Great Bear Rainforest Trip (part 1 of many)

Early this year I decided to make my trip to the Great Bear Rainforest, GBR. My decision was driven by a few different circumstances. First I saw the August 2011 National Geographic article ‘Land of the Spirit Bear’. This reminded me that three years ago I saw various tours in the GBR but at that time I was more interested in doing a kayaking trip from Vancouver Island. (You can see entries about my kayaking trip on this blog dated August 26, 2009 – Sept 23, 2009.) Second, I have been following the Dogwood Initiative’s ‘No Tankers: Our Coast Our Decision’ campaign. Briefly, Enbridge Inc. wants to run two oil pipelines from Alberta through British Columbia, specifically through the Great Bear Rainforest, to the coast so oilsands crude can be shipped to China and Asia. (Think Exxon Valdez spill implications) The repercussions of a spill in the GBR are much worse because everything is close, in very narrow channels, as some of my photos will show, so access will be limited to clean any spill. Go to http://dogwoodinitiative.org/ to learn more. I’m afraid of what will happen to this area when a spill occurs if the Canadian federal government continues to push through the pipeline. Okay I’m off my soapbox.


Canadian Pacific Coast



I hope to entertain you, show a lot of photos of my trip and educate you just a little.



Looking at the Canadian Pacific Coast map you can see the pointer for the village of Klemtu, my destination in the GBR.

The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the largest intact temperate rainforests in the world. It runs between Vancouver British Columbia and SE Alaska, covering 27,000 square miles, roughly half the size of the state of Wisconsin.  The map below shows the approximate area of the Great Bear Rainforest.

Area of the Great Bear Rainforest

My real hope is to photograph a Spirit Bear, or Kermode bear. Spirit Bears are actually black bears where a recessive trait produces a white bear in about 2 - 4% of the black bear population within the GBR. Spirit Bears do not live anywhere else in the world. It is believed that this trait goes back to the ice age where having a white coat was a form a camouflage. In addition to the Spirit Bears I hope to see black and grizzly bears, wolves, eagles, orcas, humpback whales and many other animals.



With this trip in mind I bought a Canon DSLR camera to record my trip. I also have a point and shoot camera but it is not capable of making the long range shots I will need to see bears at great distances. This DSLR is also capable of recording HD video which really wowed me when I watched some of the video I shot when hiking in the Pecos Wilderness in NM. To enhance the capability of my camera I rented a 70 – 200mm zoom lens from BorrowLenses. The cost to rent the lens and converter for a two week period is about 10% of the cost of buying the lens. You can find them on the web at http://www.borrowlenses.com I highly recommend their service.

I will include some of my photos and possibly video of my trip along with commentary in this blog. Given the fact that I shot over 600 images in the GBR and another 100+ while in Vancouver it may take me a while to get things put together.

I actual started planning in January of 2012. I researched five different companies that provide tours of the GBR. Four of them are boat based, you ride a boat from one location to the next, get off to visit different locations during the day and retire back to the boat at night. The boat trips sounded like it would be fun if you went as a couple sharing a berth but I went by myself. I was also afraid I would not be able to fit all my stuff into the area that a boat would provide. Instead I chose a lodge based tour, Spirit Bear Lodge in Klemtu. www.spiritbear.com I live in NM, there is very little water here so I do not own rain pants, a heavy rain coat or Wellies, knee-high rubber boots, essential for going through the forest looking for wildlife. If I took a boat based trip I would have to supply my own rain gear. The Spirit Bear Lodge supplied all the necessary rain gear so that was one less thing to buy, pack and carry with me.

I had to make my reservations in March; there were very few open spots on any of the five companies I contacted. Since I was not using a travel agent I also had to make plane reservations and hotel reservations while I would be in Vancouver. I got the last opening at the Spirit Bear Lodge, Oct 4 – 9. I found out while on my trip that the 9th is the last day of their tourist season. I had been in Vancouver in ’09 had a great time and decided to spend an extra day there both on the way to GBR and on the way back home.

English Bay, Vancouver, British Columbia

It took a long time for me to get really excited about the trip considering I made reservations already in March. I figured if I was already excited in March I would be a basket case by the time I would be ready to leave in October. I did drag my feet on making the reservations for rooms in Vancouver. I have to thank my friend Esther for keeping after me to get the hotel reservations made or “I would end up sleeping in Stanley Park”, downtown Vancouver.

I must add a note here. Sue, my wife is not able to go with me. Her health is not very good, and she would not be able to do the things required to go on this trip. My mind went back and forth many times whether to go or not. She finally said to just GO! She would be okay while I was gone. I want thank her for being so supportive of me going on this trip.

Thank you for stopping by,
Mark

New Image

I felt it was time for an update. Neither Pam nor I have been doing much beading or bear making in quite some time. In fact I’m not sure if Pam will be adding anything to this blog so in the mean time I will make an attempt at keeping your attention.

I have gone back to photography. I did it for a long time but after finishing school with a background in photography I decided that I didn’t want to pick up a camera again for a very long time, if ever. I did make photographs when travelling or seeing family but to go out to photograph for the fun of it, no way.

I started getting interested in it when digital showed up but not interested enough to invest the $$. I’ve worked with my point and shoot; all the past images in this blog are from my point and shoot. This year I decided I want a better camera, so I went for it.

I bought a Canon DSLR and a couple of lenses and have been out shooting for fun again. One other reason for the DSLR at this time was my vacation which I took in early October. I went to the Great Bear Rainforest to photograph the wildlife. The new photo in the title is from my vacation.

I will be updating this blog over the next few weeks with a running story on my trip along with photos and if I can figure out how to do it, some videos. I like working on computers, I do it every day at work, but I don’t keep up with all the new ways to get things on the web. We don’t have any children so we don’t have to keep up with all the new technologies.

I hope to do a better job of updating this blog; I noticed I’m pretty consistent if adding a post once a year is good enough.

Thanks for stopping by, Mark

Long time

In writing this addition I noticed that I haven’t added anything for the past 7 months or so. All I can say is I have had lots going on, not all good.

On the good side I entered my barn owl into the 2011 Albuquerque Fiber Arts Fiesta. It’s a biennial show that has many different fiber related competitions, educational activities, guilds and vendors. Among the different areas were crocheting, beadwork, embroidery, lacemaking, quilting, sewing, weaving and spinning and dollmaking.

I sent in a few photos to the entry committee to find out where I should enter my owl. “We’re not sure it looks like ‘Mixed media dolls, original design’”. “Otherwise we’ll find the appropriate place for him”.

Long story short I won a blue ribbon! He was up against all kinds of traditional dolls and still won.

On to the next show, 2013

Thank you for stopping by.

Mark

Barn owl

I would like to present my latest needle felted creation, a barn owl. I have not been naming any of my pieces lately and probably will not name him either.

Ever since I read “Wesley the owl: the remarkable love story of an owl and his girl” by Stacey O’Brien, I decided I wanted to needle felt a barn owl. The story has a sad ending but it is a good read.

This guy is 10.5” from talons to the top of his head and 12” from wing tips to his head. I had lots of things to figure out along the way. First I started out with needle felting the beak and talons. They turned out being too large and not pointed enough to look like a beak or talons. I ended up searching the web and bought some ‘Premo!’ Sculpey clay for the beak and talons. I never worked with any of the oven bake clays before. After about 10 minutes with warming it up in my hands it was quite easy forming the parts, not that making something sharp on one end with a bit of a curve is rocket science. I made lots of extras just in case if nothing else I had a good selection to get all the talons to pretty much the same size.

From there I made a wire armature for the feet and used Krazy craft glue to stick the talons on to the armature. From there I felted the feet.

The beak is a bit different. I formed it the same as the talons it is just a bit larger and not quite as long. I also poked two holes across the base of the beak and threaded Mastex upholstery thread through the holes and tied the beak off at the back of his head.

There are five wing pieces; one tail feather and two separate wings on each side. The wings are loosely felted with no wire armature; I may add some wire in the wings next time because they are just kind of limp.

Right now he’s not up for adoption, there is a fiber arts show coming up in May of 2011 and I plan to enter him into the competition, unless I make something better before then.

Don’t ask me how many hours it took to make him. I’ll just say I missed a lot of Survivor, Biggest Loser and any number of other reality shows.

Thank you for stopping by.

Mark

Schnauzer

Here’s my latest addition. He’s 4” tall and almost 3” from front to back.

For some reason as he was coming alive there was absolutely no resemblance to anything until the nose was in place. Then he really came together. Most of my other creations start taking on a persona much earlier in the process. I’m glad I kept on; before the nose I was considering starting over.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark

Don't tell my cat...

that I'm making needle felted dogs instead of cats.

I've made another needle felted creation. I finally dug up the Fleece Dog needle felting book I bought at this May’s Doll and Teddy Bear Show so I could get started on some new projects. Here’s my first creation from that book. It’s supposed to be a French bulldog, I hope it’s recognizable to all you dog lovers. It resembles the photo in the book. From the heading of this post you can guess I am a cat lover so any resemblance my needle felted dogs is purely coincidental. J It’s not that I do not like dogs, I just like cats better. Actually I’ve been going to Nancy’s blog again and I am amazed at her needle felted creatures.

He’s 3” tall and 3” from nose to rump… a square dog???

Thank you for stopping by.

Mark

Back again

Hello again to all you bloggers. I have been away for quite some time and hope to restart my needle felting and mohair projects again.

I attended a doll and bear show this past May and I am able to make expenses by attending a show at home. I got lots of compliments on my mohair teddy bears but not very many went to new homes. I did get a few ideas at the show for making new needle felted projects for dolls; dogs and cats in particular. I still am playing around with different animals in the mean time.

I finally found a place in the Etsy world that sells mohair and Cotswold sheep locks for needle felted projects. Go to http://www.etsy.com/shop/LaTeaDaDesigns for locks. Marti was very helpful putting together a small sampler package of the different kinds of locks she has available. I also picked up a package of her natural dark reddish brown llama roving. All the items I received are great to work with. At this time I have put together another owl using the mohair locks. The only reason I have not used the Cotswold lock is the color, grays and blacks didn’t work into my owl. An excuse for more projects...

This owl is 7” tall and 4” wide. As of yet he/she doesn’t have a name.

Thank you for stopping by,

Mark

Belated Happy New Year!

I'm only a week late... I hope everybody is having a great start to the New Year. From watching the weather lately it looks like it’s kind of tough in the Eastern half of the country. We are supposed to get some of the effects of the cold here but at this point it has not arrived yet, I am thankful for that.

I took some extra time off from work to unwind knowing that the start of the new year will be hectic. Thinking that I would be able to relax and do a few things for fun didn’t always work out. I got to replace the automatic garage door opener and help a plumber dig out our water line from the street to the house since the 52 year old galvanized water line decided to rupture a couple days ago. It’s a good thing I remembered how to run a shovel. The plumber’s helpers showed up when we had about 1’ of trench left to dig. I couldn’t have planned that timing any better myself. As of this morning we have running water back in the house. The first thing I did was jump in the shower. I don’t know how those pioneers did without running water. No doubt they were a tougher, smellier group than us!

I did have time to enjoy the birds in our back yard while having the time off. We have 6 bird feeders going in the back. I saw several different birds that I have not seen in the yard before; gold finches, a mountain chickadee and either a sharp-shinned hawk or Coopers hawk. This is in addition to all the doves, robins, sparrows, finches, hairy woodpeckers, juncos, scrub jays, towhees and flickers. I did get a few good photos of some of them. I was surprised at the hawk. We live I the middle of the city and never expected to see a hawk. When I go in the back yard I usually scare the doves and hear them taking off in a frenzy. One time I heard the doves take off even faster like there was something after them, and yes I saw the hawk sitting on the power line above the bird feeders.

I was also successful in finding a nifty kitty toy for Babee. It is a refillable catnip field mouse, by Kong. She’s still playing with it! She usually quits playing with her toys even sooner than kids wear out the batteries on their own toys. Occasionally I have to hunt around the house to find the mouse because Babee seems to lose it but once it makes its appearance she starts playing with it again.

I have been busy with needle felting and have included a couple of photos of my latest bears. They are 4” and 6” tall when standing.

I wish everyone a healthy and happy 2010

Thank you for stopping by.
Mark

Show time

I did the Albuquerque Doll and Bear show on Saturday. It went quite well, I adopted out two of my mohair teddy bears and two of my needle felted pieces; Hootie the owl, and my very small 2 ½” cat. I’ve included a few photos from the show.

Since this is a doll, accent on doll, and bear show most of the vendors are selling dolls and doll related items. There were only four bear artists, out of the approximate 40 spaces total. All the bear people were put together so we could sit and talk about the doll people :-)

It seems that there still is money around for those people that have such strong urges to add to their collection(s). I spoke with the promoters and they said the attendance was up over 25% over last year’s show. I don’t know if 25% more money was spent but we were busy most of the time with browsers.

We, the bear people, were kind of creeped out by some of the dolls that were there. Some of them looked exactly like newborn babies. If I didn’t seem them unpacked from the boxes and placed in baskets on the display tables I would have bet they were the real thing. We saw several customers walking through the show carrying these ‘infants’ around as though they were real.

I tend to think that bear people are a little closer to normal, unbiased opinion :-)

Since I had a successful show I get to go back and make more bears and needle felted pieces. My next showing will be at the ToonaRoona Holiday Open House on Saturday December 12, from 10AM – 3PM. Go to www.ToonaRoona.com for more information. It’s the place to go if you collect dolls and Mark’s Bears.

Thank you for stopping by.
Mark

Groucho

Meet Groucho, my latest needle felted creation. He’s 3 ½” long from nose to rump and 2” tall at the shoulder. By looking at his face you can see why I named him Groucho. He has a full wire armature so all four legs, his tail and his head can be posed. I was starting with a cat in mind but when he showed up he looked more like a dog.

I’m getting quite a family of animals together for the Doll and Bear show on the 14th. A few bears, cats, a dog an owl and a few other critters.

I also had a wisdom tooth pulled today. I won’t include a photo of the tooth. The painful part was getting the shots to numb the area. I felt the tooth came out fairly easy, at least in my estimation. I did get a bit queasy as my head was being pulled back and forth from one side to the other as he was working on it. It wasn’t the actual extraction that made me queasy, it was thinking about what he was doing. I made sure to keep my eyes closed so I didn’t see tools he was using to remove the tooth. After seeing the tooth I’m surprised it came out so easy.

Thank you for stopping by.
Mark