Where the Wild Things Are!

Follow me to my new Blog site: http://wp.me/p2R4Hu-d

Forest Games and Aurora Flames

Axe throwing, fires starting, bucking with a two man saw, log rolling and of course birling - the art of being the last one standing on a log floating in water greeted me at the Forest Games put on my University of Alaska last week.  

 

 Our team was 1 local and two imports, with a couple of add-ons throughout as events demanded more than 3. Alice - a new friend from Fairbanks, and Phil, my room-mate and co-worker made up the team for this rainy Saturday morning.

Birling on the lake! We got off easy - last year they had to break the ice off first!

My first time birling I  made it to the second round! (by dumb luck I'm pretty sure). Second time I took the plunge, but I'm ready to go again as chance presents itself!

Phil preparing to chop off my toe!

A couple of eyebrows lighter, a few minutes later!

Firestarting - One half can of soapy water (for an obvious boil), One log (knotty), one axe (a bit dull this late in the competition), and five matches (we only needed two - don't we get extra points for that?)

Jack and Jill Log Rolling - 1st place!

 The fireworks show to celebrate was only a couple of days later! These auroras danced across the sky for hours as we drop jawed enjoyed the view for quite a while until we had to retreat for the warmth of the stove. 

 

 These lights dance so quickly across the sky, it can almost look like ribbons blowing in the wind. The photos are truly unique in that they comprise about 60 seconds of the light we saw all at once.

 

Oh, and of course I've been working while I'm here - a couple of project photos -

What a mess! Lots of water all over the place! Mostly dripping right in front of the door!

The solution - lower the roof, can chop off one corner the building's main roof - no fancy flashing required.

Phil's mascot at lunch.

 

 The main attraction - The Pita Place with a completed roof only minutes old. Northern Phil, Southern Phil and myself. This is an expansion of a beloved food cart in Fairbanks that serves Falafel and other middle-eastern foods. This is the project that allowed me to come to check out AK for a couple of months this year. Four weeks left as the winter begins to close in! 

(The puddles are not melting anymore!)

Name that giant Alaska Veggie! - Biggest I've ever seen!

Yukon Ho!

The Salmon have swum up their rivers,

and the evenings have begun to give the shivers,

Canadians are plotting their southerly routes,

the days have shortened without a doubt,

So pack your things;

toothbrush, hat, and tools to swing,

Big boots, thick socks,

The trip will begin down by the dock,

Where the compass reads north,

Set the course,

Toward the Night sky's glow!

Yukon Ho!

In lieu of my typical work schedule of heading for a southerly summer on the sun drenched slopes of Ross Island, I have traveled to the far reaches of my own continent this time, to work with a friend in Fairbanks - “The Golden Heart of Alaska."

Alaska is now off my final frontier list of states that I have visited (North Dakota, Maine and New Hampshire still on the list), and thankfully I did not have to ride the sea ice to get here. Quite civilized like - I took a Ferry.

We set sail on a clear evening, cruising out of the bay on the Alaska Marine Highway System. This series of ferries connects the outlying and otherwise inaccessible communities (such as Juneau – the capitol) to mainland Alaska. The ferries run up the inside passage from Bellingham, WA and then across the Gulf of Alaska, and down the Aleutian Islands all the way to Unalaska and Dutch Harbor.

Still in my bag, waking up to some typical SE Alaska Weather

From the Solarium on the rear deck, I enjoyed not only the fresh air of the west coast, the views of thousands of islands, and several whale sightings, but also a lounge chair to call my home! Camping on deck is the way the Alaskans do it, it's cheap, and I think the best way to meet folks on the journey. One man I met from North Carolina is trying to visit every county in the US!

We experienced some wonderful weather on the way up, lots of blue sky and sunshine. Petersburg might have been the nicest weather we saw, and we only ran into dense fog once – two crew members were leaning over the bow as we crept through narrow island passages with only 30 ft. of visibility!

Petersburg - a piece of the panorama at the top of the post.

Ketchikan in clear weather at dawn.

I hopped off in every town that we had a chance to. Picked up a hot breakfast in Ketchikan, walked to the docks in Petersburg, and picked up a truck in Juneau... A truck to drive to Fairbanks! Through the great connecting Oracle of the Internet I found my way into an agreement with someone to drive their truck up to Fairbanks from the Ferry stop in Haines. The truck was in Juneau, so I hopped off the ferry and drove myself and my ride back on.

A light station in Canada.

Kluane National park, Yukon.

Which brings me to the drive. The ferry dropped me in Haines at 9 in the morning and from there I was to drive north through British Columbia and the Yukon Territory to reach Fairbanks in the interior of Alaska. Haines was a fairly quick visit, but I did take a walk on the beach and check out the Hammer Museum. Pretty Cool.

I forgot my camera. So I had to use my phone.... Eeep! Need to clean the lens!

I will only torture my blog with one of these awful photos to show simply how many hammers one little corner of this museum held!

O Canada!

The pipeline.

 

Fish Wheel near Haines, AK

Windy day Near Tok, AK

Above Tree Line.

Grizzly on the road!

The pictures speak for themselves I think. Stunningly beautiful, all the way up.

Home! For the next two months I'll be living and working in Fairbanks, helping to build a Falafel Shop to replace the Pita Place's Trailer. A log cabin to call home with electricity and an oil furnace.

The logs of our cabin were scribed to the point where a credit card fits into few of them!

Running water is a convenience that has not reached too deeply into the interior of Alaska, even in Fairbanks. We haul our water in big blue water containers and as one friend recently said when he couldn't remember which side of the faucet the hot water came from – Hot water is on the stove, cold water is on the floor!

North Pole of course! (North Pole, AK)

Until next post!

Wow!

Has it really been over a year and a half since I posted? How to catch up?  Have to catch up? Maybe it will all be a little out of order, but here goes...