Category: fauna

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Enchantments (double) Traverse, WA

… continued from – Day 1 – Permit lottery and getting to Snow Lakes
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trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

Day 2 – Snow Lakes to Aasgard Pass. And back.

The Enchantment Lakes …

… (are) located entirely within the Alpine Lakes Wilderness about 15 miles (24 km) southwest of Leavenworth, Washington in the United States. The Enchantments is regarded as one of the most spectacular locations in the Cascade Range. …

Dawn broke clear and calm. But I did not get out of the tent early, fearing mosquitoes. It’s buggy close to these lakes, even in August. Climbers told me that mosquitoes chase them all the way to the windy summits.

Once on foot, I needed to keep moving briskly to stay ahead of the bloodsuckers. The scenery was gorgeous, though.

This was the only time I got my feet wet all day. (Lucky, I thought, considering I was trekking ‘alpine lakes’.)

The many waterfalls are impressive.

But for me and most, the highlight are the high, stark lakes. And craggy ridges.

I hiked directly to Aasgard Pass. Then — for FUN — returned by scrambling off-trail high above the regular route.

Surprisingly, I made even better time on the return trip … and suffered no roadblocks … until this point …

I tried descending to the far side of the lake and walking the shoreline. It would not go.

Rather than backtrack I scrambled up the cliff. Not too smart. I was lucky I didn’t splash down in the cold lake.

From there it was an easy out back down to my tent. The double traverse took me about 10hrs walking.

See all my photos from this adventure.

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Hiking the Enchantments in Autumn (PHOTOS) is highly recommended. The Larch are golden. And there are NO BUGS.

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The most unusual thing about the Enchantments are the tame mountain goats.

In recent years, they have become a little too friendly with people, in some cases acting aggressively. These are large, powerful animals, and need to be treated with caution. Enjoy them from a distance and don’t encourage them. They are also very attracted to human urine; please use the toilets where provided, or urinate into gaps between boulders or other places that will prevent them from pawing up plants and soils …

I got plenty of closeup video of the beasts.

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Enchantments Traverse, Washington (VIDEO)

by site editor Rick McCharles

A few clips from my 3 day double traverse. (Trip report to come.)

Fish wanting to jump into your fry pan, the weirdest waterfall you’ll ever encounter and FRIENDLY MOUNTAIN GOATS. … They’ve habituated to humans, craving the salt in our urine. One followed me for an hour.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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Látrabjarg bird cliffs, Iceland

The major bird cliffs of Iceland ranked #1 on a Lonely Planet list of the greatest wildlife spectacles worldwide.

1. Látrabjarg bird cliffs, Iceland

The famed white cliff s of Dover get their hue from the chalk stratum. At Látrabjarg, the very far western extremity of Iceland (and Europe), the rock faces – some over 400m high, and about 12km along – aren’t naturally white. When you hear that these cliff s host the summer roosts of millions of seabirds, you’ll guess what those stains are: an unbelievable quantity of guano. The swirling, squawking cacophony of puffins, razorbills, guillemots, fulmars, cormorants and kittiwakes is extraordinary; even if you’re not into birdwatching, the comic antics of the puffins and the sheer scale of the mob are mesmerizing.

Access is easiest with a car, though a bus runs three times weekly from June to August from Isafjordur, the Westfjords region’s main town. …

see more of The greatest wildlife spectacles

Click PLAY or see a feature YouTube.

There’s a wonderful hike along the cliff top.

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Iceland Arctic Fox VIDEO

On the Hellnar to Arnarstapi coastal walk in Iceland I nearly tripped over a fox. We were both trying to get close to nesting sea birds on coastal cliffs.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Notice the fur is turning dark and falling out, the better for summer hunting.

… Iceland Arctic Fox, Vulpes lagopus fuliginosus …

There are only an estimated 2000 animals on the island, yet I managed to see 3 of them in 4 days. hmm …

If you want to know more, check out the new Arctic Fox Center (Icelandic: Melrakkasetur) researching the beasts.

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Hellnar to Arnarstapi, Iceland

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

5km return

The Snaefellsnes Peninsula, close to Reykjavik, is a popular hiking destination.

Of many possible coastal walks, I chose the most popular, Hellnar to Arnarstapi.

It’s busy, but I still loved it. You can drop non-hikers in your group at the trailhead Coffee shop.

There are restaurants at either end of the trail, as well. Here’s pretty Arnarstapi.

The Visitor Centre is in Hellnar. I got good advice there.

This section of the coast is famed for “weather worn caves and sea arches“.

The vistas are gorgeous, for sure.

I nearly tripped over one of the supposedly rare Arctic Foxes. (That’s my 3rd in 4 days. How rare could they be?)

The fox was picking up an easy lunch. Dumber birds hatch eggs too close to the cliff top. I could have collected enough for an omelet, myself, without scrambling.

I’m happy with the photos from this day hike. See the rest on flickr. They are geotagged automatically by my new camera.

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Icelandic horses

One of the highlights of traveling Iceland is admiring their horses.

The Icelandic horse is a breed … developed in Iceland. Although the horses are small, at times pony-sized, most registries for the Icelandic refer to it as a horse. Icelandic horses are long-lived and hardy. In their native country they have few diseases; Icelandic law prevents horses from being imported into the country and exported animals are not allowed to return. …

The mane and tail are full, with coarse hair, and the tail is set low. … a double coat developed for extra insulation in cold temperatures. …

These days they are mainly kept as tourist rides.

losing fur in early June
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Látrabjarg bird cliffs, Iceland

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

The most popular hike in the Westfjords.

The cliffs of all cliffs, Látrabjarg, are home to birds in unfathomable numbers. This westernmost point of Iceland (and Europe if Greenland and the Azores are not counted) is really a line of several cliffs, 14 kilometres long and up to 441m high. And it’s as steep as it gets, dizzyingly so. Safe from foxes, the birds are fearless, and provide stunning photographic opportunities from close range. Bird photography for dummies, you might say. The puffins are particularly tame (VIDEO) …

Látrabjarg is thus deservedly the most visited tourist attraction in the Westfjords. The cliffs are easily accessible by car and when you’re there, a walk along the cliffs awaits. The whirling sensation will not fade, and neither will the memories.

westfjords.is

Looking top down at a bird colony …

Somebody seemed to have collected some dud eggs for a photo op.

The shape of the egg makes it less likely to roll out of the nest.

It’s a bit of work getting to Látrabjarg. I drove most of these roads looking for Puffins.

See the rest of my birdy photos from this day hike

Note that they now are automatically geotagged with GPS data.

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in search of the Iclandic Arctic Fox

I twice saw the elusive Arctic Fox, the only land mammal native to Iceland.

An Arctic Fox Centre opened June 2010, a new tourist attraction.

They lived on birds, I assume. (Why are there not more rodents on this island? Ground squirrels or marmots would thrive here.)

It was a thrill like that of seeing the Patagonian Fox.

But if you like foxes, visit Charlottetown, PEI, Canada. They roam like house cats in that city.

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bear video Bulgaria

This is a video of a brown bear in Vitosha mountain. Vitosha is situated next to the capital Sofia, a city with about 2 million inhabitants …

Despite the urbanization, there is still wildlife inhabiting this mountain area. Brown bears are the most impressive mammals that live in Bulgaria. They are protected species and about 800 of them are considered to live here …

read more – Mountain Guide Bulgaria

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

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How to Hunt a Bear

Funny.

Hunting bears has long been a rite of passage in almost all civilized societies. In Greek times, bear hunting was part of the Olympics and they were naked.

Unfortunately, many of today’s young men have never known the sportsmanlike glory of sneaking up behind a majestic ursine creature and shooting it in the back while nude. Here’s how you can help keep this grand tradition alive. …

read the SECRETS on The Content Farm – How to Hunt a Bear

That site spoofs articles from “content mill” or “content farm“ sites, low quality crap customized to gain a high Google ranking. Monetized by ads.

related – Read Write Web – Content Farms: Why Media, Blogs & Google Should Be Worried