It's offical, I'm not coming home

Log cabin. Mountains. Dogs. Lake. I am in heaven!! Rainy Pass is by far the BEST field site we have been to thus far. The weather is rainy (big surprise) but the scenary is beautiful. We are all staying in log cabins (it is the oldest hunting lodge in Alaska, http://www.theperrinsrainypasslodge.com/) and have a chef just for us. Man, this job is awesome!

Riding shotgun in the airplane.

The Rainy Pass airstrip

Our cabins

My new favorite friend, Remington

Travels to the far North

Eyeing these blueberry bar things at breakfast the other day, I almost walked away until the cook stopped me in my tracts. He had caught me drooling and daydreaming about the sweet goodness, "You should try one of those, they're like poptarts gone wild!" Well, when you put it that way, how can I pass it up? So of course I grabbed one. They were pretty good and it's a good thing I grabbed one because I needed a distraction in the field from all of the mosquitoes. Every time I looked at a picture I took, there would be at least ten mosquitoes on the lense. Does Nikon make a mosquito filter?? Those little f'ers wiggle their way into everything - nose, mouth, ears, pants (yes, pants)...

One of the highlights of the trip this time was seeing the Alaska Pipeline. Having learned about it in High School, it was pretty frickin' cool to actually see it in person. Spanning 800 miles and at least 7 feet tall, it is one mother of a pipeline. Even better was seeing the Arctic Ocean as we flew out of Produe Bay today for Barrow (America's most Northern city) enroute to Anchorage. As we made our descent through the fog, the airplane's wheels came down and I could see water and then pavement through the patches of fog below us. We were no more than 10 feet from the ground when I finally saw the runway - expecting to touch down, the pilot immediately pulled up on the throttle, sending us back in the air. "Ahhh, good morning folks. Visibility is below par so we will be touching down in Fairbanks." We will never know how close we were to the end of the runway but I have a feeling it was pretty darn close.

View from Camp

View of the pipeline from the chopper

Charge!

Some beautiful days in the field

Being picked up from "the office"

View of the Arctic Ocean from de plane!

Weather Delay #2

For the last couple days we have been delayed due to fog. Finally by 9am yesterday my boss enters the hallway and says, "Well, who wants to hoof it in 3-4 miles and get some plots done? You'll have to walk back out too so it's going to be a long hiking day." My eyes light up. "Oooo oooo! Pick me! Pick me!" I was the chosen one. It was a long slog through ankle-twisting tussucks (mounds of grass from 6in to a foot wide and a foot deep), bogs, mosquitoes and rain...and I loved it! It felt SO good to hike more than a mile. I went out with two other guys who were already talking about weighing down my pack before we left the truck. "We should just take a shovel to her legs! That will slow her down!" This wasn't the first time in my hiking endeavors that someone has mentioned something about taking a sharp object to my legs to slow me down. There's a You Tube video out there someone as proof.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmrUiNn5DMg

It was a COLD day. My coworker dug until he hit permafrost and then I'd chip away at it to stay warm, doing jumping jacks inbetween to generate heat. We got back to camp, ate some dinner and then I loaded up with three different kinds of dessert. YUM. Looks like another weather delay tomorrow too. At least we get paid when we're not working.

Contrasting Camps

On Saturday I was the furthest North I will probably ever be - only a few miles shy of the Arctic Ocean in Prodoe Bay, Alaska! Flying over I could see the Alaska pipeline and acres upon acres of oil drilling operations, not to mention fields of wet bogs - a perfect location for wetland scientists and consequently, also a favorite location of the state bird...the mosquito. Ewee, don't let me down now!

This photo was on the whiteboard at camp

After arriving in Prodoe, we hopped in some Diesel trucks and drove South on the Dalton Highway, a dirt/gravel road running about an hour north of Fairbanks to Prodoe Bay, until we hit our turnoff about 120 miles down the road. The accomodations at camp have been so diverse that I don't really know what to expect anymore. Donlin had canvas tents, Beluga had a house and log cabin, Livengood had trailers with twin beds and this camp (Foothills) also has trailers but with bunk beds. Since when did crawling up stairs into a bunkbed get so difficult?? I'm getting old...

I didn't write a whole lot, if anything, about our last camp (Livengood) because the internet was really too slow to do too much of anything. Here are some photos of Livengood - I think you can probably guess what my initial impression was when we first arrived. The trailers we ended up staying in were in a lot better shape than the trailers we saw on our drive in. This camp was dead smack at the beginning (southern terminus) of the Dalton Highway.

These are the trailers we actually stayed in.

The current camp I'm in, Foothills (Sag), is another 300 miles or so up the Dalton highway from Livengood. Here are some photos from the flight into Prodoe Bay and the drive down the Dalton Highway.

The Alaska Pipeline

Our accomodations - this one just came in!

The Ultimate VW Rig

As Graham and I were leaving Denali National Park, we stopped at a rest area and saw this kick ass 4wd vehicle. Raised over a foot off of the ground, with an air outtake like the old hummers for water crossing, knobby tires, and a German-like feel to it, I circled around the vehicle wondering, is this a VW? Sure enough, it was! I saw it again on the Dalton Highway at the junction to our next field camp so had to post it here. This thing is AWESOME. On the side of the van there's a map of where the couple has been - they've driven it in Europe, from South America to the tip of North America (Alaska) and Africa, just to name a few. I need to get one of these things!

Travels with Graham - Day 7

On Graham's last day in Anchorage, we decided to go for a hike with Doug and Robyn in Girdwood. There were a lot less people on this hike but still a ton of people on the trail despite the windy/rainy/cold weather conditions. We hiked to the top of the pass stopping at a cabin along the way, took some pictures of a pretty cool glacier and made our way back down to the car for some beer and burgers. This was the first day of rain we'd had since Graham arrived - we couldn't really complain given that the forecast called for showers/rain all week. A perfect ending to an awesome week exploring Alaska!

Travels with Graham - Day 6

Urg, I hate the city... It was so nice being out on the road and away from the city that I decided we needed to get out again so we made our way to the Flat Top trailhead, a ridiculously popular hike just outside of Anchorage. Had I known how many people were going to be hiking the trail (the parking lot was full - we had to park 1/2 mi down the road), I probably would have chosen a more remote hike. But the weather was great and the views were pretty darn good.

Later that evening we met up with Doug and Robyn and went bar hopping with me being the designated driver this time. My stomach is still not very happy with me and somehow I ended up getting a bladder infection so the last few days have been a little miserable.

View of Flat Top from the beginning of the trail

The final ascent - go away people!

Travels with Graham - Day 5

After all this hiking, it was time for Graham to have some fun so we drove to Hatcher Pass and went rock climbing. The climb was supposed to be five pitches, getting progressively more difficult as you ascend the rock. After the second pitch (we did it in one), Graham could tell that I wasn't up for doing a climb above my ability level and some dark clouds were rolling in so we found a sweet campsite overlooking the mountains and valley and called it a night. After a delicious mexican meal, I whipped out the marshmallows, graham crackers, and chocolate but much to our disappointment, there was no woody material in sight. Hmmm...what to do... :) (see the last picture below)

The climb went just to the right of the rock field

Our awesome campsite

No fire? Have no fear! Propane is here!

Travels with Graham - Day 4

7am.
"Greta wake up!"
"Urgg...it's too early..."
"IT'S SUNNY!"
I shot out of bed like the van was on fire. 70% of the time Mt. Denali (otherwise known as Mt. McKinley) is abscured by clouds but today we actually had a chance of seeing it AND BOY DID WE! We not only saw the mountain but also grizzly bears up the wazoo, caribou, a fox, squirrels, and moose! Taking one of the shuttle buses about 80 miles into the park, we found a killer hike that followed a ridgeline with amazing views of the mountain. This was definitely one of the more memorable days of the trip. In the evening we met up with my coworker and his girlfriend at an RV park perched beside a river canyon.

View of the Denali road from the shuttle bus

The bears found me again

Perfect timing - just in time for him to take a leak

Another view of the road in Denali National Park

Fun with photos on our ridgeline hike

We saw this little guy on our hike

Travels with Graham - Day 3

After eating breakfast we hopped in Margaret and made our way to Denali National Park stopping in Anchorage along the way at my mechanic to fix a leaking valve cover. We made it to the park entrance around midnight and camped beside an abandoned motor home at a sketchy squater campsite. Ah, the joys of free camping.

Travels with Graham - Day 2

After a nice long run in the morning, Graham and I explored Homer. We sampled some bakeries, walked the Spit, and retired for the night at our friend's parent's house/winery for a BBQ. They have quite the operation - we were both impressed with how busy they are during the day and the fact that a good portion of their drinking/bathing water comes from rainwater. The wine they make, consisting mostly of berries, is amazing! And the views! Man, they have some of the best views in Homer from their two-story deck. We were definitely spoiled by some good halibut and wine.

View from the Homer Spit.

Travels with Graham - Day 1

Oh man, where do I start?!?! Graham flew up on July 3rd to visit for a week and we had an AMAZING time cruising around Alaska in Margaret. I guess I'll break it down by day and give you the highlights. I'm trying to upload pictures but the internet here in camp is really slow so you'll just have to be patient - might take me a couple days to get all of the pictures loaded so keep checking back for more.

We were initially going to start driving on July 3rd for Homer to celebrate the 4th of July but Darwin's, a local dive bar, was calling and everyone from work was going so we had to postpone our plans until the following day. For some reason my coworkers always order these shots called Duck Farts (Bailey's Irish Cream, whiskey and Kalhua) that go down WAYYYY too smooth. They really are delicious. Starting out with dinner and a beer at a local brewery and moving to Darwin's for Duck Farts, I knew this wasn't going to be good. The non-bear believer wouldn't stop buying shots! I had a beer, some more shots, another beer, some more shots, and who knows what else. By the end of the night I think I had something on the order of 10 Duck Farts, 2-3 beers, and one other type of shot that tasted like cinnamon. Needless to say I rode the porcelin bus that evening and was a weeee bit slow and fragile the following morning.

At about 9am on the 4th, I crawled into the van and we made our way to Whittier for a glacier cruise where we saw an orca, sea lions, sea otters, and a shit ton of glaciers, many of which that were calving into the water. The forecast called for rain but we had perfect weather.

After the cruise, we made our way to Homer. Leaving Whittier and approaching the main highway, I look to the North and see a stray dog, not much smaller than a pony, on the railroad tracks. He really could have been a horse. The mastiff stuck his nose up in the air trying to get a scent of which way to walk to find home. Looking up at the sky with a frown at the approaching rain, to Graham, to the dog, and then back to Graham, Graham says, "Oh no you don't..." But I did. I pulled over and walked towards the dog but he didn't want anything to do with me until I brought him some nut clusters. We became instant friends. "We can't take him to Homer with us," Graham said, "He'll never find his owner there." So I called the police, flagged down a forest service deputy, none of which could help us, so we lured him into the van with more nut clusters and drove to the nearest business, a wildlife conservation center. Walking into the gift shop, I ask if anyone has reported a missing pony/dog, "Is it a Mastiff? This guy has been trying driving up and down the highway for days trying to find him!" Alas, the dog (Bobo) was reunited with his family and I could rest better knowing that he wasn't stranded out in the rain along the highway all night.

Arriving in Homer around 11pm, we were driving down the Spit when we saw a group of people camping in a VW camper van along the spit. As we drove by, they jumped up and down waving us over so of course we had to stop.

This is getting out of hand

Getting off of the helicopter with my non-wildlife believer field partner yesterday, I said, "Ya know, today feels like a bear day. Yep, we're going to see a bear. Heck, make that two. I've seen two bears with every lead so far. " He immediately rolled his eyes at me, "There is no wildlife in Alaska!" It really did feel like a bear day - they love wandering in the relatively open forests besides sources of water and we would be in that kind of habitat most of the day. Around lunchtime, we're sitting at our soil pit when I hear a rustling in the forest adjacent to the wetland we were working in. Not being able to see beyond the tall shrubs and grass we sat in, I jumped up and spotted the movement in the bushes. "Ahh...I think we have company." He jumps up from the hole and looks in the direction I heard the noise from. "Look, over there." I didn't shout or make noises because I wanted him to see what I was seeing. Initially he didn't see it, but standing only 50 feet from us was a black bear. How cute! *HUFF* *CLICK* *CLICK* *GRRR* Ok, not so cute. He drew his gun, I unclipped mine and grabbed the bear spray. The bear was grindings it's teeth, popping its jaw and huffing at us. Hmm, this was not a happy bear. "Well???" I said to him "Ok, I'm a believer!!!!" Once he saw the bear with his own eyes, we started making noises to make her go away but she kept making aggressive noises towards us and stood her ground. Walking slightly downwind and towards us, she put her nose in the air to get a whiff. Mmm, stinky humans. She started to circle us when I saw movement in the tree directly in front of us. "HOLY SHIT! Look at the top of the tree!" 35 feet in the air was the source of all the frustration from the sow - her cub had ran up the tree. Now the cub was whining and crying out for mom but mom was nowhere to be seen. "WAAAAAAAAAAAA MUAAAAAAAAAAA" We stood still to let the cub descend from the tree, and when it did, it continued to whine. Our helicopter was scheduled to pick us up in 10min and we still had work to do on the soil pit, so standing as my field partner's bear guard, he finished the pit while I kept my eyes in the direction of the bears. "Get up, get up!" I said to him. The mom played hide-and-go-seek with me behind a mound and then came up over the mound towards us. Something must have distracted her or she must have reunited with her cub because shortly thereafter she trotted off into the distance. This whole thing must have lasted 10-15min but it felt like forever. I really don't know why the bears come out when I'm around but I'm now known as "Dances with Bears" or the "Bear Whisperer" because of it.

Due to all of the bear encounters we (I) have had, and the fact that someone was injured by a bear recently at a camp we're going to, the company has decided to bring out one of our bear guards for the next trip. Tonight one of my coworkers was looking at the schedule and instead of the usual even number of people going on the trip, there were 17 people listed. Usually we're in groups of two - one tech for every lead, but one team had three people. Scrolling through the group assignments, mine appeared to be the odd number "Greta, Lead A, & Bear Guard". ROFL!! They've assigned me a bear guard! Oh this is too funny - if I keep this up I'm going to get fired.