Northward Bound

Near Moose

2010-02-17T20:30:00.003-09:00

The other morning as Mike was driving me to the airport to fly back to the village, a large dark shaped passed between the car in front of us and the truck we were in. At 6:30 in the morning it is still dark out. As we quickly closed in on the figure it became apparent that it was a moose. Mike Swerved into the other land to avoid hitting it. But there was a "Thwack!" What was that, we are still alive so we obviously did not hit the moose, right? I looked out the passenger side window to see that the mirror had been knocked in. No damage, but we must have grazed the read end of the moose with the passenger's side view Mirror! The moose might have had a sore hind end, but a least she lived to see another day, and so did we.

Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race

2010-02-12T17:07:00.004-09:00

This year I was in Fairbanks to witness the start of the Yukon Quest. The 24 teams of dogs and mushers organized on the banks of the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks. Here comes the first team!

The handlers need to hold the dogs back until their start time. The teams set out at 3 minute intervals.
The teams start off with 14 dogs. Sometimes dogs can be dropped from a team due to injury or illness, but a team must have 8 dogs to finish the race.
They have 1000 miles to cover from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, in the Yukon territory of Canada.

The first musher to make it into Dawson city and finish the race will get 4 ounces of gold! The trail follows some historic routes used during the gold rush.

This year you can follow the race on Twitter or Facebook. The teams are also carrying SPOT personal tracking transmitters. Although they can give the teams position, it is easy to forget to turn them on when a musher has 14 dogs to take care of! There are twice daily up-dates on the radio. I am happy to say that my boyfriend could care less about the Super bowl, but follows the Yukon Quest closely!

Quest for the sun 2010!

2010-02-10T22:04:00.005-09:00

In January, the days are getting longer, but the mountains block sunlight from reaching the village. Last year I set out to catch the sun on the one of the mountain tops where it was hitting. I did not make it because I kept heading towards the North.

This year I had some company, my boyfriend Mike from Fairbanks came up to visit and we headed out about 10 in the morning to try and catch the sun on top of Blueberry mountain.

The moon in the pre-dawn hours, around 11 am.
Bundled up in my wolf ruff and beaver mitts. It was warm that day, about -10, and no wind.

Sun light on Soakpak peak.
We made it about 2:30 in the afternoon, the sun is peaking out from behind the mountains in the South.
Soaking it in!
Group photo. Some of the village dogs followed us up, along out 8 mile trip. We skied most of the way then hike the last 1000ft to the top.
Tired dogs!
Stopped to sip some hot coco.

My "commute"

2010-02-10T21:46:00.002-09:00

I live in an Alaska bush village. To get to town I fly in a single engine Cesna Grand Caravan that seats 9 passengers. By town, I mean Fairbanks. Here are some shots of the Brooks range and Yukon Flats on my last flight.

Birch creek, Yukon Flats. The Yukon Quest Sled dog race winds along this river on its way to Whitehorse.
The Brooks range in the glorious February sunlight.

Tolovana Hot Springs

2010-02-10T13:26:00.008-09:00

Many of my Alaskan Friends have told me stories of their epic adventures into these famous hot springs. Over a two hour drive to the trail head, the hot springs and private cabins for rent lie at the end of an 11 mile trail. I have heard stories of frost bite, broken sleds, falling on skis, falling in love and broken friendships. I have been told the wind is always howling and the average winter temperatures are near 20 below zero. Ideal conditions for Frostbite. I do not know how I get to be so lucky! 1. It was warm, close to zero. 2. There was little to no wind. 3. I had a dog team to pull me UP the hills... and the hills are killer. 4. The owner had just been in and the trail was cleared up downed trees. 5. fresh light snow on the trail made for good skiing conditions. 6. We had the place to ourselves! 7. I had a fabulous weekend with my boyfriend! 8. I am missing out on a week of awful meetings at school. 9. I had my flight paid for my the district, I just extended a conference trip for 2 extra days. 10. I got to bring my spoiled rotten dog!

chillin' in the cabin after dinner~
King Crab!
The First tub.... too Hot!
Mike getting ready to get in the water.

Mike and Kiita. Kiita is so spoiled she gets to ride in the cab while all the other sled dogs are in the dog boxes on the trailer.

Kiita is learning how to be a sled dog... but she is not pulling her weight when she is looking back to figure out where I am!
The first tub was too hot! So we had to make our way over to the other middle tub. (which was just right!)
Mike Loading the sled on the trailer and dog box.
Stopping on top of the dome for some photos!
The upper tub. Nice view but we liked the middle one the best!using a generator and heater to warm up the truck so it will start.
I know it looks like I am standing still here.... but I am cruising along behind the sled and dog team at about 10 miles per hour!
Looks like Kiita is actually pulling here...
Frosty clothes!

My new Beaver hat! This us the sixth hat I have made in the last year. I think I am getting the hang of it!
Mohawk Mike!
The little Frame cabin we stayed in. Nice and cozy!

Sunset on the night of our arrival.

Walking with the dogs

2009-10-11T12:56:00.004-08:00

Nice winter day... Oh wait it is still fall... anyhow it was a nice day for taking the dogs for a walk.

one of the creeks that feeds the John river is not frozen yet.

Zoey.

Whisky, Kiita's Brother.

Field trip to the river

2009-10-10T22:16:00.003-08:00

I should have done the unit on water quality first, starting in August! We had to find spots where the water did not freeze yet.

We had to make some holes in the ice.

We found a few places where the water was not frozen yet.

Rock fishing

2009-10-10T22:08:00.004-08:00

My first Fish. I caught it with my bare hands! In the winter the river starts to dry up and freeze. The pools of water get smaller and smaller and and the fish are trapped. Sometimes people throw rocks to try to stun them. But by the time I found the fish in the pool, there was so little water I could pick them up with my hands.

I caught two fish on different days.

Fried them up for dinner and ate them with rice. They were really tasty.

Snowy sunrise and Sunset

2009-10-10T21:17:00.002-08:00

It had already snowed in the village by the time I got there early this August. But the first snow did not really stick until about mid-September.

A recent Sunrise out my classroom window.

Labor Day Paddle down the Chena River

2009-10-10T20:58:00.003-08:00

A nice sunny warm day. 70 degrees and no wind. Felt like my last day of summer!

Camped out down by the river in my "new" truck.

Fall Colors

2009-10-10T20:40:00.004-08:00

The red leaves are bear berry plants.

Looking up the Contact Creek Valley from one of my cranberry picking spots.

Cotton Grass.

Rainbow.

Hunting blind... or wind shelter?

Little Contact Creek.

Looking out toward the Anaktuvuk River Valley.

John, the new Ashley. (Just kidding he is the new SPED teacher.)

Looking down at fire station from the hill where I pick berries.

State Fair

2009-10-10T20:27:00.003-08:00

The growing season is short, but the days are long. The interior of Alaska is know for having very large vegetables.

And cute bunnies...

and funny looking goats... or is it a sheep?

Photos from summer... long gone...

2009-10-10T17:27:00.003-08:00

Kiita in the Fireweed in the White Mountains, Northwest of Fairbanks.

Came here to pick blueberries. Got a little over one gallon.

There were several fires burning around Fairbanks this summer. You can see the haze in the sky.

Eagles of Anchor Point

2009-06-29T10:41:00.000-08:00

Last weekend when I was in Kenai, we drove out to a place called Anchor Point on the way back from Homer.

When we first drove up we saw four adult Eagles on the beach. Looking closer there were a few juvenilles too. Here is a photo of one below.

First there were 4... then I noticed 7 more! (Below)

Yum, Tasty dead fish!

This bird is having a bad hair day!

Saving the best shot for last:

Seaward Sealife Center: Puffins are REAL

2009-06-25T07:27:00.000-08:00

I have been taking a closer look at photos of puffins in the last few months. They are so cute and so odd. I thought they looked fake and was starting to wonder if they were real. I do not know if I have ever meet anyone who had actually seen one in real life. But a trip to the Seaward Sea life center has convinced me otherwise.

Another bird, the rhinoceros Auklet. How cute.

This horned puffin was a HAM. He was all about bathing and preening.

Hey stop that splashing you are getting water on my camera!

Common Murres below.

King Eider. What great colors.

Harlequin duck. Saw some of these on my camping trip in Anaktuvuk Pass a few weeks ago.

Person for scale..

Puffins "flly" underwater to catch fish.

They look like they belong in space.

Harbor seals each have unique spots that acts like a finger print used to identify them.

Skittle the Sea otter underwater.

Octopus tentacles.

This sea lion is HUGE. Would hate to run into this guy underwater.

Sea otter in Seaward

2009-06-25T07:19:00.000-08:00

With weather like this I almost did not even go outside the Seaward sealife center to take a look. What a cold, wet, rainy day. But a few minutes outside revealed this not so little guy floating in the surf.

Sorry these photos are less than spectacular, but it was my first and best look at a wild sea otter!

Inside of the Sealife Center there is an Otter who was resuced from the wild when we has found frozen to a plane float on the dock in Homer. They named the little guy Skittle and he will live out his life in a zoo somewhere because he has imprinted on people.

Science on a Sphere

2009-06-25T07:01:00.001-08:00

On Thursday last week we went to the Museum of Alaska in Juneau. The most interesting thing on display was the Science on a Sphere exhibit. This is basically a globe-shaped smart board. 4 projectors project on the the globe. Gives new meaning to the 4 corners of the earth! There are different data sets that can be projected on the the globe. The top image is a satellite view of earth and the atmosphere. Below the different native groups of Alaska and their traditional ranges can be found.

Alaska compared to the rest of the world.

Below is the sun. The images projected on the the globe are not static. They can either play in real-time or time lapse. The sun has storms that travel across the surface much like earth. Except they are magnetic and electrical storms. Another data set showed the magnetic storms.

There is a tall rack of computers with a Wii controller that "spins" the image on the globe so you can look at it from different perspectives. There is a data set for every planet, Pluto and even some of Jupiter's moons.

This more static image shows the relative size of the planets as compared to the sun.

This is a very cool exhibit. I am not sure if you can find one near you, but if you have the chance go see it. Juneau has one at the museum and another one at the NOAA facility. It seems unfair that such a small city should get two of these cool toys!

Salmon Hatchery

2009-06-25T00:06:00.000-08:00

On Thursday last week we visted the Douglas Island Pink and chum Hatchery in Juneau.

Every year millions of salmon return to this hatchery where they were hatched years before. They make their way up this fish ladder in the Gastineau Channel.

After the fish are about a year old they are held in these holding pens outside so that the smell of this location will imprint and they will return to spawn.

Here are some baby King Salmon, below are the tanks where they are raised.

The fish are marked using an interesting method. Durring the development of the egg the temperature of the water is raised about 4 degrees f. This causes a stress which shows up in the growth patterns of the earbones in the fish. Each year a unique "code" is used to mark the fishes place and year of hatch. Below is a bad photo of some otoliths or earbones.

The hatchery also had a cool aquarium and touch tank.

King Salmon. They are not retuning to some of the streams in large enough numbers, so the catch limit on these guys is zero in some places. Last year the limit was one per person.

Totem carving.

2009-06-25T00:02:00.000-08:00

There is a new totem pole being worked on at the UAS campus. The eagle. A pair of brothers from the area have been selected to work on the totem pole this summer on campus so students and the general public can watch the process. Below the carver is using a draw shave. On other days we witnessed the less traditional chain saw being used.

Mount Roberts, Juneau Alaska

2009-06-24T23:47:00.000-08:00

Last Wednesday we took an evening trip up Mount Roberts in Juneau. We took a tram up. Nothing in comparison to the tram in Albuquerque, but it was quite steep. I think we climb about 1800 ft. We had dinner at the resturant on top.

Tree carvings can be found throughout the forest.

Cruise ships in the Gastineau channel.

The tram.

Whale Watch

2009-06-16T23:45:00.001-08:00

Today as part of the Summer Science Institute participated in a whale watching trip aboard the navigator.

The purpose of this trip was to identify individual whales from the unique patterns in their flukes or tails. This the fluke of a calf. The markings of a calf are non-distinct, but as they age their patterns will become permanent. Also any scaring on the fluke can be used to help ID individual whales.

Here is the calf (baby) whale breaching. This whale is about 6 months old and was likely born in Hawaii in January off the coast of Maui.

Here the calf is on its side waving to use with its white tipped flipper, and part of the fluke is also visible.

That calf sure was a show off. We saw this young humpback whale breach several times.

Bald Eagle and Stellar's Sea lions on a Buoy near the Herbert Glacier.

A close up.

We also we able to visit a Sea lion Haul out on the shore. There may have been more than 80 Stellar's sea lions. Note the large gray bull (male) in the middle.

This guy got tangled up in some monofilament fishing line that is cutting into his neck.

Some of the Sealions had numbers branded into them. Note the large male in the upper right side of the photo. These numbers are used the track individuals over their life span to see where they travel and reproduce or feed.

Black Oyster Catchers, with a chick.

Bald Eagle. These guys were every where. But we do not get them up in Anaktuvuk Pass, it is too far north and there are no big river or lakes for them to fish.

Pigeon Guillemot. One is looking down into the water to see if there is anything good to eat. My what bright red legs they have! (Below.)

My First view of Orca Whales. These were a group of 5 transient whales, Killer whales are actually the largest members of the dolphin family. Killer whales are made up of two groups that do not interbreed and may become separate species, transient and resident. Resident killer whales eat mostly fish where as transients eat more marine mammals.

4 of the 5 orcas surfacing at once.

This little guy, a Stellar's sea lion was hanging out near the boat trying not to get eaten by the whales.

The Mendenhall Glacier, Juneau Alaska

2009-06-15T22:41:00.000-08:00

The Mendenhall glacier is a short drive from the UAS campus.

The Glacier is calving into a lake.

Local Streams support good salmon runs and a favored hang out spots for the bears (mostly black bears in this area, I guess.)

Raindrops on Lupine

Icebergs recently calved from the glacier floating in Mendenhall Lake.

The tiny speck in the upper left hand side of the photo is a flightseeing helicoptor.

Spruce trees on the hillside through the mist.

Steep Creek Falls.

Glacial silts give the water a milky look.

UAS Campus

2009-06-15T22:04:00.001-08:00

I am now taking a 5 day Summer Science Institute in Juneau at the University of Alaska Southeast. I am posting some photos from around the campus.

Here is a campus map for an overview. We have to walk everywhere on campus and it is a little spread out. Also it is often lightly raining.

This plant is the Devil's Club or Devil's Walking stick. It has numerous sharp thorns on the bottom of the leaves. The berries are favored by bears, and the plant is used for several medicinal purposes including the treatment of adult onset diabetes and as "Alaska Ginseng."

Skunk Cabbage, more bear food.

Lichen drapes from the trees in the temperate coastal rain forest.

I think this is the Raven totem. They are in the process of carving an Eagle totem to balance out the raven.

Lupine, in the pea family, has nitrogen fixing bacteria on its roots.

The Dock on Auke Lake. (Auke means Lake so I guess this is Lake Lake.)

A cruise ship parked in Auke Bay.

Raven Sculpture.

Porcupine, looks like he has already lost some quills.

Argos

2009-06-14T21:36:00.000-08:00

Last week I particiapted in the Inupiaq Land Use Values Class. I went camping with a group from Ilisagvik College and some local elders and guides. Also we were joined by some teachers from Fairbanks and Anchorage as well as some folks from Massachusets. There is some Barrow, New Bedford Whaling connections I guess!

Anyhow one of the highlights of our trip was travling by Argo.

What is an Argo you may ask....

The amphibious ARGO ATV. 8 Wheelers. 8X8, skid steer go any where! Tundra, cross rivers, wallow in the mud. These machines are Beasts. Climb hills and decend steep slopes with out rolling. Haul gear and up to 6 adults.

Packing up for camp. We can bring WAY more stuff than we needed when we do not carry it on our backs!

Some Argos have a climate controled canopy.

All of the Elders drive Argos. Here is Ada Lincon by hers.

Argos break down a lot and often need to be fixed in the field... or towed home by another argo! Never go out on the tundra alone... the argo will take you farther than you can walk back in a day before it breaks down!

Argos go on melting ice. A lot smoother than the bummpy Tundra... and fun for pulling 360's on. Splash mountain anyone? Safer than walking on the ice.... if they break through... they float!

One day we crossed the river to go fishing at a lake on the other side. When we headed back the river had rose so much from the melting snow and ice on such a warm day. It may have been in the 50's or 60's. We keept looking for a good place to cross, but there seemed to be a steep drop off into the rushing water and it was hard to tell how deep the water was. Then comes an argo full of my high school kids. Robert saves the day leading us back the way he came across the river. Safe and dry!

Flying to Juneau

2009-06-14T20:44:00.000-08:00

WOW!!! Today has been a truely amazing day. First breakfast at Oline's in Fairbanks. That was awsome. She has such a cool little place, a nice garden and a green house.

Then I flew out to Ancorage. It was cloudy, but Mnt. Mickinely rose above the clouds. What a view of the great mountain. Then after araving in Anchorage we quickly boarded another plane for Juneau. No time for lunch.
Another amazing flight. What a way to veiw the glaciers. It was still a little cloudy, but I guess it usually is in this part of the state.

Blue glacial lake water.

Check out the striations below!

This is the Mendenhal glacier outside of Juneau. We are headed there on a field trip tomorrow and should get a closer look.

My last Ski

2009-05-15T08:42:00.000-08:00

Here are some photos that I took the last time I went skiing. It was about a month ago... (April 18th) But have been a bit behind on my blogging...

I skied out about 5 miles up Contact Creek for a 10 mile round trip. It felt good. I miss skiing, it is snowing again today, but the base has melted so no more skiing until next year... unless I find a glacier to ski on...

Windblown snow ridges.

Wolf tracks, must be fresh, it snowed last night.

porcupine tracks.

Porcupine scat.

The porcupine... good thing Zoey was on lead or I would be pulling quills!

Random caribou Skull... nice rack though!

Wolf Ruff

2009-05-14T15:38:00.001-08:00

In Alaska fur is not for fashion, it has a very important function: keep warm and prevent frostbite. I have been taking a skin sewing class ad have learned how to make a ruff from the raw hide of an animal.

After letting the hide dry, I scraped it with a took made from a short piece of copper pipe on a wooden handle. I did this until all of the flesh and fibers were removed from the skin. I did put a few holes in the hide as I scraped it, but it is mostly intact.

Vera helped me mark out the strips to cut across the wolf's neck and shoulders where the hair is the longest. We decided to make the strips about 4 inches wide. In the village the ruffs tend to be big and fluffy, perhaps it is a bit of a status symbol.

We had to find and mark the centerline of the skin because the hair is longest in the center and gets shorter as you go out to the sides. We will take most of our pieces from the center.

The center piece is cut and the pieces have to be matched with other pieces of the same length and color. The pieces are numbered and lettered to keep track of their placement in the ruff. Also the arrow shows the direction of the flow of the fur.

Here is the layout.

And the final product: I put an inch of beaver fur along the front edge of the ruff to make it soft against my face.

Photos from the Arctic meltdown

2009-05-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

We had a week of warm weather in late April. I think it was in the 40's. The water on lake Elenore started to melt and the kids were all out on their bikes and dirt bikes.

My 9 year old 4rth grader on a dirt bike!

Pano of Lake Elenore

Zoey and Kiita at the lake.

Since then we have returned to more season weather, cold about 20 degrees with wind and snow off and on for the last 2 weeks. The lake has frozen back over, so Kiita will have to wait until later this spring for her swimming lessons.

Facebook

2009-05-14T15:22:00.001-08:00

I have not been blogging much lately.... I have discovered facebook. A poor substitute for real communication. But if you want to know what I am up to today or this hour, you can check my status on Facebook...

Spring Break: Day 4 Caribou Bluff

2009-04-12T09:01:00.000-08:00

The trail from Windy Gap Cabin Started out on the Ice of fossil creek. I stayed on the ice and had missed where the trail turned off at first, but cut back over to the trail. The trail was good and it was nice to be in the trees and a little out of the wind. There was a long section of overflow ice on the trail where I had to unhook from the sled and ski along the willows. There were a few longer but less steep downhills.

More views along the trail of the limestone jags.

Rock outcropping where we cross fossil creek and make out way to the cabin.

The cabin is up on an exposed ridge. Quite a steep climb.

Nice panoramic views of the cabin from the knob above. (Click on the photo to see full size.)

Sun set, and sun dog.

Caribou Bluff Cabin. Small cozy. Heats up Nice. Good thing it was calm, it would have been hard to keep warm with it being so exposed.

Trapper and Blue are happy to be at the cabin.

Dusk in the White Mountains.

Trapper made herself quite comfortable.

We had Caribou Green Chille Stew for dinner, with tortillas on the side. Some left over pita bread, but we gave the extra meat to the dogs. The hauled the weight, they deserve it. Hot Coco with peppermint snaaps for desert.

Telle Turns!

2009-04-11T22:08:00.000-08:00

I am really starting to get cabin fever. We got some new snow this weekend and I was all psyched to get out and go skiing. I woke up this morning and checked the weather, -8 with a -30 windchill! Man I thought Spring was supposed to be here. Is it ever going to get above zero?

Ashley and I were expecting a grocery delivery today so we got all bundled up and as we were walking to the airport we hear the plane take off. The 8 boxes and 195 lbs of groceries were left sitting in the tarmac, er snowmac?

We loaded the boxes into two orange boat sleds and pulled them home. I think we should have gotten the boxes in sooner, the lettuce was a little limp and the scallions were a bit nipped. But other than that, I can not complain, avocado and mango in the arctic are a real luxury. (Even though it cost about $200 to have it all delivered.)

So after having turkey sub sandwiches with fresh tomatoes and lettuce, I waited for the wind to die down. It did not. So finally I got all dressed to go skiing. Bibs, ploypro, light fleece, shell, hand warmers, fleece gloves, balaclava and my beaver hat. I put the goggles on for the first mile because it was so windy.

I think we got an inch or two of nice soft powdery snow. It was great to ski on... where it had not blown away. Out on the open tundra it had blown off and had accumulated in the stream bed of contact creek. I skied up the stream bed for good snow cover and some shelter from the wind.

I continued on into Little contact creek. The valley was narrow and the sides were steep. I had to cross some bare ice and tip-toe around some exposed rocks in the stream bed, but it was really pretty. The back side of Blueberry hill was looking smooth and not so steep. It was inviting. If I could make it up Mnt Ingsted surely I could make it up this little hill. I started climbing, making long switch backs up the slope. This was a lot easier than the climbing I did last week! The slope was so smooth. No rocks, no tussocks, just a firm base of snow with about 2 inches of powder. This was going to be good. I could not make it all the way to the top, it started to get a little bit steeper, and I did not want to take off my skis, the anticipation of making sweeping turns down the hill was just too much. I unhooked Zoey and turned my skis around...

As I started to gain some speed, the muscle memory started to take over and before I knew it, I was making telle turns!!

Zoey loves the snow, but hates to wait for me!

Looking up the Little Contact creek valley.

My tracks in contact creek.

Zoey looking to the West.

Panoramic views of the Mountains.

Click on the photos to view them full size!

Skin Sewing (Animals lovers Beware!)

2009-04-11T21:49:00.001-08:00

I have been taking an Inupiaq skin Sewing class. So far I have made a beaver hat and a pair of beaver mittens.

Everyone things I should put a big red felt tongue and some googly eyes on these and make them in to puppets.

What do you do with a little extra beaver fur?

Eyebrow warmer!

The next project will be a dark blue corduroy parka with a wolf ruff. The fur ruff is not for fashion. It is function. The fur keeps the wind off of your face. And as I have mentioned.... it is Always Windy here!

The ruff will be cut from the across the shoulders where to fur is the longest.

This wolf was trapped locally here. I debated for a long time about what species of fur I should use for my ruff. But the state biologist said that the number of wolves this year was high, way above to number of moose in many areas near here. He actually recommended a wolf ruff!

Unfortunately the skin has not been tanned yet. This is going to be a long and interesting process involving scraping, and drying and rubbing with flour and water, then scraping some more, then rubbing with lotion. Hopefully I will not poke too many holes in the skin as I am scraping it, and I hope the fur does not fall out if it gets too warm as it dries.

I was surprised they do not use salt or any other chemicals or even brain in the tanning process. But I guess this is how they do it here. Maybe they do not worry so much about it smelling or growing bacteria here in the arctic.

Kiita

2009-04-11T20:57:00.000-08:00

The Puppy got a name. Kiita! It is an Inupiaq (Eskimo) word meaning "hurry up" Or "Let's Go!" This was a suggestion of one of my students, I was trying to find and Eskimo name, he picked this one beacause it is one I can pronouce.

Kiita with the marten.

Zoey is good at sharing her toys!

Zoey and Kiita are friends, some of the time.

Kiita is getting bigger!

Kiita taking Zoey for a Walk.

Kiita King, er Queen of the hill!

Norweigen Skiiers and Mount Ingsted

2009-04-05T09:23:00.000-08:00

A group of six Norwegian Skiers made it here from Weisman on Tuesday. They skied through wilderness for 14 days over 130 miles in sub zero temperatures. They are part of a school program in Norway. Most of them are taking a year between high school and college, or as they say between college and University and this adventure is part of that year. A group from the school comes here every year. This was a friendly group. I hosted them for dinner one night and they invited me out on a hike up Mount Ingsted with them.

Stefan with frosty whiskers.

waxing Skis. I am glad I have waxless skis. Seems to be less hassle and better traction.

We met at 10 am and skied over across the tundra. It was one of the nicest days all year, it was only -15 and there was no wind. I took off several layers of clothing and left behind my beaver hat. We skied across the Tundra to the base of the mountain where we entered a narrow valley.

Zoey was staring at something upslope from us. I looked and saw two Dall Sheep on the rocky hillside ablove us.

We climbed on our skis for a bit until it got too steep. The skis came off and I put on my micro spikes and started climbing. A few of the guys bolted a head, but one was afraid of the steepness of the slope and turned back. He was coming down as I was headed up. I watched him make some nice telemark turns as he made his way down the narrow valley. At one point zoey sat down and started sliding down the hill. She was attached to my skijour harness and she pulled me down about 100 feet until I was able to dig my heals in a stop us. At that point I decided to unhook her and climb back up. I slowly made my way of the steep slope. I do not think I have ever climbed anything so steep in my life. Zoey followed faithfully in my tracks.

As I neared the top of the ridge the snow was deeper and I punched through more, banging my shin and knees on a thick layer of crusty, icy snow. I made it to the top where Pernille was having a snack and waiting. I shared my hot coco and she gave me some of her energy "bombs." I needed the boost of energy after making such a steep ascent. I looked at my GPS we had traveled only 3.25 miles from my house, but had climbed about 3000 ft! The ridge was about 5000 ft and my home is around 1800. Wow what a day.

Pernille at the top of the ridge with the peak of Ingsted in the back.

From the ridge there were spectacular views of the valleys in all directions. I had seen many from the plane flying over but to be able to get a panoramic view was awesome. The Valley where the headwaters of the Anaktuvk river was especially stunning with the blue ice that braided its way through the valley.

This was the skiers first view of Anaktuvuk pass, as they came in from Ernie pass. The encountered some overflow on the river, but they were so close to civilization it was not life threatening, they were able to dry out a bit before camping out for the 14th night.

We made our decent down the steep slope slowly. I worried that Zoey would either bolt a head and start sliding down or that she may cause us to tumble down. She was good though, staying mostly behind me and patiently following in my tracks. (most of the time)

We took a rest on the slope for a photos opp. It is hard to tell how steep the slope is from the photos.

Where the slope was less steep, we were able to slide down on our bottoms, easier than making every careful step. I made it back down to my skis and made some sweeping turns down the narrow valley.

Unfortunately Zoey got in the way on one of those tuns causing me to fall on her and I sprained my knee. This made the rest of the ski back a little more uncomfortable and difficult. But we made it back home with out incident.

Later I headed over to Colby's where Alex had cooked up the ptarmagin he had shot the day before. It was cooked very well and tasted great, better than the first time I had tasted Ptarmagine. Thank you Alex!

The skiiers are to fly out today. It was nice to have the comapny of such adventurous folks. I look forward to the visit from the school group next year. Perhaps I will make it over to Norway someday to visit some of them. That would be an adventure!

Spring Break Day 3

2009-03-29T09:58:00.001-08:00

Day 3: WolfRun to Windy Gap cabin.

Another pancake breakfast at wolfrun, with ham and cabin Moca, instant coffee with instanr hot coco. Yum. Sun coming in the window at breakfast was so bright we had to wear sunglasses!

Today was going to be an intersting day on the trail. We were going to go through windy gap a gradual climb with a steep decent followed by a creek crossing that could be wet with overflow. Steve did not want me to ski down. He said he would take my skis and I could walk down. He also had some bootied with plastic trash bags in them I could put overmy feet if there was water on the ice. We sat and looked at the map and read the trail conditions afterbreakfast. I was a little nervous.

After another Pancake breakfast and cleaning up the cabin I headed out ahead of the team. Skied about 2 miles before the team caught up. Hooked in again. The trail had some challenging sections and my feet needed some attention. We found some place out of the wind so we could have a snack and I could fix my boots and sox. My cap to my water bottle had froze so I could not open it. Had to borrow water from Steve. We were not really eating lunch so after an hour on the trail I was really jittery and weak, most of the energy bars in my pocket had frozen solid. The one snack that was a quick energy boost that was not frozen were the magic cookie bars I made.

1 1/2 c grahm cracker crumbs (Crush and place in bottom of baking pan)

1/2 cup melted butter, (spread over crumbs)

1 can sweetened condesned milk (Pour over crumbs)
2 cups chocolate chips (spread in a layer over the crumbs)

1 1/2 cup coconut (layer over chocolate chips)

1 cup chopped walnuts (sprinkle on top)

Press down the mixture to consolidate the bars then bake 350 for 30 mins or so.
The result is a high energy bar that tastes great, gives you a boost, but does not freeze solid!

After a snack I had the energy to continue on. The trail was pretty and we passed by some great views of the jagged limestome peaks. Stoped to take lots of photos. We stopped to look at windy arch, a hole in the limestone outcropping at the top of windy gap. The sun was behind it and shone through the arch. When get got to the very top of Windy gap, I took my gloves off to take more photos. Including theses panoramics, click on each one to enlarge.

Me at Windy Gap.

Windy Arch.

The time had come to take off my skis and walk down. The team was ready to go, My hands were getting cold in the wind from taking the photos. It was very exposed at the top of the gap. I got my back pack of the sled and the team raced down the slope into the wooded trail. I was eagar to get out of the wind. The trail was steep. I could have skiied it but I would have been snowplowing the whole way and it would not have been fun. The trail was too narrow for turns and switchbacks. I ran part of the way down.

At the bottom of the hill was a dense mature white spruce forest. It reminded me of the forest around the hot springs in the Jemez and in some areas in the top of the Sandias. There were moose tracks everywhere. The dense forest must provide good thermal cover and make it a favorite hang out spot for the moose. I crossed over a small creek and came to a trail junction where I thought the sign said "windy gap cabin 2 miles." My heart sank, it was supposed to be right here at the bottom of the hill. It was only supposed to be a mile to the cabin from the top of the gap. I took another look at the sign, a branch was hiding the "." in .2 miles. Almost there. I found the booties Steve had left along the trail for me. I continued on to fossil creek, it was a wide stretch of flat smooth ice, no water. So I put on my Microspikes and walked confidently across the ice. It would have been dicy on skis.

When I got to the cabin Steve had a fire going and was tending to the dogs. the cabin was surrounded almost engulfed in overflow ice. I kept my spikes on for walking around outside the cabin and going to the out house. I would hate to fall and get hurt on the way to the outhouse on a trip like this. This was the most remote point in our trip. I took lots of picutes.

Dinner was burritos. We had frozen salsa, frozen guacamole, frozen mexican spiced ground beef, dehydrated refried beans, shreded cheedar cheese and whole wheat tortillas. Where is the letuce and tomato? Another good dinner. I could not finish my second burrito, I was too stuffed.

When Steve was walking around looking for drinking water he fell through the top crust of snow up to his knees in overflow water. It was between 10 and 20 below zero so he hurried inside to change clothes. I placed the icy axe behind the stove and the handle almost melted!

Cutting wood at Windy Gap.

Oh and BTW it is still windy!

2009-03-27T12:45:00.000-08:00

Day 2: Colorado Creek to Wolfrun Cabin.

Pancakes with rehydrated "Just Fruit." Too bad we forgot to pack a spatula. Steve fashioned a spatula out of a paper plate. I brought some of the Vermont Maple syrup that was mailed to me, but we forgot the butter. Good thing there was some Pam a that was left at the Colorado creek cabin that we could use to grease the pan.

It was really windy still and the trail was mostly in open meadow. I headed out ahead of Steve, but in the back of my mind I was thinking he was going to catch up to me and tell me he wanted to head back because it was so windy and cold. I was still exhausted from skiing in the day before. I was afraid to go too far, thinking he would want to turn around. I put my googles on and pulled my face mask up and skied into the wind. By the time he caught up to me I had skied almost 3 miles and my goggles were all frosted over.

On the first day my socks were bunching up and making hot spots on my arches. I tried some thinner socks, but was afraid I might get blisters on my heals so I put duct tape on my heals to keep them from getting blisters. Unfortunately the tape bunched up and made a blister on the side of my heal. This was going to make the rest of the trip a little painful.

Shike hates stopping. She yelps and cries whenever we stopped. She bites at here lead line and tries to cause trouble with the other dogs. Here she is trying to get me to hurry up so we can go.

The trail was pretty mellow without too man dips. There was one section of trail referred to as the ditch of hell by a number of people who have gotten snow machines stuck in it. I unhooked from the team and it was an easy ski.

We made it to the wolfrun cabin with plenty of day light left. This cabin was recently rebuilt after the former cabin burned to the ground. It is a nice cabin with plenty of bunk room. I think it was the largest cabin we stayed in. There was plenty of cut wood around it just needed to be split. Steve had an elaborate dinner with pita bread planned. He kneaded the dough and let it rise on top of the wood stove. The wood stove was slow to heat up, we were trying to burn green birch, but once we got some dry wood the place heated up fast.

Steve "Baked" the "pita" in a frying pan on the propane cook stove. It was good. We thawed the tomatoes, kalamata olives and feta in a seal-a-meal bag. I mixed up some hummus from a dry mix and we had tahini to drizzle over the marinated pre-cooked beef and chicken. Another delicious dinner! Spiced tea with rum and a chocolate bar for desert.

All Snuggled in. Trapper is a good cabin dog, part lab. Steve read some Aesop's fabels as I snuggled in my bag with a hot nalgene bottle.

Spring Break in the Windy White Mountains of Alaska

2009-03-25T19:12:00.000-08:00

For Spring Break this year I decided a backcountry wilderness trip would be a nice contrast to the not so sunny beaches of Hawaii. I went with a friend of mine from Fairbanks who has a dog team. We did covered close to 70 miles of trail in the White Mountain National Recreation Area. For more information about the area see the BLM's website: http://www.blm.gov/ak/st/en/prog/sa/white_mtns.html

Trip Overview:

Day 1: mile 57 to colorado Creek Cabin 14 Miles

Day 2:Colorado Creek cabin to Wolf Run Cabin 9 miles

Day 3: Wolfrun to Windy Gap about 10 miles

Day 4: Windy gap to Caribou Bluff cabin about 12 Miles

Day 5: Caribou Bluff Cabin to Wolfrun 12 Miles

Day 6: Wolfrun to Colorado Creek 9 miles.... Colorado Creek to Mile 57, 14 Miles= 23 miles total.

Day 1: Colorado Creek trail Head to Colorado Creek Cabin

We arrived at the trail head about 2 in the afternoon after a last minute stop in at Sportsman's Wearhouse to stock up on hand warmers. It was about a two hour drive from Fairbanks to mile 57 of the Elliot Highway.

We had heard several wind advisories for the high country, and it was a bit windy and cool when we started. I do not think I checked the temperature before I left. I just put on my facemask, neck gator, and pulled on my beaver hat and set out. I started out on the trail about 3 in the afternoon, with spring just around the corner the long days gave us plenty of daylight. I skied for two or three miles along the Colorado Creek trail before Steve and the team caught up to me. I hooked the quick release on my skijor belt to the bungie line attached to the sled and away we went.

The sled was heavy with all of the food and gear for us and the dogs for 6 days. I do not know if I would have made the 14 miles on my own with out the assistance of the dogs. There was a fair amount of climbing and several dips a gullies. I had to unhook from the team when going down into a gully, otherwise I would over run the sled or run in to it. On the way in the snow had drifted in the gullies along the trail and the sled go stuck a few times. At one point the team tried to turn around. I had to get out of my skis and help straighten them out.

We made it to the cabin by about 7 pm with some daylight to spare. Started to collect snow to melt for cooking, drink and dog water. Dinner was rice noodles with peanut sauce, cilantro, green onions and a pound of Shrip. Mmmmm. It was good. the food was one of the highlights of the trip. I would not have taken the shrip back packing, but it was good.

The dogs staked out at Colorado creek cabin. It was -20 when we got to the cabin and windy. It was a 3 dog night in the cabin!

I just saved a lot of money on my car insurance!

2009-03-03T15:24:00.000-09:00

Oh wait. I do not have a car. But I just did my taxes and I am getting $3,000 back! So it feels like I just saved a lot of money. Thank you turbo tax, you need a catchy commercial like Geiko!

Puppy

2009-02-21T20:37:00.000-09:00

I was gettin ready to go skiing when the phone rang. It was my principal. One of my students was trying to track me down. I called him back. "Ms. Lathrop, do you want a puppy?" I have been thinking about getting a second dog for some time. "Okay, I'll be right over." Of course it was at the last house at the end of town so we had too get all bundled up to go over there. I picked out a little girl and carried her home in the bibs of my snow pants.

Zoey meets the Puppy.

What is this ball of fur... it isn't here to stay is it?

Hey! That's my water!

Here she is on my lap just before she fell asleep and peed on me.

Just 5 weeks old, not really ready to be weaned yet, but they were getting rid of them.

Puppy needs a name. Got any idea?

Angel Creek Cabin Trip

2009-02-08T21:06:00.001-09:00

Last weekend while in Fairbanks for some Doctors appointments I took the weekend and headed out to a wilderness cabin with my musher friend. I started to ski in while he harnessed up the dogs. I could not stand around while he was getting ready at -25. So I got a good head start. It was only 3 1/2 miles into the cabin. After they passed me on the trail it was not long before I made it to the cabin myself.

On the way out I got to ski-jor behind the dogsled. I was being pulled by a team of 7 dogs. We found a stray dog in the cabin. Half starved and signs that he had been caught in a snare. The poor dog had been eating candle wax and living in the cabin for who knows how long.

Fully suited up for the cold, it stayed around -25 for our whole trip. We almost canceled the trip as it was predicted to get as cold as -40 to -50.

Lower Angel Creek cabin. The upper cabin was nicer, but was booked for the night we were here. If you get a chance, visit the upper cabin, it is about 7 miles back from the road.

This is the mystery mutt we found. Your typical Fairbanks sled dog. No collar, no harness, starving and wounded. Poor guy. Steve took him home and is nourishing him back to health. If no one claims him he may become the newest member of the team. I was willing to take him in, but it would be something of a chore to get him up here.

The dogs have good nesting instincts as soon as I put the hay down they started walking in circles to make their nests for the night.

My Beaver Hat

2009-02-08T20:07:00.000-09:00

I am taking a contemporary skin sewing class with a few of the local ladies. I have just completed my first project. A Beaver Hat. One of the warmest hats you will ever wear. Too warm for most days even in the arctic.

After plucking the beaver for my hat in her house, I guess I should let Ashley try it on.... But who does it look better on.

My fingers are numb from pushing the needle through the skin and leather.

So What do you think?

Flat tires and Posessive Principals

2009-02-08T09:10:00.000-09:00

As we touched down on the runway on one of my flights back to the village the plane tilted sideways a bit, as if being shoved by the wind. We quickly recover, and as we are taxiing down the runway the pilot asks me if we have a flat. I look out the window. Yup, the tire was damaged and as it was rolling it was pulling away from the rim. At this point we were traveling slowly, we did not make all the away down to the airport "terminal" instead we pulled in near where the fuel is delivered and unloaded the plane there. Ashely was meeting me with Zoey and her sled so she could help pull my bags home. She had to run about 1/4 mile to meet me when she realized the plane was not coming to its normal place. I do not travel light. Every time I have left the village since December I have brought my skis and all my outdoor gear. Zoey got to pull my bag and box of produce home.

There was a blond woman on the plane who looked familiar. When I went over to the school she was there talking with my Principal. She was the principal from Allakakett. (sp.) Over winter break I had met a teacher from Allakakett in Fairbanks. I mentioned this to her, apparently he had told her about our meeting, she said she knew and that He was very happy where he was, as if I was trying to woo him away to come here and teach. I asked her some questions about the high school, and my principal started acting possessive about me. There is high turn over in bush schools, some districts as much as 50% of the staff leaves every year. Theses positions can be hard to fill with the right people. So once they find a teacher they like, they want to hold on to them, but I did not realize how fiercely they would do that!

A few hours later the tire was replaced and the principal from Allakaket was on her way. Time for me to get to work. papers to grade and lesson plans to write after a long weekend away.

Quest for the Sun

2009-01-25T16:58:00.000-09:00

Blueberry Hill. This was the mountain I intended to climb.

The sun is behing those clouds, and that stupid mountain.

Rays of sunlight peaking out.

The North East face of Soakpak being kissed by the sun.

Zoey checking out the valley below

The slope above me. It does not look far to the sunlight areas, but by the time I got there it would be dark!

Soakpak Peak

Sun Dog.

Yesterday I had planned to climb Blueberry Hill so that I could see the sun. Although the sun is not hitting the ground where I live we are having between 4-6 hours of "day light" I will not got into the technical definition of day light, but I will tell you it is NOT Dark here all the time. Well yesterday it seemed like we were going to have good weather in the morning, but a storm blew in and it was snowing and windy, plus the surface of the snow is icy from the mid-January thaw we had a few weeks ago. I talked Colby in to going skiing with me, but we soon turned back because the conditions were just too crappy!

Today was better, only about -9 and very little wind. There were a few scattered clouds in the morning, but the sun was clearly hitting the hills. So I set off on my skis to the North. I skied along the north side of Contact Creek where there is a "road" out onto the tundra. The snow was still icy, but at least there was a dusting a fresher show to give some traction. Zoey pulled in the harness a little bit today, sometimes giving me a little boost, sometimes, pulling me off balance.

When I got the the valley where little contact creek flows between Soakpak and Blueberry hill, I decided the sun looked like it was hitting Soakpak a little lower down.

So I skied a bit further, took off my skis and put on some crampons and started off by foot up Soakpak. As I walked north along the flank of Soakpak, the sunlight on the ground also traveled north. The light was just up on the next bench. Each timed I climbed the next bench and the sunlight was just as far. I could see the sun hitting the flat plane below me and the mountains above me, I just could not get to it. I think I hiked about a mile and a half before giving up. I sat on a talus ridge and looked at the sun light peaking out from behind the mountain across the valley. I drank my hot coco, took some photos. Maybe when the Sun moves to the south, it will shine through the space between the mountains. I think I could have been walking back in the sun if it was not for the clouds that rolled in! Oh well. Snow machines past by in the valley below and I could hear dogs barking in the distance. But for the most part it was quite and beautiful even if I did not get to see the sun directly.

Unanswered Questions

2009-01-20T12:04:00.000-09:00

So I saw a doctor while I was in Fairbanks. He looked me over did some reflex tests, cracked my back and ordered an MRI. Nothing conclusive. He said that my symptoms may be caused by a number of things, some less concerning than others. It could be a pinched nerve. Or perhaps I am displaying the early signs of MS. Multiple Sclerosis, where the immune system attacks your nervous system. There is no one clear cause or test for MS. The DR said the MRI of my lower back was mostly normal, except for signs of Arthritis. What I am too young to have Arthritis. I am only 31!!!

So I still have so many questions, what is going on with my body?

100 degree turn around!

2009-01-20T11:59:00.000-09:00

Remember the Fred Myers sign that Said -49 degrees in an earlier blog. Well the Temperatures in Fairbanks were between -50 and -40 the first two weeks of the year. I retuned to Fairbanks to see and Doctor and saw temperatures rise to 54 degrees F above Zero!!! That is like a 100 degree change in less than 2 weeks. WOW! have you ever seen anything like that. I do that think Fairbanks is used to a mid January Thaw. At this time the mid-west and the Northeast were getting a taste of the Arctic air which had moved out.

Oh and I got to see the Sun while in Fairbanks too! Because of the mountains it will still be a while before it rises above the horizon here.

Mush!

2009-01-20T11:51:00.000-09:00

The internet is a wonderful place to meet interesting people. While I was in Fairbanks to see a Dr. to find out what is going on with this tingling sensation in my leg and face, I was able to meet up with my Musher friend. He loaded the dogs up in the truck and we headed to the Mushers Hall on the North side of town. Got all of the 8 doggies in their harnesses and hooked up to the line. I got to ride in the sled at first, then we pulled over and he let me drive the team the rest of the way. It was fun! It was warm out, about 40 degrees, what a change from the -40 degrees we had two weeks ago! We had to go kinda slow because one of the dogs, Queenie is old, like 12 or 13 and she has a hard time keeping up with the rest of the team. so we took it easy. No racing around the course, just a mellow dog sled ride through the boreal forest and across some open meadows. Note: Dog mushers like cold weather, below freezing because the dog shit freezes and is easier to clean up in that state. Mushing at warmer temps is a little stinky and messy.

There is sun on them there hills

2009-01-10T21:24:00.000-09:00

Soakpak to the Northest and Nunamuit (below) to the West are kissed by the sun's rays at midday. Although I cannot see the sun I know that it does exisit!

Zoey and I skied about 2 miles today. We found some well used snowmobile trails and followed them to Contact Creek. Trappers use these narrow valleys and we have been advised to avoid them. We would not want zoey to get her paw in a leg hold trap intened for a wolf or wolverine.

Last week in Fairbanks it was cold! Okay I think this sign may be inaccurate. I think it is about 10 degrees off.

A few days earlier the ice fog was so thick I could hardly seen the sign across the parking lot.

Am I a Hypochondriac?

2009-01-10T11:48:00.000-09:00

Okay, you should never send a hypochondriac to the Internet to find out "what is wrong" with them. Lastnight I tought I may have had or am having a mini-stroke. Long plane rides can cause blood clots, clots can cause a partial blockage to the brain resulting in tingling and numbness in the face AND the legs. Oh and some new medication I was using is known to cause blood clots.

So this morning I spoke to the health aide at the clinic AND an on-call doctor at the Tanana health Clinic in Fairbanks. They both told me that what I have is not life threatening at the moment. So I am going to wait until next week to go back into Fairbanks and try to figure out what is going on.

Maybe the numbness and tingling in my leg is just a pinched nerve, and maybe the numbness in my face is the result of me stressing out about coming back to school and not having a plan for the new semester and being freaked out about my leg. Most Doctors would think I am a nut case anyhow. I mean I swear that I have been exposed to and perhaps am carrying Haunta Virus, the Plague and Hand and foot and Mouth disease. And now I think I may be having blood clots and stroke symptoms. I think I just need a chill pill.

.... what's that you say, today is Saturday.... I'm going out to play.

Numb

2009-01-09T14:29:00.000-09:00

For almost the past week I have had this weird numbness on my right shin. It seems to be very localized. Occasionally it is tingly. I think I may have a pinched nerve or something. I am going to the clinic this afternoon to see what they can tell me. As I was watching a movie last night I thought my face was going numb too. What is happening to me? Does this happen to everyone as they get old?? What else do I have to look forward to?

From Hot Lava to 50 Below!

2009-01-06T15:08:00.000-09:00

As most of you know I spent most of my Christmas Break in Hawaii. I was able to explore the big island. The highlight of my trip was watching the lava spill into the sea. A huge plume of steam can be seen from miles away. At night red hot rock shots into the air when it explodes after hitting the water. I was able to capture some of this excitement with a long exposure on my Cannon.

See the tiny helicopter in the photo for scale. I think we were standing about 3/4 mile from the steam plume.

Stupid Camera Ticks. I used a flashlight to outline myself as I stood in front of the camera.

I made it back in the Fairbanks on Friday Morning, Jan 2nd. I am still in Fairbanks. It is so cold that the pollution and the smog in the air hangs of the city in a dense cloud of ice fog. The hills are a little warmer and cooler, but the city is in a still valley with very little air flow. I was supposed to fly back to the village today but all of the bush plane flights were cancelled due to low visibility.

I was afraid my week or two in Hawaii would soften me up and make it hard to return to the arctic. But I seem to be faring well. The other night I went for a five mile hike with a friend who mushes dogs. It may be too cold for the dogs, but we still manage to make it out. I was sweating and had to unzip my coat and take off my mittens from time to time to cool down in the -45 F air. You know -40 is not so bad when there is no wind and you a dressed for it. Just be careful when you reach for the door handle.... your hand may freeze to it!!!

After the hike we enjoyed some heat in the Sauna. I think the temperature was close to 200 F when I went in. After my body heated up it made venturing out into the cold air with little clothing, refreshing...

Crazy bird lady in Hawaii

2008-12-24T20:00:00.000-09:00

I made it to Hawaii without my bags. So the first thing I had to do was to buy some clean clothes. Once I got freshed up we walked the streets of Wikiki to take in the scenes. It did not take long to run into the guy with the birds...

I opened the draw of the night stand to find books of many faiths. I guess Hawaii is a very accepting place, a melting pot. Either that or they get tourists from all over... hmm no Torah or Koran?

This morning there was the sun, and the rain and a rainbow, this was taken outside the balcony of my hotel room.

Look me and more birds...

Look another Rainbow... We saw this on the way up diamond head, the a hike to the high point on the rim of a volcanic crater.

Me at the top... there were many stairs...

And a few tunnels!

Did some Geocaching... tooking for hidden trinkets with the GPS unit. Found and geocache in the park and while we were looking these birds came up to check us out.

The Golden Plover is a migrant from Alaska like me. They nest in the area above the arctic circle where I live, then spend their winters in Hawaii, they are no dummies.
Below is the red-crested cardinal. We also saw your run of the mill Northern Cardinal. Other birds included the Java Sparrow, the house sparrow, the house finch, the red-vented Bulbul and a white-eye, maybe Japanese.

Diamond head from the park below.... yes, I hiked up it.

And last but not least, the sun set!

I am happy to be in Hawaii.

Sweatshop

2008-12-23T11:12:00.001-09:00

Just kidding, here are a few of my dedicated students learning to sew in my Home Ec. Class. I will post some photos of their nice looking Atiqluks when the are finished.

Hawaii Bound

2008-12-23T09:38:00.000-09:00

Last night I grabbed a bite to eat at a Chinnese resuratnt and this was the fortune in my cookie!
Good thing I already had my tickets. All of the flights out of Alaska are booked! If you did not plan your trip at least a month ago you are not going! I bought my tickets to Hawaii in September. I was feeling guilty about not seeing my family and all, until Seatle got hammered by a major storm that shut down the airport. If I had bookea flight back to Vermont, I do not think I would have made it. Colby was supposed to go to Mexico and another teacher was going to Chicago. Neither of them have made it out of Fairbanks yet. I am currenlty in the Anchorage airport looking out at a gorgous mountain range! What a view! My Flight is schedualed to leave in about 2 1/2 hours.

Ashley and I flew out of AKP on Friday to be sure we could get out for the Holidays.

It was a fun weekend. We drank, we ate, I skiied, I soaked. Above is a phot of me soaking up the sun on the shorted day of the year on the University trail system in Fairbanks. The snow in Fairbanks was light and fluffy, the trails had excellent coverage, and they were groomed. Man I could live in Fairbanks... this city looks very livable. Except maybe the air quality.... many people are burning wood and even coal with the price of heating oil so high. A thick blanket of smoke is trapped above the city due to and temperature inversion.

Skiing across a frozen lake on the university trail system.

Ashley and I met a musher in Fairbanks. Here she is with a bear skin in his cabin.

Musher mitts are hard to fill. My what big hands...

Feeding Time at the dog yard. Mushing Huskies are much smaller than I expected. The smaller dogs tend to have fewer injuries to the wrists and such. They are small and fast. Together as a team they are stong.

Thanksgiving Dance

2008-11-28T15:23:00.000-09:00

Last Night there was a dance at the community center following the feast. Here is our Postmaster dancing with her daughter. She was a very animated dancer. Fun to watch.

The Drummers. I think there may have been 3 generations of drummers. It seems like they are all male. The Drummer are made on an animal skin, possibly sheep pulled over a wooden frame.

The litter kids were the most active dancers while we were there. We did not know what time the dance started, but we went over there around 9 and no one was there. So we walked back over around 10 and things had already started. Ahsley and I brought Tristen, the principal's son. Ashley sat on the floor and was treated as a bean bag chair by many of the little kids who were climbing all over her. Many of the kids assumed that becuase I was sitting next to a young guy that he was my boyfriend. When I insisted that he was not, I was asked if he was my son. Okay I am not quite that old, Tristen is 24 (I think).

If David Lang were an Eskimo, this is what he would look like. (David is a teacher at my old school.)

Even the High School kids got up to dance. Some of them anyhow. They motioned for me to come up. I joined them for just one dance, I followed what they were doing. Just bend at the knees to the rhythm of the drums and move your arms like you are doing the back stroke. It seems like that is what you do if you are a girl. I think there may be more of an art to it. Someone said each dance tells a story. Not everyone dances to every song, maybe some stories and songs are specific to certain families.

Blueberries and Cherries?

2008-11-27T12:08:00.001-09:00

I have never heard this expression before last night.

So last night we walked over to the principals house to borrow the truck to go aurora watching. Zoey ran off into the bushes, and we were trying to call her back as the truck drove away. Doh! Were they going out to the dump to look at the Northern lights. It was about -20 F with the windchill. There are too many lights in town to tell whether the Northern lights are out or not. So I continued on past the street lights and walked a little ways up into the tundra until I could see a faint green glowing arc in the sky. Yup there are out. A few minutes later the truck came back. He said he had seen a lady fall down drunk in the street so he went to the Police station to get her some help. The cop, yes we only have one cop, at least at a time, was not there. But he said the Lady who had fallen down was not in the street anymore, so she must have found some help. So he let us take the truck. As we neared the edge of town we saw the cop getting into his vehicle. So that is why Brian did not find him. Anyhow so we continue on the one road out of town. There are headlights in my rear view mirror. Is he following us? Yup, I kept driving. Then the red and blue lights came on. So I pulled over. I could not believe that I was being pulled over? What did I do wrong.

I rolled down the window. Tony walks up asking "Did you guys come to the station?" We explain how Brian was just there about the intoxicated lady. I feel the need to explain why we are taking a dead end road out of town. "We are just going out to the dump to look at the lights." He did not seem to care. I guess he just recognized the truck.

Small town, not much going on.

Oh well. So I guess they call the blue and red lights blueberries and cherries in Illinois.

Care packages

2008-11-27T12:01:00.000-09:00

This week Zoey and I got care packages from someone we do not even know! Ashly's cousin set us each a box of goodies. Cheatos, Halloween Chocolate, caned soup and some instant dinner kits.

Ashley was very jealous. Well now I guess she know how I feel. It seems like she gets about two packages a week from her friends and family.

Oh and by the way if you are planning on sending a care package soon with anything perishable up here, send it soon or do not send it until January. I will be traveling for Christmas. I will leave here on Dec 19th. So if you are going to send something and it is not quite ready yet, wait until after Christmas.

I went to the museum and bought some nice t-shirts and sweatshirts for everyone that sent me a care package.

Tracks

2008-11-23T17:08:00.001-09:00

Wolk Track in the Snow across Contact Creek

Wolf Track, Ski Pole for Scale

Ptarmigan tracks

Weasel Tracks (2 X 2)

More Ptarmigan tracks!

Send Chocolate!

2008-11-23T10:47:00.000-09:00

Supplies are running low... need I say more?

Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, Fruity Chocolate, Truffles in Chocolate, Halloween Chocolate, Christmas candy, Hershey's Chocolate, Lindt, Lindor, Champlain, Godiva, I don't care! Anything but white Chocolate. White Chocolate is not really Chocolate after all.

Please and Thank You!!

A knock at my door

2008-11-23T09:46:00.000-09:00

The other day a student came to my door with a gun in his hand. I was not home so he knocked on my neighbors door asking if they knew where I was. If I was living or teaching anywhere else I might be freaked out by this. Robert was looking to sell me his .22 riffle he bought from a student who moved away. I am interested in having a .22 for rabbit and ptarmigan hunting. I saw him on the way over to the camp, the one dining establishment in town, he turned his snowmobile around after passing me to tell me he had already sold it to some one else. I guess he needed the cash to put gas in his snow machine. While gas prices have dropped almost every where else in the country, it is still around $9 a gallon here in the village. People up here are outraged. This is where much of the country's oil is produced and yet we have to pay some of the highest gas prices?!

Students also look at guns on the internet at school. If this was not a hunting community, I would have get upset about this and report them. But here hunting is a way of life. I can not react the same way up here as I would in other schools.

Who's affraid of the Big Bad Wolf?

2008-11-23T08:50:00.000-09:00

I am?

The days are growing shorter and when I am out skiing on the weekends it is more dusk like as the sun is low in the sky. I know that wolf attacks on humans are unheard of. The caribou have been scarce around the village this winter and according the regional state biologist there is a large healthy wolf population up here. When I ski I skijor with Zoey she is tethered to a belt on my waist. Last week when we were out skiing down by the willow along the creek, we scared up some ptarmigan and I saw something dart though the bushes then cross the trail a head of us and climb the hill up to the tundra. It was dark gray. Canine like. Was it a fox? Was it a wolf? The animal stood high up on the hill watching us as we skied along. My heart was pounding, what if it was a wolf? I did not have my glasses on, they get all foggy and frosty when I ski so I just left them at home. I could see the dark outline of the animal against the snow but I could not make out the details. Zoey stopped to go to the bathroom and before we started up again she had walked circles around me. I was all bound up. Great we must look like wolf-bait, I thought. I had to un-hook her in order to untangle us. We went on until we came to the tracks of the animal that had crossed our path. The prints were as big as Zoey's feet. Could a fox have tracks that large? We continued skiing until we came to the ice where the river over flowed on the bank. Skiing on the ice I was slipping and sliding all over the place, once again feeling like wolf bait. I know that wolves do not attack people, but sometimes when I ski I am sure that I look like a wounded animal. At this point I decided to turn around. We stopped once again at the tracks were the animal had crossed our path. I looked at the prints again. The toes were dainty, but spayed out making the track look bigger. I have never seen fox tracks this big before, but I know the animal was running. I thought back to the wolf tracks I had seen across contact creek at the base of blueberry hill last week. They were big. Much bigger than Zoey's tracks. Finally I decided that the animal we saw was just a fox. It did not seem very wolf like to be hunting ptarmigan in willow and to run from a human with a dog. Would a wolf run from us? I am not really sure what a wolf would do if we came upon one. I have thought about carrying a fire arm to scare them off. I do not have a lot of experience with guns, but I think it may be time to learn. I asked some local folks here if a .22 riffle would scare off a wolf. I have been told a .22 would likely not kill a wolf unless I was a very good shot. Then I would have a wounded wolf on my hands. I do not really want to hurt or kill a wolf, I just want to scare it off. Any suggestions?

Pizza Night

2008-11-22T10:30:00.000-09:00

We have been planning this for a long time and finally this week I was able to pull it off. I had planned for the students in my Home Economic class to host a Pizza night for their Families. This was supposed to be part of their Mid-term Exam. However between student absences for Conferences, and volley ball, and me traveling I had put it off.

The students learned to make pizza dough using the sponge method as described in the Tassaharah Bread Book. (Not sure if I spelled that right.) Then I taught them how to stretch the dough, and even how to throw the dough. They had fun with that. They were smart enough to put clean paper on the floor in case the dropped the dough.

We reserved the gym, which doubles as our caffiteria, and got permission to use the kitchen. Wow, those convection ovens cook fast!

Students invited thier families, parents, grandparents, cousins, siblings. We had a good turn out. I think most studnets had about 3 family members there. It was nice to see the students serving and intereacting with their families. There were lots of smile and nice comments.

The kids did a pretty good job pitching in to help set up tables, and clean up after. Also I want to thank Ashley who helped me the whole night. Karin the principals wife also came to help me in the kitchen. She was a big help because she has worked in there before.

Fairbanks... Barrow... Lifegaurd

2008-11-10T22:10:00.000-09:00

This weekend the district flew us to Fairbanks and Barrow and back for lifeguard training. Thursday 5 teachers from the school, myself, the Giffords, Ashley and Colby left right after school. Here we are at the airport waiting for the plane. I kept asking myself, "Why did I bring so much Crap?"

Okay not all of the bags in this photo are mine... but I sure brought more than I needed.

The sun is setting around 4 pm as we fly into Fairbanks.

We all had dinner in Fairbanks at a little pub called Brewster's, nothing too exciting. But at least it was not smokey like many of the bars can be. The next day Ashley and I went to the Mall. The Bentley mall. We walked around for about 5 minutes before we came to the entrance to a Michael's. "Where is the rest of the mall?" I asked. I think there was fewer than 10 stores in the whole mall. I mean even Burlington has a bigger mall than this, two in fact! Oh well good thing I am not that into shopping. Next we head over to Jo Anne's fabric where I find out that I can not use a purchase order to any fabric for projects in my Home Ec class! What am I going to do? How are we going to sew?

Oh well, we have lunch at a place called food factory where they have my new favorite raspberry beer on tap. We are supposed to be spending the night in Barrow, so I forgo the beer and try out my new tea thermos instead.

After lunch Ashley and I head off to Campus in search of a Professor making movies about the tundra for students. We were unable to find him so we went to the museum. The University of Alaska in Fairbanks has a nice collection of artifacts on the native culture and history of Alaska.

Good thing we are not lost, it is about -15 degrees out! This hat I am wearing is very warm. I got several comments on my hat this weekend. I am not sure why it was so fascinating. What does Camo and rabbit fur not match the rest of my attire?

Totem outside of the Museum. Totems are more common among the South East Coastal people.

Polar bear and their favorite food. But if they can not find a seal they would not flinch at eating you!

Raven Rock.

After the Museum we headed over to Alaska Raw furs where they have a huge selection of furs. I am planning to make a beaver fur hat, which is said to be just about the warmest hat you can get. They go for around $250 but I bet I can make one for much less.

On the walls you can see Wolverine in the back with go for about $500 each, wolf pelts go for about the same. On the left are Lynx pelts. I am still not sure which species I will use for a ruff on the parka I am planning to make. Wolf is the most common, but Wolverine is a status symbol. Most people will also use a little beaver fur to give it a soft edge.

Okay, we need to hurry now. Off to the post office to mail out our packages, we also bought a new vacuum at walmart and need to get that off in the mail instead of bringing it on the plane. Ashley and I get back to the hotel about an hour before our flight leaves for Barrow. If we had left right away we would have made it... but we stayed and visited for a bit... then realized that Colby would need to get gas. For some reason he would not go to the closest gas station, but one about a mile down the road, then he can't get the gas tank open, the stupid lever will not pop the door. Then we miss the turn to go directly to the airport and drive another mile or two out of the way. So by the time we get to the airport... they will not let us check in

Oh darn, we missed out flight! But there just happens to be a Contra Dance in Fairbanks that very night. After rescheduling our flight and making arrangements for tomorrow, we head to Fred Meyer's where I buy myself a purple velvet dress to were to the dance. I had thrown my dance shoes in my bag on the off chance that we may miss the flight to Barrow due to weather...

The dance was good but the caller sounded like a middle school teacher trying to get the class to listen. There was a young crowd and some inexperienced dancers, but somehow we pulled it together and managed to have fun despite the frustrations of the caller. She made comments like..." Some people like to spin when they do-si-do, try not to let it confuse or annoy you." I think I must be one of those some people... I wonder if she found me annoying... Oh well. It was fun.

Saturday morning we had to get up at the crack of dawn... well actually a good deal before dawn considering the sun does not rise until 9 or 10 am. Tired and cranky we make it to the airport with plenty of time to eat over priced muffins and drink over priced coffee. There was no way I was missing this flight. We stopped in Dead Horse, where the airport for Prohudoe bay is. Workers for the oil field got on and off the plane here. We flew on a 737, only about half of the plane holds passengers, the other half of the plane is cargo. Although you can drive to Prohudoe bay, you can not drive to Barrow. There are no roads.

Sun rise around 9 am.

Sea Ice and Barrow lights.

So I am a lifeguard now. Okay, let me specify that I am a shallow water lifeguard only trained to work at my site. I can swim 50 meters without stopping, I can strap someone on to the back board in the water. I can walk in a pool while carrying a 10 lb brick.

Ashley in the Barrow Airport ready to go home.

I must have still had water in my ear after swimming. The flight home was hard on my ears. I think I may be developing an ear infection. I had a hard time hearing for several hours after we got off the plane. I hope this clears up and does not turn into an ear infection.

Starting off the week feeling sick is no fun! But maybe I am paying for a fun weekend. There is a chance I may be back in Barrow next weekend if I Chaperoned for the Volley Ball tournament.

Things are Growing

2008-11-10T21:55:00.001-09:00

In September I drop a good chunk of change of this contraption called the AeroGrow Garden. Basically it is a hydroponic set up that is all automatic and self contained. You buy these little seed capsules and pop them into the tray, add water, fertilizer tablets, set a timer and away they go. A pump circulates the water to each of the seed packets. As the plants grow their roots are constantly being washed with the water and nutrients.

Here are my lettuce seeds after about 5 days.

And three weeks later... salad anyone?

Good thing I have 5 lbs of carrots and a case of Annie's Goddess dressing to go with it.

Snow blow away

2008-11-02T11:43:00.000-09:00

At the begining of the week I was bosting of the perfect skiing conditions. We had a few windy days this week. I should not say that the snow blew away, so much as it has blown around, spliting and regrouping to form stiff ridges and soft valleys. This makes the skiing a little more difficult. The rocks that were covered by two feet of snow a week ago are exposed. The roads are hard packed and icy, but still have gravel expossed.

The end of Day light savings may put an end to my afterschool skiing anyways. The sun will set at 4:12 today, while there may be an hour of visable light after that, I don't know if that will really give me the time to get out. I guess this means no farting around afterschool. If I want to go skiing I have to just go! Too bad I have a student that missed school for a month and now wants me to stay after school to help her get caught up. Sigh. I guess I better go now while the sun is shinning. I think I will have just a little more than a month of sun now.

Send me you warm thoughts, and home baked goodies to keep me warm as I ski out on the tundra.

Pretty in Purple

2008-11-01T11:45:00.000-08:00

We were really bored the other night. We refering to Ashley and myself and Zoey. It was cabbage night. The night before Halloween. We had eggs, but the only people we might want to egg live in the same building as us. Okay I could have collected all of the dog poop in the yard into a paper bag, lit it on fire on one of the other teacher's door steps, but I have never really been the kind of person that pulls pranks. So instead, we painted Zoey's toe nails purple. Of course she did not even pretend to put up a fight. Isn't she pretty?

I think Purple is one of Zoey's Favorite colors. Her colar is purple, her nails are purple and her new skijor harness is purple.

Here she is using her harness for a more pratical purpose. She is hauling 48 lbs of groceries that I had shipped to myself the last time I was in Fairbanks. The post office is less than 1/4 of a mile from where we live, but I really did not want to carry that box back myself. Besides I think it is good to give Zoey a job. She seems a little depressed latley. I need to do something so she has a feeling of self worth. I think hauling a load is just the thing.

I wanna be a life Guard...

2008-11-01T11:10:00.000-08:00

Help help help... I wanna guard your life....

I can't remember the name of the band that sings this silly song, but that is all I can think of when I am getting ready for my life guard training.

Those of you that know me well may know that I grew up with a 4 foot deep above ground pool in my backyard. Because of this I never really learned how to swim. At least not well. Sure I like to go to the lake or the swimming hole at the river, jump in the water and splash around, but I have never really been a swimmer.

Last week, Brian my boss, comes into my classroom and asks me if I would like to spend two nights in a hotel in Fairbanks and go to a lifeguard training in Barrow. All I heard was hotel in Fairbanks paid for by the school district. Without much thought I said yes. Okay there are a few things you have to understand about where I live.

1. You can only get here by plane or Catrain when rivers are frozen, or apparently by dogsled. (The park ranger here told me that is how he first came to Anaktuvuk Pass.)

2. A round trip to ticket to Fairbanks is $360. You can carry 40 lbs with you then you have to pay $0.85 per pound after that. (Now they never really weigh you going out to Fairbanks, they Will ask you your weight point blank in front of everyone... and you better not lie because this could be a life or death matter.)

3. There is a hotel on Fairbanks called Sophie's Station that the district uses to put us up when we have to travel. The rooms are like an apartment that is bigger than my former house. They have a sitting room, kitchen with full stove, full fridge, sink and even dishes. There is a TV in the sitting room and one in the bedroom. WiFi. During the off season which is Mid September until Fairbanks thaws out, which I don't know when that is..., the rooms are only $75 a night. Most rooms also have 2 queen sized beds. This is where Ashley and I stayed when we were there for labor day weekend. Too bad the rooms were $180 a night then. We should have waited two weeks. Oh well now we know for next year.

4. My Village is Dry, I am not referring to the humidity or precipitation. Alcohol is not permitted in the village. You may not posses it, you may not bring it in, you may not be drunk. Homebrew is a felony. If you are caught bringing in Alcohol three times it is a felony. If we want to have an occasional drink, we need travel outside of the village. Yes it may be possible to bring in Alcohol and drink in our apartments without being caught, but it is not worth loosing my job.

5. Barrow is a town more than 10 times the size of Anaktuvk Pass, and it is Damp. That means you are allowed to bring in a small amount of alcohol and posses it. But you are NOT allowed to sell it.

So when Brian asked me if I wanted to travel I said YES.

Oh wait, here's a thought. Do you have to be able to swim to be a life guard?

Sort of. Well at first we were told that you had to be able to do the breast stroke and free style for 200 meters each.

Okay it is time to start training. Here is our pool:

The pool at our school is 4 feet deep, 2 lanes wide and 25 meters long. Luckily I am 5' 3" tall. So at anytime I can stand up in the pool.

Okay so last Saturday we go to the pool to see if we can swim, 400 meters. The answer is.....

Yes, but not without stopping. I think I could swim about 50 meters before I needed a break. I have never swam laps before and I did not realize what an intense workout swimming is. Swimming burns about 600 calories an hour.

I go back to Brian to tell him that I do not think I can swim 400 meters. He makes the travel plans anyways.

Moral dilemma: can I travel on the district's dime to go to a training and take a certification that I am not sure if I can pass.

I talk to Brian again. He insists that I go. Then he tells me that there are no requirements of being able to swim. Okay, a sigh of relief.

Ashley and I have been going to swim 5 of the last 7 days. It only takes about 20 to 25 minutes to get 16 laps in. It is a great work out and I am going to try to keep it up this winter so I can stay in shape... Maybe even leave here in better shape than I arrived!

So for Halloween I dress up as a life guard. Only in the Arctic.

34 below with windchill

2008-10-25T14:32:00.000-08:00

Sunrise: 9:54 am
Sunset: 5:47 pm

7 hr 52 minutes of day light

Losing 8 min and 22 seconds per day.

As I was getting ready to go skiing I met a few of my co-workers in the hall who warned me that it was about 30 below with the windchill. It is now -11, and the wind is blowing at about 15-16 MPH. Resulting in a windchill of -34.

I went out skied for 1/2 hour or so. I did not feel too cold with my face covered. Zoey did not seem to mind the cold either, but she was pretty frosty when we headed back inside.

Willow ptarmigan, something for Zoey to chase!

Skiing

2008-10-25T11:27:00.000-08:00

Did you know that Cross-country skiing can burn between 600-1200 calories and hour! At this rate I might be skinny by Christmas. Maybe if I do not replace too many of those calories with Chocolate!
Suited up and ready to go!

Sunset around 6 pm.

Zoey is always ready!

Frosty face. I have to take my glasses off when I ski the get too frosty. My goggles started to frsot over too!

Zoey and I skied out to a lake about 2 miles south of the village on Thursday. The snowmobile trails make good ski trails. They were a little uneven at first, but they have filled in nicely with the powder that blows around all the time.

On the way to the lake Zoey found the leg of a Caribou. Hoof and all. She proudly carried it most of the way home, until we meet Molly, another dog belonging to the Principal's family.

Chena Hot Springs

2008-10-25T10:55:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I made the trip out the Chena Hot Springs. This is a developed Geothermal area. Besides many hot tubs and a large open rock pool, they use the water for a greenhouse operation, to cool the ice museum and heat some of the buildings. Neat.

I always enjoy a good soak, but even at 10 below it does not take long to over heat. I can feel icecles forming on my eyebrows and my hair is frozen at the same time I feel like I am almost ready to pass out from the heat. I had thought about camping, but I chickened out at the thought of -10 degrees. So I got a room. Much nicer! So at the Alaska resident rate it was $120 per night for the room. And that comes with two days soaking passes. Not bad!

After relaxing the in warm water I went for a hike along the Chena River and up towards Chena dome. The ground off of the trail was really spongy from all of the lichen and moss that builds up on top of the soil. I saw weasle trackes, they could have been marten but it is hard to say without a ruler. There also had been some recent beaver activity.

Moon, Mountains and Permafrost

2008-10-25T10:29:00.000-08:00

Full moon at sunset hanging over the Northern Sky.

Senset to the South. We drove out the the dump for a nice view of the moon. I made zoey follow the truck for a bit so she could get a work out. Run Zoey Run.

Ashely in the deep snow.

Climbing up to a snow mound...

King, er Queen of the hill. I had to throw zoey down so I could be on top.

A scientist for the Univeristy of Alaska, Fairbanks is studying the permafrost. He has installed temperature data loggers at many of the villages throughout Alaska. I have been asked to monitor and download the data from our village. Here I am retriving the data logger from the frost tube. The data logger recorded a low of -20 degrees F last week. The ground temperature remains constant at 29 degrees about 1 meter down and about 32 degress .5 meters down. This is just one data point in a huge climate change study. It is nice to be a part of something bigger!

-15 degrees F

2008-10-15T20:59:00.000-08:00

This morning it was -15. It did not feel that cold, except for when the snot froze inside of my nose.

Sunrise was 9:15 am.

I skied for an hour around sunset at 6:29 pm.

We are loosing 8 minutes a day of sunlight.

check out www.wunderground.com/US/AK/Anaktuvuk_pass.html

I am keeping my spirits bright by skiing every minute I can, eating lots of chocolate and making plans to visit sunnier places.

I have also made plans to spend the weekend in Fairbanks, go to the hot springs and to a contra dance as well as go shopping!!!

Sewing and More Snow

2008-10-11T18:10:00.001-08:00

This week I spent all of my free time sking and sewing. I was planning on getting caught up and organized at school, but that did not happen. Oh well. We got about 10 inches of snow last night and might get another 8 more tonight. We are on a winter weather advisory. The volley ball team played Wainwright this weekend. We won, but I am not sure if they are going to make it home with all this snow! I was suppoed to go with them, but one of the other teachers volunteered to go in my place. I am happy I stayed here. I worked on finishing my Atikqlook, an eskimo snow skirt top. It is suppoed to be a cover for a parka. But I just made it to wear as a shirt. I put a small rabbit fur ruff around it. Makes me feel very fancy. White fur ruffs are only for women who have not had children, so I guess I can wear one!

I have been sking almost every day this week. Last sunday it was cold, windy and snowy. I My cheeks started to feel a little windburned. I am worried about getting frost bite. It is hard to cover your whole face. I have been taking the pricipals daughter sking after schoo. Bessie is 10 years old and she is pretty good on skis. Some of the other girls want me to take them as well. Maybe we can start an after school ski club. There is a lot of money for after school activites that was unused. I would like to ski with the kids until it gets too cold and dark, and then maybe do some crafts with them. There is so much to do, I have not been bored yet.

Cold spot and Ski Journ

2008-10-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

On Thursday Anaktuvuk Pass was the coldest spot in Alaska and I can't help but assume that means we were the coldest spot in the nation. It got down to around 11 F, with a windchill around -2. I walked 5 miles to the dump and back on that night. I wore a face mask so I would not get frostbite on my cheeks and nose. By the time I got to the dump face mask was frozen from the condensation of my breath. Even Zoey has a frosty ring around her head.

It is the first weekend in October and there is already enough snow to ski on. We had a storm on Friday that prevented the volleyball team from flying in. So the teachers got to eat the spaghetti dinner that was prepared for the opposing team! Good stuff.

Saturday the sun was shinning bright and there was no wind. What a gorgeous day. I wish everyday could be like this! What a perfect day to go skiing. The Fire department has a number of personal locator beacons to lend out for for people who are going out skiing camping. So we walked over and they lent me this $700 piece of equipment indefinitely.

I got all my ski gear out for the first time. My skis still had duct tape on them from shipping. I pulled out the ski journ kit I bought in Fairbanks. There is a wide waist band almost like a back brace that has a quick release clip that attaches to a shock cord that attaches to Zoey's lead. Ashely (My co-worker) watched and laughed at me as I got all my things together and got ready to ski, snakcs, warm layer, dry layer, beacon, GPS, Camera, dog poop bags, I guess I do not need the mosquito head net anymore. The net comes out of my bag. Keys, oh yeah I guess I do need those.

After a good ski I saw the Pricipal Brian and his family coming back from a snowy hike, so I went over to say hi and offer for Karin, his wife to use my skis. I get invited in for tea and carrot cake and play a game of Mancala with their daughter Bessy. Dylan, thier son, complains about math, I do not blame him. After a nice Visit I head back over to my appartment to change before dinner with Ashely. We make dinner for each other, it is tough and boring cooking for one all the time! We had chicken, salad and pasta salad. I brought over a bottle of Annie's goddess dressing... the best.

Dee one of the teacher's girlfriend hosts a sewing circle, aka sitch and bitch, but she does not call it that. I repaired a pair of Ashley's jeans that were ripped and started working on my Atichlook, a native style pull over. Nolita, Dee's cousin who works at the health clinic brings over the parka she has made for a little girl. It is so cute and has such nice detail work. Maybe she will show me how it is done.

11 pm time to get ready for bed. I read a chapter in Ingsteds book and turn out the light. The phone Rings... Karin is calling me to tell me the Northern lights are out. We had gone out a few nights ago looking for them.. but no luck. I knock on Ashley's door and get her out of bed. Then we go in search of the school truck. I got my lisence in the mail so I can drive again!!! We find the truck over by the other teacher apartments, we load zoey up in the back seat and start the truck. Colby, one of the teachers who must have used the truck last opens the door to see what is happening... I bet he thought someone was stealing the truck. I wonder if he called the cop or was going to get his gun. I think it is legal to shoot someone who is stealing your truck in this state. We drive away before he comes back to the door and drive out to the dump, 2.5 miles away. The lights from the airport can still reach the moutains out here, but it is much darker than in town where there are so many street lights. There is a faint greenish glow silouetting the mountains. We try to take pictures with out any luck. I will need to get a tripod set up for this type of photo. We get back in the truck and just watch the sky, the glow shifts and radiates upward as it fades into the sky. It did not really pulse like other displays of the northernlights I have seen. We returned the truck to Colby's apartment and walked home ready for bed.

Caribou and Jury Duty

2008-09-29T20:02:00.000-08:00

Caribou
So last night as I was getting ready to head over to the school to work on my weekly lesson plans I got a knock on my door. It was one of the other teachers asking if I wanted a leg of a caribou that had been killed that day. I took the leg and cleared off a space on my counter. The sinew is so tough. I am learning a lot about muscle anatomy as I cut the fresh meat away from the bone. There are tough sheaths of connective tissue that bundle the muscles together.
This is the meat after it was all cut away from the bone. Maybe 4 lbs?
Tonight caribou fajitas. I have the tortillas from New Mexico thanks to my land lord. I have a head of iceburg lettuce from the village store, and even an avocado, a few shades shy of ripe, but edible add a little salsa and we are cooking.

Zoey got a nice leg bone and was able to enjoy it despite the fact that a stray village dog was trying to steal it from her.

Jury duty

I think there is a lot of crime in New Mexico. Almost everyone I know who has lived in New Mexico has been asked to serve Jury Duty, I am no exception. But seeing how I was supposed to be there for orientation on the 26th of September and today is the 29th, and the fact that I am about 3 thousand miles away, I don’t think I am going to make it. That’s too bad, it would have been an excused absence from work and I could have visited my friends, but I do not think the minimum wage stipend they pay would have covered my travel costs.

Fred Myers

I just received a bunch a fresh produce from Fred Myers. Romaine lettuce, kale, broccoli, apples oranges, mangos, tomatoes, cucumber, carrots. I had a big fat salad for dinner. In fact I did not have room for the Salmon that I made. I guess I can have that on my salad at lunch tomorrow. Yum I need to enjoy the fresh produce while I can… I do not think that I will be able to get much of it when it is 40 below. It would freeze and get all soggy. I might as well plan on eating a lot of frozen veggies for a few months.

Care package #4 New Mexico Green Chile

2008-09-27T16:45:00.001-08:00

Wow that little flat rate box was packed with green chile. 6 cans of Hatch enchilada sauce, 4 cans of diced chile, a can of re fried beans and a package of tortillas. Kay even remembered that the former samosas were my favorite girl scout cookies!

Thanks so much to Kay and Paul Souder, my former landlords in New Mexico!

Sunny Day

2008-09-27T15:44:00.001-08:00

Fox tracks in the snow. I saw a red fox last week. For some reason I expected to see arctic fox here. No, I guess global warming is pushing everything north.

Today was a nice sunny day. I went out to hike around on the tundra and soak it in while it lasts, because it won't be long before the sun will fail to rise. Wednesday was the Atumnal Eqinox, the sun was up for 12 hours. Its all down hill from here.

Today the sun rose at 8:04 and set at 7:52. Almost 12 hours.

Zoey King of the tundra.

blogg worthy?

2008-09-27T15:21:00.000-08:00

well things have been busy around here the past few weeks. I have been trying to get out and walk as much as possible before it gets too cold. I am already wearing more clothes than I did in the heart of winter in New Mexico! Can't wait to see what January brings!

So in my health class we have been talking about physical fittness and I have been making the kids take physical fitness tests. They are not in as good of shape as I expected. Maybe this will inspire me to try to improve my own physical fittness and stop using the I am a busy teacher excuse for letting myself get out of shape.

I have been taking lots of walks, I walked out to the dump at the end of a road that goes about 2 miles north of town. Round trip is about 5 miles. If I ran that would be a good run. I have heard there are sometimes wolves out there so I have ot be careful.

I has been snowing off and on for the last 2 weeks. I think the snow may be here to

stay is is about 4 or 5 inches of fluffy snow out on the tundra. I might be able to ski soon if it keeps up.

I have found several fossils along the river, I think this one is crioniod, also known as sea lilly. I have also found some fossilzed coral. Who knew you could find coarl in the arctic?

Sunset on the Snowy Mountains

2008-09-12T22:00:00.001-08:00

It snowed again today. 4rth day this week. I wonder if it is here to stay. Hard to belive after picking berries last saturday it was 60 degrees F. Need to start thinking about a good winter parka. I don't know if fluffy down is going to cut it.

SAY ahhh

2008-09-12T21:35:00.000-08:00

So I was working at school late on Monday night, when I left my throat was dry and tight. My voice was scratchy. I waited two days before going to the clinic despite everyone telling me I was sick, I had strep, maybe pneumonia... or what ever is going around...

So I finally made an appointment and went over there. The guy working at the clinic is a little quirky, but nice. He looked in my ears and told me both my ear drums were completely scared over. I don't remember any other doctor ever telling me that. I know I have ruptured my ear drums, but I did not know they were scarred. Oh well. So he looks in my throat, and nose, yup they look red and sore. Okay. So let's do a rapid strep test. So he tries to swab me but I can't seem to relax my tounge long enough for him to get in there and get a good swab. I don't know why I could not say ahhhh and just let him swab my throat. Well he ended up taking three separtate tests before he determined that I did not have strep. Oh well, so he hooked me up with 800 mg of Motrin and I was good to go. Wow that really works... I felt a lot better. well the Motrin, copious amounts of tea, salt water gargle and the neti pot...

Rock Fishing

2008-09-10T20:14:00.000-08:00

In the fall when the rivers dry up, the fish are concentrated into pools and short riffles. The kids have a custom of working together to scare the fish down stream until they essentially have them cornered. They throw rocks in the water to scare the fish, and sometimes hit the fish and stun them. The most common fish in the river running through town is the graylng.

Snow

2008-09-08T08:13:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning and let Zoey out to find a fine white dust falling from the air. I think this is snow. A fine film of white crystals was accumulating on my porch railing. By the time I left for school the hills of the tundra looked white. I will post photos later...

Well the snow was gone by mid-afternoon. The same happened on Tuesday.. snow in the morning for a few hours, but basically melted on the ground. Last night it snowed but the snow line did not make it all the way down to the village.

Happy Monday everyone.

Plant Collecting

2008-09-02T20:02:00.000-08:00

In my Science class we are studying Plants of the Tundra. We have been learning about how to take field notes and collecting plants. Once we get a lot of plants we can look at how they are adapted to this cold climate. I enjoy taking my students out while the weather is nice, they are good for the most part, but they really like to push my buttons and push the limits. I guess the kids are not used to having limits here in the village. For the most part the people at school, mostly the teachers are the only people who tell them what to do. No one at home tells them what they can and can't do. Most students to not have a bed-time or allowance... they get a dividend check from the corporation and they do what they want with it.

AHHHHHH

2008-09-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

It is Tuesday Night, I have been back one day from a wonderful weekend in Fairbanks and I am already ready for another vacation. The week is almost half over and I don't have a plan. I have tests to grade, tests to write, homework to grade, homework to create, lessons to prepare and so on and on... and just not enough hours in the day!!!

I spent over $2,000 this weekend and I am not sure how. But I am pretty sure I will not need to go shopping again for a while. Despite this, there are things I forgot to buy... like hooks and a coat rack. I guess I will survive without. Today I got home from work... I have a freezer full of meat and salmon... but I did not have anything ready to cook because all my meat was frozen! Ashley had me over for dinner, what a savior.... dinner in a box. I brought over fresh veggies and hummus. Yum.

There are so many things I want to Blog about.... Rock fishing, plant collecting, my students...

I hope I will have more time soon...

I'll keep you posted if I survive this week.

Care Package #4 Thank you K. Scott

2008-08-29T08:03:00.001-08:00

Now I can make Huevos Rancheros... and tea... Zoey even gets a treat!

Unplugged

2008-08-29T08:02:00.001-08:00

The network here at school is about to be unplugged so I am going to have to haul my laptop to Fairbanks this weekend to post.

Running out of time to drive

2008-08-25T19:23:00.000-08:00

So my NM drivers licence runs out in one week. I was unable to get a licence in Fairbanks when I first got here because I did not have proof of residency. When I got proof of residency in Barrow I could not take the written test because they were low on toner and would not print me a test. I did just get my Alaska ID in the mail today... photo and all, so at least I have valid ID but Now I am in AKP where I was able to take a written test, but can only get a rural licence for driving in bush Alaska. What a heck of a lot of good that will do me! So unless I can get to a DVM office in Fairbanks before September 2nd, I will have to take a driving test in Fairbanks, and I don't even own a car!!!! So my plan is to get a rental car this weekend and drive around until my licence expires!!! DENALI here I come!!

Akpik Berries

2008-08-23T21:22:00.000-08:00

Things have been busy here this week. Last week before school started went for along walk on the other side of the John river and picked berries. I found a new kind of berry I have never seen before... the Akpik or Salmon Berry. Salmon berry is a common common name and caused confusion to those that may live in southern Alaska where a different Salmon berry grows. The Akpik berries, as they are called in Inupiaq, area yellow to peachish colored berry that grows on a single stem coming from a plant with 2 broad leaves. They have an almost peach like flavor and are related to the raspberry. They are one of the favorite berries of the locals. So I save the quart of berries that I picked to make Akpik Berry Muffins the first day of school for my high school kids.

School started on Wednesday the 20th. I am teaching mostly high school. Here is my schedule

First period: Health (14 Students)

Second period: North Slope Science (14 students)

Third Period: Algebra I (3 Students, including the Principal's son, and another teacher's son, both of whom are actually in 8th grade, and the former pastor's son.)

Fourth Period: Home Economics (14 students)

I have heard it said "Kids are Kids", "Kids Everywhere are the same." Well I had a great group of kids in NM and I have a pretty darn good group of kids here too. I did not know what to expect. I have heard some horror stories from some teachers in other villages, but so far these kids are friendly. They seem willing to work and follow most directions. We already have one successful field trip to look at plants on the tundra and write in our field journals.

I am really excited to teach the North Slope Science class, there is an awesome curriculum focused on the natural history and human use of the area. This is going to be a hands-on-field based class, much like the environmental science class I taught in NM.

Oh and did I mention I am teaching a packaged math curriculum to 4th graders for an hour after lunch? They can not even sit still for an hour! The whole time I am telling them to ignore each other, as they are constantly poking or sticking out their tongues or falling off their chairs. Sigh. This is going to be interesting. They are FAR below grade level. I had a long talk with the principal about the program I was supposed to be teaching them. I did not understand why they are not getting 3rd grade math if they are not on grade level. He assured me that if I use the curriculum they will come up to grade level because the curriculum spirals... well we'll see!

I'll post some school photos later in the week. Here's some more photos from the tundra for now.

Friday night in AKP

2008-08-15T20:27:00.000-08:00

Well after a nice dinner of Beef Stew, Ashley and I walked down to the lake. I saw a Gyrfalcon and a pair of loons. Well now it is 8:30 and there is not much to do... It was warmer today, in the 50's and now the bugs are bad. Little gnats getting in your eyes and ears. enough to make you want to stay off the tundra. Hope it is nice tomorrow so I can go berry picking.

Care package #3 from Jammin' Jenn

2008-08-15T09:03:00.000-08:00

Yeah Jenn! Thanks for sending the Jam and Pesto. I recived raspberry jam, black raspberry jam and a jar of Garlic Scape Pesto.

Last night I made chicken with the garlic scape pesto. It was yummy. I had to bake some bread so I could have something to put the jam on. I used half whole wheat flour and half unbleached white flour. It was the first loaf of bread I made in years and it came out surpisingly well.

Got to go now, I am in a meeting about grade level expectations, on ploycom we are watching a presentation in Barrow on a smart board.

Care package #2 Thank you Becky!!

2008-08-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

Today I recived my second care package. Becky sent me some homemade maple syrup from Maine. Can't wait to try it on Blueberry Pancakes! Chocolate is always good, especially after school, and durring school, and after dinner, and late at night... someone better send me some more chocolate this is not going to last long =)

She also sent un-breakable glasses... well they are not glass, so that is why they will not break. Yeah! Now I can have company and offer them a glass of water! (seeing how I do not have anything else to drink.)

Thank you Becky!!!!

Tundra Hike

2008-08-12T22:01:00.000-08:00

My last free Sunday before I really have to get to work. I was contemplating going to Church, you know meet some of the local town folks. But it was just too nice a day to spend inside.

It was cool, maybe mid 40's but sunny with a light breeze. It was not long before I discovered caribou Skulls and other bones littering the tundra. The bones were returning back to the earth, decaying in the acidic boggy tundra.

Picked a lot of Cranberries and Blueberries. Also there were Crowberries. There seem to be so many common names it is hard to keep track of what is what.

Crow berries Below:

After picking the tiny bog cranberries, each less than 2 mm, I called zoey back after she had been out chasin ground squirrels. I put her on a leash... good thing too, with in 15 minutes a lone male caribou trotted by about 80 yards away. That was a nice looking animal. I was too busy admiring it to take any pictures until after it had passed by.

About two miles south of the village I stumbled upon a little lake. On my way down to the lake I found some great blueberry spots. Yum. I almost stepped on some ptarmagine.... I can see how they would be easy shoot. They just stood there staring at me...

Shopping in Barrow

2008-08-12T21:09:00.000-08:00

On Friday we spent some time shopping at the AC Arctic Corporation Store, the only grocery store in Barrow... It seems like a booming town of 4000 should have one store... how they corner the market?

I Never thought I would see produce like this in the Arctic. We did not have produce this nice in the Adirondacks!!

Some how they can even get flowers up here...

And in the freezer isle... a Brand new Snowmobile!

Look, you CAN sell ice to Eskimos...

Vermont's Finest!

hand made parkas, some with fur trim.

detail of Embroidery:

Last week I realized how lucky I am to be in this Village. All of the other villages in this district use Barrow as a hub. Food prices in Barrow are about double of what they are in the lower 48. So people using Barrow as a hub shop in Barrow and they have to have their food flown out to their villages. I guess they could place Barge orders... but the boats can't come in when it is iced in.

Food Prices in Fairbanks are comparable to what I would pay in the lower 48. I can get produce, meat and even Ice cream if I so desired... I can place an on-line order for 10% they will package my food and drive it to the airport where it will be flown directly to my village. The Plane comes in around 2:3o in the afternoon. There are actually several planes a day... but I think that is the one I will use. I pay $0.85/ lb to have food flown in so for about $140 I got 5 lbs of meat, fresh strawberries, celery, taco shells, various toiletries, 5 lbs of Carrots, two bags of lettuce, a cucumber and an lb of Organic Bananas flow in. I am not sure what would have happened to my boxes if I did not meet them at the airport. I guess it is possible someone could have take off with my goodies....

Thank you Fred Myers Bush Orders!!!

Midnight Birding

2008-08-09T08:26:00.000-08:00

So lastnight I hired a taxi to take me out Cake Eater road. This road goes to the south of barrow, out on the tundra where there is a pump house for the gas lines that come into town. We did not have to go very far before seeing the first snowy owl

Not sure about this one, Maybe a ruddy turnstone or a sanderling?

Peregrine Falcon hunting from a telephone pole.

Dunlin?

Jaeger... I think I may have seen all three species while I was here this week. I think this one is a long-tailed Jaeger. I also saw Pomarine and Parasitic Jaegers. I saw some dark morphs as well.
Dark Morph Jaeger Pomarine Jaeger... I think...
Longbilled dowitcher?

Short Billed Dowitcher?

Duck Crossing

Arctic Dip

2008-08-07T22:03:00.001-08:00

No, I did not go in. Not today. maybe tomorrow.

Some of our group waiting in line at Pepes to get ready for a dip in the Arctic Ocean.

After the dip, which I photographed but did not particiapte in, we drove around. We got to see almost all of Barrow. We Drove out as far as you can go on Point Barrow. Found some palm trees, sort of.

The Point Barrow separates the Arctic Ocean and the Beaufort Sea. Here are some folks fishing in the Beaufort Sea.

Near the point you can find the most northern Airforce base and totem pole...

Hoary redpolls on a whale skull.