Skolai Images

Hey Folks,

Here’s another image from Chile, the Futaleufu River. This rapid is called ‘Casa de Piedra’, which translates in English as ‘House of Rock’. See that big huge boulder smack in the middle of the river? The one with 4 small trees growing on top of it. THAT’S the rock. It’s huge - I’ll try to dig up an image that might give a sense of scale here - the rock is easily bigger than a regular house - a huge boulder that crashed down to the valley floor centuries ago, and now resides in the Futaleufu River.

Casa de Piedra is a Class V rapid, and a really technical run. Guides would often not let some guests run the river, if they weren’t strong enough paddlers - once you enter the rapid, from just upstream and to the left of the rock (which would be ‘river right’, facing downstream), it’s a non-stop run for over 200 yards of holes and waves and pour-overs. Usually we’d stop a few miles upstream, and decide who wanted to go on, and if they were up to it. If we cold round up a boat full of people, they’d consolidate into one or 2 rafts, and head off downstream. The last few miles were pretty sweet whitewater, with Más o Menos (’More or Less), a huge wave train of Class IV and V water, some smaller rapids, and then Casa - the wickedest rapid on the lower (more…)

Hey Folks,

I’m sure you’ve heard of the volcano eruption in Chile this last week - down at Chaiten, a massive eruption has devastated the towns of Chaiten and nearby Futaleufu - ash up to 12 inches deep covers much of Futaleufu. Geologists say the volcano hasn’t erupted in nearly 10 000 years. The volcano is still erupting, a week after the initial explosion, and wind is carrying the ash and dust east and over the town of Futaleufu. The poor little coastal town of Chaiten has been totally rocked, and Futaleufu is hurting - so far all but a few people have left town. A National Geographic vulcanologist has said this particular type or eruption is the worst kind, and could easily continue for months. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Well, it seems those pesky wolves are in the news up here yet again. This time it’s not the F&WS and their infinite wisdom declaring a population to be ‘experimental’, or a bunch of anti-wolf people shooting wolves from airplanes. This time, the news is about the National Park Service tracking down a wolf in Denali National Park, anesthetizing the animal, and removing a snare from its neck. You can read more about the story (the pictures are pretty gross, don’t visit these links if you might be upset by some nasty wounds on a wolf) here and the update here. Basically, 2 wolves had been trapped this past winter, and escaped, but with the snares on their necks. The snares dug in deep, and caused some ugly wounds. The park service, getting ready for the opening of the park and influx on countless visitors, has no interest in having a bunch of tourists see wolves in this condition, so they’ve been hunting high and low for these 2 wolves, to try to remove the snares. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Recently some of the environmental news has be regarding the delisting of the Gray Wolves in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Hence you can see, I post a picture of a wolf from Denali National Park. As you can see from the image, the wolf was collared by the Park Service biologists, to track and record her movements and to help them learn more about wolves. She’s dead now, apparently killed by wolves in another pack last winter, wandering onto some turf that didn’t belong to her. Such seems to be the way with wolves. (more…)

hey Folks,

Here’s another from the start of the Iditarod in Anchorage, March 1, 2008. It doesn’t seem like that long ago, and here the month has flown by. I wanted to get a shot or 2 of some interaction between the dogs and heir handlers, but they were typically not in decent light. Finally got a few that I was happy with. This one, the handler knelt down to check the dog’s booties, and he got a face full of tongue for his trouble. Seconds later the starter said “Go”, and the dogs were gone!

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

A recent thread on global warming and other environmental issues posed the question: “Are we having fun yet?” What a fantastic question to ask of ourselves in the year 2008. This question hit me square between the eyes; that’s really the issue here, isn’t it, I thought. That’s exactly what’s going on. Recent years have given more people more access to more goods and services, more art, more sport, more information, even to more other people, than ever before. With the internet we have access to the entire world at our fingertips. I can learn about almost anything in a matter of minutes. I can order plated Patagonian Alpaca Wool rugs in a few seconds, with the click of a mouse. I can order Goat’s Milk chocolate from Israel in the time it takes me to write this sentence. Figuratively, we have everything, literally we have more than anyone has ever had before. We live, in every sense of the word, in a time of abundance. And yet we seem bent on ‘more’. Why aren’t we happy yet, I wondered. (note: before you read on, this gets kinda long) (more…)

Hey Folks,

Here’s another post that has little to do with photography. I recorded this little piece tonight, in tribute to one of my favorite guitar players, Jeff Healey, who died recently. Jeff was a bluesman and musician of the highest order. I hadn’t heard the news until a few days a ago, and am deeply saddened to learn of his passing. Jeff was an amazing musician, full of all the fire, passion and soul we all aspire to. I had the great fortune to see Jeff play on a tour to Australia years back, in the late 80’s, at a small venue in Sydney, and he was awesome. Jeff tore it up like few other musicians would, stepping into realms few other players dare venture - it takes an awful lot of courage to play with the kind of passion Jeff did - because there’s nothing left uncovered, nothing that isn’t completely exposed when you bare open your soul like that. It’s an inspiration to witness that level of honesty in a human being. (more…)

Hey Folks,

As it hits the news again here in Alaska today, I thought I’d post about the current proposal to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. This post is from an earlier version on my other website, Alaskan Alpine Treks. The photo above is a buddy of mine hiking on the coastal plain near the Canning River, Section 1002, of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). I presume most readers here have heard something about this, so I’ll skip the introductions, and go straight to my arguments here. I’m not a big fan of arguing by numbers, but we can discuss the ANWR issue with “facts” if you care to: in doing so, it might be interesting to approach this issue by first looking at, and dismantling, the arguments of proponents of drilling. Next month I’ll look at some other reasons, probably more important, IMO, why we need to be as active as we can in our opposition to proposed legislation. First, a look at the typical arguments put forward by those in favor of drilling:

1. National Security, dependence from Middle East foreign oil & the US is ‘better off’ if we drill our own oil. (more…)

Hey Folks,

Well, just as I was winding down and about to go to bed, the news comes in. Lance Mackey wins the 2008 Iditarod. What an amazing achievement! He won the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod last year, and repeated both wins this year. 1100 miles down the frozen Yukon River, and virtually the same set of dogs wins the 1000 mile Iditarod. They said nobody could ever win both. He won both in 2007 and just won’ em again. Congrats Lance.

Jeff King, 4-time winner, is about an hour behind, and looks set to take 2nd place.

Cheers

Carl

Hey Folks,

I read yesterday afternoon of a couple of pieces of legislation currently under consideration in Alaska that concern me greatly. Bill SB 176 and bill HB 348 are proposals by the Alaska Board of Game that prepare for a mandate by the Board of Game to pursue what they call “aerial predator control programs” of wolves, brown bears and wolverines. SB 176 is an attempt to give the Board of Game free reign over the decision making process, with no requisite consideration of input from the scientific community - i.e., if the folks on the Board feel like mandating aerial shooting, or den killings of wolf pups, they need show no concern or evidence of supporting scientific study. HB 348 is a proposal to shift wildlife to a category they call “public assets”, which includes minerals, oil, and so forth, effectively removing them from public voice. This means the Board of Game can then make decisions such as aerial shooting with no input from or responsibility to the people of Alaska. I’ve written to local legislators here in Alaska on this issue, and I thought I’d post an amalgam of my letters here. (more…)