Outdoors and Recreation

Destination angling often creates an unhealthy feeling of incompleteness and desperation. Fishing goals I knew what it was going to be, but I clicked anyway. “What are your fishing goals for 2025” was an advertisement for a lodge in an area I have longed to fish but I’m priced out, have priced myself out or however you write “it’s expensive and probably won’t happen.” (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Angling for goals to appreciate in 2025

This is somewhat devastating because saying you might not do something at 23-years old is just youth speaking. Saying it at 43-year old means not… Continue reading

 

A female acorn woodpecker. (Charles J. Sharp / CC BY-SA 4.0)

On the Trails: Making hay and storing food

Many animals store food in preparation for winter or just to be eaten later. Bears and wolves are among those that stash prey remains, with… Continue reading

 

Boaters paddle Kenai Fjords National Park in summer 2024. The park was created in 1980 as part of the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Jimmy Carter, the man who preserved Alaska

Right about now, within a shrub in southern Texas, a ruby-crowned kinglet twitches to face northward. In a few months, guided by forces neither the… Continue reading

 

Licorice ferns often grow on tree trunks and branches. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Licorice ferns

The understory of our forests is graced with lots of ferns in a variety of shapes and sizes. Ferns (along with trees and wildflowers) are… Continue reading

Licorice ferns often grow on tree trunks and branches. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
The author’s wife grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts where she had more classmates go to Harvard than the author had classmates total. But that doesn’t mean her upbringing was better. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Different, not better or worse

A seven-foot minuteman stands on a rock base where Massachusetts Avenue splits at the end of Lexington’s main drag. He was unveiled in 1900 to… Continue reading

The author’s wife grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts where she had more classmates go to Harvard than the author had classmates total. But that doesn’t mean her upbringing was better. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
Horned grebes in winter plumage float on the tide. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Sea lions, horned grebes, and brown creepers

I often walk out to Pt. Louisa for the great vistas and a good chance of seeing some wildlife. Sometimes, of course, there are no… Continue reading

Horned grebes in winter plumage float on the tide. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Juneau sees common loons more often in winter than summer, when they are nesting on lakes. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Loons

One misty day in mid-December, a friend and I walked the little Fish Creek Trail. At the side of the pond, a small gray bird… Continue reading

Juneau sees common loons more often in winter than summer, when they are nesting on lakes. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Neve Baker stands beside her poster on discovering ancient evidence of beavers in Grand Tetons National Park while she was at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. in December 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Ancient beavers, sea floor bumps, thick air

It’s time to start emptying the notebook following the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union, which happened from Dec. 9-13, 2024 in Washington, D.C.… Continue reading

Neve Baker stands beside her poster on discovering ancient evidence of beavers in Grand Tetons National Park while she was at the Fall Meeting of the American Geophysical Union in Washington, D.C. in December 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)
Evening walks are great. Put a few pounds in a backpack and you’ll increase the health benefits of light exercise. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Numbers worth noting

Everything is being reduced to numbers which my math department friends down the hall cite as evidence of the advancement of the species. But old… Continue reading

Evening walks are great. Put a few pounds in a backpack and you’ll increase the health benefits of light exercise. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
A pygmy owl in the snow outside the doorstep of a Juneau home. (Photo by Denise Carroll)

On the Trails: Pygmy owls

This little owl was quite frequently detected in the trees at the edge of the wetlands this fall. And one appeared on the doorstep of… Continue reading

A pygmy owl in the snow outside the doorstep of a Juneau home. (Photo by Denise Carroll)
A male downy woodpecker pecks at a suet block with its small bill. (Photo by Steve Willson)

On the Trails: Hairy and downy woodpeckers

A male hairy woodpecker is a regular visitor to my peanut butter feeders, also sampling from the suet from time to time. In a previous… Continue reading

A male downy woodpecker pecks at a suet block with its small bill. (Photo by Steve Willson)
On Aug. 6, 2024, an outburst flood from the Mendenhall Glacier caused major flooding in the Mendenhall Glacier Basin. Multiple homes and roads are inundated. No reports of injuries have been reported. The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) issued an evacuation order on the evening of August 5 and established an emergency shelter for residents displaced by the flooding. (Alaska National Guard courtesy photo)

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska continues to change, fast

With his eyes on Alaska weather and climate for many years, Rick Thoman saw a need for a recent update on what is happening within… Continue reading

On Aug. 6, 2024, an outburst flood from the Mendenhall Glacier caused major flooding in the Mendenhall Glacier Basin. Multiple homes and roads are inundated. No reports of injuries have been reported. The City and Borough of Juneau (CBJ) issued an evacuation order on the evening of August 5 and established an emergency shelter for residents displaced by the flooding. (Alaska National Guard courtesy photo)
A good life in Southeast Alaska is often made better with good gear. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: ‘Buy gear not stuff’

If anyone needs shopping clarity this holiday season, quote writer Michael Easter who champions the idea “buy gear, not stuff.” In order for us to… Continue reading

A good life in Southeast Alaska is often made better with good gear. (Photo by Jeff Lund)
A climbing goby known as ‘o’opu ‘alamo’o, or Hawaiian freshwater goby. (Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources photo)

On the Trails: Fish locomotion

There are about 28,000 species of bony fishes — the largest taxonomic group of vertebrates — and they have been around for a very long… Continue reading

A climbing goby known as ‘o’opu ‘alamo’o, or Hawaiian freshwater goby. (Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources photo)
A person walks along the tideline adjacent to the Airport Dike Trail on Thursday. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
A person walks along the tideline adjacent to the Airport Dike Trail on Thursday. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
A Banff Snail (Physella johnsoni), about 3.5 millimeters in size, in a hot spring pool. (Paul M.K. Gordon / CC BY-SA 2.5)

On the Trails: Hot spring snails

From a visitor from England who visited Calgary on the way to Juneau, I learned about the Banff Springs snails, which live in thermal springs… Continue reading

A Banff Snail (Physella johnsoni), about 3.5 millimeters in size, in a hot spring pool. (Paul M.K. Gordon / CC BY-SA 2.5)
The author's wife sets and checks game cameras as a way of continuing outdoor adventure with a baby at home. (Photo provided by Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: Appreciating the mini-adventure

With my left hand managing the 297 soft cover pages, I read. Tim Cahill was in Mali and having a discussion with a local about… Continue reading

The author's wife sets and checks game cameras as a way of continuing outdoor adventure with a baby at home. (Photo provided by Jeff Lund)
A male hooded merganser shows off his flashy plumage. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Critter watching in fall

I like living in a place where I can encounter wild critters in so many places and so often. But some days are always luckier… Continue reading

A male hooded merganser shows off his flashy plumage. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)
Maple the dog leads Kerry Lear and Stephanie Allison across the newly completed Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei (also known as the Brotherhood Bridge Trail) over Montana Creek Monday, November 11. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)

Reconnected: New bridge over Montana Creek reopens portion of Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei

People again able to walk a loop on what’s commonly known as the Brotherhood Bridge Trail.

Maple the dog leads Kerry Lear and Stephanie Allison across the newly completed Kaxdigoowu Heen Dei (also known as the Brotherhood Bridge Trail) over Montana Creek Monday, November 11. (Laurie Craig / Juneau Empire)
A Boquila trifoliolata in Parque Nacional Puyehue, Chile. (Tony Rebelo / CC BY-SA 4.0)

On the Trails: Mimicry in animals and plants

Mimicry in animals is a common form of protection from predators. For instance, two distasteful or toxic butterflies may mimic each other for mutual defense,… Continue reading

A Boquila trifoliolata in Parque Nacional Puyehue, Chile. (Tony Rebelo / CC BY-SA 4.0)