Aniakchak

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

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

a week in NH

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!

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!

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

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?

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

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.

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...

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

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?

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

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

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.