View From Bird

I was thwarted again this weekend in my attempts to hunt ice worms on glaciers. So instead I hunted glaciers. Smokey followed me up Bird Ridge on Saturday for my second attempt at viewing the hypothetical Bird Glacier. We got a break in the clouds long enough to look up the valley. But the valley curves, so I can't truly see the area where the glacier would be if it still exists.

See how close we are to the ocean? Notice how far down it is? It feels like this ridge climbs straight up, like I've been up stairs that had less slope.

This is my high-tech ice worm hunting clothes. Also what I have lived in almost all summer. No bikinis here; stretchy waterproof layers. And this weekend I have been sporting whatever shoes don't kill my road rashed ankle that had a close encounter with the pavement on my bike last Thursday. You don't even want to know what my thigh looks like. I didn't know bruises could come in those colors. Don't worry Mom, I'm too sore to ride to work for a few days and I think I'll wait until the insurance card shows up in the mail first.

Smokey has awesome new binoculars, but they still aren't good enough to see ice worms from here. Never mind that I'm looking at the glaciers across the inlet..... I think I've successfully begged an airplane ride to check out my potential remote glaciers for access (and existence!). And the permit application for the Forest Service work has been altered to include the possibility of being dropped off by helicopter. What? Everything is close to a heli ski base and they aren't exactly super busy right now. Plus, I bet I can get field assistants that way.

Sunday was nearly as exciting, but maybe not as glorious. Tatonka and I went to cheer on a fellow canine SAR teamate who was going through her final test for certification. We start our series tonight and worked a three hour problem yesterday while we waited for her. We started in the only sun we have seen in weeks. But that soon ended and the rain held off until we finished working, so I guess that is a success around here. Tatonka was very good at keeping my feet warm while I studied last night, except for his snoring.

Birfday

I have a rule about my birfday and it goes something like this: it's MY birthday and I'll do as I please thank you very much, and it does not involve going to work. This year it did involve going for a hike for thesis research purposes. I went to see if a glacier on my list for research this summer was still in existence. I found out there was a trail up a ridge that would put me in direct view of it across the valley and I went to get something done. Of course I also thought I would go for a bike ride and paddle my boat, but by the time I got home from this I was tired of being really wet. So I changed my plans. Because I'm allowed to. Because it's my day to do with as I please.

It was quite a little jaunt up the hill and we were all happy to stop for a photo shoot. Everyone had their tongues hanging out. When we popped out on the ridge above treeline both Percy and I staggered a couple steps from the wind blast. Percy wasn't sure if there was more uphill to come or if we were calling it quits. Since we couldn't see across the valley to the potential glacier location and we were soaked through we decided to go home and get some cocoa and spend some quality time with our yarn, cats, and books.

And this is for my sister. Remember how growing up you were always so mad because my birfday was in the summer and I always got fun summer presents like wading pools and buckets for playing in the sand and you got sweaters because your's is in the fall? Well guess what. I have no need for a wading pool or swim suit in this weather. But a sweater would have been just dandy. Instead I got a glacier travel rope, ice screws, and a bike computer. Perfectly acceptable.

More Fun From the Fourth

My dependency on others for photos must come to an end soon. It's driving me crazy and keeping me from posting here. I did a post a few weeks ago about my 4th of July and this is evidence from funness elluded to there. No evidence of the rocky bike ride from hell wherin I launched myself off my bike repeatedly into the rocky ditch and was assured that no, this is totally a biking trail. Turns out Niwt maybe exagerates things a little. We eventually stashed the bikes in the bushes next to the trail when it became obvious to me we were on a descent I didn't want to carry my bike back up.

And we hit the beach. In the rain and wind and it was fabulous. The dogs had a great time. I had a great time. We all got outside and got to play.

And then we got to retire to the porch of the cabin for fun with wine, knitting and another stick. All the elements I treasure in a weekend, except for cats and food.

Holiday Weekend

I know it was three weekends ago, but I've been hiding inside doing repairs and pretending like it isn't summer. While most of you were out trying not to get sunburned or overdose on lemonade, I was drinking coffee. Welcome to a typical 4th of July in Alaska. I finally got down to Seward with my boat to my friend's cabin on the beach. While an overcast day will not keep me from much anymore (neither will rain) a strong steady wind will keep me from putting my boat in the ocean.

I did get my toes and my dogs wet by walking on the beach and riding my mountain bike to another beach. The clouds also lifted on our way out of town to try our luck in Homer. Wait, what's that in the water there?

Oh look, the local wildlife came out to say good bye. Too bad I'm taking his picture from the road instead of my boat. Homer wasn't any better, but for a different reason. I went to help my girlfriend with some renovation work on her cabin. Turns out it was opening weekend for her parent's cafe, so we ended up helping out there instead. While the weather was acceptable for boating, the dogs were not. I discovered that Percy really does not like fireworks. I didn't even think people would set them off since it's totally daylight and you can't seem them. Silly me. Last weekend we got out to Eklutna with boats and I really like my new paddle. It was super sunny and I actually needed sunscreen and not bug dope. Very strange. Unfortunately, pictures from last weekend were on my friend's camera which was stolen out of his truck Sunday night. I know, don't bring a camera if you come hang out with me.

Tour of the Twice Named Town

Last week I went on a business trip, my first with the new company. Originally my boss was to travel with me, but he had to cancel at the last minute so I got to go alone. The purpose of the trip was a day trip to a remote project site. This took three days due to flight schedules. Helicopter flight schedules. I love helicopters. There is never a bad view from a helicopter.

I finally asked one of the kind people entrusted with chauffering me between the airport and the hotel about the two names. He said the obvious, Deadhorse (or Deadpony as J-Bomb calls it) is the name of the town, and Prudhoe Bay is the oil field lease area name. It was so intuitive I felt silly. Even sillier for a momentary panic after boarding the plane in Anchorage with a destination of Deadhorse and hearing my bag had been goldstreaked to Prudhoe Bay.

Nothing like a town with an oil well on a main street to make me wonder if I'm in Texas or Alaska. What does it tell you about your life that a three day trip to a remote drilling pad on the North Slope is like a vacation for you? I got enough sleep, I had no chores or cleaning to do, I made liberal use of the on site gym, my food was prepared, my room made up, people appeared out of nowhere to transport me to where I needed to go, and I didn't spend more than $2 (on postcards). All from filling out the correct form for the big company's travel department. They even put me up in the 'nice, new hotel'. It's got nothing on the Ritz, but it was clean and safe and had a gym. It's only a year old and they are adding another 100 rooms on this summer because they are always at capacity. Saying 'it's a whole different world up there' doesn't even come close to cutting it. The icing on the cake? From the drilling pad I could see the ice pack on the Arctic Ocean. No polar bears though, so I have to find a way to need to go back.

A Flamingo a Day Keeps the Doctor Away

I finally downloaded pictures from the camera. It's been a long time. I noticed because most of them have snow in them. Wait, I guess that isn't really a defining feature of time for me anymore since I see snow almost every weekend now. Hmmm.... Maybe it was the Iditarod that clued me in.

A lot has happened since the end of the semester and a lot happened during the semester that I meant to write about, but the details of life kind of got away from me. So an update on major issues will have to hold you over for now.

-I have moved
-I have another new job
-I'm still in grad school and I'm taking classes this summer
-Tatonka has started his certification series for SAR
-I ride my bike to work almost every day
-My truck is making a funny noise that I am denying knowledge of because I think it's the water pump and I don't feel like replacing that again right now
-I got my house appraised in PDX
-My house is worth a tiny more than I owe on it
-Other than Tatonka mysteriously missing 1.5 teeth the pets appear to all be healthy, but we'll know more after finally getting them to the vet next week for their overdue annual exams
-Alaskan summers are not sunny
-If you buy your dogs 'disposable' toys to keep them busy while you finish painting and unpacking at your new place, they will still have them intact a week later. What am I going to do with the other two flamingos?
-I need a new computer at home

That is all for now. I have to go try on my flame retardant clothing for my trip to the north slope this week.

Fullness of Brain

This is what my brain feels like right now. Smokey is heading out for the start of a full season of guiding this week and my brain is full. Thankfully I have no finals to cram for, but I will admit to a need to write a 10 page paper this weekend and more stats than you can shake a stick at. I know, I tried. And the stick broke. Moral of story: I'm not dead, just have had a busy semester. It will be over in 2.5 short weeks. And I will get to breathe for 10 days and then dive into Summer session.