So this has been a very interesting fall semester here in Alaska. It's going to be December -- tomorrow. How did that happen?!? This fall semester with 17 credits (not including the 3 credit English class I'm still attempting to finish), two jobs, and all of the preparations for next semester have kept me insanely busy and kind of LAME. Yes, that is right -- I have succumbed to a rather lame existence. But maybe next semester will be better. Okay...no, no it won't because next semester is 18 credits (plus the 3 credit English class I probably won't have done), [View Full Entry]

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The Inside Passage to Juneau No map this time, too fiddly. More slow travel though: The M/V Malaspinaferry from Bellingham in Washington state takes two and a half days to navigate up the inside passage to Juneau, the state capital of Alaska. The South-East, they also call it the panhandle, is mostly blue sea, grey cloud and green trees. This far South, even in mid-winter, I'm told the average temperature is above freezing. But being coastal it's a damp cold, so it's just like Scotland, which is almost on the same latitude. I've learned such a lot whilst I've [View Full Entry]

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Sailed at sea all day yesterday while we headed up to Juneau. Sea was flat but the wind was blowing about 30 knots, making the boat rock pretty bad all day and night. Lots of people seasick. Got to Juneau early in the morning, wind had eased and it was nice. Nice but cold, freezing cold. Went whale watching for the day. Saw about 15 humpbacks, seals etc. No killer whales though. Went to Meddenhall galacier after that. Seen one glacier and youv've seen them all. What we did see however was a black bear wandering about the info centre. Pretty [View Full Entry]

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Thursday morning we woke up very early again as the ship made its way into the Juneau Harbourgh. We had breakfast of Belgian Waffles with Strawberry and Heather had chocolate. We took a few pictures from the outside deck, but it was raining. This morning we are Kayaking in to the Mendenhall Glacier bay. We dressed very warm and made our way to the pier. As we were a little early we went to buy ticket for the tram that goes up Mount Roberts. We had a little walk in shops to see what was on offer. We then joined the [View Full Entry]

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Two days of summiting have left my legs shaky, arms scratched, and nose sunburned. My first goal, Mt. Roberts, teased me for three days. Rain pored during the morning, fog clouded the tops, and I stayed inside, waiting. Friday, I could wait no more. After much indecision on whether to stay for another week and fish or go home to Fairbanks, I decided to go. But Mt. Roberts had to be climbed before I once again left a town that had been my home for some of the best years of my life. At 4:30 I filled my daypack with water [View Full Entry]

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Our worries about a sinking boat were unfounded. But let me back up and explain how we discovered this information. Mom almost convinced me to put on Dad’s wetsuit and dive in for a look at the hull. She bribed me with money, and what can I say…however, the wetsuit was too big and Mom couldn’t find the mask. I’ve opened my eyes in salt water before, but that was in warm, Mexican surf. Plus, the thought of icy water trickling down my armpits and belly put a stop to any ocean adventuring on my part. I hung around the boat [View Full Entry]

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Alaskans aren’t the only ones who woke up today to shocking political news. Senator Palin (pronounced “Pay-lin”) of Alaska was elected as a running mate by McCain for the upcoming presidential election. Generally Alaskan news doesn’t travel out of the state. I often feel like our issues and decisions are a world away from the rest of the United States. I’m always surprised when I meet people who don’t know where Alaska is—or that it’s even part of the United States. But today, Alaska is being noticed. Or more aptly, our governor. In Alaska, P [View Full Entry]

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Mom and Dad brought back five cart-loads of food from Costco. There are boxes of olives, canned corn, baked beans, apples, nuts, cheese, steaks, and even a case of Alaskan Amber…which may be my clincher for staying another few days to fish. All the perishable food was put down in the fish hold. We still have about 2-3 tons of ice from Sitka keeping everything cold. Grandpa built the boat as a freezer boat, meaning that there used to be a generator in the hold that kept everything frozen. Fish were put on racks ad dipped every few hours in clean [View Full Entry]

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When I was a child I remember taking our skiff and boating across the water to islands in Duncan Canal to beach comb. We found buckets, chunks of foam, and torn nets. Toads, hopped through the grass, having previously been warming themselves on the rocks. Scattered throughout the higher areas of the beach, where the tide rarely came high enough to cover, wild Alaskan flowers grew. Fireweed, Indian paintbrush, and shooting star colored the woods with dots of art. Fireweed and Indian paintbrush were dug up and placed in buckets, then in our skiff, Once home they were replanted in our [View Full Entry]

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The gulls that were lined up so prettily along the break water when I went to bed kept me up late into the night. First one would start squawking, then screeching, inciting others to join in until they reached such an unearthly crescendo you would think every monster on earth was crawling out of his cave to get them. Then, as quickly as they started, they all quieted down with a disgruntled squawk every now and then before erupting into another awful ruckus. I would have taken freeway noise over this any day, at least freeway noise is consistent. I braved [View Full Entry]

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