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...

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.