Alaska trip, part 10: the setting sun

I'm rushing these posts and not writing as much as I could because we're about to leave on another (smaller) adventure, and I'd like to have the documenting of this one wrapped up first.

Nathan left Wrangell the day before we did. These first few photos are from his final night.

I think Sal was going to miss us:

This is shoreline at David and Paula's place. I still can't get over that view.

Even the goats couldn't take their eyes off it:

Jump forward about 24 hours to our last night. We grabbed some seafood at a nice restaurant in town and took a walk on the cruise ship dock.

Driftwood moose:

One more Thank You to David and Paula for opening their home to us and for guiding us all around their beautiful island and beyond!

I asked Paula to stop the car on the way back to the house so I could get this shot:

What a great trip! Alaska is wild, vast, and beautiful.

I'm going to take a short break, but then I will be back with a small collection of outtakes from the trip that didn't fit anywhere else. After that we'll get back to our regularly scheduled programming, which I am falling behind on...

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Alaska trip, part 9.5: dip in a mountain lake

The afternoon after our sky tour, we hiked to a mountain lake.

R, Omri, Sal, and I went in the water. It was cold, but I've been in worse. The bottom of the lake was very mucky and there were a lot of horse flies around, which I guess is to be expected in the natural world. Still a refreshing dip!

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Alaska trip, part 9: up in the air

On Friday, we went up in this small plane (photo by the pilot):

There were some astounding sights, like Wrangell's harbor:

Looking the opposite direction:

So many islands!

We hit some turbulence heading into the mountains:

Look a little closer at this shot...

... and see the LeConte Glacier:

Happy passengers:

Rivers:

Peaks:

Mud flats:

Let's finish up with a short video:

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Alaska trip, part 8: boat trip to a bear paradise

The next day we got back on a boat (David's this time) and went to the Anan Wildlife Observatory. 

David, Nate, and I took the boat around the island while Paula, R, Veronica, and Omri drove across the island. This is the landing where we met up:

There was still quite a long ride from here, so good thing we had Omri behind the wheel:

Nice day for a ride:

Nathan in his float coat:

The Mrs. and I had them too:

Just a boat along the way:

Landed at Anan:

We had to carry protection on this hike (photo by R):

This is why... there were bears on the trail to the observatory:

Good thing the bears were much more interested in the all-you-can-eat salmon buffet at the river:

This was pretty fun to see:

They grabbed one fish after another:

Lunch date:

A well-fed eagle:

A couple of cubs:

The momma bear would send her cubs up the tree:

This one looks relaxed:

Humans:

Did I mention I have a lot of photos from this trip?

Group shot:

Ready for the voyage home:

David bringing in the boat:

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