Extreme Environments

Old Idaho Photos

2006-06-29T20:56:00.000-05:00

I haven't posted any pics here so I thought I would tonight. Here are a couple of photos I took in Idaho in the mid-90s I came across. The first is of a squirrel, and the second is of a glacier lily, close-up in the Idaho mountain springtime.

Adamagon Memories

2006-03-28T13:30:00.000-06:00

Arriving at Adamagon via skiff

Mike and Garrett return to camp

The Aleut wier

My Friend Jon

2006-03-27T14:53:00.000-06:00

Jon and Izanaski

Jon and Frosty

I miss those Knudson boys. We had much fun. I miss the "I'm thinking of...." games we played while working.

I want to go here

2006-03-27T14:50:00.000-06:00

Bear Island, Spitzburgen, in the North Atlantic

The Golden Crown Sparrow..

2006-03-08T12:55:00.000-06:00

..singing his little lungs out on top of our outhouse in Southwest Alaska.
We use to call this bird the 'come screw me' bird after his call. The US Fish and Wildlife folks used a slightly more vulgar terminology.

The Walrus Peaks

2006-02-26T14:28:00.000-06:00

the Melanie Sue

2006-02-26T14:26:00.000-06:00

I saw some Orca whale while on this boat one time.

Garrett's God Cloud

2006-02-26T14:17:00.000-06:00

A Wolf Track

2006-02-26T14:15:00.000-06:00

The knife is about four inches long.

Ptarmigans and thier egg among cool tundra plants

2006-02-26T14:13:00.000-06:00

Taking the crapper to the sea

2006-02-26T14:10:00.000-06:00

In a most magnificent fasion. I miss the tie-dyed dead shirt I have on in this one.

Four good friends and Olys

2006-02-26T14:08:00.000-06:00

Myself, Garrett, Tara and Jon. I miss those days.

A Jelly Fish from the North Pacific

2006-02-26T14:07:00.000-06:00

A couple of Meese....

2006-02-12T14:52:00.000-06:00

....up near where my godson Moose lives.

Photo by Jared and Katie Evans.

Photos from my weekend ~ The Dallas World Aquarium

2006-02-06T15:08:00.000-06:00

The ambiance.

The Toucan, telling us to follow her nose.

The David looking at sponges and thinking about filters and the science behind natural filtering systems.

Penguins under the lamp {Mmmh, we are warm, in Texas?}

"I want something juicy, and small, and, juicy.

A real live Manatee.

All photos by Shannon McKissick.

David at the Bering Sea

2006-01-18T17:24:00.000-06:00

Photo by Tara Gaultier

Soda Springs

2006-01-05T10:25:00.000-06:00

I spent the first 18 years of my life, and on and off there after, living in a small Idaho town called Soda Springs. Now as far as I know, unlike a lot of other town names, there are only two Soda Springs in America: the one I grew up in and a small skiing town near Truckee, California. I went there once, and was surprised two learn that I grew up in the more populated of the Soda Springs.

As the name suggests, Soda has a lot of springs. My friend Matt in a previous comment on my other blog refers to this place as Beer Springs, the original place name and also a lost spring somewhere in the valley. There are several other springs including Steamboat Springs (now underwater), Mammoth Spring, Formation Spring, Octogon Springs, and Lover’s Delight. There was actually a commercial bottling company at a place west of town called “90 percent”. The “Idanha Mineral Water Company” featured the water at a St. Louis World’s Fair as a snake-oil-like cure all.

The most popular, and arguably safest, spring is called Hooper Springs. Below are some photos I took the other day.

Frosty Autumn Morning

2005-12-29T09:54:00.000-06:00

These were taken by my little brother Allan, on his elk hunting excursions this past fall in Southeast Idaho.

Idaho State University

2005-12-27T09:53:00.000-06:00

Here is a picture of my alma mater Idaho State University taken by myself a few years ago from the top of Red Hill in the wintertime. My old office and lab are in the center of the photo. I use to hike the 7 mile trail around Red Hill. The hill is located in the middle of campus, but is undeveloped with sagebrush, rocks, snakes, bugs and lizards intact as they always were. There are a few park/outlook places where you can see the entire town of Pocatello from up above. I use to go up there to think and write.

My ol' Puppy

2005-12-14T15:01:00.000-06:00

This isn't very extreme, but I need a place to post this picture. It is of my dog Chugach when he was only a puppy. My ex-wife gave him to me for Christmas '01. He is half Malamute/half Yellow Lab. He now wieghs a bit under 100 lbs. My ex-wife has custody.

In this second picture, I'm holding him back from a couple of scared kids (my niece and nephew). He is the friendliest dog in the world. I miss him.

Winter evening in Idaho

2005-12-13T15:48:00.000-06:00

My dad took this the other night.

It is a picture taken from the top of Fish Creek Summit (~6000 ft ASL) looking east across Gem Valley towards my hometown of Soda Springs in southeast Idaho.

The origins of JW

2005-12-10T12:29:00.000-06:00

From "Lonely are the Brave" starring Kirk Douglas, based on the noval "the Brave Cowboy" by Edward Abbey.

Atagan Falls

2005-12-08T13:28:00.000-06:00

Click on the image for a larger version.

Arctic Summer Clowds

2005-12-06T11:58:00.000-06:00

I just love the contrast in this one. My undergrad Brian took it this past summer.

Insects above the Arctic Circle

2005-12-04T12:27:00.000-06:00

An Arctic butterfly ~ yes, insects can live above the Arctic Circle

Thunderstorm over the Mojave Desert

2005-12-03T12:58:00.000-06:00

I took this picture just northeast of the Arizona-Navada bourder in Southern Utah in March, 2001

The Bering Sea

2005-12-02T14:25:00.000-06:00

This is the Bering Sea, on the southern tip of the Alaska Peninsula. The island in the background is Amak, the southernmost walrus rookery. On this day in 2001, I saw sea gulls fighting for fish with a Steller's sea lion. It was cool.

Senescence in an arctic pond

2005-11-28T13:04:00.000-06:00

Photo by Your's truly, August, 2004

For my friend Merideth

2005-11-27T12:22:00.000-06:00

This picture was taken in late August, 2005 at Toolik Lake, Alaska. I should probably e-mail her.

Hard Photos in Hard Places

2005-11-23T11:46:00.000-06:00

My friend Janene photoing Aifice this summer.

Tundra Flora

2005-11-15T13:31:00.000-06:00

Labrador Tea (Ledum palustra) flowers in the forground, and Dwarf Birch (Betula nana) in the back. The scale is about 3-4 times greater than the actual plants. These guys are small. I love the smell of Labrador Tea.

Lichens

2005-11-13T12:54:00.000-06:00

Lichens are a symbyonic organism composed of an algea and a fungus. They are really cool, really common, and grow really well in Alaska.

Joshua Tree Flower

2005-11-12T11:36:00.000-06:00

Joshua Tree (Yucca brevifolia) flower just before opening. I worked with this plant, see below, and those spines are SHARP!! Incidently, this was all consuming for me in Spring 1991 and Spring 2001.

Reflections

2005-11-11T13:24:00.000-06:00

What could I say? I think there are no words.

Guardians

2005-11-10T15:45:00.000-06:00

Most people don't like crows and ravens because of the whole Edgar Allen Poe thing. I think they are cool though. In the Pacific Northwest, Ravens are ubiquidous. They are important animals to many of the native peoples.

Brian Moon and I caught this photo reentering camp one Saturday afternoon coming back from the field. These guys are smart and they stand about a foot and a half tall.

Crazy Reflections in the Arctic

2005-11-09T11:23:00.000-06:00

David walking along the Arctic Ocean Beach

2005-11-08T13:02:00.000-06:00

Photo by David Huber.

Next stop Russia, this is about as north as you can get folks, and yes there was snow and ice on the beach in mid-July.

Atagan Pass, Brooks Range, AK

2005-11-07T13:44:00.000-06:00

Photo by David Huber *click to enlarge*

Epilobium latifolium (fireweed) contrasted against Midnight Sun on an Arctic Lake

2005-11-06T09:26:00.000-06:00

Photo by Brian Moon

Gettin' rid of those damned Mosquitoes

2005-11-03T13:18:00.000-06:00

We try a lot of ways to rid ourselves of mosquitoes in Alaska. They are profuse, they are always there, they are big, and they suck!!! in more than one way. Here is pic (courtisy of my good friend Tara Gaultier) of John and I trying out the pipe method, Mike trying the "I give up method", and Russ doing the "I don't give a shit I just want to see whats on the horizon because I've lived in Alaska since 1968 and mosquitos don't bother me anymore" method.

Cheers

The Arctic Senecio

2005-10-30T12:23:00.000-06:00

Arctic Midnight Sunset

2005-10-29T13:07:00.000-05:00

Atagan falls

2005-10-28T12:59:00.000-05:00

Photo by Brian Moon

The Mountain

2005-10-27T14:08:00.000-05:00

Denali from the air.

Valaria capitata with Bee

2005-10-26T14:06:00.000-05:00

Sausauria

2005-10-24T15:10:00.000-05:00

Mojave

2005-10-22T13:15:00.000-05:00

In the spring of 2001, I took a course from ISU called 'Field Ecology'. We designed experiments where we asked questions regarding the ecology of the south-western Mojave desert:

I asked, "are woodrats Neotoma lepida (desert woodrats) central foragers regarding the Joshua trees Yucca shridigera?

I found that yes they are important users of this monocot 'tree' and they are central foragers (as are most herbivors):

But more importantly, that spring break in southwest Utah, I learned that there are people who think like me.

and, we sure had fun.

Squeaky Beach

2005-10-20T15:46:00.000-05:00

Few folks know this about me, but I lived in Australia for a while about ten years ago. I had the occasion twice to visit Wilson's Promontory National Park (Wilson's Prom, as the locals say). What a cool place. The first time I went down there we left Traralgon, Vic wirh a full moon at about 11:30 driving through the night in August, 1993. I recall Billy Joel's 'River of Dreams' on the radio. There were five of us guys: Steve, Tareak, Terry, Stohton (I don't recall his primary name), and I. We slept uncomfortably in Terry's hotrod over a bluff. The moon was full, and when the sun came up we woke up to something like this:

Australia is a beautiful place. Before hitting the beach we went for a hike in the rainforest. It was like other hikes I had in the states, but you had to watch out for the razor bushes (plants with leaves so sharp {full of schlerenchyma} they will slice your hands all the way to the arteries). It was all down hill. At one point we scared up one of these guys:

A Black Cockatoo, or one of his relatives. We finally tired of running through the forest and came to "Squeaky Beach". The beach has the most beautiful sand that actually squeakes when you walk across it. I body-surfed for the first time in my life in these waters on this beach. I had a great time.

Wilson's Prom is the Southernmost place in Australia. It is a peninsula that juts out of Southeast Victoria. We stopped and got chips at a small place (I can't remember) in southern Victoria on our way back to Traralgon. What a great couple of days.

The second time I went there wasn't as innocent. I went with Tareak's brother, Omar, Steve, and myself. Stohton had gone on his way and Terry had overdosed on heroine and died. It wasn't near as fun.

The midnight sun over an arctic lake

2005-10-19T13:49:00.000-05:00

Taken by Brian Moon July 29, 2005 at 11:05 P.M. looking due north.

Pedicularus oederii in front of the Galbraith Aufice

2005-10-18T13:49:00.000-05:00

Here is Pedicularus oederii in front of the Galbraith Aufice. I have a description of Aufice on my other blog (Check the June Archives). The time was about 10 p.m. mid June 2004.

Mountains 'n' Mesas in Southwest Colorado

2005-10-17T13:05:00.000-05:00

On August 23, 2003, I left my beloved Idaho for a questionable future in Texas. I had a car full of clothes and some other crap. I drew what I thought was a strait line between Pocatello and north Texas through the southwest on my map. I drew another strait line that included the states of Kansas and Oklahoma, but I wouldn't have any of that; no offense, but you both are too flat. I chose the first line. The first thing I saw after leaving the Great Basin was the cool sedimentary formations that make up the Colorado Plateau:

I then proceeded to Grand Junction and up over the Tuleride pass as my strait line dictated (my strait line included a 11,000 ft pass and winding switchback) .

I had a bit of a hairy time that day before I descended into New Mexico. I came away with one thought: Southern Colorado is cool. I wouldn't mind living there some day.

Japanese Lantern Flower

2005-10-15T12:24:00.000-05:00

Niether Laura nor I can ever remember the name of this plant. So we call it Japanese Lantern Flower. I looked it up though; it's Melandrium apetalum in the family Caryophyllaceae (the pinks). Carnations are pinks to taxonomically speaking. I think it is fun to say Scientific names. Unlike other romance languages, Latin scientific names are pen pen, meaning you pronounce the third to last syllable the strongest unless otherwise noted. Thus, Japanese Lantern Flower is pronounced 'Mel-AN-dri-um a-PET-a-lum'. Becha didn't know that. Pretty no?

Rainbow over the Alaskan Arctic Tundra

2005-10-14T14:13:00.000-05:00

I think it is self explanatory.

The white mountains

2005-10-13T14:12:00.000-05:00

I've never been to the White Mountains. They lie on the border between California and Nevada just northeast of Death Valley.

They are home to the oldest living plant the "bristlecone Pine" or Pinus longeava.

Trees produce annual growth rings in temperate climates due to the differential precipitation among seasons. Thus, they grow a lot in the spring. The oldest living organism on the planet was chopped down in 1967 by a group of mad happy foresters. It was at least 16,000 years old (it had 16000+ growth rings). The current oldest living bristlecone pine is about 12000 years old; meaning that it first made it's maiden trip up out of the soil about 12 millenia. Anazing no?

Poppies, poppies, poppies....

2005-10-09T13:14:00.000-05:00

Arctic poppies (Papaver lapponicum) against an arctic summer sky. No, they don't produce any opiats, nor did they make us sleepy. They are heliotropic (sun following) though, and provide a nice place for insects to warm up; both traits I find cool

Insect Porn

2005-10-08T10:36:00.000-05:00

Brian, my undergrad assistant took this photo of Dragonflies doing it on a boardwalk at Toolik.

Pedicularis spp.

2005-10-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

Pedicularis oederi (I think, I can never keep the species of the genus Pedicularis spp.). This photo was taken by my undergrad Brian Moon this summer at Toolik. There are about seven species of Pedicularis where we work in Alaska, and 22 in western Canada, Eastern Siberia, and Alaska. They all bloom at different times and places on the tundra during the short summer; until one can see their flowers, they all look the same. Thus, we often can't tell them apart. When the time comes, the flowers appear in an array of colors with shapes congruent with their family: Schophulariaceae (the figworts). My advisor said "I never thought of looking at a Ped spp. from above". Such symmetry from a family of plants that is so asymmetric!!

The Big Thicket

2005-10-06T16:23:00.000-05:00

The Big Thicket is a cool place in southeast Texas. It is basically a swamp-wilderness area home to a very diverse assortment of plants and animals. I went there last fall with my good friend Kerri to help her wrap up her thesis data collection. The swamp is dominated by the Bald Cypress tree (Taxodium distichum).

They create advantagous roots which grow towards the surface to get air for root tissue respiration during floods. The tree is a conifer, but sheds it's leaves every fall. Strange no?
I can't wait to for a reason to get back.

Saxifraga hiculus aka Bog Saxifrage

2005-10-06T15:44:00.000-05:00

Saxifraga hirculus, or "Bog Saxifrage"

Common in non-acidic and moist tussocky soils in North America

Another look:

Testing 1, 2, 3,

2005-10-05T06:26:00.000-05:00

Just seeing if I have the blog set up like I want it.