Sky over Healy

September 11, 2007. On a very cold and windy night in Healy, Alaska, the sky has gone crazy. Here are two of many pictures that don't look much like things on planet Earth to me.

Here's the second one:

Last run on Hatcher Pass

Today probably marks my last run on Hatcher Pass this year. I don't know when it closes, but I know it is some time soon. The mine/park is already closed, and I'm sure the road will follow suit soon.

First pictures from the Dalton Highway

I'm finally getting around to posting a few pictures from the trip up the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay).

This first picture is of the crazy sky in Fairbanks the morning of the drive. I shot this picture in front of the Wal-Mart at around 8:30 a.m. I stopped there to get water, food, gas tanks, and a tire-repair kit.

The Dalton Highway drive

Wow, the trip over the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse covered a lot of ground in a very short time, and I won't do it again like that. There were some great views, but it was a steep price.

I essentially started the trip in Fairbanks at around 9am. Fairbanks is a cute little college town, population 29K. The layout of the town reminded me of College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M, where I graduated.

Ready to travel the Dalton Highway

I've done my research, and I'll be heading up the Dalton Highway to Deadhorse, Prudhoe Bay, and the Arctic Ocean as soon as I can. I'm told that I'll need spare tires, and in one stretch there are no services of any kind for 240 miles, so I may need to carry a few extra tanks of gas to be cautious. I know there's not much to see when I get to the top, but I just want to take in the drive.

People being people

A window sticker seen in a van tonight:

You laugh at me because I'm different.
I laugh at you because you're all the same.

I don't know if that's the prevailing attitude here, but things are very different here compared to the lower-48. At the very least people just seem to be more comfortable being themselves. No suits, no fancy dresses, just people being people.

Helicopter brings in a plane

While walking into town for lunch today a loud helicopter could be heard. I didn't think much of it at first, as helicopters sometimes land at the Talkeetna airport, no big deal. But when I saw that all the tourists were staring at it I knew there must be something different.

Red blur on Hatcher Pass flats

A local sourdough and a young hiker were sitting by the river on the flats of Hatcher Pass. Just as the hiker said "It's a cool day," a red blur appeared on the gravel road, then disappeared just as quickly around a corner and behind a huge cloud of dust.

As the blur streaked by, loud music could be heard ("Let 'er rip, let 'er fly"), and as it slid around the corner a long, loud "Waaa-hooooooo..." was heard in the distance.

Squirrel in the car

"Squirrel, what are you doing in the car?!"

Squirrel looks up from his sniffing around in the car. "Oh, hi Al. The doors were open, so I thought maybe you had some Cheerios in here for me."

"No, I'm just trying to make sure the car is dried out after the water leaks."

Favorite Talkeetna bumper sticker

My favorite Talkeetna bumper sticker:

"Talkeetna: A quaint little drinking village with a climbing problem."

What else can you say about a town that has a bar in the back of the grocery store?

If I'm here next summer I'm going to have to try climbing Denali. Hopefully they have stairs. Or maybe an elevator. :)

August in Talkeetna

I talked to another local today who talked about the "magic" of wintertime here in Talkeetna (and Alaska in general). He said once the snow falls it stays white until April. He used to live in Iowa, and also said that it's surprisingly not that cold here, and that 40-below here is like 5-below in Iowa.

Another local at the Free Box told me that darkness in the winter here is greatly exaggerated. She said there is typically at least six hours of light per day. Time will tell.

The RAV4 sprung a leak

Whew, I've been all over the place lately, including cars, hikes, boat rides (with whale sightings), bus rides, dog sled rides, and airplane rides, but first I need to take care of a problem. My RAV4 has sprung a leak, and the floorboard on the front passenger side was holding more than an inch of water last night.

It's still raining off and on here, so the car now looks like a wounded soldier, with a plastic bag and other plastic wrap covering the right-front side. Fortunately I don't need to drive anywhere, but I'd sure like to dry out the front of the car a little more.

Anchorage, Alaska pictures: Vacation, Day 7

Anchorage, Alaska pictures: The final day of the trip with my mom and aunt lands us back in Anchorage. They're leaving town tonight on a very late flight, so we grabbed a local floatplane tour ride from Rust's Flying Service this morning, followed by a trip to the zoo.

The floatplane ride was about as good as any airplane ride I've ever had: very smooth riding, with water landings so soft you didn't even know you had landed. Our Anchorage plane ride cost $245 per person, but I thought it was well worth it.

Day 6 - Healy, Denali, Talkeetna, Anchorage

The Alaska vacation for the ladies will be ending soon, but there was a beautiful sky in Healy, Alaska this morning:

Later, just a few miles south of Denali National park, we spotted a few moose having a breakfast by the railroad tracks:

Day 5 - Inside Denali National Park

Day 5 of the trip finds us inside Denali National Park. While I have a ton of pictures of mountains and wildlife, I'll just go with these three.

First, a peak we got at Denali on the drive in:

Don't feed the squirrels

I'm going to post this sign on the cabin when I get home. Nothing worse than a squirrel that knocks on the window at 8 a.m. expecting to be fed.

Day 4 - Healy, AK (this place is a zoo)

Day 3 of the trip landed us in Talkeetna, Alaska. I've already posted pictures from here, so I'll skip those.

Day 4 took us farther north, up to Healy, AK, about 11 miles north of Denali National Park. On the way to dinner at the local golf course we ran into a female moose and a few of her babies. Unfortunately my camera was in the back of the car, so I had to park the car and get out and get the camera, but they didn't leave.

Alaska vacation - Day 2 in Seward, the boat ride

Day 2 of our Alaska vacation found us in Seward, Alaska, where we lucked into a really terrific boat ride our on Resurrection Bay. We hit the road, er, the water, around 10:30 a.m. and took a six-hour cruise. I would have been happy with another six hours, it was incredible.

Our Seward boat ride started with a visit from a humpback whale:

Alaska vacation - Day 1, Seward, Alaska

(Day 1 of our Alaska vacation - Seward, Alaska.)

I'm touring the Alaskan countryside this week with two relatives, my mom and her sister. I'm trying to play it safe with them, so Day 1 of the trip is back to familiar stomping grounds in Seward, Alaska.

Denali sign

For some reason it feels like I should show the Denali entrance sign as well.

I have a few pictures of the town as well, but nothing great. I'll be going back next week, so I'll get some more then. FWIW the Princess people seem to have taken over half the town.