Alaska and the Crocodile Hunter

Alaska is beautiful. In fact, if I don't end up gallivanting about the globe elsewhere, Alaska would definitely be in the running for a place to live. It has everything I love about the Northwest - the trees, the rain, the water, the mountains - but more of it! Plus, there are glaciers! Not for long, at the rate they're receding, right? Catch 'em while you can! The Mendenhall glacier outside of Juneau receded 600ft last summer alone. Pretty crazy... I think going to Skagway was the highlight of the trip though, history nerd that I am. I signed on for a hike partway up Chilkoot trail just because I thought it was so totally awesome to be on the same trail the Klondike Gold Rush stampeders took in 1897-99. The famous picture of the Chilkoot trail is actually on some of Alaska's license plates. Plus, the yellow raft ride back down the glacier-water river was pretty awesome too. Water was about 34`-38`F.

One part of my trip that wasn't so much fun was finding out on the first day about Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter. When my family and I went on a cruise (I was protesting the whole way last time, too hot) to the eastern Caribbean five years ago, the only non-objectionable TV fare was the Crocodile Hunter and the other guy, so we ended up watching Steve Irwin for a week straight. He was a really nifty guy, and it's so completely strange that of all the ways he could possibly have left this world, it was by the barb of a stingray. I mean, people go on excursions during cruises to snorkel among stingray and pet them. They're usually pretty much harmless. So odd that after years of taking on deadly reptiles, he's felled by a relatively harmless aquatic creature.

I just hope his work doesn't die with him. He spent so much time working so hard for the animals he tried to protect. Life's just not fair when Cheney can talk about how invading Iraq was the right thing to do and not get struck down with lightning from heaven, and the Crocodile Hunter gets a random stab to the heart courtesy of a - noramlly - relatively harmless stingray.