My Pacific Northwest

My flight back from Alaska has been a surprisingly pleasant experience.  I left Kenai, AK at 10:30pm, almost missing my flight (thanks Chris).  Despite it being so late, my flight left with the sunset, and I watched a golden sky shine behind the mountains, reflecting on the bay below us.  The leftover blue sky always reflected in the water, but it must have also been slightly foggy on the water because the reflection danced as though there were northern lights in the water.  It was gorgeous.

Like usual, I had trouble sleeping on my redeye out of Anchorage.  I don’t sleep well on planes, It’s cool.  I startled myself awake toward the end of the flight, and was rewarded with a crystal clear night sky.  I felt like I could touch the constellations.  I played with them in my head, touching them one by one, and then I noticed on the horizon a slight glow.  It was 4:30am, and to my surprise, the start of sunrise.  I smiled as the stars I was so focused on suddenly shared their early morning glow with a new visitor.

As we descended into Seattle, WA, the sunrise glow faded as we dropped in altitude.  I watched for the sun to rise again as I waited to get on my next flight.

My flight out of Washington is why I find myself writing.  I have never been to the Pacific NW, though it’s been a place I’ve always wanted to not only visit, but live, work and play in.  It’s always been more of a fantasy though.  I’ve never really seen the mountains or the forests there.  A few pictures, but I’ve always had my mind set on the Rockies.  Having worked and played there, it’s a familiar location.  But the Pacific NW is this unknown, filled with an endless amount of possibilities.

As my plane took off from Seattle, the sun was beginning to rise behind the mountains.  We shyed away from them at first, but then began flying over what seemed like an endless amount of peaks.  Mountains and peaks always look different from the sky.  These ones must have been gigantic.  It seemed as though our plane could have flown through the valleys and near the streams without losing much elevation.  I know this wasn’t the case, but the mountain peaks seemed to reach up and caress the sky.  Mammoth rock faces coated in a snowy happiness waved hello.  Valleys were enveloped in thick fog.  Vast expanses of unbroken wilderness touch every corner possible.  Even from the sky, I could feel the solitude.

I hope I do end up in this area, one day. 

A spring to every winter,

A sunrise to every sunset,

A solution to every problem.

Russian Lake Falls - Chugach National Forest

River along road to trailhead

Friday April 13th, 2012 - Hike #2
Russian Lake Falls

Played hookie again on Friday.  My boss has gotten increasingly lazy, and since I've gotten ahead on work and the weather was in the upper 40s, it seemed like a most excellent day to hike!

Our hike started with a mile walk along a snow covered road to get to the trail head.  In winter the campground that the trail head is located in isn't plowed.  Instead, it's groomed for cross country skiing!  Once we got to the trail head, we started a slow but steady descent up unto the valley.

As we meandered in and out of thick forest, he saw bear tracks and lots of bird activity.  We stopped in one stop for about 10 mins to try to call in some chickadees when we started hearing a different song bird (I never identified it), red squirrels, and much to our delight, a handful of woodpeckers!  It was awesome.

Part of Russian Falls.

We came across a fork in the trail where we could either cross a bridge and keep heading to Lower Russian Lake, or stay straight and go to the falls.  We figured the lake would still be frozen (since all the lakes in town are) and decided to go to the falls, hoping for the best.


We eventually made it to the falls, which was partially unfrozen.  The day was warm by them and we stayed at the falls for quite some time to eat, rehydrate, and enjoy the scenery.  Quite a gorgeous day.  We saw more bear tracks along the water, but weren't concerned.  They all looked melted out.

On our way back, once we hit the unplowed main road again, the sun was far enough over that it was shining on the river that paralleled the road.  It glowed blue from the glacier melt that fed it, which was a nice way to end the hike (First picture).

 "But you are the one
I've been waiting for today
And here comes the sun"

Sneek Peak : Denali National Park

I'm slowly getting more and more information about my next adventure: Sound work in Denali National Park, AK.  Which is great, seeing as that I start this job in roughly 5 weeks.  That also means I leave Soldotna, AK in about 2 and a half weeks, which makes me sad.

I've learned lots about my job and already approached my supervisors about additional projects I can volunteer with.  There's a good handful of them, so I have no doubt I will be keeping myself busy while in Denali.

I've also begun getting information about my housing, which is probably always my biggest wonder when headed to a new seasonal job.  My good luck in Alaska seems to be continuing though and my housing in Denali sounds Amazing.  A 2 bedroom cabin with a room all to myself.  I live alone here in my cabin in Soldotna but the cabin I'm in is one large room with bunk beds, so it will be nice to truly have a room to myself in Denali.

I'm not entirely certain I'll have cell service at my cabin, which would be quite a bummer, but it would also be nice.  I could use a disconnect from the world.  A break from my past that follows me.  It would also justify my ridiculous amount of letters I send.  :3  Ha.  Yeah, that will be nice.

I'm planning on shipping my mountain bike with me to Denali as well.  With the surplus of sunlight, it should make for a nice treat to get to see some of the park via bicycle.  I'm pretty excited.  But for when the evenings aren't good for biking or I'm just not up to it, it sounds like NPS has us seasonals covered.  We have what sounds like a really awesome rec hall AND we can volunteer to help take care of the sled dogs.

I think one of the biggest things I'm looking forward to about staying in Alaska is that I still have friends here, that either I can go visit or they can come visit me.  Which is foreign to me mostly in my travels and field world.  Alaska for once really is starting to feel like home.

"You'll never know dear how much you breathe
Strength and courage into me
And as the day comes closer to an end
I find no reason to pretend"

Carter Lake Trail - Chugach National Forest, AK

Friday March 30th, 2012

Finally got to go on a hike that wasn't for work!

I played rookie Friday and went to the Chugach National Forest with a friend to do a 6.6 mile hike up to Crescent Lake.  It was about an hour and 20 min drive to the trail head, which was fine with me because it was a gorgeous day and the drive along the Seward highway is amazing!

The trail head was a small parking lot partially melted from the "warm" weather we've been having.  It was about 28 when we started out hike.  We could see our breath as we put on our snowshoes, but it was the perfect temperature.  The first mile and a half climbs just shy of 1000 feet, so I was expecting the worst from the beginning, but we stopped often due to amazing views and fits of giggling from silly jokes.

Carter Lake

We could see the mountains pretty much 100% of the time we were on the trail.  Never a bad view for sure.  One we did the elevation climb, the rest of the hike was mostly flat.  There wasn't really a trail after that, but instead an open valley between high mountains.  On either side of us, we were surrounded by peaks ranging from 4,000 to 5,000 feet.  That seems tiny compared to the 10,000 ft peaks I climbed in Idaho and Colorado, but the mountains were just as gorgeous.  It's interesting because tree line here is about 2,500 to 3,000 ft above sea level, where as in Idaho it was around 11,000 or so.  Crazy what being further north does to a habitat.

Our hike took us past Carter Lake and ended at Crescent Lake, but bother were still frozen over, so they blended in with the rest of the landscape. I can only imagine what the reflection would be like from the mountains off the water.  It would be an amazing place to camp, for sure!

Boreal Chickadee (Not my picture)

By the time we reached the end of our hike, the temperatures had definitely warmed up, plus we were warm from snowshoeing.  At bother lakes we sat and laid in the snow and absorbed the suns rays.  Apparently I absorbed too much, since my face ended up burning.  Haha, O-well.  It was amazingly relaxing.  And quiet.  Not a noise in that entire valley.

We re-hydrated and finally decided to head back down the trail.  Once we got back into the forested parts I could hear some boreal chickadees and decided to try to call them in.  I used a technique called Pishing and slowly but surely convinced 2 chickadees to get within about 10 feet of me and my friend.  They were adorable.  We let them be and continued down.  The trails were slushy, but all in all, an amazing day to hike in Alaska.

"I only went out for a walk, and finally concluded to stay out till sundown,

 for going out, I found, was really going in."

-John Muir