Capturing the Moment

  Sometimes the best photos take a bit of prodding in order to happen. I told the group to do their best Abbey Road impression. The mountains behind and the reflection in the alpine pool just add the the scene. Waterfalls, alpine lakes, snow capped peaks, river crossings, and not a soul in sight- that is what we had today while hiking Knight Island here in Prince William Sound. Coastal Alaska can provide some intense hiking experiences. With hardly any upkept trails, other than game trails, it can be more like bushwhacking than hiking. I am leading adventure tours this week all through Prince William Sound, one of Alaska's best kept secrets. Today started out with 80mph winds and sideways sheets of rain. I postponed the activities and led several presentations onboard instead. Everyone appreciated staying cozied up with their hot coffee, while still getting immersed into the area. During lunch, the landscaped changed dramatically as the weather shifted. The rain stopped, the wind w...

  I don't think that is the easiest way, David. There is a past time here in Alaska called 'bushwhacking,' that outsiders are astonished with at first. Bushwhacking is kind of like hiking, except that there is no trail. Today our bushwhack came with a destination, although sometimes its just the experience of nature's obstacle course that is the goal. Today we were going to try and summit a massive, rocky knob, sticking out atop the Alaskan rainforest fringe. We were in Knight Island, on the western side of Prince William Sound. This island was hit hard by the Exxon Valdez oil spill back in 1989, but now you would have to really try to find any residual oil. We landed on a rocky beach at extreme low tide. We had to try hard not to step on any of the bright red sea stars in the shallow water. After saying goodbye to our small boat dropoff, we scrambled up a small cliff into the forest. The way up was a combination of river crossings, open boggy areas called muskegs, and ...