Dream Trip 2009

Great Travel Moment

I had it set in my mind that taking pictures of wildlife at Alaska's North Slope would be one misadventure after another. After all, the temperature was averaging ten degrees below zero, there was almost no light except around noon, and the wind was blowing, making the wind chill very uncomfortable. But as I toured one of British Petroleum's oil platforms, this guy wandered up to me and sat down, unafraid and with a bemused look on his face, about ten feet away. I tried to take as many pictures as I could, but unfortunately the shaking of my hands rendered all but this shot completely unusable. Finally I retreated back inside, and he trotted along behind, probably expecting royalty payments for his pose.