Alaska pics 2009 [Archive] - Debate Policy

NightTrain

11-11-2009, 01:20 PM

Here's a few pics from this summer from our cabin, accessible only by jetboat or snowmachine on the Talkeetna river, about 80 miles north of Wasilla.

I can post more if there's interest, I have gigs of these photos.

This is my 10 year old daughter, Samantha.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03858.jpg

This is Samantha and my 6 year old son, Tanner... eggs and bacon on the deck.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03860.jpg

This is Sammie showing everyone a nifty trick that my dog, Truffles, doesn't really care for... bacon is for eating, not for looking at cross-eyed.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03862.jpg

My buddy Bill watches as Samantha and I fix the American Flag that the bears tore down while we were gone. The possibility was raised that the bears must have been Democrats. :D We're planning on killing a few of them (bears, not democrats) next summer, they're getting way too plentiful.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03835.jpg

Bill watches as my 12 year old son, Ricky, touches off a 12 guage, 3" mag. I took this just as he fired it, trying to get the stab of flame from the barrel but no cigar. Look how he's rocked back on his heels.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03842.jpg

My Uncle Mike flew up and I took him King Salmon fishing at Montana Creek, he's got a 50# King on. My 4-wheeler and truck in background - this isn't at the cabin but about 40 miles north of Wasilla.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC00141.jpg

My son, Ricky, with a nice Red (Sockeye) Salmon at Disappointment Creek about 7 miles upriver from the cabin.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03944.jpg

My son Tanner with his first Silver Salmon, also at Disappointment Creek.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03877.jpg

Me holding Samantha's first Rainbow Trout, about a mile downriver from the cabin.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04060.jpg

NightTrain

11-11-2009, 01:23 PM

-Cp

11-11-2009, 03:29 PM

Beautiful! Looks like you all had an amazing time!

NightTrain

11-11-2009, 11:35 PM

Beautiful! Looks like you all had an amazing time!

Thanks! Yep, we always have a good time up there. The kids absolutely love it up there, since they get to burn up ammo by the box and they can get as dirty as they want without anyone bitching at them for it. They're all becoming talented anglers as well.

As a side note, see how murky the water is? That's due to the glaciers draining into the river with their silt. That's why I always crack up when I see some company advertising their bottled water on the national channels with bullshit like "Pure Glacial Water!".

No one in their right mind would drink glacier water, but apparently the marketing types are betting that 99% of the population has no idea what glacial water consists of.

crin63

11-12-2009, 01:11 AM

Thats awesome! I love the pics and the outdoor life.

Jeff

11-12-2009, 08:14 AM

Wow beautiful pics and a great looking family

If ya got more pics I would enjoy seeing them

NightTrain

11-12-2009, 08:59 PM

This is at Jim Creek, about 15 miles from my house. This is me, stuck in my designated thrasher 4x4 Dakota. I blew the right hub out as I was crossing, and promptly got stuck... nothing like having your little brother pull you out in his Toyota, I'm still hearing about it.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC00061.jpg

As my brother took his sweet ass time getting a strap hooked between our rigs, my truck was settling in the soft sand. Of course, water was leaking in through the doors at an alarming rate, and finally was over the bench seat. I had to keep the truck running, so had to sit there in that icy water. Me showing my soaked ass.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC00065.jpg

Me with a King at Montana Creek.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC00107.jpg

Putting the canvas up on my buddy Bill's boat at the Talkeetna landing.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03798.jpg

Unloading the boat at our cabin.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03832.jpg

Something that happens to the best of us - a jetboat high-n-dry. This is in a small slough off the confluence of the Susitna and Yentna rivers. It's a 22' Duckworth, and these guys were on the radio with the Coast Guard trying to get someone to come rescue them. We tried for 4 hours to get them off with winches and finally gave up and gave them a ride back to the landing.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04144.jpg

A group of Caribou out of Red Dog Mine, about 5 miles away from the Arctic Ocean (Chukchi Sea), roughly 200 miles above the Arctic Circle.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/070.jpg

The start / finish line (it alternates with Wasilla every year) for the Iron Dog snowmachine race at Pike's Landing in Fairbanks. This is the race that Todd Palin runs.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04252.jpg

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline in Fairbanks.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04265.jpg

Jeff

11-13-2009, 08:54 AM

Beautiful Pics , but I see ya had boats there why try to make the pick up one, LOL

chloe

11-13-2009, 11:18 AM

Great Pictures !!! Alaska looks like a wonderful place to hide, I wish my family wanted to escape there, thanks for sharing your family fun in beautiful Alaska:beer:

NightTrain

11-13-2009, 02:03 PM

I had a bunch more posted... Jim, your board ate them! :D

Beautiful Pics , but I see ya had boats there why try to make the pick up one, LOL

Not sure what you're saying, bud... are you talking about the Duckworth we tried to get afloat again? We were on our way to a buddy of mine's cabin up this slough to retrieve a canoe & came around the corner and saw these guys, their boat was stuck on a sand bar. Between the weight of that big inboard and the vacuum from the sand against the hull, we couldn't get them off so we left it there and gave them a ride back to civilization about 30 miles away. The water level came up a couple of days later and they got their boat back... the poor bastards were mighty glad to see us when we happened by - they'd been stuck there all day and didn't see anyone else and were facing a miserable night in prime bear infested backcountry.

The dirty water combined with how sluggish it moves in this particular slough makes it impossible to "read" the water to navigate your jet boat to keep it in deeper water. Kim, my friend that was driving his boat we were in, knows this slough like the back of his hand and was zig-zagging from side to side for no reason that you could see. He knows where the sand bars are from trial-and-error. He told me later how he does it : "Okay... 20' after that broken stump, hard left to the bank. 50' before that overhanging tree, hard right to the middle and angle to the corner. Stay inside the next corner..."

The guys that were stuck were foolish for taking such a big, heavy boat up that slough and they paid the price for it. We were in a lightweight 18' Alumacraft flatbottom with a 150 Mercury jet that the 3 of us could have easily pushed it off.

Great Pictures !!! Alaska looks like a wonderful place to hide, I wish my family wanted to escape there, thanks for sharing your family fun in beautiful Alaska

Welcome! Glad you enjoyed. :)

NightTrain

11-13-2009, 02:05 PM

This is a 'pig' that they send down the pipeline to remove sludge buildup from inside the pipeline. It weighs 2,600 pounds.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04271.jpg

Another shot of the pipeline. After 9/11 they began patrolling the pipeline in these trucks and with helicopters in the more remote areas. The pipeline is raised like this in areas to allow egress to wildlife like migrating caribou, moose, predators, etc. The radiators on top of the supports prevent the steel from melting the permafrost underground - otherwise it would be impossible to support the massive weight of the structure and oil.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04277.jpg

Downtown in North Pole, AK. This is Santa Claus Lane, naturally. Note the candy cane light poles.
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The Santa Claus House in North Pole. One hell of a tourist trap, they do quite well.
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My Uncle with the Big Guy himself, inside Santa Claus House.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04305.jpg

This was very interesting. Check out the screws that propel this tractor.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04346.jpg

This is the story behind the bizarre tractor shown above.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04345.jpg

Also in Fairbanks. If you ever go to Fairbanks, be sure to check Alaskaland out, there is a lot of history there.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04349.jpg

The S.S. Nenana, the pic above gives info. It's a big sucker.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04352.jpg

President Warren G. Harding, the first chief executive to visit the territory, came to Fairbanks to celebrate the completion of the Alaska Railroad.
Although Harding was dead within two weeks, his reputation marred by scandal, that day Fairbanks was excited by what the Daily News-Miner called "the Glory of the Coming.''
He spoke first to a crowd at Week's Field on July 23, 1923. Among other things he said, "I wonder if you know what has most impressed us on our ... trip to Alaska. You have a sample of it here in Fairbanks....While Alaska is majestic and boundless and mighty.....it is also strikingly a home land, and that is the finest thing that may be said of any section of any nation in the world."

The rail car 'Denali' is in the background, this was built for Harding on his trip.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04351.jpg

NightTrain

11-13-2009, 02:07 PM

Highway scenery about halfway between Fairbanks and Anchorage.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04360.jpg

We did a job for the FAA on a remote island out of Juneau this summer. About 6 hours by boat from Juneau out in the Gulf of Alaska.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0388.jpg

My co-workers were fooling around on one of the 6x6 wheelers, and buried it in the loose gravel. Note the Landing Craft coming in to pick us up coming around the island - the tide was going out and there would have been hell to pay if the captain had to wait 12 hours because we missed high tide to load.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040110.jpg

I'm on the big forklift, I was sweating this because if I got this big boy stuck it would have been a bitch getting it out and we didn't have time. It turned out okay though, we got our shit together right as the Landing Craft dropped his bow plate on the beach.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1010840.jpg

Glaciers flowing into a lake, you can see the icebergs. About 40 miles out of Juneau.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1030914.jpg

One of the huge cruise ships taking tourists on a glacier cruise about 30 miles out of Juneau. Look how dirty the water is from the glaciers.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1030932.jpg

Outskirts of Juneau, that's Mendenhall Glacier in the background.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1030974.jpg

One of the harbors in Juneau, this is where we launched from on that job.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1030986.jpg

Porpoises chasing fish about 2 hours out of Juneau.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040023.jpg

A humpback whale blows - this was harder to get a shot of than I had anticipated... the lag time with my digital camera made it almost impossible. It's a good excuse to upgrade cameras.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040030.jpg

Jeff

11-13-2009, 02:14 PM

NightTrain

11-13-2009, 02:20 PM

I was kidding with ya, I was under the impression it was your pick up stuck in the water, any how these pictures are beautiful, I would love to see that part of the world, most of the pics look more like a post card, thank you for posting them I enjoyed them :thumb:

Oh, now I understand! I need more coffee, STAT! Yeah, that really sucked and it took a couple weeks for that damn Dakota to dry out.

Glad you enjoyed!

Had another 20 pics uploaded but I think the board glitched and they're gone... I'll repost later on.

jimnyc

11-13-2009, 07:56 PM

Me with a King at Montana Creek.

King what? That's an awesome looking catch!

I had a bunch more posted... Jim, your board ate them! :D

All of your pictures are awesome! Sorry about the "hiccup". Apparently the board was up and down while they are migrating to the new server, and I'm sure a few posts were lost that were made right around the same time. I know I updated the announcements section and it was gone after the migration.

But keep posting your pics! Love the wildlife and you have a beautiful family. I honestly don't think I could survive in Alaska, but I would sure as hell love to take a vacation there!

Kathianne

11-13-2009, 08:19 PM

A bear across the river from the cabin.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC04015.jpg

Bill and I taking the kids fishing. The boat is a 20' RiverRunner, 300 HP 350 Kodiak with a 3 stage jet. She really steps out.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/DSC03977.jpg

Rick, you have real fine looking children! Umm, I wouldn't approach without intro if a fish or person, which is probably a good thing. ;) Great pics!

NightTrain

11-13-2009, 11:49 PM

Rick, you have real fine looking children! Umm, I wouldn't approach without intro if a fish or person, which is probably a good thing. ;) Great pics!

Thanks, Kathi :)

NightTrain

11-14-2009, 12:13 AM

King what? That's an awesome looking catch!

That's a King Salmon. For some reason, we all call the salmon by nicknames, the King's proper name is Chinook.

King = Chinook
Red = Sockeye
Silver = Coho
Humpy = Pink
Dog = Chum

It has a red color because it had already begun the spawning process, and we didn't keep it... we were fishing for them because my Uncle Mike from Wisconsin had never caught a King before so we went King fishing! He got ahold of one that took him about an hour to land, and he still calls me up every weekend to talk about that fight. I guess we landed about 15 Kings that day, and he was grinning ear-to-ear the whole time.

All of your pictures are awesome! Sorry about the "hiccup". Apparently the board was up and down while they are migrating to the new server, and I'm sure a few posts were lost that were made right around the same time. I know I updated the announcements section and it was gone after the migration.

But keep posting your pics! Love the wildlife and you have a beautiful family. I honestly don't think I could survive in Alaska, but I would sure as hell love to take a vacation there!

Thanks! I already told you years ago that I'd take you fishing, all you have to do is get your ass on the plane! Two of my Uncles from WI will be coming up the last week of July & first week of August and I'll be taking the time off to run around the state again so that timeframe would be ideal - another person would be just fine. That's when the fishing is best, and I'm thinking about killing a few bears around the cabin during that timeframe as well. I can take a picture of you skinning a Grizzly, arms covered in blood so you can post it for the next hippie that wanders in here. And wouldn't your wife be proud of a 9' bearskin rug? :D

No worries, I knew the board was acting flaky yesterday and I should have saved the text to a file here just in case. They're uploaded to photobucket already, just gotta type it out is all.

NightTrain

11-14-2009, 12:44 AM

About 3 hours out of Juneau on the boat, we cruised past an island with hundreds of Sea Lions basking in the sun, it was pretty cool to see. Some of those bulls were gigantic beasts.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040044.jpg

The first day, a grizzled old pilot got out of the chopper to unload materials and gear. The next day, pictured here, a stunning hardbody brunette bounced out of the driver's seat... we all fell in love immediately. She set this down light as a feather, she had the right stuff!
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040093.jpg

The trip back to Juneau. The pvc contraption you see there is a kickass air-powered potato gun that the captain amuses himself with as the boat drives itself on autopilot. I should have gotten a pic of it, on the side of the gun it says "Say hello to my leetle friend!"
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040146.jpg

Juneau small boat harbor.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040179.jpg

One of Princess Tours' monstrous cruise ships, docked at downtown Juneau. Check out the fake jet engines on top, we all got a chuckle out of it.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040187.jpg

Downtown Juneau.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040191.jpg

The Governor's Mansion in Juneau. This is where Sarah Palin lived, and the job before this one that my co-workers were on they saw Todd out working in the yard. Looks like he did a mighty fine job to me.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040205.jpg

NightTrain

11-14-2009, 01:02 AM

The next job I did this summer was out in King Salmon. The map here shows you where it is in relation to Anchorage (top right).
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040521.jpg

I'm somewhat used to price gouging out in remote Alaska villages, but King Salmon was a cut above. Yup, I did buy the fifth of Crown, but I wasn't happy about it. Other prices I saw include : $9 gallon of milk, $5 gallon of water in a milk jug, $8 for a pound of cheap bacon, $11 for a pack of cheap hotdog sausages. How anyone can raise a family out there is beyond me.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040579.jpg

The view across the street from my hotel, this is a slough off the Naknek river.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040593.jpg

Doing my part to defrost the chopper. This is a Bell 407, truly a beautiful bird.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040604.jpg

View of King Salmon and the Naknek river as we took off.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040611.jpg

Mountains as we fly east.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040641.jpg

There are hundreds of active volcanos in this region, not sure what's in that water but it really was a brilliant green.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040658.jpg

One of the volcanos blowing steam. The sulfur fumes in this area had all of us choking.. it was bad.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040659.jpg

General scenery.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040660.jpg

This is Shelikof Strait, it separates Kodiak Island from the Alaska Peninsula. You can see the volcanic impurities seeping off the beach into the ocean.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040681.jpg

NightTrain

11-14-2009, 01:15 AM

Facing north at our site, about 80 miles from King Salmon and 50 miles from Kodiak. None of us brought a rifle for protection, assuming someone else would and failing that, the pilot would certainly have one in case he had to set down somewhere. Nope. So the pilot kept a lookout for bears while we worked on the radio repeater.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040696.jpg

Facing east, you can see Kodiak Island in the distance under the clouds.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040712.jpg

A dormant volcano, the old lava flow still visible.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040771.jpg

I'm sure most of you have seen those pictures of a waterfall with salmon jumping up them, with a half dozen bears standing at the top catching them in their mouths... this is where McNeil is, on the other side of the lake.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040807.jpg

Another shot of the lake.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040795.jpg

chloe

11-14-2009, 11:02 AM

NightTrain

11-14-2009, 01:33 PM

I keep checking this thread as you add more pics, they are breathtaking. I didn't realize that Cruise Ships were that big geez!!!! The nature the is so pretty. But isn't it snowy most of the year there?

No, not in this area. Juneau is not far from Seattle and it shares many of the weather traits of the Pacific Northwest like lots of rain.

Here in Wasilla we got our first snowfall a few days ago, and it'll be here until March or April, off and on. We usually get 3 or 4 chinooks (eskimo word for warm wind) during the winter and we'll lose the snow cover. As far as temperatures go, it's rarely under 20 degrees farenheit in this neck of the woods.

Now Fairbanks is another story altogether, I lived there in '99 and we saw it 65 below zero for a week straight, and both weeks on either end of that week were minus 40. But extreme cold snaps like that don't happen very often, and if you live in Fairbanks you deserve it! :D I didn't like it up there, neither did my wife.

Mr. P

11-14-2009, 02:02 PM

I'd love to fly that 407 for a few months then come back to warm weather.

Some of those flying jobs in Alaska pay enough in 3-4 months to allow you to take the rest of the yr off. The pay does reflect the risk though.

I'll be that "grizzled old pilot", NT.

NightTrain

11-14-2009, 02:29 PM

I'd love to fly that 407 for a few months then come back to warm weather.

Funny you should say that. The pilot, pictured to the left of the frosty helicopter photo, had just relocated from flying them in Hawaii. I suspect he'll begin carrying a firearm with him as he hears of hairy situations of a pilot forced down in no man's land.

Some of those flying jobs in Alaska pay enough in 3-4 months to allow you to take the rest of the yr off. The pay does reflect the risk though.

Yeah, he was making pretty good coin. The pilot was retired Air Force SAR and he could really fly that baby. The bill for that helo and pilot was $5,000 per day as we were weathered in and couldn't fly. So that's where the Crown came in handy... it's traditional to get the pilot drunk, as you know. He rewarded us with some kickass flying on our last day there by flying 160 MPH right off the deck, laying that beautiful machine on it's side coming around hills. God, it was fun... I was in heaven. I have video clips of that ride that I can post.

He told us that there's only two helicopters faster than that Bell 407 : the Chinook and the Blackhawk. I believe him, we were really hauling ass.

See the floats on the skids? I asked him about those and he said he'd never had to use them before. I'm not sure, but I'd wager that helo would turn turtle in that situation. Have you ever seen or used those?

I'll be that "grizzled old pilot", NT.

:laugh2: Can you bring the brunette hardbody as the stewardess? Wish I would have got a pic of her.

Mr. P

11-15-2009, 11:23 AM

Funny you should say that. The pilot, pictured to the left of the frosty helicopter photo, had just relocated from flying them in Hawaii. I suspect he'll begin carrying a firearm with him as he hears of hairy situations of a pilot forced down in no man's land.

Yeah, he was making pretty good coin. The pilot was retired Air Force SAR and he could really fly that baby. The bill for that helo and pilot was $5,000 per day as we were weathered in and couldn't fly. So that's where the Crown came in handy... it's traditional to get the pilot drunk, as you know. He rewarded us with some kickass flying on our last day there by flying 160 MPH right off the deck, laying that beautiful machine on it's side coming around hills. God, it was fun... I was in heaven. I have video clips of that ride that I can post.

He told us that there's only two helicopters faster than that Bell 407 : the Chinook and the Blackhawk. I believe him, we were really hauling ass.

See the floats on the skids? I asked him about those and he said he'd never had to use them before. I'm not sure, but I'd wager that helo would turn turtle in that situation. Have you ever seen or used those?

:laugh2: Can you bring the brunette hardbody as the stewardess? Wish I would have got a pic of her.

I'm not familiar with the tradition of getting the pilot drunk.

I noticed the floats. They are common on helicopters that fly over or operate around large bodies of water like the Gulf of Mexico. I've never used them but I know they will keep an aircraft upright unless the water is rough, even then they will keep it buoyant long enough for recovery. Under the worst conditions they provide a bit more time to exit the aircraft before it does become a turtle.

About the hardbody...if she already drives it would be near impossible to convince her to be the stew, she might buy co-pilot though.

Post that video I'd love to see it.

stephanie

11-15-2009, 11:53 AM

Kathianne

11-15-2009, 12:11 PM

Wow, I feel like I've been on a tour. Makes me want to go see that land 'up there!'

You should try for a job as tourism booster!

NightTrain

11-15-2009, 04:33 PM

Great pictures NT..you were near my old stomping grounds when you were in Nenana..27 miles south from there Clear-Anderson my old home for 18years..
the Clear Sky Lodge on the parks hwy up the road from where I lived was pretty famous during the days of building the pipeline..you should stop in there if you're up around that way again.

now you went and made me homesick..:slap:

:thumb:

Yep, I thought of you as we rolled through Clear, Steph. Incidently, there was one hell of a forest fire raging at the time, and there's a lot of burned country there now. We were down to 10 MPH at times because I could barely see the lines on the highway, much less see if anyone was stopped ahead of me. I guess that was about August 5th of this year.

Wow, I feel like I've been on a tour. Makes me want to go see that land 'up there!'

You should try for a job as tourism booster!

I don't think my wife would appreciate the severe pay decrease! lol

Post that video I'd love to see it.

I'm re-uploading the first half of it now to youtube... there was a problem with the audio on that clip and I think it was because I was impatient with youtube as it was finishing processing. Takes a while to upload 90 megs but I'll have it posted here in an hour or so.

NightTrain

11-15-2009, 05:00 PM

Here are the video clips. The quality isn't the best, but it's not terrible either. I was using my digital camera in movie mode for this so it's a tad shaky.

There's still a problem with the audio on the first clip, but the second one works fine. It must have been a bad conversion from my original 20 minute clip and I'll have to redo it sometime. In the meantime, turn your sound down because there's an annoying little chirp until the sound cuts out completely.

At 2:34 in this first one, we cleared the last of the mountains and the pilot dumped the collective to shed some altitude real fast. I suspect I was the only one (being in the back by myself) that didn't know it was about to happen. The first thought through my startled mind was, "Oh shit, the rotors just came off!" Then I heard both of them chuckling over the intercom, the bastards.

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The second one works fine. About 1:30 he gets frisky going around hills right off the deck, then again a couple of times more before we land at King Salmon.

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NightTrain

11-17-2009, 04:55 PM

Running the Talkeetna canyon above the cabin... hard to get clear shots while doing this because the boat is slamming up and down.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0054.jpg

Looking up at the last chute, the water here is really moving. Back when I was a kid growing up here, this particular set would eat at least one boat per summer, 22' inboards are no match for this if you screw up... you'll be swimming in seconds.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0043.jpg

Another.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0044.jpg

Looking back down after clearing the last chute.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0047.jpg

A friend of mine with a nice Rainbow.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0074.jpg

The view from across the river.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040493.jpg

Happy hour. The guy on the right is an ice road trucker (the real kind, not the weenies you see on History Channel) with Bill up on the North Slope, hell of a nice guy.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040450.jpg

We thought we heard some Taliban Tongue Flappin' in the distance, Bill scans the perimeter with his AK-47. That baby was fun to shoot, but we forgot about the dogs - one came back 6 hours later, and the other returned 20 hours later. Oops.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3621.jpg

This is the view as you drive into the town of Talkeetna. Mt Forester, Mt Hunter and Mt McKinley. Easy to remember the order because they're alphabetical.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0102.jpg

Mt. McKinley (aka Denali)
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0104.jpg

NightTrain

11-17-2009, 05:06 PM

This batch was taken this September, we went out looking to kill a bear or two. A log that was scratched by a Grizzly.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040491.jpg

Taken right in front of the cabin.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040458.jpg

Another out front of the cabin.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040460.jpg

This didn't come out as clear as I'd hoped. I wear a 9 1/2 wide Nike... this was a big one.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040470.jpg

Across the river from the cabin, the bear traffic on this salmon stream was tremendous.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040476.jpg

Another bear-beaten area.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040485.jpg

Spawning salmon that haven't been eaten by bears yet.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040488.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/P1040480.jpg

NightTrain

11-17-2009, 05:19 PM

Bill's dock on Cottonwood Lake in Wasilla.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0109.jpg

A couple of Loons on Cottonwood Lake.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/IMG_0111.jpg

One of the views while snowmachining on the Susitna River about 2 miles below the Deshka Landing.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_0536.jpg

Beer break about 20 miles down from Deshka.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3462.jpg

My brother Jim decided to blast up the side of this hill. He got knocked off balance and that 700 RMK dug itself a hole. We had a beer while watching him work.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3455.jpg

Took him about 15 minutes of hard work to get her pointed back downhill.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3457.jpg

My friend Kim and I having a beer on the trail.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_0530.jpg

We did a job down in Valdez (pronounced Val DEEZ) in February, this is right outside town.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3420.jpg

It was a really beautiful morning down there. This isn't far at all from where the Exxon Valdez tanker spilled all that oil.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3421.jpg

NightTrain

11-17-2009, 05:26 PM

More of the bay at Valdez.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3422.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3424.jpg

Some of the oil handling facilities, this one was being worked on after a fire.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3428.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3431.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3433.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3439.jpg

End of the road. I'd never seen a 29 speed limit before.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3437.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3440.jpg

Some frozen waterfalls coming into Valdez in Thompson Pass.
http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3446.jpg

http://i585.photobucket.com/albums/ss293/NightTrain70/100_3448.jpg

Kathianne

11-17-2009, 06:21 PM

My God, I'm breathless! That's truly, "God's Country."

darin

11-17-2009, 09:05 PM

wow. Breathtaking. Really want to live there.

Sitarro

11-23-2009, 02:35 PM

Hey NightTrain, Did a few seconds of Photoshop work on a few of your outstanding photos, pick up Photoshop Elements for under 100 bucks and you can do basically the same thing. Here is Adobe's site for a free thirty day trial download. You will be amazed at what you can do to make the shots you take look like what you remember what you were shooting looked like.

http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=photoshop_elements&promoid=DZHDI

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv299/Sitarro2009/stuff/Alaska100_3448.jpg

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv299/Sitarro2009/stuff/Alaska1030932.jpg

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv299/Sitarro2009/stuff/Alaska1040660.jpg

http://i693.photobucket.com/albums/vv299/Sitarro2009/stuff/Alaska1030974.jpg

NightTrain

11-24-2009, 11:45 AM

Hey NightTrain, Did a few seconds of Photoshop work on a few of your outstanding photos, pick up Photoshop Elements for under 100 bucks and you can do basically the same thing. Here is Adobe's site for a free thirty day trial download. You will be amazed at what you can do to make the shots you take look like what you remember what you were shooting looked like.

Wow! That really makes a difference. The clarity and color enhancement really adds to them.

What exactly did you do to sharpen those up?

I have more pics that I'll post soon, been kind of busy here the last few days.

Sitarro

11-24-2009, 03:36 PM

Wow! That really makes a difference. The clarity and color enhancement really adds to them.

What exactly did you do to sharpen those up?

I have more pics that I'll post soon, been kind of busy here the last few days.

It's as simple as hitting auto levels under image and then adjustments. If that doesn't look right you can go back and use manual levels. You can also use curves under the same adjustments heading. Under filter, go to unsharp mask as move the top slider until it starts looking too sharp and move it back a bit.If you don't like the colr saturation you can increase that too.