Winter Gear - New Snowboard.

I completed my winter gear shopping tonight after purchasing a new snowboard, boots, and bindings. I purchased the Arbor Element that I talked about in an earlier blog. Yesterday I purchased new ice hockey skates as well. And a few weeks ago I purchased cross country skate skis (though I still need to purchase skate ski boots).

I am leaving in less than 24 hours to go on a 2 day snow mobiling trip.

New Snowboard

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I spent a couple weeks in Houston training. I really haven't gotten out a whole lot since my rabbit hunting trip. But that will change soon. I am going back to MS for Thanksgiving, but when I get back to Alaska, the first weekend I will be going on a snow-mobiling trip in a pretty area of Alaska. Then the next weekend I am planning on going snowboarding. Tonight I bought used cross country skate skis and poles to stay in shape during the week, and I will buy new ice skates soon to learn ice hockey. But I'm really looking forward to snowboarding.

So, I am in the market for a new snowboard. I am trying to decide between two or three different boards. The first board is the "Arbor Element". This board is actually made out of koa wood, this is the same wood that the first surf boards were made from. It is an all mountain board made for both carving and freestyle (jumping, grinding, etc). Below is a picture.



The next board is the Burton Custom ICS. This is a very similar board to the Element, and is also All Mountain. The cool thing about this board is the way the bindings attach to it. Instead of being fixed in one place, you can adjust the angle and position of the bindings while you're on the mountain and to any angle you want (the binding is what attaches your boots to the board). A picture is below.



The next two boards are also Burton boards and are a little more expensive. I really like them, but I'm not sure I'm ready to pay the extra money. I'm just showing these boards cause they're pretty cool looking and supposedly have great performance.





Let me know which one you guys think I should buy.

Hunting for Rabbits and more beautiful Alaska scenery

This weekend I drove North on the GlenAllen Parkway to go hunting in the middle of nowhere for snowshoe hares….aka cute, furry bunnies. But my favorite part of the trip was the drive to the middle of nowhere. GlenAllen Parkway is known for being one of the prettiest drives in all of Alaska. The reason it is so beautiful is because there are so many wide open spaces with towering mountains in the background and often lakes and rivers sprinkled throughout the landscape. I especially enjoyed the views on this trip because the ground and trees were lightly dusted with snow. These pictures don't really do the views justice, but some are still pretty spectacular.

Also, on the way to the middle of nowhere, we passed a huge glacier that is often used for recreation such as glacier hiking and ice climbing. This is the glacier that some of my friends went ice climbing on. Matanuska Glacier is currently fed by smaller glaciers from each valley between nearby mountains and it juts out what seems to be about a mile from the mountains. This glacier is about 150 miles from Anchorage, but during the Ice Age, it was part of one continuous glacier to Anchorage. I’ve also heard that during the last Ice Age, all of Alaska and Canada were covered by a huge glacier that went all the way too Seattle. Apparently, there are huge boulders across the northern United States that were pushed there by the glaciers. At some point this winter, I plan to head back out to this glacier, Matanuska, to get a closer look and do some hiking.



We stopped at a lodge about 30 minutes from our destination to get a quick breakfast/lunch. I got an omelet, but had an amazing blueberry pie afterwards. Apparently, this lodge is a popular place to stay for snow-machining in a couple months. We are planning on heading back in December for a snow-machining trip.

Onto the hunt! We pulled off the main road and drove several miles before stopping in an area of low, thick brush. This is where the bunnies live because it gives them a good hiding place.



We only brought one gun, a 22, and there were four of us. We stayed in a mostly straight line spaced about 15 yards apart each and simply walked forward until we pushed a rabbit out and spotted it. Then we followed the rabbit until the shooter had a good angle. Pretty simple strategy. We hunted for 3 hours, and each of us got 1 rabbit, for a total of 4. The next day, we cooked the rabbits, and ate them over a bed of penne pasta with sun dried tomato alfredo sauce and caribou sausage (killed earlier by one of the guys hunting with us). Rabbit really does taste like chicken, but it has the texture of lamb. It was pretty good.





After I got back from the trip, I relaxed Saturday night and finished reading a book, “Brother Odd” by Dean Koontz. I came across a quote in the book that summed up the beauty of the landscape, although the context of the quote had nothing to do with physical beauty.

“Once in a while, however, there are moments……of transcendent joy, of inexpressible beauty, of wonder that overwhelms the mind with awe, or in this case a moment of such piercing charm that the world seems more right than it really is and offers a glimpse of what Eden might have been before we pulled it down.”

Playing Football in the Snow

Today it snowed several inches, then I played football in the snow. It was awesome. That is all.

Anyone seen a Wild Bear? And who wants an Alaskan keepsake

Two things:

1) Bears are one of the most recognizable wild animals in America, yet how many of you have actually ever seen a wild bear. I still haven't seen one, and I'm in Alaska. I think they're fiction. I think zoos hire men to walk around in bear suits.

2) I'm feeling generous today, so if you would enjoy a souvenir from Alaska, let me know. If you have an idea of what you would like, let me know. If not, I'll just have to pick something out for you that I think you'll like.....or something that will embarass you, one of the two. Be sure to include an address to send it to, although I might just wait until Thanksgiving Break to bring it back considering the shipping costs. All qualify, don't be shy.

Again, if you guys want to be added to an email list, send me your email address, or just leave it as a comment.

Random Hike and Pictures

Since I work 9 hours per day, I get 2 Fridays off per month. Last Friday was my Friday off. And I was being lazy and sleeping in like a good barely out of college kid, but then I decided to go to Best Buy. Well, it turned out to be the nicest, clearest day since I've been here. So I kept driving past Best Buy and went south of Anchorage to the mountains and cook inlet. About 10 miles from town, I saw a pond with a waterfall flowing into it on the left and stopped. It turned out to be a nice park with many different short hikes. So I walked along the creek for about half a mile and it was one small waterfall after another. Then I hiked down a trail and climbed up a rock wall and took some great pictures of the surrounding mountains, trees with fall colors, and cook inlet.

Saturday I went trap and skeet shooting. I haven't shot a gun in a long, long time. Now I can call myself a man. It was fun, but I need to plan another fun Alaskan trip.

By the way, it was 33 degrees this morning, and snow is in the forecast Friday. Below is a link to my album of pictures on facebook.

http://www.new.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=33848614&l=2c696&id=26509834

Hiking in the real frozen tundra in alaska, none of that Lambeau Field crap

This weekend I drove north to Denali National Park, about 300 miles from Anchorage. The drive to Denali is beautiful with colorful fall trees and mountain peaks covered with snow. Unfortunately, I did not get many pictures of the drive because I was riding with 3 other guys from work.

Denali National Park is approximately the size of Massachusetts. The only road driving into the park is 90 miles long with Mt. Mckinley, the largest mountain in North America, at the end of the drive. We could only drive 30 miles into the park. During the summer season, you can ride a bus all the way to the end of the road, but the busses stop running September 15. We had to get a permit to drive into the park, and we had to get a permit to hike and camp in the “back-country”. We were the only people staying overnight in the entire park…..which means we were the only people staying overnight in an area the size of Massachusetts. Pretty cool stuff.

Soon after driving into the park, we saw a moose eating near the road-side. So we got out and took a few pictures, then tried to follow the moose up the hill-side until we lost sight of it. Funny story about the way wild animals perceive cars in Denali. They think we are big, stupid animals that constantly follow the same “game” trail. In case you didn’t know, animals have to constantly change their game trail or their prey would just stay away from the oft used trail.

Soon after seeing the moose, we turned the corner and saw a red fox hunting some birds. Most of the birds saw the fox and flew away, but one of the birds hung around. The fox saw us coming and started walking away, but he kept looking back at the bird still wanting to make a meal out of it. I got a good picture of this. We continued the drive all the way into the park, and parked on the side of the road close to mile 30. Then we got our hiking packs out and started our hike up one of the mountains.

We didn’t bring a lot of water with us since every bit adds weight. So we filled up often in streams. Well, the water supply was pretty limited on the mountain we were on, so we used some slow moving streams out of necessity. I hope I don’t get Giardia, which is caused by micro-bacteria usually found in still-water. Wikipedia tactfully presents “explosive diarrhea” as a common symptom of Giardia. It’s not deadly, but it’s not pleasant

This was a very difficult hike, not because of steepness, but because of tundra and brush. Tundra is a very moist, squishy, grass like growth that grows in cold temperatures with short seasons. Every step I took on the tundra, my foot sunk 6 inches or more into the ground. On top of the tundra were bushes between knee and waist high. On top of a 50 pound pack, we had to hike through these bushes and overcome that extra 6-12 inches with every step. We were very surprised that it took us 3 hours to go 2 miles. But we finally found a suitable site to set up our campsite. To be clear, there was not a pre-determined campsite. The entire mountainside was covered with this tundra and brush. But we finally found an area about ¾ up the mountainside next to a boulder with enough open space to set up our tent and cook dinner. So we cooked pasta alfredo and little sausage and cheese sandwiches. After dinner we relaxed on a nearby rocky structure, and then we decided to hike to the peak of the mountain. Well, the peak we thought we were hiking to was a false peak. The real peak was a bit further. By the time we made it to the peak, it was snowing/sleeting on us pretty hard. We were soaked. We made our way back to the tent and went to bed.

That night was interesting because we heard some footsteps outside of the tent for a little while. We thought it might be a bear for a moment, but I don’t think it was. We were in the tent for about 14 hours, from 9 PM until 11 AM. We woke up the next morning to a beautiful, snow covered landscape. Unfortunately, it was still a bit cloudy, so we couldn’t see the mountains in the background, including the big daddy Mckinley, but it was still very pretty. We were wet and cold from the snow the night before, so we hiked back down the mountain and made our way back to Anchorage. It was an awesome trip, and Denali is a beautiful place. There are a lot of rolling hills amongst towering mountains, and the wildlife is amazing. I would love to come back sometime one summer and take a bus ride all the way into the park.

One last note, it is estimated that Mt. Mckinley is only visible 1 out of every 8 days. So, it wasn’t a surprise or bad luck that we didn’t see it. However, the first day back at work after the trip, 300 miles from Mckinley, I could clearly see the mountain and its surrounding range. Ahhhh, the irony. Mckinley literally looks double the size of the other mountains.

Tundra









Railroad Brige





Our living room



Snowing on September 19!



Our front porch





Moose





Fox hunts bird





Giardia lives here?



If you would like to be added to an email list to be notified each time the blog is updated, please leave a comment with your email address.

My first Moose!!

I went to Kincaid Park today in Anchorage. There is a pretty extensive cross-country skiing/biking trail in this park. I saw a massive moose in the park. Check out the pic!

Wildlife Cruise

I am finally getting settled in Alaska. Since there are only a couple weeks left in the summer tourist season, I am trying to do as much as I can while I still can. Saturday I drove to Seward about 125 miles South of Anchorage to go on a wildlife cruise in the Kenai Fjords National Park. I made it to the terminal 5 minutes before the ship left….whew.

It was a pretty day when I left Anchorage, but it was mostly cloudy by the time I made it to Seward. As soon as we got out of port, we stopped because there was a pair of sea lions wrestling with each other. We watched them frolic for about 5 minutes then continued on our way. The next hour or so was pretty uneventful, we saw a few horned puffins, but they weren’t all that different from normal birds except that they spend almost all of their lives at sea and only come inland to nest. The gluttonous bird we saw couldn’t take flight because the fatty ate too many fish and was too heavy. I wouldn’t want to be under that bird after digestion.

We stopped at Fox Island for lunch. Apparently, this island was once used to raise foxes for sale to the wealthy in the early 1900’s. We ate grilled salmon, rice, and corn on the cob. This area is also known for having some of the best “skipping” rocks in the world. The “beach” is a variety of very thin and flat rocks, many of which are shale. Even the large rocks skipped a couple times. But the smaller, more circular yet flat rocks were literally perfect for skipping. I think I got one to skip 10-15 times before it stopped. Ah, the smaller things in life. I stuffed 5 of these rocks in my jacket to bring home. Among the rocks were extremely clear, round, jelly-like things. These were referred to as moon fish and are basically completely clear jellyfish. I included a picture of one below. Speaking of clear, the water in this park is really clear considering how cold the water is. You can definitely tell the difference between Alaskan water and Gulf Coast water. I also saw a small, dead octopus washed ashore.

We left Fox Island and headed further away from land. About 30 minutes later the captain of the ship spotted a bald eagle perched on a rocky mountain nearby. Back in the day, these bald eagles ate so many salmon that the fishermen began complaining that the eagles were taking too many fish from them. At one point, there was actually a two dollar bounty per eagle talon. I tried to take a few pictures, but it was too far away for my camera to get a clear shot.

The ship moved on and wove its way through several more islands. We started our way back to Seward because a storm was coming and the waves were getting pretty big. But then the captain spotted two humpback whales in the distance. Naturally I, along with everyone else, rushed outside with cameras ready. Unfortunately the whales dove under water and stayed there for quite some time. All the while, it was 40 degrees outside and the rain was pelting me in the face. Finally, about 15 minutes later the whales resurfaced about half a mile away. So we headed towards them and yet again they dove back under the water. I think they were mocking us. About 10 minutes later, we were about to head back for good. But the mother whale showed about three quarters of its body about 100 ft from the boat. It was huge. We watched the whale and its baby for about 10 minutes, but I never did get a great picture of them because they didn’t show much of their bodies the rest of the time.

The rest of the ride back was uneventful, and I was soaked, cold, and tired. So I went back to the heated cabin and took a nap. Unfortunately, this tour only showed a couple of land glaciers, not any of the large glaciers in the water that you typically think of. But I guess I will have to settle for seeing whales, bald eagles, and sea lions. There were a lot of good views as well, and the drive to Seward is pretty amazing.

Ryan will get a kick out of this last story. I went to the restroom after the cruise before getting back on the road home. When I walked in, a small child was walking up to the urinal; he dropped his pants to his ankles….bare behind. I considered taking a picture, but I didn’t want anyone to “mistake” me for a pedophile. After he was done, he turned around and faced everyone before pulling up his pants. Then he washed his hands, but he couldn’t get any paper towels because you had to wave your hand in front of it to get the paper out. He jumped several times, but couldn’t reach it. Ahhhh, nothing like a 3 year old to make me feel tall. Instead of helping him, I laughed. I know, I’m an awful person. But I figured, if I can’t laugh at a 3 yr old trying and failing miserably, who can I laugh at. It’s called a good sense of humor right?

Today (Sunday the 6th) I am planning on going hiking and next weekend I am planning on going to Denali National Park. But first, GO BILLS!! Alaskans are seahawks fans, so I have the game on tv.



Moon Fish




Beach at Fox Island






Massive Dog




Rainbow


Port of Seward


Sea Lions Wrestling