Arctic Summer

Kotzebue has definitely taken a turn for the warmer, and by warm I mean over 50 degrees F. In this photos it is 52 degrees, blowing 20mph and kids were jumping off Front Street into the ocean. And my parents thought we were crazy to swim in Kodiak as kids!

It was calm yesterday and the mosquitoes finally came out - definitely not the worst I've seen, but enough to make us glad to see 20 mph wind again today.

The barge running by is hauling sand for airport paving projects this summer. This barge dwarfs all the buildings along Front Street. There is a very strong current that runs along the front of town so the barge has to do some crazy maneuvering to land near the airport. It's pretty entertaining to watch. And then they tie it off to pieces of heavy equipment to hold it in place while they offload the material. Barges with normal supplies land at the other end of town. It would not be a good idea to be running dump trucks across town though, so this barge has to land at the airport itself so the material doesn't need to be hauled far.

Legit summer in Kotz

I think we finally turned the corner to legit summer! It was in the 50's today! Windy, but warm nonetheless. Things have greened up quite a bit in the last three days (scoff all you want, we'll take what we can get in the Arctic). I just can't wait for berry season now. If I'm going to be here for a while, I'd better be here long enough to get some berries.

Still not quite summer in Kotz

We had amazing weather in April. It was crystal clear and sunny every single day. The sun seemed unrelenting and I got sunburned no matter how much sunscreen I used. Everyone kept telling us that April was the sunniest month of spring and after that the weather would worsen. They were right! May and June have been stormy on and off. We've rarely had a calm day, usually the wind is blowing between 10 and 15 mph, but we have also had more than a few days of 25 mph+ winds, plenty of rain and even snow in June. But, it's Alaska, and the the Arctic at that so it's a little hard to complain.

It's still very brown here and a little bit of snow is still sticking on the hills. Things are just starting to bud out. It will be fun to look back at these pictures when it is a bit more summery.

Ryan came to Kotzebue last weekend. His visit was fun but too short. The only saving grace of working long hours (besides the overtime) is not having enough time to miss Ryan and home. But, Kotzebue is a nice town with friendly people and good place to see spring in the Arctic so I can't exactly complain. And I can get Amazon packages delivered to the house here which gives any place a gold star in my book (I didn't grow up somewhere with ANY mail delivery, so I think any place with mail delivery is the greatest thing since sliced bread). 

Akutan, Alaska

My most recent survey took me to Akutan a village east of Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.  Akutan is also home to the largest seafood production facility in North America operated by Trident Seafoods.  It was great to be back in Dutch Harbor and on the same boat we used in February.  The Miss Alyssa is a solid vessel and her owner and captain is one of best captains I have been privileged to work with.  Here are some photos from my trip.

Village of Akutan

Russian Orthodox church in the village of Akutan

Trident Seafood facility in Akutan

Bering Sea crab

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale

Front Street in Kotzebue

Front St just after the ice went out

My co-workers and a big sheefish

Watching weather move in on a calm night

The ice finally went out in Kotzebue! We had some very windy weather for a couple of weeks and had several days in a row with sustained 25mph winds. Even though the shorefast ice was still in, there were big open patches of open water that were choppy (and even had whitecaps at times) for weeks. Last week I crawled out of bed one morning to see open water, completely flat calm, with chunks of ice floating by. In my early morning haze I was completely confused and it took me a good 30 seconds to figure out what I was looking at.

It's also easy to fish for sheefish off of Front St now. I hadn't really thought about fishing too much since I'm working very long hours, but after my co-worker caught this whopper, I figured I'd better get a pole and a license or I'd regret it later.

Springtime in Kotzebue

Shore Ave 3 1/2 weeks ago when there was still snow in town

I’ve been in Kotzebue for a month now enjoying springtime (and working long hours). When I was here in March, it was pretty much just winter with 12+ hours of sunlight. When I cam back in the middle of April, it was a little warmer but there was still a lot of snow. Within my first couple of days back it all started to melt. And it melted fast. The streets turned into giant puddles and the city spent a week pumping water out into the ocean. I wish I had taken pictures of town every day to help me remember how quickly it happened.

Town has been pretty much snow-free for a couple of weeks now. It really warmed up about three weeks ago and we enjoyed calm days and unrelenting sunshine. Then it cooled off and turned to winter again - a little bit of a rude awakening to remind us that we are still in the Arctic and it is only the beginning of May.

The weather has turned again though and we're supposed to see temps in the mid-forties for the next few days. It really seems like spring on some days, but then I check the weather for Eagle River and I realize how relative "spring" can be.

Sunset just before midnight a few days ago

 The shore fast ice is still in. It will be fun to see it go out while we're here.

A little dusting of snow the other day (yes, we drive a cab - there are only so many cars for rent in a small town like this)

Finally got to try some sheefish - yum!

5/6 of our salty crew all decked out in our green and blue shades of "town" clothes

Fun photos from our Utah vacation

I have been home for more than a week but with great spring weather and catching up at work I have stayed busy and didn't take time to look through our photos until tonight.  Rather than write about any particular experience I decided to share some photos.  These aren't necessarily the best photos and I haven't taken time to edit them.  These are photos that remind me of the great experiences and fun we had in southern Utah.

Bryce Canyon was our last stop but offered a landscape unlike anything we had seen previously

In Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument we discovered the fun of slot canyons.

On this birthday hike in Brimstone Canyon I attempt to squeeze through a narrow section of canyon

Like kids in a playground Molly and Katelyn work there way through the canyon

Group photo at Fisher Towers.  This photo makes me laugh because it is the reverse order of heights.

Following a trail along a ledge at Fisher Towers

Landscape Arch at sunrise in Arches National Park

Playing in an arch in Arches National Park

Double O Arch

Island in the sky in Canyonlands National Park 

Camping near Natural Bridges National Monument

Bryce

Tower Bridge

Fairyland Trail

Sunset view from our campsite

We spent the last couple of days of our trip in Bryce. At over 8000' we knew we could run into some snow, but our first day hiking there was sunny and warm. There were a few places where we saw snow which was funny because it was 60 degrees out. On our last night we woke up to a little wet snow on our tent though.

We got up before sunrise one morning and hiked the Fairyland Trail. It might have been my favorite hike of the trip. We did a couple of very early morning hikes. For the busy parks it was very worthwhile to beat the crowds (and see the sunrise).

Valley of Fire State Park and Zion National Park

A bighorn sheep petroglyph in Valley of Fire

 

We made it to Utah! Our first stop was in Valley of Fire State Park just after leaving Vegas – our first red rocks of the trip. We camped in Zion last night and hiked Angel’s Landing first thing this morning. It was frosty and cold when we started, but we’re glad we did it early; it was very busy on our way down.

We rode the park shuttle to the end of the road and back, stopping to hike to Hidden Canyon on our way back. What a cool hike!

John and Ryan in Valley of Fire

Ryan hiking past a little snow on the way to Angel's Landing

Ryan, Katelyn and John reading the summit of Angel's Landing (I decided that was a little too much rock scrambling for early in the morning and stayed lower on the trail)

Ryan and I were the Narrows start

Ryan and I at an arch in Hidden Canyon

Nevada Visit

 

The first part of our vacation just ended - our visit with my aunts and uncles and cousin in Nevada. Next up - southern Utah!

 

While in Nevada we had a great time hiking, soaking in hot springs, visiting museums, and sightseeing. I've been here tons of times but there is always more to see. We also had tons of fun with my nine year old cousin, Kendall. I haven't seen her since she was six and Ryan hasn't seen her since she was only four! She taught us several new card games, introduced us to new smartphone games, showed us her trampoline/jump rope routine, and let us watch her ballet class/performance rehearsal.