2nd half of Saturday: Part 1

Well, I decided to go do something else since I wasn't tired enough yet. So I hiked to the top of Pillar Mountain from where I am living. In total, it was about 11 miles roundtrip. I took city streets and then the gravel road to get to the top and back down, so I wasn't hiking up the side of the mountain (where it is really steep). My feet started hurting when I got to the top - it felt like I had a blister. But I still had to hike the 5 and a half miles back home! I made it, but I was getting really sore. Amazingly I didn't have any blisters - my feet were just sore. I was definitely tired when I got back down, after a total of about 3.5 hours of hiking and half an hour of picture-taking.

Anyway, I took both of my cameras to the top (my hiking backpack contents: digital camera, SLR camera, tripod, telephoto lens, SLR camera accessories, water bottle, extra film, jackets). It was really windy at the top, so I had a tough time taking pictures (this also made it quite cool). Anyway, here are some pictures:

The first picture is a panorama I pieced together from 7 pictures taken at the top of Pillar Mountain, looking out over town and Chiniak Bay. You can see a map of Kodiak Island here. Kodiak is labeled in red, just south of 58 degrees, and just west of 152 degrees. You can view the panorama in much more detail by clicking on it (about 1 meg, 6500 x 1200, it will ask you to download it).

This picture is a much closer view of the airport. They actually have 3 runways, but only the really long one can be used for the commercial jets.

Here is a closer view of the commercial boat harbor where I have gone multiple times. I go out to the end of the dock furthest to the right. The little float in the middle of the picture and below the docks is where the sea lions like to lay in the sun.

Here is a picture showing the islands just offshore from town. Woody Island is the second one from the top, with the big deforested beach. The dining hall is the white building on Woody Island.

Here is a picture of Pillar Mountain that I took from the dock on Saturday morning. I think I was off the picture to the right when I was at the top of Pillar Mountain.

Well, I will put the other half of the view from Pillar Mountain in a separate post next.


Also, if you want to see any of the pictures larger than the thumbnails shown in this blog, just click on the picture. They are being stored online as part of Google's Photo Album thing. Howev er, a warning: most are around half a meg.