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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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,
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
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
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
I was out canoeing in the Bald Eagle Preserve the other day and came upon this bald eagle along the river. It looks like it is smiling. Do bald eagles smile? I think that most biologists would claim that they
Fall is here in Haines and the Chilkat Valley. I wanted to get a photo of the Northern Lights reflecting on Mosquito Lake. Many years, this can be tricky as the fall can be fairly cloudy or the Northern Lights
I photographed this magnificent brown bear in April along the Taiya River in Skagway. He strolled along the river, picking up spawned-out eulachon, a type of smelt. If you look closely at the nose of this bear, you will see
