Alyeska

Here are some views of Alyeska Ski Resort south of Anchorage. We took the tram up to the top to eat lunch at one of the restaurants. It was such a gorgeous day, we wished we all know how to ski!

Turnagain Arm

One day we followed part of the Seward Highway south from Anchorage to the Alyeska ski resort. The body of water that flows from the Gulf of Alaska northward to Anchorage is called Cook Inlet, named for the famous English explorer Capt. James Cook. Capt. Cook took his ships up the inlet in search of an illusive Northwest Passage. He was fooled once by sailing up a wide passage called the Knik Arm. It was a deadend. He was fooled again by trying another passage, ended up turning his ships around again. Thus, this waterway became known as Turnagain Arm.

We drove along Turnagain Arm and were amazed at what we saw on another clear day in Alaska. The mountains were clearly visible surrounding us. We saw valleys shaped like a "U," which means they were carved out by glaciers. In the distance we saw Augustine Volcano (4,134ft/1260m), an active volcano last erupting in January 2006 and often causing the Anchorage airport to shut down when it spews ash and steam. Nothing happening when we were watching, thank goodness.

We looked out over the water, but saw "chunky ice soup" with circular ice pads scattered here and there. Seeing many pull-off places to stop and look, we decided to stop and take some photos. To our amazement, when we got out of the car, we discovered the ice soup was moving very quickly inland. You did not see the movement just looking out the van window. We couldn't believe how fast the ice was moving. It made a quiet shushing sound as it moved. We concluded that this was the tide coming in. This body of water is known for its "bore tides," which are the second highest tides in North America. Sometimes the tides come in so fast, they come in as a wall of water. We were so curious as to how fast the ice soup was moving! Some of us guessed 20mph, 30mph, 10mph. We hopped into the van and tried to slowly start moving, so we could match the speed of the water to the speedometer. Not very scientific. Not very accurate, I bet. The ice soup seemed to stop moving at 3 mph! I read later that the water can move 10-15mph. Maybe the ice topping made a difference.

On our return trip about three hours later, we stopped the van again. The water had reversed! It was moving just as quickly in the opposite direction as the tide was going out. Just amazing. We will have to return someday to explore the Seward Highway in warm weather. This is a great place, I understand, to see beluga whales and lots of other wildlife on the Kenai Peninsula.

Alaska Railroad, Part 6

As we looked down hundreds of feet into deep gorges, it was interesting to see places in the frozen river where water was running clear and cold. Can spring be around the corner for Alaska? I say yes - that sun is strong and warmer everyday.

Alaska Railroad, Part 5

Snow blowing off a mountaintop, and another gorgeous mountain view. I took over 200 pictures that day!

Alaska Railroad Stops, Part 4

We stopped where the conductor showed us caribou tracks where a herd was seen by the northbound train the day before. We stopped again and waited until everyone could see four dall sheep, tiny moving specks on the mountain cliff on the other side of a gorge. I am hoping you all can see them if you enlarge the cliff picture. This train was not worried about keeping an exact schedule!

Alaska Railroad Stops, Part 3

What a glorious day we had for our trip! The temperature was -18F as we left the Fairbanks station, but that meant that the sky was crystal clear, and the sun was strong. The train stopped north of Denali, east of Denali, south of Denali. The train crew and passengers could not believe our luck at the clear views of this awesome mountain. We were even having lunch in the dining car, and the cook came out and told us that in a few minutes we would have yet another great view of Denali!

Alaska Railroad, Part 2

We got on the train at the Fairbanks depot. Then we traveled west to a town called Nenana, which is the place where the Nenena River flows into the Tanana River. These rivers are like everything in Alaska - BIG! My students will recognize Nenena as the place where the 1925 diphtheria serum was taken off the northbound train that had just arrived from Anchorage and loaded onto the first dogsled relay to Nome.

Nenana is known for its famous "Nenana Ice Classic." The townspeople place a tripod in the middle of the river on the frozen ice. Everybody buys raffle tickets to guess exactly the day, hour, and minute that the ice will break up in the spring, and the river will start flowing again! We bought two tickets, one for May 13 and one for May 14! The prize for the winner is thousands of dollars, but lots of money goes to charity, also! We took two pictures of the tripod from the train as we passed by.

Alaska Railroad, Part 1

If you get a chance to visit Alaska someday, save a day or two to travel on the Alaska Railroad! We took a twelve hour trip from Fairbanks to Anchorage last Sunday. In the wintertime, there is regular passenger service on this line on the weekends. Backpackers, skiiers, hikers, anyone can flag down the train to catch a ride. The train also stops for dall sheep and caribou sightings, and, if the day is clear (rare), it will stop often for you to take pictures of Mt. McKinley/Denali.

Warm and toasty on the inside and frigid, below 0F on the outside.

Fairbanks Loves Art & I Love Gift Shops

During our stay in Fairbanks, Alaska, we were surprised to learn that the contruction budget for any new building must include 10% for artwork! What a great town for seeing (and buying) work of local and Alaska artists. I admired this Alaska family sculpture that is featured in a park right on the Chena River. Here also is a picture of the Chena River frozen solid, but obviously well-traveled, in any case. This is the spot where Lance Mackey won the Yukon Quest, just two weeks before starting the Iditarod.

I promised that I would include a picture of my two nephews, Jacob and Matthew, who were such good sports, waiting in one gift/art shop after another while their mother and their Aunt Chris (me) checked out all the goodies. I found some beautiful earrings with pieces of natural nugget gold worked into the design.

Moose Alert!

My nephew, Jacob, came racing into the house in late afternoon, calling us to get outside and in the van fast. In near zero temperatures, how could we do this fast? I dashed out one boot on, one boot still in my hand and no coat. Terry just ran out with no boots.

We hopped into the van, and Jacob drove us to the top of the long driveway. There, in the orchard part of their property, were a mother moose and her "baby" (born last spring) munching away at tasty sprigs of willow. Jacob inched the van as closely as he dared, so that we could get some great photos.

You never want to mess around with a mother moose! They can attack at a moment's notice. It is hard to get a perspective of how large these animals are - as tall as a large horse, perhaps. Mushers are very respectful of moose on the trail. If they get upset, they can crash into a team and kill. We noticed their heavy winter fur coats, and wondered how they can keep warm when temperatures go to -45F. We wonder if they must spend their whole day eating to get enough calories to keep them going.

Ice Art at Night

The ice sculptures are definitely splendid at night back-lit by various colors. However, it is even more of a challenge to capture the beauty with a camera. We could not get satisfactory photos of the huge Multi-Block pieces.

Here you can see me standing by a block of ice that is used for the Single-Block Competition. Two of the sculptures, "Aiming Eye" (praying mantis) and blue "Crescendo", were made from a block like this. Can you see some of the insect's body parts that have already fallen off? The other three photos are ice toys: sliding board, crawl-through maze, and a sliding board game for two hands, one for a short person and another for a tall person.

They're on the Yukon River!

Who will make it to Nome first? How many others will make it to Nome, period?! What a race! 19 have already scratched. Others are driving with broken leg, broken nose!! It looks like four-time winners Jeff King and Martin Buser are in a tight contest on the windy Yukon River. This part of the trail is tough for dogs and mushers due to high winds, and lack of sleep for the driver.



I am including a link to the Nome webcam here - http://home.gci.net/~cityofnome/704x480.html. Right now the camera is aimed with a view out to Norton Sound. Sometime today, they will turn the camera to give us a view of the finish line, the "burled arch." The camera is suppose to refresh every minute. Sometimes, if we are lucky, we can catch a team cruising in for the finish.

Here is a photo of the truck that the 1st place winner will receive, along with a pile of money. The 2-30th place finishers receive money also, in decreasing amounts. Winners 31st to last place will each get $1049 (to help with expenses of getting home!)

Way back on March 3, a lantern was lit in Nome when the Ceremonial Start began in Anchorage. The people of Nome hang it up on the burled archway, and it stays lit until the last musher comes into town. That last team receives the Red Lantern Award (see photo.)

Chena Hot Springs at -4F

We had another amazing experience yesterday. About 50 miles east of Fairbanks there is a spot called Chena Hot Springs where Monument Creek flows (when thawed) into the Chena River. As we drove up into the Chena Hills the temperature dropped from 6F (above zero) to -4F. The wind started blowing, so the wind chill must have been around -40F below!

Clear, hot mineral water bubbles up from springs deep below the ground, heated by geothermal energy. The average year-round temperature of the water is 110F. This place was "discovered" in 1905, and became famous for curing crippled gold miners of aches and pains.

We changed from our heavy-weight parkas and long underwear into our bathing suits. Then we walked down a snowy ramp in our bare feet into the warm water. This image you see here is from a website I found - http://www12.virtualtourist.com/m/2e7ff/b42cf/. When we were there, the wind was blowing so fiercely, the steam coming off the water was so thick, that we could not possibly take any pictures. Our frozen bodies warmed up quickly in the hot spring water. Our heads were still out in the cold air, however. You will never believe what we looked like and felt in a few minutes. We could not see each other in the steam, except when the wind blew a clear space now and then. Our eyelashes and eyebrows started to frost up. Our hair frosted up. My nephew, Jacob, fashioned his hair in a Mohawk style, that completely frosted up. Everyone soon looked like old men and old women winter. Each strand of hair became coated with ice. It was crazy! Everyone said my head looked like a big white KOOSH ball! Since we could not take photos, here is a link to a photo that was previously taken of another Alaskan guy that my sister knows: - http://www.accentalaska.com/permenant/hotsprings/

We soaked in the wonderful waters. Terry said his sore shoulder was feeling better! But then, there was the problem of when and how we wanted to brave those -4F temperatures and winds to get out to go back into the poolhouse! I floated over to and up the ramp to keep my body in the warm water for as long as possible. Then I slipped and slid over to pick up my terry cloth robe. It was covered with frost! I moved as quickly as I could with my bare feet up the icy ramp. My hair stayed frozen still for about 5 more minutes inside the building. Cool!

Gardener of the North

My sister, Pat, has lived in Fairbanks, Alaska for over 30 years. This is the first time we have had the opportunity to come up north to visit her!

She is Professor of Horticulture at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. She created the Georgeson Botanical Garden on the campus grounds. It is all covered with snow now, but we know that in a few months it will be ablaze with a riot of color. She does experiments with plants to see if they can survive the climate in Alaska. The hot news for her garden is that the gorgeous flowers called peonies grow beautifully in Alaska. They flower in July, which is the only place on Earth that has peonies blooming then. She is working with Alaska growers to start planting peonies. They can sell them world-wide for as much as $35 a stem! --Very popular for weddings around the world!

Another project in the works is the creation of a children's garden. One part of the garden is a huge garden maze in the shape of petals of a flower. Construction of the maze will be complete at the end of this summer. The bushes used for the maze walls will be full-grown in 5-7 years.

This will be no ordinary maze. At each corner, she plans challenging activities and puzzles for families to complete. Keep this in mind if you ever come to Fairbanks on vacation!

We toured her greenhouses, saw where her garden pond goldfish spend the winter, and helped her plant some seeds for annual flowers for her plant sale in May.

Tools of Ice Carving

On our first visit to the ice park, we were able to see the Single-Block creations all finished and judged. The winning entry was a praying mantis. I will try to get some pictures of these on our next visit. It was a challenge to get good photos in natural daylight. The sun has to be at just the right angle. The background has to be dark and uncluttered, since the ice is so translucent. We will visit the park again in the evening hours when they add colored lights to the pieces.

Next we were able to see the Multi-Block entries in the process of being created. I have included several pictures here of the tools, such as chain saws, and scaffolding being used. It was just fascinating. We kept saying over and over, how are they able to make the thin, curved pieces? These artists will try anything. Sometimes their efforts crack and have to be discarded. They really stretch the limit of what ice can do. Look at the guy with the chain saw cutting off a thin sliver off the back of his "five." You can see the saw right through the back of the shape! Look at the artist using a scraper to carve a perfect cube. Then, magically, the cubes are attached to a thin wand of ice!

Ice Stonehenge

How about this? Stonehenge in ice blocks!

Ice Art Tribute to Susan Butcher

After the Kids Park is created, the ice artists carve several pieces to express the theme of this year's festival, such as an ice castle entrance, an ice phone booth, and an ice tribute in honor of a different person or group each year. This year the honored person was Susan Butcher. I am showing you only 1/4 of this gorgeous display. Susan and her sled are 3-D shapes out in front of the background mural. Ahead of Susan, you can't see her team of 14 huskies running up and down an undulating trail. There are mountains in background and the aurora borealis in the sky. Its beauty takes your breath away. I will try to send more pictures of this later.

World Ice Art Championships

We have had the incredible luck to be visiting here in Fairbanks during the preparation phases of the "Ice Alaska." This is a competition that brings the best ice sculpture artists from all over the world to Fairbanks. This great city has volunteers who come out of their cozy homes in below zero temperatures to provide food, lodging, tools, scaffolding, power, transportation, and whatever else they need, free of charge, to enable ice teams the freedom to create their exquisite artwork. I will be writing several posts about this event, since we will be visiting the show several times this week.

Back in February, local tradesman bring lots of heavy duty equipment to nearby McGrady's Lake to cut up the crystal clear blocks of lake ice. These blocks of ice not only supply the tons and tons of ice for the ice festival, but many blocks are saved under piles of sawdust to be preserved and shipped all over the world all year long! Fairbanks is world-renown for its pure crystal ice.

Ice carvers come to Fairbanks in February and set up shop to create their ice magic. They may work alone or with one partner to enter a piece in the Single Block contest. Then they will combine with other artists as a team (many times they don't all speak the same language to each other!) to submit an entry in the Multi-Block contest. However, before these two contests begin, they all work together to create a Kids Park. What a wonderland of ice fun! I wish I could bring all my third graders up here to see this. There is an ice putt-putt golf course, slides of all sizes, two kinds of mazes, ice vehicles, ice castles, a "hand slide", and so many more kinds of ice toys to play with. I have included two pictures of me going into and out of the larger ice maze. Amazing!

I did it. I really did it!

I drove a sled dog team!

On Tuesday, thanks to a gift from two of my sisters, Terry and I had the opportunity to have a one hour dog sled ride through PAWS for Adventure Mushing School near Fairbanks.

It was a beautifully sunny -8F day, with NO WIND! Yeah! We were provided some extra gear to what we were already wearing: insulated snow/wind pants, goggles, heavy mitts, and scarves to cover our faces. Heather, our mushing guide, hooked up ten huskies to the sled. All the other dogs in the dog yard started howling like crazy, when they knew some dogs were going to get to run and they weren't.

Terry got in the sled first, and then I dropped into the sled in front of him. Heather jumped onto the runners, released the snow hook, and the huskies took off! We traveled across a snowy farm field and then, traveled down narrow trails lined with gorgeous snow-covered black spruce on either side. We flew around corners tipping sideways only a little. The trail was quite bumpy in places, and I had to learn to loosen myself up to let my back and legs act as shock absorbers. I think every vertebrae in my back slid into a new location! It was surprisingly not uncomfortable. The cold air stung my face, and my goggles fogged up right away. I ended up taking my goggles and glasses off. The dogs moved along easily and silently. It was so cool to see them running happily in front of us. Our lead dogs were small black dogs called, "Rerun" and "Lucy." Our wheel dogs, the ones right in front of the sled, kept turning their heads back and looking at Heather. She praised them each by name all along the way.

About halfway, Heather stopped and asked if we wanted to try driving the sled. I told Terry, "You go first." He got on the back of the sled, Heather sat in front of me, and away we went. It was as easy as pie! What a blast!

Soon, it was my turn. I really kept wondering if I could do this. The dogs went so fast! What if I fell off. First problem, I could not get out of the sled. I had so many layers of clothes and padding that I could not bend at all! I had to roll out of the sled onto the snowy ground! How ridiculous. I finally stepped on the runners, and made Heather repeat all the directions she had just explained to Terry. I was getting worried. Could I really do this! Then I decided, what the heck, I had so much padding on, how could I possibly get hurt, if I fell off!

Second problem, I had one foot on one runner; seemed to be very secure. I had the other foot on the brake; seened to work OK. But then, I had to keep my feet in these places and somehow reach down to grab the snow hook about one foot away from the sled! I could not bend, remember - too much padding! Not to worry, Heather came to my rescue and reached around from inside the sled and was able to pull the snow hook loose.

Was I ready? Could I do this? Heather said I could keep my foot lightly on the brake as the dogs started to go to keep their speed down. Well, I did it. I lightened up on the brake, and the dogs took off! I hung on. I was really mushing! It was so much fun! We just cruised along as smoothly as can be. I kept the brake on lightly the whole way, however. Lester, one of those wheel dogs kept turning his head back and looking at me, as if to say, "Who is in the driver's place now?" I even had to go around a few turns in the trail, and I stayed on the sled! What an amazing experience. I am almost ready to sign up for Dog Mushing 101!

Toward the end of the trail, with Heather as driver, we headed back to the dog yard. The final leg of the trip was up a fairly steep hill. Those dogs dug their paws into the snow and pulled our heavy sled up the hill, no sweat. They seemed to really enjoy the challenge, but some of them turned around to look at Heather with a "Are we there yet?" look on their faces. Heather was calling out dog praises the whole way. I rolled out of the sled at the end of the trip, and just HAD to go up and give each dog a pat and a "Good job!" They were such great, happy dogs.

As we were mushing along, Heather told us that some of the dogs pulling our sled were retired dogs who were not competing in races anymore. They still love to run, so they are used for tourist sled dog rides and the mushing school. What a great time!

A Tough Race & Lance Mackey

We have been following the race in the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (stories are available online) and on the iditarod.com and Cabela's websites. It has been a brutal race thus far, with disappointing scratches by Dee Dee Jonrowe and Doug Swingley. Lots of sled crashes, broken bones, and blizzards blowing away trail markers are causing concern for the safety of the dogs and mushers.

It is truly amazing that we keep seeing Lance Mackey right up front. This musher from Fairbanks won the 1000 mile Yukon Quest race only a few weeks ago! We also read that he is using many of the same dogs on the Iditarod. All of Fairbanks is following this race closely to see if he can win both races in one year - never done before. Lance's dad and brother both won the Iditarod on their 6th try. This is Lance's sixth try! Lance's dad and brother both wore bib number 13. Lance was able to chose bib number 13 this year!

Lance seems so much like our Texas cyclist, Lance Armstrong! Lance Mackey has battled throat cancer. He has to carry lots of extra water in his sled, since he needs it to help him swallow his food. We wish him the very best on the Iditarod this year.

Susan Butcher

There has been a tinge of sadness during this year's 35th Iditarod. March 3 was declared "Susan Butcher Day" in Alaska. Susan was the first woman to win the Iditarod four times (starting in 1986), and is known and loved for her dedication to caring for her dogs. In 1979, Butcher helped drive the first sled-dog team to the 20,320-foot summit of Mount McKinley. She died this past August (2006) in her early fifties after fighting a battle with leukemia.

During the ceremonial start, the first team to leave the starting line is always dedicated as an honorary position. This year the sled was Susan's and was driven by David Monson, Susan Butcher's husband. Riding in the sled were their two young daughters, Tekla and Chisana.

Susan's photo is everywhere, even at the airports. The flight attendants passed out bookmarks dedicated to her memory. I asked them where I might get some extra bookmarks to give to my students, and to my surprise, they gave me a whole pack of them. A quotation appears on the front of the bookmark that reads, "I do not know the word "quit." Either I never did, or I have abolished it."