3:2:3

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

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

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

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.

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

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...

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

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

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

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

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

9:1

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!!

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

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...