This last Sunday my friend Dennis Zaki, myself, and a few friends went for a hike out near Girdwood. We had been hearing about numerous bear sightings, but I wasn't worried because I'm pretty sure I can outrun Dennis.
It was a somewhat cloudy day, but like always there was beauty everywhere.
The above photo is of Falls Creek, which is a photographers dream as it is almost impossible to take a bad picture there. As you can see for yourself from these next two photos.
We kind of made a game out of finding new angles from which to take pictures. Yeah, like THAT was hard.
The one great thing about Alaska is that no matter HOW stressful your day has been, just a few hours out of the house and immersed in our beautiful surroundings will almost always brighten your day and chase those doldrums away.
Now if only we could bottle it.
Namaste my friends.
"... but I wasn't worried because I'm pretty sure I can outrun Dennis."
ReplyDeleteNow THAT was cold.
But it was funny, in a Gryphen sort of way. :)
DeleteUnless Dennis loses the camera equipment, then it's a high stakes race.
DeleteLoved that! Made me laugh. Thanks Gryphen.
DeleteYou live in a monumentally beautiful part of the world, Gryphen.
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely beautiful, Gryphen! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteGosh Gryphen, imagine the imagery! It makes me think of that great poet, Sarah Palin. . .
ReplyDelete"And getting up here I say it is the best road trip in America soaring through nature's finest show. Denali, the great one, soaring under the midnight sun. And then the extremes. In the winter time it's the frozen road that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty, the cold though, doesn't it split the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs? And then in the summertime such extreme summertime about a hundred and fifty degrees hotter than just some months ago, than just some months from now, with fireweed blooming along the frost heaves and merciless rivers that are rushing and carving and reminding us that here, Mother Nature wins. It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild good life teeming along the road that is north to the future. That is what we get to see every day. Now what the rest of America gets to see along with us is in this last frontier there is hope and opportunity and there is country pride."
Dude! Race is on next weekend. DZ
ReplyDeleteUh oh!
DeleteWhen it comes to bear country, Dennis, you might want to pick a slower companion. Gryphen obviously isn't going to help your slow ass.
DeleteFeets don't fail me now! lol
Deletenice pics gryphen, thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeletethe first pic looks like a castor bean plant, altho I have no idea if it grows where you live. it makes a nice annual- ornamental where I am in the se, do you know what this is where you are?
either way, nice pics thanks for the outdoor perspective. the water is nice, hope you had a good time.
Alaska is a beautiful looking place but the Palins stains Alaska with a bad impression.
ReplyDeleteOh, we all still enjoy it regardless...they're kind of a lower 48 problem now. Sorry!
DeleteWill there be someone there to photograph the race, since I don't think Dennis will be carrying his. :-)
ReplyDeleteNice.
ReplyDeleteNothing like the sounds of the nature and of water moving in streams, falls, lakes, sea; so soothing to the soul.
So beautiful!
ReplyDeleteyay....
ReplyDeleteRon Barber wins Gabby's seat in Arizona
Thank god for small things. This is a really nice bit of news.
DeleteLOL! I was waiting for the last pic to be a bear, a big momma grizzly bear! You set up a good introduction Mr. Grygh.
ReplyDeleteThe scenery is gorgeous, reminds me of our west coast on vancouver island here...I'm heading there tomorrow, there are no grizzly's on the island here but there are plenty of black bears..no moose(swamp donkeys) or skunks here either, but we do have the big bad ass Elk and tiny little Deer.
A story on ABC News tonight recounted the plight of a lone hiker who was lightly mauled - ! - and then treed by a grizzly on a trail near Anchorage. While in Yellowstone, I saw a grizzly sow with a cub very casually uproot about a 4 or 5 foot sagebrush bush with a very lazy swipe of her paw. And she wasn't all that big. Those bears scare the shit out of me.
ReplyDeleteWe've got black bears here in New Mexico, but they are pussies compared to brown bears. You can bluff most black bears. Not so much the grizzlies.
There's no way in hell I'd go anywhere in brown bear country without a BIG ASS canister of bear spray.
Alaska is so beautiful in the late Spring and Summer that it almost makes up for how FUCKING COLD it gets in the winter - almost.
Did I mention that grizzlies scare the shit of me?
Gorgeous! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteLooks like it's still sprng there, very, very beautiful. No wonder people love going to Alaska.
ReplyDeleteAhem, Gryphen. For your friend, Dennis, I hope he's heard of this song. Plus it's better his name isn't Timothy:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGNdvKvbxYQ
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_%28song%29
It's not really about a mule. It's about not trusting your, ahem, hungry friends or non-cannibal friends who'll make you the bear bait.
I'm being snarky, Gryphen. So did Dennis make it back and in all one piece? Hope so.
:)
I also heard this song a lot at some point in the early 1970s in Minnesota. In other areas, I didn't realize it was censored or not played on the radio.
Absolutely love the pictures!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful! Alaska is breathtaking. Everytime you do one of these posts, it makes me want to go back.
ReplyDelete