Anchors(age) Away!

This past week we took our final trip to Anchorage for the season. We dropped a few items off at our favorite store, Goodwill, and were a bit teary-eyed as we drove away. But we soon returned to having fun and headed downtown for some last minute shopping. Downtown Anchorage is pretty different when it’s dark and past tourism season. We stopped at a few shops for some items we eyed earlier in the season before heading to an Anchorage cornerstone- Humpy’s Bar. We had been told about it several times over the summer and finally had a chance to stop in. Our resident trail crew volunteer, David, worked at Humpy’s on weekends and we finally stopped in to see him. He had a table saved in the corner for us to watch the open mic night. The bands was awesome and the people performing were surprisingly good. We stayed for a while before heading home to warm up by the fire.

Having a great time at Humpy's!

When we arrived home however, we checked the aurora forecast as we usually do and noticed the lights would be active that night. Ashley was beyond excited to try out her new camera tripod and finally capture the magical lights. They wouldn’t be active for a couple hours near us so we set alarms and tried to sleep a little before the show started. Around 3:00 in the morning we headed out toward our viewing decks. We made plenty of noise as we headed into the dark Alaskan night, keeping a close eye on the sky above us. Being out on the deck made us feel much more at ease that something wouldn’t come charging out of the bushes towards us. With the camera set up and our headlamps turned off we watched and waited. It didn’t take long for our eyes to adjust and we saw the faint band of light moving across the sky. We were so excited to see them and even more thrilled to catch the image on camera. The moon was nearly full as well so we took a few photos of that as well. After an hour of gazing at the sky we finally gave in to the chill of the night and headed back to finally get some good sleep.

Photograph of the Stars

The Aurora over Eagle River Valley

Believe it or not this is the moon, not the sun. 

The Aurora over the big dipper!

The next day we got a short hike in to take some pictures of the beautiful fall colors. We sat in the woods for a while and played with the new tripod some more. It was just a nice day to take it easy and enjoy what was right in our backyard. 

Having fun with the tripod

We’ve been having a lot of rain the past week here in Alaska. Tuesday and Wednesday were actually calling for Gail-force winds with gusts of up to 100 miles an hour! Fortunately, the forecast was off but we still had gusts of 70 miles and the wind howled for almost 30 hours. It was especially annoying on Tuesday because we were recruited to help teach a program for a large school group outside of the Nature Center. Ashley was teaching groups about the geologic timeline while Adam was explaining tectonic plates and overseeing a fossil dig. That was not the plan at the start of the morning but plans change pretty quick up here. The A-Team was split up and thrown into the hordes of 5^th graders but managed to keep them entertained. The wind whirled around them and nearly destroyed the activities but the A-Team prevailed and finished teaching just before the rain came in. After that the evening was spent in the cabin with a roaring fire and the sounds of the storm battering the cabin.

Last night was the end of summer volunteer potluck for the Nature Center. The party was so much fun and it was so nice to get the chance to say goodbye to all of our friends that we have made up here before we leave. Our bosses are so incredibly sweet and gave us some Nature Center gifts as an extra thank you for our help this summer. It was bitter-sweet but an excellent end to the season. We found out that two of the volunteers are actually headed the same route south that we are so we'll have friends close by should we need help. That will make the drive back a little less intimidating. We cannot believe that the summer is almost at an end...guess it is time to start packing. 

-the A-Team

Breaking News

This just in- Panic arises at the Eagle River Nature Center today as reports of an injured hiker on the famous Crow Pass hiking trail come in. We go now to summer volunteers Adam Popanz and Ashley Vedvig for more on the story.

The day was Wednesday, September 7th at approximately 9:15 am. We had just started work when the phone rang; Ranger Crockett was calling to let us know that a hiker had a hip injury about 8 miles up Crow Pass Trail from the Nature Center. A helicopter tried to retrieve the hiker and her friend but were unable to find them, let alone land anywhere near the area they last communicated from. The Ranger also explained that he and a rescue group may need to set up a command center right in our office. A regular Wednesday was about to get really interesting. Or so we thought.

It turns out that a rescue situation like this is a lot of sitting by the radio and taking notes on what's happening out in the field. As the hikers were not in the area they last communicated from the only conclusion was that they tried to continue towards the Nature Center. Two hikers from the Alaskan Mountain Rescue Group were dropped by helicopter near the last known location while the rest of the group started hiking from the Nature Center. We spent most of the day chatting with the ranger whose command center for the emergency was nothing more than a chair near our radio by the front desk. The only interruption was the occasional notes he would take about the radio communication in the field, "Radio check. No sightings yet." Later in the day we were joined by a state trooper who too got to sit by the radio and wait to hear the good news that the hiker had been found.

Thankfully she was found without serious injury. She and her friend were able to hike another 5 miles down the trail before they met up with the rest of the rescue group. Everyone was happy to end the day on a positive note. The most exciting part of the day was getting to hangout with the ranger and trooper all afternoon and hear stories about all the crazy rescues or deaths that have happened in the area. Unfortunately many of them are too graphic for the blog so next time you see one of us just ask.

The next day we had a young bull moose out by one of the viewing decks. Naturally we had to go keep a close eye on the situation and take a few pictures in the process. The moose didn't seemed to mind all the eyes watching him graze on grasses and willow leaves. He casually worked his way toward the Nature Center where he finally decided to rest down in the meadow. A good hour of moose watching sure makes the work day go faster! We are still in awe that our job is to watch wildlife!

Young bull moose coming out onto the trail

Yes, this is a YOUNG bull moose!

We couldn't resist having some fun,...from a safe distance of course

It is hard to tell but that bull moose is mooning us in the background

After that day the rest of the weekend was pretty slow. We spent most of the time cleaning the cabin and refinishing the camper for the drive home. It's hard to realize how much stuff accumulates in a summer until you put it in a pile and have to pack it for a few thousand mile journey. We even hiked out to the Perch, an 8-mile hike to take advantage of the nice weather before it starter raining again. The beautiful fall colors were the perfect background to what may have been our last trip out there this summer. But we're not done adventuring yet!

Looking up at the mountains around us

The view of fall colors from our backyard

Eagle Peak in all it's glory, again this is our backyard.

Hitting the trails

Taking a nice break after a 4 mile hike

Our most favorite spot at our home-The Perch!

The views from the hike!

This is the unblocked view from the Perch!

Look at that cheeser!

It's almost like we are from Wisconsin or something...

Hiking back to complete our 8 mile hike

On Monday we went down to Hope, AK to do one of our final excursions for the summer; whitewater rafting. Now you might recall that we already rafted earlier this year in Denali with Kelsey and Nicole but this trip was just for us. We were a little reluctant to go on this trip because the rapids were bigger and we had to pass a swim test before they would let you in the boats.  The test included jumping into frigid waters, thankfully with a dry suit and swimming across the swift moving river and then float down about 100 yards then swim over to an eddie to get out and into the raft. Yeah, it was intense. But we sucked it up and passed the test with flying colors. The rafts were much smaller than Denali, only 4 people and a guide per raft, and this was because the river we were traveling had 3 canyons to pass through. The canyons each got progressively stronger as far as rapids were concerned and each was more narrow than the last. We opted to only do the first 2 canyons as the 3rd was class V rapids and we didn't have the stomach for that. A large portion of the trip was just floating along and talking with the European couple that was sharing the experience with us. But that was soon broken up by the rapids. The rain in the last 24 hours had doubled the volume of the river so the guides were super excited, and so were we. The first canyon was class III rapids and we handled them like pros. The icy water drenched us from every side as the walls seemed to close around us. And just like that it was over. A few more miles of floating led us to the next canyon which contained class IV rapids. We thought it wouldn't be that bad since we had experienced that in Denali, but we were wrong. The final drop out of the canyon was about 5 feet high and only 8 feet across. We had to squeeze between the rock wall and a massive boulder with only inches to spare. We were almost out when- SPLASH! Darkness and cold swept over us as all 4 rafters were ejected into the icy water. Fortunately our guide managed to stay in the raft and quickly pull us back in. Adam was only in the water for about 4 seconds before being pulled back in. Ashley and the girl from Europe were a little further from the raft so they had to swim down stream before getting pulled back in. The whole ordeal lasted no more than a minute and we laughed at how scary and exciting the adventure had been. The guides were pushing for us to stay and do the 3rd canyon but we had enough excitement for one day. We changed into dry clothes back at the car and explored Hope a bit before heading home for warm showers.

After rafting pure terror...

Ashley either peed herself or there was a leak in the wet suit....we will let the audience decide. 

But all in all we had a great time!

The view from Hope, AK...not too shabby

The rest of the week we kept chipping away at our list of things to do before heading home. It's mostly eating the food that won't travel well and deciding what items won't fit in the car. If you have not figured out from the text, we are not staying the winter up here in Alaska. We will be coming home to Wisconsin, we are just not sure when we will get there. It has been an unbelievable summer in an amazing place with so many wonderful people. But we'll get all sentimental about that next time. Until next time!

-the A-Team

Part 2: The Junior Ranger Experience

Welcome back to Part 2! 

We are going to start this blog off with a bang and it all starts on Wednesday evening. After a fun-filled day with Sydney at Hatcher Pass and the State Fair we headed home for some dinner and rest. The sky was clear and the weather was nice and soon we were alerted that the aurora was supposed to be active that night. Around 11 o'clock it was dark enough that we decided to go for a walk. Not expecting to see much we only brought our flashlights and bear spray. We feel pretty comfortable on the trail but it is a whole new feeling to walk it in the dark. After a few minutes of walking we finally made it out to one of our viewing decks and were soaking in the beautiful star studded sky. When our eyes finally adjusted to the darkness we say a faint band running across the sky, trying to determine if that was the milky way or the aurora we looked around to see faint green light getting brighter as it was coming over the mountains. We could not believe that we were seeing the aurora for the very first time! We dashed back to get the camera, blankets and a radio so that we could use it to deter animals and headed out for one of the further viewing decks. Standing out in the valley we could see the northern lights dance across the sky in the most beautiful way. What surprised us most is how fast they move! They were constantly shifting and flowing across the sky. The best way to describe it would probably be a ribbon of light flowing fast above us. After we finally got the camera set up we heard a twig snap in the trees next to us...that set us on edge a bit and we decided to leave-quickly. We packed up and moved a bit closer to home but stopped to take in some of the fading northern lights before we went to bed. Never in our wildest expectations did we ever imagine that we would see the northern lights light up the sky with the big dipper in the background while in Alaska. It was a dream come true and truly one of our most favorite nights ever. *Unfortunately we were not able to get any pictures of it. Taking pictures of a faint light in the dark sky is harder to do than we thought.

After some sleep we hit the road the next morning to show Sydney the Kenai Peninsula by driving down to a town called Seward. Once there we had lunch at a local brewery and headed to the Alaska SeaLife Center. There we got to see all kinds of sea life including seals, sea lions, puffins, oystercatchers, salmon, octopus, crabs, rockfish, and much much more. It was so cool to see all of the creatures and they even had a touch tank where you could gently touch sea stars, sea urchins, hermit crabs, and other small wildlife. When you touched your finger against the sea urchin spikes they would actually lean up against your finger giving you a "hug". The SeaLife Center even had a back patio that overlooked all of Resurrection Bay. We stood there for several minutes soaking up the sunshine and beauty of the area. 

The view of Resurrection Bay

It is really sunny out and we are lovin' it!

Goofing off at the SeaLife Center

Sea Urchin Hug

This tufted puffin was showing off for us

Man, seals have giant nostrils!

 

The artwork in downtown Seward

Next we headed off through downtown Seward where we discovered the Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center. It is at this downtown location that we completed our activity booklets and became Jr. Rangers! We had such a fun time that we decided to head to the Kenai Fjords Nature Center and hike to Exit Glacier. We found out from our National Park Rangers that if we take an explorer pack (a backpack they provide with all kinds of tools/equipment for science activities for kids and kids at heart) and do an activity from it then we would get a special patch from the park! So what do you think we did? You are correct, we hiked to the glacier and Ashley did a temperature activity while Sydney did an art work activity and Adam did a leaf activity. To say the least it was a very fun filled hike and we were rewarded with a super cool Junior Glacier Ranger Patch when we came back! Booyah! After all the excitement we made our way back to the Nature Center for the night. 

Exit Glacier-The past week a big chunk broke off on the front leaving a big ice cave! Ashley desperately wanted to go inside but it was not really manageable. 

Super Windy and Sunny

Downstream of the glacier

Rock Climbing-aka hugging the rock

All the ice chunks washed up on the edges of the stream!

Looking out across the braided river

Adam unsuccessfully trying to stand on chunks of ice

The view on the drive home

We had decided that on Sydney's last full day here in Alaska that we would drive back up to Denali so that she could really experience the park since her time got cut short the first time around. So we started early in the morning and made the drive back up to Denali. Somehow every single day Sydney was here the weather was clear and beautiful. Usually only 30% of people who visit the park will see the tip of Denali, and even then it could only last a few minutes or hours. While she was here we saw the entire mountain and mountain range every single day all the way from Eagle River! It was that clear! She definitely brought the good weather with her because it had rained for about 3 weeks straight before she came and has proceeded to rain every day since she has left. But none the less the drive up was amazing and when we got to the park she got the chance to check out the Visitor Center, Murie Learning Center and we got a chance to hike all of the Savage River Loop. Even on the drive into the park we encountered 3 moose on the side of the road having a mid-morning snack. There were all kinds of people pulled over on the road, outside of their cars not 5 yards from the moose trying to get pictures of it so we drove by and rushed to the Visitor Center to let them know of the situation. Up here in Alaska moose are considered more dangerous than bears so to be that close to a mama moose with two calves is about the stupidest thing you can do. After a fun filled day in Denali including Sydney becoming a Jr. Ranger as well we headed back towards Anchorage for one last dinner before we drove Sydney to the airport. 

Moose time! 

Fall colors!

Savage River where we hiked

Another beautiful day with this beautiful lady!

Gorgeous day for a hike

Rocks! Who doesn't love rocks! 

We certainly do! 

The view from up top

Denali National Park in all its glory

We had so much fun with Sydney while she was here and are so sad to see our last visitor go but the excitement never stops here in good ol' AK, tune in next week for our next blog....hint-it involves State Troopers and Alaska Mountain Rescue Group!

-The A-Team