There is nothing to fear, but fear itself (and bears...)

So here I am a fortnight after my last update to shed some light on my situation. Shortly before my last update I had been out at McCarthy and Kennicott with my French friends. Louie and Laure were great people and a blast to hang out with. I greatly appreciated their willingness to take a straggler along with them and we had a great time.

Firstly, McCarthy Road. It was a crazy trip down a windy road, but some of the vistas from the region were extremely picturesque. I hadn't up until that point seen a part of Alaska that was more beautiful. Its an old road that follows along the path of the old rail tracks from Cordova to McCarthy/Kennicott. Back in the boom days, Kennicott was one of the most productive copper mining towns in Alaska. McCarthy was its sister town 4 miles away that served as a supply depot for it.

Along the road lies Kuskilana Bridge, which was only a railroad trestle a few decades ago. It was retrofitted to a road and passes over a gorge that is 250+ feet deep. The views from the center of the bridge and looking down were breathtaking. Apparently they used to bungie jump off it, but have since abandoned that as it clogs traffic up.

Beyond was the Gilhana Trestle. Am old trestle over a few streams that looked extremely similar to the one on Kayuta until I got up close. It was made solely of Douglas Fir and apparently encompassed around 9 million board feet to construct. It was supported by 12" or greater full out Doug poles for the length of it, and was pretty impressive to behold.

Kennicott is a mining town built basically into the foot of a mountain at the edge of Root and Kuskilana Glaciers. The structures are old, huge and impressive. The sheer size of the buildings, built 60 miles from a road in the middle of nowhere in the early half of the century is downright breathtaking.

We walked through town and camped on the foot of the Root Glacier. The first night we climbed up onto it. Very odd feeling to be sitting on 100+ foot of solid ice with no substantial ground below you for a ways. It was quite a liberating experience, but it was damn cold. That was about 6 miles from where we based. Sunset into the Chugach was wonderful as well.

The next day we Hiked up to Bonanza Mine. The climb was 3800 ft in 4.4 miles, and it was all of that. By the time we got near the summit my back had said it had enough and my knee was hurting so I didn't go hunting around the mine, but still got some pictures of the mine and its support equipment. I know my bodies limits and the last thing I wanted was to be stuck in a mine with my back thrown out.

When we came back down I fished to no avail in Silver Lake for a while. After that we headed to Chitina for the Fourth of July Parade. We ended up watching a Native Dancer perform and got some free hot dogs as well.

Valdez

Valdez is by far the most beautiful town I have seen in Alaska. Whether it be coming through Thompson Pass to get there, the waterfalls ringing the cliffs, or the view on the harbor, it was everything I had hoped for and more. I loved the place.

We watched the fireworks there. Very odd to see fireworks without darkness, but nice nonetheless. We walked around the harbor, I found the Elks lodge and then we went back to our camp. Apparently that night a black bear (Ursus americanus) was found in the campsite and had to be put down, but that was before we got back. I ended up talking about fishing to a guy from Fairbanks for a while and we crashed.

The next day, Louie, Laure and I took one of those "nature cruises," on a ship called the LuLu Belle. I wanted to sea kayak, but they wanted about $200 per trip, which was fairly ludicrous by my standards. The trip was well worth it. We went out from 2-9 and caught glimpses of just about every bit of surface dwelling sea life outside of an Orca that could be seen. The pictures are all in my album (not linking them on here, as I don't want an overflow of bandwidth use on the site).

At the end we were brought in near Columbia Glacier. Columbia is a tidewater that is still calving into the Pacific. It was massive and the shear scale of it is impossible to describe. That was the highlight of the trip for me.

Currently I'm in Anchorage, waiting for the crew to come and get me and head back to the Kenai. Hopefully the weather is a little better, as my last few days have been rain-trodden and dreary. After Kayla and Greg dropped me off here, I've been in a hostel on the North side of town and its been rainy, but not cold. Oh yeah, and I made use of that license I bought and we pulled in some Rainbows in Palmer and fried them up as hors dourves. Anyway, until next time, and hopefully next time is quicker than this time!

~Steve

Update... kinda

Well, the trip to Kennicott and Valdez was amazing. I can't type much more, but that will have to be enough for now. It was the most beautiful area of Alaska that I have seen so far. Far and away.


That picture is but a mild taste of what I took. the pics are protected with the pass "alaska" so that randomness and my pictures popping up everywhere doesn't happen, so you just need to use that to access them.

I'll be back with the full rundown tomorrow.

Pictures are back up

Got the pictures fixed, for some reason I set them to private, but they're back up, and I updated Denali and Solstice stuff.

Back to the field tomorrow, heading down the Klutina Trail to do some plots. Should be a good time. Until then...

~SPH

Denali or Bust

Greg and I went fishing up on the Upper Chena. Not much biting, but there were fish in the region.

Some good and bad today. We got to see Denali. Unfortunately it was raining. Saw some brown bear, owl and Dall’s sheep though. Even though it was overcast, the scenery was still beautiful. The lush greens complimented the low cloud cover and the ice was still out there. Didn’t get to see any of the summits, but I already saw Denali and Greg and Kay will be going back later on in the week. The only downfall is that the park road continually kicked mud up onto our windows of our tents and limited the amount of sight we had.

Unfortunately when we got back to camp I made the ultimate fuck up. I left the rain fly on my tent open and it rained in Fairbanks, so I had to dry out my bag my pillow and one of my shirts. Overall it could have been worse, and I found out that the fly on this tent works nicely when it is closed. I’m in it at the moment and am quite dry.

One more day and then back to work and Kay and Greg head out for Wasilla/Palmer/Anchorage. Hopefully I can catch up with them on my next stint off. It was a great time seeing some familiar faces, and their company is always good in my book.

Post-Solstice

Overall Solstice was fun. We ended up grabbing some grub, went to the festivities downtown, which were glorified versions of the Boonville Fair. When we got back, the three of us chilled and played a few card games around the camp. We then started taking pictures on the hour of the three of us to prove the amount of light we were seeing. It was pretty crazy to see the full out 24 hour sun.

I went to see the Midnight Sun baseball game. That was an experience in it self. Watching a live game was great, the atmosphere and the people were welcoming, and I had a great time. I unfortunately forgot my memory card for my camera, but I did grab the commemorative coin and card saying I was at the game. The Goldpanners even ended up winning the game.

When I got back, we resumed the pictures. On the way back I saw some people dropping off a footbridge into the frigid Chena River. All I could think of was jumping off the trestle in May. Fun, but not once you hit the water...

Happy Solstice!

Off to fish today with Greg, hopefully snagging some grayling, burbot or any of the salmon. Wish me luck!

And Happy Solstice, its like the fourth of July up here. We'll be heading out to festivities in the mid afternoon. I'll be at the Midnight Sun baseball game, there's a downtown festival from 12-12, the Midnight Sun run, concerts all day and overall great time from what I hear. Greg and I are going to pull an all nighter through the solstice. We figure it doesn't get dark anyway, so it wont be as tough to stay up.

I did hit up Silver Gulch Brewing Company's Brewpub with Kayla and Greg for dinner the other night. The beer was amazing and I had a Tri-tip that was to die for. (It might have been the subsistence off of camp food for the last weeks).

Why spend your leisure bereft of pleasure?

Well back again, probably the only time this week again. I uploaded a new set of photos from the Wrangel-St. Elias/ CRV trip. Probably the most picturesque place I've seen outside the Kenai. The mountains are just looming over you and enormous. Sanford is a beast of a peak at 16,237 and the south face rising 8,000 feet within a mile, while the other side sprawls out immesurably is intense. The other mountains are prime as well.

We hit up Porcupine Creek campground near the glorious city of Slana, population of around 30, and you can see in the pictures, that was the campground which I was standing on the ice bridge. Porcupine Creek was still frozen over a bit and standing on the ice in the middle of June was a bit different. One night, Eric and I hit a trail and bushwhacked up a ridge to the peak of it and could just see for miles over the range.

Then we hit up the Nabesna Road. It brings you down into Wrangel-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Beautiful country. Just gorgeous. I was able to get some really nice shots and took a hike down near a lake.

Back in a while with more.

~Steve

Back again

So I'm back from our second stint out, the Kenai Peninsula is truly Nature's playground. There are so many trailheads and rivers down there that I can see myself staying there on multiple occasions. Its a great region with beautiful views and tons of wildlife.

Actually if you check the updates on my pictures you can see some of the up close loon and moose shots I was able to get. I hate that I can't really tweak any pictures on this computer, but I'll have things pined down a touch better when I get back to my desktop in August.

Initially we hit up Dolly Varden Campground off of Swanson Lake Road. Dolly Varden Lake was amazing, pristine, a ton of loons floating around, and overall a great site... One problem... the bastards don't know when its time to sleep. When its midnight and you have loons calling back and forth in front of your campground its tough to fall asleep. Majestic creatures, but they don't know when to shut up and sleep.

I really wish I had had my license and a rod down there, the trout fishing is apparently amazing on the Kenai. The salmon aren't running yet, but they should be by mid-June and I'll make sure I'm set by then.

After that we hit up Kelly Lake. Over near Skilak Lake. It was another gem, great view of the Chugach Range from the campsite and this is where the moose and calf pictures were from. Mosquitos were pretty bad down in the black spruce lowlands that we were working in. But the weather has held out and I'd much rather get bit a few times out there than get rained on. Alaska has been a hell of a place so far, but I wish I had my car up here, even the off days involve a ton of walking around.

Guess Kayla and Greg will be up next time I'm off so it might be a while until I post again. We'll probably hit up some of the trails and touristy shit around Fairbanks and I'll catch up with them again after we go back down to the CRV. Anyway, until later.

~Steve

Downtime...

Since I've been out of the woods for a few days I've been able to think of a few things I need done around here. I've been helping Tom and Karen around the house, but I think next time we get back I'll be renting out a place in town or camping at one of the sites. It just seems easier and I wouldn't feel bad about living with these guys even though they have been more than accomidating and have told me not to worry about it. Hope al is well stateside, and grats Slackers on IC. I'll get those pictures updated sometime when I can get a reliable connection.

~Steve

Gulkana and more...

A few days into the trip. I'm loving it. I'm still wondering what to do on my off time, as there are so many options. The stand work is great. I'm outdoors, in nature, and getting paid to do it. This is the shit I've looked forward to for a while. Once I got through next term, I'll be set. This work is the shit I was born for.

In a Van...Down by the River....

Ok, we rolled down in a truck and camped, but it was by a river, specifically the Gulkana. Here's what I got...

5/17/2008

Headed down toward Glenallen to do some plots in the region. This is basically my first trip down the Alaskan "highway" system. The views were phenomenal from just about anywhere we turned. We stopped about 15 miles north of Delta Junction to stretch our legs and for me to get a good shot of the Alaskan Range above the Tanana Flood Plain. Push comes to shove, the starter in the truck burns out. We had to push start the old bugger and get her going (thank god it's a stick), and head to the NAPA in Delta Junction. We got the starter, headed out to the UAF Farm (UAF's Ag and Forestry research stations around the state) and Tom and I wrestled to get it changed before we could finish the trip down to Glenallen area and set up camp.

One thing that stuck out was the sheer amount of wildlife we saw on the trip down. Everything from moose to hares. I think the final tally was a cow moose, two caribou, three woodland bison, two porcupine and numerous hares all just along the road. Oh, and a grizzly cub (minor detail). The Bison were off the road just south of Black Rapids Glacier and it was fascinating to see them in the wild, free roaming.

It strikes me speechless how beautiful the scenery is around here. Be it the Alaska, Chugatch, or Wrangel-St. Elias there is always a mountain range in view. It gives a whole new perspective on the 46 high peaks in the park. Since Marcy is 1/4 the size of Denali (Mt. McKinley for those who don't know they changed the name back) its a bit of a different class up here. Until later,

~SPH

It's not quite Deliverance

Sorry I haven't updated lately folks, its going to be about once a week, as I'm normally out of town Weds-Weds in the field. I'll try and make sure I hit up Barnes and Noble or some other place in order to keep y'all updated. I added a Webshots link to all of my photos and such.

So anyway, I'm three days into work and loving it. My feet are killing me, my hands are calloused again and the fresh air is downright amazing. Surveying these plots will be one of the highlights of my feeble life so far. The crew I'm working with seems like good people and Tom and his family have been amazing to me, allowing me to crash in their loft until after the first trip and still base from there after.

We're about to head out for the Glennallen region, which in itself will take us through the Alaska Range, into interior Alaska. The link is a googlemaps satellite image of the area. It's right on the edge of Wrangel-St. Elias National Park. All in all it will be a great trip and I'm looking forward to some diverse foliage and some great pictures.

Fairbanks the city...

May 13, 2008
Well, push comes to shove I walked around Fairbanks today. Quaint little town, a lot of Inuit on the streets and such and its fairly spread out for foot traffic, but overall its nice. Ate lunch at a good Thai place and got a ton of info on what I can do during the off-times that I have. Basically wandered around the town getting a lay of the lands. UAF is a great campus, not too big, but houses quite a few people and the facilities are nice. We’re getting gear situated tomorrow and starting surveying some local plots on Thursday. Gonna be heading downstate starting on Saturday and will be out until Wednesday, so I won’t have much to write about then. Think I’ll try and find an internet café or something in Fairbanks so I can actually post this stuff, including the pictures I snagged on the plane.

First Night

May 13, 2008
Got I to Alaska last night at around 8:00, flight was late, but damn it was a beautiful descent. I can’t imagine what some of the “real” mountains look like. In hindsight I completely mispacked based on spatial scale. I should have just brought my backpack and daypack like I was planning… but I expected the college to be in town, and walkable from wherever I was camped, and I could store my stuff there. However, such is not the case.
I’m staying at Tom’s house for the time being, until we hit the field. He seems like a great guy, as is his family, and they were more than accommodating and helpful. I must have looked like a deer in headlights when we were driving to his house. The rolling hills around Fairbanks remind me a lot of the southeast region of the ‘Dacks. The tree cover is mostly short black spruce, taller white spruce, Alaskan birch and the occasional poplar. Damn sunlight is odd to get used to. It was 10:30 when I crashed last night and still “early dusk” by our standards. Then I woke up at 6am to full sunlight. I’m glad I can sleep through anything.

On the Plane?

May 12, 2008
Well, I’m on the plane from Minnesota to Alaska, and currently over the northern edge of the Manitoba wilderness. Some of the views out here are absolutely breathtaking. Looking out onto still frozen lakes and the rippling cloud cover above them is just surreal. Luckily I was able to get exposure out my window with the new camera (I love this thing). Anymore, more to come, here are the shots.

It Begins...

So here I am, sitting in Hancock International in Syracuse... Bored off my skull, people watching (Trust me, in Syracuse, you see some winners), and waiting for the connection to Detroit. Then, Minneapolis, and then the big 7 hour job to Fairbanks.

I can't tell if I'm excited as hell, nervous as hell, or all of the above. It's definitely going to be different, hiking the Alaskan Backcountry for three months, living out of a tent.

Once I get there I'm going to be in for a shock, both visually and culturally. I guess they're already up to 16 hours of daylight up there, and weather is about like early summer around home, so that won't be bad. Had to pay an extra fifty bucks to get all my gear up there, but you figure the main bag I threw everything in weighed about 15 pounds in itself, fully contained my pack should be around 35-40 which is about what I was shooting for, and my boots will be on my feet instead of packed. All in all its about the minimum I could throw in there for three months in a different world.

Also, for any of you wondering about the title of the blog, Preab San Ol is traditional Gaelic that roughly translates to "Another Round." Its an abbreviated form of "Chur preab san ol" or "Move the drink along." I figured it was fitting title for the next few months. Anyway, more to come soon...