Some thoughts

I’ve been informed that I have been somewhat complacent on my blog posting lately so I apologize and will attempt to update more often.

Today I headed up buffalo mine road to check out a back country spot someone had mentioned to me. The road runs right along the Castle Mountain Fault, and then dead ends at someone’s private property. It was pretty amazing driving along the fault, which took the form of a 100 to 300 ft deep canyon with a creek running through it. Apparently many people kayak and fish this creek in Summer time, so I will have to check it out following the break up in April. It was a beautiful drive and at about 2/3 of the way to the private property the road turns to dirt, which by winter standards becomes sheer ice. The road had obviously dealt with a couple of tectonic interactions because some spots had major bumps and dips. Access to the backcountry is via snow machine and 4x4 trails off to the left of the road, all in all it was a pretty sweet experience. You could also see where people had come to cut firewood and Christmas trees (both legal in AK). It’s all good though because the site where cutting took place was within the sustainable yield provided by the Alaska Department of Forestry.

After my little scout trip, I decided to go for a short ski up archangel road, about halfway to the top of Hatcher pass. Cody was with me and the short ski turned into a mildly long one, but it was amazing so I lost track of time. The road up archangel valley starts in thick alder and gradually ascends up into archangel valley and then further upwards into the fork of fern and snowbird valleys. I’ve driven and mountain biked this road in summer time, so skiing allowed me a whole new perspective on the valley. The skies were clear and the sun was shining and it just turned out to be a beautiful day, with both the moon and sun visible for a short time around 10:30. As the road ascends you come under might Idaho Peak and the views just continue to get better and better. There’s a lot of old placer mines for gold, copper and coal up here, so there’s little trails leading every which way. I took a very old trail, not visible in summer time and headed upwards for about 1000 yards. The trail climbed slowly through thick alder thickets, 10 ft tall and with an archway of about 3 ft to ski through. It was a pretty cool experience, but being that I was alone except for cody and lacking my transceiver, I opted to head back down to the road and ski up to the reed lakes trailhead, about 3 miles in. I made it to reed lakes trail after crossing the strange bridge over archangel creek. The views up into the Talkeetnas were so awe inspiring, I felt I should drop down and pray to someone or something. I didn’t drop down, but I gave a thanks to whomever or whatever helped create this place and then went along my way. I could have gone further up the road to the old snowbird mining camp, and then to lane glacier, but I decided to head back to eat some lunch and do a little school work. The way down was pretty fun, and I finally saw that cody was learning some commands for skiing in the backcountry. He usually runs right beside or behind me, but when I tell him to “go-go” he gets in front of me. Then if I say it multiple times he picks up the pace to a quick trot or run (whatever it would be in dog terms). While you could say that this was because my speed was increasing, it’s not just that. When I was going slow and I said the same thing, he began to run and pick up the pace. Come February when I get back from Florida I think it may be time to start training him for skijoring, I’m pretty excited.

Just taking in the views from the trails, and reflecting on life, I really am glad I came up here. I know Erin loves it here as well and I can’t even imagine how much fun we will have together when she gets her in May. Being up here, in the mountains, with their grand vistas and indescribable views, really makes a person appreciate life, love, family and friends. There’s something, in fact a whole lot of things, that are bigger than us out there, and it’s good to be reminded of that everyday when I look out my window. That’s something I think you just can’t get in Florida or in many parts of the world anymore. Florida's natural setting used to be so abundant and widespread, but the state has effectively written most of it off for monetary and economic interests. I will and do miss the sunshine state, but life is too short to dwell on things beyond my control.

Double speak is

I began reading George Orwell’s Animal Farm yesterday. It truly is a great novel and I wish I could say I was rereading the book, but I’m not going to lie. For some reason I was assigned to read the book way back in 6^th grade. Why on earth would my teachers do this? Geo-political institutions is not a topic that most 11 year olds could discuss, much less grasp conceptually. I digress, the book can be interpreted in many ways, but there is no denying the indirect and very clear references to Marx, Trotsky, Lenin and Stalin.

I’m only 20 pages in and the future depictions of “doublespeak” and “big brother” are already beginning to make their appearances. Orwell was a pure genius and I wish I could have shaken his hand or had him sign a copy of his work before he passed; oh well, such things are not to be. In reading Animal Farm, it has become so abundantly clear to me that education is paramount to a free society. Now, I’m not talking about higher education. Not every person needs or should go to college or university. Humanity just doesn’t work that way whether George Bush wants it to or not. We need architects, builders, electricians, mechanics, farmers and every other job in the market and they don’t all come from a formal higher educational background. This education we need is provided from the very beginning of life and on through the formal education system until graduation. People need to be able to distinguish between political rhetoric and real issues. I’m not angry, but saddened at the state of ignorance our government has allowed people to reach. It’s not their own fault, we’ve built a system geared towards consumerism and needs, and the only way to perpetuate this system is to socialize it in schools. In so many words we teach students to sit idly by, obey authority, don’t question what anyone tells you and always follow the rules no matter what.

Fortunately, I was able to break that cast along with so many others. All around me, everyday I see people beginning to question the world that is presented before them, rejecting their preplanned future lives revolving around a 4x5’ cubicle and opting out for something better, a more fulfilling life. Free markets aren’t all evil, some consumerism is needed to drive the economy and I’m fine with that, but we must always be willing to question with some skepticism what is presented to us. If we don’t learn to question and rebel against unwanted authority then we fail to be any different than the individuals who capitulated to totalitarian rule in the past, we become the Animal Farm. It may not be the Nazi’s or the Soviets, or China or even Fundamentalists, it could be the politician you voted for, or even the business manufacturer two blocks over from your house. In this globalized modern society totalitarian rule may have a new meaning, a new definition and a new face. Knowledge is the key to power…only then will our eyes be open.

That was quite a diatribe but it just goes to show that there’s nothing like a thought provoking book. It’s easy to criticize the society you’ve grown up and been socialized through, but is what I’m doing any different than Galileo or Copernicus questioning the written fact about astronomy; Or post modern theorists creating theories about social construction; or even Karl Marx denigrating the disparities between social classes during the industrial revolution? It’s good to think outside the box, and it’s nice to be able to do so, without Big Brother (or so I hope).

I begin teaching sustainability to high school seniors tomorrow. I’m a bit nervous, but so far the kids up here have been extremely intelligent and open minded. Wish me luck.

Picture re-update

I’ve been doing a lot of school work so I don’t have too much to update on except that I started substitute teaching and that Erin is coming up in a few days to celebrate the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving. I feel compelled to just post a long list of picture I have taken. I’m not quite sure why, but I really love some of these and they are kind of my ultimate mental vision of being in AK so far. All I need now are pictures including Erin and my set will be complete.

Little Su on Gold Mint Trail

Hermit's Cabin over Independence Mine

Enjoying a rainy ride on Gold Chord trail

The boys at Summit Lake

Dwarf Fireweed in bloom near Summit Lake

Dwarf Fireweed over creek

Matanuska River Valley

Fall at Hatcher Pass

Independence Mine with early season snow

Cody and I atop the Butte

Cody looking out towards Knik Glacier

Building the deck for the wall tents

Late summer at Spring Creek Farm

Grillin Halibut at the MSOEE BBQ!

Early morning call for farm work!

A slight chance of snow

I just drove home through what could only be described as a TON of snow. Thank goodness for my Subaru and studded tires because the road conditions were less than ideal. I’m not sure if the plows had been through yet, but if they had it made no difference. The snow is literally DUMPING!!! It was a very gloomy day earlier with high winds and general blustery conditions. I don’t think there was supposed to be a whole lot of snow in the forecast, but wow have we been bombarded with quite a storm. We were all hoping for snow to end the madness and I guess we were answered.

The snow began to fall around 2:30 and it hasn’t stopped since. It’s now past 11:00 at night and there’s no sign of letting up. When I pulled into the driveway, no that’s wrong, when I turned onto farm loop there was over a foot of snow on the road. A FRICKIN FOOT!! WOO HOOOOO! I’m most definitely in Alaska, and winter is here!! Even with all wheel drive and studs I was slipping a little bit. The craziest thing was attempting to drive on Lossing road (the road down the middle of the farm). There hadn’t been anyone on the road for a couple of hours and there were no tire tracks to follow. It was like attempting to drive on a white canvas, not fully knowing where the road fell away and the fields began. Driving in the heavy snow was like watching a scene in Star Wars with stars and lights racing by, only live action. The snow was coming down so hard that visibility was down to a few hundred feet (maybe), and 35 mph was the top speed once on the Palmer-Fishook Road.

I had to shovel the porch and steps so that I can get out of the house in the morning and hopefully I can get some pictures for you guys. I’m loving the snow and tomorrow I’m going to get up early and hit up the mile 16 run in Hatcher or do some cross country skiing before class. I’m going to give the snow a day to settle and then head up to the backcountry to burn some very serious powder runs! Woo Hoo!

The nightly forecast, I'd say they were a bit off:

TONIGHT...SNOW WITH AREAS OF VERY LIGHT FREEZING RAIN...TAPERING
OFF AFTER MIDNIGHT. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATION OF 2 TO 8 INCHES
OVERNIGHT. HIGHEST AMOUNTS WILL OCCUR OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS
TOWARD HATCHER PASS. LOWS IN THE MID 20S TO LOWER 30S. EAST WIND 10
TO 20 MPH.

Damn Hippies

I headed into Anchorage early today. We left around 8:30 this morning, well before the sun had made even the slightest appearance. It was snowing lightly when we left the valley, creating a dense mist and effectively turning the drive into a guessing game. As soon as I pulled into the lot at APU the rain had transformed to light snow and within the hour it became a hefty snow storm, the first of the year for Anchorage. It snowed for about 3-4 hours straight at a steady pace, but it was still warm enough to only keep the slightest layer of snow on the ground.

I had to go into town to attend the Leading Green event at APU, a forum designed to open dialogue and set goals for APU’s sustainability and green policy. It’s one thing to say APU is a green school, but now we are really making a start. In my eyes it was a successfully day, and probably the coolest part was that the president of the university, Dr. Doug North, hung out with us all day. I say hung out because this is exactly what he did; no separation of power or delegations. Dr. North participated in round table discussions, scavenger hunts, tossing of ideas and general mingling among the crowd. He is a great man and I am very proud that he is the president of our university. The most touching and inspiring moment of the day was when Dr. North, during his quick closing speech, thanked all of us for giving him a kick in the behind and influencing him to actually make changes. Money and success can blind one’s goals, and Dr. North, after getting a little choked up, seemed sincere when he thanked us for reminding him of what was and still is important to him. It’s good to be reminded of what a real leader is. To top off this already special event, the coordinators provided us with a student blues/funk band, some ridiculously tasty local pizza from The Moose’s Tooth and a veritable cornucopia of beer choices….all for free.

I drove home in a great mood, carpooling with Steve T., and hung out at the farm house for a bit. The snow was beginning to build up on the farm, and when I walked home around 11 the snow had really begun to pile up and fall liberally. It’s both amazing and beautiful how bright the night gets when you have snow on the ground and a little bit of light in the sky. I love this place and I can’t wait to share it with Erin. Gotta get up early to volunteer with the NAOI Avalanche class and then maybe get some afternoon powder runs in. So, I bid you adieu…