Hi!
I've been living in a room at the lodge since I wrote last but I haven't done much taking pictures. In fact, it appears I slept 14 hours last night - and barely made it to work today. I thought about calling in sick - but just would have been too embarrassed. I didn't think I could move....but I could, finally. I may have overdone it a bit. Yesterday at lunchtime I picked up my lunch at the Employee Dining Room in a "to go" box and took it to my room. After a quiet lunch I stole a short nap and set my alarm. I set the alarm wrong and returned to work 1/2 hour late - wierd.
Anyway, today I did work and I feel better and better. Tonight my roommate and I are in the lobby where the internet works pretty dang good !
Four more days of work and then we all fly home! It was sunny and beautiful today again but tonight it was already getting dark at 9:00 p.m. and a very brisk wind has come up. Now it appears to be raining and the rain feels like ice!
It will be good to be home soon.
I hope I get to come back next summer.
g'nite!
love,
Barb
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Staying at the Lodge
Oh good grief! This is just too good not to write again already! I got ALL moved today. I did most of it myself - by shuttle bus but on the second load, the last load, Suzie & Al picked me and my last stuff up and brought me over. I tried to help them unload too, but Al had it covered. Probably just as well - somehow I had hurt my back lugging my big suitcase upstairs to my new lodging. The view from our room is Denali National Park - and it's incredible. We can hear the roar of Nenana River with the window open and my back hurt - but I had everything unpacked and enjoyed a glass of wine while watching the scenery. After the glass of wine, my back stopped hurting. Still, I needed just one more glass of wine. I seem to have dozed off by the time Riley got there with my roommate's personal small fridge. It's night now. At the homestead, I would go outside to see if the northern lights were out but there it was very, very dark outside (recently, that is) and there was no one else around. Since we've seen bear in the neighborhood this week, I tended not to stay outside long.
Tonight, here at the lodge, there are people quietly roaming the area. It's SO beautiful here! I've wandered clear across the campus to the main lodge. I had planned to practice piano on the grand downstairs - but there are still too many people about. I've been practicing for about 1/2-3/4 hour each night since I got back from Oregon. I have a piece that I need to play for Jan's memorial service. I haven't played in 25 years. At the homestead there was a grand piano tucked way back in the employee dining room. I could hit it any late evening and have time by myself to play. Here it'll be a little trickier. I can't stop practicing, though. Jan would understand that I need to play this piece for her. It's helped me each day to do this in her memory. There is cloud cover tonight so no northern lights are showing - yet.
We have had a grizzly on campus here - but not recently and somehow (I'm sure it's not the wine!) it doesn't worry me one bit here. The lodge lighting is SO pretty!
Every day I'll save the extra time the shuttle would take to get to work. All of us outfitters appear to have been moved here to the lodge. It's like old home week! It's so much fun.
I'm sitting in front of a huge fireplace in the main lodge just writing away - the fireplace is roaring and it's 25' tall.
Ahhhh,
this is a very fine summer job. I hope Laurie and Maria will consider coming to Alaska next summer to work too!
I have to be back at work by 9:am. That means I need to get up by about 8:am. Before today that would mean I'd need to be up by 6:30 - to meet the shuttle and all. In the evening, the shuttle would leave on the hour. If I happened to spend a few too many minutes with a guest at my quitting time, I'd have to wait an extra hour to go home - and that happened at least half the time! From now on, whatever time I'm done, I'm about 3 minutes from "home".
I'll try to get some pictures of the lodge campus by night. We haven't had night here very long - but we sure are getting more nighttime fast - and the leaves - the hills are yellow and red where they were green all summer.
Not all is happy here. Srdan is leaving to go home to Serbia and his visa won't allow him to return. My friend, Dobry, has returned to Bulgaria. She and I have been playing duets at our hideaway piano. She was so delightful.
I have not had a roommate for some time. My old roommate was not able to handle the "isolation" here and left earlier. Today I do have a roommate again. Her name is Kacey. She is from a town called Tok. She has been helping me try to learn to do pictures and is the one who originally told me the story about the town of Chicken. (They couldn't spell Ptarmigan - so named the town Chicken - no joke!)
I'll miss my neighbor, Marilyn. We've been playing Rummy each night. She beats me nearly every time. I'll miss that! This is just one more small adventure before the end of it. I talked to Laurie tonight and she'll pick me up from the airport.
I miss my family.
It'll be great to get home.
But this sure is one nice big fireplace
g
nite
love,
barb
Tonight, here at the lodge, there are people quietly roaming the area. It's SO beautiful here! I've wandered clear across the campus to the main lodge. I had planned to practice piano on the grand downstairs - but there are still too many people about. I've been practicing for about 1/2-3/4 hour each night since I got back from Oregon. I have a piece that I need to play for Jan's memorial service. I haven't played in 25 years. At the homestead there was a grand piano tucked way back in the employee dining room. I could hit it any late evening and have time by myself to play. Here it'll be a little trickier. I can't stop practicing, though. Jan would understand that I need to play this piece for her. It's helped me each day to do this in her memory. There is cloud cover tonight so no northern lights are showing - yet.
We have had a grizzly on campus here - but not recently and somehow (I'm sure it's not the wine!) it doesn't worry me one bit here. The lodge lighting is SO pretty!
Every day I'll save the extra time the shuttle would take to get to work. All of us outfitters appear to have been moved here to the lodge. It's like old home week! It's so much fun.
I'm sitting in front of a huge fireplace in the main lodge just writing away - the fireplace is roaring and it's 25' tall.
Ahhhh,
this is a very fine summer job. I hope Laurie and Maria will consider coming to Alaska next summer to work too!
I have to be back at work by 9:am. That means I need to get up by about 8:am. Before today that would mean I'd need to be up by 6:30 - to meet the shuttle and all. In the evening, the shuttle would leave on the hour. If I happened to spend a few too many minutes with a guest at my quitting time, I'd have to wait an extra hour to go home - and that happened at least half the time! From now on, whatever time I'm done, I'm about 3 minutes from "home".
I'll try to get some pictures of the lodge campus by night. We haven't had night here very long - but we sure are getting more nighttime fast - and the leaves - the hills are yellow and red where they were green all summer.
Not all is happy here. Srdan is leaving to go home to Serbia and his visa won't allow him to return. My friend, Dobry, has returned to Bulgaria. She and I have been playing duets at our hideaway piano. She was so delightful.
I have not had a roommate for some time. My old roommate was not able to handle the "isolation" here and left earlier. Today I do have a roommate again. Her name is Kacey. She is from a town called Tok. She has been helping me try to learn to do pictures and is the one who originally told me the story about the town of Chicken. (They couldn't spell Ptarmigan - so named the town Chicken - no joke!)
I'll miss my neighbor, Marilyn. We've been playing Rummy each night. She beats me nearly every time. I'll miss that! This is just one more small adventure before the end of it. I talked to Laurie tonight and she'll pick me up from the airport.
I miss my family.
It'll be great to get home.
But this sure is one nice big fireplace
g
nite
love,
barb
Bits & Pieces
Today is my last day off. It's been a great summer for me. I think I'm stronger than I was before. I hope so. I've learned a lot about Alaska, about people and about myself this summer. That's a pretty good return on the investment. I always ask if anybody would just e-mail and say hi but nevermind. I just can't open any email anymore. Once in a while I can send a short message - but not much. The strangest things happen. Just now a message popped up from Laura D! It was nice - but I don't even know where it came from and could not respond. I don't think it was instant messaging - but it seemed new - just couldn't answer it. Anyway, nice to hear from her!! I called my credit union today to transfer some funds. Got clear through the call without a disconnect. Lately that is rare. I've heard it's because of the cloudcover. Whenever there are clouds, our phone reception gets tricky.
It truly has been a great summer - really!
Aha! Well, so much for my first day to do NOTHING!
I 've just received a call from my manager. I guess I didn't mention that we have had a sewer failur at our housing - last night it was pretty awful - but today it smells great again. I thought that the plan B was no longer in effect - but it IS. I'm to move out of my dorm housing and move to Room 361 at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge for the remainder of my stay here. OK! I can do that - I was starting to get packed anyway. I will no longer have the 10 mile commute to work and I'll have to use the hotel dining facilities for many of my meals. Ahhh, life is tough : )
I won't have daily maid service, however.
hee hee.
That would have been intrusive though. I suppose I can continue to pick up after myself even at Denali Wilderness Lodge.
The pictures, before I go:
First picture is grizzly bear scat on the trail above Eielson Center. It looked like blueberry pie filling. It was a bit too fresh.
The next picture is proof that my friend and I climbed the entire trail. It was WINDY up there! (and steep!) The third picture is of Eielson Center. In the background you can see the foothills to Mt. McKinley. I wasn't thinking about Mt. McKinley - I should have gotten that in the picture. I was only thinking of how far down our point of origin was!! I tried to add one final picture here below but now it's the first picture - Mt. McKinley as seen from our trail that day.
Take care
Not sure when or if I'll have internet connection again.
If you've been reading along sometimes, it has helped me to log this stuff.
It's been a fine summer.
I miss my home, my friends, my life in Oregon.
I'll also miss Denali.
Love,
Barb
Monday, September 7, 2009
Glacier Landing by Plane again......almost....9.7.09
9/7/09
I was up by 5:45 – quite a trick since I could not sleep last night. Yup, that happens, even in Alaska sometimes!
I ate breakfast at the Music of Denali Breakfast buffet which features mountaineer, Laurent Dick, each morning, visiting with guests, showing slides of his climb to the Mt. McKinley summit.
By 7:30, I was on my way again to the tour, “Glacier Landing by Plane”. I’ll attach pictures – but I’m typing offline. If I dare to type directly onto the blog and there is a glitch….and there are so many ….IF there is internet at all, then everything would disappear.
It seems there is so little time to write but I want not to lose these memories! In less than two weeks I’ll be home and my other world will overtake me again. The people who are renting a room in my house have decided to move on and my friend who is renting the little house across the street will be moving too. I always stress over who to get for renters and I know stress will quickly follow as I strain to cover all the bills and an extra mortgage working halftime again. I do work to remember that transitions actually require change to be real transitions. Ha, how profound.
I think I like change only when I instigate it.
Today I flew to Mt. McKinley with the same pilot as before, Bruce. He’s the dad of the chief pilot. We flew in a 1966 DeHaviland Beaver. Only 79 were manufactured with the turbo prop jet engine that this one has. They were designed for the Canadian government as military planes.
There are 5 native Alaskan tribes. The tribes around McKinley are referred to as Athabascans. They migrated with the seasons between Broadpass and the Healy area. The Healy area was their winter home because there is less precipitation (snow) in winter here. Broadpass was their summer home. It is magnificently beautiful. I was sorely tempted to stop and take photos a couple of weeks ago when I was on Hurricane Ridge duty.
In 1970 the Parks Highway was completed – named for George Parks. Before the completion of the highway Healy residents relied solely on the railroad for transportation. Of course, all visitors to the park also arrived by train. There was a road but there were no bridges so it went along in fits and starts, was a dirt road only and was rarely used.
Our plane flew at 9,500 feet over Princess Lodge. I got some pictures. If they come out, they’re all the red roofs. Princess is the largest resort lodge in Alaska with 656 rooms – spread out all over!
If you’re reading this (thanks! And) you’ll know I took notes during today’s flight. This pilot is so full of good information!
The Alaskan range is small by lower 48 standards – only 650 miles long and 40 miles wide. It has a huge impact on precipitation in Alaska, though. Rain and snow are measured in feet on the south side of the range and in inches on the north side.
Four flight companies are permitted to land on Mt. McKinley glaciers. They serve the climbers and the tourists. They were all operating before the current national park rules were instated and have been grandfathered in. Healy is 100 miles from Mt. McKinley. Our first photo opportunities were at 50 miles from Mt. McKinley. I’m not sure how far we were for the closeup views. That felt like measurement should be in feet or inches – but we were probably at least a mile away. Wish I’d thought to ask. The latitude of Mt. McKinley is 62 degrees.
The Alaskan range is a product of two tectonic plates, the North America plate and the Pacific plate, crashing up against each other. Mt. McKinley was produced by the Pacific plate being shoved upward. The black color of the rock is from the ocean bottom. The Athabascan religion centered on Mt. McKinley. The north peak was the mother. The south peak was father and two nearby peaks were son and daughter.
Within Denali, at Sanctuary, is the largest population of grizzlies in the world.
By the way, tonight as I type this, there have been several sightings of a very large grizzly at the kettle ponds up the road a couple of miles. He appears to be gorging on berries. A naturalist I listened to recently conjectured that bear and berries SOUND alike because their root words were the same. The bears eat tons of berries – and there are fields of berries up here simply called Bear berries. Kettle ponds, by the way, are created by the gouging of glaciers. Wonder Lake is a prime example of a huge kettle pond – 4 miles long, ½ mile wide and 280 meters DEEP.
There are now 400,000 visitors to Denali park each year.
We watched Muldrow Glacier as we ascended Mt. McKinley. Medial morane is the black gravel in the center – the glaciers push sediment from the sides to the middle of the flow. Terminal morane ----hmmm. I need to understand that better before I try to explain that – even and especially to myself.
Mt. McKinley is only 50,000 years old. From a satellite view, the Alaskan range resembles a human skeleton with Mt. McKinley being the skull. The rest of the range lies east of McKinley.
Most glaciers move 5-10 feet per year. Muldrow Glacier, however, is a “floating” glacier. In 1957 Muldrow Glacier moved 2-1/2 miles. The ice on Muldrow Glacier is 2,000 feet deep. The black color seen in the glacier is the terminal moraine which covers the ice. Even where I can see vegetation, the ice is directly underneath and 2,000 feet thick.
We tried to land on Eldridge glacier but were unable because of the heavy cloud cover today. On that glacier, the ice is only 500 feet deep and is covered in 45 feet of snow. The mountain directly left of McKinley as we fly is Mt. Mather. Hahahaha. But we flew clear around Mt. McKinley. So I don’t think that note was very helpful.
At Mt. McKinley, we flew at 11,300 feet. At 12,000 feet we’d have to use oxygen masks. (Later we flew just under 12,000 feet to manage the cloud cover and visibility)
We saw Wonder Lake and Burke Glacier to the north. The black mountains are on the south side of the range and the gray mountains are on the north. This is the continental divide of Alaska and the black rock is Pacific Ocean sedimentary rock. The gray is from …..(not easy taking notes while flying and taking pictures – sorry. I lost that info!)
In 1905 a federal judge was exiled to Alaska. He lived at Kantishna (the furthest point on the road in Denali Park and the original site of the gold found that created the Gold Rush)
Five times he tried to climb Mt. McKinley. He had terrific equipment and he had horses to pack. He didn’t realize that he was trying to climb a 14,000 foot vertical slope of ice. It is now known as Wickersham Wall and it is absolutely magnificent. On another flight, we flew from the bottom to the top of that wall and that’s as close as I ever hope to come to mountain climbing.
Our airspeed today was 110 knots.
With the cloud cover today we can see 75 miles at 12,000 feet.
I had planned to go into the park again today (on the ground, that is) but when I had the chance to try again to do a glacier landing, I just took it. We still didn’t get to land – but it was worth it. I have one more day off – on Friday. I’ll take a trip into the park one last time then. I am in the park much of the time, often even while I’m working but I mean into the PARK – I love the gravel road bus rides and the wildlife and vistas. I’m going to miss this place.
I was up by 5:45 – quite a trick since I could not sleep last night. Yup, that happens, even in Alaska sometimes!
I ate breakfast at the Music of Denali Breakfast buffet which features mountaineer, Laurent Dick, each morning, visiting with guests, showing slides of his climb to the Mt. McKinley summit.
By 7:30, I was on my way again to the tour, “Glacier Landing by Plane”. I’ll attach pictures – but I’m typing offline. If I dare to type directly onto the blog and there is a glitch….and there are so many ….IF there is internet at all, then everything would disappear.
It seems there is so little time to write but I want not to lose these memories! In less than two weeks I’ll be home and my other world will overtake me again. The people who are renting a room in my house have decided to move on and my friend who is renting the little house across the street will be moving too. I always stress over who to get for renters and I know stress will quickly follow as I strain to cover all the bills and an extra mortgage working halftime again. I do work to remember that transitions actually require change to be real transitions. Ha, how profound.
I think I like change only when I instigate it.
Today I flew to Mt. McKinley with the same pilot as before, Bruce. He’s the dad of the chief pilot. We flew in a 1966 DeHaviland Beaver. Only 79 were manufactured with the turbo prop jet engine that this one has. They were designed for the Canadian government as military planes.
There are 5 native Alaskan tribes. The tribes around McKinley are referred to as Athabascans. They migrated with the seasons between Broadpass and the Healy area. The Healy area was their winter home because there is less precipitation (snow) in winter here. Broadpass was their summer home. It is magnificently beautiful. I was sorely tempted to stop and take photos a couple of weeks ago when I was on Hurricane Ridge duty.
In 1970 the Parks Highway was completed – named for George Parks. Before the completion of the highway Healy residents relied solely on the railroad for transportation. Of course, all visitors to the park also arrived by train. There was a road but there were no bridges so it went along in fits and starts, was a dirt road only and was rarely used.
Our plane flew at 9,500 feet over Princess Lodge. I got some pictures. If they come out, they’re all the red roofs. Princess is the largest resort lodge in Alaska with 656 rooms – spread out all over!
If you’re reading this (thanks! And) you’ll know I took notes during today’s flight. This pilot is so full of good information!
The Alaskan range is small by lower 48 standards – only 650 miles long and 40 miles wide. It has a huge impact on precipitation in Alaska, though. Rain and snow are measured in feet on the south side of the range and in inches on the north side.
Four flight companies are permitted to land on Mt. McKinley glaciers. They serve the climbers and the tourists. They were all operating before the current national park rules were instated and have been grandfathered in. Healy is 100 miles from Mt. McKinley. Our first photo opportunities were at 50 miles from Mt. McKinley. I’m not sure how far we were for the closeup views. That felt like measurement should be in feet or inches – but we were probably at least a mile away. Wish I’d thought to ask. The latitude of Mt. McKinley is 62 degrees.
The Alaskan range is a product of two tectonic plates, the North America plate and the Pacific plate, crashing up against each other. Mt. McKinley was produced by the Pacific plate being shoved upward. The black color of the rock is from the ocean bottom. The Athabascan religion centered on Mt. McKinley. The north peak was the mother. The south peak was father and two nearby peaks were son and daughter.
Within Denali, at Sanctuary, is the largest population of grizzlies in the world.
By the way, tonight as I type this, there have been several sightings of a very large grizzly at the kettle ponds up the road a couple of miles. He appears to be gorging on berries. A naturalist I listened to recently conjectured that bear and berries SOUND alike because their root words were the same. The bears eat tons of berries – and there are fields of berries up here simply called Bear berries. Kettle ponds, by the way, are created by the gouging of glaciers. Wonder Lake is a prime example of a huge kettle pond – 4 miles long, ½ mile wide and 280 meters DEEP.
There are now 400,000 visitors to Denali park each year.
We watched Muldrow Glacier as we ascended Mt. McKinley. Medial morane is the black gravel in the center – the glaciers push sediment from the sides to the middle of the flow. Terminal morane ----hmmm. I need to understand that better before I try to explain that – even and especially to myself.
Mt. McKinley is only 50,000 years old. From a satellite view, the Alaskan range resembles a human skeleton with Mt. McKinley being the skull. The rest of the range lies east of McKinley.
Most glaciers move 5-10 feet per year. Muldrow Glacier, however, is a “floating” glacier. In 1957 Muldrow Glacier moved 2-1/2 miles. The ice on Muldrow Glacier is 2,000 feet deep. The black color seen in the glacier is the terminal moraine which covers the ice. Even where I can see vegetation, the ice is directly underneath and 2,000 feet thick.
We tried to land on Eldridge glacier but were unable because of the heavy cloud cover today. On that glacier, the ice is only 500 feet deep and is covered in 45 feet of snow. The mountain directly left of McKinley as we fly is Mt. Mather. Hahahaha. But we flew clear around Mt. McKinley. So I don’t think that note was very helpful.
At Mt. McKinley, we flew at 11,300 feet. At 12,000 feet we’d have to use oxygen masks. (Later we flew just under 12,000 feet to manage the cloud cover and visibility)
We saw Wonder Lake and Burke Glacier to the north. The black mountains are on the south side of the range and the gray mountains are on the north. This is the continental divide of Alaska and the black rock is Pacific Ocean sedimentary rock. The gray is from …..(not easy taking notes while flying and taking pictures – sorry. I lost that info!)
In 1905 a federal judge was exiled to Alaska. He lived at Kantishna (the furthest point on the road in Denali Park and the original site of the gold found that created the Gold Rush)
Five times he tried to climb Mt. McKinley. He had terrific equipment and he had horses to pack. He didn’t realize that he was trying to climb a 14,000 foot vertical slope of ice. It is now known as Wickersham Wall and it is absolutely magnificent. On another flight, we flew from the bottom to the top of that wall and that’s as close as I ever hope to come to mountain climbing.
Our airspeed today was 110 knots.
With the cloud cover today we can see 75 miles at 12,000 feet.
I had planned to go into the park again today (on the ground, that is) but when I had the chance to try again to do a glacier landing, I just took it. We still didn’t get to land – but it was worth it. I have one more day off – on Friday. I’ll take a trip into the park one last time then. I am in the park much of the time, often even while I’m working but I mean into the PARK – I love the gravel road bus rides and the wildlife and vistas. I’m going to miss this place.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Church
Earlier started to tell about church in Healy but panicked and sent blog off before it went down. Then I wrote out the story later and.....sure enough. The internet quit and all was lost.
But it seems to be more durable tonight so here goes again.
The church is Healy has really good attendance. Most rentals - more than 90% - here are dry cabins. No running water (and out houses)
The church HAS running water AND washers and dryers. Community members attend very regularly AND they do their laundry and refill their water jugs while at church .
But it seems to be more durable tonight so here goes again.
The church is Healy has really good attendance. Most rentals - more than 90% - here are dry cabins. No running water (and out houses)
The church HAS running water AND washers and dryers. Community members attend very regularly AND they do their laundry and refill their water jugs while at church .
Evening drive into the park
The first 17 miles into the park, as far as Savage River, are paved two-lane highway. My friend, Marilyn and I drove into the park tonight to get pictures of the late autumn colors. The colors are already starting to fade and within a couple of weeks, the foliage will turn gray and brown, they say. We found MOOSE.
Jeep Safari, thyme, church & Bumbleberry pie
It's late autumn in the Denali. Did you know that you can remember you can remember the five species of Salmon easily ? I learned how today! Here goes! Hold up your hand. The thumb stands for CHUM salmon. The pointer finger stands for Sockeye (sock eye - get it??) the middle finger stands for KING Salmon. The ring finger is for SILVER Salmon (silver, gold rings) and the little finger is for Pink Salmon. Ha! Well, that sort of information may seem more important up here. The salmon run is very poor this year and there is concern for the bush families, the native Alaskans who depend on subsistence fishing. It will be a tough winter. 
I'm holding Arctic thyme. I'll be bringing it home and using it in cooking! Speaking of cooking, I talked to Rose at Rose's cafe today and I will be making bumbleberry pie this winter. I'm looking forward to it. I practiced today at the cafe, eating some fresh out of her oven with a bit of vanilla ice cream and a cup of coffee. I believe I have it almost down pat now.
How did I get clear through that whole trip up the Stampede Trail in a jeep without thinking to actually take a picture of the jeep? It's been raining here lately and so today the 4-wheeling was terrific!! Our jeeps were MUDDY and fun. I drove - but I was afraid he would think I was an old lady. The others in our line of jeeps were in their 20's and 30's. So I didn't want to be the little old lady who held everybody up. I guess I wasn't. He yelled something while we were traversing a huge mud lake - it sounded like "DON'T! Stop!!"So I didn't. I kept up my speed no matter what.
Well, that's NOT what he meant!
He meant - STOP!
oh well. I needn't have worried that he'd think I drove like an old lady.
See how beautiful the autumn is?
See how beautiful the autumn is?
Just another mudhole - Great for driving!
Ok - I just love these pictures of me fly fishing. I just had to throw this one back in (no pun intended)Sometimes I write in this blog and then the internet disappears. At those times, so does everything I've written, so I'm closing now.
See y'all soon. I'm flying home on the 18th and Laurie is picking me up at 5:30am
Love,
Barb
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
