So that was my first hiatus from this blog. It was also a hiatus from all forms of exercise. For the past five days I've been preparing for and then guiding a photography/bear watching trip to Kaktovik. Kaktovik is way, way up there on the Arctic Ocean nestled in the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It is a cold and windy place in the autumn but it is full of a subtle kind of beauty and a less subtle kind of animal: Polar Bears. They were everywhere, waiting for the community to catch their first whale of the season. At any time during the day we could glass the barrier islands to the north of Barter Island and see up to 20 Polar Bears sleeping the day away on the sand. Then, toward evening, they would awake, amble toward the water and swim to the main island to scavenge whatever food they could find. A couple nights ago we had 16 Polar Bears within 100 yards of the truck we were watching from.
The downside of all this is that I had no opportunity to exercise. Running through Polar bear infested tundra when the bears area all hungry is generally not advised, and there was just no opportunity. I ate crappy food at the hotel and generally accepted the fact that these four days were not going to be good for my training/fitness regime. Still it was damn good for photography:
I've got a lot of calories to lose so I'm off for a run...more later.
2 comments:
Wow! Those photographs are *amazing*! What an incredible place to have been able to visit. And small breaks from training (I think) are healthy and in the long run maybe make you stronger. Good luck on your quest (I read your intro blog post). I'll check back from time to time to see how you're doing.
Jennoit, Thanks for the comment, and yes I suppose such breaks are good. The problem I've always had is getting back into the rhythm after being away for a bit. This time, so far, so good.
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