Tag Archives: snow

Walter Harper Day

Today is Walter Harper Day in Alaska. Harper was the first known individual to summit Denali on this day in 1913.


Climbing Season

Denali’s West Buttress Route

The first successful summit party of 2024 returned to the lowlands this past week.

Currently there are 261 climbers on The Mountain, with 952 having registered to attempt Denali this summer.

There is no “best” time to climb Denali, although May – June are the most popular. One never knows what the weather will be on Denali. Winter ascents are attempted, but are rare.

There are several possible routes, but 90% of climbers choose the West Buttress Route. It is common to spend 17-18 days on a summit trip, depending on experience, weather and group size.

Most climb in groups of 5-6. No groups larger than 12 are allowed.

The Muldrow Glacier Route was the northern counterpart to West Buttress and was considered the less technical route, but that changed with the Muldrow Glacier surge in 2021. Currently the glacier appears impassable from the air.

Photos credit: Denali National Park and Preserve


Green Up Day 2024

The Fairbanks phenomenon known as Green Up Day occurred this Saturday.

When I drove into work early that morning, there was not a green bud noticeable.

Upon my return in the late afternoon, the hills were glowing a vibrant green.

As a reminder that we are in Alaska, it snowed all day Monday.


Kenai Fjords National Park


A bit of a chilly start

A Yukon Quest musher and his team breaks through the ice fog…

The revamped Yukon Quest race had its start on Saturday morning. It was a balmy -45F at the first mush.

Officially, Fairbanks dropped to -50F that morning. It was our first “official” -50 since 2017. It was the third morning at the cabin during this cold snap, that I saw -50 on my thermometer. For some reason, my cabin is not considered the official weather station for Fairbanks. For purely political reasons, that honor lies with the Fairbanks International Airport.

Speaking of streaks broken: I broke my previous record for distance traveled with “thumpity-thumpity-thumpity” coming from my tires. For those left out in the heat, tires make that sound after a flat spot forms where they met the driveway during extreme cold temps. It usually only takes a few hundred yards for the tires to warm up enough to reform, but in fifty below, the flat spot lingers for a mile or so.


A bit of snow…

Land Rover through a Rolleiflex

New schedule, New route

It’s possible, some readers may have noticed, that I have not been much of a contributor to wordpress lately. Life has strange detours, and in the past year I have taken on a new project that seems to devour time like a humpback whale gulping down krill. This reroute of my world has been fairly drastic, and I have not found a way to include blogging in my time management plan.

The flip side of the same coin, is that I have not found a creative way to bring the new project onto these pages. Maybe I will find a path between the two, but so far that is a trail I have not traveled yet.

This blog originally started out as a travel alert when I drove the old Land Rover down to the Yucatan from Alaska’s North Slope. It eventually morphed into a window to Alaska’s cabin life. I’m not sure where it will go from here, but it seems like it will have to morph once again if it is to continue in some fashion.

Some readers have been dropping in to see what the heck is going on between These Circles from the very first mile, and some have been lured in due to the Fat Bear content. Whichever the case may be, I sincerely appreciate the interest, comments and, in general, simply the interaction. After 13-14 years of posts, I felt a proper explanation was warranted. Time will tell where things go from here. I do have one or two ideas to proceed, but I still need to create the time and find something I want to say.

Thanks for reading. 

Cheers

P.S. The image came from one of the Alaska Railroad’s social media sites. I included it here because it is one fine image, and because there is no caboose.


Happy Winter Solstice


Fat Bear Week is Back

How many salmon does it take to make a Wide Body?

Fat Bear Week returns to Katmai and Brooks Falls. The bears have all done their part to get as round as possible before hibernation. Snow fell in Fairbanks on Tuesday, so winter is just around the corner.

The Bear Bracket

Voting starts today. Just jump on the link below to portal over to explore.org. There you can vote for your favorite chubby bruin, if you are so inclined.

https://explore.org/fat-bear-week


Life in the North

Murphy Dome, just northwest of Fairbanks