4-wheeling for Mother's Day - May 9, 2009

What a Mother's Day trip!  This is the Knik Glacier, which you can see from our house in the winter (when there are no leaves on our trees).  You can see it from our highways and roads year round.  It took us about 6 hours for the whole trip.  Our friend, Jimmy has been making this trip for many years.  He said that this was only the second time that he has actually been to the ice at the terminus of the glacier.  Normally there is too much water to get this close.  (see the video below of how fast the water is running).  As you might guess, the water is COLD.  It has icicles floating in it.  It was another gorgeous day, and the scenery was once again breathtaking.

Approaching the terminus of the Knik Glacier on four-wheelers.

AT THE TERMINUS OF THE GLACIER

This is where we had lunch.

The water didn't look deep, but it was!

Looking back down on the glacier after lunch.

This group is now sitting where we had lunch.

TRAFFIC JAM on the way to the glacier.

GLACIER MELT

Note how fast this water runs.  It is only from the melting glacier.  It is full of glacial silt, giving it a very gray opaque appearance.  Without the silt in the water, it would be crystal clear.   But there is so much silt, that you cannot see through the water to judge how deep the water actually is.  It was running fast enough to knock a person off their feet.



I've posted these videos so you can come Fourwheeling with us!

THROUGH THE WATER

THROUGH THE MUD

OVER THE HILL

RUNS ACROSS THE FLATS

Denali Trip - May 3, 2009

We drove the Parks highway to Denali National Park.  During the normal tourist season, access to the road through the park is very limited.  The majority of the people touring the park must ride on tour buses, which are old school buses.  They hold a lottery for the opportunity to drive your won car through the park.  Only a certain number of private vehicles are allowed in the park each day.  This is so that there is a little as possible to disturb the natural habitat and habits of the animals and also to preserve the beauty of the land.  During the pre-season private vehicles are allowed up to Mile 30.  The road is open for about 90 miles during the summer season.  

The day was a rare one in terms of visibility of the mountains and Denali itself.  In three weeks of driving toward Denali on my way to school, I have only seen it once.  It is generally either hazy or the snow is blowing on Denali and you can't see it or the rest of the Alaska Range.  It usually clears up a bit by afternoon and I can see it in my rearview mirror on the way home.

This day the whole Alaska Range was visible from a long way off.  We could see Denali from the south as we approached it, as we drove around the east side of it on the highway and again from the back side when we were in the park.  by the time we got in the park, it was beginning to cloud up over Denali, but we got a quick look at it.

Photos taken from Willow, at Mile 68 of the Parks highway

 (approximately 100 miles from the mountains you see here).

CHENA RIVER AND VIEW OF ALASKA RANGE AT DENALI VIEWPOINT SOUTH 

(PARKS HIGHWAY MILE 135)

Notice all the twist and turns in the river.  The water carries glacier silt with it until it builds up and the water can carry it no more.  So the water leaves the silt and picks a different path.  The process repeats itself over and over, which makes many twists and bends in the rivers.  We are experiencing a lot of flooding in the interior regions of Alaska because of the ice jams on these types of rivers.  Although you can still see some ice on this river, there is not much ice left and the river is flowing freely.  You can read more about the flooding in the Interior at this site:

http://www.adn.com/news/environment/flooding/story/794868.html

Click on the link that say "pictures of flooding" to see some pretty tremendous pictures of the ice damage.  Some of the chunks of ice from the rivers destroyed home when the flood waters carried them into the houses.

And, believe it or not, the fire danger in other parts of the state (including our area) is extremely high.  We have entered the wildfire season and have some major wildfires going on already.

http://www.adn.com/news/environment/fire/story/794110.html

Meanwhile, back at Denali and the Alaska Range.  You can see the largest glacier, Ruth Glacier, just to the left of center.  It appears as a large snowy area toward the bottom of the mountains, just about the trees.  We are still about 50 miles from these mountains.

Glacier coming down between the mountains.  The Ruth Glacier is 31 miles long.   It is over a mile wide and 1/2 mile deep.  It travels through the Great Gorge, which is nicknamed the Grand Canyon of Alaska.  Ruth Glacier has 5,000 feet peaks on both sides of the glacier.

Doug and Colleen with Denali between us in the background.

Denali (AKA Mt. McKinley) is over Doug's right shoulder.

Backside (north side) of Alaska Range, taken from our picnic spot in Denali National Park.

Backside (north side of Denali) from our picnic spot in Denali National Park.

NORTH SIDE OF THE TALKEETNA MOUNTAINS 

Note how the Talkeetnas are not as sharp or towering as the Alaska Range is.  This picture is taken from Broad Pass, which is the pass between the two ranges.

WILLOW PTARMIGAN 

Taken in Denali National Park.  They still have their winter colors on, making it hard to spot in the snow.  I did not get a picture of the first pair we saw (we saw a total of six pair that day).  We had stopped for lunch and we sitting in the car enjoying the view of the mountains.  It was too chilly yet to picnic outside.  A couple in the parking lot took their two dogs out for a walk in the brush and flushed a pair of ptarmigans right at our car.  I thought they were going to fly in my window before they quickly veered up and over the car.  They landed in the brush not too far from our car.  The willow ptarmigan is the state bird of Alaska.

CARIBOU 

Some of these were taken in Denali National Park.  Some were taken on the highway near Cantwell.  The large group crossed the road right in front our our car while we stopped to watch.   The two crossed on the highway, again right in front of our stopped car.

CARIBOU VIDEOS

Baby Musk Ox - May, 2009

We got a call a couple of weeks ago.  The first baby musk ox have been born.  A couple of them were taken from their mothers and are being hand raised.  Here are pictures of one of them in the field with his mother.

This is Tsunami.  She is being bottle raised.  She is about 8 months old in these pictures.  Obviously, she doesn't understand what a fence is yet.  Musk ox are related to the goat family, so she bleats like a lamb.  She did not want to be left alone and was content if she was just near someone.

We were a distance away and Tusnami was bleating.  I came back toward her pen and she stopped.  She kept trying to get near me, but didn't understand what was stopping her (the fence).

She was still trying to learn how to drink from the bottle, and I was trying to learn how to hold it just right!

Easter In Alaska - 4/11/09

Easter Sunday was mostly cloudy and in the upper 30s all day long. We looked out the window at 9:30 PM and this is what we saw. We could see it snowing in the mountains off and on all day. It finally moved to our neighborhood. Our snow had almost all melted, but it looks like we will have the chance to go through another "melt" cycle.

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We took this a couple of days ago when we were a the grocery store in Palmer. The "kids" are just waiting for dad or mom to come out of the store. When I took this picture, the owner was out of sight inside the store, even though you might guess that he/she was walking across the parking lot toward the truck. They were at attention like this for several minutes.

Note the mountains in the background. Those are the ones right outside Doug's office window. This is his view every day!

Jr. Iditarod - 2/28/09

On Saturday, February 28, we went to Knik Lake to see the start of the Junior Iditarod. The lake is about 40 minutes from our house. It is a 145 mile race for kids who are ages 14-17. There were 21 mushers in this year's race. The videos and the pictures are a bit deceiving. It looks like a raging blizzard. In reality, it was a gorgeous day. The snow came in big flat flakes with absolutely no wind. It stacked up on a person if you didn't keep it brushed off. The temperature was a balmy 20*, so it really was a perfect day. The first musher left at 10:00 AM. The kids take a trail 82 miles and then have a mandatory 10 hour layover. Then the continue for another 63 miles to the finish at Willow (where the adult Iditarod race begins). The winning musher finished at 12:30 PM on Sunday, March 1st. The last musher finished about 7:30 PM Sunday. Some of the kids came from mushing families and others have no one else in their family who mushes or raises dogs. The winner is the stepson of Lance Mackey, who has won the Iditarod the last two years. Lance will be competing for his third consecutive victory next weekend. You can read more about today's race and about the mushers on www.jriditarod.com. If you would like to read about the Iditarod, check out www.iditarod.com.

(P.S. to Mr. Brooke: The snow was truly "wafting" down - perfect hot tub snow!!!)

Race Security Detail.
The lathes with the orange tips in the back of the first snow machine are trail markers.

More race security detail members.

Putting booties on the dogs prior to the race.

Dog kennels come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Team out on the line before they are harnessed and ready to go.

Let's go!! Let's Go!!!!!

This sled dog's eyes were blue, like a Siamese cat's eyes.

Back-to-back Iditarod winner Lance Mackey is to the left of the guy in the orange hat. They are all standing at the start line waiting for a musher to take off.

5-4-3-2-1-GO!!

Concession Stand

This young man got bored and brushed away the 8-10 inches of snow off the ice. What you see at his feet is the frozen lake.




The ultimate multi-tasking mom -- a baby in the carrier on her back, one in her arms, one at her feet and taking pictures too!!

Jr. Iditarod Videos

The teams lined up in a circle before the start. We stood in the center of the circle to shoot the video. This is about 1 hour before race time. At this race spectators are allowed to wander amidst the dogs and mushers and take all the photos they want. That is one of the neat things about going to the smaller dog races. At the Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage and at the re-start in Willow, spectators are fenced off from the mushers.

This is about 40 minutes before race time and the mushers are beginning to get their dogs out and prepare them for the race. The dogs begin to sense this and you can hear a few of them barking.







The first team is called to the start line. Notice that the dogs are NOT quiet now. Every one of them wants to GO.





Another team is called to the start line. You can see how the volunteers help to catch the sled and stop it on the start line, so the dogs don't take off before they get the signal to go.







The dogs are ready to go, and another musher is off and running.






Melissa Osmar walking her team to the start line.

If you listen, you will hear the starter countdown the last 5 seconds before he says "GO!"