Life in Alaska!

This was a joke diary someone at the Geophysical Institute gave me the first time I came to Fairbanks in 1998. It gives some insight into life here, except (i) its much colder than -20 C in winter here in interior Alaska and (ii) we don't get nearly as much snow here - wish we did - more is needed to improve the ski trails! However, the bit about the moose and the gritted roads is true (the chips in the paint of my 2 year old car bear testimony to the latter)

Moose? Yes, you do see moose everywhere - at least I did in 1998-9. Sleeping by your car in the morning, meaning you have to walk to work instead (no joke at -40!). Moose on the street in downtown Fairbanks. And best of all the university weekly police blotter frequently reports something like "a moose was escorted off campus on Tuesday for causing a nuisance". (Sadly it seems since 2000 though the moose population has dived - as the result of over-zealous hunting laws - why do so many Americans seem to think the only way to appreciate nature is down the barrel of a gun?).

Anyway, enjoy the diary, and for another point of view of life on the Northern frontier, you can also rent/buy DVDs of "Northern Exposure"!

---

Dear Diary


July 12 - Moved to our new home in Alaska. It is so beautiful here. The mountains are so majestic. Can't hardly wait to see snow covering them.


Sept. 7 - Alaska is the most beautiful place on earth. The leaves are turned all colors and shades of red and orange. Went for a ride today through the beautiful mountains and saw two moose. They are truly magnificent. One of God's greatest creations. This must be paradise. I love it here.


Oct. 28 - It snowed last night. Woke up to find everything blanketed in white. It looks like a postcard. We went outside and cleaned the snow off the steps and took turns shoveling the driveway. We had a snowball fight, (I won) and when the snow plow came by we had to shovel the driveway again. What a beautiful place. I think I will live here forever.


Nov. 5 - More snow last night. I love it! The snow plow came by again. I love it here.


Dec. 10 - Minus 20 degrees is not nearly as cold as most people think. Had the car towed into a garage to thaw out; must have an old battery. Took a cab to work.


Dec. 18 - More of that white shit fell last night. I've got blisters on my hands from shoveling. I think the snow plow hides around the curve and waits until I'm done shoveling the driveway. Asshole!


Dec. 25 - Merry Fucking Christmas! More fucking snow. If I ever get my hands on that son-of-a-bitch who drives the snow plow I'll rip his testicles off. Don't know why they don't use more gravel on those fucking icy roads.


Dec. 27 - More white shit. Been inside for three days except for shoveling out the driveway after that snow plow goes through every time. Can't go anywhere; car's stuck in a mountain of white shit. The weatherman says to expect another 10 inches of the shit tonight. So, you know how many shovels full of snow 10 inches is?


Dec. 28 - The fucking weatherman was wrong. We got 34 inches of that white shit this time. At this rate it won't melt before summer. The snow plow got stuck today. The bastard came to the door to ask if he could borrow a snow shovel. After I told him I had broken two shovels already shoveling all the shit he piled into my driveway, I broke my LAST one over his fucking skull.


Jan. 4 - Finally got out of the house today. Went to the store to get food and on the way back a stupid fucking moose ran out in front of my car and I hit him. Did about $3,000 damage to the car. Those fucking beasts should be killed. Wish the hunters had killed them all last September.


May 3 - Took the car to the garage in town. You would not believe the paint and window chipping from all the fucking gravel they put on the roads.



May 10 - Moving to California. I can't imagine why anyone in their right mind would ever live in the godforsaken state of Alaska

November 11-12: Hutlinana Hot Springs

Saturday, 11th November

Had to be at the Outdoor Adventures Center at UAF by 7am. There were 12 of us - Patrick & Christinalena from Germany, Kari from Saskachewan, Robbie, Katy, Laine from France, Garrett, Julie, Mark (Beckham), Emilie from Quebec, myself, and then Mark and Tim from Outdoor Adventures.

We reached the trailhead about 10.30, had a spot of lunch - mainly cookies and muffins that Mark brought. I also had tea and cheese sandwiches - and then we geared up for the trail.

Although many of us were new to cross country skiiing, everyone gave it a shot, apart from Julie who decided to hike in snowshoes. The skiing turned out to be slow to begin with, as it took a while for everyone to get them on, and then within a few minutes we had to ford a frozen river, which required taking off the skis because it wasn't possible to climb the bank on the other side with them on. Even before reaching the river I'd fallen a couple of times, on my superslick skis. This was just the beginning of a day of spectacular falls!

The trail to the hot spring was estimated as 6 miles, but it seemed much much longer. Progress was slow. I found I was able to keep up with the main group on the flat trail, but as soon as there was an uphill section, I had no grip, and could lose several minutes in attempting to climb up with skis on, only to slide backwards, then fall, then have to take the pack off to get back on my feet. Then put it on again. Then put my gloves on again.

Downhill sections were even more scary. The narrow, unpacked trail provided no opportunity for a novice skiier like me on superslick skis to try to snowplough. Invariably doing so would result in being wrapped around a tree, and one or two high speed falls. It was great fun, stumbling around in the snow...for the first few miles. But as muscles tired, and hands started to freeze with all the taking off and putting on of gloves, and the darkness came (around 4pm)...there was a real desire, almost urgency, to get to camp.

Camp itself was very clear - a wide snowy bank next to the Hutlinana River. It was the first time we'd been out of the woods since leaving the road. Now the next problem - setting up camp in the dark. Earlier that day my tent partner Laine had picked the red tent. On a previous trip, we'd had an orange tent - a simple dome tent with a couple of poles, that went up in 5 minutes. But the red tent was bizarre. Strange shape. And threaded sleeves for the poles, rather than clips.

The poles were mere guesswork. We were really wishing we'd had a chance to set the tent up in the daylight before the trip began. The temperature was dropping fast (probably around -20F or -30C) and I was shivering. I was underequipped in two ways. First, I'd failed to pack my headlight, so I was working in the dark. Secondly, I didn't have any liner gloves (4 pairs of gloves, but none allowed me to do the intricate work of threading the poles through the impossibly narrow sleeves) so I had to take my gloves off to do it. And touching the metal poles at that temperature, I felt my fingers "sticking" and getting numb. I realised right then I had to be careful not to frostbite my fingers, but on the other hand I was getting cold and getting the tent up was the key to not getting hypothermic. And it didn't really seem like I could leave Laine to do it either, and she was also started to shiver. Everyone elses tents were easy to put up, so after a few minutes they were standing around making a fire and boiling up water. Both Marks came to help with our tent, with limited success and after half an hour or so, we abandoned it as it was important to help with the cooking and get some warm food and liquid inside.

Julie though was in more trouble. Normally very talkative, she had become very quiet. Later she had said that hiking she'd worked up a sweat, and then as soon as she'd stopped, the damp clothes had made her cool down really fast. When you get that cold, it takes a big effort to strip off the wet layers and get into some dry clothing, plus the thinking isn't that straight. Emilie recognised the problem, and Mark ordered 4 people to get in the "igloo" with her. This is a light tent shell - like a parachute - they takes just seconds to wrap around everyone, and with everyone huddled together, things start to heat up! Especially when others outside the igloo were passing through flasks of hot chocolate. After 40 minutes to an hour of being in the igloo, Julie emerged somewhat in better shape and talking. Emilie continued to look after her. Really important to have a buddy looking out for you in these conditions!

The funny thing was our salvation was so close at hand! On the edge of our site was the hot spring - which within a few minutes could have brought anyone back from the edge of hypothermia. The thing was that, in the dark and the cold, no-one wanted to brave it.

So we had dinner - a pasta meal. Not gourmet camping food liked we'd had at Angel Rocks a few weeks before in rather warmer conditions. But very welcome nonetheless! Afterwards, people huddled round the fire, and we boiled up snow to put in people's Nalgenes for hot water bottles. Mark gave us a hand with our tent again, commenting it was going in the trash as soon as we got back to UAF. One pole we couldn't get in place, but there was any wind, so it was perfectly ok.

People watched the fire and the stars (a very clear night - even Emilie, who had commented on the lack of stars in Alaska, was impressed - but no aurora). People randomly took off into the woods with TP so they could have an undisturbed night!

I don't think anyone slept well that night. Although we were all equipped with -20 F sleeping bags, we also all had lots of frosted up gear to thaw out in our bags. I curled up in my sleeping bag as much as I could, but the very top of my head stuck out, and outside the sleeping bag it must have stayed well below freezing all night. Also I was just recovering from a bug and really blocked up - and worried about snoring as a result, and waking up the camp, especially my tent buddy. So I tossed and turned all night.

Sunday 12th November

Early the next morning, I just wanted to get out of the tent and try out the hot spring. But when I arose, Tim and Mark we're already getting up and starting the stoves for breakfast. Soon the others were getting up too, and we had instant oatmeal. We then started to break down camp. It seemed like we were going to depart imminently, and no-one had been in the hot spring yet. I grabbed my sleeping mat and a towel, and went for it! While it was a tad cold getting the clothes off, it was FANTASTIC getting in the water!

The water was shallow - perfectly for lying in. I'm trying to think how long it was since I was last in a hot spring - it might have been Tolovana in 1999. I had 5, maybe 10, glorious minutes in the hot spring, then figured I'd better get out and help some more with packing up camp. Getting dry again wasn't a problem - my whole body was so warm, I was set for the whole day. So I was able to take my take drying off and dressing. In the event, it probably took another hour for everyone to pack their stuff, and in that time Tim also braved the hot spring, and a number of others dipped their feet in it before plunging their feet into frozen boots.

I tried my best to wax my skis before setting off, but the wax was solid, went on in lumps, and was couldn't be corked in properly. People set off sporadically, not wanting to get cold waiting for everyone else. I had a poor start, spending most of the first half hour in one place, trying to get a glove system that worked with my poles, and taking off layers as I'd gotten too hot. Grip was once again a major problem!

Garrett, Emilie and Tim made up the rear, Garrett doing the superhuman task of towing a sled. Robbie was near the back with me too. Katy, Mark, Mark, Julie, Laine and Kari were a long way ahead, Christinalena had caught them and Patrick was zooming ahead of everyone.

I was hoping for a better day of skiing, and I was getting plenty of glide on today's trail, broken from the day before. But it made the hills even more treacherous. Before long I ended up wrapping myself round a tree, sliding back downhill and bending one of my brand new poles in the process (I'd only had my equipment 8 days!).

Soon after this I was dog tired, my legs shot, and I was stumbling. Katy was with me, and I'd get a little ahead, then fall over from exhaustion, and struggle to get back to my feet. After this happened 3 or 4 times, I realised that trying to catch up with the others was stupid. I needed to stop and get some food. Luckily I had brought some trail mix which Katy and I shared. Katy took off, then Robbie caught up again. We started off again together, and Robbie told me I looked in pretty bad shape. Later (back in the van) he would comment that "I saw Glenn and told him he was in bad shape, then he just hauled ass and left me way behind". Yep, the food really help, and just a few minutes further up the trail Mark was sat down handing out Snickers bar - so a got a real good dose of calories. My stamina returned and before long I was making great speed.

Something else which helped - I'd also hit on the technique of when I fell, taking off 1 ski. That allowed me to stand, without taking off the pack. Clipping the ski back on was no trouble, so it just meant that each fall cost me much less time. I passed Mark (Beckham) heading in the opposite direction, having left his pack with food further up the trail. He was heading back to help Garrett with the sled. Indeed, the lead group had most of the food with them - which made it hard for the strugglers at the back.

I was then really surprised to meet Patrick, who had stopped for a lunch break, and he said the others were just a few minutes ahead, also having had lunch. I carried on, and Patrick took off, and I next met Julie who was hiking. It didn't seem long since I'd seen Patrick, but Julie told me Patrick had passed her first before all the others did, so I knew I couldn't be far behind them. By now we both thought there was about a mile to go.

I soon saw Katy and Kari just ahead. More or less as soon as I got close, the trail got more difficult. I fell 3 or 4 times in quick succession, including one spectacular wipeout when heading fast downhill towards a tree across the trail - and completely unable to control myself - I realised my ski tips were going to get caught under the tree, my skis would probably snap, and I could get seriously injured (as well as maybe take out Katy too). So I launched myself as a big tree and hugged it for dear life! My skis flew up into the air as I was going so fast, but it turned out to be a safe, if dramatic, way to stop. Once again I found myself losing a few minutes and out of sight with the others. 10-15 minutes later there was a staircase to ascend - and I made the smart choice of unclipping my skis to save time - which I now realised would have been the best tactic to employ all weekend on any incline. A few minutes later I caught up with the lead group (apart from Patrick who by now was probably at the trucks) crossing the river, very cautiously. Again, I unclipped my skis, hiked across, and then joined the group again, this time in front. A few minutes later, and we were back at the trucks. I had a stash of dried cranberries which were much appreciated by all!

It took a while for the others to arrive. Although it was great to get off the trail and be in the comfort of the minibus on the way home, it was also sad, as this marked the effective end of our winter camping course! Although we still had to unpack and return all our gear to Outdoor Adventures, and hang the tents and bags.

Garrett, Beckham and I went out for pizza when we got back, and we met Beckham's wife, Amelia.

Its getting darn friggin' cold!

While for an Englishman its been feeling damn cold here, since I arrived from the UK 2 months ago, people keep telling me how mild it is! While I don my thermal top, alpaca jumper, padded shirt, down vest, and two fleece jackets, I can only feel a shiver as I look on at the more acclimatised Alaskans, wearing just a t shirt and jacket, and can only agree when they tell me 4 years in the Caribbean turned me soft!

Until yesterday that is when the temperature plummeted. Fortunately my car lives in a heated garage overnight, so it had no problems starting. But as soon as I drove up my driveway, the car thermometer started registering record lows. And it kept adjusting all the way down the 5 mile hill as I drove towards university. At the bottom of the hill, the temperature gauge bottomed out - at minus 18 Fahrenheit! That's a full 50 degrees below freezing point! Anyway, the true Alaskans are now throwing on some extra clothes too, and some of them are even closing their windows!

Walking in temperatures that low is hard on the lungs. The air is so dry it sucks all the moisture out of your lungs. And some people - mostly runners - have collapsed and died from literally freezing their lungs!

This weekend I'm supposed to be off camping in the White Mountains as part of my winter camping course(great that I get to do some free courses as a university employee!). So hopefully we'll get to ski in, builda snow shelter (not an igloo, takes too long) and have a gourmet pasta & veggies dish to warm up. With luckwe might be able to camp near a hot spring - think we'll be needed it! That's the great thing about working onvolcanoes - there are usually hot springs to be found! We'll be just like those monkeys you see on those nature programs, somewhere out in East Asia, where they jump from the snow into the hot spring, turned more or less instantly, jump out again, freeze again - always trying to find the happy medium. Anyway,should be fun.

Of course, this is only the beginning of true winter. The temperature could easily slide another 20 or even 30 degrees lower. Indeed it was around -60 Fahrenheit when I left here almost 7 years ago to the welcoming warmth of Montserrat. And to add to the wilderness experience at that time, the fuel pipe to my cabin had frozen up, meaning that every time I returned to my cabin it was about the same temperature as outside, and took a couple of hours for the woodstove to heat things up. A world away from life in a Caribbean villa!

21-22 October: Winter Camping course goes to Chena Recreation Area!

This weekend saw the first of two trips away on the Winter Camping & Snow Travel course I'm doing at UAF.

We got to the trailhead for Angel Rocks (out on Chena Hot Springs Road) about 1pm on Saturday, and filtered lots of water for cooking from the stream, while having lunch. Mark and Kari, the leaders of the course, drove one of our Ford Expeditions to the end point, where we'd see it again on Sunday. Others on the course are Kari "2" from Saskatchewan (the course leader being from Alaska), Mark who looks like David Beckham, Rosie aka Alice from Newcastle, Lene (?) from Brittany, Emily from Quebec, Katie, Roby from Venus, Patrick and Christinalena from south-west Germany, Mike from California, and the unknown girl. Garrett, also on the course, didn't make it this weekend.

The snow began as we arrived, and never stopped the whole weekend. It was never intense, but a good 4-6 inches fell in all. Thank goodness, as this is a Winter Camping & Snow Travel course! The temperature though never got particularly cold, probably no lower than +15 F. Cold enough to get frostbite though if you weren't careful.

I had a huge 110 liter backpack, with a -20 F sleeping bag, which more than made up for the thin sleeping mat. Clothes-wise I had lots of layers, and plenty of spares in case anything got damp. In the first hundred yards or so the backpack was making my lower back go into spasms, but the fit got progressively better as the trip progressed, thanks to Mark and "Beckham". The first couple of miles were steeply uphill, testing Mike in particular, whose smoking-affected lungs were burning.

The tent arrangements had been made in advance, and in my absence, and my tent partners were Kari (the course leader) and Lene. We set up camp around 5.30pm a little before mile 3, just looking for a reasonably flat area without rocks away from the trail. The tents were simply - a groundsheet, three poles, and a fly. After staking them down with pegs and rocks, the next job was to set up a cooking area, well away from the tents. The chances of a bear giving us trouble were remote, given that we were 14 people, but its worth taking precautions and anyway it was good training. So apart from individual snacks we each carried, all the food was in bear-proof canisters. Mark, Lene and others got some water on the go, while everyone else got involved with erecting a lean-to and furnished it with sleeping bags, to keep us out of the wind and insulated from the ground while we ate. Dinner was an impressive pasta dish, given this was camp food, and hot chocolate and tea were also on hand. The biggest surprise was finding that what felt like a perfectly normal bedtime was in fact only 9pm!

The next morning Mark and Kari got up at 6am and started boiling water for breakfast. I'm ashamed to admit I hadn't even noticed Kari leaving the tent, and the first I knew about it was when she came charging up to the tent and shaking it around 7am waking Lene and I up for breakfast. A couple of packets of instant oatmeal and I was ready to go!

Our tent was down by about 8am, but by the time all the cooking stuff had been packed and all the tents down and everyone ready to go, it was well past 9. It really didn't matter, because as it turned out we had less than 6 miles of travel ahead of us.

I led out the first section, spotting the cairns, but was too lazy to navigate with a compass. Beckham and Christinalena led out the next two sections, and others took a hand also. We stopped for lunch at a cabin at around mile 6, and I was surprised to see between us we had a vast array of food. We had more food than we needed - and more clothes too - but all would have come in handy had we met worse weather, been travelling more slowly, or had someone become injured. As it was everyone was fine, and I took the opportunity to add some calories as I'd had little to eat the previous 36 hours. I'd also had little to drink - probably only a litre of fluid since the trip began, but that was a deliberate ploy so I hadn't had to get up in the night to pee!

In the final mile or two of the trail, Beckham and Patrick started throwing snowballs, but what promised to break out into a big snowball fight never really got going. Mark and I threw some back, but it pretty much ended when Rosie, an innocent bystanding, got a snowball from Mark right in the face!

Before long we'd arrived at Chena Hot Springs Resort. I hadn't brought my swim stuff with me and neither had most of the others. But there were one or two spares, so Roby, Beckham, Patrick, Christinalena and I had the outdoor hot pool, while Mark and Kari went off to pick up the other vehicle and then Kari drove the others back to Fairbanks. Meanwhile we stayed about an hour in the hot pool and jacuzzi. Just before we departed Mark's girlfriend arrived from Fairbanks to tell us that town had also had about 4 inches of snow!

More photos from the trip can be seen at:

http://kiska.giseis.alaska.edu/input/glenn/personal/wintercamping/

Four more days have gone by now and Fairbanks is still coated in white everywhere, and the temperature is dipping to 15 F in the mornings and never getting as high as thawing point. The first day I got back my new car - the Subaru Legacy - wouldn't make it up the hill on Basin Street and was clinging to the ditch. Fortunately, my housemate Andi and her boyfriend Kyle towed me out with her truck! I then went down to "Giant Tire" in town with my office mate Jamie and got a set of "Blizzac" snow tires. Since then I haven't skidded once!

20 October 2006 - Ellen moves to BC

Today Ellen moved somewhat closer - from PEI to Vernon, British Columbia!

30 September 2006 - First snowfall of the year...

Winter came really late to Fairbanks this year. The usual time for the first frost of the year is the first week of September. This year it came on the 26th - the second latest date on record. So we're hoping for a mild winter.

But since skiing and snowmachining are the two main outdoor activities of the long dark winter months, we're also hoping for lots and lots of snow!

The first snowfall of the year came on the final day of September. Here is a picture of my house in the snow.

It was a light fall - about 3 inches. Indeed, we don't get a lot of snow here, because its so dry...Fairbanks is almost a desert!

This far into Interior Alaska, there isn't much in the way of rain or snow usually - the air is so incredibly dry that everytime you get out your car and touch the door to close it, you get a static shock from all that metal charging up as it whistles down the highway with no moisture to conduct the charge away. And when you're in bed at night and you turn over, there is a burst of purple light from the static charge of bedsheets rubbing together. Drinking lots of water is needed to prevent shrivelling up like a prune!

I also took a bit of a walk in the first snowfall on the University of Alaska trail system - which starts just outside the building where I work! The spruce and birch woods behind the university campus extend north for several miles, and its possible to hike or run in summer, and ski in winter, for hours on the numerous criss-crossing trails. Here is a view of a typical trail:

One of the highlights of the trail system is Smith Lake. Its literally just a 10 minute walk from my office, and I like to walk down there at lunchtimes, to get a break from picking earthquakes! Looking at "squiggles" all day long can ruin your eyes and send you cabin crazy, so I think its important to get a break. And what with the drive to and from work already becoming quite dark, its also good to get out into the light during the short Alaskan winter day.

Who would have thought? Here I was, out on my walk along the trail system and look what I found! Home from home. Perhaps I should be living on Nottingham Road, Fairbanks, Alaska?

Since 30th September there has been no further snowfall, and Fairbanksans are getting impatient! Me too, as I'm booked on a series of winter camping and snow travel classes in the next few weeks, and learning to cross country ski and build igloos isn't going to be very satisfying without some snow!

20 October 2006 - New car...

Today I finally traded in my rental car, a Ford Taurus, for my own rig. I'd thought about going "Alaskan" and getting a huge 5 litre pick up truck. Indeed when I was here 8 years before, virtually everyone had a pick up truck. Meanwhile I had a small European-size but American built Dodge Colt. It was somewhat scary driving on the icy roads, knowing you had no chance in a crunch, against what might have well been tanks. And my little front-wheel car and I almost came to grief one day while coming down Chena Ridge Road in the first snowfall of the year. And anywhere that wasn't ploughed in the winter was more or less off limits to me and my car because the front wheel drive just couldn't cope with the conditions.

Environmentally, I really wanted something that would get good miles per gallon. Good for America that is, i.e. 25-30. But I also wanted something that would be safe, and would let me travel everywhere. Fortunately, and I mean that, gas prices have more than doubled since 1998, and now far more Alaskans are driving cars. And of all the cars, the make recommended by almost all Alaskans is Subaru. It has the best all-wheel-drive system on the market making it much less likely to skid, its good at starting in the subzero temperatures, and gas mileage is around 27. It also has a bit of power, allowing it to nip out of the way of those monster trucks on the road.

Another great thing about it - you can fold down the back seats and practically throw a double mattress in there. And it has not one, but two sunroofs. Ideal for roadtrips and watching the aurora.

So here it is - my 2004 Subaru Legacy...

DAILY LIFE

For those who have been requesting some photos of everyday stuff, like where I live and work, here are the long overdue photos...

Here is a shot of UAF upper campus ->

<- and here is a close up of the Geophysical Institute (or "GI") where I work on the 3rd floor

This is a shot of my office ->
For seismic monitoring we tend to use Sun workstations because Unix is more stable than Microsoft Windows
It was nice a surprise 2 flat panel monitors to work with!

<- and this is just outside my office where they have the weekly seismology meetings every Tuesday.

The bank of computer monitors on the wall is new since my last time up here, and shows live seismic data and maps of where the latest earthquake was located and its magnitude - a voice also announces the same information in real time.

Here is a shot of the house where I'm living ->

Its quite small by Alaskan standards, which I think makes a lot of sense considering the heating costs. I decided to forgo the cabin experience this winter, so this time I'm living about 5 miles west of town, up on a ridge in the woods, but with water (from a tank) and central heating! And that's a heated garage too!




<-- Here is a close up of the house with my rental car in the foreground. I'm just renting a room and living with Andi (short for Andrea) who is an environmental consultant.

And here is an interior shot of the house ->

There is an upstairs bedroom that overlooks the lounge with its own en-suite and walk-in closet. That's Andi's part of the house, and she runs her business from there. My own room is downstairs by the front door, with a separate bathroom, with washer and dryer. Then there is a shared kitchen, lounge and dining area.

All in all, a pretty comfortable place to start out life in Alaska life, while still being out in the woods to enjoy the wildnerness.

12 September 2006 - Seismic Fieldwork

12 September 2006 - anyone for McCarthy?
I turned up half-way through the weekly seismic meeting, rather surprising a lot of people who thought I'd never get there - the visa had taken so long to come through. Rowdy, and old friend from my 1998-2000 time at AVO flagged up he needed an extra pair of hands down in McCarthy for some seismic fieldwork. Rowdy had told me all those years ago how it was his favourite place and he'd bought some land down there. So when my boss, Roger, asked me after the meeting if I'd go with Rowdy, I didn't hesitate. All I needed was a day to fill out the paperwork...

14 September 2006 - from Fairbanks to McCarthy

Loading up: The first stop after loading up the seismic gear was to grab a trailer of wood Rowdy wanted to get down to his land. So we swung by his cabin - the same cabin I had lived in many years before.






Driving down: The highway down goes through Delta Junction, Glenallen and as far as Chitina. Beyond that, its a dirt surface on top of an old railroad they used for copper mining. And there are lots of staples left from the track, so at least 2 spare tyres in a must.

Here is some typical scenery from the drive down, which took about 9 hours.

And here is a view of the Aleyaska pipeline which carries about one quarter of the US oil from Prudhoe bay in the north, to Valdez in the south. One of my main tasks is going to be to develop an alarm system which can alert the pipelines authorities to intense earthquake activity. One of our field techs, John, has been putting out seismic stations along the pipeline all summer.

The pipeline follows the road, until our turn off for Chitina.

This is the place Rowdy and I stayed at in McCarthy.

15 September 2006 - McCarthy town, and the seismic station

Waking up in McCarty was quite something! It felt like a living ghost-town on the frontier. Population - probably over 100 in the summer. But by winter, maybe a dozen. (A few weeks after we left, the only road into McCarthy - and about a 60 mile stretch of the nearby highway - was destroyed by unprecendented floods!)

The seismic station is located here. There is a beautiful home here too (not shown) where a family with 5 kids lives. And even the youngest of them knows more about living in the great outdoors than just about any adult I've ever met! On this day, the 8 year old daughter rode by, driving an all-terrain-vehicle, with a 33-caliber rifle slung across her back! The next day, the kids were out hunting bears!

Just imagine living in a place like this ... and waking up to that view!

Here is the seismic station. None of the poorly built sites I'd seen in Montserrat, with seismometers placed in leaky upturned buckets, and zip-ties being used to secure solar panels that were uselessly pointing north! Here the stations are really engineered, and built to survive the tough arctic winters!

The seismometer sits down in a deep waterproof crypt, with thick fibreglass insulation and a concrete base. The electronics along with 24 car batteries (!) is housed in a purpose-made hut (which Rowdy and I had the job of raising up to prevent flooding).

To charge all those batteries, an impressive array of solar panels is required. And then a V-SAT satellite radio uplink is used to transmit the data back to the lab in Fairbanks.

After all that hard work the meal in McCarthy was small and disappointing. We went to a party in a cabin just out of town at night.

16 September 2006

A second day at the seismic site ... followed by a trip to Rowdy's lot and a drop in on a McCarthy-style BBQ with a huge bonfire, miles out in the woods.

17 September 2006

After dropping off Rowdy's truck on the far side of the river where his lot is, we took a trip on another gorgeous day to Kennicot. This is where there was once a huge copper mining industry. And the only road to McCarthy is simply a pile of dirt and gravel dumped on the old railroad that was used to get copper out to Chitina.

Fortunately I was able to get an exclusive tour of the old copper mill, an extraordinary wooden building of umpteen different levels that climbed right up the hillside. The way in was pretty hairy, and it was something of an assault course once inside too.

Leaving Kennicot-McCarthy was difficult as it was a case of third-day, third-party ... but reluctantly we had to pass and make it on back towards some other seismic sites that needed attention along the road home. The trip back had an unauspicious start when we found the truck had a flat tyre even before we tackled the Chitina road - only to find the spare, jack and tire nut level were completely inadequate...and we had to wait for a passing stranger to come to our aid with a deep lug set.

18 -19 September 2006 - HAARP and Paxson

I got into the HAARP facility, some sort of military radio array that can apparently induce aurora, being told my UK citizenship was not a problem. But no sooner had Rowdy and I started work on the seismic station, than an escort came to take me off the premises. Word had come from above that "aliens" were not allowed on this site. So I got to surf the internet at a nearby lodge, while Rowdy worked. This work then had to be abandoned when we got word that a telephone engineer was waiting for us at another station about 30 minutes up the road. Unfortunately, neither site got fixed that day, so the next day was almost identical.

Then as we were planning finally to return to Fairbanks, we got word that the McCarthy site was down again. So we were contemplating driving the 4 hours back. Not real convenient as Rowdy was due on a helicopter trip later in the week to fix other stations, and needed to prepare for it. In the end, with just one spare tyre, a lack of tools to fix it, and already being somewhat overdue, we decided to leave McCarthy for another day, and headed back to Fairbanks reaching there about 10pm.

So a whole week after arriving in Fairbanks I'd managed to spend almost all my time in the field. Now I really needed to rent a car and start looking for accommodation...