Wrangell-St. Elias

Since Mike was visiting from the Florida Keys (and soon to be an inhabitant of Yellowknife, NWT!!), I thought, "What better time to take some time off work and explore an unknown area??" So off we went to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. W-St. E. is the nation's largest National Park, yet only receives about 40,000 visitors a year (which is something like a tenth of what Denali sees). Four mountain ranges converge in the park, so you can only imagine the incredible views. I would recommend that everyone go see this place, but I do like that it's not disturbed...so maybe I won't recommend it.

We accessed the park via the "usual" route - the McCarthy Road, 60 miles of gravel road from Chitna to McCarthy. Expect washboards and potholes, but don't believe the tour books (they tell you to have two spare tires - the road isn't that bad, it's like the road to Child's Glacier and the Million Dollar Bridge outside of Cordova). And don't expect the ice cream store at mile 44.2 to be open. That was a disappointment. Anyway, we went to Kennecott Mine in Kennicott, Alaska (a clerical error led to the misspelling of the mine's name), and then took a hike up towards Bonanza Mine. We ran out of time and had to turn back around near tree line, but it's one heck of a hike with awesome views the whole way! Then we explored the town of McCarthy (Kennicott and McCarthy are about 5 miles apart, but you can't drive between them - a narrow footbridge is the only thing connecting the two over the raging Kennicott River), and that place surpasses Seward as my favorite Alaskan city. It's quaint, has tons of dogs, everyone knows each other (and the dogs), and sits in the most spectacular landscape I've ever seen. And it was sunny (and hot!) the entire time we were there. :) Two thumbs way up for W-St. E/Kennicott/McCarthy!

(I have pics, but will have to upload them later...)

The 2007 Harriman Expedition

In 1899, the first explorers (that I know of anyway) of what is now called Harriman Fiord saw glaciers, marine life, etc. Can't say much has changed since then in Harriman, except that the glaciers have drastically receded. Well, that, and we arrived via water taxi with our polypro and waterproof clothing, bear cans, and plastic kayaks. See?

Anyway, my friend, Mike, joined Val, Brent (together, Valent), Jenn, Alison, Ron, and myself for a 5 day trip. We spent our first night at Black Sands Beach, which allows campers to watch not one, not two, but THREE tidewater glaciers calve...all night. Coxe, Barry, and Cascade Glaciers put on quite a show for us (and the couple of black bears who joined us near camp). The second day (first full day) we were greeted by sunshine. Sun in Prince William Sound?!?! What a gorgeous day it was! We paddled past Serpentine Glacier (if anyone can tell me why/how it's covered in sediment, I'll buy you something really cool) and headed toward Surprise Glacier. That's when I snapped this photo:

After arriving at Toboggan Beach (our camp), I learned that Brent had proposed to Val (and she said YES!) just before this picture was taken. Not too shabby a place to get engaged, eh? (By the way, this was followed by a rainbow sighting, and two harbor porpoise, seals and sea otters swimming by!) A total surprise in front of Surprise Glacier...this called for a celebration! Congrats Valent!

Sometime that night the sun was again hidden by clouds and it rained the entire next day. Mike and I managed to get out for a wet, windy paddle. It's still fun to paddle in crappy weather...and then dry your stuff out near a fire. We had overcast skies, and even a little sun (no more rain!) the rest of the trip - perfect paddling conditions. I'll definitely be heading back to Harriman in the future.

Mud Pie

A biking/camping trip in Denali in May = mud/snow/hail/sleet = good times! And you know what else equals good times? Try driving 4+ hours, setting up your tent in the rain, and then realizing that you'd forgotten to pack your sleeping bag. Doh!! Luckily, I have some super duper friends, and they were kind enough to loan me a bag while they cuddled up with one bag and a spare blanket. Let's just say no one really slept that well. We scored an extra sleeping bag the next day, though, so at least I didn't have to endure taunts much past the first morning. The biking was fantastic...if you were in the right mental state, i.e. crazy. I'd packed layers and was essentially waterproof, and turns out, that was enough to make the ride enjoyable. We rode about 10 miles uphill to Sable Pass Summit, took a lunch break in hail. Hail?! Yes, hail. Then the ride back was a total mud fest. This pic was taken on the way home. I like it b/c my teeth look really white as compared to the rest of me. :) Flossing does pay off! Anyway, if you ever get the chance to bike in Denali before the tourists arrive, go for it. Just remember your sleeping bag and your waterproof clothing!

Whale of a Time

I flew down to Juneau for the annual Alaska Coastal Management Program conference last week. I took it upon myself, as a steward of the environment and protector of all things coastal, to invite myself for a fishing and whale watching expedition on my friend's skiff...you know, to check up on the coast and stuff. We just so happened to have some King salmon fishing gear aboard, and we just so happened to come across a feeding whale in the harbor. Although we didn't land any Kings (yet), we had a close encounter with a feeding humpback. While in about 15 feet of water we realized that we were atop a big ball of herring (i.e. whale food) and the whale was headed right for it. Quick math - 15 feet of water doesn't give much wiggle room if a whale is under the boat. While I was pretty excited about the prospect of being bumped by a whale (we were about 10 feet from shore), my friend, claiming he was protecting me...and his expensive fishing gear, started stomping on the bottom of the boat just in case the running engine wasn't enough to scare the whale away from us. We never got bumped, but I did snap this picture as the whale went on his merry herring-eating way.

After returning to Anchorage from Juneau, I decided to try out my backcountry tele skillz. Four of us hiked up Ptarmigan, in Anchorage's front range, and skied down some sweet soft corn. This was my second backcountry trip and it was infinitely better than my first experience. I'd like to think its because I improved, but since I hadn't actually skied at all between my two backcountry trips, I guess I can only thank the snow Gods for soft corn. This is a picture of my lines (may have to click on it to enlarge the lines) - yeah, the slope looks pathetic, but believe me, it looked steeper in person. I swear.

Fairbanks or Bust

My friend Jenn and I took an excursion up to Fairbanks a few weekends ago (we had a three day weekend thanks to Seward's Day, neener neener). The 6+ hour drive up there was enough to make the trip worthwhile - check out the scenery!! There are caribou in the foreground of the mountains!! I was in the car on the side of the highway when I snapped that photo. Crazy, eh? But once we got to Fairbanks the real adventures began. We kicked off the first night at Chena Hot Springs. Can't say it was the best experience, though it's been my only hot spring experience. Imagine a REALLY hot pool, solitude under the steam...and then add about 30 drunk teenagers yelling profanities. Ugh! I'd been hoping to see the aurora while in the hot springs, but by the time the Spring Break MTV-style party made it to the pool I was hoping that the aurora would save their show for another time since I kinda wanted to enjoy the experience. Punk teenagers. Anyway, when we got back to my buddy's cabin, we were standing outside (in -20 degrees!!) brushing our teeth (Tom doesn't have plumbing, which turned out to be a blessing) when I heard Tom yell, "Hey! The northern lights are out!" I'd been dreaming of this moment! I look up and see a light green streak running all the way across the sky (which is BIG in Fbanks b/c there aren't mountains nearby). Then it starts to grow, pulsate, swirl, drop like rain, and break into separate bands all doing their own dance. Then parts turn yellow, pink, purple. It was like watching music. So we stood with our eyes looking up and our mouths hanging down for about 15 minutes. Then the show ended we gave it a standing ovation and hit the sack. What a way to end our first day in Fairbanks!

Then the next day Jenn and I visited some friends who have a recreational dog team. Dog mushing is incredibly popular in Fbanks - there are trails and dogs everywhere. Jenn and I were each personally chauffeured by 10 huskies around the trail system and under the pipeline! This was our view for the ride. After a few beers (like we did ANY work warranting a beer) we bid farewell to our new furry friends (not you guys, Carrie and Duff) and visited the World Championship Ice Carving contest. I'll have to post some pics of some of those sculptures - they were really amazing. Unfortunately, more punk teenagers - they seem to run rampant in Fbanks - ran around destroying about 20% of the sculptures, including totally destroying the best one there. By the way, if you ever make it up to Fbanks for the ice sculptures, you MUST find the ice slides. We must have spent upwards of an hour in -25 degrees playing on those things. They don't look very fast, but don't be fooled. I don't do well in that kind of cold, so you know those slides were ridiculously fun because I never once noticed the cold! Thanks Tom, Carrie, Duff, and all the doggies - we had fun!