Let us rejoice and sing gladly

for I have discovered Anchorage Public Radio! KSKA, on 91.10 FM. Why I couldn't find this station before is a mystery. I guess this means no more Christian radio. Oh no, what a tragedy.

Snow! More snow!

(Update: 10.6 inches total snowfall for yesterday, 33 at Alyeska ski resort). We've had 9 inches in the last 10 hours. It's still snowing. This week every day began the same: walking to my truck through ankle-deep snow, brushing it off, driving to work, coming back to a clean snow-plowed parking lot. Next morning, more ankle-deep snow.

I don't have any pictures of the beautiful white storm enveloping Anchorage. In the meantime, here's some I took about two months ago. Some of my coworkers have their own planes (Anchorage has the highest plane-per-capita index in North America), and they invited me along for a Saturday morning ride to Homer (about 3 hours roundtrip).




This is the Homer Airport. Our two Cessnas are the closest to the camera. My ride was the blue one (I actually got to fly it for a while!)




Beautiful ocean-side properties off the Homer Spit.




This is on our way back to Anchorage. We hugged the edge of that cliff all the way back to Anchorage. Eventually we were flying so low that those houses were above us.




Brian's Cessna, 2 minutes before overtaking him.




One of the many Alaskan ranges. It's hard to remember the names of all these peaks.




Some Alaskan peak. I shot this about 20 minutes before landing back in Anchorage.



Oh. Merry Christmas everyone.

Winter Solstice

Yesterday was the longest night of winter: 5h 28m in Anchorage. However, word on the street is that our nights are LONGER than, say, Seattle's. How so, you ask, if Alaska is much closer to the North Pole? Snow. We have lots of snow. Once snow arrives it doesn't leave until May, making everything very white. Couple that with low snow cloud cover often during the week, and nights are so bright you can almost read by - it's not moonlight, hmmm - let's call it snowlight. Example: this is Hillside at 11:33pm on Tuesday night.



(Hillside is one of many places to go crosscountry skiing in Anchorage. This particular spot is my favorite, being 6 minutes from home. We had a lot of snow that day, about 7 inches. The groomer did a fabulous job, and I almost cried when I saw that perfect corduroy and me with no skis. I know, I know, I could have gone back home, get dressed, bring my lights - but I had to work the next day. A pitiful excuse.)

I'm dreaming of a white christmas (update)...

Update: It's still snowing. 2.5 more inches overnight. We got 16.5 inches of snow in the last 60 hours.

I absolutely love it. There are few things as fun as walking to your car and seeing one's ankles disappear in a pristine mantle of white fluffy powder.


Taken this morning before work. View from top of the staircase that leads to my basement apartment.

Anchorage's happy-o-meter climbs to dramatic heights with every snowfall. I'm learning that, just like green Iowa skies and tornadoes, pink Anchorage skies mean snow, lots of it.

Winter Wonderland

Yep, the last post happened almost 3 months ago.

I will spare you trite sentimental observations about my NY-AK trip. Suffice it to say that it was most enjoyable.

I love Alaska. No, even better. I'm in love with Alaska.

Saturday, Sept. 30th - Welcome To Alaska!

This is a sad post.




I awoke to snow. Didn't expect it at all, since it was rather warm. In hindsight, this is the most dangerous snow: slick as snot. ABS won't help me if I get into an accident.




Welcome To Alaska! Border crossing was uneventful. Did I mention visibility = zero?

And then it happened. 25 miles into Alaska. The camper trailer ahead of me stopped rather suddenly, and I didn't have enough time to slow down. I plowed into him at about 35 mph. I had about 4 seconds to mutter "no no no no no no no" but it didn't matter. Trying to slow down on this snow is just impossible. Just before hitting the trailer I swerved to the right, hoping to avoid the hit. Then I saw the 20-foot drop. No, I'd rather hit the trailer than end upside down in the ditch. I reluctantly swerved back to the left. Crash. Belle & Sebastian kept singing when I finally stopped moving. Why didn't the airbag deploy? Got out, saw Barry (owner of the camper trailer) (he turned out to be a really nice guy. Stayed at his place that night. Alaskans are friendly people) walking towards me. "What happened?!" I ask, confused and angry. You're not supposed to slow down on these conditions. Never mind, the insurance companies will sort it out. Within 3 minutes we had created our own Alaskan roadblock. 2 minutes later a trooper shows up. He was on his way to another accident that had happened about a mile past us, near the border side. That one turned out to be worse, a flipped SUV in the ditch. 3 minutes pass and a tow truck shows up. What luck! The toothless guy was on his way to that accident, but agrees to tow my truck and trailer back to Anchorage when he's done. The ignition wasn't damaged, so I was able to straighten the truck out nearer to the shoulder. Collected the scattered pieces in one neat pile (with the help of another toothless VW bus owner), sighed heavily, and got in Barry's truck.















All's well that ends well, I guess.

Friday, Sept. 29

Didn't write anything down today. I'm pressed for time. Need to get to Anchorage by Saturday. Doesn't look very easy at the moment. I'm still in B.C., and Yukon is huge! Oh well.

This is the view from my truck's windshield. No wonder it felt like I was on a boat. The constant wind felt threatening at times.




Taken simply because it looked so... unnatural.




My first moose sighting. I hear they're quite commonplace in Anchorage. Let's hope none of them venture on the road. A 1000lb animal would leave a nice dent.




Yukon! Finally!




Sorry if this update is a little bit grey folks, but the weather is to blame. Snowclouds are rolling in.