Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

Steve is off this week, and we took a drive down the Richardson Highway to Black Rapids Glacier overlook. When we left North Pole, skies were overcast and it was about 5 below. We weren’t feeling very positive about seeing a pretty sunrise, but decided to take the drive anyway. If there’s one thing we’ve learned about living in AK, it’s that the weather can be a lot different down the highway.

We made a quick stop at the new Sunrise Bagel drive-through near the intersection of Badger Road and the Richardson Hwy. We are frequent Sunrise Bagel customers, and this was our first stop at this location.  The food was as good as expected, but the service was very slow. I hope this was just one of those days, rather than the norm. We’ve never had to wait so long (15 minutes) at their other locations. Sandwiches in hand, we headed south.

We could see a narrow strip of orange light down low on the horizon, beneath the thick clouds above. This gave me hope that there would be clearer skies in the Delta Junction and Donnelly Dome area. I really wanted to see the mountains.

As we drove further away from North Pole, we watched the outside temperature climb little by little. In Salcha, it was 5F above zero, and by the time we reached Donnelly Dome, it was a whopping +20F. Skies were blue, with some clouds in places, and the mountains were lit up beautifully.

I hoped to come upon the caribou herd that hangs out in this area, but no luck there. In fact, we only saw two moose the entire drive - and they were along the road leading up to Donnelly Dome. It wasn’t a good day for wildlife sightings.

One of the things that really caught our eye, was the hoarfrost. From the Alaska Science Forum (abridged):

Among winter’s beauties are the intricate crystals–called hoarfrost–that form on branches, wires, poles and other objects. Hoarfrost is a sort of wintertime cousin to summer’s dew and develops by similar processes.

Dew and hoarfrost accumulate on objects when there is more moisture in the air than the air can carry. Warm air carries in suspension more liquid water than does cold air.

Hoarfrost consists of crystalline structures that grow from water vapor evaporated from liquid droplets suspended in air. Once hoar-frost crystals form, they can remain as long as conditions for their existence are favorable. But if the crystals or the air around them are warmed up, evaporation from the crystal surfaces leads to their demise. Hence in late winter we see the sun’s warming rays removing hoar-frost from the south sides of objects.

It is worth one’s while to look at hoarfrost crystals closely. They occur in an intricate variety of forms–needles, cups, plates, fern-like and feather-like–depending upon the temperature at which they developed.

Here is an example of hoarfrost on a Stop Sign. You can see how long the ice crystals are here:

We turned off the highway and drove up to and past Donnelly Dome. We went as far as the pipeline crossing over Dome Rd before heading back to the Richardson.  That’s where we saw the moose pair (mama and calf). The hoarfrost was absolutely amazing. I couldn’t believe how thick it was, and it sparkled in the sunlight. Here’s a close-up of a twig coated in hoarfrost:

We drove about 120 miles down the highway, before turning around and heading back to North Pole. I am so glad that we got out of the house for a drive. It was a perfect day for it.

Some more photos from the day:

I took this panoramic photo from the pull-off near the pipeline viewing area at mile 243:

You can see the hoarfrost all over the foliage here, with Donnelly Dome in the background:

Another of my favorites from our drive:

This is a view of Black Rapids Glacier (even though you can’t see the glacier, as it has retreated quite a bit). From this overlook, you can see the buffalo that migrate through this area, when they are present. In the 6+ years we’ve lived here, Steve and I have only seen the buffalo on the shores across the Tanana River once, and that was in the summer of 2004.

Ice Fishing on Birch Lake:

Sunset Over the Alaska Range:

It was a beautiful day for a drive, and we arrived home happy and exhausted. With the shorter days, we were able to see both a sunrise and a sunset, which made the drive even more enjoyable.  I look forward to our next adventure.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Yukon Quest is on Saturday!  I’m very excited about being down on the river for the start of the race, but I’m bummed out that Steve won’t be able to go with me. He’s on night shift and will be sleeping that morning. I plan to meet a couple of friends down there, and I’m sure I’ll run into more people I know.  Having the race start here this year, is a big deal and so exciting!

The weather this week is supposed to plummet into the -30s and colder, but warm up by Saturday (to -10F or so). I sure hope so, as I don’t want to have to wear all of my heavy winter gear, and carry my camera backpack too. You can follow the race on the Yukon Quest website.  As always, Steve and I will be cheering on Lance Mackey, as will many folks not only here in Fairbanks, but throughout the state.  Go Lance!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The Ice Art Championships start on February 20th this year. As always, I will purchase a season pass so that I can go multiple times.   Also upcoming in early March is the Native Arts Festival and the Junior North American Sled Dog Race. I love this time of year because of all the opportunities to get out and enjoy the events in the community.  It always makes me feel like winter is almost over.

Until next time…