Snow in August (Termination Dust)

Well, summer is winding down here in Alaska.  August is generally the beginning of fall, a time when it’s more rainy than usual, you see the first frost, and blue berries appear.  The continual sunshine is over, each day we lose about 5-6 minutes of sunshine.  So far, sunset is around 10:30 pm, and it is actually getting dark.  Hopefully I will see the Northern Lights before I leave.

For the past few days we’ve gotten a dusting of snow in the Talketna Mts (called Termination Dust as it predicts the end of summer).  Since we are at 3,500 feet, the temps are cooler here than in the Mat-Su Valley (home to the towns of Palmer and its unattractive neighbor Wasilla).  There in the Valley, high temps are only in the upper 50s, low 60s, whereas at the Independence Mine we’ve experienced flurries and freezing rain.  The snow is more substantial near the peaks at 5,000-6,000 ft.  I’m still doing some hiking, but getting wetter and colder.  

My Beard

After two months, I couldn't stand it any more!  I did feel somewhat sad as I shaved...all that time invested in growing it.

Good bye Sitka

Tonight is my last night in Sitka.  Despite all the walking and the rain, I've had a great time: visiting museums, churches, forests, a national park, and a bear refuge.  What a great town, it was fun playing tourist!

Sitka

Today I arrived in Sitka, a town located in SE Alaska, on the Alaskan panhandle.

For years I have wanted to visit Sitka, formerly Novo Arkhangel'sk (New Archangel), as the town appeared heavily in my dissertation.  By the 1840s this capital of Russian America had a population of 2,000 people: a combination of Russian subjects (Russians, Finns), Creoles, Tlingit, and Aleuts. 

Today Sitka is a vibrant community of 8,600 with a compact downtown area and quite walkable.  (Think of a cross between Mackinac Island and Seattle...mild climate, but very wet.)  The city is on an Baranof Island, completely isolated, with roads that only run about seven miles from downtown north and south before ending.  The houses and buildings are nestled between the Pacific Ocean to the west, and mountains and rainforest to the east.

Grizzly Attack

On Sunday, June 24th a mama grizzly attacked some teenage hikers in the Talketna Mountains.  Read the article here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/25/sam-gottsegen-alaska-bear-attack_n_909195.html

On top of the world: Hatcher Pass

Musk Ox Farm: Palmer, Alaska

Summer at the Independence Mine

There's a very short life cycle up here: for about 8 weeks flowers are in bloom and everything is very green and lush.  On the few days when the sun comes out, the valley sparkles.

Bear Tracks

On Wednesday, the 13^th of July, Tan and I went for a hike on the Box Ridge Trail.  The trailhead begins on the Hatcher Pass (Willow-Fishhook) Road; a narrow, windy, steep dirt road that crosses the southern part of the Talkeetna Mountains.  The trail begins below the tree line and follows an old ATV trail.  It starts off nice enough, running through the birch trees and crossing a small stream.  So far, this is different from our regular trails, since it is not completely in the mountains, in the tundra or boulders above the tree line.  The trail gradually ascends to a ridge above the tree line, with some wildflowers, shrubs, and tundra.  Interesting though, once you are up there its pretty flat, and not mountainous.  There are probably great views of the surrounding mountains, but it was pretty cloudy and we had limited visibility.  Well, while following the path on the ridge, we couldn’t help but notice all the bear tracks.  They were everywhere, small paw prints and large ones, some going in every direction—the bears must use this path as their own highway.  Well, despite the presence of the clouds, at least we were above the treeline, so even if there were bears near by, we stood a good chance of spotting them.  Luckily (for me, Tan was disappointed) we did not see any bears.  Had we happened across a mama bear with some cubs, it would have been trouble.

Facial Hair: after Six Weeks