Alaska Day

In celebration of Alaska Day, which commemorates the purchase of Alaska from Russia 140 years ago today, I did a little snow hikin'. Hmmmm...we paid $7.2 million (2 cents per acre), to acquire 365 million acres of land and 13 million of water, and have since reaped billions of dollars from fisheries, mining, and, of course, oil. Not to mention it's kind of a pretty place. Yeah, nice call Ivan.

Beautiful day today....what a difference (taken October 10)....

A week makes (taken October 18)....

And the same with a nice, thankfully hard-packed trail:

It's pretty warm in the sun, and you can see the snow has fallen/melted off the trees wherever the sun blazes (as did two of my layers):

But if you take a few steps off the packed trail, it's a decent first snowfall, as evidenced by the buried feet.

"Your brain is your best friend, or worst enemy."

I'm not sure my brain is either one - but I'd like to think we're pretty tight.

That quote is from the permanent sign which greets you at the Glen Alps Trailhead in nearby Chugach State Park, which also lets you know that the “park is a dangerous and unforgiving playground” and basically, in winter, you’re going to die!!! Well, welcome to the park! After hiking up there all summer I hope to maybe do some snowshoeing up there this winter. I think I’ll be doing a good bit of research first and staying “up valley”.


Speaking of dangerous wilderness, the movie “Into the Wild” is in the news up here right now. It was actually filmed in Alaska near Cantwell, south of Denali, which is refreshing since most movies that depict Alaska are actually filmed in Canada. The area around Cantwell is spectacular, and one of my favorite places (so far) in AK, along with the nearby Kenai Peninsula. It is not actually where the events featured in the film unfolded (which was the Stampede Trail, now called Stampede Road, which is north of Denali, just west of Healy), but I guess close enough.

"Hey ma, look at me, I'm going into the wild!"

The basic setup is charismatic rich white kid (McCandless) gives away all his money, drops out of the larger society and turns his back on his family, bums around the country meeting people along the way, then goes for an “ultimate adventure” in the Alaskan bush, and starves to death. But the book is not really about Alaska or any of the other places involved, it’s about larger human issues of spirituality and connection (or lack thereof), at least in my opinion.

I’ve read the book twice (and no, it had nothing to do with me coming to AK – I read it after I had already been here), and it is an interesting look at human yearning, with McCandless as the main study but with a backdrop of stories about other wilderness wanderer types who also met untimely deaths. Credit to Steve "Dexter" Ogle for the recommendation. I haven’t seen the movie, but from all the reviews it seems that Sean Penn took the “messianic” view of McCandless. If so that certainly isn’t my interpretation, but Sean Penn is entitled to his. The book is a quick read, and I’d definitely recommend it – even if you see the movie I’d go back and read the book. (If you do read it you should know that Krakauer jumped the gun on the “poison seed theory” of McCandless’ death, which has since been scientifically rejected by Dr. Thomas Clausen at UAF, the same scientist whose preliminary findings Krakauer ran with. The poison seed conclusion Krakauer puts forth is a key defense to accusations McCandless acted foolishly and didn't respect the land.) In any event, I’m sure the film will have some great AK scenery.

The other day the website for the Anchorage Daily News (which is great - lots of local interest/outdoors columns, nary a mention of the latest useless celebrity news) hosted a contest for tickets to a special screening of Into the Wild inviting readers to post their "five essential survival items" if they were living in the bush. There were lots of entries about multi-tools, compasses, firestarter, etc., but this was my favorite:

"5 To Survive":

1. A handsome man.
2. A mix CD of all those sappy love songs that make you want to gag yet you can't help screeching at the top of your lungs.
3. A radio to play said CD.
4. A "backup" handsome man for when the first one gets tired.
5. A fur bikini.

I don't know who won, but I thought that was pretty good.

The moose are still “rutting” (but it’s about over) and this scene has become familiar in my recent hikes, with two bulls sizing each other up for the chance at a lady. So far one or the other has just split in lieu of confrontation.

On Sunday at the store I saw chunks of snow in the parking lot. You know, when you drive around on snowy roads for a while and your wheel wells get those snow/ice chunks that eventually fall off? Well, no snow at Anchorage city level yet, but obviously the rain down here the prior couple days had been snow in the “Hillside” communities up the road. The usually visible Hillside had been “socked in” for a couple days so I couldn’t really see up there, but the wheel well snowballs on the asphalt told the tale

Today the skies cleared, and a peek out the bedroom window confirms new snow:

Last time I was driving to the state park I took note of where the “no winter maintenance beyond this sign” sign was, and it’s a pretty long ways from the Glen Alps Trailhead parking lot, up a winding road. I heard today there were 6 inches of snow up there by Saturday night, and the Anchorage police reported today that by noon Sunday there were 20 cars off of the road and in the ditches on the way to the Glen Alps Trailhead, including the 4WD models! Yeesh! I may have to invest in some studded tires, or at a minimum chains to supplement the 4WD.

In addition to the Chugach Mountains, there are pretty much mountains in any direction, including the Talkeetna Range, Alaska Range, and Kenai Range. The other day I had a nice clear day to grab a nice mountain view while hiking in the state park (which is east of Anchorage), while looking back northwest of the city. Downtown would be just down the hill to the left of the Charlie Brown looking tree to the left:

I also finally saw a black bear in the main state park trail system.

I wondered if the frozen conditions and accumulating snow deeper in the Chugach range might bring bears down into the front range where I hadn’t seen them before. I guess so.

Watching that bear it occurred to me how amazing it is that silence can command your attention so powerfully.

You’re standing alone only a handful of miles from town, which from certain vantage points can still be seen below, but feels far away. You hear the sound of the creek running through the valley behind you, with shelves of ice forming on its banks, but nothing more. There is no perceptible breeze, despite what your drifting breath betrays. And while you stand in silence and watch a bear scavenge for every last morsel to endure and indeed survive the long winter that lies ahead, and your cheeks numb, and your now gloveless hands stiffen against the chill of your binoculars or camera, you become suddenly aware of a secret and overwhelming peace. And for a moment, things make the simplest form of sense.