Solo Trip to Alaska - Accomplishing my Bald Eagle Dream

[devilry]

Some images of ice planet as seen by a bird...

The area which we step on is not as rough, not as jagged as those in this pic, but still it is sufficient to make us have walking difficulties especially on the ankles where you have to use a lot of strength to balance.

The amount of glaciers is simply incredible.....

 

[devilry]

As we were flying, the pilot called out for us to look out to the right side of the plane (which where I am sitting) and I saw this interesting house. This house is actually located on the slope of the mountain itself!!!! I can't help but wonder:
- who the heck actually built it there?
- why did he wanna stay there?
- how does he climb up to the house from the foot of the mountain?
- how does he get water/food there?
- how in the first place was the house constructed??? isn't the materials too heavy to be transported there in the first place???

very interesting...

And think you already knew... I love wildlife, and I also won't give up looking out for animals even in the air!!! Tada, this is what was found!

Some mountain sheep/goats - I can't remember their name

okok, think it's too small, I will give you 100% crop... now they look like some mountain goats/sheep right? hahaha...

 

[devilry]

A few last few shots of the ice planet and I close the Wrangell St Elias National Park.

From this photo, you can see a lot of bluepools in the creeks

I thought this pic sums up the Alaskan nature experience - Tall, Gigantic mountains massive landscape, tonnes of mouth-dropping glaciers, snow covered mountain peaks, and foggy weather.

 

[devilry]

Actually, this trip to Alaska wasn't a relaxing trip at all.... in fact I think I exercised a lot throughout the 14D of camping (when I returned to Singapore at the end of 3weeks, the friends whom I met up with all commented that I have slimmed down, and asked me which refugee camp did I go to? They even asked if I go Alaska is to torture myself or to enjoy. I went to weigh myself and got a shock that I lost 4kgs. But anyway, I am here to find the bald eagles, and I did found some, and this is the most important! The rest of the activities is a "bonus", and though physically really shag, most are activities which I have never done before in my life, and which I believe would still remain in my memories till old... It's a worthwhile trip!)

So after the Ice Planet, our next destination was Valdez. Valdez is a place where many people come for kayaking activities among the glaciers. Originally, we were all slated to go kayaking at the Columbia glaciers (an area where there's lots and lots of floating break-off glaciers) but unfortunately on the day itself, the water at the area was too choppy and there were big waves, so we couldn't kayak that area. So ended up, we went to kayak at the Shoup Glaciers area. The Shoup Glaciers area is surrounded by mountains, and the water is calm all year round, and so we went there to kayak.

As the Shoup Glaciers area is far from Valdez itself, we loaded our kayaks onto a small ship, and cruised our way to the area first. Us in the boat. The bright yellow and green suits covers our body all the way from the toes to the Chest area so that water from the sea will not wet our clothings. They are full Gore-tex or Columbia branded. It looks ugly, but it's really effective.

Upon reaching the kayaking location, we unloaded ourselves and the kayaks:

And that's me again posing with the kayaks behind me! (I am jus trying to slack, so that I don't have to shift the kayaks around!) You see those oval shaped colourful bags on the ground? each of us have 1 bag, and in it we put water, our lunch sandwich, and most importantly our camera! the bag is waterproof and ur items are safe if it's inside.

 

[devilry]

while kayaking, me and my partner in front spotted the floating glaciers, and the both of us reached out for the camera and snapped away! Both of us are photography freaks, and it should be easy to see that the both of us took a long time - you see how far the rest of the kayaks are in front of us? We got "scolded" a couple of times by the kayaking operator/guide, because the group has to slow down because of us =_= but heck, we still manage to catchup with them

But still, using camera in the kayak is very scary....I have to be very very careful and balance the stuffs in front of me so that they don't fall off the kayak. just imagine this - you open us the waterproof bag, retrieve your camera, then put the bag in front of you, then when you use both hands to shoot picture, the bag roll off the kayak... And the worst thing is that I couldn't just sling the camera on my neck, because sea water kept splashing in as you kayak, so after snapping a few photos, I have to keep inside the waterproof bag again. Besides, I also dunno whether the kayak may suddenly topple! the process of taking out cam, putting back cam in/out of the bag is really cumbersome - now you know why our kayak is so slow.

I manage to find our smaller sized floating glacier and I placed it in front of me! SWEEEEEEET! Again, something that I never see/touch before, though it just feels like normal ice. This time when I shoot the glacier, I took out the cam from the waterproof bag, but I did not close it back... luckily the bag never roll off the kayak.

and of course I gota pose with my "catch of the day"! It was really fun - the glacier gets passed around and everyone took turns to take photo with my catch! My camera also has to be passed carefully to the folks on another kayak, so that they can help to shoot this pic... As you can see from the image, it's raining and there are plenty of water droplets on the lens filter - even if I wipe it off with tissue, it will be wet again... My partner-in-front's camera (a PNS with extending zoon lens) didn't manage to survive. When my partner went back to the campsite subsequently, his camera locked up and was unable to power up. He took the battery out and let the camera dry for about 2 days before he tried putting the battery back and then it works fine for a while before failure again..

Another lesson learnt: use a weather sealed camera or rain protection cover..

And btw, did I mention that the sea water actually taste very bland i.e. doesn't feel saltish and in fact taste like normal water.. Think there's too much melting from the glaciers and it dilutes the sea water.

 

[devilry]

This is the Shoup Glaciers - a huge, gigantic massive block of ice... this is what this kayaking trip should bring us to see... (but actually, after seeing the icescapes in ice planet, the Shoup Glaciers did not impress me, and I took only a few photos of it... And btw, we were stopped by the guide from kayaking too close, and I soon found out for myself the reason why - because apparently there are ice chunks that break off from this large block of Shoup Glaciers every minute... If you get too close, there's the "chance" that the chunks might drop on your head and kill you...

After seeing this, we had a break, and all of us pull up the kayak and had some hot chocolate.

Actually, one of the regrets when kayaking in this area is if only I could bring a long lens here... there are so many waterbirds such as oystercatchers and even bald eagles in this area, which I couldn't shoot with my wide angle lens. but then again, the tour operator doesn't have waterproof bags that's large enough to fit a long lens + attached camera haizzz..... maybe next time (IF I ever appear here again), I may have to buy and bring my own LARGE waterproof bag.

Some birds which were too excited when they see me during our kayaking back to the ship, and decided to fly over and give me a kiss! I dunno why, but I like this picture of the birds flying off the cliff a lot...

On the previous days, we had the trekking and our legs are killed. And on this kayaking day, our hands are not spared and were killed too.... After this kayaking, we went back to the campsite.

 

[Lady Ice]

Hey D. A most excellent and enjoyable read.

As a nature lover, you might like to explore the Okavango Delta, Botswana - very rich in wildlife - or you might consider joining a conservation expedition. Think you'll enjoy both A local charity that looks after wildlife in Singapore is called Acres acres - Animal Concerns Research & Education Society

 

[daredevil123]

Thanks for sharing. I totally enjoyed your entire travelogue and pictures.

 

[devilry]

Oh ya, btw, there's something very important which I have forgotten to share with you guys, in case you are going to Alaska - And it's about my favorite subject, the toilet again muhahaha hope u haven ate ur lunch/dinner etc.

1. In the wildnerness, everywhere is your toilet. If you need to pee or shiiit, just let the guide know, and he will stop the car for you to roam into the bushes to take a leak. And yes, the girls do the same. But don't worry, you will get use to it.

Speaking of this, I remember a funny instance - as I was trekking in the forest, I suddenly saw some moving thing in front of me. Then when I walked up closer, it turns out that the moving thing is one of my tour mates doing his BIG business in the bushes... He waved to me and said "I am shiiiitting!", then I contained my laughter and walked away cooly... hahahahahhahahaha

2. There are stops along the highways, and these stops are mostly scenic area spots. At these spots, there are free toilets for you to use. And the good thing is throughout my Alaska trip, even when I go to the super ulu places, the toilets are stocked with toilet papers - I figured that someone must have drove around the places everyday to re-stock the toilet papers, but just in case, buy ur own toilet papers

3. Even though the ulu toilets are stocked with toilet papers, the sad news is that all the toilets in the wild are the non-flushing kind. Basically u lift up the toilet seat & pee/shiiiit into a hole which is piled with shiiiit. And the second bad news is, ALL the toilets in the wildnerness areas DO NOT HAVE TAP WATER. So if you do not have water with you - hahahahhahahaahha GOOD LUCK!!!!!!! Alright I will just say the truth - during my first day in the wild, I forgot to bring water with me to the toilet. After I did my business, I searched around frantically for tap water, only to realize there's no tap!! sucks!!!!!! so I just wiped my hands severally times more with the toilet paper, and moved to another area in search of tap - in short, I peeee without washing my hands! (I had water in the car, but the water unfortunately issnt clear water, but pepsi, so I cant wash my hands with pepsi... And it doesn't seem right if I were to borrow other's bottled water to wash my hands.

4. What the locals do is, they ALWAYS stock up on the hand sanitizers - so after doing ur business, pour the hand sanitisers and instantly 99.9% germs are gone! Get those pocket-friendly sized ones, and make sure to stuff it everyday with you!

 

[devilry]

After Valdez, the next destination which we went to was Hope. Yes! the place is called "HOPE". Hope is a very small town, the population there is at most 20. The number of buildings if I remember correctly is less than 10.

Though it's a small town, Hope is famous for it's white-water - think white water rafting! And to my surprise, there was an American couple (in their 60s+) who actually went for the white water rafting! Cool right! So, did I join them for the white water adventure? You bet! NOT!

I am someone that's super frightened of massive ups and downs, and lefts and rights, of course I rejected the white water rafting! So me and a couple others (who also did not want the white water rafting), went for hiking by ourselves in the chugach mountain forest instead - Trekking is the best way to smell nature and see wildlife!!!!! You will be to of focused on the rapids when white water rafting - you wont see any wildlife...

I borrowed a sharp knife from the guide (To carve some bear meat if we do see one!!!), and the few of us went trekking ourselves. We had 4 hours to trek, but since we have no idea how the forest is like, and how long the trek is, we just organized ourselves by making sure to back track once we were 2 hours into the forest. If you were thinking it's bukit timah type... hohohohohoho..... it's not Bukit Timah, it's Bukit Timah's great great grand father.

Of course the main threat is definitely the bears, so the most important thing that one must do when trekking in the forest is to shout and talk super duper loudly, machiam like singing karaoke without the loudspeakers - the purpose is to sound out to the bears that there are humans in the vicinity, so that the bears will not be surprised and they will hide away from you (yes, bears would rather hide away from you than to attack you, IF they are not surprised).

And I still remember the "strategy to handle bears":
- if they see you, you stop moving, and don't move, and definitely DON'T EVER RUN.
- if the bear back off, you also slowly back off.
- if the bear move towards you, you still stay still and don't move
- if the bear is a BROWN bear, and it starts charging at you, lie face down on the ground, and cover the back of your head with your hands to protect the head, and don't move. --> then you pray that the bear think you are dead and it moves away

- However, if the bear is a BLACK bear..................





MAI TU LIAO!!!!!!! Clench your fists, or grab whatever knifes and logs or tree trunk, and start smashing the hell outa the black bear till it back off!!!!!!!!!! And of course the priority is to whack straight at their eyes machiam like you are the pirated version of Manny Pacqiao or Mike Tyson!!!!!!!!

You may be thinking, why the difference in treatment for black and brown bears - aren't they both the same? the short answer is NO. Reason being, adult brown bears can be more than twice your height and much much bigger and heavier than you are - just imagine a stickman trying to punch a sumo wrestler --> simply no chance.

But an adult black bear is about the human height, and size jus a little bigger - and you got chance to win, and you BETTER WIN!!!!!! no "insert token & try again!"

Okokok, I talk so much, but so in the end did I see any bears????? don't tell you now!

 

[devilry]

This is the entrance of the Chugach National Forest... and yes, that's the knife I was talking about, its about 30cm long (may not be very long), but it's sharp enough to give me confidence to tackle a black bear (that's what I chose to believe hahaha)

Though the forest is dense and thick, but luckily the path is still rather "well defined". We didn't get lost even after trekking 2 hours deep into the forest because:

- Besides the features (waterfalls, rivers etc.) and vegetation at different area of the forest changes, so we know if we are in the correct area when we back track

- I made it a point to look backwards whenever we move every 5 minutes - so that my mind would internalize how it looks like if I back track later on - a very useful trick I learn from some forest trekking gurus.

An image of another section of the forest

One of the interesting toadstools spotted in the forest, this bright orange coloured mushroom is found quite frequently as we trek, and some are really BIG... this thing caught my attention because of its bright orange colour... really attractive, and nice contrast with the dark coloured ground.

 

[devilry]

- About 80% of the trek is rather boring, as it's made up of just the trees and bushes.
- About 10% is marginally better - for things such as waterfall, and small rivers... There are some small rivers (breadth of about 30cm) that actually cut across your treks, so you have to lift ur legs over it - quite cute and interesting to me.
- About 9% is good! I can hear birds in the forest, and I did manage to spot some Blue Jays in the forest. BUT, the only camera I had with me then was Nex-5 with 28mm =_= So................ I didn't shoot any.....


- So, what about the remaining 1% you might ask? It's terrrrrrrrrrrrrific!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just take a look at this wonderful "better than Ansel Adams" landscape that I captured with my Nex-5!!!!!!!!!!!!

Isn't this landscape picture just wonderfully amazing, and simply breathtaking amazingly beautiful????????? Look at how the 2 green cone shaped Christmas trees interact with the leafless tress in the middle, and not to mention that long tree log that is nicely beautifully placed 1/3 into picture in accordance to the Rule-of-thirds!!!!!!!!

Wah, I am truly amazed with my masterpiece!

 

[JacePhoto]

The finished product. Btw, you not seeing stars, that's really a girl fixing up the tent! The girls on the trip are quite garang - pitch their own tents, and they also managed to tahan 3D2N of non-shower!!!!!!! Super impressive!!!!!

There are plenty of women in Singapore who pitches tent and love the great outdoors. People who are interested in outdoors or want to survive in the wild/ cold may want to check out: https://www.facebook.com/toapayohadventureclub

They recently came back from a ice climb in china.

They have a preview on Wednesday, 9th January 2013.

 

[devilry]

Alright, neh-neeee-neh-neeeee-boooo-booooo, I bet you have fallen deep deep into my trap thinking "wat the heck is this devilry thinking, this kind of rubbish photo still dare to stake a claim as a masterpiece!!! Super thick skin leh you devilry....... you not paiseh, I am paiseh for you man...."



Alrite, this is not an ordinary picture, if not it won't make the top 1% of my terrrrrrrrrific listing. Now look carefully again at the photo at the spot I circled.

Open the eyes BIG BIG, real BIG and see..... hahahaha paiseh, that's the "power" of 28mm lens






































ok, spare you the eyes squinting, here's a 100% crop for you:

Yes, it's a black thing. Yes, it is walking on all fours. Yes, it is walking towards the North of this photo.



YES, it's a BLACK BEAR - spotted by my L eyes - all without any guides! Think my years of birdwatching experience really came to good use!

When I was walking along this stretch where I take the photo, I heard the sound of some object brushing among the bushes - those "shhhheeessssshhh-shhhheeessssshhh" kind of sound. The sound actually became rather loud and rather frequent at one point, before the sound went further and further away to our right. Then when the few of us turn our heads to the right, we saw this black thing (the black bear!) chionging through the forest towards the north.... Luckily in this instance when the bear saw me, it was thinking "wah, this one don't play play, he is out to make bear steak outa me, better run far far before he catches me!" and so I didn't have the chance to show my kungfu...



Anyway, I am just bullll-shiiiting. As noted earlier, the few of us have been talking non-stop super loudly while walking thru the forest - think the bear have acknowledged our presence, and hence it went to hide away. Of course, my hands instinctly whipped up the camera, and snapped this magnificent "better than Ansel Adams" landscape! :bsmilie:

On the rest of the journey, we heard the ruffling sounds with the bushes, but we didn't manage to spot the bear again... the sound seemed to indicate that there are at least 2 bears though.

 

[devilry]

And finally after Hope, we were on our way to Homer!!!! Remember the very first post which I made in this thread about the Eagle Lady who lives in Homer?? Did I manage to find her??

Nope, I definitely didn't manage to find her, as I am in Homer in Aug 2011, while she had passed away in Jan 2009 - Actually, when I was researching about the bald eagles, I also tried to find out where she lived, as I really wanted to pay her a visit & have a chat with her about her feeding of the bald eagles. I am very sure she would have tonnes of interesting things to share with me (that's if she would bother to share with me in the first place!)

But what about the bald eagles? Before talking about the eagles, here's the map of Homer

One thing special about Homer is that it is a piece of landthat juts out into the Katchemak Bay, which sort of links with the Gulf of Alaska.

A close up of the jut out piece of land - called the Homer Spit

From the beginning of the spit to all the way to the end of the spit, its about 7km. There's a homer trolley bus service - it travels up and down the spit area + some nearby Homer places whole day whole night.

We camped all the way at the end of the spit, that's right - the part that juts out directly into the sea.

Here's us unloading things from the trailer van:

The weather is rainy, ultra windy, and this is coldest place I have been in the entire 3 weeks trip... We were camped in Homer for 2 nights, and I fell sick with fever in this place. Coming from the tiny Singapore island where one experiences just the sun and rain - my body couldn't tahan the coldness although I already wore 4 layers of attire (thermals + long sleeve shirt + thick fleece jacket + windproof shell) - while the rest of the people can tahan the coldness with just 2 or 3 layers..

That's our tents... setup just right beside the sea. I dunno why the weather is so super foggy in this area, the visibility is very bad, maybe just 50-100metres at most?

 

[TWmilkteaTW]

awesome thread. Im following this.

 

[devilry]

After I setup the tent, unloaded my backpack and stuff, I went to take a walk around my camp site (hey hey, you are very smart, you must be thinking why I never help the rest to cook!! they are preparing food as seen in one of the picture above! Cooking is not my forte, I m better at cleaning utensils, so my job is after the meal!)

As I turned and start to walk away from the cooking area, I saw something which looks super familiar to me:

How does this tree which I found compare to this taken together with the Eagle Lady?

I couldn't believe the tree which I saw standing right in front of me (and btw, this tree is freaking less than 10metres from the cooking area!!!!!!). In my head I m running through the following:
- Is this a tree which is flipped over? check - YES
- Is this a tree with spread out roots facing the sky? check - YES
- Is this a tree with above 2 layers of branches? check - YES
- Is this a tree which has sea in the background? check - YES


Have you ever had that feeling - where you deemed something as terribly difficult to achieve, or impossible to attain, but yet you still remain a stubborn freak, still insisting on that whatever level of self-believe that you have, still believing that miracles will happen if you dare to set foot and explore the unexplored - then all of a sudden, your dream came through and you managed to achieved the unthinkable... That's right, this is the bald eagle tree, which I have been wanting to locate from my trip to Alaska in the first place! And gosh, can you believe it, our campsite's kissing it side by side!

I can't help but kept thinking to myself - Everything seemed to be so nicely arranged - this must be the reason why I chance upon the special travel agency, this must be the reason why the little strength angel won over the timid devil, this must be the reason why on that day I suddenly I have that burning desire and that sufficient amount of courage to come over to explore in the first place. Could this even be a invitation from the Eagle Lady to me - knowing that my purpose is to come all the way to Alaska from Singapore to look for her, although she's no longer around? (subsequently, when I roamed around the Homer region and talked with several people that lived here, they confirmed that that's the tree which the Eagle Lady used to feed the bald eagles in winter, and they too confirmed that she had passed away...)

Things literally felt kinda super-natural at that moment, all the things just fell in place nicely and sweetly, tears of joy bead up in my eyes and slowly slowly rolled down my cheeks, before beading into a bigger droplet and fall off the cheek cliff onto the ground. I then even slapped my face left right up down centre till its red to confirm that I am awake!!!


(nah, just joking! cry and slap my own face for wat!)

In a way, I was never lucky in my whole life - wonder what kind of dog shiiiit have I stepped on... but regardless, there are several important lessons (non-photography related) which I learnt from this:

1. Believe in yourself, Believe in what you see, Believe in your capabilities.
2. Even when faced with terrible circumstances which cast numerous doubts shadow on your ownself, read 1 again.
3. If there's any opportunity lying barely in front of your eyes, extent out your both hands (and if possible your legs and head) and GRAB IT!!!!!!! If something you want is right in front of your eyes, JUST TAKE IT!!!!!!!
4. Cast all the "what-ifs" outa your brain!!!!!!!! "what-ifs" = what if I get lost, what if I didn't attain it in the end, what if it's a wasted effort, what if things are not what I expected, what if this, what if that etc.
5. By venturing, it's not 100% guaranteed that you will get what you want (in this case, I saw the tree, but heck where are the hundreds of bald eagles!!!), but by not venturing due to the tonnes of "what-ifs", you are doomed to failure right from the moment you decided not to venture - you are doomed right before you even shiiiit and peeeee in Alaska!


6. There ARE miracles in this thing called "Life".

 

[devilry]

In case you are thinking - so did I even see bald eagles in Homer area??????

The short answer is "YES, there are." But it's not a lot, I saw less than 5, as compared to hundreds which what the internet claims to be within this region.

How I got to see a bald eagle nest is also quite a lucky occurrence.

You remember earlier I mentioned about the trollery service which operate in the Homer spit + Homer region? I boarded one of the buses, and in the bus was only me and another tour mate. So I took the chance to chat with the bus driver (the picture above). Interestingly the first question the bus driver asked me was "where are you from?" Then I replied proudly "Singapore!" Then he said "Oh I see...." then followed by "How is Singapore under China?" I immediately rushed to rescue Singapore by pointing out to him that Singapore is NOT part of China, and that we are FAR away from each other!!!

hahaha.... but anyway, subsequently I chat with him about the Eagle Lady, and where she lived, then he mentioned that she's passed away and that the Eagle Lady actually doesn't have a home! He mentioned that the Eagle Lady lives and travel around in a trailer vehicle, and that she resides in the Homer Spit area near the camping grounds. He also mentioned what I read in the internet - the Alaskan state government passing laws to stop feeding of bald eagles, and he followed up saying that the bald eagles sighting has reduced in this Homer Spit area as a result.

Then I asked him if he knows where to see more bald eagles in this region, then he says that he knows of a nest, and he immediately drove the trolley bus off the usual bus route to another area! I asked him if it's ok to detour away, to which he says "it's ok, since there's only 2 of you on the bus, and I think there won't be much passengers during this timing..."

Wow.. I really salute him! Imagine SBS drivers providing u such a service!!! totally unimaginable!!!

Once he reached the destination, I immediately hopped off the bus, and I thought he would continue on his bus route. To my surprise, he says that he will wait for me a while for me to see and shoot the eagles, and then drive me back!!!!!!! Oh my god... the good things I experienced in Homer is really perfect! And best of all, I had my long lens with me, as I originally planned to walk around Homer region to hunt for bald eagles..

The only thing bad is that the area has strong back lighting, and the actual nest is hidden in the tree canopy... this is the best I can get of the bald eagle..

 

[devilry]

Very inspiring thread! Looking fwd to more updates

Thumbs up!

Your whole story is really an entertaining read. Couldn't stop until I got to yr last entry. Look forward to reading more even if we can't see the photos. Thank you for sharing your experiences and an excellent write up

Thanks for sharing. I totally enjoyed your entire travelogue and pictures.

awesome thread. Im following this.

Thanks for your awesome compliments! That gives me even more motivation!!!

 

[devilry]

This is the most entertaining travel thread I have read on CS. You have a natural talent for humourous writing.

Oh ya in case its not clear, you are one crazy dude. Hahaha . Looking forward to reading the rest of your trip !

Hahaha... It's fun to do what u want and what u love once in a while!

Lol love ur description of the smelly toilet. One thing i did during my NS days was take a lit cigarette from my frens who smoke, bring it into the toilet to mask the smell. Oh yes u do have to blow unto the cig to keep it burning and yes, ur "business" time is about how fast the cig burns.

That's a neat trick, but i don't have any available ciggies as the entire tour mates are non smokers..

Hey D. A most excellent and enjoyable read.

As a nature lover, you might like to explore the Okavango Delta, Botswana - very rich in wildlife - or you might consider joining a conservation expedition. Think you'll enjoy both A local charity that looks after wildlife in Singapore is called Acres acres - Animal Concerns Research & Education Society

No problem, will take a look at the site, thanks for the info!

There are plenty of women in Singapore who pitches tent and love the great outdoors. People who are interested in outdoors or want to survive in the wild/ cold may want to check out: https://www.facebook.com/toapayohadventureclub

They recently came back from a ice climb in china.

They have a preview on Wednesday, 9th January 2013.

Thanks for the info, will check out the facebook page!