RGA Blog
The Lady With Wavy Hair, Shot Through With Grey
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...
The Goshawk Helps Me to See
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...
Spring Color
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...
The Tiny House and the Swans
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...
A Gleam of Hope
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...
News from the Haines Disaster Zone
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...
Sastrugi Ridges on the Taiga
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...
Skiing on an Iceberg
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...
The impossible face of the moose
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?
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 polar...
Steam Fog
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...
Snowy Moose
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 Eagle...
How a lynx fixed my car
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...
Happy Dia de la Virgen de Guadalupe: The Madonna and the Moth
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.
Why is this eagle smiling?
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 don’t. Their behaviors are explained in terms of instinct and primordial desires. But I couldn’t help to think that maybe this bald eagle was smiling.
Northern Lights over Mosquito Lake
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 just don't show up. Sometimes, the Northern Lights really...
Bear vs. Porcupine
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 that there are porcupine quills embedded in...
Lonely Fox
A lone fox wanders along the Chilkat Summit. This post has three sections, first I talk about our recent trip to Sitka at the start of my book tour. Second, I share a link to an article in Canada's National Observer about the Constantine mine. I was recently...
Deep Shadows
On the Chilkat Pass a deep and beautiful carpet of snow covers the landscape. This photo is taken just past the Canadian border as I climbed out of the forested valley where the trees begin to thin out. The seasons are changing. We spent spring break at our house at...
Large Canvas Print!
Response has been very positive for my photograph, Moon Over Klehini. I had this image blown up to 20 inches by 30 inches and printed on canvas and it looks fantastic! Canvas prints are great in that they require no additional framing and are ready to hang on your...
Ptarmigan snowshoeing
Ptarmigan have some amazing winter adaptations. The most obvious one is that they change color in the winter so that they can blend in with the snow and ice. Lesser known is the fact that their feet change. In fall the scales on their feet give way to bristly...
Down the Stream of Life
I gave a slide show and book signing at Klukwan Village a few nights ago. It was great to give my talk right in the heart of the Bald Eagle Preserve to folks who had grown up along the Chilkat River. More important than that is the fact that their ancestors had grown...
Moon Shot
This shot of the moon is a tribute to Dr. Edgar Mitchell, the 6th man to walk on the moon. Mitchell died Feb 4th. I had the honor to spend the day with him when he came to Haines as the keynote speaker at the 2012 Alaska Bald Eagle Festival. My friend, Steve...