Elk Christmas - Winter Flight

What an abrupt change in temperature after sunny Maui! But after a lazy week in Hawaii we needed some exercise so Pete and I decided to do a quick Christmas day afternoon hike&fly up Elk Mountain. Almost didn't make it because the snowshoes slowed us down (not needed except for the last 100 meters) and it clouded in and got dark. As always its smart to get an early start for Elk paragliding.

Hawaii

After rainy and stormy November and December we get finally some sun and warm temperatures in Hawaii! Since my first visit in 2003 we haven't been back to Maui but explored the Big Island and Kauai instead. Maui stands up to the other islands with nice beaches for snorkeling and buggy boarding and good hiking, though Big Island is still my preferred island for the variety of activities and relative scarcity of tourists. My favorite on Maui is still the hike through Haleakala crater, the same we had done with my parents 12 years ago. Good thing we didn't bring our wings, it was way too windy to even consider flying.Even our golf players had to seriously adjust their game.  Interesting to see the spread of an invasive species over much of the highlands on the southwest side - rubber vine.

Feathered Friends - Eagles, Geese and Owls

A cool place to see tons (likely thousands) of eagles is the Chehalis River estuary. The annual Fraser River Eagle Festival takes place mid November but the eagles are still there feasting on (rather ripe, don’t expect sushi) salmon. There are a couple of official view points (first picture was taken at one of them) at the Sandpiper Golf Course (Pretty Estates) and Eagle Point Park.

Snow geese near George C. Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary on December 6th. Hope that won't be the only white we get to see for Christmas in Vancouver ... still 18 days away.

Last but not least I practiced BIF photography. For those who don't know (like I a couple of weeks ago) BIF is birds in flight. Short eared owls at Boundary Bay in late October.