jam jibberish

Southeast 2011

2011-07-21T22:51:00.000-07:00

Photos from our 5 day sea kayak from Hoonah to Tenakee, and from visiting Caroline and Pat at their place outside of Haines.

Packrafting the Junjik

2010-06-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

Within the first half mile of hiking we ran into a small group of Musk Ox on the edge of the Sagnivarkok River. Sure sign... it was going to be a good trip.

We had just had friends drop us off at mile 350 of the Haul Rd (9 hours N of Fairbanks, less than 5 hours S of Prudhoe Bay). We had several days to walk up the Ribdon River Valley (named after a geologist - Don, who had a broken rib), then a few days hiking up the pass, crossing the continental divide, and then hiking down in the Junjik Valley until we found a good place to start paddling, then packrafting the Junjik down to the East fork of the Chandalar, into Arctic Village.. and fly home. Only Ed, who knows Northern Alaska more than anyone I know, could have dreamed up this route. We had planned 8 days, but ended up finishing in 7. Grand total - 80 miles on foot, 75 mi in the boats.

It was spectacular country. Long days, heavy packs, but in the land of the midnight sun there was also time to relax. It was spacious... spacious views, spacious thoughts, spacious time... just vast in so many ways. it was fascinating to go through the transitions -from the confluence of the Ribdon and Sag rivers, to the headwaters, and then repeat on the South side of the range. Day 5.5 we saw our first trees.

and for me, it was especially great to spend time with old friends.

Cutthroat classic

2009-09-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

Super fun trail race. It was SO beautiful!
Audrey is photo #54, I'm #70

The day job

2009-08-19T22:00:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to be, and still want to be, a national geographic photographer when i grow up. This may be as close as i ever get...

RAINIER!

2009-07-05T22:56:00.000-07:00

i celebrated my 36th by climbing Mt. Rainier with a few friends from the spring mountaineering class - Dave, Jill and Holli. We totally lucked out with a great weather window. Glad I did it - but it's a LONG slog, and crowded and honestly - there's smaller but way more fun climbs right here in the North Cascades. After Baker and Rainier, I'm feeling pretty lucky and am looking forward now to spending some time at home with the dog, and going paddling... (although Mt. Adams was looking pretty cool the other day... the mountains are addictive!)

MOUNT BAKER

2009-06-07T20:28:00.000-07:00

The best sunrise

2009-06-07T20:23:00.001-07:00

June 7, just shy of the Baker summit (10,700) at 515 am.

1st trip 'home'

2009-06-07T20:11:00.000-07:00

great visit to fairbanks for the gizzilo wedding. really nice to see you all. i realize no matter where I live, Alaska will be 'home' for a long time.

lots of quality time (aka birth control) with the 2 year olds - this is anna, kristen and ned's.

especially wonderful to see Carolyn and George.

Just a few more...

2009-05-13T22:11:00.003-07:00

because really, who else has this in their backyard?

Did I mention April is a great time to visit?

Baker or Bust!

2009-05-13T21:58:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a 10 week mountaineering class through the Skagit Alpine Club - great group of folks. A 3 hour class every week and an outing every weekend (mostly overnights) culminating with climbing Mt Baker the last week. It's been great so far, tho I gotta say the 5 am Saturday morning starts are killing me.

CLOSED!!

2009-05-13T21:38:00.000-07:00

dandelions and tulips dominate the backyard, wish i could say the tulips were winning in the incredible, but long neglected, garden. first project has been removing all invasive species, without roundup.
my favorite - the view out the kitchen window on a foggy morning.

Spring in Western WA - LOVE IT!!!

2009-04-20T22:16:00.000-07:00

Mazatlan

2009-03-22T10:05:00.000-07:00

a few random photos from a GREAT week in Mexico...

the feet just kill me, how ridiculous.
Frigatebirds!

pelicans

2009-03-22T09:56:00.000-07:00

I know they are everywhere, but still I just can't help myself from taking way too many pelican photos.
this guy was a total poser for the camera.

kitchen windowsill

2009-03-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

all the other bloggers are posting photos of snow and more snow making me insanely jealous... so here's some greenery to make you all jealousy... i'm off to a week in Mexico!!

40 years!!

2009-02-18T19:42:00.001-08:00

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!! I am the proud daughter of parents that have stuck together for 40 years, a rarity these days. love you guys, j.

the winter commute

2009-02-17T22:16:00.000-08:00

biking though the farm fields to work, lots of swans these days and the daffodils are just starting to poke out. in another month or so this place will be bombarded with people from all over the world biking and driving through these tulip, daffodil and iris fields. and this is my daily commute. i love my job, i love this commute. check back in a few months for more photos, i can't wait to see it myself.

Pineapple Express

2009-01-08T17:25:00.000-08:00

Pineapple Express is the name of this weather system where wet pacific air gets sucked up and dumped on western washington for days on end. It's a bit more than normal this round and most of the area is in a state of emergency. More than 60 major highways are closed, ALL roads to eastern washington are closed.. it's craziness. at least it's 85 degrees warmer than fairbanks! the backyard, glad i don't have a basement.
why is the neighbor's yard perfectly dry and mine totally saturated?
the ditch on the edge of my yard. this morning there were pintails, mallards, and gulls <100 yards from my kitchen window.
my boss' mother-n-law took this photo off her front porch, just south of here.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T21:10:00.000-08:00

a few photos spending the new year in NH and Maine...

Bryce's 5th birthday!
teaching abigail new tricks, yes table dancing!

AK weather in WA

2008-12-22T22:38:00.000-08:00

this weather is pretty much unheard of for this area - over a foot of snow right here on the coast. I am absolutely LOVING it, like a kid with not just his hand, but his whole head stuck in the candy jar... 20 degrees and snowy and bright - does it get any better than that?

solstice

2008-12-22T22:20:00.000-08:00

Audrey and I hosted a little solstice party at my house last night. Neither of us know many folks here, the roads were horrible... it had the makings for a lame night. But little by little folks showed up and it actually turned in to a fun little holiday party. Lots of bizarre little connections you would only find in a small town like la conner... Alex -Audrey's college buddy exboyfriend was here with his family who moved to la conner a year ago. Turns out he works with my officemate Jenny, who also came. Jenny's husband Chris went to high school with Scott - who I met through Yoga in la conner - etc. forgot to take photos (sorry mom) but i was very proud of my decorating - icicle arms and asparagus nose...

best batch ever?

2008-12-22T22:19:00.001-08:00

the tradition continues...

sunday am

2008-12-07T21:05:00.000-08:00

just shot this photo out the kitchen window while on the phone with my mom this morning. the abundance of Hawks in the Skagit in the winter is amazing, they seem to be on every single power line, but this is the first time I've had one on the porch. Sharp shinned? .

Deception Pass Dash

2008-12-07T20:57:00.000-08:00

I went and watched this grueling 6 mi paddle race today through Deception Pass. Basically you have to sprint the first few miles to beat the tide, otherwise you're fighting the current through the Pass and it's pretty much hopeless. I wasn't up for it this year but it was fun to watch all the different boats (surf kayaks, outrigger canoes, etc) and I'd love to do it next year..
i think santa was a bit tired.

Thanksgiving - NW Island style

2008-11-30T21:07:00.000-08:00

The holiday got off to a rough start around here - with Caz Z eating a full pecan and half a pumpkin pie off the counter Thanksgiving morning. So of course the pie fiasco led to your typical holiday emotional breakdown - which for me involves being ridiculously homesick for friends, skiing, and thanksgiving in DJ. But the day improved dramatically and I had a great meal/day with Steph and friends in Seattle. Then came back and spent a wet but gorgeous weekend on Orcas Island with Audrey. It was a great blast from the past, I hadn't been out there since I worked a summer there as a kayak guide in... 1993?? Am I really that old? Much has changed, but the island still has remarkable charm.

we did get out for a long hike, but with the wet weather we also leisurely enjoyed the great bookstore and coffee shop and got in lots of knitting. here we are enjoying the most decadent mexican hot chocolate you can imagine, stalling out before going back to a wet tent.

As homesick as I may be, I must say I LOVE the mornings here. After years of winter darkness in Fairbanks, having the sun rise @ 7 am here feels so decadent! This is our campsite, pretty sure we were the only ones camping in all of moran state park, not bad considering the unseasonably warm weather here these days.

we thought about buying this beauty for morgan...

the wet season is here

2008-11-16T22:20:00.001-08:00

favorite past-time in the office this last week has been checking the hydrograph of the Skagit river. Watching the predicted curve shoot up into the phase III orange flood zone is exciting, when you're in a dry office. The Stilliguamish - one delta South of here - flooded heavily, further upriver flooded, but mt vernon was spared.... for this fall storm at least.

in other news... Auds is here for a month. I'm so glad to have a good friend around, and she's glad to have a comfy place to recover. She just had a surgery last week, she donated a kidney. It's been amazing to see this whole process. The surgery itself was no big deal by Audrey standards (and thanks to the drugs no doubt). but she's had some major complications from the surgery which were not anticipated and were a big deal. Just hanging out with her in the hospital during one particularly bad bout of pain last week I was so struck but what an amazingly selfless act she had made. Seems as humans we have this innate tendency towards selfishness, but really Auds just proved we're capable of so much more.

Howard (the recepient) is doing great. He started peeing within a few hours of surgery, is eating black beans... things he hasn't done in years. I've never been so blown away by the miracles of modern medicine. We all of course had wished Dea could have been the recipient but it just wasn't a good match. But Howard has a young daughter and Audrey's gift to her is no less than if it had been Dea.

election night, la conner style

2008-11-16T21:48:00.000-08:00

a bit late, but a great story...
i was a bit disappointed election night. i walked down to the brewery to watch the results come in and see it live on tv. history in the making, how could there only 3 people at the bar? that is so la conner, dead. dead. not that i'm a big fan of crowds but i really wanted to be in grant park, not the la conner brewery.

so a few nights ago i went to a book signing event for a local author - tom robbins. (as in - Even Cowgirls get the Blues). He looked strangely familiar... If only I had known at the time that I spent a historical night with my neighbor Tom Robbins!

we have snow too...

2008-10-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

but only high on the passes, really it's just fall here. certainly no fall colors here to rival new england or the tundra in the brooks range in August... but still the larches really are beautiful...

another great weekend hiking with Steph in the Cascades.

come ski the methow!!

2008-10-13T20:58:00.000-07:00

why ski to mcgrath or ski to nome, when for the same price you can hop a quick flight to seattle, meet me and drive out to winthrop, WA where there's endless skate skiing on the east side of the cascades. Just discovered this cool little mtn town... it's warm, it's sunny, there's more daylight here, you can stop by one of several awesome bakeries on your way out, or the breweries on your way back into town... maybe this is what happens when you move south - am I getting softer, or just smarter? either way, you guys should come check it out. i hear there are cabins you can skate to...

seattle times

2008-10-03T19:15:00.000-07:00

Not everyday that I get my photo in the Seattle newspaper!

back to AK

2008-08-13T21:47:00.000-07:00

i had an absolutely fabulous weekend in Haines, AK for Caroline and Pat's wedding last weekend. It was a small wedding on their land just outside of Haines. They've built this gorgeous cabin entirely themselves - milled the logs from the property, everything. it is so detailed and beautiful, a labor of love more than any house i've ever been to. It was a powerful weekend - small group of great people, spectacular location, hiking, kayaking, eating, drinking... it left me incredibly homesick for Alaska.

2008-08-13T21:41:00.000-07:00

it was an all the crab you can eat weekend, caught right off the beach...

"tent city" - we all camped out in their backyard - 30 acres of gorgeous SE forest
hiking up to the davidson glacier - just a few miles behind their cabin.

moving in

2008-08-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

finally! the stuff i shipped has arrived from Alaska, and I am unpacking these days... it feels weird. found a real cute and charming house, in dire need of some tlc. renting for now, with the option to buy in 6 months... but my dilemna - would you buy a house in the floodplain??

no doubt the best part of the house is the kitchen window - looking out on an elaborate garden, and the Hedlin farm behind that (one of the farmers in my program at work, and I now buy all my produce at their farmstand a half a mile from my house). it also has a great sunroom, an awesome deck, 2 pear trees, an apple tree, grapes, and some really lovely 30 year old yellow carpet and mint green paint....

3:2:3

2008-07-27T20:33:00.000-07:00

turns out that's the perfect ratio for a fabulous weekend in the cascades... 3 cool women, 2 awesome dogs, and 3 bottles of wine. It was great to catch up with my old friend Steph Zador who lives in Seattle, haven't seen her in 8 or 9 years, but it was like no time had passed. Met up with her and her friend Sara from Port Townsend, and got in some gorgeous hikes at Rainy pass. SO glad to have Steph in the area, and around for future adventures...

caz posing in the heather. i must say this move has been great, as far as i can tell, on caz. and somehow thru the total upheavel of our lives -we've really bonded, maybe for the first time in 2 years.

Migration already

2008-07-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

I barely beat the shorebirds in migrating down here from AK, I wish they would have given me a little more time to settle in. The folks here thought they were hiring a "bird nerd" - instead they got me. So here's a quiz for my true "bird nerd" friends - greater and a lesser, or lesser and a kid? (for the non-bird nerd folks like me, they are simply yellowlegs).

OR restoration tour

2008-07-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

I spent the week (in the car again!!) touring wetland restoration sites in OR and visiting with some very innovative farmers in the Klamath Basin. Great week - travelling with 4 collaborators in the Skagit, seeing first hand some farms and wetlands... but I'm overwhelmed with my new job - SO much to learn. A few quick photos...

welcome to the cascades

2008-07-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

took a break from househunting stress and went out for a short dayhike in the cascades just east of bellingham last weekend with Nate and his friends. it was a great intro to the cascades - a whole new world to explore, i'm excited. the weather has been outrageously beautiful since i've been here and it was fun to get high enough to cool down a bit playing in the snow. many more trips to come i'm sure...
Mt Baker - a new fixture on my horizen here.

in WA, ALREADY.

2008-07-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

at the time it seemed like it would take forever, but of course now that I'm here, it seems like it was so quick. funny how time just kinda stalls out on a journey like that. 4 days of solid driving and I crossed the border late last night. Long enough to get used to the idea of leaving Alaska, though not long enough to get used to the idea of moving to WA. Even at the end I still felt pangs of envy anytime I passed a Uhaul heading North. Staying w/ a friend of Audrey's in Bellingham for now. Madly looking for a place to live, already poked my head in the new office, and still some loose ends to tie up in AK... lots to do.

Caz did ~ 20 min of her 360 crazies when we arrived late last night - if that's any sign, i guess we're both glad to be here. or at least glad to be out of the car.

Rhythm of the road

2008-07-06T18:51:00.000-07:00

early morning run today to mendalsta lake, S of Iskut, B.C.

From Smithers, BC (where they sell bubble tea, ohmigod am I in Bouder already?)

So is it pathetic that I like to stop at internet cafe's so that I can blog and "talk" to somebody other than Caz? Day 3 and we're getting in a groove. up early. coffee and drive a bit. stop to run. drive all day. late afternoon/evening hike somewhere. drive some more. stop late and camp in the rain. Slowly as it gets greener, more deciduous, the white spruce bigger... as I move South I can slowly start to pry my thoughts away from Alaska and focus more and more on the adventures ahead.

But it's so rainy here, I wonder and worry if I'm cut out for the Pacific NW. The car is ripe - 3 days ripe - with wet tent, wet dog, wet running shoes... Dea I'm pretty sure the smell would kill you instantly.

I have seen far more bears and mosquitos than I ever did in Alaska, I am driving away from that no?

On the road...

2008-07-05T10:24:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning at the hip coffee shop in whitehorse. Free dog bisquits with your breve. Man if I weren't moving to WA I would move here in a heartbeat, only my 2nd time here but I love Whitehorse. Great run on the Yukon Marathon trails this morning, and now just visiting w/ locals on a sunny saturday morning. Yukoners are so ridiculously friendly.

Leaving AK has been a bit easier than I anticipated - so far. But still I've had my meltdowns - driving thru delta junction (I resisted the urge to detour and say goodbye to the dogs, goats, and pigs on the mason farm), and again when crossing the border. The thing I will miss - more than the mountains, the tundra, and the coast - is the people of course. But of all of the goodbyes - none of them felt final. My friends there have become such a huge part of my life, I realized that will continue wherever my life is. I know I will see the people I care the most about again - it's not a matter of if, but simply a matter of when. Driving thru delta I was thinking of the history I share with Ellie... spring on the delta in our early 20's, Fairbanks, Mexico, Anchorage, she was the first one I called when I lost Kai, I even made her wedding cake... so much history there. but fortunately I realize that I'm not leaving that history, I get to take it with me.

That said, I already miss all you guys.
bear cubs on the road near Kluane.

stuff and more stuff

2008-07-05T10:17:00.000-07:00

i moved to AK with a backpack and a ski bag, taking the train across all of Canada to get here. How is it then, that despite getting rid of stuff on craigslist, freecycle.com, and daily trips to salvation army this last week, that I'm still leaving with more than 500 lbs. of stuff going on the boat South, and the car totally crammed with me and caz and more stuff??

MANO - the beginning and end

2008-06-27T22:29:00.000-07:00

13 years ago I landed in Anchorage - a young and niave 22 year old, and within a week I was shipped out to the Manokinak River for my first real job as a field biologist. Now, after a 7 year hiatus, I found my way back out to work there again the last few weeks. I didn't plan it that way - to make that my last stop before moving to WA next week, it just happened that way. Sometimes things just work out right I guess.

I've now spent my 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and... 35th birthday on the YK Delta. That place, more than a childhood in Maine even, has become a huge part of my identity, and holds an even larger bigger part of my heart.

It was nice to get back out there. But it just wasn't the same to be out there without the old cast of characters... DDM, JAS, CRE, ETC.... I would have given anything for one of Ellie's infamous solstice birthday cakes - even if it was made of cardboard! Fond memories...

Chevak

2008-06-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

I was shocked to see how much Chevak has changed since I was last out there 7 years ago. The biggest change of course - is there are no longer 4 wheelers running around with a row of honey buckets on the back - the village now has septic and water! It is now the largest village on the YKD, there is a new school, so many new houses... I felt so lost but in such a small and familiar place.

this image, more than any, i want to burn in my mind as one of my favorite sights in Alaska, that I won't find elsewhere.

YKD photos

2008-06-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

A few classic YKD photos for my friends out there that share my homesickness for that place.

2008-06-27T22:08:00.000-07:00

9:1

2008-06-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

20+ mph winds, rain, snow.... sometimes all at once.... Aniakchak's notoriously bad weather did not disappoint. A small sliver of mountains with the Pacific on one side, and the Bering Sea on the other side - it's no surprise this area gets pounded. But still, it makes for rather miserable backpacking weather. 9 days straight of this, and then finally it lifted and the last 24 hours was spectacular.

our first glimpse of blue sky in 5 days

fresh wolf tracks
small bear tracks. dan's team saw several sows with cubs, i -happily - saw none. this time of year i think they are out on the coast rather than in the mountains

camp at the base of pyramid peak. you can see the electric fence we set up everyday around our camp to keep the bears away. it's the first time i had used a fence - fortunately no bears tested it out but i must say it certainly helped me get way better sleep than i've ever gotten when camping in bear country.

FIRST MAGO NEST EVER!!

2008-06-11T10:09:00.000-07:00

we were out there to survey birds of course....
and this was our goldmine find - we found the first Marbled Godwit nest ever found in Alaska! People have known there was a small breeding population on the penninsula for a while now - as chicks are often observed - but entire field crews have spent summers out there and never found a nest. i even did a GIS analysis a few years ago and determined they likely didn't breed this far South... just goes to show how little we know about some species.
it was blind luck that we found it. but after spending so much time in the field trampsing across alaska's vast wetlands the last 12 years, it was simply the best going away present ever.

the caldera

2008-06-11T09:48:00.000-07:00

FINALLY, it cleared and we got a spectacular flight over the caldera back to port heiden. it was our first glimpse of the caldera in 10 days, Stan's (our pilot) first view of the caldera in several years of flying out there! For those of you that like bad weather (Ed, that's you), this would be a spectacular trip to land in this lake and float out to the coast. but after 9 days of backpacking in bad weather, i'm not sure i'm hard core enough for that trip...

Aniakchak

2008-05-20T22:04:00.000-07:00

there was a great story on the radio last weekend about Aniakchak National Park - one of the least visited National Parks in the country, and where I'm heading to do some field work next week. Only 26 people visited the Park last year, most of them likely ridiculously lucky geologists or biologists like myself. (Tho there are a handful of recreationists that fly in to the caldera and float out to the coast - sounds like a killer trip... someday).
It's crazy to think about what 'remote' means anymore these days. This park is only ~ 400 mi from Anchorage (closer than Fairbanks even) yet it receives maybe 1/1000 the number of visitors that go to the Antarctic every year. I've been googling it all night and have found ridiculously little info. Fortunately I ran into JJ tonight - he is the only person i know that has ever been out there. his only advice.... 'rubber and wool'. the weather is notoriously horrific, the bears dense... i'm excited to get out there.

Quick stop

2008-05-08T10:15:00.000-07:00

I made a short 24 hour stop in the Skagit Valley, Washington on the way home. Was there in time for the tail end of the tulip season, I love the intense colors. and the plush green of the pacific northwest forests...

a few more NH photos

2008-05-08T10:03:00.001-07:00

a week in NH

2008-05-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

watch out american idol 2018! here's spence - age 6 - singing one of my favorite indigo girls songs....

and we took the training wheels off bryce's bike - it was like releasing a captive bird into the wild for the first time. age 4 and he is a far better biker than i am. no kidding.

despite the unrelenting rain, it's been a busy vacation - first baseball games, planting a veggie garden, and of course lots of time playing with adorable little abigail.

spring - finally!

2008-04-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

funny how quickly things change... feeling way saner this week now that my internal circadian rhythm is a little more in sync with the world outside. got in two of my favorite spring things this weekend - skied all day saturday in a tank top, and sunday went for a quick float down the clearwater in delta. beautiful day, everybody was out, even ran into the masons on the side of the river! lots of geese and swans on the lake, but still waiting to hear my first thrush of the year - then it'll officially be spring.

enough already!

2008-04-17T09:05:00.000-07:00

a fresh 6" of snow on tax day.. now 2 mornings in a row the thermometer in the outhouse has been well below zero.. i can handle being cold nov, dec, jan, feb, and sometimes march. but april??

this young guy has been hanging close to the cabin the last week.

a bust, but beautiful

2008-04-16T22:10:00.001-07:00

All winter I've been looking forward to skiing the Denali Highway. We finally made it down there last weekend, but only made it ~12 miles down the road before we had to turn around. The wind was absolutely howling, and it's one thing to push through that weather for an hour or two - but we still had 30 miles to go before we got to the maclaren lodge. It was disappointing to turn around, but it was absolutely beautiful out there and hard to be too upset. I am convinced this is some of the most spectacular skate skiing in the world. But, being in the heart of the Alaska range - you pay the price for the scenery with highly unpredictable weather.

Spring?

2008-04-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

Last week, after a few balmy 50 degree days, I just assumed that was it. spring was here. I was so sure infact, that I decided to walk out to Colorado Creek cabin in extratuffs rather than ski in. Despite the overflow photos below, skiis were definitely the preferable mode of transport, and I was bummed with my choice. This week it's been cold again, tons of new snow - and it's the best skiing we've had all year. Who wouldha thunk.

I think the geese, like me, were tricked by the false spring. Rumor is they showed up south of town this week. What a bummer to arrive just in time for one of the biggest snowfalls of the year, and find there's not even much open water to be had in these parts these days. guess we are all fools for thinking it's april, therefore it's spring.

adrian demonstrating ski technique on the ice-then-slush-then-ice trail
evidence - even inai can smile with the dogpacks on. they try so hard to convince us dogpacks are cruel and inhumane, but then they forget about them so quickly.kyle's snohawk

an EPIC tour of the white mtns

2008-03-27T21:31:00.000-07:00

i just got back from a 4 day, 70 mile tour of the Whites.

Day 1: a grueling 24 mi ski into Wolf Run Cabin with a 30+ mph headwind, totally exposed. it took far longer than we anticipated and finding the windblown trail in the dark became a nightmare. For a while I was sure we would have to bivy out once we lost the trail. we finally arrived at the cabin at 11 pm (nearly 10 hours of skiing!)

Day 4: glorious spring ski - perfect trail conditions, 35 degrees and sunny.

we had it all. and that made it a fantastic trip. thanks audrey for a great trip!

if you read this profile map RIGHT to LEFT - this is our trip. I stole this off Ed's blog - he and Dan skied the same loop a few month ago, but in reverse direction. looking at the profile you may ask why we choose to go this direction.... a damn good question!

last day - audrey's 'look no hat' smile
we THOROUGHLY enjoyed relaxing in the cabins in the morning sun...

ski boots are simply not made for 8 hour days. we both had major foot problems.

2008-03-27T21:19:00.000-07:00

caribou bluff cabin

i think the outhouse at caribou bluff gets the most scenic outhouse award

auds demonstrating proper technique for chopping wood when wearing down booties

our easter dinner - curried asparagus - YUM! we went a bit on the gourmet side, rather than the ultralite side - and paid a price with heavy packs. tho aside from maybe skipping the 2 lb. loaf of bread from lulu's bakery, i'm not sure i'd do things much differently next time. you gotta eat well when skiing 20 mi days...

2008-03-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

a highway of wolf tracks on beaver creek
fossil gap trail. i'm now more eager than ever to do a float trip down beaver creek this summer, some very cool riparian habitat.

good thing we didn't see anyone for 4 days, we were dressed like we were going to rob a bank or something.

the trail out of caribou bluffs cabin

2008-03-27T21:02:00.000-07:00

this is a classic 'caz leave me alone i hate overflow and i'm tired' expression...

a long ways from nowhere...

the wolf run trail was pretty much entirely blown over, you can see why we had trouble staying on it in the dark...

who is julie morse?

2008-03-18T19:55:00.001-07:00

i gotta say i don't really get the whole facebook thing - people poking you and writing on your wall and sending you tea bags...what's wrong with good old fashion blogging? but this one was pretty interesting (or creepy, i can't decide)... the other day i got an invite to be friends with julie morse, and turns out there's a whole group of julie morse's out there. so these are the people that always steal the good user names....

120 ft. snowmoman in Maine

2008-03-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

Spence and Bryce - is that you on the webcam??? wow, that snowwoman looks mega huge mega gigantuous!! did you shake her hand and say nice to meet you?

+ 7 min a day

2008-03-14T15:19:00.000-07:00

it's definitely spring up here - you can't necessarily tell by the temps but the increasing daylight is phenomenal these days. this is Cyndie's new and very exciting solar array at the plant kingdom (aka, pk). i'm so impressed that she, as a small business owner, made such a huge investment in solar. her system cost over 30 grand and the bizarre thing is she still pays the same electric bill every month just like you and i. the solar power goes into the grid system and once a year (on earth day) she'll get a check for her contribution. bizarre system but i guess it does make more sense to feed the grid which is already there, rather than get a storage system on site so she can use her own power and be self-sufficient. anyhow, i started working part-time at the greenhouse again this week (this is my 3rd season working there, crazy how time flies), and this is just one of the reasons i love working for Cyndie.

way to go Phil!

2008-02-22T15:23:00.000-08:00

holy crap. 13 days. minus 60 to plus 40 temps. 2 ft slushy overflow. jumbled ice. glaciers. a thousand miles. totally amazing. i can't wait to hear kumi's stories.

Ed and Kristen's Susitna

2008-02-16T16:11:00.000-08:00

Trevor, Dea, and I all desperately wanted to get out of town last weekend so we headed down to beautiful Wasilla - to support kristen and Ed doing the Susitna. The Susitna is a crazy race - bikers, skiers,and runners going 100 miles nonstop on wilderness trail. You never know what the trail will be like, and what the best mode of travel will be - last year the bikers easily won in 10 hours. But this year the weather was brutal - intense winds,ground blizzard, below zero windchill. The race this year was won by a skier in 20 hours, and second was a biker - they were the only ones that had finished when we left at noon on sunday - in most years pretty much everyone would have finished by then. Unfortunately both Kristen and Ed were of the many to scratch this year, but both of them had epic 40+ mile skiis and crazy stories. Ann did the 50 K race and had a great finish - 4th skier overall! but her race was a 6 hr slog. I used to think I wanted to do this race, but I don't know anymore - I skied ~ 15 mi on the trail and was quite happy to come back and get some hot chocolate and enjoyed talking to the folks at the port mackenzie general store while waiting for them. But I really appreciate having friends crazy enough to do this kinda stuff (but sane enough to turn around when it simply isn't fun anymore!)prerace food pack. what's the key ingredient to keep your body going for 100 miles? fritos!
a nice protected section of the trail after crossing the little su - no snow drifts in here but it's narrow and hard for skate skiing
the start - this is the skier that won (by a huge margin), blow up the picture and check out his sled design - I think he's onto something here.
Kristen taking off. (of course in pure kristen syle - she was in the portajon at the actual start so everyone is ahead of her here, what's the rush when you're going 100 miles?)
snowbiking is crazy up here - the tires just get fatter and fatter every year. this is actually the tread of the tandom bikers, and they only had medium fat tires.
Ed broke a pole ~ 40 miles out. he did manage to find an old bamboo pole at a lodge out there but he sanely choose to turn around and ski 40 miles back with the short bamboo pole rather than keep going another 60 miles with that pole. (turns out carbon fiber poles don't just break they implode - far beyond duck tape and bailing wire repair).

skip the hallmark, but don't skip the chocolate.

2008-02-14T13:33:00.000-08:00

i'm not one for hallmark holidays, but since i'm such a choco-holic, i can't not celebrate this one. so here's a recipe for the best ever chocolate cake - super moist with a very unique frosting. sorry if the recipe is confusing, but really that's half the fun of it. i originally got this recipe on a post-it note from my grad school cubicle mate Trish, and it's always a bit of an experiment...
and sending out this photo for a good laugh from love-sick Martin in Nome...
i think this product is defective, can you get your money back?

yukon quest

2008-02-09T18:36:00.000-08:00

and they're off! only 1000 miles, and a couple mountain ranges to go...
GO PHIL (#6)!!! and Kumi - his handler, fiancee, and my old grad school office mate and good friend. she doesn't have an enviable job at these temps.

Ed looks great in white mascara, don't you think?
lisar's great frosty smile...

ben at work...

Cold Weather Cutoffs

2008-02-08T17:27:00.000-08:00

here's a few cutoff temperatures for understanding life, and exactly how crazy we all are up here...

1. Fairbanks school district: never.
(Nenana is a little more reasonable- school is optional at 50 below, and canceled at 60 below. Keep in mind, high school kids are just as cool here as the lower 48 - waiting for the bus with their jackets unzipped, sneakers untied, etc.)
2. Nordic Ski Classes and Races: 20 below
3. Yukon Quest dog race: never
4. Yoga classes: 40 below (yes, the yoga classes are indoor!)
5. Skijor races: 15 below.
6. Refilling your propane tanks: 30 below.
7. UAF classes: never.

I'll lost track of when this whole cold snap started, but i can tell you i haven't gone to any yoga classes for over a week now!

super tuesday in ak

2008-02-06T08:00:00.000-08:00

We may not have made the national news, but we made history up here yesterday - the most people to EVER vote in the Alaskan democratic caucus! by far. I know other states had to deal with major snowstorms or tornadoes - but the fact that so many people drove all the way to south fairbanks in 35 below ice fog to vote in a totally republican state with only 3 delegates... totally amazing. I had never been to a caucus before, and neither had most of the people in the way overcrowded community center - it was pure chaos, and a totally arcane system. It took over 2 hours, in true fairbanks sytle there were some very ornery and rude folks yelling "just vote, just vote already" through the speeches. People are just stripping off the layers it was so hot and crowded in there, until most of us were down to a tshirt and mukluks, big down jacket, wool sweater, hat and gloves all tied around the waist. Then each person had to count off, starting over in this corner, to determine how many people are in the room. Are you serious?? And then the fire marshal and police tried to shut it all down since everyone had parked illegally in the street (the parking lot held maybe tops 50 cars, but hundreds of people turned out)
then FINALLY we could vote - no circles to fill in here - just go stand in a corner for your candidate. And basically the whole room went over to Barack's side. it was very cool.
Fairbanks at least, is clearly ready for some real change.
skijoring last weekend when it was warm (well, 20 degrees warmer than it is now).

hospitality, fairbanks style

2008-01-28T18:42:00.000-08:00

Caroline and Pat were up visiting from Anchorage this weekend - and got to enjoy fairbanks at it's finest. Temps bottomed out at 42 below (yes that's only 41 below in celsuis) on Saturday night here in the goldstream valley. They spent most of the day Sunday just trying to get their car started. Fortunately Ed let us borrow his weed burner, a very high tech devise used to warm a cold engine in extreme cold. That's just part of the hospitality you get around here - in addition to the doghair infested futon that's only 2 feet from the drafty door, and the comfy blue foam toilet seat. and i wonder why i don't get many visitors!!

Long distance slide showing

2008-01-26T17:46:00.000-08:00

i finally got my antarctica photos somewhat organized into two albums - best to view them in a slideshow here .

if you want to see my commentary hit the 'view captions' button on the right side.
note to mom: don't try this on dialup! (photos are small file size, but there's a lot of them)

grab a cup of tea and enjoy this phenomenal place!

back in fbx mode

2008-01-20T20:17:00.000-08:00

No doubt, it is a rough transition back into Fairbanks life in mid-January - no matter where you're coming from. But from the land of 22 hours of daylight, glaciers, penguins and albatross... to... 30 below, ice fog, job stress...it just ain't fun. Best way to beat post-trip depression is jump on another trip fast - so I was lucky to jump on a white mountains trip with good friends this weekend. No place can beat the quiet, peace, and expansiveness of the white mtns - especially with fresh snow and when the temperatures unexpectedly jump 60 degrees from last week!

caz puts on a good chase with the dog teams, she stayed with these guys for a few miles.

sunrise from the porch of eleazar's cabin.

South Georgia

2008-01-13T10:23:00.000-08:00

South Georgia is a sub-antarctic island, out alone in the middle of the southern ocean (1000 mi from the nearest land); it was by far the most spectacular place we visited, no doubt the most spectacular place I've ever been in my life. The glaciated mountain landscape surrounded by the sea is dramatic, combined with mind-boggling abundance of wildlife - millions of king and macaroni penguins, thousands of breeding albatross, fur seals so thick you couldn't even land on some beaches. a few photos...

Ernest Shackleton's grave at the old whaling station of Grytviken
The museum at Grytviken
The huge (150,000 breeding pairs) king penguin rookery at St. Andrew's Bay. The all brown specs are last years chicks that still haven't fledged yet.
Elephant seals have taken over the abandoned whaling station at Stromness

Buenos Aires

2008-01-11T12:02:00.000-08:00

I spent a few days in Beunos Aires on the way home. As soon as I arrived some egyptian friends from the ship picked me up at my hotel and we went to an absolutely incredible tango show followed by a great outdoor midnight dinner. Next day I was feeling pretty sick (a sinus infection from the pollution?) so just enjoyed the really good Argentinian coffee and people watching.
Despite the pollution, it's an incredibly clean city for 11 million people. Driving around the city was interesting - very South American and chaotic, the largest street has 22 lanes - not that anyone uses the lanes.

The very colorful neighborhood of La Boca.

Ushuaia

2008-01-11T11:54:00.000-08:00

The motto of Ushuaia is: End of the world, beginning of everything. it's so fitting. seems to be the end of the world as you know it, and beyond it is a world that could only exist in your imagination. hard to believe the landscapes of ice sculptures are not paintings, the ultra-charismatic penguins are real and not cartoons... the stentch of the penguin and seal rookeries are the only thing that seems real, and that is all too real and powerful. It really is completely unlike anywhere else i've ever been.
Views of Ushuaia from the pier, a very quaint little tourist town.

penguin tv

2008-01-10T09:43:00.000-08:00

King penguins on South Georgia island trying to figure out how to get around the anchor lines of our zodiacs. This was pretty much a daily occurence, endless entertainment...

long journey home

2008-01-08T05:30:00.001-08:00

Back in the states, chicago at the moment. it's a long trip, but i don't mind too much this time around as i desperately need some decompression time. it's been a jam packed month - absolutely incredible, but also very little down time. that - as you might imagine - was most challenging from me. coming from living alone in a small cabin outside Fairbanks - to spending 24 hrs a time confined on a ship with 85 people. but it was a very international group (staff and passengers), it was refreshing to have my world so radically expanded. i really enjoyed some of the passengers.... in particular an older couple from south africa i wanted to adopt as grandparents and take home with me, and a small group of egyptians that i just spent the day with in Buenos Aires. the older folks in general were particularly inspiring - not the types to stay home and watch game shows, these guys were climbing hills, sledding down snow slopes on their bums, loading zodiacs in big swells..

I'll post more photos after i'm home in a few days.

Louie, the french historian, best zodiac driver, and everyone's favorite lecturer. I was really lucky to work with a really great and fun group of staff.

¡¡¡HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM USHUAIA!!!

2007-12-26T07:06:00.000-08:00

¡¡¡MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM USHUAIA!!!

2007-12-26T06:42:00.000-08:00

A quick post from Ushuaia while we are in port for just a few hours inbetween trips. I have no idea what to post - the last 18 days have been so jam packed with phenomenal experiences I can´t even begin to describe it. To top it all off, we´ve just come through an absolutely horrific storm on our way back to south america - hurricane force winds averaging 70 knots with gusts up to 90, seas up to 13 meters high - that´s 100 mph winds and waves 40 feet high!!! It was absolutely insane, I´ve never experienced anything like it. We were lucky to come through it as well as we did - the MV Ocean Nova is an amazing ship. We did have one passenger take a bad fall and break some ribs, fortunately that was the only injury. But it meant staff had to spend quite a bit of time on deck 4 stabilizing her, not a fun place to be in that kind of storm. We made all passengers stay in their cabins for most of Christmas Day until finally we rounded Cape Horn and got into calmer waters and were able to celebrate and have a fantastic dinner. Not a christmas i will soon forget! Fortunately the forecast is much better for our return trip the next few days. A few random photos, I have hundreds already and haven´t begun to sift through them all. miss you all.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!

2007-12-05T20:20:00.000-08:00

Shi's photo of a gentoo family on King George Island.

Still doesn't seem quite real... in a few days I'll be on the southernmost tip of South America - trying to get around Buenos Aires and then Ushuaia, with my butchered spanglish/portuguese - that nobody ever understands except me and a few brazilians maybe. And a few days after that I will be in the truely International waters of the Southern Ocean. Am I excited? I think so, but when I look at photos of S Georgia or penguins and albatross, it just all seems so unreal I don't know how to get excited for it. I know I am ready to be totally blown away - to stand in a place in total amazement - to feel like I'm hyperventilating trying to take it all in. I feel incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity - to visit this incredible place, now.

I will of course, miss spending the holidays with good friends and family. Can't wait to share photos and stories when I come home. Have a great holiday - relax, take in big gulps of fresh air and great company, enjoy for me!

Shamus is Dogsitting

2007-12-02T19:58:00.000-08:00

Shamus keeping Caz on her side of the couch, no question who is in charge here...Shamus (Audrey's cat)- is my first dogsitter, then Mytack (Ann's dog), then Logan (Nick's dog). One of my all-time favorite Fairbanksisms is the awesome dogsitting culture here. I must say - Caz is pretty spoiled, having never spent a night in a kennel in her life. She gets pretty excited watching me get organized and start packing. Kai used to hate my packing - he would stake himself at the front door, or if I let him he would prefer to just spend the night in the car and wait there to ensure he didn't get left behind. But Caz is very different - she seems to love it when I leave - it's just one big slumber party to her i guess. I am so indebted to my dogsitters!

don't worry mom!

2007-11-26T14:04:00.000-08:00

it's not my ship (tho it was on the exact same route). really, what are the chances of it happening again?
Incase you missed the news... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/24/world/americas/24ship.html

turkey weigh in

2007-11-23T18:08:00.001-08:00

Somehow, somewhere along the way (I think the first was at ellie and april's apt. in Anchorage?) we started this tradition of a formal weigh in before and after Thanksgiving dinner. This year, nobody came even close to Max's all time record (11 lbs!)- most of us came in around the 3 lb mark, but the grand prize went to Tom at 6, and Rizzolo close behind at 5 lbs. Wyatt obviously wasn't too fond of this tradition. This is the only photo I took all day - guess I was too busy enjoying the outstanding food and great company...
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

tolovana

2007-11-19T18:09:00.001-08:00

Another great trip out to Tolovana Hot Springs. How to describe that place? Maybe just the fact that I keep going back says enough. It's always a bit epic getting out there, tho fortunately this year was a beach walk compared to our new years trip lastyear. The hot springs are always a delight - even this year with the clouds and snow hiding the aurora. The cabin is always full of good folk, great food, and good cheer. It's always a trip of excess, this year was no exception (Trevor brought 90 little sausages - for 15 people?? and that doesn't even include the 3 tubs of yogurt, 12 pounds of granola, fruit and pancakes that were also part of breakfast). You might think a grueling 12 mile ski would encourage some 'go lite' attitude - but then you wouldn't know the insane generosity of this crowd. The gray photos don't do it justice - it was really gorgeous with the fresh snow. Check Dan's, Ed, Lena, or Ted's blog for better photos.
Dan, Ann, and Trevor on the ski out.
snow sculpture on the dome.
Caz is really starting to get into skijoring this year, she was great!
THANKS ED for coordinating another great trip!!

embracing darkness

2007-11-13T13:38:00.000-08:00

Blog maintenance here is suffering, no photos, i'm uninspired - let's just blame it on daylight savings time. It's hard enough losing 6 or 7 minutes a day, but losing a full hour - so that suddenly it's dark at 5, and feels like midnight at 6 pm - well some reason that was harder this year than usual. Anyhow I've embraced the darkness now and am spending my time these days watching lots of NG documentaries on Antarctica and knitting. (But don't expect any hand knit christmas presents from me - the documentaries are actually fascinating and I can't seem to pay any attention to the knitting) If you're looking for some more interesting blogging than this - check out Ed's blog this week. But if you want a better movie than Into the Wild, check out Shackelton's Endurance - Caroline and I watched it again the other night. It's just an absolutely incredible story, an absolute must see.

DJ weekend

2007-11-05T09:10:00.000-08:00

Check out Rachel's, Mette's, or Shiway's blog for the latest Wyatt photos. Fun hanging out with the girls, we never even saw the boys cause Dave got a moose. Shiway gave me a bunch of good books for my Antarctic trip next month - I am so crazy excited about it, but overwhelmed too.

big news!!

2007-10-30T13:53:00.000-07:00

Kyle's book

2007-10-26T10:02:00.000-07:00

Every Fairbanksan NEEDS this book! Kyle gave me an autographed copy of his new book - it looks great. Great maps and profiles, great photos (especially page 31 below)... I know all you locals think you know all the good trails around here and don't need a guidebook, BUT - I'm sure you'd be surprised and find some routes you still need to explore, and plus it's actually really nice to have a map and distances for the trails we know and love. It's an ideal book to have around for company too so you can just send guests off on a dayhike and can at least know they'll find the trailhead. It'll be available on amazon soon, perfect christmas present.

winter playground

2007-10-22T08:42:00.001-07:00

That dusting the other day turned into 6+ inches making for great skiing this weekend. Sunday I skied across the valley and up to Max and Mette's new place (yikes - seems like the baby is going to beat the house!) It's just absolutely beautiful here now with the trees loaded down with pristine snow and the sun low on the horizon.

termination dust

2007-10-18T19:41:00.001-07:00

somebody was excited about today's snowstorm.

Daveway Inn

2007-10-14T21:57:00.000-07:00

god i miss seward...i so miss the coast and the mountains, even the windy wet days. this time i was lucky and the sun came out for the afternoon, making it all the more glamorous. and now the hospitality at the Daveway Inn just can't be beat! See Shi's blog for more photos of the weekend.

this guy got in the way and ended our efforts to walk on the beach -
This trip reminds me I just ain't an Interior girl, I miss the coast too much. The drive home was a nasty 9 hour combo of rain and snow, but I pulled in the driveway and just sat in the car for at least another 5 minutes. Shi gave me some audiobooks and I was totally engrossed in Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven, haven't finished it yet but I highly recommend it.

lunch with wyatt

2007-10-10T14:39:00.000-07:00

I know I have a lot of wyatt fans on my blog, so here's the latest photo. They stopped over for lunch yesterday, as you can see - wyatt had squash. He also generously shared his cheerios with Caz.

Hutlinana

2007-10-08T08:51:00.000-07:00

The hot springs pool at hutlinana, on the left. Hutlinana is one of my favorite places in the interior. It's amazes me that there's a relatively pristine hot springs, easily accessible (only a 100 mile drive on a bumpy dirt road, then a 6 mi hike) that hasn't been developed at all. Well there's a big fire pit there, but really that's it. I think a lot of people use it, but everybody seems to really take care of the place. Audrey and I spent the weekend there - to celebrate her birthday, and get in one last camping trip before winter. We didn't exactly beat winter - good dusting of snow and it was down in the teens overnight, but it was a wonderfully relaxing weekend, and we had no problem staying warm in the springs.
Auds tried to teach me to fly fish, but it didn't work so well when the wet line and fly froze solid.
Sun came out for a gorgeous hike out.

Home sweet home

2007-10-03T08:48:00.000-07:00

Aside from flying circles around Fairbanks for half an hour before landing because the landing gear was stuck, it was an uneventful trip home. Sun is just rising here now at 8 am, but it gets dark about the same time - that should ease the jetlag factor. The dark and cold morning air feels so crisp and clean. Just had my own special coffee (thanks for leaving the cream in the fridge D+S!)on the floor playing with the monkey... it was a great trip and it's so nice to be home.

My favorite book

2007-10-03T08:34:00.000-07:00

It looked like Spilt Milk.

My neice and godchild

2007-10-03T08:26:00.000-07:00

I was so happy to be home and be a part of Abigail's baptism,it was really a beautiful day.

lobstah and foliage

2007-10-01T08:07:00.000-07:00

Fall colors are just getting going here, I really miss fall in New England. Got my Maine fix this weekend with a bike ride up Evan's Notch and lobstah dinnah with my folks - great weekend.

Spence on the guitar

2007-09-26T14:34:00.000-07:00

Music and lyrics all written by Spence, age 6. Isn't he amazing?? And here he is playing with Rob - his guitar teacher, and Bob Marley in the background...

NH visit

2007-09-24T07:18:00.001-07:00

she's just absolutely adorable...

Bryce is the bug kid, he also loves to take pictures - as you can see he's a very artsy photographer -

The colors are starting to change here, i had forgotten just how red the sugar maples are. I discovered this lily pond close to their house, why is it all boys are obsessed with throwing rocks into water?

Guitar lessons

2007-09-23T16:24:00.000-07:00

why won't my video load???