last night north

it's been a great 11 days in the denali area. when i drove up here on november 21st, i was racing ahead of a blizzard coming off the bering sea and headed towards southcentral and the interior of alaska. arrived in healy just as it started snowing, and then it snowed for the next two days. i was happy to stay put in the rv catching up on emails, processing photos, and making future plans. after the snow passed, i skied into denali national park on the next three days. skiing in denali is something i'd been daydreaming about doing for years, and wasn't disappointed when i finally got the chance. the first day i only went in a couple miles as i needed to see how my legs would react to skis after a couple years off. it went well, so the following day i got there before sun-up and skied from mile 3 to mile 11 on the park road. that went so well that on the third day i went off-trail in the tundra and had so much fun that a couple toenails turned black and will be falling off soon. i also got to see the denali national park sled dogs in action.

 after the third day my legs (and toenail) needed a break, so i borrowed snowshoes from the park office (note to any alaska winter travelers- the denali park office loans out snowshoes for free) and spent three days around horseshoe lake and the nenana river near the park entrance. i have a growing need to see and photograph wolves, so that's what i was after. i missed one by a couple minutes on the first day out, judging from how little snow had filled in the tracks i came across. i followed them down a hill and came across a lynx. he sat and watched unimpressed with my ability to descend a steep bank in snowshoes while trying to operate a camera.

on the second day i spooked a wolf that was drinking from a spring that hadn't frozen over yet on the lake. he ran so fast in the opposite direction that the only photos i could get were of his backside (not worth sharing here). it was a still a thrill to see one, especially from fairly close and considering how much time and effort i'd put into finding wolves in the past three months. the third day i spent several hours hidden under a tree with my camera trained on the spot i saw him the previous day, but the subzero temps killed my motivation and i was back at the rv by 2p to eat and warm up.

after a day of rest, the aurora forecast finally showed some promise after a quiet couple weeks. i drove down to a pull-off just south of the national park and set up shop in anticipation of a good show. i experienced the coldest temps i'd ever felt- it got down to -29 degrees while i was out watching. it was cold, but i still think that 15 degrees in illinois is colder than -30 degrees in alaska. when it's that cold, things stop working as they should. the electrical tape on my tripod looses it's adhesiveness; the cord of my shutter release was as stiff and straight as a stick; and the camera batteries loose their charge after just a few photos. my biggest concern was that the rv would start when i was ready to leave, so i started the engine every 20 minutes or so to keep the battery warm.

the show was good, but not great and barely worth standing outside in those temps for as long as i did. there was five good minutes of bright colorful movement, but beyond that it was a dull display. the surrounding landscape was, however, my new favorite for taking aurora photos.

tonight happens to be my last night on the road for now. the apartment i lived in anchorage before i moved back to the midwest two years ago (two years ago today, in fact) is available and i don't want to miss the opportunity to move back in there. if you've ever been there, you understand why. i hope to keep the rv to use on weekends, but if i have to sell it so i can get a more reasonable vehicle to drive around anchorage then i have no regrets. i'm not sure how i feel about living in anchorage again. it's not a bad city, and isn't nearly as big as st. louis or chicago, but it's still a city with traffic, noise, exhaust, stop lights, and too many people in a space not big enough for them all. i'm getting very used to and and very much enjoying the pace of life and quiet of rural alaska. i do miss my friends in anchorage, and being able to get some mexican food or a pizza. i'm not gonna lie- a large part of my enjoyment the past few months has come from not having to put on proper clothes, go to a job, or answer to a supervisor. my days have been my own, and having my time to pursue what makes me happy was worth more than a regular paycheck. despite being a unsustainable long-term lifestyle (i have made several hundred dollars in print sales from my website, but with the gas consumption of the rv it covered about 3.5 tanks of petrol), it was what i needed to do. i've had the space and time to mentally uncoil from a difficult two years back in the lower 48. i'm a lucky guy, and it's good to feel that way again.