Married To A Birder

Calliope Hummingbird Road Trip

2012-01-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

“I’ll be back at 11am to pick you up,” Dave said as heheaded out the door for work. He’d alreadyspoken to Sister Marty this morning, and we were going to head to North Vernon,Indiana and try to see the Calliope Hummingbird that was coming to afeeder. This was one of the few timesthat all three members of our birding competition team, aptly named, On a Wing and a Prayer, could betogether to go birding, and we were all anxious to see this bird. It would be a life bird for me. Calliopes breed in the northwestern US,migrate through the Rockies and overwinter in western Mexico. How this individual wound up in south centralIndiana is a mystery.

At 11am, Dave was back and we jumped into the truck. The weather is absolutely perfect – clear skiesand 50F weather. We met Marty in MtVernon and gave the homeowner of the feeder a call. She’d seen the bird this morning, and we werewelcome to come on over. When we arrivedat the house, Ken from Columbus, OH was already standing against the fence inher backyard watching for the bird. Weintroduced ourselves to Norma Jackson, signed her guest list and quickly walkedaround to the backyard. She had twofeeders set up; one with a heat lamp directed toward it, and another onefurther out in the yard with heat tape wrapped around it.

Within minutes, the hummingbird landed in the badford pearin the backyard and zipped down to the feeder for a drink.

We quietly stood in the yard for about 30 minutesand the bird came in and out about 3 times.

She’s one of those female hummers that looks just like a bunch of otherfemale hummers. But, we were able tosnap a couple of photos that really show the decurved bill.

We were visitor numbers 224,225 and 226 to Norma’s yardsince Christmas Eve. I’d say she’s had apretty busy holiday season!

We left theCalliope and headed over to Muscatatuck NWR and went into the visitors centerto check out their feeders. We wererewarded with great looks at both house and purple finches, fox, tree, white-crownedand white-throated sparrows as well as standard feeder birds, chickadees,titmice, etc.

We had decided to head over toward the big lake and see ifwe could see otters, when we spotted two photographers frozen in place at theedge of the woods. We crept up slowly inthe truck – well, I guess we didn’t creep, considering the truck is adiesel. So we turned the engine off andasked them what they had. “Screech Owl,”the man replied. We quietly stood by thecar for a few minutes and watched the hollowed out hole in the tree, but didn’tsee anything. We moved on and birded therest of the road and turned around. Onour way back past the photographers we checked the owl hole again, and sureenough, there it was. A beautiful rufousmorph eastern screech owl. Score!

We picked up a few more duck species at the lake and a redshouldered hawk sitting on a telephone wire on the way into North Vernon. Team Ona Wing and a Prayer is up to 80 species and its only January 6^th! I think we’ll stop for Mexican food on theway home. Birding is exhausting and I’mstarving! LOL!

Great Gray Roadtrip Final Post

2012-01-04T16:16:00.000-08:00

We were back on the road by 2:45pm with a brand newalternator in the truck. Pretty fastservice for a dealership, and everyone was really nice. The employees certainly live up to the company name, Friendly Ford! After a little SNAFU finding the AmbassadorBridge over to Windsor, Ontario, we were finally in Canada.

You can tell we're in our truck, see that crack in the windshield on the left? Going through Customs was a breeze. They were more interested in Steve than anyoneelse. Guess he looks a little sketchywith that shaggy beard! LOL!

After following the directions from the bird hotline, wepulled onto Road #2 and saw a bunch of cars pulled over about a mileahead. The sun was just touching thehorzon, and we only had a few minutes of light left. You could feel the tension and anticipationin the truck as we got closer to our destination. As we approached Arner Townline Road, we sawabout 10 cars lining both sides of the road just ahead.

A group of people were clustered together onthe right shoulder and a few others were standing on the opposite side of theroad. There, on the telephone wire, not20 feet from the nearest person, was a beautiful Great Gray Owl!

Massive, and beautiful in rich chocolatebrown, white, and gray, it glowed in the late afternoon light.

It was sounconcerned with the mass of people snapping pictures of it, that it didn’teven look at them. It just turned its backon us and focused on watching the grass in the ditch for prey.

We pulled over at the first open spot on the road andquickly jumped out of the truck. We wereable to snap a couple of great pictures, as the bird methodically worked theditch from telephone pole to telephone pole.

It would intently watch the grassand then rotate its head to the other side and scan the roadside for a fewseconds. Then its attention would returnto the original spot in the tall weeds.

Eventually, It flew across to the northside of the road into a small tree about 5 ft from the road and kepthunting.

The bird didn’t even react whenthe Canadian police car drove by and announced on the load speaker that we neededto stay off the road. Then, suddenly, the birddropped down into the weeds in the ditch.

I heard 45 cameras click. Afterforaging for a second or two, it emerged with a vole in its mouth. Incredible! Then, it turned around, facing allof us, and proceeded to gulp the vole down in 2 swallows.

I never imagined that I would get this goodof a look at a Great Gray. It wasamazing! Life Bird number 563 for me, and 655 for Daveand 450-something for Steve. Woohoo!! Happy Dance!

We were back in the car and heading home by 5:15pm. Decided not to spend the night and just drivehome. Dave says the truck has more pepnow that it has a fully operational alternator. So, what the heck, let’s just come home. It’s been a very successful adventure!

Great Gray Roadtrip - Part 2

2012-01-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

The canned elevator music is softly playing ACDC, which is really surreal. We're sitting in the lobby of Friendly Ford in Monroe, Michigan. I'm working on my A&P lecture syllubi, notes and Powerpoints, and we're waiting for our truck to be fixed.

At about 10am, we entered Michigan, and the "check battery" light came on. Steve located a Ford dealer nearby, and now at 2:15pm, we are getting a new alternator and have been informed that the brakes and tires are bad. LOL! What a roadtrip! Good thing we packed our overnight bags, cause at this rate, we may not get to Kingsville until dark. We ate our tuna fish sandwiches and watched Steve sleep at one of the salesmen's desks.

Good news is that there is a Comfort Inn near Kngsville that has special "birder" rates and we made reservations. So, our trip has now become an overnight adventure!

Great Gray Owl Road Trip – Part 1

2012-01-04T06:49:00.000-08:00

“Tomorrow, I want to be in Ontario,” Dave said. “What? Noway,” I adamantly responded. I knew what he wanted. He wanted to get up at the crack of dawn anddrive up to Ontario, Canada to see the Great Gray Owl that had been spotted justoutside of Point Pelee. If we saw it, itwould be a Life Bird for both of us. “Absolutely,no way.”

I mean, really. Wejust completed our annual “Big Day” of birding on News Years Day to kick offthe Chili Challenge Birding Competition in SW Ohio. Granted, it had been a slow day, and we onlysaw 65 species, when our goal (set by Sister Marty) was 89 species. But, still, I can only take so many days ofbirding in one month!

Since Thanksgiving, we’ve done quite a bit of birding: BlackFriday we drove 700 miles to get the Black-tailed & Black-headed Gullsoutside of Cleveland; in early December we flew to the Rio Grande Valley ofsouthern Texas and got the Black-vented Oriole, Hook-billed Kite,Golden-crowned Warbler, and Rose-throated Becard; in mid-December we did boththe Oxford and Whitewater Christmas Bird Counts; last week we drove to southernTennessee to see the Hooded Crane; and yesterday was our Big Day. Being thework-a-holic that I am, taking this many days off to go birding was beginning toput pressure on me. Granted, I AM onbreak, and I don’t have to work – it’s not like I’m getting paid. But, I had planned to use my time duringWinter Break to finish a manuscript, write the draft of our NSF proposal, workon the next edition of The Ohio Cardinal, get my syllabi and lectures writtenfor next semester and post notes to Blackboard. I was starting to feel that pressure you feel when work starts pilingup. So, I said no way, we can’t go toOntario tomorrow.

We drove Manda to the airport to go back to school in SouthCarolina. It had been great having herhome for the holidays. For the firsttime in at least 5 years, 4 of our 5 kids were home for Christmas, and I was ahappy mama. The house had been full of chaos and laughter for 3 weeks now. Dylan will leave on Friday, and then it willbe just Dad and I and the pets in the farmhouse, and we’ll go back to the dailygrind of academia.

We left the airport and drove over to visit mom at the nursinghome. She’s so sweet now. She doesn’t know who I am now and that’salright, I happily tell her that I am Jill, her daughter, and that I loveher. Sometimes she reacts withrecognition, but most often she smiles and says, “Really?” Yep, I tell her and I go on to tell her aboutmyself. I trimmed her fingernails, lotionedthe parchment like skin on her arms and talked to her about our Christmas. She tried to talk to me, but her words don’tmake sense. I can see in her eyes thatshe is frustrated that she can’t say what she means, and I tell her that it’sok, she’s fine and I’ll take care of her. I can’t imagine how frustrating it isfor her to be trapped in her own mind. Isat with my arm around her and she described the colors of all of the Christmasdecorations hanging in the room. She gotconfused with the colors blue and yellow, but she was proud that she couldidentify the snowflakes and round ball ornaments. For the first time, tears welled up in hereyes when I told her I had to go. Shewanted me to stay, and I wanted to stay. I wish I could keep her at home with me, but I know that she is betteroff here, where her life is structured and familiar. It won’t be long before her mind will moveinto the scared and panicky stage. God,I wish she didn’t have to go through that. I wish I was smart enough to figure out how to stop the slow degradationof neurons in her brain… She was such avibrant woman who had raised a family and built a successful career as a realestate broker.

We were a little late leaving the nursing home and headedover to dinner at Steve’s house. We weremeeting his folks for the first time. We’veknown Steve for years, since he was a freshman in Dave’s BMZ class at Miami,and he’d impressed us with birding skills. He’s spent years working with us at our banding stations, travelling toboth Mexico and Alaska with us to studybirds in El Cielo Biosphere Reserve and in the White Mountains. But, we had never met his family.

As we sat at dinner, telling tall tales of our birdingadventures, the subject of the Great Gray came up. Suddenly, I blurted out, “You know, if Ibring my laptop along, I can work on my manuscript, etc., while we’re drivingup to Ontario. I could get quite a bit done. Why don’t we go for it? Steve, do you want to go?” WHERE DID THAT COME FROM??!! Did I just say that?

Dave looked at me with stunned elation in his eyes. Not one to miss an opportunity, heimmediately took my suggestion and began brainstorming how we could leave firstthing in the morning, drive the 5 hrs up to get the bird, snap a couple ofpictures and turn around and be home that evening. A quick trip. I was caughtup in the excitement of the moment, and enthusiastically added that Dylan couldtake care of the dogs while we were done. We both looked at Steve and said at almost the same time, “You in?” Steve was already grinning from ear toear. “You got a passport?” Steve had just come back from conducting thehawk count at Pelee this Fall, so he knew exactly where the owl was. As I looked from Dave to Steve while we discussedthe details of the trip, I realized that the rest of Steve’s family was staringat us, open mouthed, over their cherry cheesecake. We’d totally forgotten everyone else in theroom and gotten caught up in the rush of planning our spur-of-the-moment roadtrip. Um, oops. Steve, sheepishly glanced over at his folkswho were smiling at these three crazy birders. Within minutes, Steve was packed and tossing his bedroom trying to findhis missing passport.

So, here we are, driving west on Interstate 70 toward Daytonat 7:30am. It’s 27F and cloudy and theweather forecast for Ontario is for temps around 30F and gale force winds. It’s going to be bone chillingly cold. We’re off on another birding adventure!

Hooded Crane Adventure Day 2

2011-12-30T17:29:00.000-08:00

Day 2

Instead of going back to the hotel off the interstate, we decided to give the Holiday Inn Express in Dayton, TN a try. It was only about 15 minutes from the Refuge, and we had met a couple who had stayed there last night. Glad we did, too, because our room was $30 cheaper tonight! Plus, we got a King Size bed! For those of you who know my husband, Dave, you know what I mean – he’s a giant. In our queen size bed at home, he has to sleep diagonally, and I get this little triangle of the bed for me. But, in the King Size bed, I got to spread out! It was terrific! We aet dinner at Alaya’s Mexican Restaurant and I was not impressed. I think I can still taste the onions from my taco on my tongue today.

Up at 6:30am, in truck by 7:30am and its 35F. Great! 10 degrees warmer than yesterday, and NO FOG!

We got to the Refuge at about 8:10am and as we approachedthe observation deck, we asked “Anything?” “Yep, it flew by at 7:55am.” Shit! We had missed it by 15 minutes! We had stood on that observation platform,looking through our scopes, all day yesterday – and I mean all day. I have never spent an entire day, juststanding looking through a scope and scanning 1000’s of birds before, and Isure didn’t want to do it again today! Crap! The Hooded Crane haddropped in just behind a row of corn, down into what appeared to be a swellcoming off the inlet. But, we couldn’t see it.

We all trained our scopes to that spot. All 30+ of us. Then Dave yelled, “It’s up! Flying right to left”. And, sure enough there it was for about 1second and then it dropped behind the point of land sticking out into the inlet– it was gone. A few of us were luckyenough to see it, but not many. Ugh! This is so frustrating. We really want to watch the bird, see itsbehavior, and really SEE it. So, again,we trained our scopes at the spot where it had dropped, hoping that it wouldwalk up the rise on the point so that we could see it again.

The Whooper’s were there again, as well as a couple ofRed-tails. We saw a few of the folksthat had been here yesterday too. As Isigned our names to the guest list that was circulating, I casually scanned thenames on the list to see where everyone was from. A guy had driven all the way down from NewJersey, and Vic Fazio was the name just above mine. I recognized that name from the Ohio birdingnetwork. So, I tapped him on theshoulder and introduced myself. How coolis that? Plus, Herman Mays from theCincinnati Museum Center was there with his 6 yr old son, Cameron. Small world, this birding community…

I rotated between looking through my scope at the spot wherethe crane had dropped, to scanning the weeds along the shoreline, to using mybinocs to scan Sandhills that were continually taking off and landing along theback side of that point of land. Nothing. At least it was warmertoday.

Then I saw a white head raise up in the weeds on the backside of the point of land. I whisperedto Dave, “Hey, Dave, behind the 6 Sandhills that are eating behind the Whooperis a white head sticking up in the weeds. Do you see it?” I noticed that Vic immediately rotated hisscope over to that area too. I could seea white neck and head that was much brighter than all of the Sandhills. But, I wasn’t confident and the light couldbe playing tricks on me. I waited,saying nothing.

Then Dave said, “That’sit!” I quickly shouted out directions toeveryone on the observation deck. Thenthe head went down. Crap! You could feel the excitement and tensionamong the observers on the deck. Somehad seen it, and some were still trying to figure out where to look. Voices could be heard explaining which weedsto look at. Everyone was focused on thatspot. We waited, 5 minutes, 15 minutes,then the head was back up! Thengone. This was torture! We waited, increasing the zoom on our lensesto their maximum. Watching everymovement of the weeds, hoping the bird would resurface.

Then it was back! Walking right up the bank and into full view! Wow! How cool was that! The camerashutters were flying! The Hooded Cranewas beautiful! Elegant black with awhite neck and head. Casually meanderingin the weeds picking at food. High fiveswent around the deck! Sounds ofcelebration could be heard all along the boardwalk. We lingered for a good 30 minutes takingphotos and hoping that just one would turn out. The bird was still a good 200 yards from us. Wow! What a great life bird!

It was 10am, and we could head home.

2011-12-29T16:30:00.000-08:00

Man, I love Bonnie Rait. I was finally able to enjoy some downtime after Christmas. The grandkids were gone, and the other kids,home from college or the military were sleeping off their eveningadventures. I was sorting through themusic my son had downloaded onto my computer from his ipod, named Pinky. Other than the techno stuff that all soundsthe same to me, he actually has good taste in music. Lots of R&B, classic rock and someAmerican standards. It was fun to see Aerosmith and Perry Como mixed in with 50Cent and Sublime. Anyway, I was happily listening andorganizing my itunes, when my phone beeped and a text came in from Sammy. “Hooded Crane in Tennessee”.

Before I could answer the text, my phone rang and it was mybirder husband. Funny how that timing worked. He’d gotten Sammy’s text too. So,why beat around the bush. “Are we going?”,I asked. Hooded Cranes are from Japan,so hearing that one had dropped in only 7 hrs south of us, was a realscore! We were going to have to cancel bird banding tomorrow anyway, because of high winds, so we COULD get away. I don’t see a trip to Japan in ournear future, and Dave has been obsessed with Vanderpool’s Big Year, so Ialready knew the answer to my question. “I’m on myway home now”, he replied. “If we leave now, we can be back home tomorrow”. He’d already reworked his schedule and calledour sleeping 20-something year old children to make sure they would take careof the pets while we were gone.

By 4pm, we were on the road. Then, we had to turn around and go back home because I forgot my phone onthe charger! So, at 4:30pm we were atthe bank getting cash, filling the gas tank and running into Radio Shack toget an adaptor so we could listen to a book on the ipod through the truckspeakers. Man, I love Radio Shack. I really like those new 4 G phones – maybe aHTC Resound or Thunder…. I guess I tooktoo long in the store, because the next thing I knew, Dave was pacing next to measking me if I was done yet. Yep,done. Adaptor in hand, and off we wentto Tennessee.

But, wait, where was Dave's phone? He's ALWAYS on the phone - worse than a woman. We scoured the truck and called home on my phone. Nope, the kids couldn't find it at home, but the bank had called. He'd left it there, and Amanda would pick it up tomorrow. LOL! They say the mind is the first thing to go, sweetie! :-)

We made it to Athens by 11pm and got a room at the HolidayInn Express. Very nice hotel with comfybeds and friendly staff. 6am wake upcall, a quick shower and breakfast and we were on the road by 7:30am. 27F with frost on the truck, Thursday,December 29, 2011. I‘m surprised that it’salready light outside! We soon hit fog as we meandered our way up Hwy 60 toBirchwood and the Hiwassi Wildlife Reserve.

The fog was thick and visibility was only about 30 feetuntil about 9:15am. Even so, there wasan average of 30 people on the observation deck all day. Apparently, John Vanderpool saw the bird yesterday morning by 9am, and no fog. So our hopes of seeing the bird were high. Dave and another guy saw a fly-by of the birdat about 3pm, but that was it.

Two Whoopers were hanging around all day. We were pretty far away, but Dave got this shot of the younger one.

We stayeduntil dark, but didn't see the Hooded Crane again. I hate to come all this way and not see the bird, so we've decided tospend another night and try again in the morning. I’m hoping for no fog in themorning.

Woops! That's a Life List of 650!!!

2011-12-05T17:17:00.001-08:00

So, I just found out from my Birder husband that he doesn't have 600 species on his life list. He's got 650! That's 6-5-0! Oops! I just performed another birding fau pas when I mistakenly reported his life list 50 species short. Sheesh! LOL!!! Am I ever going to get this birding thing right?! *smile*.
Congrats on 650, baby! I'm proud of you, no matter how many species you have on your life list.

Four Life Birds in Four Days!

2011-12-05T14:34:00.001-08:00

I realize that the title of this entry probably sounds funny to most of our family members as well as the general public. But, in the world of the "elite" or should I say "freakishly obsessed" Birder, Life Birds become harder and harder to get. With only 675 or so breeding species in North America, the Birder with over 500 species on his/her Life List has to really work to get those last 175 - as well as transient migrants and rarities that drop in.

Well I'm married to one of those maniacal Birders and while attending the Inland Bird Banding Association meetings in the lower Rio Grande Valley last week, he saw his 600th bird species for ABA North America. Yep, that's right. 600 species! Like Greg Miller, of The Big Year told me, "You've got to be lucky and good!" Well, not to brag, but my husband is a damn good birder, and one of the luckiest SOBs I know!

Great job, Dave!

IBBA - Rio Grande Valley Dec 2010

2011-12-04T13:51:00.001-08:00

What a beautiful area of the country, south Texas is... clear blue skies that go on forever, and 80F weather with a nice strong wing to keep you cool. The dragonflies are in abundance, and I was able to snap this shot of a Roseate Skimmer at Alligator Pond in Estero Llano Grande in Weslaco, TX.

Also got great looks at Green Jays!

More photos to come!

Black Friday Extravaganza!

2011-11-26T07:08:00.000-08:00

Great road trip to NE Ohio this weekend! In honor of Black Friday, we picked up life birds Black-headed Gull (above) at Conneaut, Black-tailed Gull at Ashtabula as well as seeing an adult Black-crowned Night Heron at the Ashtabula marina. Black Friday all around! Sister Mary also picked up a 3rd life bird, Cackling Goose, in with a bunch of Canada's swimming around the marina. Observers: Sr Marty Dermody, Steve Kolbe, Dave and Jill Russell.

Just want to thank all of the birders who helped us all find the gulls this weekend. We had a great telephone tree system in Ashtabula that helped get the word out quickly. Met some terrific folks who had driven up from New Jersey, Illinois, North Carolina, Michigan, and of course all over Ohio!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Jill

Transcontinental Trek 2011 Day 9: Fort Nelson - Teslin, Yukon

2011-05-21T00:49:00.000-07:00

Fort Nelson is about 283 miles from Dawson Creek, the beginning of the Alaska Highway (formerly called the Alcan). The town was first established in 1805 by the NorthWest Fur Trading Co. and the current site is the fifth location for town. Sort of a bloody history with massacres, high finance bidding wars, natural disasters, etc forcing the town to be moved repeatedly. Currently, the town operates around the oil and gas industries, especially, Spectra Energy, the largest natural gas processing plant in North America. We stayed at a nice hotel and had breakfast at 6:30am in the hotel – Ham & Eggers (kind of yucky, but Dave loved them). I had a yogurt instead. I swear, I've eaten so much on this road trip that I think I've gained 10 lbs! Yuck!

Leaving Fort Nelson, the highway veers west through the northern Canadian Rockies for the next 200 miles. This is my favorite part of the entire drive.
A few miles out of town, we saw this black bear walking along the highway and then stopping for a drink at a little stream.

As we entered Stone Mountain Provincial Park, we climbed in elevation until we reached Summit Pass. This is the highest summit on the Alcan and the lake was still frozen.

Less than a mile down the road, we saw a couple of caribou through the trees.

Coming down from Summit lake, the highway winds through a rocky limestone gorge before descending into the wide and picturesque MacDonald River valley. As we navigated the sharp turns of the gorge, we came upon two Stone Sheep rams.

How cool is that?! Stone Sheep are indigenous to the mountains of northern BC and southern Yukon Territory. These are darker and somewhat slighter than the bighorn sheep in the Rockies. Last August, we saw females and babies here, but no rams.

Not even a mile further down the gorge, Dave spotted these Bohemian Waxwings sitting in a tree. He slammed on the breaks, sending gear falling on Bob's head, and turned around to snap this photo!

We stopped at the Toad River Lodge to go potty and stretch our legs. The lodge is historic and has been in operation since 1950. It's a cool place with tons of ball caps (over 6800) hanging from the ceiling. On the way out of town, this Ruffed Grouse walked across the highway.

We finally made it to my favorite place on the Alcan - Muncho Lake. I just don't understand why Dave refuses to move here with me! See that little purple speck on the bottom left? That's me, just soaking in the beauty of this magical place. Much of the lake was still frozen.

The highway along the lake required considerable rock excavation by the Army in 1942. Horses were used to haul away the rocks. Muncho Lake is known for its deep green and blue waters, and is 7 miles long and 1 mile wide. - elevation 2680 ft. The deepest point is about 730 feet.
It just doesn't get any better than this.

I vote we skip Alaska, and just stay here.
The lake drains the Sentinel Range to the east and the Terminal Range to the west and the mountains surrounding the lake are about 7,000 ft high.

We stopped in at the Double G truck stop, motel, post office, bus station and Environment Canada station and visited with Jack and Lois. This one cluster of buildings makes up the town of Muncho Lake.

Lois and Jack are two of the hardest working people I have ever met - and boy can they cook! I got a loaf of Jack's brown bread to bring home with me!

Dave relinquished some control and let Bob drive to Watson Lake. A few miles outside of town we came upon this family group of Bison.

Then we saw this little guy digging for food.

Carl Lindley, a US Army Soldier in company D, 341st Engineers, working on construction of the Alcan in 1942, started the Signpost Forest in Watson Lake.

Now there are over 70,000 signs hanging in the forest, including our AREI licence plate from last summer!

We pulled into the Yukon Motel in Teslin, Yukon Territory at about 7:30pm. Grabbed some dinner and birded a little behind our cabin and hit the sack. Exhausted, and extremely happy!

Transcontinental Trek Day 8: Prince George to Fort Nelson, BC

2011-05-18T21:13:00.000-07:00

7:30am foggy, but promising to be a sunny day. Stopped at McDonalds for coffee and ate a cinnamon roll we got in Kirkland at the Brown Bag Café.

Bob saw our first moose standing near the side of the highway, but neither Dave nor I saw it. Yeah!!! Our first moose! We couldn't go back to see it, though, because it quickly walked into the woods and was hidden from sight. It is now a bright sunny day, 53F. At mile 70 we stopped at the rest area next to Crooked River and saw our first Golden Crowned Sparrow.

We haven't seen this species since we were on Kodiak Island on our honeymoon. How cool! Lincoln Sparrows were skittering all around in the leaf litter.

At about 115 miles from Prince George is a roadside turnout for Bijoux Falls Provincial Park.

We were the only ones there and were able to get some great views of the falls! Do you see what hat I'm wearing, Fred?

There were a couple of Steller’s Jays hanging out in the parking lot. Yes, I know there is a stick in front of him!

We stopped at Pine Pass (elev 3061 ft), the highest point on the Hart Hwy and the lowest pass breaching the Rockies in Canada.

Azouzetta Lake still frozen.

Myrtle Butter-butts, as we have moved out of the range of Audubon’s. It's Sunny and 59F. I gotta tell you, we've had the best weather on this trip.

Trumpeter Swans on pond just before Peace Foothills welcome sign overlooking the Pine River Valley. We could see the foothills of the Rockies to the south and west.

Chetwynd at noon, 65F and absolutely gorgeous! Chetwynd (formerly called Little Prairie) is the division poit of the BC railway. It is considered the "most livable small community" in BC. Stopped at the visitors center and looked at the collection of sculptures from the World Chairnsaw Championships. Very cool!

My turn to drive. North on 29 (Hudson’s Hope Loop) toward the Alaska Hwy (some still call it the Alcan). We drove by this lumber processing plant and were amazed at how many logs were stacked here.

The birch trees here have not begun to leaf out, whereas the birch down along the Pine River Valley have bright green leaves springing out. Dave says he’s been suffering from a little altitude sickness all morning, and is finally feeling better. He grabbed a hotdog at the 7 Eleven gas station. Yuck! That would MAKE me sick.

We reached Fort Nelson at a reasonable time and decided to walk down to the RV park Saloon for dinner. The best meatloaf dinner I've ever had!

Transcontinental Trek Day 7 Abbotsford to Prince George

2011-05-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

Up at 5:45am 55F and cloudy. I wish we had more time to explore Abbotsford, because it is considered the “Raspberry Capital of Canada” , and there is a really cool farm with lots of organically grown fruits and vegetables.

7:25am, left hotel heading north on Hwy 1 – sprinkling light rain by 7:30am. According to The MILEPOST, the West Access Route has been the most direct route to Dawson Creek, BC and the start of the Alaska Highway since 1952, when the John Hart Highway connecting Prince George and Dawson Creek was completed. Today we’ll travel as far as Prince George (about 450 miles). Then from Prince George we’ll take Hwy 97 to Chetwynd, up Hwy 29 to the Alcan Hwy and stop for the night at Fort Nelson, BC.

We are in Fraser Canyon area following the Fraser River. What a beautiful valley - lots of waterfalls cascading down from the mountains.

8:30am. Cloudy. The city of Hope rest area: Black-throated Gray (life bird!), Townsend’s & Nashville Warbler, Audubon’s Yellowrump & Ruby-crown Kinglet, Black-headed Grosbeak.

I took this photo into the light and from pretty far away, but you can still tell it's the grossbeak. We also found this really cool slug. It scrunches up to look like an acorn!

Stopped in at the Hope Visitor’s Center and picked up a copy of The MILEPOST and a map of BC.

We drove along the west side of the Fraser River and then crossed over at mile 51 and climbed up the mountain on the east side. The town of Yale (pop. 200) seems to be a popular place for hiking and rafting. Historically, Yale was the head of navigation for the Lower Fraser River and the beginning of the overland gold rush trail to British Columbia’s goldfields.

We drove past the Anglican Church of Saint John the Divine, which was built for miners in 1863 and is the second oldest church still on its original foundation in mainland BC.

Northbound, the highway winds through the dramatic scenery of the Fraser River Canyon and through seven tunnels. There are Amazing cliffs above the river and around every turn, we got breathtaking glimpses of the river below. The Fraser River and canyon were named for Simon Fraser, the first white man to descent the river in 1808. We are now in what is considered the dry forest region of BC and it gets pretty hot in summer.

Hells Gate Airtram carriers visitors 500 feet down to a café overlooking Hell’s Gate, the narrowest point on the Fraser River. Hells Gate was name because it is the most difficult terrain for construction of both the highway and the CPR railway.

9:30am Raining now as we cross Jackass Mtn Summit (361 M) and totally engulfed in fog/clouds. I plugged in the power converter to charge the laptop and began to smell something burning again. We pulled off in Boston Bar and dug out the backup converter. Diesel is $269/L here. Wow!

Redhill Rest Area just south of Ashcroft is sage country and summer temperatures in this desert-like region reach the high 80’s and 90’sF. The air smells amazing – Vesper Sparrow.

At the junction of Hwy 1 and Hwy 97 is the town of Cache Creek. AT an elevation of 1299 ft, it is called the Arizona of Canada with a semi-arid climate – hot, dry summers and cold, dry winters. We stopped for lunch and had burgers at Herbie’s Drive Inn. Cache Creek settlement grew up around the confluence of Cache Creek and the Bonaparte River. It became a major supply point on the Cariboo Waggon Road. We turned north onto Hwy 97 “The Gold Rush Trail” toward Prince George.

At 100 Mile House, we stopped at the Marsh got great looks at Yellow-headed blackbird, Barrow’s Goldeneye, Ruddy Duck, Redheads, Canvasbacks, Lesser Scaup, Bufflehead, Pied-billed Grebe, Coots, Audubons Yellow-rumped Warbler, Violet Green, Tree, Roughwing and Barn Swallows.

100 Mile House was established as a post house on the Cariboo Waggon Road to the goldfields. Today the area has 2 lumber mills and is known as the “hand-crafted log home capital of North America”. An infestation of mountain pine beetle in BC’s interior has impacted forest and the timber industry in the province. The beetles prefer mature (80 yrs or older) lodgepole pine trees and the epidemic is blamed on climate change warming the winters, which enables the beetle larvae to survive.

We stopped for a coke float at the Dairy Queen in Williams Lake. This town is home of the Williams Lake Stampede, BC’s premier rodeo. Still raining. The forest is populated by spruce, pine, fir, birch and alder now.

Got into Prince George at about 6:30pm. The Days Inn is located in the city center, and we walked around looking for a place to have dinner. Eventually, we decided to eat at the Indian restaurant in the hotel – and I’m glad we did. The food was excellent!

Transcontinental Trek 2001 Day 6: Forks - Abbotsford, BC

2011-05-14T22:09:00.000-07:00

Up at 6am, and ate leftover corned beef hash from the Brown Bag Café and Tully’s coffee from the Thriftway across the street. 40F and hazy. Today we are going to the rainforest! I am so excited! I love the idea of being able to visit a rainforest without leaving the US. Not that I’m against travelling abroad, I love it, but with all of the turmoil in Mexico we’ve had to cancel our Birds Without Borders workshop. We used to travel every Spring with our students to El Cielo Biosphere Reserve which houses the northernmost cloud forest in North America. But, we haven’t been down there since 2008. It’s just too dangerous to be in Tamaulipas right now. So, that is why I am so excited to go to the rainforest today. I love the diverse plants and mosses.

7:40am left for the Hoh Rainforest about 19 miles southeast of Forks. With its 12 ft of precipitation a year, the Hoh is a magnificent example of one of the few remaining protected temperate rainforests in the world.

Moisture-laden air from the Pacific brings an average of 140 inches of annual rainfall to the Hoh Valley in addition to condensed mist that contributes another 30 inches.

At the Hoh Rain Forest Visitor Center we took the Hall of Mosses Trail and saw moss-draped maples, magically green in the spring sunlight.

I was able to get a Hoh stamp for my Park Passport here, too! I am so excited!!!!! Their stamp is of a slug!

Which we just happened to see...

I love this program, I want to go to every National Park and get my Passport book stamped! I hope the following photos will give you a sense of how amazing the Hoh Rainforest is.

Worlds largest sitka spruce.

and a Sooty Grouse.

After tearing ourselves away from Hoh, we stopped in Forks to get souvenirs for the girls, and were on the road to BC at 12:30pm. As we approached the northern coast of the peninsula, we found out that the ferry we wanted to take into Canada from Port Townsend was booked up until 8:30pm. For a few minutes, we couldn’t decide whether to wait, or to drive around Puget Sound, down to Tacoma and then back up to Seattle. But, that would take at least 4 hours. Either way, we were not going to make it to our next hotel without driving through the night. Then, we found out that the same ferry we came over on from Edmond would leave at 4pm, so we hopped on it.

Granted, we were back in Seattle, but this ferry cut off about 3 hrs from our drive around the Sound.

I think this is Mt. Ranier in the background...

So, now we were way behind schedule and there was no way we’d make it to Lac La Hache tonight. We booted up our laptop and were able to find a hotel in Abbottsford, BC, just across the border for tonight. By modifying our schedule, we’ll be back on schedule by the time we hit Tok, AK.

We crossed the border into Canada at 7:20pm. Our border agent was grumpy, but she let us through without examining any of our things. We got the last two rooms in the Super 8 in Abbotsford. The town is hosting the boys national volleyball championships, and all the local hotels were full. The registration clerk suggested we have dinner next door at Sammy Pepper’s because it was more of an adult restaurant and wouldn’t be full of volleyball players. Well, he was right. Sammy Pepper’s is definitely designed to attract male customers! The waitresses wear miniskirts and strapless tops, 80’s and 90’s rock blares from speakers in the ceiling and large screened TVs displayed the NBA playoffs, a current MLB game and some other sport channel. I think I was one of only 3 other female patrons in the entire restaurant. Outside in the parking lot, high end, sports cars were lined up like a showroom; corvette, BMW, etc. The food was surprisingly good. I had the Jamaican Seafood skillet with jerk spices and it was excellent.

We were in bed by 9:30pm. Exhausted and happy.

Transcontinental Trek 2011 Day 5: Kirkland, to Forks, WA

2011-05-14T21:33:00.000-07:00

The weather forecast was for rain, but it must have passed over us in the night, because it’s a bright sunny day in the Pacific Northwest, 51F. Today we got to see one of my most favorite people in the whole world, Dr Sukk!

We were a little early when we arrived at the Brown Bag Café, so we shared a yummy cinnamon roll at the as we waited for Rick to arrive. Man, he looks great! I think teaching has been good to him! Check out this huge hobo breakfast I got!

After breakfast we drove down to the water and caught the 11:10am ferry over Puget Sound from Edmonds to Kingston - cost us about $25.

Unbelievably windy crossing the Sound - Pigeon Guillemot and Surf Scoters next to ferry.

We drove through the town of Sequim in the Dungeness Valley, recognized as the Lavender Capital of North America and home to the famous Dungeness crab. Port Angeles provides access to the Olympic National Park. Designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site and International Biosphere Reserve, 95% of the park is designated as Olympic Wilderness, and is home to the world’s largest unmanaged Roosevelt Elk herd.

The park encompasses nearly one million acres and includes glacier-carved lakes, waterfalls, over 600 miles of hiking trails, the Olympic National Forest, the Hoh Rain Forest and 73 miles of coastline.

The Park’s main Visitor Center is in Port Angeles and we got information on where to bird and I got my National Parks Passport stamped.

We walked along the trail that went into the National Forest and saw the morphna subspecies of Song Sparrow.

Then we drove down to Ediz Hook and birded our way toward the end. Rhinocerous Auklet, Harlequin Duck, more Pigeon Guillemots and Harbor Seals. The auklets were really far away and we took this picture through our scope. I know it's a cruddy picture, but you can definitely tell what they are!

About a half hour west of Port Angeles is Lake Crescent, a deep, clear, 12-mile long lake along Hwy 101. The lake is a deep, turquoise blue, and this has got to be one of the most beautiful drive’s I’ve been on. It was raining as we drove through, and I didn't get any good pictures, darn!

Surrounded by rain forest valleys and about 14 miles from the ocean, the town of Forks lies on a broad prairie. The Twilight book series tells the story of Bella Swan, and Forks girl and her escapades with vampires and werewolves. Dave tortured our girls by sending them pictures from his phone of Dr Cullen’s reserved parking space at the hospital,

Jacob’s cabin with a motor bike in front,

and the Bella Swan Employee of the Year sign in the Thriftway grocery store. We checked into our room at the Dew Drop Inn, and learned that the best time to see the Rainforest would be in the morning.

So, we decided to bird our way down to Rialto Beach near La Push.

La Push is home of the Quileute People who have lived here at the mouth of the Quillayute River for thousands of years. The coast at Rialto Beach is rock strewed and the waves crashed angrily in the falling evening darkness.

Rain clouds gathered above, and the weather shifted from light rain to steady rain and the back to mist and light rain. The relentless surf has carved this coastline for millennia. Just offshore, huge rock formations called sea stacks stand imposingly.

The place is magical. I can imagine how many superstitions were spawned here. You can hike the entire 73 miles of wild coast north and someday I hope to do just that.

Back in Forks, we stopped for dinner at the Forks Coffee Shop. Our waitress was so grumpy and rude, that we went out of our way to engage her – to no avail. Dave couldn’t even get her to crack a smile, and he tried his hardest! We ended up laughing so hard at our failed efforts to cheer her up! Finally, when the boys went up to pay the bill, she smiled - I think she was glad we were leaving!

Transcontinental Trek 2011 Day 4: Bozeman to Seattle

2011-05-13T21:30:00.000-07:00

We awoke to 36F and bright sunny skies, and were on the road by 7:30am. We headed across the valley and our first stop was at Wheat Montana. Elise was telling us about it last night. She loves their bread, and suggested we stop and get sandwiches for lunch, or pastries, etc.

Well, let me tell you, that place is awesome! Montana and Washington are huge wheat growing states, and the store/mill had everything from stone-cut oats, to yummy almond bearclaws.

We started to smell something burning in the truck again, and decided to stop at the Ford Dealership in Missoula. Of course, we arrived just as the mechanics were heading out to lunch, so we had an hour to kill. Bob took on the role of Salesman of the Month and got his own office up front.

I hitched a ride with Richard (the dealership’s shuttle driver) over to Jacob’s Coat yarn shop. Since we had time to kill, and no power in the truck to run the laptop and write the blog, I needed something to do with my hands. Otherwise, I just knew I would drive Dave crazy! The shop owner, Karen, was there and she showed me a huge selection of Montana wool. It was sensory overload and I was in heaven! I got 3 balls of absolutely gorgeous local wool. I am so excited to make something with them! On our way back to the dealership, Richard gave me a tour of the city. I saw the theatre where Carol O'Conner's mnother lived, the window that Roosevelt (I think he said Roosevelt) gave a speech out of, the artsy neighborhoods, and the handmade carousel.

By the time we got back to the dealership, Dave had made friends with everyone in the shop and on the sales floor. Luckily, the only thing wrong with the truck was a blown fuse, caused by one of the power converters we were using. Bob took it apart, and half of the board had melted. No wonder we had smelled something burning! We were back on the road around 3:30pm.

We are rising in elevation – heading into the mountains, and the temperature is dropping. We see more and more places with snow on the ground. At the Pintlar Scenic Route Rest Area, we got our first glimpse of snow-capped mountains!

Dave found a polygonia butterfly feeding on sap.

The flowers are not out yet, and since this butterfly species overwinters as adults, they must feed on what they can find – like this broken twig. Check out the subtle green spots on the underside of the wing.

The entire time Dave was working on getting a picture of this butterfly, the ground squirrels were making a ton of noise.

One of them got brave and ran out and grabbed a grape I had dropped on the grass. Then, another one ran out near the trash cans, and grabbed a plastic bag to haul back and use as nesting material. We caught a subtle movement up on the hillside, and got this quick snapshot of a coyote scoping out the squirrels.

As we crossed into Washington, I snapped this photo of a beautiful lake.

But, instead of seeing the rolling countryside and tranquil lake, you see bug guts covering the windshield! They sure grow them big out here!

The rain began, and then the wind picked up, and by the time we crossed the Columbia River there was a travel advisory. The Excursion was pushed out of our lane by the wind. It was sort of a bummer to cross the mountains and not be able to see them. All along this route are historical markers and towns, that just beg to be explored. Next time. It rained all the way through the mountains and to Seattle. We pulled into our hotel in Kirkland, WA at about midnight.

Transcontinental Trek 2011 Day 3: Rapid City, SD to Bozeman, MT

2011-05-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Our wake up call rang with a blaring sound at 6:15am. It is a bright and sunny day - 59F. Amazing! The weather forecast last night was for severe storms all day. We stayed at a very nice Super 8 just of I-90 last night- $45/night. We had another king-size bedroom. In fact we stayed in exactly the same room as last night (room 101), but this hotel is much cleaner and better maintained. There was a SNAFU with our hotel reservations and Bob is at a different Super 8 about 3 miles away. This actually worked out well, because his hotel is on Mt Rushmore Drive, and we have to go that way to get to Mt Rushmore today.

Got Bob at 7:45am (Mountain Time) and headed out. According to the Mount Rushmore & Badlands guide to the National Parks, it is best to see Mt Rushmore in the morning light.

It seems weird to see the Black Hills Forest in the middle of this seemingly endless prairie. But, here it is, tall Ponderosa Pines stretching high toward the sky. Like Colorado, the Black Hills has experienced a pine beetle infestation. Park staff has been working very hard to thin the forest to a more sustainable condition and to protect scenic old growth trees.

Coming around the bend at Keystone, I can see the Monument over the tree tops. Wow! It glows in the sunlight! As we enter the monument area we’re stunned at how HUGE the visitor’s center is. Not at all like what I remember from the 1970’s.

Now there is a gigantic parking garage, and multiple buildings with a Visitor’s Center, a Gift Shop, a Café, an Ice Cream Shop, Restrooms, and the Avenue of Flags. It is quite impressive - very windy too. We got here at the right time of day. There are only a few cars in the parking lot – which could probably hold 500 vehicles including RVs and busses. We need our windbreakers, even though it is in the 60’sF.

This year is the 70th anniversary of the completion of the Mount Rushmore carving. Beginning in 1927, over 400 workers helped sculptor Gutzon Borglum carve the faces of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln into the southeastern exposure of Mount Rushmore.

It was the dream of Doane Robinson, the superintendent of the South Dakota State Historical Society to create a massive mountain memorial carved from stone so large it would put South Dakota on the map. He enlisted the help of Senator Peter Norbeck and sculptor Borglum and together they chose the four great presidential figures for the carving to symbolize the birth, growth, preservation and development of a nation dedicated to democracy and the pursuit of individual liberty.

Each face is 60 feet tall and each eye is 11 feet wide. Washington’s nose is 21 feet long – all other noses are 20 feet long. Hmmm… is he a relative to the Russells???

We saw a chipmonk, white-winged race of Dark-eyed Junco along the Avenue of Flags, as well as Red Crossbills and White-throated Swifts. Pine Siskins were flying around the entrance to the monument, too.

Across from the Ice Cream Shop were a couple of Marmots sunning themselves on a rock.

We stopped in the Visitor’s Center and I got my National Parks Passport book.

Every time you visit a National Park, you can get your Passport book stamped with the date and each Park’s unique stamp and sticker. I am so excited! It’s all Kiwi Donovan’s fault. She turned me on to the Passport program last summer when she was on a trek to visit every National Park and Monument in the country. Now, I have my own Passport book to fill with stamps!

Dave spotted a Mountain Goat on the hillside, as we were leaving the viewing area and getting into the car. How cool!

We stopped down in Keystone and picked up some postcard stamps and headed back to Rapid City. Yesterday, we smelled something burning and we thought it was something electrical under the hood of the truck. Today, the cigarette lighters have stopped working. We’ve been using both of them to power our laptops, charge phones, etc. We called Andy at Spring Street – thank goodness they’re open at 7:30am – I was so relieved to hear Gretchen’s voice! Andy suggested we check the fuse, and sure enough it was blown. We stopped in the Ford dealership in Rapid City to replace the fuse and see if we need to have the wiring checked. We changed the fuse, but still no power in the front cigar plug. The backseat plug works, though. No mechanic available to look at the truck until tomorrow. We decided to just use the back plug and keep going toward Bozeman.

Noon – entered Wyoming. Dave spotted a Brewers Blackbird on the fence of Welcoming Center. What a nice Center! There is a huge petrified tree stump outside the door and a big dinosaur inside. It has begun to sprinkle. We saw our first mountain with snow on it to the north as we left.

We reached Sheridan, WY at 3pm in a steady downpour and strong winds – 41F. We’ve gone 1600 miles so far on our transcontinental Trek. By 3:40pm, we were entering Montana – still raining and windy and a little cooler – 38F. The rain finally ended around 6pm and by 7:30pm we were in Bozeman.

Steve and Elise had Bison steaks ready to go on the grill when we arrived at their home. Two Sandhill Cranes walked across their driveway as we pulled in. I walked out to the barn with Elise and met her horse Goldie. Goldie is a very pretty yellow horse (I’m sure there is a correct term for her color and breed), and I loved inhaling the scents of the barn. By the time we got back to the house after feeding Goldie, Steve announced that the steaks were done and we sat down to dinner with great wine, great food and great friends. Dave has missed being with Steve so much.

By 9:30pm we were heading to the Days Inn and before 10pm, Dave was sound asleep. He has slept better on this trip than he has in months. Maybe we should change our professions to over the road trucking!

Transcontinental Trek 2011- Day 2: Minnesota to South Dakota

2011-05-10T13:07:00.000-07:00

May 9, 2011: Albert Lea, Mn to Rapid City, SD

7:21am 57F and so dark outside that I thought the hotel windows were treated with dark sunscreen. We had breakfast and got all our gear packed into the truck just before it began to rain. We heard our first Black-capped chickadee in the parking lot along with a Warbling Vireo. 80% chance of rain all day and night.

On I-90 W through Minnesota - pouring down rain. Wind so strong it is blowing the truck out of the lane. Water is pooling on the interstate, causing cars to slide. Wicked, strong rain with hail and visibility is only about 2 car lengths. Thank goodness the worst of it lasted only about 1 hr.

We stopped at the Blue Earth Rest Area once the rain had stopped.

It felt good to get out of the car and relax. That last stretch was hellacious. As we walked back to the car, Bob spotted two Northern Flickers at the edge of the woods. Suddenly, the air was full of the songs of warblers! The storm must have driven them down. We ran to the truck, grabbed our binocs, and within 30 minutes saw 48 species from warblers to grosbeaks to gray-cheeked thrushes. Wow! What a stop!

The more we move west the more the skies clear. The grass is greener here. By the time we reached Mitchell, South Dakota it was 77F and sunny. We stopped at Culver’s for a Butter Burger and a custard. We’re seeing Franklin’s Gulls in the pot holes, lots of Shovellers and a white pelican few over. I swear, if Dave hollers “look at that” and jerks the wheel one more time, we’re going to end up in the ditch!

At Chamberlain, there is an impressive Visitors Center overlooking the Missouri River. We stopped to go potty and walk a bit. There is a memorial to the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1804. The party stopped here to rest and cross the river. Do you see the “Beware of Snakes” sign? Obviously, we just HAD to go down that trail! LOL

The Juniper Trees are in bloom, and look so beautiful.

I jumped in the driver’s seat. Dave and Bob’s bird list doubled within minutes! Swainson’s Hawk, Franklin’s Gulls. For miles and miles, we saw acres of prairie with Ring-necked Pheasants. All along the side of the interstate are signs advertising “Wall Drug” “As seen on Good Morning America, etc. So, we just had to stop in the town of Wall and check out this store that seemed to see everything!

Hmmm, he looks like he is really enjoying himself! We found a coffee shop and as I waited for my mocha latte, Dave found the love of his life!

This is Samiko, a 6 week old Bernese Mountain Dog. I think he made me go back into that store 3 times to take more photos of this puppy. Someday, he may get one for Christmas.

The Badlands are just 20 miles from here, so we decided to go back and drive through the Park and check it out. My family had come through here in the 1970’s when we took a 3 week trip across the country. I remember that the Badlands were my favorite spot of the northern leg of the trip.

Badlands National Park. We used Bob’s National Park pass and got into the park for free. We hadn’t made it into the park more than 1 mile, when we rounded a bend and saw a group of about 8 wild turkeys walking along the edge.

We pulled off at the Pinnacles Overlook and got our first glimpse of why this is called the Badlands.

This park is a geological landscape of buttes, spires, and rolling grasslands. Located on the edge of the Great Plains, this is part of the largest undisturbed mixed-prairie rangeland remaining in the U.S.

Established as a National Monument in 1939, the area was redesignated as Badlands National Park in 1978. The park encompasses about 64,000 acres and is considered one of the world’s richest mammal fossil beds. Last year, and seven year old girl participating in the junior ranger program noticed something eroding out of the side of a butte. After reporting it to a ranger and three days of excavation, the fossil was removed. Several weeks later the fossil was identified as the skull of a saber-tooth cat, Hoplophoneus that lived here over 30 million years ago. We stopped and walked along the boardwalk at the fossil exhibit area.

About 75 million years ago the Great Plains were covered by a shallow sea. Today, the bottom of the sea is known as the Badland’s Pierre (peer) shale. Over time, the Continental plates moved and pushed the land up. The climate was humid and warm with abundant rainfall and a dense subtropical forest developed on the land. This lasted for millions of years until eventually; climate change cooled and dried the area. The forest gave way to savannah and then to grassland. Wind and rain erosion have created this moonscape of deep gorges and jagged sawtooth ridges with rock layers in subtle hues of sand, rose, gold and green.

Today, the prairie contains nearly 60 species of grass and several species of wildlife. We saw:

Bighorn Sheep,

a Black-tailed Prairie Dog colony, Mountain Bluebird,

Loggerhead Shrike,

Western Meadowlark,

Lark Sparrow,

Pronghorn,

Cottontail Rabbit, and Upland sandpiper, to name a few. As we left the Badlands and got back on I-90 W toward Rapid City, the rain began, but didn’t last long.

We got in to Rapid City around 9:30pm and had dinner at the Olive Garden. We’re staying at another Super 8 (go figure!) tonight, and I think I was asleep before Dave finished brushing his teeth!

Transcontinental Trek 2011 - Day 1 - Indiana to Minnesota

2011-05-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 8, 2011 – Mother’s Day

9:00am left home. 52F and misting rain. 2 hrs behind schedule already, and it wasn’t Bob’s fault! It was Dave. In typical Dave fashion, at 5:30pm last night, he hadn’t even been home yet to begin finding what he wanted to take to Alaska, let alone pack! So, his migraine set in, and we were up until midnight packing his stuff. Up at 6am, to finish packing, and now at 9:41am, I think he has finally begun to relax. Except, where are the wet wipes?

It never ceases to amaze me that among all of the chaos that is Dave Russell, he will bird. We hopped in the truck this morning, and the first thing he did was hand Bob and me our “Trip Bird Lists”, just in case we wanted to keep track of the birds we see (uh, huh). He had meticulously typed up and 3-hole punched sheets of his bird list and put them in a 3-ring binder (that was at 7am this morning), to keep next to his seat for the trip. So, now Bob and I too had a 12-page ABA bird list and several of Dave’s personalized lists for each segment of the trip. We are all set! As we shut the truck doors to begin our trip, Dave happily yelled out that the first bird of the trip was the European Starling walking across the driveway. Oh, and did I mention that while he and Bob were loading the last bags into the truck, the Eurasian Collared Dove was sitting on the wire above the garage singing.

We took a picture of the fields near home so we can compare them as we move across the country. It's been raining so much, that farmers haven't been able to get into the fields yet.

10:45am, mile 50, Walmart stop in New Castle to grab lunch for the cooler and a clip board for Bob’s Bird List. Did I mention that its 12 pages long? Bird list is at 19 species. Oops, wait, Great Egret out the window - 20. Heat wave at 57F, and the rain has stopped. Just cloudy.

Stopped at the Salt Kettle Rest Stop in Illinois for a potty break. What a nice place! A pond with two fountains, a really great playground, and nice walking trails. Dave and Rafael stopped here last year on May 13th and the Azaleas were in bloom. Today, the bushes don’t even have the buds starting. It’s like we’re 2 weeks earlier this year instead of just 5 days.

We’re beginning to find Wind Turbine Farms. Ginormous structures with cables connecting one to another that are bigger in circumference than my arm.

At the Spoon River rest stop we came across this House Sparrow colony. If you look at the tree to the left of Dave and Bob, you will see the nests in the tree. I’ve never seen these “Weaver Finch” nests before, and think it is way cool how the sparrows build such intricate nests and live in clusters. One nest looked like an apartment complex, with several family groups living in it. So different….

The weather has warmed up to be in the 70’sF. We actually had to turn on the air conditioner! The truck is riding smooth, and we are listening to The Sheephearders Daughter by Elizabeth Moon, as we traverse the flat farmlands of Illinois and Iowa. As we crossed the Mississippi near Davenport, I looked hard for a Kite, but, nothing. The only raptors we’ve seen so far are Red-tails kestrals.

Stopped for dinner at a Longhorn Steakhouse in Waterloo, Iowa. Yummy steaks. We saw a display of belt buckles on the wall and Bob told us the story of how Toots Mansfield, World Champion All Around Cowboy 1943, lent Bob his saddle. That was the first time Bob retired. How cool is that? How old is Bob Holmes, really….?

More Wind Turbines in Iowa.
Pulled into the Super 8 in Albert Lea, MN at 10pm our time (9pm local time). Bob had called last week to get his own room (guess he’s uncomfortable seeing Dave naked), and was told that the hotel was full. Now, our truck was the only vehicle in the parking lot, and I was unsure if the facility was even open and operational. It looked a little sketchy. I swear, I will never understand Dave infatuation with Super 8 Hotels. They run the gamut of luxurious (rivaling Ramada’s and Hiltons) to shabby, stinky, filthy, flop houses reeking of vomit and urine. This one was old and the carpets were worn and stained, but it was clean and the front desk clerk was hysterically funny. Reveling us with a story from last night of a fiancé checking in and hiding from his betrothed (who spent the rest of the night checking every hotel for him)! Bob was able to get his own room and we got a room with a King size bed. Yeah!!!! I actually had more than the upper corner to sleep on! Very windy outside. We slept hard all night.

The Alcan Home: Last Day Muncho Lake, BC to Dawson Creek, August 2010

2010-08-20T09:36:00.000-07:00

We stayed in room 3 at the Double G. There was a note pinned to the door that read “Reserved for David Russell”. The room was unlocked, and there is no key. As we packed up our bags to leave, I realized that I truly am married to a giant!

Dave barely fit through the doorway without hitting his head. Inside our room, was a little better, and the only thing he had to watch out for was the light fixture! LOL!

I love it here at Muncho. I could live here forever.

Dave thinks I’m crazy because you literally are out in the middle of nowhere. But, Muncho Lake is known for its beautiful deep green and blue waters. I think it has something to do with copper oxide leaching into the lake.

There is no electricity here. The double G runs on a generator that is turned off at night. But, I don’t care! I love the isolation and the mountains and the lake. I feel comfortable here, soothed, calm and relaxed. The lake is 7 miles long and about 1 mile wide, with the deepest point being 730 ft! Can you believe it?! The mountains surrounding the lake are about 7,000 feet high causing the lake to flow into the Trout River and then into the mighty Liard River.

The highway along Muncho Lake required considerable rock excavation by the Army in 1942. Horses were used to haul away the rocks. The original route went along the top of the cliffs, which proved particularly hazardous. Portions of the old road can be seen high above the lake.

I think Dave likes it here too, because he was immediately off pishing birds in the trees! LOL

He heard YWARS, Orange-crowned, Wilson’s, Yellow-rumped Warblers, White-crowned Sparrows, Boreal Chickadees, and Bohemian Waxwings. Can’t you just hear him saying all these names as he’s pointing them out to you?!

As we left Muncho Lake, we came upon this small flock of Stone Sheep, one of 5 races of North American Big Horned sheep, found typically in the Yukon and the Northwest Territories.

The highway follows the Toad River east for several miles and the views are breathtaking!

As we reached Summit Lake, there were more Stone Sheep on the road.

We got to the Super 8 in Dawson Creek at about 7:30pm. We made it! We’ve driven the Alaska Highway up and back. What a great feeling! We celebrated with steak dinner at Solas Restaurant. Yummy! I slept great. We'll be home in 3 days now. What a great summer!

The Alcan Home: Day 2 Burwash, YK to Muncho Lake, BC August 2010

2010-08-20T07:14:00.000-07:00

Burwash Lodge is a beautiful property on Lake Kluane. We hear from the gal at the front desk that the owners have received a non-refundable deposit from the “Nation”, so it looks like they’ve got it sold.

The lake is full – no mudflats – like in May. Here’s the picture we took in May.

And here’s the lake in August

We saw YWARs and a Harlen’s Redtail at the lodge, grabbed a coffee to go and hit the road.

Once we got past Haines Junction, we pulled off at a rest area and met a guy driving a big red rig with the biggest moose guard I’ve ever seen! He calls it a Moose-juicer. That’s Dave standing behind the truck.

Says he drives from Seattle to Anchorage 2-3 times a month and has already had the guard re-welded a couple of times! He’s hit moose and caribou. He’s also got 6 extra head lights on the rig.

Got into Whitehorse, the capital of the Yukon at about noon.

Filled up with gas (it’s $1.08/L Canadian), and pulled off at a visitors park and had PB&J . What a beautiful day! 71F and clear sunny skies. Did I mention that there is NO HUMIDITY!! Love it! Hey, Sissy, does my shirt look familiar?!! LOL! We're twins!! (Although, I'm sure it looks MUCH better on you!:-))

The highway takes you around White Mountain, which is a remarkable gigantic rock protruding out of the ground. It’s size is so impressive, it’s hard to put it into words.

As we rounded the bend, this little guy scampered across the highway. So cute!

Just before you cross the Teslin River at the Teslin Bridge, you will find the best cinnamon rolls along the Alaska Highway at Johnson’s Crossing.

We stopped in to grab one (well I got one – Dave doesn’t like cinnamon – how strange! :-)

and while I was enjoying my yummy treat, Dave disappeared! He was standing beside me a minute ago. I looked out the door, and saw him speeding toward the truck, grabbing his scope and rushing over to the woods next to the bakery. He heard a White-winged Crossbill in the trees! My husband....the birder. LOL

What a score! I have never had such good looks at a crossbill before. There was a brilliant red male here too, but he wouldn't sit still long enough for us to get a good picture. We hopped back in the truck and continued our trek. We want to get to Muncho Lake tonight.

We stopped for dinner in Watson Lake at the Belvedere Motor Lodge.

There is a story that goes along with this stop, but I’ll let Dave tell it to all of you when we get home – as I know he will get great pleasure telling it – over and over again. :-)

The place is actually good! I had their homemade chicken pot pie, and I must say, Vickie, it rivals your recipe! Almost as good as yours, but not quite! LOL!! We gassed up here @ $1.11/L. It’s about 84F at 7pm in Watson Lake, and the place is like a desert. The leaves on the trees are even falling off. The air is thick with smoke, and it’s obvious that they’ve got some major forest fires burning in the area.

About 1 mile south of Watson Lake we saw this HUGE bison taking a dirt bath on the side of the highway! He was totally uninterested in us as we pulled over on the shoulder of the road to take his picture.

A little further along Dave spotted this little guy down a side road!

So we flipped a U-ey and went back to get his picture. He wasn’t real happy with us, and he kept turning his backside toward us and flaring out his quills.

Not even a mile further down the highway, we came upon this herd of bison hanging out on the shoulder of the road.

A little further down the road we came upon this group of Bison following a lead cow down the road. They had a good pace going, and didn’t stop at all when we pulled over to take their picture.

We arrived at my favorite spot on the Alaskan Highway, Muncho Lake at abaout 10:30pm and stayed at the Double G Service. We stayed here on the way up, and I have a soft spot for Jack and Louis. This is no fancy hotel, its a truck stop. The rooms are old and worn, but clean, and I've learned to love it here.

The gorge is full of smoke, and the sun looks really pretty as it sets tonight.

The Alcan Home: Day 1 Fairbanks to Burwash, YK August 2010

2010-08-16T17:25:00.000-07:00

We leave Fairbanks for Indiana today. It’s been a fantastic summer here in Alaska, and Dave and I both leave with mixed emotions. We’ve had a ton of new experiences here in Alaska, from going fishing at 2am (in the sun) to collecting Polar Bear hair on the Arctic Ocean to eating Reindeer. Here he is eating reindeer steak, and lovin’ it! He says to tell the kids that Rudolph is gone and he was delicious! Awwwww!

This summer has been like a 2nd honeymoon for us. It’s the first time in our married life that we’ve been alone, and we have loved every minute of it! Dave’s says he’s surprised I still like him! LOL!! Jenny caught Dave flirting.

It’s about a 10 minute walk from our apartment to our office on the campus of the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The campus is located on a 2,250 acre ridge overlooking Fairbanks and the Alaska Range. We’ve got the best view in town - here’s another one of Jenny’s shots .

There are about 9,000 students and UAF is America’s only arctic university as well as an international arctic research center, playing center stage for researching global climate change and arctic phenomena.

We have made some lifelong friendships here, and I have fallen in love with studying arctic and subarctic mushrooms – go figure! I have over 200 samples and can’t wait to get home and run chemical analyses on them! Of course, Amanita muscaria is still my favorite!

The Mycology Assn meeting is at UAF next Summer, and I hope to have a student poster to present! How cool would that be? Bring a student up from Ohio to present at a national meeting in Alaska! Here’s Dave standing next to a White Spruce on our walk home from school each day, where a red squirrel has stashed a bunch of mushrooms to dry for winter.

Once they are dry, he will move them into a Witch’s broom high in a Black Spruce where he will eat them all winter. So, funny!

We are excited to get home to see the dogs and cats and sleep in our own bed. We’ve both missed those little buggers! All of our roomies have moved out, and it will be just the two of us. I’m SO looking forward to walking around the house in my underwear – and keeping this 2nd honeymoon thing going!! LOL!

So, it is with mixed emotions that we pack up all our things in 140 MacLean House. We took a couple of tubs over to Michelle’s house to store until next Summer, and then loaded the rest into the Excursion.

I can’t believe it all fit!

The Master Packer!!!

We turned in our keys to Residence Life and our office keys to the Key office on campus and got Hot Licks Ice cream to go! It’s a beautiful, sunny day today, 65F and we’re on the road by 2pm.

By 6pm we’re in Tok (rhymes with poke) and fill up the tank and stop at the Gumpy Griz Café for dinner. Tok is a major overland point of entry to Alaska and is primarily a trade and service center. We’ve gone up in elevation from Fairbanks at 464 ft above sea level to about 1630ft here).

As we head SE we drive past the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge and spot this little guy in the middle of the highway!

As we slowed to let him get off the road, he walked right up to the side of the car and stopped. It was as if he was looking for a handout!

The border crossing was smooth, and we are now in the Yukon Territory of Canada - but the road is terrible. We saw a couple of Tundra Swans on a nest with 2 cute gray babies on one of the road side lakes, just like the Milepost suggested! How cool is that! I tried to get a picture, but It’s just too dark. A couple of black bears scampered across the highway too!

Between Tok and a little east of Haines Junction, is the worst part of the Alcan. The Milepost advises drivers to “watch for dips, frost heaves, rough pavement and loose gravel. Severely frost-heaved sections of pavement are often marked by sign or orange flags, but not always”. Truckers who drive this route on a regular basis have told us that they’ve seen traveltrailers broken off of the back of cars and flipped over on the side of the road. You can’t drive the speed limit without blowing a tire, or cracking your suspension. It’s nerve wracking and it’s hard to see the dangers until you’re right on them.

As we went through Beaver Creek, we noticed that Buckshot Betty’s, where we stopped for lunch on our way up has a brand new building almost completed next to the original building! Can’t wait to see the new place next year!

It gets dark now and we can see the lights of Burwash Landing along the Kluane Lake in the distance. The Resort here was one of the earliest lodges on the Alaska Highway. The original 2-story log lodge was built in 1944-45. We pull into Burwash Lodge at 12:30pm. We stayed in the same room as last time (Rm 10) and fell into bed exhausted.

Deadhorse, AK June & July 2010

2010-08-15T22:12:00.000-07:00

At the end (Milepost 414) of the Dalton Highway (the Haul Road) lies Deadhorse, Alaska, the industrial camp that supports the Prudhoe Bay oilfield on the Beaufort Sea Coast, Arctic Ocean. You are now 499 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska and at the farthest north point you can drive in the United States. If you read through the Milepost, the mile-by-mile highway log of Alaskan Highways, or the Dalton Highway Visitor’s Guide (you can pick it up at the Visitors Center at the Yukon River Bridge), or the ABA’s Bird Guide to Alaska, you will learn a lot about the history of the Highway. I’ve been using all of these as sources for information in the blog about this trip, so you may see some plagiarized sentences! I openly admit that I am not renowned for my writing! LOL!!

From Galbraith Lake to about Mile 355, the area is called the North Slope. The sun never sets between May 10 and August 2nd and never rises between November 18 and January 23rd. Only tough, ground-hugging plants can survive the frozen ground, frigid temperatures, icy winds, and weak sunlight.

I LOVE THIS AREA!!! In this wide-open landscape you can see animals from great distances. Wolf, wolverine, grizzly; red fox, musk ox, and caribou sometimes forage near the highway.

Northern harrier, short –eared owl, peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon and Lapland longspur and golden plover can be found on the tundra.

rom about Mile 355 to Deadhorse, the landscape becomes Coastal Plain.

Annual precipitation is only about 5 inches but underlying permafrost seals the ground. Water remains on the surface in vast wetlands where protein-rich sedges, lichens, mosses and huge populations of insects thrive, providing a banquet for migratory birds and other wildlife. You can see arctic fox, snowy owl, pomarine and parasitic jaegers. In the numerous ponds we saw tundra swan,

long-tail duck (my favorite),

Pacific Loon,

Pintails, Green-winged teal, Greater White-fronted Geese,

Canada Geese, Pectoral, and Least Sandpiper, and Glaucous Gull.

Anyway, back to Deadhorse…the public highway ends here, about 8 miles south of the Arctic Ocean.

Deadhorse in June is a dirty, muddy, snowy mess and it smells like petroleum. It looks nasty and you feel like you have just landed on Mars.

Prudhoe Bay is the largest oil field in the US and the 18th largest in the world. The Oil Fields here produce 20% of the nation’s domestic oil supply and a number of oil fields make up the Prudhoe Bay industrial area. Most buildings (even the hotels) are modular, pre-fab-type construction situated on gravel pads on tundra bog and look like a warehouses. Virtually all the businesses here are engaged in oil field or pipeline support activities, such as drilling, construction, maintenance, telecommunications, warehousing and transportation. There are large machines and pieces of equipment with tires and tread belts (like tanks) that are bigger than our house!

Most folks who work here, work 3 week shifts (3 weeks on / 3 weeks off) of seven days a week (10-12 hrs/day) and live elsewhere in the country. There are 4 permanent residents of Deadhorse (there used to be one cat, too, - I think his name was “Deadhorse Dan” - but he died a couple of years ago - although you can purchase a bumpersticker memorializing him!) and 4000-6000 or more part-time residents depending on oil production. This is why most of the hotels (there are 3 that I know of) are usually booked to capacity). BP, Conoco Phillips and Alyeska Pipeline Services are the largest employers.

Lake Olivia in June 11th and

and again on July 24th

There are no public outhouses or tent-camping areas. There is no public road access to the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay, and in order to get to the coast, you must sign up with a tour at the Arctic Caribou Inn. There are security gates operated by the oil companies that block passage out to the Ocean.

But, we’re not here to go to the Arctic Ocean – been there, done that in Barrow, ha! We’re here to see Eiders and Long-tailed Ducks! We did see a few very cool Brants!

We checked out the Caribou Inn and the other “fancy” hotel, and like the Prudhoe Bay Hotel best.

It accommodates mainly oil field workers, but it is clean, comfortable, friendly, and the food is really good! We stopped in here our first time to Deadhorse at about midnight, and met Jo, one of the Managers. The parking lot was full! With guys sitting in pickups with company names printed on the side of the vehicles like; BP, AFC, AIS… all double parked in front of the hotel waiting for other guys who went in to get carry-out food. Jo is a super nice middle-aged gal from Oregon informed us that we could stay for $125/person/night which includes all three meals. There is a community bathroom/shower room for women, and one for the men – showers are an extra $20. Remember to put on shoe covers when you enter any of the “camps” (hotels) – I felt I was back in the surgery suite – because the mud is EVERYWHERE!

Snow buntings we all around the buildings in camp, and I just couldn’t stop watching them. They’re my favorite! We opted to sleep in the truck, but decided to come back here for breakfast or lunch the next day. We drove out to the levee of the Sag River and unloaded our gear, inflated the air mattress and snuggled in for the night.

We parked at the same spot on our second visit in July. It was sunny and 45F, with a strong wind from the North when we went to bed – midnight-ish.

Woke up at around 7am to bright sunny skies and a helicopter flying over with a large crate hanging beneath it.

Andreas Lindvere, an Astonian from Canada was parked in a white van down the levee a little way and he walked over while we were eating breakfast.

What cool guy! He is a high school teacher in Toronto, who converted his van to use vegetable oil instead of gasoline.

In Canada, teachers teach for 4 years at 80% pay, and then get each 5th year off – with full pay! We need to do this in America!!! He spends that year travelling the world. Next year he’s going to S. America. Then he brings back pictures and video interviews with people he meets along the way and shares them with his students. Talk about teaching outside the box! This guy really gets it! We spent quite a bit of time chatting with him – he’s got to be just a phenomenal teacher. I wish I could be a fly on the wall in his classroom.

Dave tried to catch some arctic char, but to no avail just not biting today.

We drove out around Lake Colleen scanning the water for Eiders and found phalaropes! Here are pictures from June and then again in July.

Headed over toward the General Store to get souvenirs and a patch for my backpack and a wooden puzzle of Alaska animals for Tess.

I really want a patch that says “I survived the Haul Road!”, because let me tell you, it is not easy to make it all the way to Deadhorse without blowing out a tire. We saw several cars with blowouts along the way, and in June a motorcyclist wiped out and had to be airlifted to Anchorage. So, as pretty as this part of the world is, it is still ABSOLUTLY IMPERATIVE to remember that this is the end of the world, you’ve got to be careful. So, off to get our “survivor” patches! LOL!

As we drove past the Turboscope Vetco Company we spotted some ducks in the water behind the building and Woohoo!!!! there were both Spectacled and King Eider pairs!

We couldn’t believe our luck!!!! We hung out so long taking pictures, that one of the warehouse guys had to shoo us out of his way so he could work! Oops! Took pictures of the ducks over by the golf ball weather radar ball (lots of male Long-tailed Ducks), and then went to the Prudhoe Hotel for lunch.

One last spin around Lake Colleen, and we had to head back south toward Fairbanks. Gotta teach on Monday morning, you know!

Back south through the Coastal Plain (male long-tail in basic plumage),

North Slope (fox-tails at Galbraith Lake)…

Brooks Range (merlin) …

Boreal Forest (blueberries)…

to our home away from home, UAF. A fantastic trip!

Haul Road Tundra - July 2010

2010-08-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

Once across the Brooks Range at Atigun Pass, you step into the Arctic Tundra. You won’t find anymore ugly Black Spruce trees (thank goodness!) nor any Paper Birch, Alder or Aspen trees. In fact, the tallest plants are the little willows that grow along streambeds, and they are about 15 ft max. But, these are few and far between because the landscape is dominated by tundra. Short (5 inch high) plants, mosses, lichens and fungi. And the most beautiful tiny flowers ever!

We pulled off at a spot and Dave went in search of Lapland Longspurs. He could see them, but I refused to climb down the 20 ft embankment onto the tundra in while gale force winds blew my around like a rag doll!

The Dalton Highway travels about 30 miles through Atigun Valley and there are mind-blowing views of mountains on either side of you. All you can do is sit back and take it all in, because cameras just don’t capture the grandeur of it all! This is the land of the truckers…

MILE 275 is Galbraith Lake campground and we stopped in to check it out.

Many people camp here because it a short, 5 mile hike to the National Wildlife Refuge and you can usually see moose, grizzly bear and caribou.

There are several great informative kiosks discussing the history of the Haul Road, the Pipeline and the lake, Survival skills in the arctic as well as wildlife. If we had more time, we’d have camped here for at least w eek and explored!

Check out this cute cotton grass Dave is holding (those are his big feet).

Long-tailed Jaeger’s are now found flying low over the tundra looking for nest eggs or hatchlings to eat. I can’t stand the Jaegers! But, Dave finds them fascinating!

MILE 284 The University of Alaska Fairbanks established a research station at Toolik Lake in 1975, and conducts sensitive studies on arctic ecosystems and global climate change.

Visitors are advised to take care to avoid the research sites, scattered throughout the surrounding area. There are no public facilities here and access to the station is by invitation only.

When Dave and I were in grad school, my office mate Val Bennett came up here to Toolik for her dissertation work. I remember thinking that she must have been at some God-forsaken outpost in the middle of snow and ice – freezing her “you-know-whats” off. Now, here we were in this absolutely spectacular landscape and its 65F and sunny! We parked the truck and took a little walk along the lake hoping to see Blue-throats. We did see this cute little Arctic Ground Squirrel – I just love these guys!

Plus, we saw Yellow Wagtail, Savannah Sparrow, Hoary Redpoll, White-crowned Sparrow, Golden Eagle, Raven and this Willow Ptarmigan.

As you move north from Toolik Lake, the mountains fade behind you and the terrain becomes flatter and flatter.

Mile 336 – Ice Cut From here on, the Dalton Highway follows the Sagavanirktok River north to the Arctic Ocean. We are in the dry uplands where thickets of willows still grow. If you pull off at Ice Cut, and look at the bluffs across the river to the east, you are likely to see a pair of Gyrfalcons. The female is a white-phase, and the male is gray. We have seen them both, but they are so far away, that you have to digiscope them. This is the best we could do.

As we pulled out of the Ice Cut turn off, and headed north again, Dave spotted a Red Fox with a kit resting down by the water. We scrambled to take pictures before she hustled her baby out of sight.

On this gently sloping plain, permafrost dominates the terrain. The ground is mostly defined in patterns of polygons formed by desiccation of the ground surface in conjunction with ice action below the surface. Many of these disturbances hold water, forming a patchwork of ponds across the landscape. Shallow and relatively productive, this habitat is the magnet that draws birds to the Arctic Coastal Plain.

I took this aerial photo when we flew to Barrow.

We took the next few photos at midnight…

We saw hundreds of caribou between Ice Cut and Deadhorse on our first trip in June.

By 1am we approach Deadhorse Alaska.

Crossing the Brooks Range - July 2010

2010-08-10T00:57:00.000-07:00

As we head north from Coldfoot, at the southern edge of the Brooks Range, we approach the headwaters of the Dietrich River. Trees grow scarce until they disappear altogether. At Mile 235, is the last tall spruce tree, approximately 273 years old, which was killed by a vandal in 2004.

What a moron! The good news is that about 50 yards to the north of this, now dead spruce tree, is another spruce, that truly is the fartherest north spruce on the Dalton Highway. Let's hope no other idiot decides to kill this one too!

We have arrived at the point in the arctic, where the forest ends and the tundra begins...

Oh, I forgot to tell you that while we were driving along, enjoying the beautiful scenery, Dave decided that he needed to listen to some ABBA. Now, I like ABBA, but when Dave sings along... well it makes your ears bleed... sort of like listening to Fluffy shriek. Anyway, we're driving along, and I'm trying desperately to squeeze my ears closed, when Dave yells, and I think he says, "Jynx"! "What jynx?" No, he says, "Lynx!". We slam on the breaks and slowly creep up to a spot along the side of the road, as I scramble to grab my camera and start snapping photos. I didn't even know what I was looking for, I was just pushing the button hoping that something would be in the view finder! And, there it was..... a lynx. How cool!

We crossed the Dietrich River, and approached the headwaters of the Chandalar River to the east. Around miles 237 - 245, the highway traverses a major winter avalanche zone. State transportation workers stationed here at the Chandalar Highway Station, fire artillery shells to clear the slopes above the highway. We pulled off the road across from the station and pished for Blue-throat.

What we got instead was a rather peeved Arctic Ground Squirrel...

a baby Northern Shrike...

and, flying overhead was a Golden Eagle!!! We watched it glide and perch on a cliff across the river and I took this shot through the scope. It's not very good, but you can tell it's a Golden!

Even though we are constantly looking up for birds, I can't help but look down!

I'm fascinated with the low-growing flowers and shrubs in the arctic. I swear I belong here. Check out this adorable Dwarf Fireweed.

And, of course, since my Birder husband is also an entomologist, we had to get out our nets and see what cool butterfly species are up here!

Once again on the road, we continue north of the Chandalar River headwaters toward Atigun Pass. Here you cross the Continental Divide (elev 4,739). Rivers to the south flow into the Pacific Ocean or Bering Sea, while rivers to the north flow into the Arctic Ocean. We kept an eye out for Grizzly Bears and Dall sheep, as we wound our way up toward the Pass.

If you look closely in the next picture, you can see the line on the left hillside that is the road as it cuts its way up into the pass.

Driving up the pass is no easy job. The road is dirt, and the guard rails are flimsy at best, and the truckers own the road. You just get out of their way if they are coming down!

Once you reach the Cotinental Divide you are humbled by the vastness of the mountains around you. That's Dave (6'5") in the picture below.

The scree slopes at the top of Atigan Pass form this giant avalanche bowl that was just too interesting for me to pass up. So, we parked, and walked right down into the middle of it!

Yep, we did! And to our amazement, there was flowing water, and tiny little tudra flowers, moss and fungi everywhere!

Check out this way cool lichen parmelia that is a combination between a green algae, a fungus and a cyanobacteria. Pretty cool! The fungus can obtain the water and the minerals, the bacteria fixes nitrogen and the algae, through photosynthesis, is able to produce glucose. The black spots are the cyanobacteria. Thus, the combination of these process allows each to survive the harsh environment of the Brooks Range, together... none of these individuals can survive alone.

Is this not the cutest mushroom you have ever seen?!!

Or, how about this adorable purple Russula? I just love it's fat belly! Reminds me of family.... :-)

Dave pished and we saw a Northern Wheatear,

Semi-palmated Plovers ...

and Snow Buntings!

Once you come down on the north side of the pass, you are in arctic tundra and you enter the Atigun Valley where a large glacial lake once occupied the entire area. All that remains now is Galbraith lake with a nice campground within hiking distance of the Arctic National Wildlife refuge.

Haul Road - Day 2 - July 2010

2010-07-27T22:40:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful day in Alaska! Woke up at 5:30am and let Dave sleep. I walked over to the Coldfoot Lodge to work on the blog and grab a cup of coffee.

This is the last truck stop before you get to Deadhorse, so it is where everyone stops to fill up their tank and grab a hot meal. Every evening there is a buffet with good food, and a nice bar area with Alaskan and Canadian beer.

It’s important to remember that there are no medical facilities between Fairbanks and Deadhorse (500 miles) and Coldfoot Camp is the last truck stop – so no more gas or auto repair service. Therefore, it is really important to be prepared for the trip. We brought a big first aid kit, 2 spare tires, two 2.5 gallon jugs of water, all of our food and drinks, camping gear, bug spray and plenty of warm clothing with us. Last time, we saw two vehicles changing tires along the route, and a motorcyclist crashed and had to be airlifted to Anchorage. We’ve seen more bikers this time, and more bicyclists too, plus about twice the number of RVs. The road is constantly being repaired in the summer, because it is impossible to get equipment on it during the 9 months of winter. Plus, remember, only a few sections of the Hwy are paved!

Built in just five months (1974) the “Haul Road” was originally closed to the public and only commercial traffic servicing the oil development in Prudhoe Bay was allowed. The highway was named the “Dalton Hwy” after James B Dalton, a lifelong Alaskan and expert in arctic engineering who was involved in early oil exploration efforts on the North Slope (everything north of the Brooks Range is called the “North Slope”). The road opened to the public in 1994, and adventurers from all over the world pit themselves against mother nature and make the trek north.

Big trucks have the right of way, so you MUST slow down when passing other vehicles coming the opposite direction to avoid damaging them with flying rocks – and damaging your own windshield! Everyone must drive with their headlights on and always pull over if someone wants to pass you. Your car will get filthy from the mud on the road, so you must keep your mirrors clean – because your back window will become completely coated with mud and you won’t be able to see out of it. Our truck is green.

Mile 132: Just before you reach Coldfoot, there is a nice pull off at Gobblers Knob, where you get excellent views of the Brooks Range to the north.

Spring/Summer is beautiful here. Just driving along the highway provides glimpses of beautiful flowers quickly blooming before Winter comes in September.

About 5 miles up the road, we spotted a Moose with two babies along the side of the road. She quickly disappeared into the bog when we slowed to take photos. You have got to keep your eyes peeled for wildlife along the Haul Road, because you will come up on them quickly and are likely to hit them if you aren't careful! There are 7 pump stations associated with the pipeline between Prudhoe Bay and Valdez, and a stop at Pump Station 5 to use the “Green Room” proved to be very rewarding.

We got good looks at 2 Veerys, Juncos, Violet-Green and Cliff Swallows, White-crowned sparrows, Gray Jays and a Red-tailed Hawk. Across the road in the pond were Ring-necks, Lesser Scaup and Canadas.

Mile 150: Grayling Lake: An ancient glacier carved this U-shaped valley and left a shallow lake where moose feed on the nutrient-rich aquatic plants in summer. Charcoal, stone scrapers, and other artifacts found nearby indicate that Native hunters used this lookout for thousands of years. We stopped to bird and added Ruby-crowned Kinglets, Varied and Swainsons Thrush, Butter-butts, Shovelers, L Scaup and Widgeon to our list.

We spent a little while collecting mushrooms – I’m ever on a quest to get more Amanita muscaria. Not that I want to eat them, or even make tea out of them. I'm just fascinated with them chemical composition - and I think they're pretty! We found one Amanita, but it had already been half eaten by some critter. So, if A. muscaria is hallucinogenic and toxic…. Why do the squirrels eat them? Hmm….. To catch a buzz? That’s what Dave thinks. But, I don’t think so.

I love this cool Boletus subtomentosus we found! They say it has a lemon flavor – but who in their right mind would WANT to eat a mushroom?!!

If you pull off at the South Fork of the Koyukuk River just north of Grayling Lake, there is a great spot to pull in and have lunch. We made our PB& J and fished a little here on our first trip in June. Dave caught a few butterflies – but no fish.

Mile 175: Coldfoot Camp. That brings us to Coldfoot Camp today, Friday, July 23, 2010. The original gold rush town of Coldfoot was located on the Middle Fork of the Koyukuk River near the mouth of Slate Creek. It got its name in 1900 when early prospectors reportedly got “cold feet” and left before winter set in. So, unlike us Russells who have no cold feet, Dave is still sleeping in the tent, I am finishing my cup of coffee and I have just finished catching you up on our adventure so far. It’s about 6:15am now, and a bunch of truckers and stranded tour groups are making their way into the lodge for breakfast. The tour group and some of the highway workers stayed at the Slate Creek Inn.

A bicyclist just came in and said he had just ridden down from Galbraith Lake (north of the Brooks Range) and the weather was miserable – rain and cold. Dave arrived for breakfast, and we were back on the road heading north toward Sukukpak Mountain at 9:40am.

A massive wall rising to 4,459 ft that seems cloudy in the morning sun, Sukukpak Mountain is an awe-inspiring sight. Peculiar ice-cored mounds known as palsas punctuate the ground at the mountain’s base and the size of it just blows you away. “Sukukpak” is an Inupiat Eskimo word meaning “marten deadfall.” Seen from the north, the mountain resembles a carefully balanced log used to trap marten. Pretty cool, huh?

Driving the Haul Road...Again! July 2010

2010-07-25T23:32:00.000-07:00

So, even after I swore that I would NEVER drive the Haul Road up to Deadhorse again, I find myself sitting in the passenger seat as we head back up to the Arctic Ocean.

It’s not that I didn’t enjoy our first trip up the Dalton Highway – I did! It's about an 850 mile round trip adventure on dirt roads through spruce forests, the Brooks Range and the arctic tundra. But, it is exhausting. The trip takes you north of Fairbanks, through low lying Black Spruce bogs where the permafrost is just beneath the surface.

Interspersed are treeless patches of bog where delicious blueberries grow wild. Alaskan blueberries are a delicacy here. They are richer in flavor, and have a tartness like strawberries and raspberries that we don’t get from the berries we buy at Kroger back home.

For those of you who are married to a birder (like me), then you will surely be able to relate to my next situation. Whenever Dave and I go birding, he drives – naturally – because he knows where he wants to go to find birds. Well, it only took ONE day of our first trip together for me to change that and make a rule that he is not allowed to drive when we are on vacation. I think we were heading toward Anza Borega in southern California on that fateful trip. Dave was driving, when he spotted a life bird – he turned his head, craned his neck and the next thing I knew we were heading right into the ditch – in a rental vehicle!!! I’m sure I screamed (either that or pee’d my pants), and from that day on – I drive when we are on vacation. Here’s proof, kids, mom drove the Haul Road!

About 10 miles up, we had to stop, just north of the Tolowanda River, to get something bubbly to drink out of the cooler. Since the permafrost is just beneath the surface of the bogs, the water does not drain off. This, then causes the road to sink and the road becomes pocked with divets that can make your head hit the top of the truck!

Even though we’ve only gone 60 miles on the Elliot Hwy (haven't even hit the Haul Road yet), I’m already feeling car sick from all of the dips in the road. It’s like riding on a rollercoaster and a bucking bronco at the same time! While I was trying to settle my tummy, Dave saw a butterfly and jumped out of the truck and took off at a full gallop, net in hand. He came back with a Boloria grandis - which I think is a purple fritillary. Very cool!

We hit the Haul Road (Dalton Hwy) at mile 71 of the Elliot Hwy. The road turns from paved to dirt. Now, you set your odometer to “0” because Deadhorse is about 416 miles ahead, and everything is referred to by its mile marker. There is a sign that says, “All vehicles must drive with lights on next 416 miles.”

When we came through here on June 10th the road was so dusty that you had to close your car windows when someone passes. But even so, I could feel the grit from the road on my teeth. Today, though, it has just rained, so there is no dust, yet.

From here to the Yukon River, the road switches from dirt to paved several times, and every few miles, there is a spectacular vista.

I am still amazed at how clean and fresh the air is here. As you come down to the Yukon, you are struck with how HUGE the river is. It reminds me of crossing the Mississippi – wide, deep, fast, and muddy.

Mile 60: Hot Spot Café is a must see! 16 yrs ago, Theresa opened the place and it is a favorite stop of practically everyone who travels the Haul Road.

I highly recommend her milkshakes (we’ve had them both times we’ve come up). But, her hamburgers are also delicious!

Theresa has lots of fun Alaska themed gifts and “Ice Trucker’s Road” souvenirs. Back in June, Dave saw an old Goldpanner’s plate with a Great Gray Owl painted on it in her gift shop and wanted to pick it up this time. But, to our great disappointment, it had already been sold. I was really surprised, because how may people do you know who would want a rusty pan with a bird painted on it? I mean, really?! Fortunately, Theresa said she would order one for us from the artist and send it – but we have to wait until October to call her, when she closes the Café and goes back home for the Winter. There is no phone and no mail service at the Hot Spot Café.

Oh, and don't forget to read the white sign outside the restroom...

Another treat at the Café, is the garden. Give yourself time to just sit by the garden or walk the grounds and enjoy the beautiful flowers and lush vegetable garden. The squash and zucchini are already done.

Mile 96: Finger Mountain. You can pull off the highway here and enjoy a leisurely walk around the highest point on this stretch of the highway. You are now on tundra, and there are no trees. There is a nice parking lot and some easy trails that lead you around a rocky outcropping.

Along the trails are really great interpretive signs describing the plants and animals of the tundra. Willow Ptarmigan like to nest under the dwarf willows.

We even found a fern for Uncle Jim! I think its that sterile hybrid one.....

Dave decided that we should take the short hike across the tundra from the parking lot and check out Finger Rock. This rock has been here for hundreds of years, and natives used it to navigate when they migrated across the tundra following the caribou. Pilots use the rock today as a landmark to guide them on flights to some of the remote lakes here. I looked, it wasn’t that far, so, ok, I’m game – lets walk over and check out the rock. We start out walking together, but soon find ourselves separated by big chunks of rock and squishy tundra. It is so rocky here that you have to be very careful where you walk because you will either fall into a crevice between the boulders, or you will fall off of the tundra tussocks and end up in water up to your knees! LOL! It’s always an adventure! The tundra flowers were just coming out when we were here in June. I love the cotton grass!

About half way to finger rock the mosquitoes found me – and they swarmed! I moved faster, and they followed – faster. It was a losing battle….30+ were on my head constantly. I glared at Dave, who found my predicament entirely too amusing! I quickly snapped my shot of Finger Rock, gave Dave the finger, and jumped, hopped and hurdled my way over the boulders and back to the truck!

Even with DET sprayed on his hoodie, the mosquitoes still landed and tried to get a bite of Dave’s head!

Mile 115: The Arctic Circle

Woohoo! Look, we have reached the Arctic Circle!!! At about 10pm we reached the Arctic Circle – check out how light it still is!

We spent the night here, just south at Fish Creek when we came up in June. There is a really nice pull off to the West that takes you down to a campsite along the creek. Dave tried to fish for about ½ hr, but the mosquitoes were unbearable. We ate cold fried chicken in the truck, laid out our sleeping bags, and got ready for bed. How romantic! Camping in the Alaskan wilderness, no one around for miles and miles, listening to the flowing water of the stream, and snuggling up in warm, cozy sleeping bags – it was the perfect setting. Then, Dave decided to go fishing - again! So much for romance….reminds me of our honeymoon in Nome. Remember that story? Anyhoo, off he went with mosquito netting over his head, and I was left to dream about romance for another night. Meanwhile, the air mattress was slowly losing air. Within an hour, I was lying on the truck bed, with no air left in the mattress. Yuck! At 2am (still light out) Dave was back, and he climbed into his sleeping bag on the now deflated air mattress. There is nothing worse than sleeping on a hard, metal truck bed. It was miserable.

We awoke to bright sunny skies at 7:30am and a temp of 53F.

We set up our cook stove and had some nice Kaladi Brother’s coffee (Alaskan) and hot cider and took our breakfast down to eat by the creek.

Earlier, while I was rolling up our sleeping bags and cleaning up the truck, Dave snuck off fishing and said he caught 3 fish - uhuh - a fish story.... (IIT – Interesting If True). So, now, he was anxious to show me where he had caught them. He’s so funny, I absolutely love it when he gets excited about something!

And, sure enough within a minute, he had caught a little Grayling!

Along the creek’s edge were several pretty arctic flowers, like this dwarf fireweed. I just love the purple ones!

By the time I had finished my hot oatmeal cereal, Dave had caught two more baby Grayling and we’d seen an American Dipper and a Spotted Sandpiper. We packed up the truck and hit the road by 10am. Did I mention that we’re at the Arctic Circle?!!!!!

So, that was where we spent our first night on the Haul Road back in June. This time, we decided to go all the way to Coldfoot at the base of the Brooks Range. Coldfoot is a neat little town. There is a Visitors Center for the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge and the Gates of the Arctic National Parks.

We stopped in and picked up a couple of field guides and patches and found out that the road was going to be closed from 10pm tonight until 7am. Looks like we’re spending the night at Coldfoot Camp!

We put up our tent along the creek at the camp and settled in for the night.

I Seen A Dorkus! Really, I did!

2010-07-07T22:58:00.000-07:00

Dave and I have been house-sitting a nice little cabin in the woods for some friends who have been out of town. It is a lovely, 6000 square foot home complete with sauna and hot tub. But, after 3 days of rain and working on lecture PPTs over 4th of July weekend, we needed to get out! So, we decided to head out the Steese Highway and check out the birds. It's 62F at 9:45am and we stopped at one of the conveniently located coffee kiosks and ordered 2 Blueberry Scones, a latte and a Peach/banana smoothy to go! The Steese Highway (Alaska Route 6) travels for 162 miles northeast from Fairbanks to Circle, a small Native community on the Yukon River. Most of the highway passes through a combination of quaking aspen, balsam poplar, and black and white spruce forest, but, the coolest part about the drive is that it also crosses a high pass at Eagle Summit (about mile 100) that gives easy access to alpine tundra. According to the ABA, A Birder's Guide to Alaska, this tundra is a convenient place to look for nesting Surfbird (which would be a life bird for both Dave and me). At about mile 20, the road climbs over Cleary Summit, and the vista's are breathtaking!

After Cleary Summit, the highway descends into the Chatanika River valley where a huge area of forest was burned during the 2004 Boundary fire. For miles and miles we drove and could see burnt tree trunks to our south and east. It looked like razor stubble on a dark haired man. At mile 29.5 is the entrance to the Univeristy of Alaska Poker Flat Research Range rocket launch facility designed to study the aurora borealis. It was sort of "Sci-Fi" to be driving along in the winding forest, and then out of nowhere you see a bunch of satellite dishes and ominous looking outer-space widgets! Grandpa Paul would have loved it! Total nerd-dom. Farther along the highway, you can see where the forest has begun to regrow.

At mile 60, we pulled down a track because our new friend, Ken Philip, THE butterfly guy in Alaska, who is totally cool (more about him later), told us that we might be able to get some unique butterflies.

There are some small beautiful copper butterflies here called Lycaena dorcas. That is pronounced "Lie seen a dorkus". I was so excited to get out and hike around and hopefully spot this butterfly, and to my great surprise, "I seen a dorkus"!!!

LOL!!! I just can't get that name out of my head, so now I call my self and everyone else "Ycaena dorcas" - "I seen a dorkus"! hahahahaha!!!!! My handsome dorcus husband did get a White Admiral and a Sulfur and a Blue (not sure which species yet). Very cool! I of course, did not catch any butterflies - I'm about as coordinated as a bull in a china shop! We also got great looks at Bohemian Waxwings and a Lincoln's Sparrow. But, what really fascinates me are the flowers! As the forest begins to regenerate, you find the most beautiful and delicate flowers tucked in with the darkest scarred remains of burnt tree trunks.

I saw this purple flower, and have searched every flower, nature and plant guide we have and still can't identify it!

At mile 107, we reached the pull-off for Eagle Summit. Now we hike. Eagle Summit is supposed to be a great place for summer wildflowers and the closest alpine tundra to Fairbanks. We heard and saw a baby American Pipit

fussing at us as soon as we got out of the truck. It's a bit cooler here at 3687ft (53F at 11:54am and a strong, cool wind blowing). Our goal for the day is to find nesting Surfbirds. About 1/2 mile up the hillside of Eagle Summit, we take cover on the lee side in a scree (I would call it a rockslide area), because a quick summer shower has begun to dump rain on us. The rain quickly passes, though, and as I climb back out from behind the rocks and turn around to look out over the valley, we see the most amazing rainbow!

For one of the first times in my life, I was moved beyond words. I was in awe - at peace - calm - unimportant. Dave was up and off searching for mushrooms, butterflies, or whatever.....but I didn't want to move one inch. The spot was mesmerizing. As far as the eye could see, there was tundra ablaze with purple flowers and cloud shadows drifting across mountain and valley.

We pulled out our PB&J and ate our lunch, just "be-ing" on the tundra. This has to be my favorite place in Alaska. The ground is a squishy carpet of moss, lichens, mushrooms, and tiny, itsy bitsy, tundra flowers and fruits.

I could spend all day, every day here, just exploring. People travel the world to see rare birds, or butterflies, or big mammals like polar bears, and tigers, but look closer. Look down at the tundra. It is absolutely beautiful.

Like these tiny blue Alpine Forget-me-nots.

Or, these Dwarf Blueberry flowers...

The place is a feast for the senses. We decided to leave our scree slope and hike the rest of the way to the top of Eagle Summit. Dave took the east slope.....

and I took the west, and we agreed to meet at the top!

Walking on tundra is not easy. It's like walking on bowling balls that are surrounded by water or mushy spongy moss. It gives your legs and butt a work out, that's for sure. Plus, you can't climb very fast, because your heart is pounding!! See the speck way off in the distance on the horizon in this next photo? That's Dave.

Here he is zoomed in as far as my camera would go...

We searched the Dwarf Willow for signs of Willow Ptarmigan, but to no avail. No Surfbirds either.

But, again, the tundra wildflowers were spectacular!

And...... I found the coolest mushroom!!!

It was starting to get late, and we needed to get back to the cabin and pack up our things and head home. The owners, Gary and Beth were coming home the next day. So, we began our downward climb, and ran across the only tree on Eagle Summit. We were above tree line!

As we headed back toward Fairbanks on the Steese, we ran into Ken Philip, out collecting butterflies at about mile 75. He tries to go out every day, and has only covered a small fraction of the state in 30 years. This place is huge!!!! We stopped at the Chatanika Lodge for dinner of pork tenderloin and halibut,

and stapled a dollar to the wall. This place is a trip! I can totally see us hanging out here if we ever moved up here permanently. The dining room we were in had over 85 dollars stuck to the walls, and that was piddly.

The other rooms of the lodge are wallpapered with paper money from people all over the world.

We took this next photo for our families. We find it particularly amusing.

Our excursion to the tundra was over, and now it was time to get ready for classes in the morning.

Midnight Sun and Moose Shish Kabob - June 2010

2010-06-30T00:33:00.000-07:00

We’ve now been teaching in Fairbanks for one month, and it’s incredible to think about all of the things we’ve done. The summer is going by so quickly. Our bird feeder outside the living room window has given us great looks at a Great Horned Owl,

Black-capped Chickadees and Red Squirrels. We call this one "Butt Cheeks" - obviously a male. LOL!!!

But, within days we met the female, and currently we have one of the offspring jumping on the feeder and fussing with the tabs trying to get seeds! LOL! It's too cute!

We've also been very entertained by the Common Ravens. They have so many different calls, and when a male gets going with his glunk, glunk sound - you think that someone is dropping stones in a deep pool of water. These guys are quite intelligent too. Dave snapped this photo of one who was dodging cars in the parking lot while trying to snag some spilled popcorn.

Lack of sleep has become the norm, because you just don’t realize how late it is when the sun is up 24 hrs a day. So, we go to bed sometime after midnight, and get up by 8am to go to class. The funny thing is that everyone here is in the same boat. They all stay up late – washing their cars at 1am, mowing the grass, etc. I think I was SKYPING with Fred and Tess at 1am on this night.

Dave has also picked up some strange habits, like watching the "Ice Trucker's Highway" show on TV. Now he wants to drive to Deadhorse and Prudhoe Bay just to say we've driven the Haul Road!

We went to the 105th playing of the Midnight Sun Baseball game Monday night (the Summer Solstice) and the stadium was so full, it was standing room only, even out behind left field. The game started at 10:30pm and has been played every year without the use of artificial lighting – just the midnight sun lights up the field. At midnight, the games is stopped, so that the Alaska State Song can be sung.

The Alaska Goldpanners, which is a summer league team, played against the “Heroes of the Mound” team from the US Armed Services. The opening ceremonies were very emotional as the US flag was passed between members of the US Armed Forces while Ray Charles’ version of America The Beautiful played. Three members of the original Godpanner’s team were honored as well as a disabled Vietnam & Korean War vet. When the National Anthem began, tears welled up in my eyes and I couldn’t help but think of Dylan, and hope that he nevers sees battle. We’ve been told by more than one person, that Alaska has the highest concentration of Vietnam Vets than any other state. Why?

It’s true that there are more long-haired white men and more white women with heavy tattooing here than in Indiana or Ohio. Plus there is an attitude among residents here that they don’t like to be told what to do. People live remotely, on what the earth provides them, and subsistence living is in vogue. I say in vogue, because they are not forced to live this lifestyle – they choose to live it – and will defend their right to live this way. We were invited to have a meal of moose shishkabobs and let me tell you ... it was delicious!

Qiviut, Bluebells and Swallowtails - Alaska May 30, 2010

2010-06-06T22:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday, May 30, 2010
Slept in until about 11am – amazing! I can’t remember the last time I slept in so late. Well, I can’t remember that last time I stayed up until 2am fishing either! LOL!!

You know, being married to a birder isn’t bad really. I was single for 12 years before I met Dave, so I had plenty of time to put together a list of the qualities in a man that I desired. I didn’t really have an order to the list, but a list just the same. A good sense of humor, intelligence, and a good cook were all on the list. You see, I’m a terrible cook. Well, terrible because I get such anxiety when I have to cook that I get a panic attack and can’t do it. I can bake, but making an entire meal is agony for me! Weird, I know. Years of therapy, and we still don’t understand it. I think its performance anxiety. Plus, I usually burn the food and/or myself - which explains why I love the burnt cookies in the batch and my bacon really crisp! LOL!

So, this morning, my birder husband got up and made pork chops with sautéed onions and green peppers (left over from shish kabobs with Carol) and eggs for breakfast. Best breakfast I’ve ever had! I so married the right man. I will happily do dishes if he will keep on cooking. Unfortunately, my birder also likes meals that are heavy on the meats and gravies, which is why I gained 20 lbs the first year of our marriage. We call it “The Russell Effect”. Everyone who stays with us for an extended period of time gains weight. Poor Rafael! His family is already making fun of him for being fat and he hasn’t even seen them in person yet! They’ve just seen him on SKYPE!

After breakfast, I wanted to show Dave Smith Lake. I found it last week when I went for a bike ride on Michelle’s way-cool mountain bike! That bike is great! It weighs half what my hybrid weighs and I’d never gone trail riding, but now I’m hooked! What a freekin’ blast! As we made our way to Smith Lake, we checked out the flora and fauna. Prickly Rose is in full bloom right now and it is every where!

The flowers are generally a soft pink color, but every once in a while you will find a deep pink flower.

I found Bluebells, and asked a local about them. She replied that they are "weeds". Weeds? How can anyone think of Bluebells as weeds?

While we were walking along, Dave pointed out these funky looking leaves. They look like they have an electronic circuit board drawn on them. It is really the tunnels of the larvae of the Aspen Leaf-miner. The larvae tunnell between the two outer layers of aspen leaves. The flat larvae pupate at the end of the tunnell and cause extensive damage to the photosynthetic surface of the leaves causing considerable plant stress. They have really become a problem in the past couple of years.

While we were driving up to Chena Hot Springs yesterday, we were amazed at how many Yellow Swallowtails we hit with our car. Apparently, this year saw a really big emergence of Canadian Tiger Swallowtails. I noticed them at Smith Lake when I rode my bike here last week and Dave was able to get this beautiful photo today.

Another butterfly that is flying around is the Common Alpine. A beautiful, deep brown butterfly with these way-cool dark spots on orange splotches.

We walked over to Smith Lake checking out the Gray Jays, Common Redpolls and Ravens along the way.

At the lake, we saw Shovellers, Wigeon, Green-winged Teal, Bonaparte's Gull, and a Solitary Sandpiper.

We saw a Cloudberry flower with a crab spider hanging out in it. It creeped me out - Dave thought it was cool.

After hanging out at Smith Lake we walked up the trail to the Large Animal Research Station.

Locals refer to the place by the acronym LARS or as the “muskox farm” but the official title is the Robert G. White Large Animal Research Station. LARS is managed by the Institute of Arctic Biology at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to provide a unique facility for research and education that focuses on ungulates from the subarctic and arctic.

I went to the yarn store in Fairbanks last week to check out their Muskox wool – aka Qiviut. Qiviut (pronounced kiv-ee-ut) is the Inuit word for the extremely fine underwool of the muskox, prized for its softness and warmth. Qiviut is considered the warmest natural fiber known to man. Each year, muskoxen grow a dense layer of qiviut over their entire body, protected from wind and precipitation by an outer coat of dark brown guard hair. Their winter coats are unparalleled in insulative value, and keep the animals warm and comfortable when the temperature drops below –50 degrees F.

LARS sells Qiviut (this is their photo) at 1/3 less than the yard store in town. I’m definitely going to save my money and get some before we leave. Since the qiviut is so warm, the natives knit it using a lace pattern. There are beautiful vests on display in the gift shop as well as neck warmers, the locals call “smoke rings”. Again, the smoke rings are knit in a lace pattern so they are not too warm.

We took the guided tour of the facility and got back home around 4pm. It was a good 5 mile walk.

Michelle had invited us over for dinner at 6pm, so we quickly showered and ran to town to get a bottle of wine. Amazingly, California wines are dirt cheap here! We got a Chateau St. Michelle Chardonnay and a Rodney Strong Cabernet. Michelle lives is a beautiful tri-level in the woods. Her home is decorated with local folk art, much of which is from the local Farmer’s Market. I recognized a vase that was made by the same potter who made the Raven vase I got for Dave.

We met Michelle’s best friend, Bonnie and her husband Bill (he’s an artist) and Michelle has a 6ft tall landscape he painted on her wall. She told us about losing her home to a fire, and Bill taking her to his studio and saying, “Pick anything, and it’s yours”. She said she wandered around the studio, just sick with grief and in shock over the fire and stood in front of the landscape portrait with its massive mountain peaks and sheer cliffs and thought, "I’ve got an uphill climb to get my life back together – this painting represents my life". It is absolutely spectacular. We had a lovely dinner of Walleye, salad and ended with homemade rhubarb strawberry pie. After dessert, she also served us Chrysanthemum tea from China. It was nice and mild.

Grayling Fishing in Alaska - May 29, 2010

2010-06-06T20:55:00.000-07:00

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Today we are going fishing for Grayling up Chena Hot Spring road. Grayling are a high arctic species of cold clear water, related to trout and salmon and males have giant enlarged dorsal fins resembling a big flag. They range in color from blue-ish purple to yellow-ish. They eat anything living that falls into or lives in the water - from small mice to fish eggs.

Doug has waders that will fit me, but not Dave. So, off we went to Sportsman’s Warehouse to check out chest waders and boots. Luckily, the felt bottom wading boots are being discontinued, so we each picked up a pair, and then we saw that chest waders were on sale too!

So, both Dave and I ended up getting a pair. We gathered our fishing poles, restrung 10lb braided Spider Wire on our reels, sorted our tackle boxes and went to Bonita and Doug’s place in North Pole, Alaska.

They have a lovely home with large open rooms and a fabulous Florida room. They have a new puppy named Ash, who melted Dave’s heart. Neither one of us realized how much he misses our puppy, Bruce, until we met Ash. Dave immediately got down on his hands and knees and started growling and playing with Ash and got her so excited that she did laps around the house and then tinkled a little bit on the floor! LOL!!! It was hilarious! She was worn out! Nita took me on a tour of the house and then out to the garage where they have the coolest greenhouse above their garage. Violet green swallows nest in their garage wall and they even had two specimens that had been desiccated that they gave us for our school collections.

We decided to take two vehicles to the fishing site, so that we could head back to Fairbanks afterwards and Doug and Nita could go back to North Pole. Sounds funny, doesn’t it…. back to North Pole. We left Nita and Doug’s at about 6pm and drove up Chena Hot Springs Road. It’s about 80F.

We pulled off into a parking lot a little way past mile marker 47 and put on our waders, grabbed our poles and ventured out into the raging river.

The water was about thigh high on me, which meant waist high on Nita. So, we had to hold onto our significant others, so the current didn’t sweep us away!

I can’t believe how strong the current is. I love the sound of the water. It is so soothing and relaxing. The water is so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom, and it will fool you about how deep it is!

We could hear Yellow Warblers, Varied Thrush, Swainson’s Thrush and Dark-eyed Juncos singing in the trees.

As we moseyed along casting our spinners and daydreaming, I felt like I was in heaven. I stopped to take photos of everyone, and try to capture the essence of the moment – a bit of time when the world was calm – and then I felt a tug on my line. Holy shit I got a fish!

I called for Dave! OMG what do I do now??!!! He came barreling over, splashing across from the other side of the river, telling me to “keep the line tight”, “but not too tight”, “keep it easy, even”, “reel in slow”…. Holy shit my heart is pounding so hard it is going to jump out of my throat and you want me to reel in slow and easy!!! I’m lucky to keep from jumping out of my skin! My entire body is shaking as this fish starts pulling me over and I just know that I’m going to do a header into the river. It feels like it is the size of Nita’s puppy, Ash! Of course, we have no nets, so Dave grabs the fish by hand and pulls out the most beautiful Grayling I have ever seen.

Well, the only Grayling I’ve ever seen, but it was still beautiful! They have this dorsal fin that narrows down to a point in a form that reminds me of the fighting beta fish you get at pet shops. I was enthralled.

And the eye. It was yellow!

It’s catch and release here now, so after taking some photos, we let the fish go.

We fished our way up river for an hour or two and then came back to the trucks to eat. Nita had made tunafish salad sandwiches that were great! She’s the only person I know that makes them with hard boiled eggs – my favorite!!! That’s how my folks made them when we were kids. After eating, we again ventured into the river, but this time we went down river.

Fishing is the best activity to do with your partner. I think it is one of the most romantic sports/hobbies around. You are in the most beautiful, serene and undisturbed areas in the world, with the person you love and you are exploring. It doesn’t get any better than this!

In the distance we heard a Ruffed Grouse drumming his territorial sound. It was incredible.

As we turned a bend in the river, we heard a loud splash near a fallen tree and saw a beaver dam. Swimming frantically back and forth in front of the dam was a beaver, and she was not happy. Every time Dave would walk by on the opposite shore, she would contort her body so that her tail would strike the water with a loud “Whap” that echoed down the valley.

It was hysterical! And, even though Dave was not fishing near her, and he was trying to NOT bother her, if he spoke, she would smack her tail to let him know her displeasure with his presence. I got it on video.

By the end of the evening, I’d caught 2 fish, Bonita got one, and Doug got one. We left the river at 1am, and got home at 2:07am. A light rain had begun to fall when we hit North Pole, and by the time we hit Fairbanks it was raining pretty hard. The rain is good, because wild fires have sprung up and are raging out of control due to the dry spell they’ve had. I went to bed exhausted, legs sore from fighting the current, and completely happy and relaxed. What a life I have.

Kiwi and Pump House in Alaska - May 28, 2010

2010-06-06T19:00:00.000-07:00

Friday, May 28, 2010

Today is our day off. I decided to head over to Walmart to find an over the door towel rack for the bathroom. The bathroom door in our apartment is attached to a hydraulic hinge that forces it to shut tightly every time it opens. This means that the bathroom door never stays open, even when you are standing in the doorway, in front of the sink brushing your teeth. It gets annoying when the door is constantly pushing you out of the room. There is also only one towel rack. So, off to Walmart I went to get more lotion, a copper bird feeder, and two living room lamps. One of the plastic bird feeders Dave hung yesterday ended up on the ground, broken. We believe this is a renegade squirrel trying to eat the sunflower seeds.

While I was putting together the towel rack, Dave headed out to hang the bird feeder, and sure enough, a little red squirrel came around and fussed at him. He made such a racket that Dave had to come inside and get me to come and look at this feisty little squirrel!

He eventually got the new feeder up and chased off the squirrel, who obviously felt Dave was invading his territory!

Dave made a pot of his delicious baked beans, and we headed over to ABO for Carols’ talk. ABO is tucked in the corner of a sprawling apartment complex turned resort. They have a lovely new building that borders the woods leading out to Creamer Field. Inside ABO, is a great gift shop with everything from art and jewelry to ABO logo’d items to field guides to bird feeders.

The mission of the Alaska Bird Observatory is to advance the appreciation, understanding, and conservation of birds and their habitats through research and education. They have several field projects on the Tanana Flats, Yukon Flats, Creamer’s Refuge, Kodiak Island, Alaska Peninsula/Becharof, Arctic, and Innoko National Wildlife Refuges, the BLM’s National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, and the BLM’s White Mountains. While we were there, Sue was giving us updates on many of these projects. This is the happenin’ place for bird research.

Carol “Kiwi” Donovan’s talk was wonderfully entertaining and I can see why Dave is so smitten with her. She is living his dream.

If he could, he would travel the world to see every bird. Of course, I would have to go with him, because you all know how much he likes to “share” what he knows with me! He’s an explorer and teacher, and you know what? I’d go in an instant.

After Carol’s talk, we drove over to the Pump House Restaurant to have drinks with my TA Bonita and her partner Doug.

It was a beautiful evening, probably in the 70sF at 9:30pm so we sat on the deck by the river until the bugs became too annoying. Alaska is a great place to be if you like dark beer. Everywhere we’ve gone, I’ve tried the dark beer – from British Columbia through the Yukon and to Alaska. But, I must say that I really like the Alaskan Porter. Doug is a fisherman. The first 10 years or so that he lived in Alaska, he led fishing expeditions, so he and Dave hit it off from the git go. In fact, we left the restaurant at 1:18am with plans to go fishing the following afternoon. We took a picture of the parking lot when we left and it was as bright as day.

Big Daddy's BBQ in Alaska - May 27, 2010

2010-06-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Thurs May 27, 2010

Got up and went to the Alaska Bird Observatory banding station before class this morning with Dave. They have been getting Redpolls and juncos, and I wanted to see those cranes in the field. The banding station is located on the back side of Creamer Field, which formerly was known as the Creamer Dairy.

I met Sue, their primary bander, and Rebecca Young who is doing some DNA telomere work on Thick-billed Murres and Kittywakes. ABO also puts up double and triple high nets using a system very similar to the one Bobby Brown uses for catching bats in Ohio. We definitely need to get this set up for home! Very cool!

Today was our last day of teaching for the week. I feel so spoiled teaching for 2 hrs a day, 4 days a week. How sweet is that? We ran over to Fred Myers (which is our favorite store now) and got a couple of bird feeders and bird seed, and Dave hung them outside our living room window. We have this nice little clump of birch, aspen and white spruce behind our apartment that give you that “living in the woods” feeling. I hope we can see some birds at the feeders! I’m still fascinated with the redpolls.

Michelle surprised me and brought over her bike this evening! I am so excited to go for a bike ride! I haven’t exercised on a regular basis since December, and after 10 days in the truck and 2 weeks of just teaching, I feel like a slug!
Sammy sent me a text giving me a list of restaurants in Fairbanks that she had seen on a recent episode of the Food Network’s, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. One of the places listed is called Big Daddy’s BBQ, so we headed over there for dinner.

The place is great! Old school diner tables and chairs, pig and Chicago sport memorabilia adorns the ceiling and walls. Multicolored Christmas lights are strung across the ceiling giving the place a festive quality year round.

I fell in love with the pink flying pig hanging from the ceiling! Felt like Cincinnati. Plus, Big Daddy’s a Chicago fan! You could order an Italian Beef sandwich! We asked the waitress what she recommended and took her advice. I ordered the Arkansas Baby Back Ribs (half order) and Dave ordered the Big Daddy sampler – with Shiner Bock beer!

I love Shiner Bock! The ribs were delicious! Good choice, Sammy girl!

Hangin' with Carol "Kiwi" Donovan in Alaska - May 26, 2010

2010-06-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

Wed. May 26, 2010

Rafael began his adventure across Alaska today. He is travelling by train to Denali for a few days, where he will be taking a couple of nature tours and a plane ride over Denali. From there he will continue by train to Anchorage, where he will stay for a day and check out some museums. Then on to Seward – my favorite place in Alaska. The Kenai Fjords boat tours take you out to watch glaciers, including the The Northwest Glacier, calving. Along the way you can see otters, sea lions, puffins, murres, orcas, harbor seals and many other animals. Seward also has a sea life museum that one of our former students worked in for a year – she loved it!

Dave dropped Rafael off at the train station in the morning and then went to the Alaska Bird Observatory’s (ABO) banding station for a little while before class. It’s been a little slow at the banding station, because many species are already on nest. But, they still have some Sandhill Cranes hanging out.

I went to the office to get my lectures ready. Even though I’ve taught A&P for 15 years, I still like to update the figures in my PowerPoints when I use a new textbook. I can’t seem to get the computer in the classroom to run the Shockwave Flash animations that are embedded in my PowerPoints. If I can’t get it to work today, I’ll just have to use my laptop.

Being married to a birder is a lesson in patience. For those of you that remember the story of the last night of our honeymoon – where my “special” nightie never got worn, because my birder husband decided to show the other guests at the B&B all of the bird photos he’d taken, you will know what I mean about patience. I knew then that I would always take a back seat to birding.

Five minutes before our classes began, Dave came rushing into our office and collided with me as I was heading to class. His face was flushed, and he was talking a mile a minute. He said, “I met a woman named Carol at the banding station this morning and she’s coming over for dinner tonight!. You’re gonna love her – she’s a free spirit! Here is her name, just Google her and you’ll know all about her”. He dropped a torn piece of paper on my desk and raced off to class.

How many of you have a husband who invites random women over for dinner? Women he just met that morning? Patience.

So, after class, without Googling her, we dashed off to the grocery store, purchased items for dinner and headed home. He was making shishkabobs - he NEVER makes shishkabobs!

Dave had met Carol “Kiwi” Donovan and was instantly smitten. Carol saved up her money and travelled the world on a quest to see every bird on earth. After 6 years, she came home discouraged and frustrated. Her good friend, James Clements who wrote the Checklist of Birds of the World, asked her how many families she had seen. “Hell, I don’t know!” she replied. He quickly counted up her list and she was only 40-ish birds short from having seen a bird from every family in the world. So, off she went again – on a budget of $600/month – on her second great adventure around the world. She has now seen a member of every bird family in the world. What a delightful person. Her stories are colorful, funny, painful, and thrilling! Plus, she lives in a RV van! My hero!

We talked so long that before we knew it, it was after 11pm. That’s when I found out that Dave had suggested that ABO have a potluck and ask Carol to speak about her adventure on Friday evening. We’ll bring the baked beans!

First 2 Weeks in Alaska - May 24-25, 2010

2010-06-06T12:24:00.000-07:00

Well, our first two weeks of teaching in Fairbanks Alaska are behind us. This place is like a dream. Still, after being here 2 weeks, and I'm sure my body has aclimated, I am still so aware of the smell of spruce and pine when I step outside. The air is clear, crisp and light. Not once, has my asthma bothered me. If we were at home, I'd be taking antihistamines every 4 hours and inhalers every morning. Allergy season in the Miami Valley just kills me!

May 24, 2010

Today was our first day of teaching at UAF. I am in the Schaible Auditorium, which is a beautiful room that can hold over 200 people.

I have about 44 students and most of them are over 25. I really like this class. It was 80F today, and I wore a long sleeve tshirt with pants. I was roasting outside, but inside, it is like a fridge, so of course, I was cold!!! We teach from 10am to noon, and then have TAs teaching our labs from 12:30-4:00pm.

I have two TAs, Bonita and Tynan. ‘Nita teaches the T/R labs and Ty has the M/W labs. They have both taught the class before, so I don’t even have to go to lab.

Our office is 305C Bunnell, in a little office suite that we share with the Biology Advisor Carolyn and another faculty member, Gary Laursen, who is a mycologist. Very cool!

Denise, the Biology Dept lab coordinator, helped Dave get organized for his first class. Showed him where all of their supplies are, how to run the copier, etc. He teaches in the classroom right across the hall from our office.

After class, we stopped in at the Summer Sessions office to sign more paperwork – so we will get paid – and picked up our mail. We are having our mail forwarded while we’re here and are just using the SS mailing address. Otherwise it would have cost us over $100/month for a PO Box. We bought a little 14” Weber grill at Fred Myers and Dave made dinner in a light rain.

He said it reminded him of California. Rafael is busily working on his laptop planning his trip to Denali Park.

Still don’t think we have any neighbors. The entire MacLean complex seems to be empty, even though there are bikes locked in the bike rack. Maybe folks are just on vacation.

May 25, 2010

Class was great, and I met Bonita today. She is adorable – much shorter than I had imagined – I think she is only about 4’ tall. But, her personality is everything I thought it would be from our correspondence the past 6 months. I think we will be great friends.

There are a few things that we forgot to bring with us, so we headed over to Fred Myers and bought a blender, toaster and kitchen knives; kitchen, bath and bedroom trash cans, and two 3-drawer plastic cabinets on wheels (one for the bathroom and one for my side of the bed). They’re only about 2 ½ ft high. We thought the prices would be double what they are at home, and are pleasantly surprised to find that Fred Myers is owned by Kroger (or vice-versa) and most of the prices are comparable. In fact, my favorite tequila, Hornitos, is cheaper here than at home!

Dave made dinner on the grill again. I forgot to show you what the truck looked like once we finally arrived. Dave still hasn't washed it. He wants to leave it au naturalle because everyone's truck is dirty up here! LOL

Alaska Expedition 2010 - Day 12 FAIRBANKS AT LAST (May 23, 2010)

2010-05-26T08:27:00.000-07:00

Michelle picked us up at 8am and took us to her favorite bagel shop for breakfast. She is a riot! I love her sense of humor! And, let me tell you, Alaskans make the BEST coffee! A local company called the Kaladi Brothers Coffee, roast their own here in Alaska, and it is so good, that I bought a bag and had it ground. Rafael and I have been making this coffee for breakfast every morning with the awesome french press Dylan and Bekah gave me for Xmas. Best coffee I've ever had!

After breakfast, Michelle gave us a tour of campus, showing us where we would be teaching, where the bookstore is, the rec center, etc . The campus is huge! We drove out of town a little way to where the Alaskan Pipeline is near the road. I didn't realize that it is as long as it is! Plus, it's huge!

The pipes are built on these struts that allow movement of 12ft in one direction and about 2ft in the other, to accomodate the shifting permafrost beneath the pilings. Very cool.

Our tour took us to Creamers Field, which is an old Dairy Farm that has been converted to a Wildlife Refuge for migrating birds. We were thrilled to see Sand Hill Cranes eating in the field!

We drove over the the Alaska Bird Observatory, where they were holding a "Big Sit", and walked out to the pond and met some of the local birders. What great people! Dave was in his element, and I don't think I'm going to see him much this summer at all. I think he'll be heading down to the banding station every morning before class!

Michelle showed us where all the major "box" stores are: Walmart, Barnes & Nobles, Home Depot, etc. We even went into Barnes and Nobles because we still haven't found a book on the trees of Alaska. Thankfully, they had one there! I don't think Michelle intended to so much of the day with us, but she happily took us to some of the popular tourist stops, and told us which stores were good, and which ones to avoid. At about 1pm, she dropped us back at home. What a great day and what a neat lady. She even told me where the wool shop is!!! Plus, she says she can get me a bicycle to ride! Is this heaven or what?!

Alaska Expedition 2010 - Day 11 (May 22, 2010)

2010-05-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

Tok, Alaska – pronounced toke - We got up at 5:30am to a bright sunny day. Temperature is in the 40’s F. The bed was super comfy, and I slept great. I really like these cabins, and I like it that cabin #4 has a ramp to the door, so that it is whellchair accessible. Our cabin has a queen size bed and a single bed on the main floor and two double beds up in the loft. There is a fridge, freezer, microwave and pretty blue stonewear cups and saucers. There are little decorative touches that make the place very homey. Rafael and I walked over to the office and grabbed some breakfast, while Dave ate leftover pizza from last night's dinner.

Last night, after eating yummy chocolate cupcakes that Hannah and Holly had helped their mom, Carrie ice, Dave and I went for a walk in search of grouse.

Along every road here is a snowmobile/quad runner lane. We walked up Borealis Lane toward the Tok Cutoff and then turned N into the boreal forest. It is so cool and peaceful in the forest. The mossy forest floor, called muskeg is spongy when you walk on it. There are no short little trees or shrubs growing beneath the tall skinny spruce trees. We see a snowshoe hare scamper across the road. I have to take a picture of Dave, because he is walking through the Boreal Forest wearing a Tshirt that says "The Boreal Forest" from International Migratory Bird Day!

Every once in a while, we see a patch of lichen on the forest floor. It is so cool, because it looks like leaf litter!

Dave shows me a tree stump that is surrounded with pine cone scales, where red squirrels will perch and eat. We also see moss flowering (for Hickey). It is fascinating. If you look closely, the moss has tiny little red nubs where the new leaves(?) come out, then there are these 3inch-ish vertical spires pointing toward the sky. I love the smell of the forest.

There is a noticeable change in road conditions and housing when you cross into Alaska from the Yukon. Homes and businesses are more modern and the roads are in really good condition. We can drive 65mph with ease. Tok is 93 miles from the Canadian border and is a trade center for the nearby Athabascan villages. Some say that Tok’s name derives from the native word meaning ”peace crossing”, but others say Tok was the name for a survey crew’s dog. Still others say the name Tok comes from the native word “Tokai” which means “creek”. Tok claims the title of “Dog Capital of Alaska”, as it is a center for dog breeding, training and mushing.
The town of Tok began as a construction camp during the building of the Alaska Hwy. Today, it is also the only town in the interior of Alaska through which visitors driving to and from the state have to pass twice. There is no road leaving the interior that doesn’t pass through Tok on its way to the Yukon border at Beaver Creek or Boundary.
As we head north on the Alaskan Highway, we are amazed to see over 20 Snowshoe Hares within the first 5 miles of road. It is also funny to see the mile markers on poles that are 12ft high. They must get a helluva lot of snow here! At Robertson River, we stop on the bridge to take a picture of the ice that is still covering most of the river. It must be 10 feet thick in some areas.

I can see that same soft blue color in the ice that I remember from the glaciers in Kenai Fjords outside of Seward, AK in 2002. The river is named for Sergeant Cady Robertson, who helped map Alaska. We see a moose trot into the woods and many Swainson’s Thrush zipping across the road. It really surprises me to see Robins up here too. I don’t think of them as arctic birds, but they are everywhere.
I find it very interesting to see the tree line along the mountains to our left (West). I thought that the tree line was a result of the top of the mountain consisting of just rock, and no dirt. But, the lack of trees on the mountain is due to more than just a lack of soil. Elevation, a short growing season and a lack of microbes in the soil all contribute. There are some trees, but they are very short and few and far between. We are still travelling through Boreal Forest along the highway, and the trees here are Trembling Aspen, Balsam Poplar, Felt-leaved Willow, Alaska Paper Birch, Speckled Alder, Subalpine Fir, White Spruce, Black Spruce (which I find so ugly), Tamarack and Lodgepole Pine.
At the next bridge, we see an Osprey perched on a snag in the middle of the river bed. Very cool.

The river is almost dry with just a few tendrils of water making their way from the mountain toward the Tanana River. At the Gerstle River bridge, we see someone on a quad runner driving the dry river bed – yet the bridge is very long and the river bed is very wide. I can imagine this river full of water, once the snows melt. As we get within 20 miles of Fairbanks, we see Mt McKinley in the distance to our left. Most of the time, the mountain is shrouded by clouds, so we quickly pull over and snap a few photos!

While taking the pictures of the mountain, Dave yells that there is an eagle flying right below us!

Fairbanks, Alaska: We arrive in Fairbanks a little before 11am, and follow the signs to UAF and the “Really Free Market”.

Once there we asked someone to direct us to our contact, Michelle, and off we went to find her. This market is such a great idea! The place is packed – and every other person is a hippie! I love it here! Fred, Leslie and I would fit right in. We find Michelle, who directs us to campus police to pick up the key to our apartment, and we make a date to have breakfast with her in the morning.

It is so interesting to see the various pamphlets on display at campus police - many different brochures on domestic abuse and drugs. I remember from when we were in Nome, AK on our honeymoon, the locals told us that there is a big problem with battered women and drugs and alcohol. I picked up the pamphlets on meth, XTC, crack and coke. I can always learn more for my drug class. But what really struck me were the ones on driving while you are tired. We drove by a coffee hut that advertised “Don’t die driving tired – stop here!”
Our apartment is 140 MacLean, which is one in a series of buildings called the MacLean House.

These apartments share a common computer lab and laundry room (free too!). The “House” is for native people who come to the college and provides them with a safe, family environment. Rafael says that our 2 bedroom apartment is bigger than the Candlewood Apartments in Oxford, where he and Nancy will be living when we all get back in August.
The apartment is fabulous!

We busily unload the truck and haul everything inside. I take over making the beds and putting our clothes and personal items away, while Dave and Rafael unpack the kitchen. They are so cute!

Organizing the kitchen just the way they want it, and washing up all of the dishes we brought. In less than an hour we have the apartment set up the way we want it, and head out to the store to pick up items we still need: garbage cans for the kitchen and bath, a toothbrush holder, a broom and dustpan, etc. We head over to Fred Myers, and are thrilled to see that the prices of goods are just about the same as in Oxford, OH! Can you believe it?! They even have an olive, bar, Diana!!!

After shopping, Rafael offers to buy us dinner, as a belated Mother’s Day dinner. Michelle had recommended that we go to Pike’s Landing, because we can sit outside on the river. Good choice. The meal is fabulous! The best we’ve had on the trip. I had salmon, and the boys had the seafood platter. The weather is perfect! In fact, I think I might have gotten a little sun-burnt!
We drive around campus a little after dinner, and eventually head back to the apartment to unload our goods from Fred Myers (which is very much like a Target and Kroger combined) and settle in for the night.