A weekend in Juneau

A relaxing weekend spent in Juneau, the Capital City of Alaska, provided these scenes.


Snaking down from the Juneau Ice Field, the Mendenhall Glacier calves into Mendenhall Lake, itself fed primarily by glacial meltwater and runoff from the mountains on either side.


A bear searches for fish from atop a beaver dam near Mendenhall Glacier.


Peeking through the woods at the Mendenhall Glacier.


Tree debris in a pool beside Mendenhall Lake.


Float planes parked in a scenic cove in Auke Lake.


Boats on the glassy calm water as we slowly motor out of Auke Bay Harbor.


A sail boat in Auke Bay Harbor.


A view from the fishing boat in a quiet moment of reflection (translation: looking around while waiting for a bite).


The forest towers over boats back in Auke Bay Harbor.

Along the way to Alaska

As promised, two more images added at the end of this post.


Dungeness Spit protrudes from the north coast of the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State into the Strait of Juan de Fuca.


Ediz Hook, another long spit of land protruding into the Strait of Juan de Fuca, attached to Port Angeles Washington.


A lake fills this Canadian valley cut by a glacier long since melted away. I don't know its name.


Another glacially cut Canadian valley, but this time the glacier is still there.


Another view of the same glacier.


Cruise ship ms Ryndam docked at the port of Juneau.


Juneau's Federal Office Bulding

Glad you looked?

A yellow gladiolus flower growing in my front yard.

Big Sur

Seafair

Each year during the warm summer weather, Seattle hosts Seafair, a month-long series of events including visits by navy ships, air shows, boat races, and other activities. Over the past few days, I attended first a 'practice' air show and then a hydroplane boat race which included one of the two official performances. Following are some pictures from those events.


A Chinook twin-rotor helicopter flies by with American Flag as National Anthem is sung at the beginning of the event.


A turbine-driven race boat passes by in the pace lap.


Another turbine-powered race boat blasts by during the race. In the background is the huge rooster-tail of another boat having rounded the curve and now traveling in the opposite direction.


A Coast Guard demonstration of aerial insertion technique.


The Patriots, a privately sponsored air demonstration team flying small Eastern European built L-39 trainer jets. The Patriots put on an impressive show but with their smaller aircraft, there were fewer good pictures to share.


As if part of the festivities, between the Patriots practice show and that of the Blue Angels, a wild bald eagle treated us to its own little air show. This image is a montage of eight separate exposures of the same bird taken moments apart.


Affectionately known as "Fat Albert", the Blue Angels service C-130 aircraft flies by beginning their segment of the show.


And welcome the Blue Angels.


Five of the six Blue Angels aircraft descending into a loop maneuver.


Six Blue Angels begin a "Break" maneuver.


A lone Blue Angel fighter passes the smoke trails made a moment earlier by several other team members.


Four of The Blue Angels fly by the seattle skyline. Note the distortion from the jet blast behind the aircraft.


A high-contrast shot shows the Angels at a steep angle opposite the sun. As their smoke trails are brightly illuminated, note the shadow cast in the residual smoke ahead of the formation.


Beautiful Delta Formation.


The source of the smoke trails is not the engines. It's there specifically for these demonstration shows, making it much easier for the spectators to see the action.


Just can't get enough of that Delta formation.


One of several F-15s in a flyover. The roar of these planes is overwhelming.

Alternative Energy

Just outside Palm Springs, California is a vast wind farm. The turbines are huge, the size of the rotors comparable to the wing span of small commercial jet aircraft. The ambient temperature was over 120F when these pictures were taken.








Even in the blistering heat, the desert is far from lifeless. This desert jackrabbit manages to survive among the scrub and the wind turbine towers.