Tiptoeing North

Leaving a freshly washed LA.

Passing Mt. Hood.

Passing Mr. Ranier.

Anchorage Seattle LA Plane Views

The landscapes always change and always are magnificent in different ways.

We've taken off over the icy inlet and are looking back at Anchorage at close to the shortest day of the year.  It's almost 11 am with a heavy cloud cover.

Our plane was delayed about 45 minutes for some mechanical issue.  We weren't concerned because we had 90 minutes between flights, but the lady behind us had only an hour to catch her flight Reykjavik and now was down to 15 minutes and we hadn't left yet.  And there was a group of people trying to catch a flight to Denver.



Here we're looking down at the pattern of snow and trees in the Pt. McKenzie area.  All these pictures are much sharper if you click on them.












And now, after seeing nothing below us but clouds all the way, we see the Olympic Range as we near Seattle.

We made a long southern loop over Tacoma and came back to land from the south.  Here's part of the Sound at about 3pm.

And no matter how many times you see Mt. Rainer, it's stunning.  Even on a cloudy day.

In the end, we made up time in the air, and I think everyone was ok, though we got to our connection as it was boarding.

And then we watched the sun set for a while as we neared LA.  That's part of the wing in the foreground.


Watching the world from the air makes me understand it much differently than I do when I'm on the ground.

AIFF 2015: Monday Preview - Newtok, Hong Kong

It's Monday Dec. 7.   Films in competition tonight include:

Feature:  Hong Kong murder mystery, Jasmine, (by LA filmmaker) at Bear Tooth at 8pm

Two Alaska Made films in competition at the Alaska Experience large theater:

From 7- 8 pm:  We Are All Related -  Newtok is an Alaska Native village which has to move because of flooding problems, which is, apparently, the focus of the movie. But there is a current court battle between the new village leaders and the old, who refuse to give up their offices.  A Law 360 article earlier this year said:

Leaders of an Alaskan Native tribe situated on the Bering Sea coast are asking a federal court to halt three members of the Newtok Traditional Council from misrepresenting themselves as members of the tribe's legitimate tribal governing body, according to a complaint filed on Tuesday. 

Newtok Village and the Newtok Village Council are asking the court for an injunction that would prohibit Andy T. Patrick, Joseph Tommy and Stanley Tom from telling any federal, state or private agency that they are the rightful leaders of the tribe, as well as an order for them to turn over certain financial records and other property that they have allegedly wrongfully retained. 

The Newtok Village Council claims that the three defendants, all members of the tribe's former governing body, are attempting to convince state and federal agencies that they continue to exercise leadership over tribal members and can rightfully ask for money on behalf of the tribe, despite decisions by federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs regional office, recognizing the Newtok Village Council as the official governing body.The dispute arose in 2012. Prior to that time, the governing body of the tribe was the Newtok Traditional Council. But a tribal election dispute arose later that year, out of which two groups emerged, each claiming to be the bona fide tribal governing body, according to the suit.  .   .    .

The dispute arose in 2012. Prior to that time, the governing body of the tribe was the Newtok Traditional Council. But a tribal election dispute arose later that year, out of which two groups emerged, each claiming to be the bona fide tribal governing body, according to the suit."

The Alaska Dispatch had an article yesterday saying a judge had sided with the new leadership Nov. 4 and they are asking the judge to enforce that ruling.

I'm hoping the movie might include some of the players in this struggle not only against the climate change caused flooding, but also against the human actors in the way of the move.  The trailer doesn't hint at the human dimension.

The director Brian  McDermott is scheduled to be there.

8:30- 10:30:  Degrees North - is about freeriding, best as I can tell.  The trailer doesn't show as much gliding through the sky or skiing down vertical slopes as I expected, but there's plenty of equipment with sponsor logos.  There's some "you really see the true nature of people when they're out here, exposed" and  'one minute without your gloves outside and you can't feel your fingers any more" dialogue but not too much.   You get the picture - sponsors pay crazy young men to risk their lives in Norway and Alaska mountains.  Sure to have a good audience in Anchorage.  (The second trailer shows them near Anchorage in what appears to be the year we had so little sonw.)

This is preceded by a film on the Mt. Marathon race called 3022 ft

Here's the link that will show you all of Monday.

After Cloudy, Snowy Days, Sun's Out

As I pulled into the Costco parking lot, the clouds parted, and the skinny trees' shadows blossomed on the wall.

And off beyond the parking lot, the mountains reappeared with fresh snow.

Why I Live Here - Snow On The Mountains After The Rain In Town - Reposted

It's basically been raining for a week.  Sunday there was enough of a break to get in a decent bike ride.  But it's been cloudy and mostly rainy.  Yesterday I almost took my bike, but when I was ready to go to the meeting, it was raining enough that I thought better of it.

But today the sun was dazzling and the sky blue.  And I took my bike to my lunch appointment.  And when I got home I got out the better camera and went off closer to the mountains a couple of miles.

The clouds and mountains almost merge.

The sun was behind this cloud, painting the edges pastels.














Back home, I reshot the picture I took down the street and posted Monday and paired Monday's image with today's to show the additional snow on the mountains.  

And as I got back home, our neighbor was just about finished washing his truck. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Feedburner hasn't picked this up so I'm reposting it.  Sorry to subscribers who did get this already.]

Why I Live Here - Snow On The Mountains After The Rain In Town

It's basically been raining for a week.  Sunday there was enough of a break to get in a decent bike ride.  But it's been cloudy and mostly rainy.  Yesterday I almost took my bike, but when I was ready to go to the meeting, it was raining enough that I thought better of it.

But today the sun was dazzling and the sky blue.  And I took my bike to my lunch appointment.  And when I got home I got out the better camera and went off closer to the mountains a couple of miles.

The clouds and mountains almost merge.

The sun was behind this cloud, painting the edges pastels.














Back home, I reshot the picture I took down the street and posted Monday and paired Monday's image with today's to show the additional snow on the mountains.  

And as I got back home, our neighbor was just about finished washing his truck.

Fall

The birch leaves follow the rhythm of the seasons and the laws of gravity.

And termination dust on the Chugach are another sign that summer is ending.

How Can People Pay For A Digiplayer When This Show Is Free Out The Window?

Early morning water colors.

Just across the arm to the mudflats of Matsu.  A little after 6 am.

Knik Arm.  We took off about 6:05am, this was maybe ten minutes later.  The official sunrise in Anchorage for today was 5:40am, but with the mountains blocking the sun, it takes a little longer in the valleys.

It was a little misty over the mountains as we flew over.

And then there were clearer areas like over this glacier.

There was thick cloud cover over Prince William Sound.  It was so tight and so low, it almost looked like carpet.  I wondered whether there was any space between the cloud bottoms and the land.

And there were similar conditions in Washington state (this was approximately where the Olympic National Park might be) as we headed for the Portland airport.

Leaving Anchorage On A June Night

The last post had the sun peekabooing through the fog bank from the airport last night.

Denali about 11:20pm

Here are some photos after the plane took off about 11:15pm.

The Alaska Range over Cook Inlet as we took off to the north, then looped to the west to fly down Turnagain Arm.

Then we flew over the mountain ridges and over Prince William Sounds.  This was about 11:30pm. 

To Denali

We left Anchorage about 8pm.  I just wanted to get going and since it doesn't really get totally dark, we left. 

About 11pm past the McKinley view points - we could just see the top of the mountain, not well - I took this one.

About an hour later - on the flat lands before getting to Cantwell.  The light was incredible.  I didn't capture it unfortunately.

And then this morning, driving into the park. 

By this afternoon it was clouded over.  Lots of caribou today, a bear and cub in the distance, and some good birds.  More tomorrow.  The park officially opens Friday.  Until the buses start on May 20, you can drive in to Teklanika, which we did.  It was beautiful and clear, but it got very windy.  Got some biking in on the road to Teklanika. 

It Always Looks Different: Turnagain Arm

Thirty eight years later, Turnagain Arm still is awesome (in the original sense of the word.)

Driving south from Anchorage is never just a drive.  It's a beautiful adventure.

So, let's start with the typical post card picture of Turnagain Arm and then will look at some variations that I took today.  None of these were altered except for some cropping.

Now, let's look just at the wet stuff.  Every time you look, it's different.

And  back to another typical post card view.

Nature's Reminder That Our Winter Isn't Over Yet

Our mild temperatures and all the bare pavement we've been enjoying have lulled a lot of folks into thinking spring was almost here.  I've even been thinking about planting some sweetpeas in the flower box on the deck at the beginning of April.   

But this week the temps have dropped, and this morning it was 2˚F (-16˚C) on our indoor/outdoor thermometer.  And after almost two weeks of sunshine, it's grey, and there was the thinnest possible dusting of snow on the deck.

Blue skies still reigned last night.  Here's the O'Malley trailhead about 6pm with an anemic snow covering. 

And a view of Flat Top from the trail. 











But it is The Ides of March, so while today we take a hit, my computer weather forecast suggests this is just a blip on the way to spring and summer.  (In Anchorage spring tends to happen pretty quick though there are subtle signs to indicate different stages of summer.) 

On closer look, it says our range for today should be 19˚F to 23˚F,  yet it still says we're at 1˚F.  So keep those coats handy just in case. 

Jonathan's Lemon Tree

We drove out to San Bernadino the other day to visit former Alaskans Jonathan and Mary Anderson.  Jonathan's now chair of the public administration department at Cal State San Bernadino.

Here's Jonathan picking us some lemons from his very loaded lemon tree.  Their house is on land that long ago was a lemon grove and the neighborhood has lots of citrus trees.

This is their orange tree.  And no, that isn't snow.  It's white rocks.  But they had had a freeze the night before, and Jonathan thought we needed to go for a drive up to the mountains - a quick half hour up to about 4500 feet above sea level.

Southern California isn't always clear.  Sometimes it's just moisture from the ocean and other times it's smog.  It seemed to be a combination of both.

He found us some snow.

There wasn't much to see in the arboretum at this time.

Headed back home.