On the Road Again with Merle

[Hyesouljah]

Thank you Barrett btb01 and John @JohnDF I completely agree! My first post in this thread back in October (post #36) I suggested doing an Alaska-Hawaii combo. I tagged the only Porch member I know in Hawaii. He declined to participate unfortunately but it would definitely be fun to send Merle off to the tropics after his tour in the ice box. He will have earned a bit of rest and recovery... but North Dakota will be a fine next destination too. Cold climate, warm hearts or something to that effect. (Being from MN I'm naturally inclined toward ribbing when discussing the Dakotas, also Wisconsin, so I'm patting myself on the back for suppressing the instinctive rivalries )

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Dreary skies and light snow falling today. Dog walk and a bit of shoveling, but little else outside. I take our tiny Jack Russel Terrier for a good walk every day, down to about -30F. When temps get colder than -30 it's really just quick trips outside to go to the bathroom. She just doesn't have enough fur to be comfortable at those temps (even with a jacket and booties) unlike the huskies and malemutes and other sled dogs that truly *belong* here.

We've been having a winter for the record books in Fairbanks this year. Not because of temps but because of snowfall. By January we already had more snow on the ground than we would normally have in an entire season... with four more months of winter yet to go. Most of that came during one horrendous week at the end of December. We had multiple huge dumps of snow, and in-between a couple inches of RAIN (temps swung from -40 to +40 in the span of hours) then back to dumping snow and 40-50mph winds. Roads impassable, power lines down everywhere, it was a mess. (I hope you'll indulge this chitchat, as a means of sharing some of the "local color")

One ongoing effect of this heavy winter is that it's severely stressing the moose population. There are moose all over here, so seeing them is unremarkable, it's a common occurrence. But people are having moose encounters way more than usual right now. The snow is so deep in the woods that it's forcing them onto roads and trails. (Plus that freak rainfall we had has resulted in a 2inch layer of ice in the middle of the snowpack, which is shredding their legs when they try to move through it, it's horrible.) But the wolves are really fat and happy, it's hard for the moose to get away from them now. Between the wolf kills and a jump in starvation (if the moose are struggling to move through the woods it becomes very hard for them to forage, plus they are expending much more energy than normal doing so) our moose population is going to take a huge hit this year.

Anyway the moose are being forced onto roads and trails, so people are having more run-ins with them. But the moose are really stressed, so these run-ins have also been more aggressive than usual. Just a week ago a musher was on a 50mile run through the valley here with her dog team, encountered a bull moose who immediately charged and proceeded to stomp all over her and the dogs. Amazingly I believe all the people and animals survived, but there were some severe injuries. A full-grown bull moose is huge, bigger and heavier than a horse.

I don't have any pics of charging moose to share, but here's a photo I took a few years ago. <Insert obligatory dogsled picture here > This is on the river a couple miles from my house, they started the Iditarod in Fairbanks that year.

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Here are some recent snaps from my phone. This was a cow and calf that I very carefully walked past last month, carrying my little dog so she didn't do anything stupid, keeping an eye on which trees I could put between us if mama suddenly charged lol.

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And this was two weeks ago in my driveway, another mama and baby stripping branches.

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Elsewhere in the world I know there was a big game today, so I'll end this post with this:

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To say I am thoroughly enjoying Merle’s time in Alaska would be an understatement. I caught up on all his recent travels and my god is Alaska beautiful. For me in LA, taking a trip to nature is a real treat. I would love to one day move closer to the great and big outdoors later in life. I definitely would love to visit Alaska one day soon as well and do some fishing. What a beautiful place. Absolutely stunning. I would be over the moon if I ever saw a lynx in the wild. Would definitely love to see some wolves too. Thank you very much for sharing!!! Looking forward to more posts

 

[beezwax]

Do you do any ice-fishing? If so, don't let Merle get too close to the hole

I haven't been ice-fishing in years, but if I did go I wouldn't let Merle anywhere near the hole, there are some drops you can't come back from!

The Charlie Brown sweater is epic.

I'm glad you appreciate it, otherwise it's just me standing in the kitchen cracking myself up

Sorry to hear about the sick kiddo, that’s never fun. Hope they’re doing better.

Thank you Barrett, still not sure what exactly is going on with my son, his stomach has been "off" for weeks now. Waiting on a bunch of lab screenings to come back but he has been feeling a bit better the last couple days

I have just opened the 8 year old Lagavullin and will be sipping tonight in my Norlan Glass, great minds and all that, cheers!

I knew it I knew there'd be people here who recognized that glass, cheers!

2 of my Great Grand Daughters and I certainly have enjoyed your Critter Pictures and they wanted to know why a Knife had a name of Merle . Thank you very much for the fine photos .

Harry

Hi Harry, you can let your great-granddaughters know that Merle is the third in a series of Forum pass-around knives, the first two were Earl and Pearl. Maybe the next traveling knife will be named.... Squirrel?

To say I am thoroughly enjoying Merle’s time in Alaska would be an understatement. I caught up on all his recent travels and my god is Alaska beautiful. For me in LA, taking a trip to nature is a real treat. I would love to one day move closer to the great and big outdoors later in life. I definitely would love to visit Alaska one day soon as well and do some fishing. What a beautiful place. Absolutely stunning. I would be over the moon if I ever saw a lynx in the wild. Would definitely love to see some wolves too. Thank you very much for sharing!!! Looking forward to more posts

I'm glad you enjoyed all those wildlife pics, and thank you for the kind words!

 

[beezwax]

Thanks all for the many kind words. It's been a couple days since I posted an update. I meant to yesterday but instead my free time was spent clearing the driveway again, so much snow this year! Merle did ride shotgun with me while I was plowing, but I didn't get any pics. Today I did some roof shoveling. Clearing roofs of the snow load is not something I would do on a normal winter, but this is not a normal winter. I started by knocking the snow off the swingset, so Merle took a closer look at the caribou rack there.





Then I went to work on the wood shed.



But first, I had to light a candle and say a quick prayer to St. Merle. I'm not young anymore and I don't bounce like I used to.




When the light started fading it was time to come in and prep dinner, salmon tonight, yum! Merle helped tidy the fillets (truthfully he is not the best blade for this but he was so eager to help I couldn't say no).



This is red salmon (sockeye) from the Copper River. Some of you may be familiar with Copper River Salmon, it's some of the most prized salmon anywhere and what makes it especially delicious is....fat, basically. Unusually high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. And the reason for that is the unusually long and grueling travel up the Copper River to the spawning grounds, one of the most difficult salmon runs anywhere. Because the fish have such a long hard journey, they have to pack on extra fat, and that makes them extra rich and flavorful. They taste amazing with just a bit of salt and butter, but tonight I topped with some goat cheese, dried dates, and a drizzle of maple syrup. It's basically cheating



There is a special "dipnetting" permit in the Copper River that is only available to Alaskan residents. You take a large landing net, 3-5ft in diameter, stick it on the end of a 12ft pole and scoop fish out of the river. When they are running heavy you can catch fish as fast as you can pull them in, it's exciting and exhausting. And dangerous. The personal use fishery is mostly along a narrow canyon of the river a few miles long, very steep in places so you have to anchor yourself with ropes. And it's a glacial river, freezing cold and very fast and deep. If you fall in you are not likely to come back out, there's usually at least one fatality there every summer. But the fish, oh my, it's worth the risk when you come home with 100+ lbs of fillets. I can't eat any other salmon anywhere. Just keep your wits about you and never go near the water unless you're tied off.

 

[bigfish64]

Thanks all for the many kind words. It's been a couple days since I posted an update. I meant to yesterday but instead my free time was spent clearing the driveway again, so much snow this year! Merle did ride shotgun with me while I was plowing, but I didn't get any pics. Today I did some roof shoveling. Clearing roofs of the snow load is not something I would do on a normal winter, but this is not a normal winter. I started by knocking the snow off the swingset, so Merle took a closer look at the caribou rack there.

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Then I went to work on the wood shed.

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But first, I had to light a candle and say a quick prayer to St. Merle. I'm not young anymore and I don't bounce like I used to.

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When the light started fading it was time to come in and prep dinner, salmon tonight, yum! Merle helped tidy the fillets (truthfully he is not the best blade for this but he was so eager to help I couldn't say no).

View attachment 1746935

This is red salmon (sockeye) from the Copper River. Some of you may be familiar with Copper River Salmon, it's some of the most prized salmon anywhere and what makes it especially delicious is....fat, basically. Unusually high amounts of omega-3 fatty acids. And the reason for that is the unusually long and grueling travel up the Copper River to the spawning grounds, one of the most difficult salmon runs anywhere. Because the fish have such a long hard journey, they have to pack on extra fat, and that makes them extra rich and flavorful. They taste amazing with just a bit of salt and butter, but tonight I topped with some goat cheese, dried dates, and a drizzle of maple syrup. It's basically cheating

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There is a special "dipnetting" permit in the Copper River that is only available to Alaskan residents. You take a large landing net, 3-5ft in diameter, stick it on the end of a 12ft pole and scoop fish out of the river. When they are running heavy you can catch fish as fast as you can pull them in, it's exciting and exhausting. And dangerous. The personal use fishery is mostly along a narrow canyon of the river a few miles long, very steep in places so you have to anchor yourself with ropes. And it's a glacial river, freezing cold and very fast and deep. If you fall in you are not likely to come back out, there's usually at least one fatality there every summer. But the fish, oh my, it's worth the risk when you come home with 100+ lbs of fillets. I can't eat any other salmon anywhere. Just keep your wits about you and never go near the water unless you're tied off.

Good to see Merle is staying warm in his Charlie Brown sweater. That salmon looks delicious, thanks for another great morning read.

 

[beezwax]

Oh my goodness I’m scrolling through the Porch subforum looking for Merle’s thread, planning to post an update. I don’t find it until PAGE 5, that’s on me for letting it drop so far back. It’s been that kind of week, kids had three days off school, another round of fresh snow and plowing/shoveling, yadda yadda. Anyway here we go!

Merle had a grand excursion on Monday. You know when you’ve got visitors from out of town you have to take them to see the local attractions, well one thing that Fairbanks is known for this time of year is the World Ice Art Championships. There are other ice sculpting contests but I believe this is the largest one. It’s been going for 30+ years with teams coming from all over the world to compete (though covid has put a damper on this like everything else, I noticed far fewer international teams this year).

The weather on Monday turned out to be suboptimal. Completely overcast skies, which do not lend themselves to photos. On a clear day with direct sun the ice sparkles like giant gemstones, but flat light is far less flattering (that’s an ironic pun). Merle enjoyed the visit immensely nevertheless.






There was even some *snow* sculpting this year, which I hadn’t seen before.



They’ve really done a great job turning this into an attraction for the whole family. I could hardly convince my kids to look at the sculptures because there was an entire section devoted to Games. They had a checkers table, a giant chess board, an air hockey table, ping pong, shuffle board, mini-golf, cornhole, and half a dozen slides. And every bit of it was carved from ice.

 

[beezwax]

This ice sculpting is something that goes on for weeks. It just opened to the public last week-- the multi-block competition has finished, but the single block and double block competitions were just beginning. So everywhere you looked were giant chunks of ice waiting to be transformed.

 

[beezwax]

Since the weather was so dreary we decided to come back again that evening after dark. That can often be the best time to view the sculptures, they are illuminated at night so you’re not dependent on a clear day. But it dusted snow all that afternoon and *that* fuzzy layer robbed a lot of the crystal clarity even at night. Sometimes you can’t win lol. Still beautiful though.









It was easy to find my kids again when it was time to go.

 

[beezwax]

All of the above pics were from my camera, but I’ll wrap up this post with a few phone snaps that are also nice. Merle is starting to acclimate, his blood’s running thicker I think!

 

[BigKurtHaze]

Awesome, beezwax !

Love the Sasquatch tea party!

 

[btb01]

beezwax awesome posts from the ice art competition! So cool!

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Love that photo!

Another thing I spotted in one of your photos that, if I’m not mistaken, is particularly Alaskan was a pair of Xtratuf boots. To be honest, I wouldn’t know anything about them, and certainly wouldn’t have recognized them, if I hadn’t recently re-read Into the Wild and looked them up after seeing them mentioned in the book.

 

[bigfish64]

All of the above pics were from my camera, but I’ll wrap up this post with a few phone snaps that are also nice. Merle is starting to acclimate, his blood’s running thicker I think!

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What a cool event (no pun intended). They are true works of art.

 

[Rookie82]

All the pictures are great. Really enjoying Alaska!

 

[beezwax]

Another thing I spotted in one of your photos that, if I’m not mistaken, is particularly Alaskan was a pair of Xtratuf boots. To be honest, I wouldn’t know anything about them, and certainly wouldn’t have recognized them, if I hadn’t recently re-read Into the Wild and looked them up after seeing them mentioned in the book.

I had to scroll back through my pics and look-- you’re right one of the kids at the ping pong table is wearing a pair of Xtratufs. Wouldn’t be my choice of footwear in the winter but you know how kids are (the other one at the table is just wearing sneakers ). They definitely are ubiquitous here, and very handy in the shoulder seasons when things meltdown. I have a couple pairs of US-made Xtratufs, still going strong after many years. Sadly they moved production offshore around ten years ago and the quality took a hit.

That’s funny that they’re on your radar because of Into the Wild. I very recently saw *the* bus made famous from that book and film. I was up on our university campus and there it was, bleeding out into a bay in an Engineering lab. Over the last 30yrs it had become a fairly popular pilgrimage for fans of the story, but unfortunately a lot of people were not really prepared for the hike. Two people died trying to reach it, and many more needed to be rescued. After a while the state got tired of having to bail people out so they sent in a National Guard helicopter to airlift it out of the wilderness. It was sitting in the Engineering lab when I saw it, getting cleaned up for future installation into the museum here. Soon it will involve a lot less effort and risk to get selfies with the bus . For those who are familiar with the book and/or film, you may find these articles interesting:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/into-the-wild-bus-removed.html

https://www.backpacker.com/news-and...-bus-is-gone-long-live-the-into-the-wild-bus/

https://www.ktoo.org/2021/10/08/watch-repairs-chris-mccandless-bus-museum-of-the-north/

 

[beezwax]

Digging out from another round of snow here, but I wanted to share some pics from Wednesday last week. It was an absolutely glorious day to be outside, +20F and sunny, it felt like spring. My dog was getting a little annoyed during our walk by how frequently I stopped for pics lol.

 

[beezwax]

That same day I also took Merle to one of the hilltops on the edge of town so he could take in the views. This is looking south across the Tanana River valley. In the distance (100 miles away) you can see the Alaska Range in silhouette.




You could also see Denali on this day (noted with the arrow below) which was a bonus. Denali is so big that it makes its own weather, it’s often socked in clouds even when the rest of the range is clear. Denali is the tallest mountain in North America (summit elevation 20,310ft above sea level). Alaskans like to point out that, measured from base to peak, Denali is actually much taller than Everest (because Everest rises from the Tibetan Plateau which is already at 17,000ft above sea level). Everest rises around 12,000ft from its base, whereas Denali rises around 17,000ft from its base. In any case, it’s a big ole hunk of rock.





And here are a couple pics from my phone, which has a wider angle of view than the lens I had on my camera.

 

[beezwax]

*sigh* Back home from the daily dog walk, such a contrast to the cheery pics I just shared earlier. Leaden skies made heavier by the roar of fighter jets overhead. Fairbanks is very close to two large military bases. There is an army base (Fort Wainwright) that abuts the city limits, as well as an air force base (Eielson) 20-30miles out that is home to the new F-35s and other fighters, close air support, stratotankers, etc. You know what Alaska and Ukraine have in common? We both were part of Russia at one time . They've been burning a whole lot of jet fuel the past few days here....

 

[bigfish64]

That same day I also took Merle to one of the hilltops on the edge of town so he could take in the views. This is looking south across the Tanana River valley. In the distance (100 miles away) you can see the Alaska Range in silhouette.

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You could also see Denali on this day (noted with the arrow below) which was a bonus. Denali is so big that it makes its own weather, it’s often socked in clouds even when the rest of the range is clear. Denali is the tallest mountain in North America (summit elevation 20,310ft above sea level). Alaskans like to point out that, measured from base to peak, Denali is actually much taller than Everest (because Everest rises from the Tibetan Plateau which is already at 17,000ft above sea level). Everest rises around 12,000ft from its base, whereas Denali rises around 17,000ft from its base. In any case, it’s a big ole hunk of rock.

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And here are a couple pics from my phone, which has a wider angle of view than the lens I had on my camera.

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Gorgeous photos beezwax. We were in Alaska about eight years ago I think, and we were fortunate enough to briefly see Denali when we were in the park. The rest of the time it was shrouded in cloud cover. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Thanks for posting such breathtaking pictures.

 

[btb01]

I had to scroll back through my pics and look-- you’re right one of the kids at the ping pong table is wearing a pair of Xtratufs. Wouldn’t be my choice of footwear in the winter but you know how kids are (the other one at the table is just wearing sneakers ). They definitely are ubiquitous here, and very handy in the shoulder seasons when things meltdown. I have a couple pairs of US-made Xtratufs, still going strong after many years. Sadly they moved production offshore around ten years ago and the quality took a hit.

That’s funny that they’re on your radar because of Into the Wild. I very recently saw *the* bus made famous from that book and film. I was up on our university campus and there it was, bleeding out into a bay in an Engineering lab. Over the last 30yrs it had become a fairly popular pilgrimage for fans of the story, but unfortunately a lot of people were not really prepared for the hike. Two people died trying to reach it, and many more needed to be rescued. After a while the state got tired of having to bail people out so they sent in a National Guard helicopter to airlift it out of the wilderness. It was sitting in the Engineering lab when I saw it, getting cleaned up for future installation into the museum here. Soon it will involve a lot less effort and risk to get selfies with the bus . For those who are familiar with the book and/or film, you may find these articles interesting:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/us/into-the-wild-bus-removed.html

https://www.backpacker.com/news-and...-bus-is-gone-long-live-the-into-the-wild-bus/

https://www.ktoo.org/2021/10/08/watch-repairs-chris-mccandless-bus-museum-of-the-north/

I had wondered if they were really suited for winter, but I also know exactly what you mean about kids. Did teenage boys like to wear shorts all winter when you lived in Minnesota?

I had seen the photos of the bus being hauled out by helicopter and knew it had been moved to the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. That’s cool that you’ve been to see it.

 

[beezwax]

Did teenage boys like to wear shorts all winter when you lived in Minnesota?

100% some things never change

Gorgeous photos beezwax. We were in Alaska about eight years ago I think, and we were fortunate enough to briefly see Denali when we were in the park. The rest of the time it was shrouded in cloud cover. It was an experience I’ll never forget. Thanks for posting such breathtaking pictures.

I'm glad you got a chance to see Denali, that puts you in the minority for sure. I don't remember the exact statistic but I believe it's quite low, something like only 20% of visitors to the park actually get to see the mountain. The rest of the time it's just lost in the weather. You're part of the fortunate few!

 

[beezwax]

Well friends, this leg of Merle’s tour is coming to a close. He’s been with me for three weeks today, and it’s time to continue spreading the joy. I’ve been thinking about what I can say to wrap up his adventures in this corner of the world. It’s been a lot of fun sharing glimpses into daily life here with you all. Fairbanks doesn’t have the kind of jaw-dropping beauty that people usually picture when they think of Alaska (mountains rising up from the sea, glaciers calving, etc). There’s plenty of that to be found in coastal AK, but the tundra and boreal forest have a quieter beauty, and an interesting history of their own. Fairbanks was established at the turn of the last century, when the northern gold rush was in full effect. I guess technically it was established when a steamboat ran aground here, and so they unloaded and set up shop lol. But the town grew from the mining activity, and to this day there is still a lot of gold mining in the area-- individual gold claims but also large-scale commercial gold mines. <Insert obligatory gold panning photo here>



This is me quite a while ago (2010). Mostly I’m including this pic for Barrett, so that he can see some Xtratufs at work in their native environment! I spent a few weeks that summer working on a “hobby” claim, paid for my time in raw gold. I was recently married at the time, and I’m also formally trained as a metalsmith (jewelry), so this project was about wedding bands-- rings that I made myself, out of gold that I pulled from the earth myself, doesn’t get much cooler than that, right?





Before anybody jumps to the wrong conclusions, NO this was not the result of one single pan. We were using heavy equipment, an excavator and loader and a trommel washplant. This was a cleanout after several days of running many cubic yards of paydirt. And here’s what part of it became eventually (we were married with the titanium bands, but the gold bands I made some months later, because no self-respecting jeweler has off-the-shelf wedding rings lol).



So for understandable reasons Fairbanks is known as the “Golden Heart City” or the “Golden Heart of Alaska.” But there is something else in the ground here that is also a hallmark of the area, hydrothermal activity a.k.a. hot springs! There are a number of natural hot springs in the greater Fairbanks area. My favorite one is a real journey, it’s a difficult eleven mile trek from the nearest road. Just a couple remote cabins and some wooden outdoor tubs that you need to hike/ski/snowshoe in to (or snowmachine/dogsled). This much of a wilderness trip wasn’t in the cards during Merle’s visit, so instead we took him to a far more developed hot springs about an hour’s drive from town. I figured since we weren’t able to line up a tropical beach destination for Merle’s next adventure, the least we could do was get him some R&R at a hot springs before wrapping up his visit in the arctic (and packing him off to balmy North Dakota )

Chena Hot Springs has had places to soak and stay (bathhouse and cabins) for over a hundred years, and by now has become a proper resort. Today there are multiple indoor and outdoor pools, and multiple lodging options.