Rotting Broccoli Leads to Playing Hooky.

 The broccoli was stinking up the garage, so it was time for it to go bye-bye.

We don't have garbage service here.   We have to haul our own to a transfer station with big roll-on/roll-off containers.

And the broccoli was in a kitchen garbage bag, and the bag was in a plastic trash container in my garage to keep the bears from getting in it.   I don't know if bears like broccoli or if the stench of spoiled broccoli would attract them, but nevertheless, it was time to haul my garbage.  

Those big containers are an 18-mile round-trip drive from me in one direction, or 25 in the other.   I decided to combine the trash haul with picking up litter at a site near Cooper Landing.    So, I loaded up the trash in Behemoth — that's what I call my F-150 pickup, which is too big for me — grabbed my camera with the big lens and some Gatorade, and away we went.

The very poisonous baneberry.

Red Baneberry

Trash dumped, I thought I'd tidy up all the pullouts on the way home.   I did one and realized I was tired of picking up after litterers, but went to a site near Mile 40.   I cleaned up two big pullouts and part of the highway before I discovered I was really, really tired of it.

Sight-seeing.   That's what I'd do.   A day off from litter and some nice scenery.  However, to reach my destination, I had to go by Wildman's in Cooper Landing, which is a many-purpose store that gets a lot of customers.   Espresso drinks, sandwiches, general groceries and merchandise, liquor store, and ice cream, both regular and soft-serve.

Ice cream it was in a home-made waffle cone that was so tender I wound up eating Bordeaux cherry ice cream from a wad of paper towels.

Bordeaux cherry in a waffle cone.   Mjust be almost a pint of ice cream in a single scoop.

I finished the ice cream by the time I reached an 18-mile scenic loop called Skilak Lake Road.

Once I reached mile one, I pulled over to the left side and slowly drove along with my window open and holding my phone out so Merlin ID could pick up the sounds of any birds.  This is a gravel road with a slow speed limit and people are used to sight-seers stopping anywhere.

It heard only a robin, so that was a bust.   But the fireweed blooms were outrageous.   This country was savaged by a lightning-caused wildfire in 2019 and the fireweed explosion the next summer was beyond compare.   It's still doing nicely.

At an overlook near the top of the hill, I stopped and was approached by a tourist from Pennsylvania.   He nodded at the safety vest I was still wearing and asked if I worked here.

No, I told him, I was picking up litter.   Then he said he and his companions were just talking about how clean the roads were on the Kenai Peninsula.

"I only cover 40 miles, " I said.  

"Then there must be a lot of others like you out there!"

Music to my heart!

On I went, driving toward the west entrance/exit.   Didn't see much, other than a common loon that disappeared before I could get the camera ready, a couple ducks that were too far away to ID, and a few LBBs (Little Brown Bird) flyovers.

Where did that loon go?

No bears.

It occurred to me as I neared the end of the drive that I hadn't seen any litter.  Then, a few things started to appear--a crushed soda bottle, a plastic cup, a piece of paper.

I pulled into the welcome sign at the entrance and walked back to get them.  Holy smokes!  There was a lot of litter around the signs.   As I began to get it, there were six mosquitoes on the back of my hand!

Some other time, mosquitoes!

Out on the highway and heading home, I saw a cow moose with her little calf.   Made the whole excursion worthwhile.

Curious baby

Mom's portrait.

The Denali Highway Road Trip 2022, The Third Day, Part Four, Tangles in the WIllows

 The Third Day, Part Four

Tangles in the Willows

We turn into the BLM Tangle Lakes Campground at Mile 21.5, right where the pavement ends.

According to BLM, it's situated within the Delta Wild and Scenic River corridor and the Tangle Lakes Archeological District where more than 10,000 years of human use have been documented.

There are 45 accessible campsites and four walk-in sites, and is equipped with water pumps, toilets, and a boat launch.   Plus, it is absolutely beautiful!   All that for $12 a night for vehicles or $6 a night for the walk-ins.

It is also a reliable site for Blackpoll warblers and other warblers.

Blackpoll warbler.

 

 We scan the river carefully for waterfowl.   There is nothing but a gull.   The water is high and fast and covering the small islands where wildflowers usually grow.

 We drive to the boat launch to see what's  in the lake.   There is nothing in the lake.   Not a bird, not a muskrat, not even a boat.   Zip, zero, nada.

Well, that's a bust.   Leilani is backing up the truck when she suddenly stops and says, "There's a moose."

Sure enough, a cow and calf are on a ridge alongside the lake.   It would be in the right in the above photo.

The calf is hanging close to Mum, who is shedding her winter coat.   Out of the truck for better views.  Shutters clicking away, we wait and watch.   Mum browses on the new green leaves of willows.

Eventually, the calf's head becomes visible.

Mum has no intention to leave the willows, but the calf eventually separates from her and heads down to the lake.   I suspect it's been here before and knows what's at the bottom.

It's watching us but seems calm.

And then it squats and pees!

 

That taken care of, it moves over and takes a drink from the lake.

Mum comes down to gather up her calf, pees, and takes a drink.

The calf joins her and the two head back up the hill and out of sight.   Mum moves through the willows with ease.   For the calf, it's more of a struggle.

Well, that was fun!   We thank the moose and go on our way.

What makes a trip a success?

I took off Sunday afternoon on the spur of the moment and headed three hours north to go birding with a birding buddy.

I wasn't even there before I decided the trip was a stunning success!!!

Not every day you get to see a wild wolf.


But, that wasn't the last of the wild animal sightings.

She came out of an encounter with a vehicle missing some hair, but otherwise okay.

Half-Baked Alaska, No. 3

In Half-Baked Alaska, Episode 1, I wrote about a phone call from a neighbor warning me that she had seen moose and bear tracks in their driveway that appeared to be headed toward my property.   About the same time, another neighbor saw a young brown bear cross the highway by my place.

Yesterday, the friend who lives on the front of my 4.6 acres, told me there was a dead moose calf close to her apartment, between her and the highway.

This is the front half of the carcass.   The stomach and hindquarters are gone, as in a bear ate them.

 This is not a good situation.   Bears become very testy about their kills, which I am guessing this is.

I'm standing on the edge of the lawn.   The light greenish/gray line near the top of the photo is where the Seward Highway is.

 Not a good situation.    Today, the friend and another person removed the carcass, hoping giving the brown bear no reason to return.   Ah, like in Alaska.

The round white things are the moose calf leg bones, stripped clean.   The front quarters are above that with the head lying towards the right.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Murphy's Law, Alaskan Style

Be it red squirrel, Arctic Hare, or moose, if it's on the side of the road as you're driving towards it,....

...it will ALWAYS .....

..want to be on the OTHER SIDE of the road.

Much to amusement of bald eagles.

Or maybe not.     Hard to tell with eagles.

The Perils of Delivering the Mail

If you follow along here, you know I am a substitute mail carrier on a rural route.  The dangers I encounter are mostly weather-related as I drive 130 miles through the Chugach Mountains.  There are few year-'round residents along this area because the roads run through Chugach National Forest.

The scenery is distracting, to say the least.

Moose stepping onto the road in front of me, swans flying past at windshield height, and a turkey guarding its domain are the worst dangers I face.  I don't have to worry about any of the dogs on the route because the contract carrier (for whom I substitute) has them spoiled rotten.  They all run up to my vehicle expecting doggie salmon treats.

But another mail carrier had to deal with quite another things.  Here's a link to a video.  Note the mail delivery truck at the left side of the video in the very beginning.



http://www.alaskadispatch.com/video/video-moose-rutting-season-alaska