Life is not measured by the number of breaths you take,
but by the moments
that take your breath away.

Conclusion

It has been such a wonderful summer in so many ways. I am home now since Sunday night, readjusting, and trying to keep up with work demands......
I really enjoyed getting to know Alaska's Interior. It offers so much wildlife, hiking, rafting, views of the Alaska Range and Denali itself, a monumental massif which truly towers over everything else. I loved taking friendly people on hikes and getting to know them, even if for a short time before saying goodbye. I loved the beavers very much, and the peace of the lake when I walked there at night.
Some highways I took:
The Alaska Highway from Dawson Creek BC to Tok
The Parks Highway from Denali to Fairbanks
The Richardson Highway from Fairbanks to Tok
The Sterling Highway to the Kenai Peninsula
The State Highway to Whittier
The Top of the World Highway (aka The Taylor Highway) from Tok to Dawson City
The Glenn Highway from Tok to Palmer
The Cassiar Highway from Watson Lake, Yukon to Prince George, BC

Top of the World Highway

I am very grateful to be safe after driving so many miles. (over 9,000 in all)
Thanks for checking in on my blog!!
Mucho love,
Mare

Heading South

I am very tired of being in the car. After I get home, I hope to walk as much as possible.
Today I drove 511 miles, yesterday I drove 667 miles and Thursday I drove 816 miles. Ugh!
I am staying in a motel in Grants Pass and will visit Kendra tomorrow. It seems like ages since I have spent time with her!!! I tried to get there this evening, but fatigue, darkness, curvy roads and deer hovering at the roadsides freaked me out.
I will get home tomorrow evening, and (sadly) return to work on Monday.
Highlight today was being greeted by magnificent Mt Rainier as I zoomed down I-5.

I thought about maybe returning to work there next summer. (A much shorter drive and a very magical place!)  Ahhh- time will tell!!

Yow!

Well, I broke my former record. Today I drove 816 miles. If you think I am a maniac, I will agree with you......
The day had its ups and downs. Right away, within the first half hour, I had a glorious excitement! I communed with a lynx.

(I got this pic from googleimages)

I saw it cross the road, then I stopped my car and walked to where it seemed to go. There it was, looking right at me, like the lynx in this photo!! It just stayed there looking at me, and I talked to it a bit and warned it not to trust people because they might shoot it. It was seriously BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!

I had to drive extra long today because

I was delayed yesterday due to road construction and having a flat tire.

My back is rather killing me, and neck too.

Another highlight was counting 11 different black bears along the Cassiar Highway. I also saw a dead one, and decided to honk my horn to scare the ones so close to the road ...they lustily chew on the new vegitation springing up and are nonchalant regarding vehicles carreening by.

God, I am TIRED, but very grateful to be out of the car!!

Aug 16, 2011

It is really amazing that I can sit here at 11pm at a picnic table outside of the Chicken Coop Saloon in Chicken, Alaska and write this! I have had a marvelous day and tonight has been most memorable!!
After leaving Denali State Park, I had the beautiful gift of watching a huge porcupine cross the road. They are a marvel!! Then not 2 minutes later, I watched a coyote for awhile. I drove north, then east to Fairbanks through lots of rain and the glorious mountains that surround Denali. There is so much vast acreage and wilderness space between Healy and Fairbanks; very little human settlement. The huge, tenacious Tenana River writhes like a giant anaconda. The sky was filled with magenta purple clouds.  I drove along the Chena Hotsprings Road for quite awhile and decided to camp at a place called the Tor Trailhead, which incidentally, was so lovely, I will return someday to backpack in there.
This morning I trotted to Chena Hotsprings, a place that I have wanted to visit for years! What a trippy resort!! My cure for 8 weeks of "shower deprivation" was swimming in the very hot water. It was just what I needed in transitioning from work, to roadtripping.
I got a ticket for the Ice Museum Tour and went crazy with excitement! It was filled with ice sculptures and colorful lights. At 20 degrees, we got to borrow parkas, play music on the xylophone made of ice, and fool around at the altar where some oddnicks get married, and in the rooms they rent out for 650 per night! Highlight was the "appletini" served in an ice glass. God, it was FUN!!!

Ice Museum

Ice Bar

Afterwards was driving time. I drove through 1.5 million acres of burned trees from the 2005 fire. I went  through rain, sun and rainbows.  I was feeling great! I drove all the way to a most unique little town: Chicken ! Population 5 year-round, 27 during the summer!! The people there mine gold, (not necessarily successfully), look for mastodon fossils (very successfully--one guy even gave me a hearty piece), and drink beers. I have never been treated with such warmth by total strangers. A guy even bought me an IPA. (they cost $7.50) I talked to all sorts of people and learned about gold mining and life in a teeny tiny town. I loved all the chicken statues and artwork. Apparently the folks who first lived there wanted to call the town "Ptarmigan" for the Alaska State Bird, but didn't know how to spell it. Such a delightful and wonderfully spirited town!!!!!!!!!!

Town Welcome Sign

                                                               Downtown Chicken (in total)

Chicken Location on AK map

Ha Ha Ha !  (not me)

This giant work of art is on Chicken Hill overlooking the Chicken River! It is very impressive!!!

This is not my car but I liked the bumper sticker.

I am finishing this up (the following day since I got booted off the wifi in Chicken) from the library in Dawson City, Yukon. The weather is fair and I have about 8 hours of driving ahead to my next destination: Watson Lake.

Love and joy to all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

August 15

Well, the sad day has arrived that I must pull out of my lively, beautiful summertime trailer home. It has been most invigorating and satisfying being here....
My boss, Howard, my co-worker Freddy and I shared a wonderful dinner last night. Wonderfully tasty sockeye salmon that Howard's young son caught. Howard told me he really appreciated my work and energy and asked if I would like to return next summer. I felt very uplifted! I am not sure I will say "Yes," but I certainly love a green light and open door. I may be tempted and inspired to return, given the multitude of gifts offered to me in this amazing place. But I need a few months to reflect and let imagery sift in as to my next goal.
I head north to Fairbanks and Chena Hotsprings after work today. I hope to write some along my journey home.
I send lots of love and gratitude to you, my friends and family.

Only Three Days

Only three days left!!! I am sad!!! I have had such a wonderful and memorable summer!!
I leave Monday, August 15th after work. I will take the Cassiar Highway. I think a new route will make the return journey more interesting. My general itinerary for the way home looks like this:
8/15   Chena Hotsprings
8/16   Haines Junction
8/17   Dease Lake
8/18   Prince George
8/19   WA
8/20   N. California
8/21   Return Home

I look forward to seeing family, puppy and friends back home, but GOD! will I ever miss the vast giant magnificent wilderness I have been so revitalized by all summer!!

Backpacking at Denali National Park

Steve has come for a visit! We spent 2 and a half days backpacking at Denali National Park in the Stony Creek area. THANKFULLY we were spared the rain, which had been pounding down in the State Park for many a day.
We had to ford the creek several times, and make lots of  "bear alert" noise. It was super fun climbing up a mountain and resting on the mosses and lichens. Steve enjoyed berry picking and there were some excellent ripe blueberries.
We saw quite a few critters from the bus, including a tired brown bear sleeping upon a caribou carcass, and a mother bear with 2 spring cubs crossing a river.

I am back to work for my last 10 days. It is tragic to think my summer will soon end. It has been a spectacular season!!!!!!!

Beaver Watching

The weather has been in the low 70's and quite lovely. Each evening I go out "Beaver Watching."

Beavers are incredibly cute animals. Why, they remind me of my little animal!

They are highly motivated to eat, are quite rotund, and especially busy, as the stereotype suggests.

Did you know beavers talk to each other with little guttural sounds? Yes! I heard them last night!!!

There are a pair of beavers who seem to be accumulating branches to make a new lodge. Maybe their parents kicked them out of their birth lodge. You can easily hear them crunching and munching away.

 I can't tell you how much I enjoy watching these innate architects!

July 27, 2011

You may have heard there was a serious bear mauling incident that happened 35 miles away from here in the Talkeetna Mountains. A group of teenage boys were on a solo hike as a final challenge for their NOLS Outdoor Leadership Training. When crossing a river, the boy in front saw a bear and apparently freaked out, screamed and ran. The sow saw this as a threat, and tried to protect her cub. She caused him some serious injury and tried tearing up a few of the other boys who also ran off screaming in terror. The entire incident lasted probably only a minute but 4 of the 5 kids had injuries, two serious.They were very fortunate that the one uninjured boy had training as an EMT, and  they had a way to call for help with an avalanche beacon. Hours later, a plane flew in to transport the more seriously  injured 2 boys.....

You can imagine, this has a rather negative consequence for the "hiking in the wilderness" business I am in. Many of the hikes we have scheduled have been cancelled. I am afraid, some egocentric hunter will go out and think he is justified in killing this animal.....

Not to be terribly mean, but, I hope the boys who ran screaming flunk their training. They did the absolute wrong thing, which endangered their lives, and very possibly the bear's life. I also think NOLS should re-think their agenda for teenagers hiking solo in bear country in Alaska.

Moral of story:       Don't mess with Mama.
                             Talk a LOT when hiking, even if alone. Singing and reciting poetry are fun.
                             Who cares if quiet, ignorent hikers think you are nuts?
                             Constantly scan the scene for signs of bear.
                             NEVER APPROACH A BEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
                             NEVER RUN or SCREAM if you see a bear nearby!!!!!!!!!
                             CALMLY talk to the bear and
                             slowly and carefully get the HELL out of its way!

Before leaving Brooks Camp

I wrote this:

7/16/2011

I brush my hair here, in the place of my dreams.
I pull the strands from the brush and
let the gentle wind take them.
I wish to leave a part of myself here
for the birds to use or to
slowly melt into the soil.
I leave a part of my heart here
and already long to return.

Why do I love this so much?
What is it that has lassooed
so tightly around my heart?

It must be the bears lumbering
along the pumice filled beach
at the edge of  Naknek Lake,
or the immature bald eagle soaring
overhead eyeing the river for signs of salmon.
Maybe it is the piercing repetative song of the golden crowned sparrow,
or the deadly monkshood, winking at me
with her deadly beauty.
It could be the porcupine, drinking so innocently from the lake in the evening,
or the vast Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes,
whose volcanic ash paints a landscape
so mysteriously powerful,
so raw in its cataclysmic transformative ability,
so beautifully pinkish and rust and striated,
 with a tuft of mountain harebell here,
and a spiral shaped alder there.
It beckons me to come in further,
walk inside her inner boundaries to Novarupta,
and the Baked Mountain Cabin,
and Mageik Lakes.
the Katmai Caldera,
and sandy, pumice-filled-desert-like landscape
surrounded by 14 active glaciated volcanoes,
some steaming, all majestic and volatile.
It is painful to leave this place.

I want to stay.

Interesting Quotes

"Really, I didn't like Alaska. It rained, almost every day, at least 300 days out of the year."
John C. Hawkes

"To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world."
John Muir

"If you are old, go by all means, but if you are young -- wait! The scenery of Alaska is much grander than anything else of the kind in the world. And it is not well to dull one's capacity for enjoyment by seeking the finest first."

Henry Gannett of the US Geological Survey in 1899

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike."   - John Muir

Go now and then for fresh life. Go whether or not you have faith. Go up and away for life; be fleet!  I know some will heed the warning. Most will not, so full of pagan slavery is the boasted freedom of the town, and those who need rest and clean snow and sky the most will be the last to move.

-  John Muir, John of the Mountains, 1874

God's love is manifest in the landscape as in a face. - John Muir

A few snow crystals were shaken down from a black cloud towards midnight, but most of the day was one of deep peace, in which God's love was manifest as in a countenance. -John Muir

"It may be that the Alaskan Indians are doomed. Those who are fighting for the natives with all their hearts and souls cannot believe that this will be the end of all their efforts.

But if it be so, let at least the memorial of their names remain. When inhabited wilderness becomes an uninhabited wilderness, when the only people who ever make their homes in it are exterminated, when the placer gold is gone and the white men have gone also; let at least the native names of these great mountains remain to show that there once dwelt in the land, a simple hardy race who braved successfully the rigors of its climate and the inhospitality of their environment.....

                                                                        and flourished.

                                                                        -Hudson Stuck

                                                                        The Ascent of Denali

"Slow down and enjoy life. Its not only the scenery you miss by going too fast, you'll also miss the sense of where you are going and why."

                       Eddie Cantor

"Keep close to nature's heart....and break away, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean"

                         John Muir

"Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn't do than by the ones you did.

So throw off the bowlines,

Sail away from the safe harbor.

Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore."

                               -Author Unknown

"Wilderness itself is the basis of all our civilization. I wonder if we have enough reverence for life to concede to wilderness the right to live on?"

                                 -Margaret Murie

"Wilderness is a resource which can shrink, but not grow...."

                                   -Aldo Leopold

                                    Conservationist

Kenai Peninsula-

I have a strange work schedule! 2 days on, 2 days off, 2 days on, 1 day off.......strange!
Instead of hanging dormant, I took a long road trip to visit the location of my first job in Alaska: the Peterson Bay Field Station of Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, across Kachemak Bay from Homer.
I had a remarkable, inspiring time!!!
Driving down, I passed some of ALaska's most easily seen active volcanoes: Redoubt, Iliamna, and Augustine. They exude such power!!!

Iliamna

Kendra and her friend Sarah visited me that summer of 2001, and the FIRST thing I saw upon arriving, was the drawings they made while visiting!!! Kendra made an exquisite Opalescant Sea Slug, and Sarah made an Aleutian Moon Snail. Such a warm welcome!!!

I hiked the trails, and saw signs of recovery after bark beetle
infestation killed 90% of the spruce trees. The tide was very high and I sat at my familiar perch above the stairs watching the water rise. I said hello to the sun dew (carniverous) plants at the bog, the beautiful monkshood flowers, and hiked to Earthquake Point, a place with a view like no other, where I did lots of writing and gazing when I worked there. The blueberries and currants were ripe and provided great trail snacking! This is major bald eagle country. One was guarding its nest--I saw a baby's head and heard the soft peeping!!

I slept in a yurt, the same one my Mom stayed in when she visited and took care of an injured kittiwake. The next day the tide was lower, (but not very low) so I visited octopus dens (no-one was home), brittle stars, peanut worms, urchins, anenomes, clams, and crabs galore.

I love this place so much!!!!!

After returning to land via water taxi, I visited the Homer Spit, business district, and stopped in Hope for dinner. (good veggie burger and Moose's Drool IPA)

I am felling quite spiritually renewed!! The scenery is so fulfilling!!!!!!

Hope, Alaska