An Alaskan Adventure?
GREETINGS! The weather, she is a changing.....it feels like winter has arrived---well, almost. The lows at night have suddenly come to rest around 60º instead of our normal 80º from May - September. We’re actually able to cut down on the AC bill. Feels great.
Oh, almost forgot---I took Second place and bit of prize money in the JCVA show that opened last night. That was so exciting for me. It’s a first! Below is the image.
Sometimes I go on line looking for grants & opportunities. So far I haven’t struck gold, though. It’s amazing to see what’s out there for artists. Many are for specific types of visual art. Some exclude photography, some are exclusively for it.
I found an interesting one for Denali National Park in Alaska. It’s their Artist-in-residence program. Visual artists and writers apply to come there for a 10 day period during the summer to stay in the park. Obviously, it would be a fantastic place to take pictures of snowy peaks, layered mountains, wide breath taking vistas, wildlife in its natural habitat, trees, lakes, wildflowers, unpolluted skies and the list goes on. It’s a place I would love to experience. I was applying on the last day---fortunately, not at the last minute because I’m on the East coast and they are 3 hours behind us.
As I read the application I noticed you had to sign a paper stating that if you were accepted and come they wouldn’t be responsible for your trip or anything that might happen to you while you were in the Park. Ok, I guess that’s normal. You create artwork and donate some to the Park. I’m good with that. I signed.
Then I was amazed to learn that the 10 days would be spent,in a remote, make that extremely remote area. The 14‘x16’ cabin has twin beds, no running water, no electricity & an outhouse. The East Fork Cabin is 43 miles into the park. It was built in 1920-something and used by naturalist Adolph Murie, around 1939. His purpose: prey/predator research. Hmmm. Apparently, it’s close to its original condition.
Well, I think I could stand just about anything for 10 days. After all, my grandmother in Georgia (dubbed Granny-in-the-Country) had an outhouse, so I’m not a complete stranger to the concept. (She used an old phonebook for toilet paper. Those thin pages are actually much softer than what comes in some Russian hotels.) So, I continued to fill out the application and upload some of my nature images via the CaFE (see previous blog post for more info).
However, over the next 24 hours, I began to ponder what it would be like to be in a cabin 45 miles from civilization. I recalled a recent episode of I SHOULDN’T BE ALIVE where two guys were hunting, making the female moose call. The response came from three grizzly bears, thundering towards them. Not the kind found with Goldie Locks.
The mother bear attacked one guy, then took him & tossed him way up into the air & opened her mouth to catch his skull as he came back down. He was able to move slightly, so she missed fully biting into him. The guys had only pepper spray as a defense. (They forgot the flare gun.) The friend sprayed Momma bear in the face, getting the spray into his own eyes, also. The bears left & they somehow survived the hike back to the car.
The next morning the in shower, I remembered something even more terrible---I’d have to take cold showers. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Well, I just won’t take any. Who cares if I go the sponge bath route....or maybe I’ll just invest in a bunch of diaper wipes. Wait, the alcohol makes them really cold, too. Hmmm.....research it.
I guess you couldn’t really cook anything good, like bacon. It might attract bears, mountain lions, wolves or. . . I’ll have to do more research on what to be afraid of. Maybe you just bring really nutritious, non-smelly things like trail mix, powdered, dehydrated astronaut food, K-rations or Kashi bars. I’ll research that, too.
The last obstacle will be coming up with the money to get outfitted with proper clothes, add a backup camera, purchase a long lens, fly out there, buy food supplies and fly back. But, what a unique, fantastic, awesome, rare opportunity that would be! Kinda the opposite end of the United States with lots of new & exciting things to experience & document. I’ll worry about the financing later, so for now, I’m in the hunt. If I’m picked, I’m going!
I saw an eagle near my house the next day---is that an omen??? You know, for Alaska...
PHOTO TIP: State & National Parks offer natural wildlife images we just don’t see ordinarily. Go on line to : www.nps.org for National Parks or www.stateparks.com/usahtml for state parks. Find an interesting one near you. It’s amazing what’s close by that you don’t know even about. Lots of them have trails, nature centers, picnic areas, camping & canoeing. Treat yourself to a day trip to take some unique images. Just make sure you have proper supplies like: boots, phone, water, bug spray, pepper spray & a flare gun.
BLESSINGS!
Isaiah 41:10
See more pix
Go my home page
Facebook connection
email:artisticimagesbypc@me.com
Oh, almost forgot---I took Second place and bit of prize money in the JCVA show that opened last night. That was so exciting for me. It’s a first! Below is the image.
Sometimes I go on line looking for grants & opportunities. So far I haven’t struck gold, though. It’s amazing to see what’s out there for artists. Many are for specific types of visual art. Some exclude photography, some are exclusively for it.
I found an interesting one for Denali National Park in Alaska. It’s their Artist-in-residence program. Visual artists and writers apply to come there for a 10 day period during the summer to stay in the park. Obviously, it would be a fantastic place to take pictures of snowy peaks, layered mountains, wide breath taking vistas, wildlife in its natural habitat, trees, lakes, wildflowers, unpolluted skies and the list goes on. It’s a place I would love to experience. I was applying on the last day---fortunately, not at the last minute because I’m on the East coast and they are 3 hours behind us.
As I read the application I noticed you had to sign a paper stating that if you were accepted and come they wouldn’t be responsible for your trip or anything that might happen to you while you were in the Park. Ok, I guess that’s normal. You create artwork and donate some to the Park. I’m good with that. I signed.
Then I was amazed to learn that the 10 days would be spent,in a remote, make that extremely remote area. The 14‘x16’ cabin has twin beds, no running water, no electricity & an outhouse. The East Fork Cabin is 43 miles into the park. It was built in 1920-something and used by naturalist Adolph Murie, around 1939. His purpose: prey/predator research. Hmmm. Apparently, it’s close to its original condition.
Well, I think I could stand just about anything for 10 days. After all, my grandmother in Georgia (dubbed Granny-in-the-Country) had an outhouse, so I’m not a complete stranger to the concept. (She used an old phonebook for toilet paper. Those thin pages are actually much softer than what comes in some Russian hotels.) So, I continued to fill out the application and upload some of my nature images via the CaFE (see previous blog post for more info).
However, over the next 24 hours, I began to ponder what it would be like to be in a cabin 45 miles from civilization. I recalled a recent episode of I SHOULDN’T BE ALIVE where two guys were hunting, making the female moose call. The response came from three grizzly bears, thundering towards them. Not the kind found with Goldie Locks.
The mother bear attacked one guy, then took him & tossed him way up into the air & opened her mouth to catch his skull as he came back down. He was able to move slightly, so she missed fully biting into him. The guys had only pepper spray as a defense. (They forgot the flare gun.) The friend sprayed Momma bear in the face, getting the spray into his own eyes, also. The bears left & they somehow survived the hike back to the car.
The next morning the in shower, I remembered something even more terrible---I’d have to take cold showers. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Well, I just won’t take any. Who cares if I go the sponge bath route....or maybe I’ll just invest in a bunch of diaper wipes. Wait, the alcohol makes them really cold, too. Hmmm.....research it.
I guess you couldn’t really cook anything good, like bacon. It might attract bears, mountain lions, wolves or. . . I’ll have to do more research on what to be afraid of. Maybe you just bring really nutritious, non-smelly things like trail mix, powdered, dehydrated astronaut food, K-rations or Kashi bars. I’ll research that, too.
The last obstacle will be coming up with the money to get outfitted with proper clothes, add a backup camera, purchase a long lens, fly out there, buy food supplies and fly back. But, what a unique, fantastic, awesome, rare opportunity that would be! Kinda the opposite end of the United States with lots of new & exciting things to experience & document. I’ll worry about the financing later, so for now, I’m in the hunt. If I’m picked, I’m going!
I saw an eagle near my house the next day---is that an omen??? You know, for Alaska...
PHOTO TIP: State & National Parks offer natural wildlife images we just don’t see ordinarily. Go on line to : www.nps.org for National Parks or www.stateparks.com/usahtml for state parks. Find an interesting one near you. It’s amazing what’s close by that you don’t know even about. Lots of them have trails, nature centers, picnic areas, camping & canoeing. Treat yourself to a day trip to take some unique images. Just make sure you have proper supplies like: boots, phone, water, bug spray, pepper spray & a flare gun.
BLESSINGS!
Isaiah 41:10
See more pix
Go my home page
Facebook connection
email:artisticimagesbypc@me.com
Posted by Pamela at 10/6/2011 9:49 PM 
Categories: America, Photography tips, Event and Personal
Tags: Alaska Denali National Park eagle survival out house cabin civilization bacon wolves predator prey toilet paper grizzly bears skull state parks artist-in-residence program
Categories: America, Photography tips, Event and Personal
Tags: Alaska Denali National Park eagle survival out house cabin civilization bacon wolves predator prey toilet paper grizzly bears skull state parks artist-in-residence program
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