Illumination from the Constellations

I went out for a ski tonight and it turned out to be pretty amazing. I decided to try out the groomed trails on the UAF campus where parts of the trail system are illuminated. I set out, and after no more than 20 feet or so, realized that the groomed trails are slightly different from the open field that I had been used to for skiing. For those of you who are not familiar with xc skiing, some trails are "plowed and packed" in a way that makes the trail pretty smooth. If you classic/Nordic ski, then there are two runners for a track on the side of the trail, with the middle open for skate skiing. So with my fresh kick wax and groomed trails, I set off - and pretty fast!! It was great, I got up to some pretty good speeds in a few of the hills. But then I started to get a little too comfortable and at the bottom of one hill, the trail curved off to the right, and down I went. No biggie though: got up, brushed off the snow, and went on my way.

So the first part of the trails are illuminated just off campus, and then some of the trails extend into the Boreal Forest. Smith Lake is frozen over, and the trail passes that park with some trails passing over the thick ice but then the lighted trails end. I turned on my headlamp and started up the hill through the thick spuce and birch trees. The condensation from my breath was freezing quickly and just creating a white cloud in front of my face, so I turned off the headlamp to see if I could still see the tracks in front of me. To my suprise, it wasn't too bad. At first I was a little nervous and then regretted not bringing along my bear spray - I imagined a bear or moose coming out of the trees ahead of me. I'm 24 years old and sometimes the dark still plays tricks on me! Anyway, at the top of the hill, the trees clear and the trail opens up to a large field. I stopped abruptly in my ski tracks to take it all in. Tonight there were the clearest skies I have seen in a long time, and constellations glittered the sky. Over the tree line the pink glow of the city lights peaked above the taller trees, but really the only light was coming from the stars and reflecting off the open field of untouched snow. I really wish I could have captured it on camera for all of you, but my camera is just not cut out for that. I skied around the field, twice, in a big loop (still groomed tracks). There were also some trails extending off even further, but decided to attempt them later - with more daylight. So yet again I have been amazed at the beauty of this place. It is going to be so hard to leave...

So as I skied back to the lighted trails, and passed through some of the shorter loops at the main area of trails. Seeing the signs for "Midnight Express" and "Big Whizzy", I declined to adventure there as I really wasn't sure how these trails got their names.... :/

So we've had some abnormally warm weather (sometimes getting into the teens!). And also some humidity - which apparently is VERY strange for the Interior this time of year. A couple weeks ago at skiing in -30' weather created some ice formation on my face, and even with higher temps now, the humidity blessed my eyelashes with more of the white stuff. My self portrait with the thermometer didn't get all of my hand in the picture, but that's a thumbs-up for above 0' temperatures!

I continued along the trail and decided that I should head back, after all I'd been out for over an hour and a half, and even with layered clothes and hot-hands in my boots, I knew I shouldn't be out much more than that. I had been skiing with my iPod, but after seeing all the stars and bright snow, I had turned it off to not distract me. I got going at a pretty good pace but soon froze in my tracks when I hear this loud, grumbling engine rev up to the left of me. A take a look and it is a GIANT satellite that is turning directions for whatever reason. I'm sure it is part of the Geophysical Institute at UAF, but it scarred the crap out of me. I was not expecting that at all, but after I got my bearings, I started off again. Not 100 ft from my last startle, all of the sudden the trail lights go out. I froze for a moment, not seeing a thing, then remembered that I had the headlamp on. Phew! So now I know they shut the trail lights off at 9 pm.... good to know.

So it turned out to be a great night out with the skis, and I'm pretty bummed I won't be shipping the skis back to Omaha. I inquired about shipping them home, and it costs a bit more than I expected. Not sure it's worth it. But maybe I'll buy a new pair later, even though these used, heavy skis from Play It Again Sports turned out to be a great investment!

As my time comes to a close...

Choosing Fairbanks, AK for my 20 week clinical rotation was one of the best decisions I have made in my life. It has been such a great adventure. I have been able to see and do so many things, meet some very interesting people, see some of the most beautiful views on Earth, and taken a new appreciation to life.


I have 2 weeks left here, and my departure is going to be bittersweet. I am very much excited to come home and be with my family and see friends, but Alaska has become a second home. A small piece of my heart will stay here when I leave. I have come to really enjoy working with the staff here in the Rehab department, and I have been offered to come back and work here. Justin and I have discussed the situation, and would both love to live here, we'll just have to see how things go in the next couple months with Justin's work at the lab, my graduation, and the wedding. :D




I've been trying to decide how I would describe my time here in Alaska, and I just can't find the right words to give it justice. The land is beautiful, the people are wonderful - often bizarre! and it definitely has it's extremes! A couple weeks ago I went cross country skiing at -38' F. If you would have told me a year ago that I'd be enjoying outdoor activities at such extreme temperatures, I would have laughed - hard. The weather really isn't that far off from an elongated cold, windy winter in the Midwest, but the hours of daylight sure gets to ya. Today, we had less than 5 hours of daylight. We are only about 2 weeks from the solstice, so the days shouldn't get much shorter. I was able to see a bit of the sun today outside of one my patient's windows. I actually thanked them for having their blinds open. Although I don't see much of the sun on days that I work (sunrise after 10 and sets just after 3), it sure does create some beautiful sunrises and sunsets. I have seen the Aurora once while I've been here, and hope to get a colorful show before I leave - we'll have to see. And just for reference if you ever spend time in the winter at this latitude, you need to have about 5x the amount of vitamin D in your diet. I learned the hard way, increased my dosage, and have learned to appreciate the darkness. You can have quite a bit of fun with a headlamp and a full moon reflecting off all the snow!

On the work side of things - the culture and society of Alaska has made the job as a physical therapist slightly different from what it would be "outside" (what everyone up here calls the lower 48). I have worked with a patient who was riding his bike to work and hit a moose - needless to say, he was pretty banged up. I have written a goal for a 65 year old woman to be able to walk a mile over uneven ground while carrying her heavy rifle so she could hunt for her food for winter. Patients who are healing from shoulder surgery often have to chop wood to heat their cabins. A young man we saw in the hospital was hit by a snow machine (snow mobile) and broke his leg (some of the craziest x-rays I have ever seen) and after the bones didn't heal - had to have his leg amputated. This wouldn't be such a big deal, but he lives in an Arctic village, and we had to make sure he could walk the 50 feet with crutches and ice grips to get to his out-house. On that note, I learned what a "honey bucket" is. Although it sounds nice initially, it is not. Think of a make-shift commode in your house that you use when it's -60' and you can't even go outside to the outhouse!!


Just as a few more randoms about Alaska... Alaskan Amber is one of the best beers I've had in my life. You have to plug in your car for 4-5 months out of the year so that you can start it in the morning. The roads aren't plowed for the most part - just drive over the snow until it is packed then throw down some gravel into the intersections. Getting dressed to go outside is quite the task. The most beautiful drive (picture above) I have ever taken is between Los Anchorage (big city!) and Fairbanks along Denali Park and through Bison Gulch - glacier blue streams and rivers wind along the highway with beautiful mountain slopes on either side. Puffins are the funniest birds to watch - they eat so much food that they can't fly and just paddle over the water really fast to escape getting run over by boats! And the glaciers are really melting, and I'm glad that I was lucky enough to play on a few of them, because at this rate they won't be around much longer.


So as I start packing and preparing for my departure, I think back to the last 5 months and the time when Justin was able to be here with me. It has been such a wonderful experience, and I can't wait for the next chance that I have to come back.

More Picture Links

Here are some more links to albums on Facebook for those of you who don't have the world's largest social network.... ;)

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2162206&id=38201797%l=b2089e892e

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2164540&id=38201797&l=d0160a6f01

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2165775&id=38201797&l=017e166cc1

www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2170285&id=38201797&l=3b3f7a56f6

Better late than Never!

Erin and I decided to round out my half of the Alaskan adventure with a trip to Wrangell-St. Elias park, Southeast of Fairbanks and East of Anchorage. The weather on the trip was a little wetter than we had been used to so far, but still beautiful. After a great drive down on the scenic Richardson Highway, we spent the night camping near Glennallen, at Lake Louise state recreation area. After trying a couple of campsites on for size, and trying to wait out the rain, we put up a very effective and dry shelter using our trusty tarp and about seventy feet of rope. The nice warm fire was very much appreciated, and we both managed to stay very warm all night. In the morning, we were greeted by a surprise, our sleeping bag having frozen to the ground during the night, and the entire campsite covered by a thin glaze of ice....not frost, ICE. Campfire to the rescue! Even with our excellent camping and survival skills, we both agreed that breakfast would be better spent in Glennallen at the diner, where the waitress informed us that the low temperature the night before had been around fifteen degrees....that explained the ice.
We then continued our journey on the Richardson Highway to the Park visitors center. The park is hard to access without a bushplane or about three days of walking, but we were treated to breathtaking views of the Wrangell Mountains. We then decided to make the drive south to Valdez, at the bottom of the Richardson Highway. Just when you think the scenery can't get any better. As if mountains weren't enough, the Richardson Highway on the way to Valdez is also home to a large number of waterfalls that are right next to the highway. After seeing another glacier on the way down to Valdez, and getting much closer to this one, we continued south to the Ocean.
With Valdez seemingly shut down for the Winter, we enjoyed a hike around a small island in the harbor, again lamenting our lack of bear spray, and then went back north, camping at a little campground we found on the way south Saturday morning. Another cold but wonderful evening later, and we drove back to Fairbanks.
I do apologize to our loyal readers for taking so long to update this, even two months after leaving Alaska, typing this makes me want to empty my checking account and jump on a plane, but Erin will be back in a few weeks, and then I will have my favorite part of Alaska here with me. Thanks for reading about our trip, we are glad we could share it with everyone!

Denali Park...need I say more?

We departed Fairbanks under cloudy skies at seven P.M. on Friday, destination Denali. After stopping by the mercantile store to pick up essentials for the weekend (Campsite registration and Shuttle tickets), we continued on to our site, arriving at about 11:00. Using our now finely honed camping skills, we had a modest, comfortable camp and cheery fire to enjoy for a couple of hours.

Morning came very early the next day, but not too early to enjoy scrambled eggs made on the open fire and catch the 7:30 shuttle bus to the interior of the park (Automobile travel is restricted to a select few permits and tour buses for the interior of the park, about 20 miles in). A friend from Anchorage, Brian, met us on the bus at his campground and we all continued to the Stony Dome area, where we bade the shuttle good-bye and set off into the wilderness of Denali. Brian makes a hobby of photography, including animals and vistas of Denali, and took us up a dry riverbed to a place he frequently spots bears and other wildlife. No bears were to be found, but lunch on the slope and a nice long hike, including seeing bear trails, numerous pika, and very interesting geology and plant life made it one of the more enjoyable hikes we've had in the Interior, and that is quite a statement! We then had to merely walk back to the park road, where we hitchiked to the entrance and our comfortable campsite, leaving Brian to the trailess wilderness.

Sunday morning found us sleeping in-I estimate my wake up time at 6:45-and having a wonderful breakfast of homemade pumpkin bread, butter, and Nelson especial campfire potatoes. After a nice lazy morning reading next to the campfire, we broke camp and made our way to the Savage River Trail, at the border of the area of the park that allows auto access.

Some of you may know about the moose hunt I went on a couple of weeks ago, returning "unsuccessful" after what amounted to one of the most enjoyable weeks of my life. On the way to Savage River, we had the good fortune of seeing an excellent specimen of a bull moose come out of the trees, wrestle with a tree branch, and proceed to cross the road, very slowly, about forty feet in front of the car. Nothing I had previously heard of moose did them any justice. This thing was absolutely HUGE. It appeared to be about seven to eight feet at the shoulder, with a very wide and impressive set of antlers. It had a very long beard-not sure if that is the correct word-and gray fur on its haunches, suggesting a very old animal. The point is, I'm not sure I would have been able to kill it, hunting season or not. There isn't a word in my humble vocabulary to do that moose justice.

At the end of public access to the park road, the Savage River rest stop offers a well-groomed, heavily traveled, four mile round trip up and back along the river, which is a semi-cloudy combination of glacial melt and spring water. Erin and I opted to attempt the arduous hike to the top of Mount Margaret, a five thousand foot peak near the river. Our legs and hearts were very willing to complete the trek, but inexperience resulted in finding ourselves at a dead end. The peak was, it turns out, only about two-thirds conquered, but some excellent views and great pictures made the trip worthwhile. After carefully choosing our route back to the trailhead, we said good-bye to Denali, and started home.

A final note on traveling in Alaska...If you travel within sight of an Air Force base, check in at the outpost and let them know you are just a tourist-do not make a u-turn within view of the security checkpoint and continue on your merry way. They are watching you.

All in all, a wonderful weekend, and one that will be hard to top...Wrangell-Elias National Wildlife Preserve has its work cut out next weekend! Thanks for reading, all, sorry if you've been bored, I just type my thoughts, Erin will handle the editing.

A Week Apart

Last week Justin went on a moose hunt with David, Ted, Troy, and Walt down the Tanana River to Nenana. Although they saw lots of moose tracks, and spent many silent hours waiting for the right moment, unfortunately they did not come home with a moose. He had a great time, with some great company, and enjoyed the time out in the wilderness. No moose steaks, but tons of fried food and bacon was consumed - man food, for sure.

I was still working at the clinic during the week, missing Justin, but my parents made the trip up to Fairbanks for the final part of their Alaskan vacation. We had a beautiful drive down South past a clear view of Denali and down to Seward. After a great seafood meal and a walk through beachfront Seward, my parents and I went on a full-day cruise to see the wildlife, glaciers, and fjords. It was an amazing day - saw tons of wildlife, including humpback whales and black bears, as well as my favorite: the horned puffin. :) After Justin came to join us down in Seward, we were able to make the stop at Portage valley and walk on the Byron glacier. It was a great weekend!!

More to come.... if we stop having troubles with the car!

inspiration

Justin and I were reminded recently that the now famous Stampede Trail is not too far from us. It is the hike that was highlighted in the movie Into the Wild. Maybe we'll make the trek to go see the bus... I've heard it is dangerous, so perhaps not. We'll check into though, it would be pretty cool to see!

Back from another great weekend

This last weekend Justin and I traveled south down to Anchorage and then Seward. After spending some money for what we think were some much needed purchases (we each got some awesome packs!) we made the beautiful drive along the inlet down to Seward. We met up with some of our new friends, ate and drank, then woke up the next morning and set out for our hike. We started at the base of the Exit Glacier, took some pictures, then made the 4 1/2 mile and 3,000 feet up hike to the top to see the Harding Ice Field - one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. The hike was rough, but totally worth it! We even saw some mountain goats along the way - no bears though! After the hike we all gathered around the campfire and listened to Dave sing and play the guitar, a perfect end to the day. Sunday morning we walked around the town of Seward, then headed back to Anchorage. We took some awesome pictures, I'll post them soon. We are tired, and a little sore from the hike, but really enjoyed the weekend with some great friends and even better scenery. Now to start planning our next hike..... :D

links to the albums posted on facebook

Here are the links to the albums of pics posted on facebook that Justin and I have taken so far...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2159771&id=38201797&l=d83a188b3c

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2160345&id=38201797&l=bd9a5437bc

One week in the books!

Well, here we are in Fairbanks, Alaska. Erin and I flew out of Eppley at 6:30 on Friday morning, the first, and made our way (roundabout) to Fairbanks. After layovers in Denver, a flight change in Minneapolis, and an hour and a half of circling the Fairbanks International Airport, we landed in Anchorage Friday evening, (After a spectacular view of Mount McKinley from above the cloud cover) due to heavy smoke in the Fairbanks area. The airline wanted to put us on a flight directly to Fairbanks, through Alaska Air, but we elected to spend the weekend in Anchorage with the Lindeens. After a great weekend in Anchorage, Eric offered to let us drive his car to Fairbanks, to borrow for the first week we were there, to ease the transition. The drive from Anchorage to Fairbanks was AMAZING. Erin and I saw our first moose, and a huge amout of other scenery that will surely be posted. We spent the majority of the first week familiarizing ourselves with the town, finding transportation, and figuring out how to spend the remaining warm weather (which is dwindling even faster than I imagined). This past weekend we got back to nature, hiking saturday morning at Angel Rocks, and then taking the three-mile "short trail" at Granite Tors Trail. Sunday, we came back to the Grante Tors Trail area, and tackled the "long loop". After 16 miles, 9 hours, and a 2500 foot elevation change, we came out the other end with about 100 pictures of the best scenery in North America, as well as sore feet and a great sense of accomplishment. We camped on the river, and went back to Fairbanks in the morning.
Well, this is much longer than I expected it to be. Undoubtedly the next one will be more interesting, and shorter (which means Erin will probably be author). Thanks everyone, and can't wait to see everyone again!
Justin

Mayor's Triathlon

This morning Erin competed in the Mayor's Triathlon in Papillion, NE. 500 meter swim in a very gross lake, 15 mile bike, then 3 mile run. She finished 2nd in her age group and improved her time by 3 minutes! Not too bad for not getting as much training in this summer with the busy school schedule. Justin was a great support through the whole race, cheering her on with every lap of the bike and on the way in after the run! He even asked her to slow down right at the end of the run so that he could take a better picture, the reason I am somewhat laughing in the picture below. ;) Erin's first words to Justin after the race were, "That damn run!" (She was in 2nd overall until about 5 girls passed her in the run.) Can't wait to do a few more next summer!!

Started our blog today...

Hello Everyone!

A bunch of our family and friends requested that we use a blog to keep everyone updated about our trip up North! We'll try to post pictures and tell you about what's going on with our adventure up to Alaska. We leave on the 31st, and are very anxious, yet very excited!