Eklutna Lake

Today I visited Eklutna Lake. Its only about a hour north of Anchorage and it is beautiful.  It is a glacier fed lake so the water actually looks teal when the light hits it.  Seriously- I didn't adjust the color to this picture to make it look that blue!

Camping!!

It's no surprise I like a good camping trip!! 

This weekend, my co-worker and I packed up 12 of our student leaders and went camping!  It was a fabulous time of worship, instruction, hilarity, good food and a lot of fun.  There was canoeing (hello- that is my FAVORITE).  There was target practice (I had to laugh as we were packing up to go- the pile of weapons continued to grow as each person arrived.  I told my coworkers- in my last job like this we worked hard to DIS-arm the students!)  There was caribou sausages cooked on an open fire.  There was also fresh shot grouse!  Gotta love when we are in the middle of a Bible study around the campfire and one of the students is sitting there, paying attention of course, but he is field dressing 2 grouse he just shot.  Side note- fresh shot grouse is YUMMY!!

Labor Day and Belugas

I was walking on the beach with some students on Saturday.  We were talking and laughing and all of a sudden I heard "huuuuuuuuuuu" (ok its difficult to spell what it sounded like- imagine someone with COPD inhaling loudly right beside you).   I turned and looked- and it was belugas!  Right next to me! They were so close, you could hear them breathing!  They were so close, it felt like you could just jump right in there with them- although that would be an incredibly poor choice!   A good sized pod of whales were just swimming up the shoreline. 

The students I was walking with were all excited. One had never seen whales before.  The rest kept saying "you NEVER see belugas here!"  Everyone keeps saying that- You never see Belugas at Point Woronzof!  But  I've seen them there twice now!  Maybe these people who never see Belugas here just aren't paying attention!

Anyways, hoping you all had a lovely Labor Day!  I had a nice, restful day and then went to a friend's place for moose burgers. YUMMY!!! 

Beluga

I went to check out the sunset again tonight at a park at the end of the airport runway.  I'd been there before, but got distracted by the mama moose and her calf and didn't really pay attention to the sunset so I decided to try it again. 

This time, I got there and there were a pod of Beluga Whales breaching right off the beach!! I mean like less than 100 yards from the beach (the tide was very high).  It was amazing!!  You could see a spout, then the top of the head and the back would come out of the water- some times even the tail.  This pics aren't fabulous- I mean they kind of look like the Loch Ness Monster- but seeing it in person was fabulous!

Other people watching the whales said they had lived here 25 years and never seen whales at this beach (or this close to shore).  Usually you have to drive quite a ways down the Seward Highway to get a glimpse of the whales- the inlet that surrounds Anchorage is the sea but it is a long ways from the open ocean.

One of these days I'm going to go out to this place and really just enjoy the sunset- but I'm enjoying all the random animal experiences I've had there!  A plain old sunset might just be boring!!! Or maybe not:

And a view of Anchorage:

Good Morning!

Sunrise at Potter Marsh.  Winter is coming though! There was snow on the mountains the last few nights and ice on the boardwalk Sunday morning. 

Berry Picking

Some of the students I work with went went berry picking on Friday.   It was a blast!  Every other time I went berry picking we would just walk out onto the flat tundra; but in Anchorage berry picking means climbing a mountain first! 

 There weren't a ton of berries to be had but we had fun regardless! 

Another Night of Northern Lights!

Mt McKinley at sunset

The Northern Lights were out again (technically they are ALWAYS out- you just can't always see them). They weren't as spectacular as the night before but they were still fabulous!  There was a lot of purple light- apparently that's rare to see.   

 My new night-sky photography friends came out again last night- its fun to get to know people who enjoy the same types of photography I do!  Admittedly, not many people think its fun to sit on the side of a mountain for 5 hours staring at the sky- even if the aurora isn't bright I enjoy just looking at the stars.  I think that is the BEST way to spend an evening, but I get that not everyone thinks its fun.  So its nice to have friends that will jump in their car and drive half an hour at 2am just to see the aurora.  Good thing I have Mondays off!

 You have to be patient for the Northern Lights though, so many cars would pull up, they would wait 5 minutes, not see anything spectacular, turn around a leave.  But if you are patient, you can see some amazing things!

Northern Lights

The college students I work with are back in town!  Yesterday, we had an event on campus with them- it was great but as I was leaving (at about 12:30 am), I thought I saw the Northern Ligthts- from downtown Anchorage (which is pretty rare).  I wasn't sure I saw them, there was a lot of ambient light and I was tired so I went home, got ready for bed- when I got an alert on my phone that the Aurora was supposed to be pretty good.  It was a totally clear night, so I got back up, grabbed my photography gear and drove 30 miles north to see what kind of pictures I could get.  

Holy Cow.  I've never seen anything like this!!! The Aurora was filling the sky!  You could see the light (mostly green with some red) pulsing through the entire sky- at one point, 80% of the sky was filled with light!   It was in every direction- and directly overhead was just insane!  It went on for several hours- I've never seen northern lights like this!  Plus I made some new friends- I ended up teaching a nighttime photography class to a young couple that just got a DSLR camera and were trying to take aurora pics. 

I love Alaska!

Moose in the City

I went out to the airport to watch the sunset last night- I mean literally at the end of the runway.  Its incredibly beautiful there looking out at the mountains and the Cook Inlet- but a bit loud when the jets are just a few feet above your head.... 

But I was sitting on a hill, enjoying the sunset when I found out there was a moose and a calf on the hill behind me. So fun!   I wasn't out in the country or anything, I was at the end of one of the busiest roads in town!

Sunset from Flat Top

A friend took me on an adventure to Flat Top today!  Its a mountain just south of Anchorage that has an amazing view of the sun setting over the Cook Inlet and the mountains.  You can even see Mt McKinley.  This will be a great place to take night sky pics!

 This is a view of Mt McKinley- over 125 miles away.  (its the mountain on the right in the pic above, also the only mountain in the picture below)

Anchorage from Mt Baldy

Meteors and Northern Lights

I found a great new place for night sky photography!  A friend told me about a mountain south of Anchorage that has a big parking area/trail head.  It was crazy busy last night with all the people trying to see the meteors (all the lights from the traffic messed with my pictures but I still had a blast).

My meteor pics didn't turn out too great but as I was leaving the Northern Lights were more prevalent (there is a very faint green band above the clearer spots near the horizon.)  But I saw a lot of meteors and a few of the college students I work with came out to keep me company.  I'm heading out again tonight- assuming the sky stays relatively clear- the meteors should still be visible. 

Potter Marsh

On my way home from the Conservation Center on Saturday, I went past Potter Marsh.  It is a wetlands area on the south side of Anchorage- great for bird watching and some wildlife viewing.  It was way crowded on Saturday afternoon, so I decided to come back on Sunday morning before church to have the best shot at getting some wildlife pictures. 

My new roommate wanted to come with me until I explained I would leave at 6am and stay at the park until church- she didn't think hanging out in the marsh for 4 hours sounded fun.  So I went solo.

The park was empty when I got there- always a good sign if you want to see moose!  The first thing I saw (besides seagulls which DON'T count) was an adolescent bald eagle. 

Once he matures, this eagle will get develop his white head and dark body, but he's still a bit young (and definitely not yet grown to his full size).  I was able to get quite close to this eagle- until another person at the park came too close too loudly and tried to chat with me- scaring the eagle away.  A word to the wise- if I'm about 15 feet away from a massive bird of prey- don't try to talk to me!  I had to work hard to get that close! 

After my eagle was scared off, I walked down to the other end of the marsh.  The trees are denser there and it would be a prime place to see a moose.  It was still early- and relatively quiet (except for my eagle-scarring buddy) and I ended up running into a couple who had spotted a moose calf alone in the grass.  All you could see were the ears twitching.  I sat down to wait- the couple got bored and left.  I was on a boardwalk several feet above the marsh so I wasn't too worried about Mama Moose finding me- and squashing me.  After a while, the baby got up.  Mama never showed up before I had to leave for church, but I know where I'm coming back to for some moose watching!  Plus I saw a massive Bald Eagle nest in the trees over there and saw a mature bald eagle at a distance. 

Definitely got a new favorite park in Anchorage!  Only a couple hundred more to visit! There are actually supposed to be some awesome parks closer to my house- but with the salmon running, they are also prime bear country so I'm keeping my distance for now.  I'd love to see a bear- just not alone, in a park with just my camera to defend myself!

Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center

Since I'm still relatively new to Alaska, I have no problem with doing a few super touristy things!  This weekend I went to the Wildlife Conservation center because I wanted to get outside of Anchorage and see some animals!  (Although there are around 80 bears living withing the city limits of Anchorage and way more moose- so I can potentially see all these guys again in Anch.)

 The Conservation Center takes in wild animals that are too hurt to survive in the wild.  They are also working to build up herds of elk and wood bison to be re-released into the wild this year . 

 Its kind of cheesy- I mean its like a big zoo- but you can get surprisingly close to the moose!

 Over all it was a great place to go for an afternoon- the drive out through Chugach State park is stunning (you have the Chugach mountains on 1 side and the sea on the other side of the road the entire way) and if you can avoid the tourist who were attempting to make the animals angry by stomping at them to get a good picture, it was a great trip! 

Shaktoolik

After our staff training, I was able to travel up the coast to the village of Shaktoolik.  Shaktoolik is about a half mile long- one long road with houses on both sides.  On one side, the houses are along the  the Bering Sea, the other is on the bank of the Shaktoolik River.  There are about 200 people in the village. I was able to travel with a friend of mine- Cora- who is from rural Alaska and had visited Shaktoolik before and knew a few people there.

Life in Shaktoolik is definitely different from Anchorage! Anchorage is big and bustling and wall to wall people.  Shak is 1 street, I met the entire town at a funeral the day after we arrived so everyone was familiar as we would walk down the street. 

My time in Shaktoolik gave me some great insight into life in Rural Alaska (This year, I will be ministering to students from similar communities).  I got to know some of the village elders, hear about the needs in the community and church and spend a lot of quality time learning practical things about life in rural Alaska.  I spent hours fishing, berry picking, and getting an in-depth historical background of the area.  I love that friends would just call us up and say "I'm going berry picking- come with me!" at 10:30pm. The sun didn't set until after 1am- so we utilized all the daylight we could.  

 This is my friend Gary and I holding up the upper jawbone of a Bowhead Whale.  It was GIGANTIC!!

 Gary and his wife Lynda were fabulous!  They were such a great resource for culture questions (Lynda- not in the picture- is a school teacher from the Lower 48.  She has lived in Shaktoolik for years and is a wealth of knowledge about village life!) They taught us about the history of the town (there is an ancient village- like about 10,000 years old- near the village), taught us how to make Fireweed Jelly (jelly made from the petals of flowers that are blooming right now), taught me the best way to cook fresh salmon, and how to work and live and minister in a tiny community. 

 Shaktoolik is right on the Bering Sea- we ran across a few star fish, lots of shells, a dead walrus and some BIG OLD BEAR TRACKS.  We were out with Gary on his ATV, he had his gun on him so that was good, but these tracks were huge and very fresh.  I want to see a bear but not that close!

 

Now, I'm back in Anchorage and gearing up for college ministry!  This will be different than any work I've done before but I'm excited for it! 

Insane Beauty

And this picture doesn't even remotely do justice to the view.  Alaska is just incredibly diverse and all the views so far have been stunning. 

Subsistence

A huge part of life in Alaska in the summer is Subsistence- meaning hunting, fishing, gathering- utilizing all the amazing food that grows naturally here in the summer.  I was talking to a friend about this- it is amazing that a place that is so barren and cold for a good portion of the year (winter on the tundra is no joke!) can produce such amazing food in ridiculously huge numbers.  Rivers that are just exploding with salmon.  Millions of berries ready to be picked.  I was told that scientists have done research and the food that Alaska produces in the summer has SIGNIFICANTLY more vitamins and nutrients compared to foods grown in other places.  And the people who live here utilize all of it.  Also, this is the time of year when we have longer daylight hours and all that time is utilized to hunt, gather and fish.  

I just came back from a staff training/planning time in western Alaska.  We had business meetings all day and did subsistence well into the night.  I mean we would be on the river fishing until 11:30 or later and it was still broad day light.  A friend called me up one night asking if I wanted to go berry picking- we started at 10:30pm and picked until dark (nearly 1am).  These are my kind of social/community activities- you are together with a group of people and you are working towards a common goal- but none of these activities require a lot of talking or athletic ability.  But you are still doing all this together.  It is some great quality time spent with others- and it was a great way for me to get to know my teammates better.

I loved berry picking- Alaska has some unique berries that I had never seen before!  Ever heard of Salmon Berries?? I don't know how to describe the flavor- they look like an orange raspberry but they have a flavor all their own.  There are Black berries (not like the blackberries in the Lower 48), a few tiny raspberries, cranberries and of course tundra blue berries.  Those are FABULOUS!! They are tiny and grow very low to the ground- it takes a ton to fill a bucket but they are so tasty! 

We had to be a bit careful of bears- this is Alaska and bears and moose are always a possibility, but this year there was a forest fire about 7 miles from the camp we were staying at- and that fire had pushed a lot of the wildlife closer to the camp.  We saw lots of bear tracks- adult and cub- and there were a few bear sightings (not by me!) but we were careful and didn't have a problem.  That's why you go out on the tundra in a group!  More eyes to look for bears and more noise to keep them away! 

All of this is fun- being outside, enjoying nature- but its also hard work!  Hours spent gathering food and then you have to process it! Berries are pretty easy- freeze or can them.  Fish is gutted, filleted, dried or smoked by the hundreds- everyone on the river or at fish camps had a little outbuilding with a roof over poles with hundreds of fish drying on them.  Different salmon are processed differently- Humpy Salmon are for Dry Fish, Silver Salmon are for Strips (brined, smoked and dried). Silvers are also frozen or smoked).  While satisfying, every activity is labor intensive.  No one wants to waste the daylight or the food available as winter is coming!   One village elder told me that they can be lazy in the winter- summer is for work! 

Even Fireweed flower blossoms are harvested and turned into jelly!  I spent time gathering blossoms with a few friends- 8 cups of blossoms will make 3 pints of jelly (so we gathered a TON).    Fireweed Jelly sure is good though!