Alaska

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Here's just six photo highlights of Alaska. Anchorage was a great base of operations for weekend adventures. "The closest city to Alaska" as they say. I don't think I could live there but it was an incredible summer for hiking. To over winter you'd have to love snow sports. The snow, or termination dust as they call it, had nearly descended all the way down from the front range to the city when I left two days ago! The most challenging aspect of the weather was that we only received 5 sunny days all summer. As a result, many people take Vitamin D yearround. I saw about one bear a week but only had a couple of bear encounters - once while speeding downhill on my bike did a black bear poke his head out of the tall grass about five feet from me (luckily I was going fast) and another time in Denali when a grizzly came walking towards our campsite and all six of us shouted at it. Luckily it ran away, although I had my bear spray ready and two others had guns.

I wish I could stay in Maine and soak up the fall a bit longer but I'm headed to Colorado in a few days for another short-term field job with Colorado State University. This will be a great chance for me to check out their grad programs and meet possible academic advisors. It will be nice not having to worry about Grizzly Bears!

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