The Butte (notice the e!!)

Well after a weird couple of days I’m back on track. I’m sorry for anyone who read that post I put up the other night. I was just in a real bad mood. Anywho, today is a different story. My friend Kristen and I took the dogs up to a real cool little place called “The Butte.” I’m not quite sure what to call it, it’s not a mountain and it’s too large to be a hill. The rock is composed of what looks like granite and other forms of very hard bedrock. This “Butte” stands alone in the middle of the valley, and when you hike to the top you can see 360 degrees around the whole valley.

The ecosystem around the base reminded me somewhat of Utah. There was lots of evidence of erosion, but the closer you got to the top the less soil there was. Instead the top of the Butte is dominated by bedrock outcroppings surrounded by loose soil. This “island of rock” look was exacerbated by the freezing and thawing of water on top, slowing eroding the soil and rock. This really is a cool place, especially because there is no where else like it in the valley.

The valley is known for its great farming, which owes much of its success to the many rivers and creeks that deposit silt over the years. The Knik and Matanuska glaciers have fed the two
main rivers and over hundreds of thousands of years have crushed rock, deposited soil and reshaped the whole valley. That is what makes this area so cool. While most of the valley floor is dominated by loam soil or soil covering glacial moraine (crushed rock that resembles gravel), the “Butte” stands alone as a natural wall, not giving in to the glaciers or their rivers. Also, it’s just a really cool place to hike.

As a side note, let’s ignore the fact that I look like Chuck Norris in these pictures. I lost my beanie on the way up, and also forgot that I had a sleeveless shirt on under my sweater. It got too hot on the way up so I had to remove clothing. I may not have been trying to look like a bad ass, but look at me….I’m frickin Chuck Norris! One more thing as well; Cody is a great dog, he loves to hike and run beside me while I bike. I really lucked out with him and it’s good to have a canine companion like Mr. Cody.

PS: It's fall and the colors are gorgeous! Check out the video!

A tirade Anyone??

I am writing today in utter disgust. This is not my usual disgust of commercialization or over development; this is a disgust of filthy, squalid living conditions. Within the last 20 minutes I have killed at least 15 flies. This did not happen anywhere near the kitchen, but instead in my bathroom and in my freaking room. I am so tired of this crappy house; I don’t know how much longer I can stand it. If I can somehow manage to make some money I might say screw it and move out. I thought this would be a good way to save some money, but the decrepit and insulting condition this house is in leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

As a university student, I would never ever in my wildest dreams imagine that this place would even be a housing option. Now, do not get me wrong, I am not displeased because my house is old or has small rooms. This is a rustic house; it is old and was obviously not designed for college student. The thing that really gets me is the lack of general maintenance to the property. We don’t have furniture, but this is of no matter because our carpet and its resident “funk” would probably cause it to spontaneously combust. Our walls are yellowed and dirtier than a pig in a mud pit. The basement has multiple leaks stemming from god knows where, and this becomes a bit more dangerous by the fact that the leak spreads underneath the solar unit and its battery cell.

Whoops, there go 2 more flies. Oh yeah, the solar panel. Let me explain this doozy to you. Well, we have a solar panel, great for renewable energy clout and “sustainable living.” Hooked directly to this unit are the essentials of life here in AK. That would be our water heater, heating unit for the house, our phone lines and our refrigerator. The university has stated that this has been done just in case the power goes out in winter time. Well, gee that’s great except for this minor fact: IT’S DARK HERE IN WINTER TIME!!!! It rained for a couple days and the solar couldn’t even keep a charge. I wonder what the hell is going to happen when we get 6 hours of light on a good day, without clouds or snow. I would probably have left these things on the power grid; I mean why would I need a fridge if the power went out? It’s going to be 20 degrees outside and I doubt the food will go bad. This perhaps would not be a big deal except for the fact that no one, not even the damn university knows how to work the stupid solar system. Their suggestion you ask? Here it is: “You guys figure it out, and then right it down and we’ll make a manual.” What the hell? I’m not here for electrician school; I’m here for graduate environmental studies.

Now, do not confuse my anger with an Anger of Alaska. Everyone who doesn’t live in this POS house has an amazing place, with nice warm heat, plumbing that works, clean living areas, and a general lack of smell, flies and random garbage in the basement. I am embarrassed and angered to call this place home. I don’t even want to bring Erin in this house. Her and I worked our asses off to keep the house in Orlando in good shape and I know that there is no way we will ever live like this. This place sucks….

Can we snowboard yet?

We finished the Wall Tent today and I'm glad that it's over. We started this morning at 8:30, and this also happened to be our first hard frost in the valley. Kelly's friends Jim and Denise came into town so I took everyone up to Hatcher pass for some hiking and scenery. Wow! It turned out to be an awesome day, especially because the sun was out for the first time in a couple of days. During the whole work week it was rainy and dreary, but as of yesterday the sun was shining, a crisp sense of fall was in the air, and the contrasting colors of mountains, snow and autumn leaves made for one of the most beautiful days since I've been here.

Everyone and their mother were out doing some type of outdoor activity, leaving almost all of the parking lots and trail heads full at Hatcher Pass. People were everywhere, whether it was paragliding, hiking, mountain biking, or just going for a nice walk. Perhaps it was the last hurrah of the season before it all goes downhill (Downhill being the time between snow and warmth…i.e. cold, but not enough to snow a whole bunch). We drove up to Summit Lake and made our way around the lake and surrounding ridges. The elevation of 4,000 ft. left us with 45 to 50 degree air temps, but the sun’s angle and intensity made for quite a warm and pleasant hike. The snow melt was pushing up the water levels of all the creeks, causing them to flow more rapidly and urgently than during the long lazy days of summer.

We ended the day by picking some of the remaining blueberries just on the southeast side of the pass. The bushes have since turned bright red as their leaves begin to die off in the ever descending temperatures. They were still extremely tasty, but definitely not as good as 3 weeks ago. It’s snowed up here for almost a week now, and I’m sure everything is on its way out. Overall it was a gorgeous day and I was sad to leave the park. You can see the beauty of a place, and experience it at that moment, but to fully comprehend the beauty of Alaska, Utah, Florida (anywhere in the world I guess) you need to be able to spend TIME there. To go somewhere for a day or two, see it and then leave feeling as if you know it is like saying you know the outcome of a book after reading only one page. But alas, I guess it is better to experience these places for even a short, minute amount of time than none at all.

Paying the rent

I had to get up early this morning to help Steve build the new deck for one of our "wall shelters." These shelters are made of a canvas material, and are around 9 by 6 ft. We've constructed the frame of dead spruce trees, cleaned and turned into support beams. The look is that of a shelter used by miners during the gold rush of days past, or at least this is the image I see in my mind's eye.

The deck we started on this morning is being constructed using solid 2x4's made of Douglas fir and tongue and groove slats from local wood. The construction is not difficult, but definitely time consuming. We are trying to minimize use of electric tools as much as possible. Hand tools a tape measurer, a steady hand and lots of patience has been the key for todays work.

Steve had the idea to orient the deck in a fashion so as to be protected from the wind and still achieve a beautiful view. So, essentially you step out of the shelter door, onto the wood porch and into your day, framed by beautiful Pioneer Peak and Twin Peaks.

These pictures were taken before we put the actually deck planks on but the frame is complete, along with the cement piers. You can tell from the pictures the orientation and direction of the tent. It will be amazing once we get everything done. We're protected from the winter winds, and highly exposed to sunlight from multiple directions. I'll update tomorrow with the finished product.

Blog = simplicity

After seeing Jesse's blog I have come to the realization that it would be much easier to just create a blog and update everyone through this instead of sending out mass emails, which seem to jam up everyone's computers because of all the pictures I send as well. I hate to copy Jesse, but a good idea is a good idea. But, I've given credit where credit is due so I don't want to hear anything else on the subject. Jesse just left for Washington to begin working for Americorps so please check out his posts here.


In AK news, we began our Snow-Smart training today and I must say that I have been humbled by the awesomeness of avalanches. That isn't a cool awesomeness but rather the awesome one uses to describe power and "wet your pants" inducing fear. We learned a lot today and I hope to be able to put that knowledge to use this winter, in as safe a manner as possible. The group that ran the symposium is called NAOI (North American Outdoor Institute). This a group of guides and professionals who want to spread avalanche education and "know before you go" knowledge all over Alaska. The other students and I have the opportunity to possibly become educators with them and one of their lead instructors has some great ideas for the future.

NAOI needs people all over the state to help teach the basic SNOWSMART course, so along with our own snow training, we take along knowledge to teach the basics as well. It was really cool to meet the creators of the program, especially those who I have seen on fuel TV or in backcountry skiing movies (If anyone wants to know more head to www.avalanche.org to check out some info).

As kind of an intro to Snow training, our professor took us up to Hatcher Pass on Tuesday and surprise, it was snowing. This was somewhat of a wakeup call that...Holy crap I'm from Florida!

BRING IT...