Inside The Head of The Husky

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Who doesn't recognize a Husky? One of the world's most strikingly good looking dog breeds, the Siberian Husky was originally bred in northeastern Siberia by the local Eskimos.

The Husky incorporates two often contrary characteristics: it was bred to be a working dog, pulling the heavyweight sleds of the hunters during their winter travels. As such, it is a very tough, determined, mission focused, running-freak dog who would do anything to become leash free and roam as far as it can. Give Chloe, my own Husky, some fresh air and a view of nature stretching till the horizon, and she's at her nirvana.

But the Chukchi, the northeastern Asia Eskimos who first bred the Siberian Husky, also put them in charge of guarding and babysitting their children. In those days in the Arctic, man depended on the dog as much as the dog depended on the man - and that shaped the relationship-DNA of the Husky. As a result, the Husky is extremely friendly and gentle with people, especially children, and many owners would swear their Huskies can literally read their moods. Here's what Chloe goes through during routine walks at her neighborhood:

For most people, the name Husky implies a sled dog. And while the Siberian Husky isn't as fast as its cousin the Alaskan Husky, or as tough as the similarly looking Malamute, it can pull more weight over longer distances. Without sled dogs, none of the early Arctic and Antarctic expeditions could happen, and the survival of the Arctic native would be impossible.

Huskies and other sled dogs' true joyful season is the winter, when the ground is covered with snow and they're tasked with running and pulling, pulling and running.

But even in the far Arctic, about half of the year there is no winter, hardly any snow on the ground, and the Husky must employ other ways to stay in shape. In Alaska, they are often tied to a regular winter sled, sometimes with wheels, and just run dragging it on the bare ground.

The Canadians are tougher with the dogs and make them pull their ATV. An easy training session? The ATV is in neutral. A more demanding one? Put the ATV in gear (with the engine off), and let's see the dogs working real hard!

Huskies work in teams and have roles just like in a football team: they have the quarterbacks, usually two very smart, fast thinking dogs at the front of the pack, whose task is mainly to set the pace, look for the safest path and avoid cracks in the ice; they've got the runners, who can run and run. These are the dogs with the nicest butts, because right behind them are the pullers, the dogs who bear the heavy weight of the sled, its human rider, and all the load - and pull until they're told to stop. The dogs are assigned their roles while still puppies, and a good breeder can tell what they'll become at less than two months old!

But with the first sign of snow, the real show begins! Just as we are excited about the start of the ski season, the Husky can smell the dog-sledding in the air. The DNA in every cell in its body starts shaking with excitement!

And when the opportunity to start running is there (in this clip behind a snowmobile) - there's no stopping the excitement! Turn the volume on your speaker up and watch:

Is it fun to be part of it? You bet! Are they running fast? Well, the huskies usually try to keep a pace of about 10-12 mph (15-18 kph), and they can run like this for almost 100 miles straight, if necessary. (And yes, they pee and do the other stuff while running, in case you've ever wondered whether a male Husky can run three-legged, with the forth one lifted against a virtual tree)

But if they need to, they can run at 25 mph (almost 40 kph), and stay at that for more then five miles (or until they catch that cat or snow rabbit). Because the dogs need to listen - and obey - to their master, Huskies' ears are like radar antennas: with a whisper from behind, their ears seem to be turning 180 degrees backwards.

Riding the sled, it's a great experience, exhilarating and calming simultaneously. 

But what would a Siberian Husky do when there's no snow at all? Certainly not stop running. And certainly with every piece of its DNA saying "run at the front, pull, focus forward, but match your pace to your leader the human". Perhaps this is why Chloe, my own Siberian Husky, gets so much thrill out of running just like that over dust covered trails:

Read my post Arctic Antarctic Present to see more fun pics.

Winter Is Settling In

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So, winter is finally arriving in various places. (Not where I'm at right now!) Camping season has largely ended and hiking season assumes, well, a different shape.

Alaskan winters are very harsh, especially inland. But early enough (or late enough) in the season you can get a sense of what it's like to spend the winter there. 

They all are trying to catch a bit more to eat before it's all covered in snow. From elk to the Grizzly bears.

Only some seem to be really happy, pointing with pride at their newly minted winter home!

Further to the south and east, at Glacier National Park, winter is as notable and felt, with the combination of lakes and mountains very striking in early winter.

Still, it seems as if Mother Nature likes hikers so much, she keeps the trails open!

This way, with snow beginning its long hold over the country, everyone seems to be content with it - from mammals, 

to me!

Read my post Black (and White) Magic In The Arctic

Ooh I Miss The Alaskan Spring

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God it's hot! But I found a solution for that! I spend most of my days sitting in an ice bath, looking at pictures of Alaskan spring on my tablet. Try it - It works!

Ready? Are y'all in the bathtub? In this post, we'll look at some wildlife pictures from my last trip to Denali Nat'l Park in May. Spring is a great time to visit Alaska in general and Denali in particular, especially if you hate people and love wildlife - You see very few of those and lots of these!

Take these Caribou for example - They've just emerged from a harsh winter and are so happy to be grazing again:

Let me absorb the view of the snow for one more second.

The Alaskan Ptarmigan spends the winter with its feathers completely white. It's cold, there's no romance in the air, and so the top priority is hiding from predators. But come spring, it's mating time baby, and so the Ptarmigan grows a set of very nice covers. I'll let you decide who's the male and who's the female here.

(Hint: in terms of dressing up, humans are different from most other animals)

Watching a Grizzly bear walking the valley not far from you is always a powerful picture. And when there's still some snow on the ground, somehow that adds to the sense of the environment which is home for the Grizzly.

Ever heard of Dall Sheep? These are unique to Alaska,  and in particular to Denali. In fact, that national park was originally created to protect the Dall Sheep! Like mountain goats, they like the steepest slopes where they're protected and enjoy a great view:

Like Dall sheep, I like the steepest slopes where I'm completely unprotected, but enjoy a great view.

Sure - Smile at that. See you putting your camera on a rock, running up a snowy path, turning around and even trying to smile - All these within less than ten seconds, and for what - a selfie???

Read my post Alaska - A Summer Vacation for Ordinary People

Sprintgtime In Denali Park, Alaska

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I say "springtime", you think "blue sky and some snowy mountains."

Well, that's part of the picture. It's hard to believe it's already a month since I visited Denali National Park during the "shoulder season" of Spring. It's harder to believe how different that was from my previous trips there, mostly done in Summer and Fall.

As I wrote in my last post Put Your Head On My Shoulder Season, this post will be short on words (well, at least considering my tendency to expand on the words side of things), and long on photos. 

Denali is a huge park, with one 92 mile-long road that is typically open only for Park Service shuttles, but during the early Spring, when the shuttles aren't running, you can drive your own car for about 30 miles. And of course - There are hardly any people in the park or on the road, and it's basically you and nature much of the time. Add to it the tendency of snow to fall when it's cold, and you get views like these:

 












Denali is waking up! While well equipped to deal with the harsh winter, when temperatures easily drop to -40, everyone is happy when it's warm (30F/-1C) and there's again some green on the ground. Look at one happy bunny, which has just turned from its white coat to its summery attire:

Did you know that in Denali, the bunny community has a cycle of 11 years? And that this cycle is a great example of food chains? This is how it works: the Snowshoe Hare (the official name of this cute bunny) thrives on  the leaves of the willow trees. They eat tons of them! The problem is - the caribou (pictured above), also use the willow tree leaves as their major source of food. So tens of thousands of bunnies eat the willow, and leave little to the caribou who in tern dwindle in population because of poor diet. 

But - The caribou is the main source of food for the wolf. So the wolves get hungry - and turn to eating the bunnies instead. Then there are fewer bunnies, more willow trees for the caribou, a greater number of caribou and the bunny population recovers because the wolves are not interested in them anymore. And this whole cycle takes 11 years.

Doesn't seem this guy cares about that, though!

 
















Yeah, the ground squirrel is more concerned about a Grizzly bear chasing it for fun and digging it out of its hole in the ground.

Speaking of bears, springtime is also a great season to hike if you don't mind some snow. In return, you get great views, crystal-clear air, and some slippery slopes.

I mean it when I say "slippery slopes!" Can you imagine how hard it is to place your camera on a rock, push the timer button, run fast but carefully on the snow and ice, turn around, and smile, and all in ten seconds? Ha.

The good thing about hiking is that you can see some tame wildlife not too far!

Oh, sorry! did I say "tame"? I meant the Doll Sheep, of course!

So as you see, springtime is fun in Alaska, and you can literally enjoy the best of both words, snow and sun!

Read my post Eye To Eye for more nice pictures

Put Your Head On My Shoulder Season

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So, I decided to travel to Alaska in mid May, right during the shoulder season. Yes, this is how the National Park Service Calls it! It turns out that Spring is indeed a wonderful time to travel there, especially in Denali where snow and sun (Yes, I know most you you prefer sea and sun) alternate. The trip was very special, and I developed some interesting observations there.

This post will be short on photos and long on wisdom. I do know that's why many of you come here to read my blog anyway. I'll get the wisdom out of my system and then we can focus on some very nice photos and stories.

So here it is:

1. It never gets dark in Alaska. They tell you the sun sets at 11:30 and rises again at 4, but I did not see any proof of that and to me it didn't look dark even for one minute. And it's only mid May!

2. The sound of rain does not make you calm and doesn't help you fall asleep. In fact, I can't understand why people spend 20 bucks on a rain-sound CD, or $100 on a machine that makes the sound of rain, when they can spend $3,000 and listen to rain pouring on their tent all night long in Alaska.

3. When your sleeping bag is rated "20 Fahrenheit", it means that's how you feel inside it.

4. Two ground squirrels just outside your tent sound like a Grizzly bear.

 

5. You don't have to serve in the submarine corps to sleep on a 49cm-wide mattress. In fact, you can walk into any REI store and get one.

6. It's very easy to read THE NORTH FACE backwards on the inside wall of your tent after staring at it all night long.

7. A fantasy for hot chocolate can be very daunting.

8. It's not the destination that matters, it's the journey to it. (Now these are words of wisdom!)

OK. Now that I got that out of my system, my next post will include some of the nicer aspects of Alaska during Spring, so stay tuned. Want a hint? Here:

In the meanwhile, read my previous post Highest or Tallest?

The Color of Water

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Oops - Sorry. That was The Color of Money. Whether you prefer older handsome guys, or younger handsome guys - they were all in that movie!

Anyway, my intention was to write about the color of water. "What color," you might ask - "Water has no color, right?"

Right. But, one of the beauties of traveling to places where the water is almost ice-cold is that you get to see the water almost absorbing the colors around them, reflecting them as if they were its own. Take a look at the dance of water and sun, on a cool day over the Antarctic Peninsula:

For some reason, the water is even more colorful than the sky above it - You get the whole palette just like a watchful painter was using his watercolors skilfully. And even when the sun is about to set, the water keeps its color games with it!

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Speaking of Antarctica, you probably expect to see some snow and ice in the picture, right? Well, even with them, the water has to say a lot about color.

In the meanwhile, on the other side of the globe, summer looks very different. Glacial streams storm down the valleys, carrying what's called "glacial dust" - the powder created by the sheer weight of the ice on top of the bedrock up on the mountains.

In the valleys, the glacial streams meet their pure and innocent relatives - spring water streams. The result is yet another dance of contrasts in the color of water.

A closer look reveals the amount of glacial dust in that stream, when it's meeting the pure water one:

No wonder there are no fish in those streams! (In this case, in Denali National Park in Alaska) There used to be special Dust Fish but even they all died of asthma.

Hahaha.

Sometimes, the water goes an extra step and rather than improvising on the colors above it, it just copies them. In the Arctic ocean, there's a thin layer of fresh water (from melted icebergs) on top of the salty seawater. On colder days, when the temperature drops to near freezing, the freshwater freezes faster and makes a huge ice blanket on the ocean. On warmer days, the different density between fresh and salt water makes for a perfect mirror effect:

So perfect, that sometimes you could get vertigo and be completely disoriented between the sky and the ground without flying a plane - Just by paddling in a kayak... But I guess if you were upside down, paddling in a kayak in the Arctic Ocean, you'd know that because you'd freeze in the water.

Other times, it seems the water just decides how to color itself. Sure, it's all about physics. Even physicists have very thoughtful sayings like "the color of the pond depends on its depth" - But that takes all the romance from the photo below (taken in Alaska) - Don't you think? Same pond, only several feet apart, and with no Photoshop...

 

To read more about the wonders of colors in the water, read my post Mountains In The Sky - With Diamonds

Hey Pretty Face!

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For the holiday season, we all want to be happy. And what's a better way to feel jolly than to see a bunch of pretty faces? And all which I personally photographed?

Now, don't take this lightly - I can't be happy when it's 10 below outside! Can you? Apparently, Antarctic Seals couldn't care less. On the contrary - They love some ice on their pretty nose:

Or perhaps they just like to pose for the camera? This penguin, I think, certainly posed for me!

Penguins are extremely cute in general. It is scientifically believed that their cuteness is inversely correlated with their smartness. Watch the following video, where a visibly preoccupied (with its own prettiness) penguin is checking me out in windy and snowy conditions: (Ignore the logo, it's the conversion software I use for free because I'm cheap)

Of course, not all creatures make a happy face all the time! Some, you'll have to admit, may look a bit - well - stupid. I mean, it's not that I have a strong opinion about Alaskan Mountain Goats, but put a leaf in her mouth and let her pose... You know what I mean?

Not to mention the angry Bison! How do I know it's angry? Enlarge the photo and have a look at his eye! Well, maybe it's just got an attitude.

And finally, the Pretty Face Competition! Today, we're presenting two finalists. Both are at the top of their own food chain. Both are at the Arctic. And both have gladly posed for this important contest. Meet Tim, a fellow traveler, and Am I Pretty Or What?, whom I encountered on a recent trip. Cast your votes!

To see more closeups, read my post Eye to Eye