was found to have leukemia in December. Credit Paul A. Souders/Corbis, 1991 Her daughter continues to work the Trail Breakers Kennel, just outside Fairbanks, and she does a demo for the tour boat. She has a mic and talks to the crowd as the captain holds the boat steady in the river. That's her at the helm of the ATV just coming back to the Kennel from a demonstration run: As a part of the tour "show", a local pilot taxis up the river, then takes off beside the boat. A common sight in Alaska: The big draw of the tour, however, was the fish camp. I've posted s...