Skyline to Fuller Lakes Traverse

On Tuesday I scooted up skyline and cruised around to the Fuller lakes trail. The fall colors were great and the weather was perfect! Fall is here for sure, and after today's rain and wind, the leaves are about to be gone. Fall is short in Alaska, lasting only a few weeks before we are faced with barren trees and a grey/brown landscape for a month and a half till the snow falls. Hope all is well,
Josh

Fall Food

Moose burgers last night with garden grown onions, fresh harvested moose, and lettuce my mom started out front.
What a great fall!

Josh

Rainy Pass Part 2

Here are more photo's. Most are self explanatory, Rainy Pass Lodge is a major stop along the Iditarod trail and is a primary hunting camp for this time of year (I will post more on it later) The line cutting crews are working for the mining company which also employs geologists and drillers to help look for minerals for a future mine. I would hate to see a mine developed in this great place. Such an amazing spot in Alaska. Included are photo's of Rainy Pass Lodge, The heli schedule, Donica(Left) and Danielle (right) and the view of the Skwentna drainage on the way back to Soldotna!
CHEERS!!
Josh

Rainy Pass Part 1

I had the opportunity to visit a friend (Danielle) who is working in a geological survey camp in Rainy pass, right down the trail from Rainy Pass Lodge. I flew Danielle's sister Donica up to visit for the day and to check out the area. The whole Rainy Pass area is amazing. Large, expansive glacier cut valleys littered with fall colors and jagged Alaska range peaks dominate the flight up from Soldotna. Every time I venture farther north or west, or wherever it may be, I realize how much I'm missing. There is SO much Alaska to see that when I think I have a pretty good grasp on what is up here, I have a trip like this that completely changes my perspective. We are truly lucky to be up here! More pics to come....

Self Portrait

I'm usually not one for taking pictures of myself, but after seeing a few of Erik's fire photo's I wanted to experiment shooting through fire. The winning photo in this years Alaska Magazine photo contest was shot through flame and it provides an interesting medium that's a little tricky to shoot. Here are a few outtakes from the Alaska Magazine Photo Contest.
Cheers,
Josh

2009 Moose

Here are a few pictures of this years moose. We took it to the processors for butchering then I vac packed the burger in 1lb packages using Larry's commercial vac packer. It's a beast! Just had moose taco's for lunch!
cheers
Josh

Onion Crop

Great big onions this year! I harvested the last half of the crop yesterday, the first half went in with the canned Silvers!
Josh

More from Sunday

SpurView Strip on Sunday

Yesterday I flew back to the SpurView strip with some spare time to hike up toward the mountain a bit. The fog was laying low all the way over the inlet so the flight was super peaceful. There was no wind at all and the hike up the foothills of Mt. Spur was amazing. Every now and then you have an experience in nature that you know you will never forget. I have had two such experiences so far in my life, one was climbing up the flank of Mt. Russell and looking back on Foraker and the surrounding mountains with just pure awe at the size and grandeur of the Alaska range. The other happened yesterday while hiking in the high alpine tundra that leads up to the eastern seracs and glaciers of Mt. Spur. The fog seemed to blanket out any sound, and the lack of birds or wind created a stillness that is hard to find anywhere anymore. On the way up I ran into two projectiles that I have come across previously on the west side. Mike had told me of them when I first started flying with him in high school, and we found one on the McArthur river years ago. Yesterday I found two of them, one I brought home. I have found the manufacturer and have a serial number, so I'm going to do some research. I hope the pictures do the trip justice!
cheers,
Josh

DeGray Photo shoot

Erik let me tag along while he shot some photo's for the DeGray's a few days ago. He chose the bluff just outside the senior center and it turned out great. Mainly I do whatever he tells me to do and shoot some setup shots for him while learning a little along the way. We have been having some stellar fall weather!
Josh

Breaking 1000 hours on N704JB

While flying down to homer a few days ago I broke 1K hours on my engine. My engine has a 2K hour TBO (Time Before Overhaul). The trip was great with good weather. I flew down with the folding bike and had fish and chips out on the spit.
cheers,
Josh

Spur View Strip

I found a strip that Gregg and I visited last fall and poked around on the high alpine tundra for a bit. Mt. Spur is an amazing peak that is unique in that we can fly and land so close to it. I hope to tool around up there a bit more before snow flies.
cheers,
Josh

Cabin Garden!

I couldn't resist posting a few photo's of the potato yield from the cabin garden. I planted exclusively reds this year and they did really well. I pulled a few plants this week and they seem to have produced fairly well! Thanks go to Jenty for helping with the ground prep and planting!
Cheers,
Josh