Progress Report

Christmas card Fairbanks

It is hard to believe I have only been here three days and have rented a cabin, acquired boots and snow pants, and signed up as a volunteer for food drops and road crossings for the Yukon Quest (which begins in Whitehorse on February 14th).  That may not sound like so much except that just leaving the house in the morning is a challenge  -- with the unplugging of the car, scraping the windows, warming it up, etc.  I know some of you will be familiar with all this, but my friends in Florida may not be.  On the other hand, it took me three days to find a place to buy a bottle of wine.

The beauty of the drive to the cabin is impossible to capture in a photo.  Driving back last evening (at 3:15 pm) the sun was setting, the sky was arctic pink, the trees heavy with snow, and a musher crossed the road with his team about 500 ft. in front of me.  It was magical!  On the other hand, driving and walking require intense attention as under the benign-looking snow there is ice -- on the road and on the sidewalks.  The rental car I have for a week is two-wheel drive and small.  The first day I felt it was an accomplishment to drive it from Budget back to the B&B where I parked it, plugged it in, and walked back to town.  Yesterday I had more confidence.

 

Another picture from last year in Bettles. 

It still doesn't capture the "arctic pink".

The cabin

The cabin is two miles down Willow Run,  a snow packed road off Goldstream (a major road outside Fairbanks).  It has oil heat and electricity (and no, CLF, the outhouse is not heated).  There is one main area combining living, dining, and kitchen, a separate bedroom, and a small loft.  There are tall windows and even the bedroom has a window.  The woods you see in the picture surround the entire area so neither the road nor other cabins are visible.  It is situated almost at the end of Willow Run so it does feel remote.  On the other hand, there are 8 other cabins near by so assistance is available if needed.  It is about a 20 minute drive to the University and maybe 10 minutes to Fox -- where I will get my water and take my trash.  The general store with showers is about 4 miles away.  I have yet to work out internet connectivity but my phone seems to work fine out there.  Today I have to see about a more long-term solution for a car -- I am hoping I can work out a 4-wheel drive.  I think driving is the biggest challenge.

 

The Ah, Rose Marie Bed and Breakfast.  Where it all started...

I will be here through Sunday -- moving to the cabin Monday morning.  More later about mushing.

Welcome to Fairbanks

Fairbanks was overcast today and a balmy 23 degrees F.  Tomorrow the sun will rise at 10:12 am and set at 3:53 pm.  There are not many people on the streets.  It is a little strange.

  

Denali above the clouds on the flight from Anchorage

Flying into the Fairbanks area

The airport

A potential dry cabin in the Goldstream Valley.  It is about a half hour's drive from Fairbanks but located midway between the University of Alaska Fairbanks and the town (if you can call it that) of Fox -- where several mushers have their kennels.  That's Chris, an Iditabiker, in front with Noly.  It is charming and very reasonable.  Who would have thought I would see this my first day.

The outhouse is about 100 ft. from the cabin

It even has a communal sauna a short walk through the woods 

There are several cabins in the vicinity but none are visible from anywhere on the property.  Many ski and mushing trails are accessible just outside the front door.  Although it is in the valley, it apparently doesn't get the ice fog that plagues Fairbanks.  On the other hand when it is really cold -- this area is some 20 degrees colder than anywhere else (Chris mentioned -60F).  I haven't made a final decision as there are a couple of other things I want to investigate first.  But I must say I sort of fell in love with this at first sight.  BTW there is a shower at the General Store 4 miles away.

Cold Snap in Alaskan Interior

Although I wasn't planning to post again until I had arrived in Fairbanks, I feel the need to comment on the weather.  Reading the newspaper articles from Anchorage and Fairbanks and the reports on weather websites has led me to question my sanity.  According to the National Weather Service ... the average temperature of -38.6 degrees at the Fairbanks International Airport is near 30 degrees below average... for the month of January.   Temperatures as low as -60 degrees have been reported on the Yukon at Eagle and elsewhere.  (Eagle is a checkpoint on the Yukon Quest sled dog race.)  Ice fog has also been prevalent around inhabited areas.  All I can say is that I hope it warms up -- at least a little.

These photos were taken in December of 2007 above the Arctic Circle on a frozen lake outside of Bettles, Alaska.  This year on January 3rd the high in Bettles was -49 and the low -51.  I have no idea whether there was a wind chill factor.

The experience of dog mushing on this lake was a major factor influencing my career change decision.

... and this was the tiny cabin where, like whales, I didn't see the Northern Lights.

My flight to Anchorage leaves on Sunday the 18th -- so this is really happening.  

More later.....

Snow on the Antarctic Penninsula

Glittering white, shining blue, raven black, in the light of the sun the land looks like a fairy tale.  Pinnacle after pinnacle, peak after peak, crevassed, wild as any land on our globe, it lies, unseen and untrodden.  --Ronald Amundsen as quoted by Peter Matthiessen in End of the Earth: Voyages to Antarctica. 

This will be my last post until I am settled in Fairbanks, Alaska, later this month.  

Penguins in action

Adelies returning from the sea

Adelies are the most abundant of the penguins, with a total estimated population of around 5 million.

Two eggs are laid in mid-November and incubated for 32-37 days.  Nests are made by filling shallow depressions with small pebbles.  Soper (2004) writes that pebbles are ... gathered by stealth and thievery and jealously guarded ... as the eggs must be kept at a level higher than the melt-water.  We actually observed this behavior going on in the colonies.

Adelies going fishing

Their average speed in the water is 4 1/2 miles per hour, and the maximum recorded dive was 574 ft. (Soper, 2004).  They eat mainly krill (Euphausia crystallorophias).

Macaroni penguins were named after 18th century "dandies" making the grand tour of Italy sporting an unusual hairdo that involved dying their hair in streaks and extending the crests over their ears.  When they arrived back in England, they were called "macaronis" -- in an association of  Italians (and Italy) with pasta (Soper, 2004).  This group is somewhat reminiscent of the mafia.

Community life among the Gentoo penguins at Neko Harbour

Soper (2004) characterizes Chinstrap penguins as mini-mountaineers.  They like to nest high on rocky slopes and are ... perfectly capable of bullying an Adelie off its nest in a takeover.

King penguins are technically a sub-Antarctic species but the population of 200,000 on the Island of South Georgia, south of the Convergence, usually qualifies them as Antarctic.

 
Do you think they are discussing weather conditions, here, or are they the welcoming committee for arriving scientists (or maybe the Polar Star)?

Glaciers and sea ice

 

... by far the greatest mass of ice on Earth is the Antarctic Ice Sheet, which reaches a thickness of nearly 5 km.  This quote is from the Swiss website Glaciers of the World (http://www.swisseduc.ch/glaciers/earth_icy_planet/glaciers08-en.html) -- and who should know more about glaciers than the Swiss?  It is an informative site with very good photos and a page dedicated entirely to Antarctic glaciers.  I became totally intimidated trying to say anything intelligent about glaciers in this post, so I will leave the photos to speak for themselves. 

 

Brash ice, icebergs, and glacier

A stunning "tidewater" glacier

A "cirque" glacier in Drygalski Fjord 

A "piedmont" glacier

A "hanging" glacier with small streams running out

 "Tidewater" glacier near Port Lockroy

Brash ice

 Accumulation of floating ice made up of fragments not more than 2 cm across; the wreckage of other forms of ice. (www.aspect.aq/brashice.html) from Antarctic Sea Ice Processes and Climate (ASPeCT)

A more dense accumulation...

...brash ice comes in many forms

Seals rule

Fur seals are territorial and really do rule the beaches from September through December.  Tony Soper in Antarctica: A Guide to the Wildlife writes ... be sure to give them a wide berth because they can charge across a beach faster than you can and they have an aggressive demeanor.  After our experience I would consider this an understatement.  We were unable to land at one of the sites due to the number of aggressive fur seals, and when we were on beaches with large numbers it was a bit like walking through a minefield.  Clacking large rocks together was, in my experience, the only way to ward off an attack.  Shouting "stop" had absolutely no effect.

The photo above is of an Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus gazella) 

Seal spa on Salisbury Plain, South Georgia

Fur seal disagreement on South Georgia

Fur seal mother and pup at Fortuna Bay, South Georgia

Seal relationship "on the rocks"

In the water...

Out of the water...

Elephant seals at Gold Harbour

Southern elephant seals (Mirounga leonina) are the largest seals in the world.  Although they also display some aggressive behavior during mating season they were quite placid on the 30th of November, 2008.

"Weaner" elephant seal posing for the camera

Bull elephant seal

The name of these seals comes partly from their large size and from the trunk-like proboscis shown on the older bull in this photo.  Females do not have these.

Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) on an ice flow

Weddell seal asleep on the snow at Neko Harbour

Weddell seals are found farther south than any other seal and they are associated with ice -- as evidenced by the two photos above.

This completes the seals.  We did get a couple glimpses of leopard seals but like whales, flying albatrosses, and other birds in flight, I did not get any decent photos.  I did not even SEE any whales, but I think I have mentioned that before.