My first few days in Alaska, I stayed with Dr. Phil and Ann Meyer, one of the doctors who own the practice and his wife. The first morning, this is what greeted me from the backyard:
While I was staying at the Meyers' I went to the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center to visit the fawns that were born last year and the year before last. They were both boys, named Hershey and York. After their first musk male reindeer become dangerous if they are kept as pets. So Ann and Phil donated them to the Conservation Center. Both are halter broke, and the center uses them when they got to fund raising events. This is Hershey:
And his (older) half-brother York:
The conservation center has many other examples of Alaskan wildlife, like Musk Ox
And the only herd of Wood Bison in the United States
The Conservation Center is working with the Alaskan Fish and Game Service to reintroduce the Wood Bison to an area of Alaska called the Minto Flats. Until the early 1900's the Wood Bison was native to Alaska, but they were killed off by settlers early in the century for food in the winter. The project started in 1995, and in 2003 thirteen yearling calves were imported from Canada, where wood bison are still found in the wild. There are now 83 in captivity, with plans to release 40 by spring of 2012.The conservation center is also home to native birds that have been hurt and would not survive in the wild, like this Great Horned Owl:
The center is located on the original site of the town of Portage, which was destroyed in the 1964 earthquake and resulting tsunami. There are still the old homes on the site of the center.
There are the trunks of trees killed in the earthquake everywhere in the valley. They weren't killed by the earthquake outright, but were killed when the water table dropped by 10 feet and saltwater rushed in. The trees are just now starting to acclimate and grow back in some areas.The drive to the conservation center is on Alaska Highway 1, and has some of the most beautiful views I have ever seen:
Across the inlet, you could still tell where an avalanche had happened last winter.
They're fairly common on that road, which is cut into the mountainside. In some places road crews have secured fencing to slow down snow to stop the avalanche before it can get to the road. The mountains are close enough to the road that mountain sheep (known in the lower 48 as Dall Sheep) come right up to the road. I got a picture of a mama and her lamb.
The first Saturday, I moved to the Morris home, where I will be staying for the rest of the summer. Their house is on Lake Lucille, one of the two lakes within the Wasilla city limits. They have a couple of kayaks and a bike that I use almost every day.This is the view from the porch:
The lake is home to some trout, although it's so close to town that it was overfished. There are also many birds that use the lake to raise their chicks. There is a red-necked grebe nest on one side of the Morris' dock.
There is also a nested pair of mallards on the other side of the dock. 
And of course, the ever-present seagull:
Last Thursday and Friday a coworker invited me to go with her on a chartered fishing trip. We went out into Cook Inlet to fish for halibut and for king salmon. We had to cut the trip short because the weather turned bad, so we only did the halibut part of the trip. The largest halibut we caught was 35 pounds; mine were a bit smaller - in the mid 20's. I also caught 3 cod, which aren't any good for eating (but make great fish bait), and a skate which isn't much good for anything. But I had fun!From left to right: Joe (our guide), Jake (a friend of Melissa's), Tom (a coworker of Jake's) me, and Melissa (my coworker).
This is what halibut look like on the back.
Halibut are a type of flatfish, and are in the same family as flounder. We've already tried some - we beer battered it, then fried it. It was amazing!We also saw a female sea otter and her pup (it would be better, but she was a ways away, there were 6 foot seas, and I was trying really hard not to feed the fish):
We also saw a maybe-bear; on a hill about a mile away there was either a bear or a bear-shaped bush. Whichever it was, it made a gravel truck coming down the road stop and take a look. I'll let you guys decide for yourselves:
See it there by the treeline?Unfortunately, it looks like there isn't going to be a king salmon season this year. The streams are warming up too slowly, so the fish and game service is shutting down the season to give them a chance to spawn and increase their numbers. But I should be able to go fishing for silvers and possibly reds.
I thought I would end each post with my favorite picture of the week. Here is this post's:
~JK~
