steese and chena

recap of the past week:

last friday i drove from anchorage to the steese highway northeast of fairbanks. it wasn’t my initial plan, but the rest of alaska was covered in clouds and rain so i thought i’d head north to get out from under the clouds . the steese is a quiet, desolate place. despite the partial cloud cover, the aurora made an appearance that first night as i made my way east on the steese (that rhymes for those that keep track of such things) in the middle of the night. 

spent three days hiking the hills around the highway and reorganizing the contents of the rv so that it would feel more liveable. other than the leftover carcasses from hunters, i saw no wildlife- except for a few ravens- and no aurora after that first night. on the third night it started to rain, and was cold enough that snow wouldn’t be a surprise. typically i get excited about snow, but the steese was not a place i wanted to test the rv in conditions i haven’t taken it yet. at 1030p i pulled up stakes and hightailed it back to fairbanks in the rain and fog and then east on chena hot springs road, where i’ve been since. while the steese was wholly undeveloped in terms of campsites and parking, the state park land on chena h.s. road has ample parking, trails, and developed waysides.

on our second night in chena, i was treated to one of the best aurora displays i’d seen. the clouds seemed to part just as the show was developing and stayed apart for the duration and then re-enveloped the sky as it ended after about 45 minutes. caught another glimpse of a the beginning of an aurora last night, but clouds overtook that one and never got to see much other than a green haze. the aurora forecast is good for tonight, so fingers are crossed that the clouds go away.

graeme and i have been spending our daytimes hiking the trails and riverbeds off chena hot springs road. this part of alaska is not as dramatically beautiful as what we’re used to between anchorage and denali, but it does have its own charm. there are no treeless mountains or exposed ridges that make navigating off-trail a breeze; rather it’s rolling hills covered in birch and spruce. the chena river valley is covered in ponds and swamps. october is not alaska’s most photogenic time of year, either. fall has come and gone and winter hasn’t arrived yet to cover the landscape with snow.

events worth noting of the past week: 1) a couple evenings ago while exploring around a campsite, i came across a moose carcass in the middle of the trail. i stepped on a big gray thing  i thought was a rock by the side of carcass. when my foot went through it, i realized it was actually the moose’s discarded stomach. that was a first for me; 2) while rearranging the closet that was originally the shower yesterday, a 3-gallon bottle of water fell off the bed and smashed on the floor- spilling all 3 gallons on the carpet. that is why i’m back at the laundromat with $5/hr wifi for the second day. god bless the man or woman who invented the shop vac- with it i was able to suck up whatever water didn't already seep through the floor.

i’d been getting some questions about graeme. he seems to be taking to this lifestyle just fine. he’s got comfy places to sleep while in the rv, and he gets to go for several walks a day. he’s not eating as much kibble as usual, but i suspect that’s because he’s finding things to snack on in the forest. the red squirrels here are very loud and obnoxious and have been taunting graeme since we got here.

temperatures have stayed mild, barely reaching the freezing point at night and getting up to the upper 40s, lower 50s during the day- very warm for this far north this time of year. lots of clouds, some light rain and one day of really nice sunshine. other than running the dashboard heat once or twice a night while watching for the aurora, i haven't had to fire the furnace. i spent more than a week insulating the inside of the rv with 1" and 1/2" foam board and reflectix material. i'm curious to see what it's like in here when the temps drop to the teens and below.

as of now, my plan is to spend at least the next several days on chena hot springs road. late next week i need to head to talkeetna to pick up a friend arriving by train. some time this weekend i’ll treat myself to a shower and a soak in the hot springs at the end of the road. by far, the biggest challenge the past week has been the lack of internet and cell phone reception. it's not that i miss either terribly, it's just been such a ubiquitous part of life for so long that it's startling when it's not around. so this is what life was like when i was a kid.