Mt Hunter

2015/08/24

Family Visits ‘n Fun!

Of late you may have noticed a dearth of postings on my site; there is a reason for this and said dearth will continue into early September.  My sister and brother in law – Sal and Gene – are visiting Alaska for the first time.  They began their travels with a flight from Colorado Springs (CO) to Vancouver (BC) where they boarded a cruise which took them up the Inside Passage with stops at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway and Glacier Bay before reaching Seward where they disembarked and spent a day visiting the sites.  Then they took a bus to Anchorage, spent a day looking around and then boarded the Alaska Railroad and traveled up here. 

Since they arrived the weather cleared up and has been warm and dry; I told them they were welcome any time and that Alaska was smiling on them!  Since arriving they’ve done the ‘Grand Tour’ on a K2 Aviation Beaver which flew them among the peaks and valleys of The Alaska Range as well as landing on a glacier.  We visited the Palmer-Wasilla area via the Hatcher Pass road, toured the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer (neat place and well worth the time), picked up great fish and meat at Mat Valley Meats in Palmer and shopped Fred Meyer before heading back to Talkeetna via the Parks Highway.  I’ve driven them around the area and they spent Saturday morning wandering the village.  Sunday they participated in my music show on KTNA; they gave their impressions of ‘The Great Land’ in general and of Talkeetna in particular in between music.  Both were fascinated by live radio and really got a kick out of seeing their ‘little brother’ make it happen.  They have walked ‘the Kidz’ multiple times each day and Sal is still trying to get a picture of the musher who takes her team up and down East Barge Drive on her ATV.  I’ve seen a bevy of moose but sadly Sal and Gene haven’t been with me but they did see a pair of moose in Hatcher Pass.  I also caught a brief glimpse of a grizzly at Mile 2.8 of the Spur but once again they were not in the Escape.

We finished baking six apple pies Sunday afternoon and gave one to my neighbor (Cathy); the remainder will go to Holly (my dear friend and realtor), the KTNA staff, the ‘ladies of the Talkeetna PO’ and another neighbor leaving one for us.  I still want to introduce them to more folks around town and get in a Mahay’s Jet Boar ride up the Susitna River.  Wednesday we drive to Anchorage to pick up a RV; we’ll return here to load it up and then head north to the Denali Highway.  As pets are not allowed in the rental RV Mark will live here in our absence and handle ‘the Kidz’.  We’ll be in Denali NP&P from Friday through Sunday and then most likely drive into the Kenai and visit Homer and the immediate area.  Then we turn in the RV the next Wednesday and we’ll have another four days here before they depart.

All told it has been a wonderful visit to this point and it there’s no reason to assume it will not continue to be great.  I am hoping they will get to see wildlife on Saturday when we take the bus in the Park to Wonder Lake.  At least they’ve already had a chance to see The Alaska Range in general and Denali, Mt Hunter and Mt Foraker in particular from Talkeetna so even if we don’t see ‘the Mountain’ in the Park it will be okay.  I’m also hoping for more moose views around here and in the Kenai and I remain hopeful they will get to see some grizzlies in the Park as well.

It has been a fantastic visit to this point so here’s hoping for more of the same!  I will be back to blogging on a more regular schedule come early September.  Here’s wishing everyone a great remainder of summer and a colorful upcoming fall..!

Sis Sal fitting glacier boots for walking on the glacier

Sis Sal fitting glacier boots for walking on the glacier

Heading to the Beaver!

Heading to the Beaver!

Hatcher Pass mine and vista!

Hatcher Pass mine and vista!

A cow moose and two yearling calves on the Spur

A cow moose and two yearling calves on the Spur

Data screens at the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, AK

Data screens at the National Tsunami Warning Center in Palmer, AK

2014/05/12

Denali Clothed In Some New Attire…

One of my favorite past times since moving to Talkeetna has been to regularly view the Alaska Range in general and Denali in particular.  In this blog I’ve shared images of ‘the big three’ (Mount Foraker @ 17,400 feet, Mount Hunter at 14,700 feet and Denali @ 20,237 feet) as a group and as individuals.  While all are impressive Denali remains my favorite for its sheer size; it’s just so ‘Alaskan’!  Throughout most of the late fall and winter the mountains were visible mainly on clear days as just snow-covered peaks.  Of late, however, there’s been warmer air that’s carried more moisture aloft and that has translated into more clouds of the layered kind as versed with the just plain thick cloud cover which obscures the range.  The following are a couple of images taken last week of ‘the Mountain’ adorned with some interesting cloud formations.  I’d love to see a lenticular cloud crowning Denali’s majestic peaks – there are both a north and south peak with the north being the highest – but I suspect such a situation would be extremely rare as the winds that blow around the peak are generally very strong and would most likely shred any large lenticular cloud.  However, I am an avid Denali watcher and hope to some day catch such an event.

Image

This image was taken from Mile 5.2 of the Spur which leads from The Parks Highway (AK 3) to ‘downtown’ Talkeetna

Image

This image of Denali was taken a bit later last week and shows a feathery white cloud mass almost conforming to the top of ‘the Mountain’s’ peak.  A careful review of the flanks of Denali reveals some of its rocky massif is visible which is indicative of slowly melting ice and snow due to the warm weather and long periods of daylight which is now around 18 hours of direct sunlight

2014/02/10

Alpenglow

One of the events I cherish in my new home is viewing true ‘alpenglow’ up here in ‘The Last Frontier’ and to this point I’ve seen some marvelous examples of the effect. To those unsure true ‘alpenglow’ is caused when the sun is just below the horizon – this can occur just before sunrise or just after sunset – such that the more energetic (i.e. higher frequency) portion of the visible light segment of the electromagnetic spectrum isn’t bent enough by the earth’s atmosphere and radiates into space while the less energetic (i.e lower frequency) portion – in this case the reds – are bent just enough to strike taller objects like mountains.  The phenomena is always very short duration and requires a clear atmosphere.  There are other instances of a pink to red light striking mountains which technically do not meet the above definition but are also referred to to as ‘alpenglow’.  While I prefer the images of true alpenglow I have included a number of examples of both effects in the following pictures.  This effect is just one more demonstration of the incredible natural beauty that truly makes ‘The Great Land’ unique and so memorable!

Image

Mt Foraker, a 17,000 foot high mountain, shows true alpenglow on its western face

Image

Denali and Mt Hunter awash in early morning alpenglow

Image

Early morning alpenglow on The Alaska Range

Image

Just the peak of Denali showing evening alpenglow

Unknown peak in Denali NP&P awash in alpenglow

Unknown peak in Denali NP&P awash in alpenglow