On a job in late fall of 2011 in Hyder, Alaska. The brown bears are still out, feeding on the last few silvers in Fish Creek. Early snow powders the Salmon Ice field up the Hyder Road in BC, CAN. The 90-mile Portland Canal fjord remains ice free, a great transportation route for bulk material out of Canada to the Asian markets.

An exploration trip in summer of 2011 turned into a forester's delight: Petrified pieces of sequoias or metasequoias are evidence of a different landscape and climate that existed in the now barren Shumagin Islands 20 - 25 million years ago. Lush conifer forests of warmer climates in the Eocene to Oligocene ages were mostly silicified with volcanic ash of a high SiO2 content. The petrification process is not entirely understood. The Al2O3 and FE2O3 gives the rocks beautiful colors while the wood structure remains surprisingly authentic. However, it is difficult to say if the rock originating from trees were sequoias or the almost extinct metasequoias.

It's a long way from the home range in the Chugach Mountains to the Chinese Wall, but after all the saying goes if you have not climbed the Chinese Wall your are not a man or woman!

New Year 2009: Skiing on short days in the Chugach Mountains is a frigid endeavor - you really have to love it, especially with marginal snow conditions. But for some of us cold-lovers, live is good if their is a patch of snow to wallow in.

Property inspections in area of Akutan Volcano fumaroles in support of a proposed land exchange between the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge and Akutan. Evaluation of potential geothermal resource for local-use power production.