Katmai Bracketology
Voting for the Fattest Bear of Katmai continues over at the Katmai National Park & Preserve Facebook page.
In round one, fan fave Otis went down to Lefty, in an upset. Divot, Grazer and #909 also moved into the second round. There is some large competition waiting for them, as Wide-Body #747, Holly, Chunk and #503 had first round byes, and could continue hoarding calories, as they watched their fellow bears compete.
Hibernation is big business.
Bracket credit: Katmai NP&P
Katmai National Park & Preserve once again enter October Madness with their Fat Bear Week bracket.
Voting starts today, October 2, with Lefty taking on fan favorite Otis.
Four bears of Katmai have used their extensive girth to get a well earned bye: Chunk, the wide body #747, #503, and Holly.
Beadnose, or Bear #409
Surprisingly, Beadnose, the 2018 winner, did not make this year’s cut. So there will be no repeat champion.
The new winner will be crowned on Fat Bear Tuesday, October 8.
Katmai Bracketology
All images courtesy of Katmai National Park & Preserve
The view from the wall
On my last visit to the east coast, I drove out to Fort Niagara, which overlooks the mouth of the Niagara River. I have already written about the historic fort in a previous post.
I brought my Widelux panoramic camera along for the visit, and I have a few photos that I thought I’d share. The scans turned out okay, but I have to say I really like the massive 4″x12″ prints.
The French Castle
Camera: Widelux FVI; Film: Kodak 35mm, TMax100
Hint: There are seven ptarmigan in the rocks
Photo credit: Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve
The Last Lady of the River
While out at Pioneer Park on Labor Day, I felt compelled to take a few photos of the STR Nenana.
One reason was that the camera only a couple of years younger than the old sternwheeler, which first started service in Alaska in 1933.
Efforts are still ongoing to find the funding to restore the Nenana. Currently, the interior of the ship is closed to the public.
Camera: Billy-Clack #74; Film: Kodak 120, Ektar 100
It’s that time of year again. The aurora forecast from UAF’s Geophysical Institute is up and running again. A moderate aurora is being forecast for Thursday, with it being visible directly overhead for Fairbanks, weather permitting.
In Canada, Dawson City, Fort Nelson and Fort McMurray will find the northern lights directly overhead, assuming cloud cover doesn’t obscure viewing.
The aurora will be low on the horizon for Marquette, Michigan and Sundsvall, Sweden.
An equal, but opposite aurora will be taking place in the Southern Hemisphere, as well.
The Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska – Fairbanks puts out their geomagnetic forecast daily.
All images credit: UAF Geophysical Institute
Spent some more time out at the lake last week. I did do some work to the place, but mainly wanted to get out and enjoy some autumn solitude.
It was quiet out there, rarely did I see more than one other boat on the water, and we seemed to do a little dance where we kept the same distance between ourselves, as we fished various areas of the lake.
I did experience my first earthquake out there. It’s an interesting feeling as the wave flows through the cabin. The quake was centered down in the Willow area, so I’m a bit surprised I felt one from that distance, but after checking their website, the Alaska Earthquake Center had it rated at a 5.2.
No fox were to be seen on this week, but there were swans. One night, I ventured out to the end of the dock past dusk. Two white blobs were visible, and with the binoculars, I could clearly see that they were trumpeter swans. One swan had its head buried under a wing, but the other was at full alert, with head held high. The lookout was not looking in my direction, but I knew it was fully aware of my presence just the same. A further inspection brought two more swans into view.
By morning, I had 13 trumpeters just past the reeds from the dock. I watched them for much of the morning. None of them seemed to be too worried about me. When they paddled off, if a boat cut across the lake, they came back to where I was sitting.
Not a bad way to spend an autumn week.
A foggy morning
Autumn has officially arrived. Which for those of us in the north, means snow should be just around the corner.
