Doug Heads Home on a Beautiful Day

Early afternoon flights are so civilized. There's time to get up naturally (no alarm) and even to stop off for breakfast on the way to the airport.So we took Doug to Anchorage's quintessential Alaska kitsch restaurant and cholesterol center - Gwennie's - for breakfast, which he seemed to enjoy. That should tide him over til about Iceland on his way to Frankfurt and then London. The web says the Lufthansa strike was settled, so he should have few worries. If anyone finds Doug's Nikon coolpix digital camera, which he lost on the Coastal trail bike trip a week ago, please let me know. My craigslist lost and found* ad got no responses.




Today is one of the most beautiful days of his visit. Blue skies with thunderheads massing over the Chugach.





On the way home stopped at Cuddy Midtown Park for a picture and found the geese and the daisies also enjoying the sunshine.



Now that I'm back from my two week Alaska vacation - without having to fly anywhere - I've got lots to catch up with. But it was a great trip. In hindsight I realize what a disaster it could be to invite someone you haven't seen in 38 years to spend two weeks with you, but it turned out fine. Doug is one of those people who knows me from a different time and different place and we were back into our friendly US-Brit bantering almost immediately. And Doug has a perspective on me that few if any others have and I need time to digest his friendly digs.





He got us out in this rainy summer when we might otherwise have hunkered down inside. I got lots of exercise to counter all the foods I normally wouldn't have eaten. Thanks Doug, hope the flight home is an easy one. You've had enough adventure for this month.

*So where would you advertise a lost camera in Anchorage? The ADN has practically nothing any more. Doug thought we should report it to the police, but that seemed strange to me. When I finally checked the APD lost and found online, it had three cameras since April. Can't imagine that's all the cameras people found. Craigslist had the most, even a digital camera, but not Doug's.

Do put an address label or some other name and email address on your cameras, computers, and other loseables so someone finding your lost things doesn't have to work so hard. And if you have done that already, check to see that the letters haven't worn off like they have on my binoculars.

Reed Lakes Hike - Trail Maintenance Paradox

We had sun, rain, clouds, a little more sun, a little more rain, lots and lots of mud, and stunning scenery. L went with Doug and me on this hike. He's I's grandfather and he and I did this trip last year in May, but we didn't get all the way to the lakes because there was snow and water then.


The 'road' off the Hatcher Pass road to the parking lot for the Reed Lakes trail is something like a video game as you dodge potholes and rocks for 2 miles, lost points are punctuated by a loud thud under the car. The parking lot was packed Friday about noon. It turned out the Colony High School cross country team was up there doing a practice run.




Part of my upbringing taught me that things you work hardest for are the sweetest. So having a hard-to-get-to trailhead, and then a trail that makes the spectacular scenery a job to see makes a certain amount of sense. Part of the charm is that this trail isn't packed - though Alaska has more than enough people who are willing to put up with the driving and walking conditions of this hike. And many, I think, relish the hardships. Besides the mud, much of the trail disappears and reappears along the stretch of boulders you go through.


However, because of the poor quality and maintenance of the trails, they get really muddy. Because they go up fairly steeply, they are very slippery. So people begin to walk off the trail creating new trails. Or they make shortcuts across the switchbacks, leading to places for rainwater to start worse erosion.






Eventually, this spectacular area is going to be badly scarred by an increasing number of cuts through the flowers and tundra. So, putting in decently designed trails and cutting off the shortcuts and educating hikers would serve the beauty of this area much better.












But unlike the trail along Exit Glacier, which is in a national park, Reed Lakes is just part of state land.




Given our oil money surplus, the problem isn't money. It's long term planning and prioritizing how to use the money we collectively have to make our collective lives better.








To do the things that we can't do by ourselves - like save our beautiful land from erosion because too many people want to hike there, but the trails can't support them all.

A Memorable Journey - Doug's Turn

[This is a guest post - in both senses - by Doug who gets a chance to get his two cents in on the blog.] Denali was a scenic wonder. The mountains and tundra were the stars. It was great to see the wildlife, especially the bears, but they were along way away,even through a 400mm lens. There had to be somewhere I could get closer. There was. Brooks Falls, in Katmai National Park, is known for attracting bears to catch the huge numbers of salmon making their way upstream to spawn. It was the tail-end of the season, but probably my best chance of seeing grizzlies at close quarters.




Joan generously offered to drive me to the airport at an unearthly hour and before 8.00 I and several other tourists flying southwest towards the hamlet of King Salmon. Here a shuttlebus took us to the lake where a DH Sea Otter .took us on the final leg of the journey to the camp.
After the obligatory talk about how to stay safe around bears, we were allowed to go off to the
viewing platforms.


There were half a dozen brown bears at the falls, all concentrating intently on securing the elusive salmon, with varying degrees of success, and totally oblivious to the humans madly clicking cameras a few dozen yards away. The size and power of these powerful creatures was truly impressive. Over the next few hours I snapped and filmed happily in between long sessions observing the bears' dexterity in lifting their meal from the fast-flowing water, and respecting their patience during long periods when success eluded them.
The experience was one I wouldn't have missed.
I'm grateful to Joan for persuading me that I should go, and even more to both she and Steve for showing me so much of the amazing environment that is Alaska.Their enthusiasm has been as great as their hospitality, and they have facilitated experiences which will stay in my memory long after I return home.

Euro Students Again - Plus You Can Meet Them Too

The European Education students came over for lunch today and we discussed values. Each brought some food and a memento that would help us understand who they are, told us about a value that they felt strongly about and what happened in their life to make that so important. They felt strongly about things like respect for others, responsibility, honesty. Again, I was very impressed with all of them. We were lucky because the sun was shining as we sat on the deck and talked and ate. I got everything into the house after they left just seconds before it started to rain. (As I'm about to post this, there's rare - for Anchorage - thunder.)

Then I got this email that says you can come see and hear them yourselves:

The participants of the US Department of State sponsored Summer Institute for Outstanding Student Leaders in Education will present their perspectives of the "New Faces of Europe" on [Tuesday] August 12 and [Wednesday] August 20 from 4-7 p.m. in Rasmuson Hall, room 110. [at UAA]

This presentation is open to the public and is an opportunity to find out how Europe is changing for 13 outstanding student educators who will lead Europe into the future.

Contact Russ Howell at (907) 786-4338 or anrbh@uaa.alaska.edu for additional information.

The presentations of last year's group were very interesting - a rare opportunity here in Anchorage to have a number of young European adults talking about how they see the world. Plus you can ask them questions. They're from Germany, France, Spain, and England. All speak very good English. The Germans include students of Turkish, Greek, and Albanian ethnicity.

[Sorry I didn't get pictures of them all. Some I missed and some I took bad pictures. Double-click the picture to enlarge it.]

Catching up while Doug's Bear Watching

The Denali bears were mostly off in the distance. The closest he got was after the discovery hike. He got on a bus back to the campground and was told by the other passengers that they'd just, minutes ago, had three bears walking around the bus. They showed him the pictures. Since this is probably his first and last trip to Alaska, he's booked a one day flight to Brooks Lodge in Katmai National Park.

Meanwhile I have the European education students coming over for lunch. So this is a quick post. I asked in a previous post about businesses with political signs. Double Musky has a big Ted Stevens sign, but then we all know from reading the newspaper that the owner is a close friend of Ted. We took advantage of our 40 minute wait to go over to the Prince Hotel and look around. The Lion's Club has a Welcome Back Uncle Ted sign. Girdwood is Ted country. (Couldn't get pictures, sorry.)


It's hard to take a non-flash picture inside the Double Musky. (Though this one came out better than the outside picture. The camera's looking at the ceiling if that isn't clear.)


And on the last stretch home we had to wait for construction on the Seward Highway south of McHugh. Although the sign said 20 minute wait, it was closer to 40. I counted 73 southbound cars waiting for us when we finally got to go (I wasn't driving.) At least got Doug some near-the-road dall sheep.

Exit Glacier - Kenai Fjords National Park

We had glorious weather all day. The young Russians (well one was Ukrainian) who cleaned the B&B Doug stayed in in Seward said that they were going to see the bears at Bear Creek. So before Exit Glacier we went to see. J and Doug saw them, I heard them splashing.



Then back to the Exit Glacier Road. Here's the first real glimpse of the glacier as you drive in. I'm going to dig out our 1984 pictures and do some comparisons. But for now, here's today.
Everything is changed since we were last there - we're guessing 2003. There are new buildings, new signs, and the trails are different. But most noticable is the missing glacier. Well, yes, it's still there, but much less of it. Again this will be more obvious when I find old pictures. But as we got closer, I said to Doug, it feels like it used to be all the way to here. Then Doug read the sign - in 1999 you could touch the glacier from here. That's less than ten years!



Our goal was to go up the Harding Icefield trail at least to the point where we could see the icefield. The trail is better, but still difficult. At the beginning there are steep rocky spots. Here's one part of the trail that is not only steep and rocky, but also a small stream.


We ran into these two rangers with clipboards. They are observing hikers to see where they go and find out why - they are trying to keep people on the main trails and save the vegetation elsewhere. They said last year about 10,000 people climbed this trail, the most ever. And it was very busy today, much more so than I've ever seen it. On a Wednesday, but they said days of the week didn't seem to matter nor did weather. People were there when their travel schedules got them there and they hiked. I'd guess most of the hikers are there June, July, and August. So if there were 9000 hikers in those three months, it would be 3000 per month, or 100 a day. I'm guessing there were over 100 today on the trail. We were constantly seeing people coming back.

Here's a shot of the ridge on the other side of the Glacier from us.

Here's Doug taking a short rest on what I decided was his throne,

Here's J, taking a nap at the top - well, our top. The trail continued on. It wasn't totally clear how far we got. The trail to the end on the map (see below) is 7.8 miles with a gain of elevation of about 3000 feet. That gain is evenly divided. I was watching how all of us were going and thought that this was the best view for the energy output we were going to get and still make it back in time to stop at Double Musky. I have to say it was spectacular up there with views of the Harding Icefield, Exit Glacier, the valleys below, and the mountains all around. In the warmth of the sun. With a chilly wind off the icefield. I could have stayed there forever.

Here's one of the marmots that guard the trail.

Here's a tiny taste of the panorama I mentioned above. To the right would be Exit Glacier (you can see part of it on the right) and the Harding Icefield above. That view is in the previous picture. You can double click this picture to enlarge it somewhat. What a day.


These two pictures are looking down onto Exit Glacier. In the top picture you can see five or six people hiking on the glacier in the lower left.

I know I had a similar picture already, but it was so spectacular. Those are mountain peaks sticking out of the sea of ice. The Harding Icefield stretches 30 miles.

Here's the trail map. You can enlarge it. I think we got somewhere between Top of the Cliff and the Emergency Shelter. It would be nice if they had some trail markers along the way to let you know where you were compared to the map.

Here's the RV parking lot back down at the bottom again. You could see this along with the cars from way up on top.

This was the Harding Icefield trail up along the side of Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park just a few miles out of Seward.

Sun in Seward - Happy Birthday J

Last night after dinner there was sun across the bay. We woke up to glorious blue sky and sunshine this morning. We're headed for Exit Glacier and then home.

J, hope your day is good, sorry we aren't with you. But we'll all get together and celebrate the summer and fall birthdays soon.

Seward - Sea Life Center: What Ted Did Right, Sort of

In the shadow of the Stevens indictments, many Alaskans are saying, "But Ted Stevens did so much for Alaska." The Sea Life Center in Seward has Uncle Ted's fingerprints all over it. We have a first class facility for research and education on Alaskan sea life. For a state with approximately 44,000 miles of coast line this is important. Seeing the creatures living in almost their natural environments can spark the imagination and passion that is necessary to inspire people to learn and perhaps even develop a career.


There's no way the average citizen can get this close to living flounders and rockfish, sea lions, and puffins. This is not the kind of thing that you can measure the value simply in numbers of visits per year.

The knowledge people gain here, the kids who are inspired in different ways to learn more and pursue careers related to the sea life is incalculable. This has been one of Ted's babies. [At first I was upset when I saw the big scratches on the glass of the giant tanks at the Sea Life Center today. Who would be so low that they would scar these beautiful tanks? But when I looked closer, I saw the scratches were NOT on the outside, but the inside. Maybe the sea lion wants out.]


And perhaps it is a symbol of the tragedy of Ted Stevens.

Poor judgment by the protagonist (hero/heroine) causes a fall from grace and social ranking. Poor judgment is a tragic flaw, or error, called hamatria. It leads to personal catastrophe and unintended harm to others. (Gallaudet)

In an era when government projects are scorned and every institution has to support its own bottom line, there is something to say for politicians who have the vision and the clout to help establish places like the Sea Life Center. Here's the hero part. (I also heard one of the guides today say that the state of Alaska paid for about 2/3 of the original cost.) But how did everyone think it was going to be maintained? Especially in an era when new taxes are opposed by most politicans? Was Senator Stevens planning to live and be Senator forever and thus maintain places like the Sea Life Center in perpetuity? Did he think that once it was built the State and others would step in to keep it going? How did he expect an expensive institution like this to be able to fund itself?

Murre

And then there are the sleazier side of the Sea Life Center where money was funneled through the Sea Life Center earmarked specifically to purchase property a Stevens aide who had speculated on land in downtown Seward. [Update April 2009: The ADN link isn't giving access to the article it seems. The specific citation is: Ben Stevens ' secret fish deal - State senator helped steer Adak pollock to a company he had financial stake in Anchorage Daily News (AK) - Sunday, September 18, 2005 Author: RICHARD MAUER Anchorage Daily News ; Staff]

Horned Puffin and Murre

King Eider

Steller Sea Lion Rear Flippers

I didn't check to see whether this is Woody the sea lion they used to have.

Tufted Puffins

Researchers took a baby red legged kittiwake from its nest (I think they said this is the first place in the world of only two that have successfully bred kittiwakes) to weigh it and measure it. The parents were less than pleased.




All these pictures were taken today in the Alaska Sea Life Center in Seward.