sunday night insomnia

after a week and two days in anchorage i'm itching to get back up north. if i can get to sleep tonight, i'll be leaving town late morning monday- sans graeme. since an arctic low-pressure system is about to settle down on southcentral and interior alaska this week, dropping temperatures down to the -20s at night in the denali area, i figured he would be most comfortable at my friend's house. i'm hoping to do some backcountry skiing on the south side of the alaska range and if the snow is too deep he may have trouble keeping up. we both experience separation anxiety from one another when apart, but it'll only be for a week or so. i've had a lot of down-time to process photos from the past month and a half and have included a few of my favorites.

(caribou on a windy day on the teklanika river in denali national park)

my initial intention was to spend the entire winter on the parks highway photographing the northern lights and whatever else caught my eye. the incoming cold actually doesn't bother me. i dress for it well, eat high-calorie foods (and a lot of them), and stay active- so staying warm isn't an issue and rarely do i ever hear myself saying "i'm cold". certain aspects of the rv, on the other hand, do not function well in temps below freezing. the high cost of gas in interior alaska and low mpg of the rv, combined with the threat of a major repair bill(s) as a result of the cold temperature's affect on the rv has me reconsidering my plans for the next several months. i would like nothing more than to stay up north and continue chasing the northern lights, but it's just not economically sensible at the moment. thankfully a couple opportunities have presented themselves in anchorage that make it less painful give up the freedom of being on the road and settle down in the next few weeks in the big city. i'll have more to say about this as events transpire.

(the milky way from mile 268 on the parks highway)

it's been a good week in anchorage. i've had some down time to work on processing aurora photos and working on my website. i'm staying in the house i used to live in before moving to the st. louis area two years ago and have 5-star views of the alaska range across cook inlet, along with the various wildlife that wanders through the neighborhood. my former landlord and friend is wonderful enough to invite graeme and i to stay with her while we're in anchorage. i've been able to see several friends, resupply with food, and of course have an avalanche pizza at the moose's tooth pizza pub- possibly the finest pizza establishment in north america, in my humble yet accurate opinion. despite enjoying the trappings of being in anchorage, i'm looking forward to being on the road and the simple things in life- like keeping the rv's full septic tank from shattering in the cold because the handle that empties it is frozen shut, and even if it wasn't frozen i have nowhere to empty it because every rv facility in alaska outside of a single gas station in anchorage closes their septic dumps after september 15th. those are the things that make you realize that indoor plumbing is a pretty great invention. 

(mckinley rv park in healy, ak)

(dall sheep: polychrome pass, denali national park)

(grizzly bear: sable pass, denali national park)

before i zonk out for the night, i'd like to take a quick moment to plug a few businesses that deserve plugs:

1) before i moved back to alaska i bought a new, full-frame canon camera and a canon wide-angle L-lens with which to photograph the northern lights. in order to fund the two i needed to sell my previous canon camera and four lenses. i wanted to have the camera body and lenses professionally cleaned before listing them on ebay, so i sought out a photography equipment cleaner in st. louis and found rg insights photography. i dropped off the equipment with robert of rg insights on a friday and they were ready on monday. he did such a stellar job cleaning the camera's exterior and sensor and the lens' bodies and glass that i was able to list them all on ebay as "like new" (despite being several years old and dragged up and down the mountains of alasaka). being able to include in the listings that the items were professionally cleaned prior to being listed resulted in them being sold for more than most others of the same make and model on ebay. and robert performed the cleaning at a bargain price. if you live in the st. louis area and have camera equipment that needs cleaning, robert's your man and find him in the links to the right.

2) i'm a tall guy- 6'3" according to my last doctor's visit- and i have a 32" waist. most off-the-rack pants don't fit me well. the inseam is either just long enough but the waist too big, or the waist fits fine but the bottom of the pant legs come up to the middle of my shins. i also spend A LOT of time outdoors and my clothing often gets roughed up from all the time spent getting lost and having to bushwack through alders to get a view from up above to see where the hell i am. if you're like me, you highly value clothing that fits you well and that the seams don't come undone after a light sneeze. i don't remember how i found it- probably the result of late-night-insomniac internet searching- but last winter i came across outa ware. outa ware is a one-man operation manned by andy in montana. his website is full of functional, well-made outdoor clothing that you can order custom waist and inseam sizes, along with other useful (and hard to find features) that you can customize. it may seem trivial to you whimsical off-the-rack clothing buyers, but to me it was like finding a direct line to santa claus. short of flying out to take your measurements, andy will customize hiking and fleece pants, ski vests and bibs, softshell and travel clothing to fit your body-type like nothing you can get from any store. again- you might only be able to relate to my joy if you have a difficult time fitting into clothes. i own three pairs of pants from outa ware, and they are three of the only four pants i've worn for the past few months now. my ankles are no longer exposed and i'm not having to repeatedly pull my pants up because of sag. as a bonus- the money i spent on the pants go to support a fellow in montana and not to a corporation employing foreign workers in a sweat-shop. i know that's important to a lot of you as it is to me.

(my outa ware fleece pants that rarely leave my legs)

3) and finally (and briefly because it's 330a and i've got to sleep before hitting the icy roads)- everyone should own a melanzana micro-grid hoodie. i used to own four of them, but gave one away to a friend two weeks ago because he was constantly cold while visiting alaska. i wear one nearly every day. i'm wearing one right now. i'll be wearing one tomorrow. i gave one for christmas a few years ago to my friend whose house i'm crashing at now and she wears her's nearly every day. the hoodies, along with the other products they make, are hand-sewn by ski bums in leadville, colorado. they also offer tall sizes in most items for us lanky citizens. melanzana's hard-faced hoodie is my go-to jacket for xc skiing in alaska. as with my previous plug, your purchase of their products instead of buying an over-priced and sub-quality north farce piece (see what i did there with that pun?)- supports people owning and working for small businesses in our country and communities. consider shopping at melanzana and outa ware for your ski-bum family members and friends this christmas. 

i'm going to bed. i'll update from healy later in the week. oh- and thanks to deb and wendy for your purchase of prints from my website this weekend.

(east fork river: denali national park)