Utqiagvik, the Village Formerly Known as Barrow, saw the sun rise yesterday for the first time in 65 days.
Brighter days are ahead.
Arctic Coast Sunrise!
Utqiagvik, the Village Formerly Known as Barrow, saw the sun rise yesterday for the first time in 65 days.
Brighter days are ahead.
Rammin’ Snow
An Alaska Railroad freight train found itself stuck in a snowbank, when the train plowed into avalanche debris that had just previously swept across the tracks along Turnagain Arm. The 3144 foot long train was making the run from Whittier to Anchorage, when it hit the debris around 2am on Tuesday morning, just south of Girdwood.
The impact derailed two locomotives, and partially derailed a third. No crew members were injured during the impasse.
The area is known for its avalanche threat, and conditions on Monday were prime. The Seward Highway, which parallels the railway along Turnagain Arm, was not impacted, since the snow did not make it as far as the roadway.
That engineer was living every kid’s dream, who had a train set up in their basement.
Snow was still being cleared from the Anchorage side of the snow drift as of this writing.
Alaska Railroad Centennial
2023 is the Centennial year for the Alaska Railroad. U.S. President Warren G. Harding presided over the completion ceremony on July 15, 1923, by driving in the golden spike.
This past weekend, the annual Alaska Railroad print signing took place at the Anchorage Depot. The tradition of a yearly AKRR print was started back in 1979.
This year, Nenana artist Noah Nolywaika was on hand to sign his charcoal drawing of the Nenana Depot, where the railroad was officially completed 100 years ago. William Chase was also there with his painting of the locomotives throughout the railroad’s history, including Engine No. 1. That historic steam engine now sits outside the historic Anchorage Depot.
Prints and posters are available through the Alaska Railroad’s website.
Moving snow
Hockeyland
Friday Night Lights on ice:
I recently saw the documentary, Hockeytown. This very raw film, follows two high school hockey teams in Northern Minnesota during the 2019-2020 season. Two rivals on very separate paths: Eveleth is the iconic Iron Range town, home of the U.S Hockey Hall of Fame. Both the town and the hockey team are long past their prime years. Hermantown is on the rise, gaining both population and championships.
All the pressure, pride, excitement and disappointment in playing Minnesota’s state sport at the high school level is laid out bare in this very well done documentary.
Texas has football; Indiana has basketball; Minnesota has hockey.
We call this mild:
The forecast calls for another week of mild temperatures across Alaska’s Interior.
New Glacier
A wilderness guide, Zachary Sheldon, came across a glacier in the Shublik Mountains in northern Alaska. Just thirty miles from the Arctic Coast and ten miles northeast of Alaska’s Brooks Range, it is the northernmost glacier in the United States.
Glaciers this far north are much different than glaciers on our southern coast. There isn’t much snow accumulating this far north, and the elevation of this glacier isn’t as high as others, as it sits at 4500 feet.
Like 99% of glaciers in Alaska, this newly discovered one is not growing in size.
Clam Gulch
It used to be a tradition. A trip to Clam Gulch, clam gun in hand, on the hunt for razor clams. It was always a fun weekend, and we always came back with clams galore.
Those trips have not taken place in 9 years.
The beaches of Clam Gulch and Ninilchik on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula were once a hot bed for clams. For another year, the counts by the Department of Fish and Game showed poor growth, so the beaches will remain closed.
Ninilchik has shown slight progress with some three year old clams, but Clam Gulch is seeing a mortality rate of 90%.
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