More Eagle Beach and One More Sunny Day

Some more pictures from Eagle Beach taken yesterday during the first sunny day we had seen in a few weeks.

Above is the same eagle that I posted yesterday.

We began following him while he was standing for a long time in a small pool of water on the beach.  Both LC and I slowely walked closer and closer to him snapping pictures the whole time, until we eventually got too close for comfort and he took flight.

He travelled only 50 feet or so until he landed again, this time on a log.

It was here that my Mountain Boy and this eagle got to know each other better, while I stood back afraid to move in fear of scaring him away.

Both LC and I knew that this was special.  That it may well be the one and only time we will be allowed to experience an eagle in the wild so close.

Why this beautiful bird allowed LC to get so close I will never know.

But I held my breath, kept Jamie close to me, took a few pictures of the encounter - but mostly watched these two interacting wonderfully with each other - LC softly talking and the eagle watching intently and I suspect also listening intently.

My Mountain Boy taking pictures at the mouth of a stream of fish spawning and trying valiantly to swim upstream in the very shallow water.  I saw three dead salmon along the sides of riverbanks who were unsuccessful in their quest.....

Walking along the beach.  The tide was lower yesterday than I have ever seen it, and I have been to Eagle Beach both alone and more recently with LC and Jamie many times. 

The low tide allowed us to walk a long way out, and also to see views of the glacier and the mountains I had never seen before.  So extremely wonderfully exciting......so beautiful.

We saw many footprints in the sand.  Not too many human footprints surprisingly, but many different types of birds. 

We also saw many dog prints, a few bear prints and also some wolf prints.

I have wondered for a long time what bear prints and wolf prints actually look like.  I had seen the prints on the internet and also on informational boards that are common at many parks in the area, but still had a difficult time identifying what I was really looking at - there are just too many very large dogs floating around this town and all the prints looked (to this amateur tracker) like those belonging to those oversized Alaskan mutts.

But once I actually saw bear and wolf prints in real life, I recognized them easily.

People walking on the beach across the river at the Boy Scout Trail.........

One more eagle standing on the beach.  This one spent a long time in the sand protecting the fish he had in his possession, from other would-be predators.  A little raven standing beside him hoping for any left-overs...........

I really really love this picture.  A young eagle......

Today was another beautiful summer day in Juneau.

Another gift.

By the time I was rushing home this afternoon the temperature gauge outside the UAS Bookstore in Auke Bay read 72 degrees.

I can't even remember how many days we have had over the last five weeks that have been cloudy, rainy, foggy and 52. 

No matter.  Today was beautiful.  And I rushed home so I could go walk down from my house, to the rocky beach at the end of our road with my guy and my dog......

LC had spent the afternoon buying a new chain for the bike I borrowed months ago, and that we just have never gotten around to fixing and finally returning.

When I drove into the driveway this afternoon my family was standing in the yard with a clean bike, and one that had an intact chain. 

I will return it tomorrow and thank them for allowing me such extended use of their mountain bike.

That bike opened up the world around Juneau for me, not long after I arrived in town and before I bought my old $900 Buick. 

My first explorations of Douglas, Thane and Out the Road all took place on that bike.

And that bike, after I moved out here to the country, allowed me to explore, stay fit and be outside......

LC grabbed his fishing rods and I grabbed a pack full of water and snacks.  And then I grabbed my excited dogs' leash (somehow she always seems to know when we are headed out someplace).

We all walked down the gravel road and arrived at a quiet and beautiful cove......

And then we walked down one more quiet gravel road. 

The entire walk from the house to the open channel is only about 10 minutes, and I feel very lucky that we have such a beautiful place so close to where we are living.

At the end of the second gravel road is a short, mossy and pine-needle filled trail that I love to walk on, and that leads to a beautiful overlook.........

The beach is completely filled with rocks both large and small.  As soon as we arrived at the beach we were greeted with a small makeshift and rustic bench consisting of rocks and a piece of driftwood.

And yet one more small alter.........

While LC was fishing I walked along the rocky beach, enjoying the view and the beautiful day and the freedom of being outside in the sun and the sky and the water.........

And while LC was stil fishing I made my first rock alter.

I smiled at myself while I was sitting on the rocks searching for interesting rocks that wouldn't topple my little tower over.

There was no budget or employee issues or politically correct language to be concerned about.  There was simply a rock tower that I was trying to build in the sun.

It turns out that I am not very good at building such things.  I am not creative enough, and have little patience for such things when the rocks don't fit the way I want them to.

Having said that though, there was something extremely cathartic about taking part in this ritual building.

I am not good at it, but it doesn't matter.  It just was what it was - simple, enjoyable, relaxing, reflective.

I understand a little better now the compulsion that Juneauites seem to have for building such things on rocky beaches throughout the city.........

I found this heart shaped rock in my travels today, and it came home with me at the end of our short adventure.

Although he got a few bites, this was the only fish that my Mountain Boy brought into shore today.  This small, spiny fish was gingerly removed from the rig and released safely back into the waters of the cove.

The sun shining through the trees up towards the overlook and the trail we came in on.

My normally quiet and content dog spent most of our trip to the beach at the end of our road whining, barking and howling in protest, at the indignation we had placed on her - tying her to a rock.

She was not pleased, and did not hesitate to let us know about it........

Before we left the beach, unsuccessful in fishing but both of us having a really great time anyway, LC added two rocks to the alter-monument that we had noticed when we first arrived.

One last picture of my Tennessee dog.

She has settled into her new life amazingly well, and all the worry about her travelling and us disrupting her life seems to have been for nothing.

She seems to have permanently outgrown her car sickness, and now goes almost everywhere we go.....

Our happy Alaskan dog.