Sketchbook - Colorado

Chipmunk Eating (pen & ink)

Estes State Park Colorado

July 2006

Grazing Elk (pen & ink)

Estes State Park Colorado

July 2006

Bison Study (pen & ink)

Estes Park Colorado

July 2006

Big Horn Sheep

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Here is some video footage of the Dahl Big Horn Sheep we came across while visting the Rockies (click on the image to view the video). The opening shot is when they popped up in front of us, 20-30 feet away through a key hole opening in the rocks. As they saw us they made a run for it across the the mountain side; sorry for the camera shake it was hard keeping them in view.

Chipmunks

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These little guys were quite the sight. They would run around your feet and chirp at you begging for treats. Should've bought some peanuts instead of that protein bar. Anyway hope you get the idea about how these little critters make their living during the tourist season. Sounds just like a place I know.

Denver Rockies

Been attending an environmental training seminar this past week in Denver Colorado. Hal Long, who is from Kodiak Alaska, and who I've known every since I came to Alaska 19 years ago was attending the same training seminar. We decided to use our half day on Friday to visit the Rockies.

Here are few pictures from our trip into the Rocky Mountain National Park just outside Denver Colorado. Our goal was to drive to the highest point on the road system and then return to Denver. The entry point for our adventure starts at Estes Park located just north-west of the small town of Lyons.

It was a pretty amazing time driving into the park along the highway on such a beautiful sunny day. Our conversations were interrupted by the frequent stops to enjoy the scenic look-outs along the way. At one point we both noticed that our breathing patterns had changed, by about 12,000 feet it was obvious that we weren't getting enough O2 in our system. Our hearts were beating a bit faster than normal thus we found ourselves walking very slowly or stopping every 20 feet or so to catch our breath.

At one look-out point we came across a hill side of full of chipmunks. They were quite friendly and would run up to your shoes and standup begging for food. If they didn't get anything within 5 seconds they would move onto the next persons. At one point we almost stepped on the little guys as they would run under and around your feet. We came to another look-out point and decided to walkout on some rocks to get a better view. Hal noticed some movement on the steep rocks below and the next thing I know up pops a few Dahl Big Horn Sheep about 20-30 feet away! I was able to get a few photos and even was able to shoot some video, which I will post at a later date.

On our way back down the mountains we noticed a herd of Elk grazing on the alpine grass and lying about sunning themselves. We decided to see how close we could get to snap a few pictures. As you can see by the photos we got pretty close to them.

As we made our way down the mountains our normal breathing patterns did return to us, but we were still breathless about our encounter with the wildlife and scenery. Its late evening here and I must pack up for my return flight home to Ketchikan tommorrow morning. All in all its been a real wonderful time in Denver.

4th July Parade

All four of us headed out the door this morning to watch the 4th of July Parade go through downtown Ketchikan. We arrived early thinking the parade started at 1100 am, to our surprise we found out that it started at Noon. We stood around talking about various ways towns celebrate holidays. At one point Frank & I went to get a cup of java on the docks. While in line we noticed a group of people standing behind us were some of the actors from the Much Ado About Nothing performance form the previous night. We thanked them for the wonderful job they did that night then headed back to the girls.

When we got back to our viewing point we notice that the crowd had grown quite a bit. And that Donna and Jenny, friends from church had join Pat and Janet. Shortly there after the kids parade started. As you can tell by the photos in the slide show the kids parade was great. Once the kids parade end then the main parade started with a fly by from Temsco Helicopter with a hugh America flag in tow.

About half hour later the main parade grouped showed up in the downtown area. There was lots of cheering and candy being thrown from each parade floats that drifted by us. We recognized many of our neighbors and friends partcipating in the festive events. As the parade was coming to and end we made our way to Salmon Landing to grab a bit to eat versus hitting the make shift food court.

We headed home shortly after finishing our lunch to relax in the sun on our deck over looking the ocean. I was very beat by the end of the day as I ran in a charity run the night before. All in all the day was sunny and the parade was great for a small town.

Only Fools Run at Midnight

Only Fools Run at Midnight is a charity run that is sponsored each year by Southeast Alaska Independent Living (SAIL). The organization raises funds each year by sponsoring a fun run for those of us willing to run at mid-night. SAIL encourages us runners to dress up for the event some people had unique outfits. Those who don't want to run the 5K route there is a 1 mile walk through the streets in the downtown area.

This year run was wonderful as the weather cooperated, last year it was raining sideways. The 5K route was all up hill this year for the first 800 yards of the run. Even the best of the best ended up walking up protins of the hills. The rest of the run took place on the by-pass road with the turn around point being the Plaza Mall.

Our finish line was in front of Steamers Resturant located on the downtown docks. People hung around cheering each runner in across the finish line, some made their way back to the starting line for the award ceremony and door prize drawning. I didn't have the winning number ths year. I really enjoy doing this run each year as it helps out those who can't take care of themselves and I get to met those who care for them. Here are the Race results for at the Ketchikan Running Club.

Much Ado About Nothing

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Here is a clip from the weekend outdoor play called Much Ado About Nothing that we all attended. Much Ado was written by William Shakespeare in 1598 in which the comedy of Much Ado derives from the characters themselves and the manners of the highly-mannered society in which they live. The main plot of Much Ado revolves around obstacles to the union of two young lovers (Claudio and Hero), the plays sub-plot, the "merry war" of the sexes between Beatrice and Benedick, is much more interesting and entertaining by comparison.

It was such a beautiful warm day with every seat taken by out of towners and people from Ketchikan folks. The above video is of the men coming in to town and dismounting from their imagery horses. Couldn't have asked for a better day to spent with family.

Frank & Janet

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On July 1st, Canada Day, we went down to the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminal to meet up with Frank & Janet who have come for a visit. Patricia's Aunt & Uncle from Ottawa, Ontario. Here is a video of Patricia greeting them upon their arrival at the terminal. They will be with us for the next 5 days for which we are excited to show them the sites around town in Ketchikan.