Greetings from Rainbow Glacier Adventures. In this newsletter we have a story, a song, a letter, some cool images and an introduction to share with you. We hope your year went well. The lady with the wavy hair shot through with grey: A story by Joe Ordóñez...
We could all use some good news right now, so I’m starting this newsletter with some positive news about the Constantine Mine/Palmer Project, which threatens the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve. I’m also happy to report that tourism has returned to Haines and Skagway and...
I heard just one note and my heart soared! I had been filled with energy all morning. Something about the way the sunlight was spilling from the sky was different. I couldn’t pinpoint it, until I heard the note. The single note of the varied thrush. For me, that means...
A lot has happened since my blog post back in December 2020. I last wrote you while navigating the depths of the pandemic and the horrific landslides in Haines in December, 2020. The good news is that 2022 was a strong year for us. It has been quite a journey from...
I wanted to reach out to you as 2020 comes to an end. A combination of natural and man-made disasters hit our isolated hamlet of Haines, Alaska. Hard. In addition to the pandemic, low fish runs and recent record-breaking rains have combined to stress our community to...
Greetings from Haines, Alaska. What a year it has been for Haines, for Rainbow Glacier Adventures, and for the Ordonez family. Right now Haines is experiencing serious flooding, landslides and displacement. The situation is serious but our family feels safe at our...
I took this image of these sastrugi ridges and stunted spruce trees in the taiga on a recent journey up the Chilkat Summit. “Sastrugi” and “taiga” are a couple of Russian words that have made it into English lexicon. It is not surprising these two words describe...
Ski down the face of an iceberg? Yes it is possible. I took this image on a camping/ski adventure in Kluane National Park in March 1990. This is the 30th anniversary of this adventure I shared with Thom Ely, of Haines and Mike Speaks, from Denali Park. We headed down...
I recently captured this image of a moose on a snowy day. While the face appears comical, it is actually designed to serve the moose well. The large ears are ready to catch any signs of danger. The long snout and prehensile lips help to grab willow leaves and bark,...
Polar bear in Haines? Of course not! Last September, I was fortunate enough to be hired as an Alaskan expert to lecture onboard the MS World, the world’s largest residential private yacht. We cruised the fabled Northwest Passage and came upon this family of...
By Joe Ordonez The weather has been exciting and variable in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve these past few weeks. Before the record-breaking snowstorm, we experienced extremely cold weather. Due to the unique geology in the Eagle Preserve Council Grounds, the river...
With the huge (record-breaking) snow storms we’ve been having in Haines, its been difficult to get out to take some photographs. But after digging my car out, I was able to capture this moose at the edge of the cottonwood forest at the edge of the Chilkat Bald...
How A Lynx Fixed My Car By Joe Ordonez I photograph bald eagles in the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, but I like to get out and look for other wildlife in and around Haines. In over three decades of exploring the Alaska wilderness, I’ve seen lynx only a few times. My...
We have a ceramic Guadalupe figure in our garden here in Haines, Alaska. Last summer, a bedstraw hawkmoth landed on her. Like me, it is a nice combination of Alaskan and Latin American flavors.
Mellow Wolverine? To put the words “mellow” and “wolverine” together seems like an oxymoron. Wolverines are most often described as “vicious”, but I like to think of them as a symbol of wilderness. Looking at this photograph I took recently at Steve Kroschel’s...
