The Quest: Finished!

On July 1, 2006 I set out to find and photograph a moose with a full rack. Little did I know that the quest would take more than 10 years to complete. My journey forced so many moose into hiding it is a wonder the species has survived.

Technically my quest ended a few days ago in Anchorage. At practically dark we spotted a bull moose with a huge rack. The photograph was out of focus, grainy and a poorly positioned shot. I decided not to count it and the quest continued.

Yesterday, after our 66 mile tour of Denali by bus ended, we had seen two bull moose with full racks. I photographed them but both were poorly positioned behind trees and thick brush. I decided the quest had to end with those photographs but I was not too happy with the shots. They just didn't represent my ideal photograph that came to mind back in 2006.

In Denali, you can only drive the first 15 miles of the 93 mile park road. To go any further, you must take a shuttle bus. When we returned to the Wilderness Access Center, we decided to get the car and drive the 15 miles. It was about 7:30 pm and it would be light until about 9, though the day was cloudy and rainy.

We drove out about 7 miles and found a bull and 2 cows in thick brush. Photographs weren't too good. After driving out to about mile 11, we decided to turn around. At about mile 9 we noticed a stopped car. You always check out a stopped car. Sure enough, a huge bull moose stood out in a field about 400' out. The antlers of the moose are white this time to year and are easy to recognize if you can see them. They are like a flashing sign that reads, "Moose here!"

This first shot is my prize standing out in the field. You can see those white antlers a mile away.

After a few minutes, he decided to walk toward the road. He is standing about 100 feet from me in this shot.

And then finally crossing the road. Jeff, another man who was standing there, and I agreed that the rack on this bull must have been about 60' wide. He is a massive creature, but an impressive creature made by God to declare His handiwork. And that, this moose does.

So with that the quest is completed. Several years ago Nan asked, "So what is next once your moose quest is complete?" I'll be starting blog soon that you can reach at polarbearquest.blogspot.com. Until then, you can rest knowing that the quest is complete and you won't have to hear me talking about it anymore...except to tell you about our trip, of course.

Thanks for reading and riding along.

By the way, I actually started this blog so that our parents could follow our journeys on vacations and other trips. They couldn't travel with us and the daily posts gave them a chance to ride along. Since then we've each lost our dads, we gained a daughter-in-law and a grandchild. We've been blessed, have seen so much of God's wonder creation, and been able to share it with others. Facebook came along and my posts became less frequent. In some ways I wish I had kept up this blog rather than using Facebook. Being able to go back and read the stories I wrote with the pictures is interesting, at least to me. Facebook doesn't give you the same ability.

Yosemite

Back in May I had a chance to run over to Yosemite. Got these two shots of Half Dome. It was nice to be there again. Both times I have been in Yosemite have been very quick trips. Click on the photos to see the full view.

Night Sky Time Lapse

My first attempt at a nigh sky time lapse. Not very happy with the quality of this upload to Blogger. Video is much clearer on FaceBook.

Travelling Through Louisiana and Texas

After my orthodontist association meeting in New Orleans, Nan and I took some time and drove through several wildlife refuges in Louisiana and Texas. Here are a few of the photos I took along the way.

Clicking on a photo will allow you to view all the photos in a larger size.

Large Lizard

Roseate Spoonbill

Great Egret

Red-winged Blackbird

Purple Galinule 

Barn Swallow in Flight

White-crowned Sparrow

Lesser Yellowlegs

Laughing Gull

Black-necked Stilt

Crossing on a ferry between Port Bolivar and Galveston. Laughing Gulls followed the ferry.

It was an enjoyable trip. Hope you enjoy the pictures. Maybe some more to come. 

By the way, no moose in either Louisiana or Texas. 

Cumberland Falls Shot in Color

Here is the night shot in color. Kind of weird looking but the moonlight does light up the colors. Click to see the entire image. For those who haven't seen the B/W shot, here are some details. Pano of 6 shots (2x3), each shot is 13 seconds at F3.8, ISO 400 at 24mm.

Cumberland Falls State Park

Here is a panorama shot I took of the falls at night. Pretty cool place. The falls is lit by the full moon, though probably only 25% or less due to fog.Click on the photo to see it larger.

This is 6 different shots (2x3) each taken with a shutter speed of 13 seconds at f3.8. ISO 400. Camera and lens got soaked from the mist. Glad the camera has water seals. The lens is a bit gimpy now.

Breakfast in Little Rock

We ate a great breakfast at Dogtown Coffee and Cookery. Weather is very nice and we will be entering the second largest state in a few hours. Texas, that is. Will update more along the way.

Pictures With No Moose

Here are some shots from our travels not too far from home.

Final Day

On our final day in the UP we traveled over to Seney National Wildlife Refuge and to Tahquamenon Falls State Park. Both were very nice places to visit. Wildlife was quite abundant.  For birds, the high wind kept photos to a minimum but we did get a few.

 Eastern Kingbird

 Common Loon

 Lower Falls at Tahquamenon Falls

 Another view

American Redstart

We all enjoyed our time wandering around the UP. Sorry we didn't see a moose but that seems to be par for the course. Nan and I think that we're going to have to go to Alaska to see that moose we want. 

Thanks for riding along. We enjoy sharing our trips with you and hope you enjoy the photos. Until the next Moose Quest begins...

Wild Moose Chase

"Are there moose to be found in this area?", I asked. "Oh yes. I just saw one yesterday. If you go down here to..." Or, another might say, "Moose? I don't think we have any of those around here."

That is the typical conversation with locals. It appears that some are alert and other don't know what is around them. Or could it be that some are honest and others are keeping up the moose myth just so the tourist will keep returning and looking.

Whatever the case, we have seen no moose so far. Yesterday was the first day we really tried very hard. We got up quite early and found fog over the lake. Jeff took a great picture if the sun coming up and shining through the fog. See his FaceBook page. Here is the scene from the cabin.

The next two photos are places where we looked for moose. You know, in those areas where the locals always see them. Even though we have not seen moose, we have certainly seen some really beautiful country. 

Along the way we do see some wildlife. This roughed grouse was a nice sight as was the chipmunk.

We topped the day off with worship back in Green Bay. The brethren there are quite friendly and received us warmly. 


You can click on any image to see a larger copy. Download them if you like but please do not publish them on the web.


We'll try again on Friday and see if our luck continues to hold. This time we'll be going to the eastern part of the peninsula. Today (Thursday) we'll probably spend around the cabin, either on the water, biking a nice trail nearby, or just resting and breathing fresh air.

Pictured Perfect Day

Near Munising, Michigan is the Pictured Rocks National Lake Shore. It is located on Lake Superior's southern shore. Because Superior is such a large lake, it looks and feels more like the ocean. The shore is very high here and Superior's continual beating against the rock walls along with the iron ore in the rock makes the pictured rocks seen below.

From the point at which I took the picture above, you can walk a mile down to the lake shore. Everything is very green, coming alive from the winter. Nan and Jeff were ahead of me.

The trail follows a winding creek which empties into Superior. The picture below is near the point at which the creek empties into Superior. It is a beautiful place.

The lake shore here is sandy, unlike much of Superior's shoreline. Trees that fall into the creek are sometimes carried down to the shore.

The tree lined hill below is the starting point of the mile-long trail we hiked. You can see that Superior looks like the ocean here.

 On our way out of the Pictured Rocks LS we stopped by Munising Falls. These falls drop about 30 feet. Since the snowfall was light this year, the falls do not have as much water as usual for this time of year.

We arrived back at the cabin just in time for the sunset. Venus was shining brightly and seemed right for a picture.

 On this day the temperatures really dropped. It was very windy and about 40 degrees when we got back to the cabin. The sky was perfectly clear so we built a bonfire, roasted marsh mellows, and watched the stars. I saw 3 meteors as we watched. We also heard the howling of gray wolves which are in the area as well as a whip-or-will and a great horned owl.

We had a great day. Hope you enjoyed travelling along as well.

Hardwood Hideaway

We're in Hardwood, Michigan at our cabin. Below is a panorama of our backyard. We are loving it here. A bald eagle and an osprey nest on the lake and are continually flying by. Loons sing in the morning and in the evenings. Last night we saw about 6 deer on the road and there is evidence that they come through the yard. The lake is very inactive and we went out on the canoe and paddle boat today. Jeff and I canoed around the island. I'm hoping that the videos I've taken of the eagle will be worth posting. More to come.


You'll want to click on this image and view it full-sized.

Chicago, Chicago

Jeff suggested that we visit the Field Museum in Chicago. He has never been but had heard it was a good stop. Below is the entrance with the banner for the Genghis Kahn exhibit (which we saw) and below that is a shot of the main hall. It is quite a large place.

We then took a cab up to Millennium Park, another place Jeff had heard about. He is quite the tour guide even though he has never visited Chicago before this trip. We found this reflecting pool with two towers on either end. The towers display videos which reflect into the pool. Jeff took a great shot of this reflection and I got him taking the shot.

Also at the park was the Cloud Gate, a round set of highly polished stainless steel plates that reflect the city as well as those around it. Look closely at the center and you can see Nan and me. The Cloud Gate is huge and quite interesting. Seems that Chicago has you do a lot of reflecting when you visit.

Here is a shot of Nan and the some of the buildings along the Magnificent Mile. The Mag Mile is very nice and cleaned up. Other parts of Chicago are run down and dirty. I guess that is like a lot of cities but the size of each area is just larger in Chicago. Still, a very nice visit. Our two cab drivers were extremely nice, drove crazy like all other cab drives, and made the trip enjoyable.

Hope you enjoy these shots. We are in a very different world now that we have arrived at our cabin on the lake. Pictures from here tomorrow.

Lots in the Moose

We stopped in Chicago and went to the Field Museum, Millennium Park and ate Chicago style pizza at Giordano's. This is a picture of a little bit. The rest made its way into our mooses. More later. Really fun day.

MQ 2012 Has Begun

We're headed up to Bowling Green To pickup Jeff. We'll spend the night near Chicago. Tomorrow we end up in Green Bay and will worship with the brethren there on Sunday. We then end up at our cabin in Michigan's Upper Pennisula. The cabin is just a few miles from the largest concentration of moose in Michigan. I found out that there Re also wolves in the UP so perhaps we'll get to see them as well. Thanks for travelling along. Will start posting pictures soon...maybe tomorrow.

Next Moose Quest

In less than a month Nan, Jeff and I will begin another Moose Quest. We'll provide more information closer to the time we depart.

Last Post From Minnesota Trip

It is hard to put a finger on what was the best part of our trip to Minnesota. The time together that Nan and I had was such a blessing. Seeing old friends and catching up on the years in between was fun too. Being able to spend time in God's grand creation is certainly faith building. Having family and friends to come home to is obviously a blessing that we count high on the list.

So without identifying a specific, we'll share some final scenes that we enjoyed together. Okay, at least I enjoyed them. I was reminded when seeing some of these shots that Nan was asleep in the van while I took some of them. Don't tell her I said that.

Early one morning we caught the fog rising over one of the small rivers.

On another afternoon we stopped at an overlook to view the little village of Grand Marais (Ma-ray) which sits on Lake Superior.

We saw all these gulls circling and it turns out they were helping a fisherman clean his catch.

One night we were treated to a great sunset over a lake/swampy area where we looked for moose. It started out this way with several clouds.

As it progressed it got better as you can see from these.

But during the middle we saw this special treat. This picture doesn't do justice to what we witnessed but perhaps comes close. The tree looked as if it were on fire from the sun.

On our last day we traveled north into Canada. At the border is Grand Portage State Park on the US side. Separating the US from Canada is the Pigeon River. On the Pigeon River are several falls. These shots are of High Falls, the highest waterfall in Minnesota. The right bank is in Canada.

That the last shot was taken at a slow shutter speed to blur the falls. You photographers will appreciate knowing that this was hand-held using my 70-200 VR II lens. Not easy and I took several shots before I got it right.

Over in Canada the topography changed into more farmland surrounded by mountains rising up steeply out of the ground. The only shot I got that depicts a little of that is this nice farm. The crop all around is wheat.

On Friday morning as we started our drive back to Tennessee, it was a bit rainy. I stopped on the highway and took one final shot. We saw aspen trees everywhere and I thought this one looked pretty good.

We sure enjoyed having you ride along and hope you enjoyed being with us. Who knows where the next moose quest will take us. This we do know. The Lord has created such a wonder place for us to live in and enjoy. And heaven is supposed to be even better. I'm looking forward to that. I don't believe we'll need a camera to remember those images!