St. pat pics and mountain ranges in Alaska and Canada from the airplane

They dye the fountain green for St.Pats

anybody hungry or thirst. carny food!!

A few people around the fountain.

More peeps. The sea of green.

Tripp and Whitney Hutto. We shared some 'Daddy's Medicine"

Not a human footprint in sight from 35000 feet up.

Anchorage is down there somewhere.

Jess and Robin's Farm

After the outhouse races I headed out to see my coworker Jess's farm she runs with her partner Robin. They own over 400 acreas and keep easily 2 dozen animals. They have reindeer, goats, sheeps, horses, dogs, chickens, a duck and cows. On their property of course they also have moose and other wild critters running around including a covey of quail that was nibbling on see from the hay. A lot of their acreage is in hay and they do their own haying. it's a pretty cool place. I haven't spent much time around a working animal farm in a long while. Their place was almost as good as a petting zoo.

Mixed goats. Some no ear breeds. One that had an ear had it gnawed on by a lynx.

quail unlimited hunt. Look at them. You could almost step on them before they'd move.

Sheepsters.

Not quite full curl on the black one, had to leave the gun in the car. Plus the tag is too expensive for a non-resident. But next year watch out little black fella.

We had a staring contest going on but I kept laughing.

Mooooooo. Just Chilling.

Could it be, maybe, the reincarnation of a scroungey animal. Uncanny.

Look at those ears. Maybe he wasn't australian, maybe Alaskan???

They plan on using the dogs for herding in the future. If this little guy is anything like the original, no instructions required. Plug and play.

Stupid blog and government computer.

I don't know why but now pictures are coking up as clickable links. So just click the box above the caption for the meantime to see the pics. Sorry.

Outhouse Races

Saturday we held the second annual Fort Greely in conjunction with the Cold Regions Test Center Outhouse Races. better known as Pottys on Ice. We oringianally only had 2 entrants down from 3 the year previous but at the last minute we threw together a scab team, scrounged up some volunteers and made it a three team round robin event. 3 races to determine the race champions. The Outhouses had a variety of ski designs to handle the high banksed left turn only 200 meter course. Each team could utilize up to 4 pushers. CRTC easily beat signal the first go round. Signal handled the impromptu team. The real shocker was the final race between the impromptu team and CTRC for a grudge. Since impromptu didn't have anti skid yak traks on they challenged CTRC to remove theirs to level the playing field. CRTC reluctantly gave up theirs. On the starting line CRTC was reminded the "rubbing is racing" and through a bit of unbalancing on the part of yours truly CRTC made a sharp left turn towards the inside ditch which they never recoverd from. Eventually the ditch ate them up whole and they lost the grudge match by at least 50 meters. Like my football coach said, win if you can, lose if you must, but always cheat. He'd be so proud!!! Anyway, it was all in the name of fun, CRTC took home the gold seated throne while we brought up the rear :) Get it.

Our potty on ice. An left over entrant from last year.

Signal Bat including Directorate of Info Management

CRTC "the champs" There's a cannon on the front with 2 rolls of tp so it looks like a johnson. Pervs.

The trophys.

Check out the golden throne.

It was a sad day for Ford. This one got stuck and was pulled out by a Dodge. Damn. Sorry little brother.

After the races, everyone enjoyed the sled will with tow rope. There was a small ramp at the bottom that all the CRTC guys started trying to get big air off of with some spectacular crashes.

CRTC also busted out the fire ring and Outdoor Rec supplied some wood. Post housing brought out some dogs and marshmallows and the fun was on. You can see my dog stuck in the ground on the far side roasting in a proper unattended manner. That's how the pros do it anyway.

The day was an absolute blast with no trips to the emergency room. Knock on wood.

Feeling good getting fit

Don't laugh too loud folks from SC or the midwest but the weather has been beautiful in interior alaska for the last few days. 35 and sunny, no wind. I know I know. How can this be? How can a fella that spent the last decade in SC think 35 is very nice. It's all relative fortunately. The sun shines like crazy here. So even at 35 if there is no wind the dry dry air makes it feel much warmer. Spring like if you will. The snow and ice have started to slowly melt into clear puddles. The dozer went through the parking lot and scraped much of the snow remaining, up into a huge pile near the drains between the buildings. I think they wanted to be sure it didn't flood the wrong areas. The only bad part of the warm streak is the when it cools off below freezing an icy crust forms on the top of the snow making it slick as goose poop. I went down again last night in the driveway with the resulting resonant thud echoing through my body for some time. It hurt so friggin much. But no harm no foul. the snow should be gone in 2 weeks for good well until November or December anyways.
When I was in SC for my visit, I filled some time by hitting the gym. I'd spend half an hour on the elliptical then throw around some iron. I have apparantly awoken something inside me that I have avoided for some time. The fitness monster, oh no. But now with the mountains begging to be climbed, the glaciers whispering of adventure and a wife that is nearing sick fitness levels, I felt it was uber important to at least be able to follow her if even from afar on treks this summer. So, the eliptical has felt my pain the past few days. Nothing extraordinary. Richard and I started lifting at lunch as well. and I think i'm going to play a little volleyball at night and make the drive up to Fairbanks a few times this summer to play that old favorite, rugby. I can already feel my body responding to the work and I like it. I feel 35 again :) I've found the fountain of middle age. Maybe I'll finally be able to take to the streets to pound the pavement trying to get that runner's high I keep hearing about.

They say once you make something public you'll work harder to fulfill it since others are watching.

Announcement:
I am going to participate in the Delta Greely Triathlon on 11 June. 500 yard pool swim, 8 mile bike ride, 5K run. So there it is. My goal is to finish in under 48 minutes! Means I need to do some serious work between now and then even when I am in DC for training for 4 weeks. Knees don't fail me now!!

Pics of St. Pats

I was going to post pics but the stupid server is fighting me. i will probably have to find another computer to try to post from.

My week in SC

Hollie and I spent a great deal of time getting reaquainted over the course of the week. We went out to eat. Went to Charleston. Caught a movie, 'Hall Pass". Had ice cream. She kept blaming me for her breaking her paleo diet but it was clearly her fault, I think she just wanted to use me as an excuse.  We even just sat around and talked a lot like old time. We enjoyed each other's company again.
I also ran errands and made sure to see as many friends as I could squeeze in. That's one of the hard parts of any short visit, just not enough time to do all you want. To all the people i didn't get to see or only saw briefly, I apologize, you are top of the list for the next trip up.
Saturday morning, I dropped Hollie off at Hammond for her trip to Belize as a chaperone for the school she works at, lucky dog. A week of snorkeling, horseback riding, and mayan ruin exploring in a untrammeled tropical destination. Probecito (spanish for poor little thing). After dropping her off I went back to bed then arose in time to catch England vs Ireland Rugby with some of the fellas at the British Bullfrog eh Bulldog Pub. Ireland handed England a pretty solid drubbing. The action was non stop with some solid champagne rugby in there. ireland just didn't make too many mistakes and England kept turning the ball over. Afterwards, I shot down to the Five points St. Pats Celebration. It was about 85 degrees and partly sunn so it was hot and the extra 40,000 bodies didn't help cool it down at all. I headed to CJs to see if the fellas were there and didn't see anyone other than Ronnie who was hanging with his wife. I knew the Rugby girls were selling beer, so I looked for them for awhile unsuccessfully. Too many beer trucks and too many people around. All in all, I don't miss giant drunkfests like this one. I drink very little these days due to my gout and amateur hour just isn't as fun as it once was for me. It doesn't help that everyone just isn't as interesting, funny, attractive or cool as I remember them being when I had half a dozen beers in me. Probably goes for me too though.
I ended up running into Tripp and Whitney whom Hollie and I initially planned on having dinner with but kind of forgot to schedule as our week flew by. They were out with Whitney's cousin. I ended up hanging out with them and catching the Cory Smith performance on the Harden Stage. He sounded great and even did a country rendition of Tom Petty's "You don't know how it feels to be me." After his set, I had my fill and headed home. I showered since I had been slowly basting all day in the shirt i was wearing and laid down for a quick nap then headed over to New Orleans Matt's house for a rugby get together. He made a couple different kinds of pulled pork and had a little fire going in the backyard. It was the customary rugby event with too much beer, lots of rough housing and laughs. I don't think anything got broke and no one was too naked this time. It was nice. Felt like I hadn't missed a minute. 

Frankencamera rises from the dead.

I found the charger for the camera. Woohoo. Now I can get back to shooting some real shots. Here is what I rescued from the Canon as promised.

Four Meese just chilling along Clearwater Rd. in Delta Junction. They were nibbling on the dry grass as they walked along the field. They let me approach to within 50 feet and shoot all the pictures I wanted. They did hustle around a bit bu didn't get too riled up.

East of Delta Junction they started the Barley project back in the 70s. This part of the town is all agricultural. Bison, elk, hogs, and lots of grains. The proof is this row of combines. Look at them all just waiting for next year's season.

Headed to Charleston on Monday. It was 75 and sunny. Had a great day of walking around, shopping, eating oysters and fish tacos. It was a gorgeous day to walk and Charleston is such a cosmopolitan city. Of course, the College of Charleston students were out enjoying the rays of Spring. Normally it's too hot to lay out, but this day was near perfect. I think some folks forget they are downtown in an urban area. The young lady above must have been trying to get sun on her buns because she initially has her suit hiked all up in her crack. Hollie and I were laughing our asses off as she stood up, stretched like a cat then proceeded to dig her suit out of her butt. Classic.

Somber moods ending in hope.

The old proverb goes something like, "You can never go back." Of course, this refers to the passage of time and the everchanging landscape, what Buddhists refer to as impermanence. Take Columbia, or any town for that matter, every single day minute almost imperceptible changes occur. People die. Babies are born. people move. buildings are knocked down or built up. What we once clung to so strongly we find slipping through our fingers. So while Columbia is still Columbia in a great many ways, it too has changed in the months I've been away. Coming back, no matter where it is to, is bittersweet. When I would go to Illinois to visit family and friends, my time was always fast, furious and precious.  I would rush to see as many people as I could and reconnect in person for just a few hours, maybe a meal, some conversation about life and growing old, then on to see the next person. Now so with Columbia, my home for nearly the last decade. As I've grown older the questions are easier to answer. Will I ever come back? probably not for many years unless something too good to pass up is offered.  Will it ever be the same? No. Life tarries on. What and who do I miss? Everyone and everything, even the annoying, to some degree, but I'm not the same, they are not the same, nothing remains the same. Couples fall apart, new loves are found, novel faces fill old familiar places, the ghosts of days gone all around. A dip in the fountain here. A friend's sadness there. Seas of green, black and garnet fill the mind's eye. Weddings. Births. Deaths. Taxes. Life. But I know, this simply isn't home anymore and no matter how familiar it is, I've begun life anew and will leave again soon to face new unforeseen challenges and adventures in a strange new place. I am filled with apprehension and hope.

Vacation

After a 20 hour overnight grueling journey of car, plane, plane, plane, car, I finally arrived back in SC to see Hollie for a few days. Of course, some out of the ordinary incidents made me keep pinching myself to see if I was awake.
The first happened on the highway between Delta Junction and Fairbanks. Its a two lane highway with lots of roads off to the side that T. Just past the halfway point, I saw a truck pulling up to one and didn't pay much attention to it until I saw it skid across the highway behind me in the rearview. It nailed the 4' plowline of snow on the opposite blank, exploded through it and kept going, spinning wildly throwing up a giant cloud of powder dry snow mixed with huge styrofoam chunks of surface crust. It was an amazing sight to behold. The driver with a death grip on the wheel as the truck came to an abrupt leaning stop at the edge of the woods.
The second strange event was a soldier getting sick as we were on the runway in Anchorage ready to take off. We headed back to the jetway, paramedics and cops got on and after about 15 minutes they all got off with him in tow.
Then in the middle of the flight, over the intercom, I hear, emergency by the cockpit, bring the oxygen and the AED. I sat shot straight up my seat. Great an emergency landing in Western Canada will definitely throw me off my scheduled connections. Way to personalize a person's troubles there Dan you heartless bastard!!! Anyway, it ended up being a bout of gas and a panic attack by a 40-something. Nothing a pepto or zantac couldn't cure. I say staying away from airport and airplane food is a good rule to have in the first place, have you ever wondered how many people use those bathrooms on a daily basis. Constipation is a gift.

Black Rapids Training Area

This morning, when I came into the office, Mark and Brooke were discussing possible new programs for Outdoor Recreation. I suggested we look at doing a climbing program since we are so close to the mountains, a climbing site has to exist. We discussed it and mark mentioned Black Rapids Training Area. BRTA is about 30 miles south of delta Junction, just a bit past as far as I drove yesterday. They conduct Arctic and Mountain training for Fort Wainwright. I looked up their contact info and gave their office at black Rapids a call.   The Captain that answered the phone said they'd be training for another week to come on down anytime, 'how about today?' 'okay'. After lunch we headed down to talk to them about their programs and the area. We hit an outdoor jackpot. BTRA has a ski hill with T lift with about 30 braided runs for skis/snowboards. It used to be a ski area with lodge that was open to the public years ago. Jess used to go up there as a kid before it closed and the Army took over. They also have a granite rock climbing area of lower class 5 climbs, great for training. Jackpot #2. We met up with Captain T and he walked us the 1/4 mile over to the rocks. Pure granite 30-40 foot climbs with easy access to the tops to set up the top ropes. The area is also along the highway with porta-potties and the base are is smooth small river gravel. Most of it is south facing. What a sweet beginner set up. The routes are even bolted and marked. While walking and talking the Captain even recommended we look into the Gulkana Glacier. They do training there, it's another 20 minutes down the road and is excellent glacier travel in May and June, normally slower Outdoor Rec times because of breakup and the spring melt which has everything a little soggy and muddy. Jackpot #3. He also clued us in on some beta about waterfall ice climbing in the area. Two drainages up the highway from BRTA, about a 20 minute walk up the frozen creek, they utilize a frozen waterfall to teach technical ice climbing. The area is top ropeable and a great training location. 4 new programs, one afternoon trip. Awesome. On the drive back, while talking through the programming options we could do in the area, we drove by the dead caribou I saw yesterday. The eagle was there again, only this time he brought reinforcements. 2 bald eagles were chilling in the tree tops on the opposite side of the road. It was a nice sunny day and the animals were out in full force. We saw 4 or 5 big moose walking around and one band of the Macomb herd (I know pretty coincidental for a WIU grad) of caribou was walking around in a group of 50 pracing along as caribou do. All in all, not a bad day to be in Interior Alaska. I am starting to get very excited for the possibilities that the summer holds outdoors.

Here you can see the ski runs up in the hills. They are braided all through each other. The cadre of BRTA said most of it is all blue runs, but what a great place for families to come for a day if we did a special event. there's even a warming chalet lodge.

Granite.

Granite.

More granite.

Shots from a photo turnout on the Richardson

Looking back northeast toward the end of the Granite Mountains of the Alaska Range.

Look at how sharp that shadow is on the packed snow parking lot. Most roads look like this all winter. The snow and ice don't really melt until April.

Toward the ridgeline that is the Denali Highway. There be beasts in them thar hills with big fangs and claws.

Look at that granite face only 30 minutes from Delta.

Bring a harness and a sense of adventure and lets go climbing.

Now how do we get there, maybe helicopter.

A Raven by any other name

Spring, like an old friend, is threatening to come stay for awhile. After a wild few days of 35 mph winds with gusts up to 55 driving the mercury down to 35 below zero and blowing snow, hats, trash and car doors, the sun came out to play in all its glory. It was around 20 degrees and sunny today. Even the ice on the floormats in my tacoma melted into little puddles on the hard grey rubber, gotta love that greenhouse effect in full sunshine. After lunch and chilling at the skeet range talking shop with Mark, I decided to hop in the truck and go for a drive and listen to the radio. I headed south on the fabled Richardson highway. I wanted to get as far as Summit Lake the site of the Arctic Man festival. The Outdoor Recreation guys were filling me in on the particulars yesterday. Arctic Man, which was prominently featured on one of the episodes of Alaska State Troopers, is the last gasp of winter. Most of the snow has melted everyplace else, but holds on just a bit longer at elevation at Summit Lake around Paxson. Paxson is around an hour south of Delta and the start of the Denali Highway 8. Hwy 8 cuts through to Denali and is wild and remote. Can you say Grizzly bears?!

I drove to enjoy the sunshine and the wonderful countryside that the Richardson highway transects. Mountain ranges galore, no houses, just trees, animal hoof prints and the oil pipeline. Down in the flats around Donnelly Dome, I drove by a yearling caribou calf dead on the side of the highway. Oddly enough, it was fully intact without a scavenger in sight and I made note to check it out on the way back to see if I could see the trauma that would tell me what hit it or how it died. I didn't quite make it to Paxson, I was worried about gas and couldn't remember if they had a gas stationat Paxson Lodge that was open on Sundays in Winter. Being closed due to those criteria isn't really a stretch in this part of Alaska. Either way, I wasn't taking chances and turned around a couple of passes before Summit Lake and drove back. As I hit the flats, my thoughts turned to the caribou calf, and as I approached I noticed the dinner guests had arrived. The ravens had found the carcass, as a special guest alighted atop the carcass. There sat our northwoods friend, Mr. Bald Eagle, big white head blazing in the daylight. The ravens sat around the carcass as the eagle tore at its abdomen reminiscent of the the little bull dog on the bugs cartoon, 'what we gonna do today butch?' Even though the windows were rolled up tight from the chill I still coul hear them squack and the chatter of wings as the scurried when the truck rolled within their comfort zone. The Eagle the last to leave the treasure chest buffet. the ravens went every which way, but old man eagle landed on the top of a nearby spruce and almost yawned as I stopped to get a couple quick shots. (damn, I wish I had a bettery for the good camera!) I swear he was posing, 'now from the side, look regal'. I smiled a bit, thinking how in reality, for all his regality, he's just another raven or buzzard for that matter with a better hair-do. I still like eagles and really all birds of prey, I just don't find the pretty ones any more interesting than the ugly ones these days.

You can see his big white head at the top of the spruce. I wish it was clearer.

Stupid story

Mark and I had words on the river the other day about his poor performance at work.

The next day I was playing in the snow having a good old time of it.

Mark was so mad he ran me over.

Now, I'm just a snow angel.

Actually. This was the snowmachine on the river day when I jumped the river edge and crashed. I had to drag my ski out of the deep powder that I got it stuck in. I was huffing and puffing so much trying to drag the thing around i got really hot and started sweating, which can be bad. to cool off I took a tip from the iditarod dogs and decided to roll around in the snow for a few minutes, I made a perfect powder snow angel.