year-of-adventure

FINAL ALASKA SUMMARY

Home, recovering from jet lag, and adjusting to all the people!  Washington is a small town, but the flow of people and commerce is a lot compared with Talkeetna (stop lights, traffic, noise, fast food places).  I've added an album of the house so people can see that i actually did something in the 7 weeks or so i was there!  plenty to do inside during the coming cold months. 

I enjoyed the experience and appreciated Brian's patient guidance and quick construction wit  (Dennis: what do you plan to do with that rock; Brian: put it on the wall!)

I'll miss the views of Denali I got on the sunny days as I walked to and from the house, the quiet of talkeetna and the clean fresh air of alaska.  The mornings were turning colder and the fireweed had lost all of it's flowers and was pollinating.  According to Brian, that means the first frost is coming

I'll be moving the posts to a category for Alaska in preparation for the next installment of posts from nepal  (leave for there Sept 28 for two months of Eastern Medicine).

Let me know what you thought and i"ve enjoyed your comments.  Thanks for your support and encouragement!

Dennis 

DENALI IN THE MORNING FROM BRIAN'S HOUSE

Last post from alaska

This will be the last post from the rock laying adventure. i'll be archiving these posts and picking up at tghe end of september with the nepal posts. That frequency will be different because i'll be using an internet cafe in town. The cultural experience in eastern medicine and homestay will be a unique opportunity.

Thanks to all of you who have read and commented on aspects of this alaska experience. While it was about rocks, it was also my impressions coming through and i enjoyed sharing them with you.

I reviewed my first post and feel really good that i had the best alaska experience possible - my impressions have changed of alaska as you've seen as the posts have evolved. I feel it's been an enriching experience.

Thanks to Brian for his teaching, patience and interest in me. He has been an excellent guide in the art of rock work and I appreciate his guidance. We've completed most of the house front and sides with rocks. His plan is to continue corner work at the front turrets and place thick styrofoam panels on the remainder of the house a a base for stucco. The house is more insulated than any I've ever seen. His designs have evolved as we've progressed and the "wow factor" of the front rocks makes it an impressive entrance. My finger tips have calloused nicely from immersion in lime and concrete and the residual tinted mortar will gradually come off.

I regret we did not have time to do the inside fireplace, but can understand the focus on the outside before the winter. I feel i understand the concept and feel colmfortable trying inside rock work on a home project.

Each day as i walk to the job site, denali is visible (if it's sunny) - an impressive reminder of the vastness of alaska

Winding down in alaska

Have not posted for a few days because i'm winding down and getting ready for some touring in a rental car (so much different than the past 7 weeks, now with "unlimited" freedom).

went to anchorage with brian and had culture shock with all the people (all of 600,000), fast foods, stores, and general population. it was such a difference from being isolated here in freedom hills on the edge of the grid. Plan for my last post to do a photo album of the house as it is when i leave as a record for myself of what brian and i accomplished.

It's been a GREAT learning experience from both a personal and work-related adventure. Thanks to Brian for his patience and teaching skills.

My last post will likely be from home to include all the touristy photos of the drive north to fairbanks and south to seward. Sad because the fireweeds have lost all their flowers and pollinate heavily with thin white whispy seeds (they are weeds, so they pollinate and grow very effectively). Brian's local wisdom is that after the last fireweed lfowers fall, you can start looking for the first frost.

Stay tuned for the final alaska post. I always value your comments on the blog.

Next blog will be from nepal - leave sept 28 for the LONG (20+ hrs) flight through bangkok. I'm working on a way to archive the alaska posts to improve loading speed

The bear

i was not going to post today - nothing of any significance happened on our sunday rest day.....

It was an uneventful evening after a relaxing day. He'd settled onto the couch with a glass of red and started harry potter for the second round. "Dennis, DENNIS!" came across from the house at around 9 pm . He opened the front door and Brian motioned to close the door and look out the adjacent kitchen window. A real live BIG black bear was perched with his hind paws on the fuel tank. Of course the photos won't do justice to the event. Darn windows, Dennis thought. Good eye contact between them in a grizzley adams flashback. The bear broke the stare and came around to the front of the cabin, walked onto the porch and ?lightly? bumped the front door (Dennis had cautiously dead bolted the door, just in case) and started to climb the tree in front of the house. Scratching, scraping, up a bit and down a bit - the bear was nervous. Brian shot photos from his safe second floor balcony and seemed pretty smug about being up out of bear reach. Luna slept peacefully on the porch, a tired watchdog. For about 10 minutes the bear circled the cabin, brushing against the foundation and heading part way up trees. He smelled, he looked, he did short sprints betweren trees. The bear had that shuffling run, familar from wild bears in movie clips - speed, power and agility combined.

Then he left. Luna woke up (was she faking being asleep, a smart dog?) and made a show of sniffing and barking for a few minutes and then went back to her bed.

Dennis went to the internet and reviewed bear safety tips.

Brian thought he got some good photos (but on film) and thought it might be a neat idea to start throwing food out in the meadow (he already throws it out in the front to attract the red fox) to bait the bear for some better photos.

Dennis was glad the front door had a deabolt, not that it would matter with the bulk of this bear. He had a second glass of red and slept well. But, this morning he checked just a leeettttllllleeee more carefully when he opened the front door

Sunny days

The last few days have been sunny and great weather for laying rocks. We're in a push to get as many of our rocks layed as possible before i leave. We even made a spontaneous rock run to pick up a few more to get them on the walls. Brian mentioned that his mom in california is following this blog, so i suggested getting a "proud mother" photo of Brian and our rock work. You can see how much progress we've made!!! Ther little benches/shelves by the front door were a great use of big rocks. The will be handy for resting groceries and "stuff" coming to the front door Both shelves are sheltered from the rain/snow by the porch roof

Brian loves to use the biggest rocks he can find. The front yards of all his houses are decorated with huge boulders placed by the backhoe for an accent . Brian manged to lift this behemoth (200# at least) into place on a wall i was working on. I like his style of alternating big, bigger, biggest rocks with medium sized ones to give visual interest to the structure. This big sucker required almost a full load of mortar to place and we both waited anxiously overnight to see if it would fall off. Now that i look at the enlarged photo, it sort of looks like an animal with big ears from the side

The sunny days have energized us to place rocks, but it has also given great views of denali. Talkeetna and Denaili state park a bit north of here have the best views of the alaska range - even better than denali national park unless you go the full 95 miles on the tour busses back into the park. Brain has been up denali a number of times - it seems that 95% of the climbers take the traditional and easier route up the back face. He estimates that about 50% of all climbers make the summit. Weather, avalanche danger, and inadequate physical training are the most common causes for not making the summit. 10% of climbers take challenging routes, including the front steep west rib and about 20% of these expeditions make the summit. It takes quite a bit of organization to climb denali and there are fatalities from poor technique or planning, even on the best guided trips. There is something about the bigness of the mountains that makes alaska seem like the last frontier. This shot was yesterday from the top of the sauna at one of brian's houses. The slight haze is a bit unusual, but i loved the shot anyway!

A little medical plug - Epidemiological evidence suggests that sunscreen helps prevent squamous cell carcinoma, one of the less lethal forms of skin cancer. But the findings don't hold true for melanoma, the really scary kind of the disease, which appears to be rising at a fast rate. In a couple of studies, sunscreen was actually correlated with higher melanoma risk. What's going on? Until recently, most of the sunscreens on the market blocked or absorbed UVB but not UVA. (An exception is old-fashioned zinc oxide.) So some experts worry that UVA is the real culprit when it comes to melanoma. And by reducing sunburn, which is caused by UVB, these sunscreens may have allowed sunbathers to stay out longer, increasing their overall exposure to UVA and, possibly, their risk of melanoma. So if UVA doesn't explain why UVB-protecting sunscreens seem powerless against melanoma, what might? It's possible that the lag time between sun exposure and tumor development is longer for melanoma than for other kinds of skin cancer, says Fisher, and so the protective effect of sunscreen slathered on in the 1980s and 1990s may eventually cause a decrease in melanoma, even if it hasn't yet. Spotty sunscreen use is probably a factor, too. Most people don't slop on the recommended amount (a shot glass's worth for an adult) and don't keep reapplying after swimming or sweating. This lack of diligence may have a disproportionate impact on melanoma rates compared with other forms of skin cancer. MELANOMA RISK QUIZ Apply sun screen to yourself and your children in the right amount, type and schedule!!!

Berries and batching it

Berries are in alaska - this has been a great year for currants, and now blueberries and cranberries are starting to come in. Lisa was given a mission to get some blueberries and she and Brian drove a bit north to berry picking country and in a short time had more than enough berries for fresh cobbler, pie, and blueberry syrup. Brian pulled out a berry picker that i had not seen before that he says makes picking most berries a breeze.

He got his in alaska years ago, but the newer version is plastic and available at BERRY PICKER

Dave and his family (referenced earlier in the cabin post) have been active in a child insurance program in Alaska that provides health insurance coverage for children of low/no income families. I took a photo of his poster to let you see dave and galen. Galen is the youngest person to climb denali at 11. They did it as a family. I loved the photo and wished i could get the original, but the poster will have to do.

A beautiful poisonous aminta mushroom just at the driveway. I was tempted to scrape the leaf off the top to get a nicer shot, but caution bells went off about toxicity and i held off.

Brian got this photo of the mortar-mixing experience. I'm slowly learning the technique of getting just the right amount of wetness in the mix - too drippy (my usual) makes it difficult to hold rocks on - too thick and you can't mold well around the contours of rocks. The mixer gets a big ole batch going and then into a wheelbarrow and over to the house. Some may notice that my work outfits seem the same in almost all the posts - i have two work pants and tend to use this brown shirt often to let it get as dirty as possible before washing - no smell, just dirt/mortar.

A sunny day today, so wash will have to wait. With just over 6 weeks here I've noticed how badly i drift into batchelor habits in the cabin (my sister will likely have something to say about that!). Shaving, showers, clothes washing, cleaning, sweeping, sheet changing - well, you can imagine. I am pretty good about keeping the dishes washed. Running really low on food - last night's dinner: tortilla, cheese, last of the salsa, canned white meat turkey and a top tortilla in microwave - all washed down with a glass of cheap red wine.

Alaskans love airplanes

I just finished the last Harry Potter book, savoring each chapter. In reading reviews about the book, articles always alert the reader to "spoilers"; those plot line secrets that the article covers that may spoil the enjoyment for other readers. This post has spoilers - information about private/commercial plane travel in alaska. Airplane travel is generally safe, but if you are a nervous flyer, this article may make you more so. I'll be anxious to hear your comments!!!

Alaska is the last frontier - wide open spaces. Having a wheeled plane or a floatplane opens remote airstrips and lakes for fishing and backcountry activities on your personal schedule. A plane bypasses gravel rutted roads or no roads. I was unable to find a database with the number of registered private planes in alaska (that is, noncommercial). A solo license means just that, you are not authorized to carry any passengers - no family or friends. As you might expect, these solo pilots abound in rural alaska. Basic statistics for up to 2005.

Which is safer flying or driving?
Fatalities per million Odds of being killed on a single trip

Airliner (Part 121) 0.019 52.6 million to 1
Automobile 0.130 7.6 million to 1
Commuter Airline (Part 135 scheduled) 1.72 581,395 to 1
Commuter Plane (Part 135 - Air taxi on demand) 6.10 163,934 to 1
General Aviation (Part 91) 13.3 73,187 to 1

Sources: NTSB Accidents and Accident Rates by NTSB Classification 1995-2004 DOT Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) 1995- 2004 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

There were 44 recorded crashes in alaska since jan 1, 2007; 4 fatal with between 1-5 fatalities. You may have read about the flightseeing tour plane that crashed earlier this month killing the pilot and 4 passengers on a tour from a cruise ship. The ntsb has a great database if you're interested. NTSB AIRLINE CRASH DATABASE

Brian helped by providing crash photos from a local crash - those crashes that happen most often, with minor injuries or only equipment damage. These often go unreported and the owner pulls the plane back to the garage and repairs the damages without reporting it to the insurance company. Commercial pilots (flightseeing, air taxies) cannot do this - their crashes are all reported and repairs are signed off on by authorized mechanics. This crash was on a local airstrip with an unexpected cross wind pushing the plane into the trees on takeoff. Insurance covered the damage.

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The injured pilot (cracked ribs) climbed a bit down the tree in the right photo and noticed the engine was still running, so climbed back up and turned it off before climbing down for medical assistance

Brian was hired to go to the glacier where he does most of his guiding and dig out a downed plane - the plane had been there 12 days buried in the snow after engine issues and the repair crew had to fly it out. The passengers on the tour were never in danger and were picked up by another plane within a short time after it could not takeoff. An Interim student in the photo got to do the digging work with Brian!

fading summer

Delays in posts due to computer/photo transfer issues.

Biked to town - the alaskan way of travel! In talking with Brian and Lisa, I got the subtle impression that my way of getting to town - walking/hitching, while a perfectly acceptable way, is a bit whimpy. Real alaskans would run or bike, daily, in all weather, soooo. I'd put off doing the bike to town - the ride down is nice - mainly downhill with several challenging grades - the ride back is hellish and i was not looking forward to it. But, my time here is getting short (leaving with kathryn for a week of travel in alaska aug 22), so i decided to take the challenge. The bike I used is from the stock of bike frames, the best one really. A nice mountain bike with fat tires and one set of brakes that worked well (front), and one marginal (rear). That only becomes important on the coast down Brian's hill. The road down had been scraped and resurfaced and had a goodly assortment of ruts, gravel and soft sand, but definitely goes DOWN fast. About a mile of this pitch requires pretty good brakes or a devil-may-care attitude, pads and helmet - I had none of those, so was more cautious.

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A great ride down and rewarded with a "crazy sale", a common term for a big sale, at the tourist stop in town. $5 tee shirts and $20 fleece jackets with alaska logos. Did not find anything there of interest or in the Freebox Community store. Cruised around town chatting up tourists. My opening is to be at a dining place, lean over to the couple next to me and ask, "so, how did you get to talkeetna?" Generally it's the woman who answers, "well, you know, we're on a cruise with holland america and the cruise director rcommended visiting an authentic alaskan town". Tried to price this tour on Holland America - guess it's a 5 day heart of alaska tour including a stop in historic Talkeetna along with visits to denali and fairbanks. Guess it would be pretty interesting - the verdict from the people io talked with, about half enjoyed it and highy weather dependent.

On the ride out of town i passed the Holland America cars on the way to denali. I waved, they waved, we all moved on. Each cruise line has cars that get attached in Anchorage depending on needs - they look pretty nice

The ride up - exhausting. I was doing pretty well until i got to Brian's hill and then had to push the bike up. Brian admitted that he does not ride up that monster. But, another challenge checked off

Days are getting shorter, actually dark outside in the middle of the night. The daylight is down to 16 hrs from the 20+ when i came and the flowers are showing the end of summer. The fireweed flowers are fading, people are starting to stock firewood and hay.

Laying about 2 courses (rows) of rocks/day by myself on good days and fingers adapting. A push to get stuff done on good days.

The Wilderness

Several new photos posted to the CABINS album because DSL uploads were especially fast yesterday.

I took my walk in the "wilderness" from the construction site to Brian's house in the bright sunlight. It is really a short walk (about 1/4 mile), but gave me an impression of back country hiking without a trail - difficult! I'm not ready for a long backcountry trek i guess. There is a cabin under construction along this route - i loved the coat hangers in the building as if the owners were just about ready to move in

A front house shot to show our close-to-finished wall by the front door. The top course of rocks fits nicely along the wood beam. The plan is for overhead lights on the porch ceiling to project wide spots down on the rocks at night - will be an impressive sight.

Coming back from town and hitching in bright afternoon sun. Picked up by a nice lady on her way to a Red Hat Society meeting just up the road from Brian. Of course i had to look into the RHS . Here is the link RED HAT SOCIETY

Sitting at the computer doing web searches and felt an earthquake - sort of like a large semi hit the side of the cabin. Lasted about 5 seconds with the tress swaying and gentle aftershocks. The alaska range and this area in particular are on a major fault line. Interesting that when i went to the website about 5 minutes after the quake, it was already recorded along with all the others that day. RECENT EARTHQUAKES IN ALASKA

Was going to take a photo of my scraped and swollen digits for a sympathy ploy, but held off. They will be better tomorrow and i'll wear gloves when they start to flare again

MISC NOTES

Noticed that the blog has been loading slower since i've started adding photos with greater detail. I've archived the older posts and that improves the loading speed. The sidebar calendar shows posts and the archive link will go to any of those older posts if you missed any.

Giving my fingers a rest - scrapes and tenderness on all digits after mortar laying and lime exposure this week. Will see if it improves after weekend or if i'll have to go to gloves. Got more porch roof and window trim up to define the finished lower walls. Brian's plan is to use rocks at the corners and stucco between windows, so i may not be able to have the scaffold experience

Posted new photo album of cabin photos from Dave's cabin and one just "down the road" from them, ricky's. Have not met ricky, but impressed with his woodworking skills!

sunny saturday - mortar scraping to be done at the house this morning. My challenge is to go both ways to/from town on bike with perhaps a stop at the lake for a solo canoe adventure (camera in plastic). The uphill swings will be good exercise and it gets to be too much, there's always a thumb

Still working with Brian to get some good plane crash photos for a post on that subject.

Enjoy the cabin photos!

Dave and Carrie

A great field trip to see a charming couple, dave and carrie johnson. They live just outside of town on 40 acres of pristine wilderness. They are an example of highly successful people (he: retired state ranger and climber; she: retired teacher, musician) who choose to live off the grid. Dave has a long climbing history with multiple "firsts", but more importantly, they climb as a family. They have the accomplishment of climbing the high points of all 50 states as a family with their son between his ages 11-13 - he is now a world class cross country skier as a junior in high school. AMERICA'S ROOF - HIGH POINTS OF EACH STATE . We'd come for Brian to look at a possible backhoe job at their mountain-top cabin. I took the chance to talk with them both about living off the grid. Advantage: no power outages - their battery power and generator power is enough for them to have modern conveniences, although they rarely watch TV (olympics). Carrie estimates power costs at about $100/year!!!! Their computer is on DSL, so they have high speed internet. Things Carrie misses most: a shower and a washing machine. They have a wood-fired hot tub that takes a few hours to heat and the view is incredible. Great efficient wood stove that more than adequately heats the rooms in the deepest winter cold. They initially had bears, but none recently. Their son skis to the school bus each morning and walks/skis back each afternoon, enhancing his sking ability.

Their problem - radon. They have built and improved this site for over 15 years. A friend recently told them they should check for radon - should you? NORTH CAROLINA RADON ZONE MAP

REAL ESTATE SALES AND RADON TESTING

As you may have guessed, their levels were very high. For health reasons they are looking at how to shield the soil through a concrete barrier; hence the backhoe work. Radon is the third leading cause of lung cancer (smoking, second hand smoking, and radon).

The beauty of their cabin is only slightly captured in the photos. The incredible log work and creativity are everywhere. A compact, efficient, charming and ultimately homey place - thanks for letting me see it!

Had a neat experience with mushrooms - Dave pointed out a brightly colored one by the path. It is an Amanita species. IN GI we learn about such mushrooms as highly toxic and causes of fulminant hepatic failure - great to see one up close and personal - beautiful, but fatal

MUSHROOMS

BIKES

Alaska folks take their bikes seriously. Biking is great exercise; training for climbing and endurance, but the difference in quality of bikes is amazing. I took a ride downtown the other day in the sunshine and the plan was to explore the downhill ride to town and get a ride back with brian on the uphill ride. The downhill ride was mostly downhill with a few moderate inclines up that added enough leg power to make it a mild sweat. I had an image of meg ryan in the movie city of angels riding down this beautiful road downhill and feeling the breeze and sunshine (mine was much better than hers in the movie because a car did not hit me). The bike i took was the best of brian's collection - still two pretty functional bikes and 4 hulls in a state of disassembly/repair. It is a fancy light frame with the new style of gear shifting that lets you click in the gear and progress up/down easily from the handle con trols - much different than the puny used 3 speeds i'm used to in washington. Brian and lisa went on a power ride yesterday and she smoked him on her new 24 speed super fast bike. Lisa rides 15-30 miles when she comes to town. There is a really nice bike path the burrough has added beside the main road so bikers can zip along w/o having any contact with motor vehicles. Weather does not seem to bother these hearty alaskans - i've seen rain slickers on parents with their children in pull trailer additions and school children biking along with backpack bookbags. About half of them are helmet wearers.

I'm focussing my activity on fitting rocks up to a barrier. In the photo, it's the bottom beam for the covered front porch. Choosing rocks that will fit the particular confined space is an advanced skill for me. i'm getting good feedback from Brian on the nuances. The other photo is of brian's house on one side showing the area that needs fitting. He ran out of rocks for this portion. For me the challenge is to find the right rocks that will continue the pattern set for the rest of the wall. Brian is a rock-laying machine along the sides over the last few day. He has that skill and confidence that comes with experience. All of the walls i've seen of his have interesting placements of large rocks at the bases with good tight joints.

Augie here for the week as a cap to her summer vacation with Montessori school starting next week in Fairbanks.

Alaskan sled dogs

On the walk to the consutruction house. i pass an alaskan sled dog. I don't know if this dog has pulled a sled, but he is the breed for it. A lot of alaskan lore is about sled dogs, the iditerod race, and endurance. There are sled dog demonstrations in all the tourist spots of dogs pulling wheeled sleds. The tourist lure seems to impress us with the link between man and loyal, smart, highly skilled dog. Photo is of the neighbor's dog. Link describes all you want to know about sled dogs and more - SLED DOGS

Great sunny day and projected to be the same for the next few days. Brian and i were joking about the unpredictability of snny weather, but it seems as if it's the same way for minnesota, wisconsin or the "norther lower 48" Guess if you live there you develop a sense of do-it-now (if you need sun) to do your daily adventure. If you work inside, sun is not as important.

Rocks and sand in the truck after a trip to town.
The truck has no brakes, so driving it down the hill and in town is an adventure. I had to pass brian in the backhoe on the left to glide through an intersection.

The alaskan state flag, at alaska mountaineering school - blue flag with a constellation of stars.

Star-gazer readers will note that it is the big dipper and north star - both so prominent in the alaska sky in the winter to be the symbols for the state flag (maybe that will be a trivial pursuit or millionaire question and you'll know it.

Took a turn at the balance line and did poorly. The guys were watching from the office and later told me it's easier to start in the middle and to use ski poles for balance in the beginning. Apparently lower body balance is important in rock climbing because you can't only use your arms, you have to learn to use your legs and lower body to find your center.
Maybe i'll do better after those tips.

Photos of the inside of the house on a sunny day - the master bedroom with the arcs and ceiling and a trophy shot of some of my better rocks.

No GI tract symptoms (yet) from the lake water

An untold story

My, that sounds like an interesting title. I was thinking that readers may get saturated with just rock-related stories, so thought i'd share one from a few weekends ago to show that i'm not just a maniacal rock layer.

Brian and i had gone to the lake to look for the canoe that Caytlin and Colby let me use. We found it sort of wedged on the shore - a VERY nice canoe. It was a nice day, so we all went out for a spin on the lake (luna, brian and i)

THE LAKE

We canoed along for about 30 min, luna got tossed in to do somes swimming along the shore, and we headed for the shore. As luck would have it, we both shifted at just the wrong time and ended up waste deep in the water. I took a good gulp of lake water (luckily the camera was at home), and all of our stuff was soaked. Luna looked pleased. Was the water safe to drink? In Gastroenterology, i treat lots of patients for giardia obtained from mountain streams. Was i at risk with this gulp - yes. Even though lakes and streams in alaska are crystal clear, they are fed by mountain runoff and have contamination by wildlife. The helpful website Alaska Water Quality. Anyway, to date, no symptoms and well after the 5-7 days the article notes. Lesson: canoe stability, close your mouth!

Flowers are in bloom everywhere

FLORAL DISPLAY

Brian's specialty is making arches - he is fast, and creative. In the cabin you can see some of that work around the kitchen and the doors. He and Lisa were making a closet door arch in the new house and thought i'd watch for some tips - an easy way to spice up a room provided you do not plan to put a door in the opening.

SLIGHTLY BLURRY PHOTO OF LISA PUTTING MUD ON THE ARCH (BEHIND HER)

Good day of laying rock and looks sunny outside today

Gettin the stink blown off

Growing up in northern Ohio, we had our share of rainy/snowy spells with kids (and parents) going crazy inside the house. In such times, my momma would dress me in the appropriate foul weather gear, and send me outside to get the stink blown off. As near as i can tell, that gave her a break and i was expected to run around to circulate air and get the inside stale air off, as well as burn off kid energy. I always came in refreshed and she seemed to be better for it also. I took the car to town to get stink blown off - drove with windows down in memory of my momma.

Brian and i had a philosophical discussion of rock placement. His style is to have 99% of the flat side of rocks to the outside. An alternate philosophy is to have the irregular edges of rocks to the outside to give a more rocky appearance. There is a flagpole base in town done in that latter style. I drove to check that out. I prefer brian's style - more orderly and artistic, so one mission accomplished.

Then went to the used bookstore to hang out - sort of the talkeetna version of barnes and nobles. The free cookies were gone by that time, but got more of a story. The owner had started baking on the north slope during pipeline construction (a common reference point for alaskans) and had continued. She started baking cookies in the store about 5 years ago because of the smell and hominess of it, but her insurance carrier nixed that a year ago (historic building, no sprinkler system, no commercial kitchen) and she now has a routine of baking at home. She averages 10-20 dozen/night for the next day, and although she likes doing it, it has become more a labor than a labor of love. She feels it keeps her baking skills strong and brings customers to the store (it's the only book store in town). She is in preparation for commercial baking when her finances improve. She is sad because her 15 y/o son, last of 4, left about a month ago to live with his dad in las vegas. She is feeling that her nest is empty with just she and her husband. She has worries about the temptations of las vegas for a 15 y/o who has lived his life in talkeetna.

Bought a cd of a local alaskan fiddler and poet (no bluegrass festival, so some bluegrass after all) KEN WALDMAN. Sort of a john hartford style with what i took as "gritty alaskan poetry". An example

Two years writing, teaching, fiddling,
sharing all I could.
I was known in Nome, maybe
as one of the crazies
who rode a bike all winter long.

Then i walked away from a plane crash
Old timers I didn't think knew me
now greeted me by name. I saw
how others watched, whispered.
I let drunks touch me for luck.

On my walk around town, rain started again. I went to the Free Box Community Store, one of the few times i'd seen it open, but multiple folks had told me to check it out for "character". A nice man greeted me and told me there were two rules: 1. everything is free 2. If you even think you may want something, take it. What a deal. Brian said there were often great clothes left by tourists and cruise folks. I didn't find anything that suited me for the rainy day. Maybe another time.

Today: errands, backhoe retrieval, return the truck to the mechanics (same problem with brakes) and Brian to drive halfway to fairbanks to get Augie who is coming for a week for a last vacation fling before her Montessori school starts.

LUNA IN LEVITATION MODE WITH ALL 4 PAWS OFF THE GROUND

RAIN!!!!!

Rained out weekend - no travel, no festival, no photos, no house construction. Maybe a walk in the rain will give me a new perspective. This is the dry season in Alaska.

Spending the day exploring camera manual on CD, writing, and generally loafing. That inactivity is hard for me, a project person. I'm taking it as a challenge in making me a better, more patient and tolerant person.

rain, rain go away, come again another day. who out there knows the rest of that nursery rhyme?

Topics for next week - planes in alaska - lots of them, lots of crashes, very few with injuries; making an interior door arch; stucco exteriors; a visit to Dr. Yates in town. Gosh, sounds a bit like Bob Villa except for the plane crash stuff and Dr. Yates.

Got books on nepali and Tibetan medicine and starting those - it will be a huge adjustment for me coming from western medicine training

Rocks and sand

We finally hit a low point and needed to get more rocks and sand. The rocks come from a local abandoned quarry. The land owners got frustrated with RV's pulling in and using the long gravel road as a semi-RV park, so they dumped a big load of rocks across the road to limit access. Not a problem. We moved some of the larger boulders and went over the pile with the truck to a big ole pile of rocks.

BIG OLE PILE OF ROCKS

Any parent would look at this and tell their child to stay off - for good reason. The rocks are unsteady and slippery with plenty of chance for ankle twists, falls, scraps and head injuries. Not only is walking a balance test, but walking carrying big rocks is a bigger one. Those of you who have been reading regularly are probably thinking that some medical tragedy happened after that buildup - not so. We all did fine (Luna included). If we could throw them into a stash by the road we did, if not, just carried the real good ones over the humps and dumped them. The ideal rocks for our project are about 2 inches thick, flat on one side, interesting looking, moderate size. We collected about 100+ rocks that sagged the truck as we drove home.

On the drive up the road we found a sand bonanza. The road crew have been starting to resurface the road and have plowed up the underlayers. This is "good sand" with very few rocks - clean, and plentiful. It is somewhat of a covert operation though as one does not want the neighbors to think you've been digging big holes in the side banks of sand, so Brian may look a bit guilty in the photo. The operation was for me to fill buckets and him to haul them to the sagging truck.

BRIAN CAREFULLY WEIGHING (NO PUN INTENDED!) THE TRADEOFFS OF THIS GOOD ROCK COMPARED WITH GETTING IT BACK TO THE TRUCK

I'd wanted to get a photo of Luna in full run - when we go up or down the hill, she runs full tilt. The only way i'll be able to get the shot where she does not look like a brown speck in the screen is to get beside her. This one is of her after a run.

LUNA RESTING

Had a close encounter yesterday. Was at the job site, thinking about the world, stretched out on the workbench in the front taking a small snooze (just 5 minutes!) and waiting for Brian to come back. Woke up and within 10 feet of me were 3 BIG moose (the mom and 2 babies). I opened my eyes, looked at them, she looked at me. After a minute or so she moved off to munch some tasty leaves. Camera not available. Guess this is a bit like the fish story of the one-that-got-away.

The Cabin Interior

Scroll down for the album on the cabin interior - very cozy! It started as a tool building and was renovated with nice ceiling, faux paint on walls, and the arcs you see to add interest to the kitchen area. Interim students did the faux painting in the living room area.

Good house progress yesterday, but we need sand. The plan is to get it from the side of the road on the way down the hill "off-hours" so no neighbors have an issue. Apparently it's "good sand" with only a few small rocks that can be used for our mortar after just a bit of sifting. We need water - the building site does not have running water, so Brian has used a large water storage tank filled at the main house, but requires backhoe to lift it and place it on the side of the hill. he was doing a trade-off job with some backhoe work in town and he should be able to drive it back today. Rock selection yesterday really poor, so i made a run to the rock stash at the main house and threw a bunch of big ones in the back of the truck for use today. I'm walking proud because my rock layed equalled brian's - course he was doing other stuff and not really cranking!

More on the firearm post from a few days ago. Firearms at the bar have to be checked with the bartender- a moderate hassle, so most folks leave them in the car - better in a way - if they are needed, an open air confrontation is better than one with poor locals just trying to dance and visit.

More on the electronic door install by Brian - apparently takes considerable training and brian was subcontractor for his friend who is the electronic lock guru for surrounding states/western region. A fair amount of sophistication in lock mounting with multiple drills, router cuts and lock assembly - on average 20 min/lock, not counting lock assembly.

More on the Community of Y - the citizens have to consider proposals from developers who want timber. Ther timber goes for $70/acre (estimates that one tree for logging is worth $200). The developers harvest the trees, turn them into chips, truck them to port, and ship to Korea for paper production. Takes about 200 truckloads to load a ship and an acre may yield 1 truckload, so they need LOTS of trees. Wonder what happens to the land after the trees are harvested?

The weekend: largest bluegrass festival in alaska is just down the road about 15 miles or so. Started as a small festival of 50 or so, now has thousands and events each day of the weekend. I can park at Fireweed Station B&B (previous post) and walk along the railroad tracks about a mile ro so to the festival. Planning that for saturday (rain or shine). Hope it's a photo opportunity for people who like bluegrass and live in alaska (although lots of folks come from the lower 48 and drive the Alcan highway on the long ride from canada)

REMEMBER THE CABIN PHOTO ALBUM AT THE BOTTOM OF ALL POSTS

Progress and factlets

FOR THOSE WHO MISSED IT - SCROLL TO THE BOTTOM OF ALL BLOGS TO SEE PICTURE ALBUMS. WORKING ON CAMERA SETTINGS TO GET MORE VIBRANT PHOTOS

Working on this house with brian has shown me a new style of construction. His theory is that the best ideas for a house evolve as the thing comes together. Our front entry has changed concept multiple times and each time i have to admit that it is better. Obviously the basics of foundation, walls, windows are stable and built from an organized plan. The exterior however has morphed into a totally different style than when i started. As with most projects, you make slow progress, then a major leap forward happens - that happened with the windows from palmer.

Brian went for supplies tuesday and got windows for the kitchen from stock, ordered windows for the part where the rocks are now, and generally got stuff we needed. Yesterday we installed the windows and they will determine the rock placement and trim of the front of the house.

WINDOW DETAIL

Now, more sand, more rocks and we can rock around this front and go higher (to about level of door) after window trim on. There will be a front slab and covered porch at the entryway with recessed lights in the soffit to shine down on the rocks.

BRIAN'S JOKE - THE PHONE GUYS BIG DIGGER

Went to Ivy's (Brian's renter at another house) because of an oven meltdown - will need replacement, but thought you'd like her flowers. Great wild rasberries and currants just to the left.

IVY'S FLOWER GARDEN

Factlets:

- rock climbing and mortar cause your fingerprints to blur - may have to lay off for a month if you need printing
- alaska is the second largest consumer of spam; hawaii is the firstSPAM WEBSITE. I have some spam recipes if anyone wants them. SPAM does not freeze, so popular on mountain trips
- At the end of the Talkeetna spur road is the Community of Y, the only place in the USA with 1 letter in their name - about 50 people
- Brian did all the electronic locks for the Princess Mt McKinley hotel in previous post

Luna is doing well and more on her in a later post

Northern Adventure - Denali

Weekend (monday) adventure - I had a car, Brian was on a glacier guiding trip, and it was pouring! I decided to strike out with that spirit of adventure on the parks highway north. The attached photo album gives a blow-by-blow of the trip and this will be a narrrative of interesting stuff along the way. There is no way of attaching photos from an album to a post, so this is the best i can do. You all know what fog and rain look like, so photos of that subject are limited.

There is not much between Talkeetna spur road and northern points except the occasional wide part of the road (Trapper creek) until you get to Denail state park, about 50 miles or so north. The rain and fog prevented much scenery and as luck would have it the visitors center for the state park was closed that day for unknown reasons. Hiked a bit on the loop trails - nicely paved, easy grade trails with some posted maps of more challenging uphill nonpaved that i did not go on because of rain and bear warnings. All-in-all a great state park adjacent to the Alaska Veterans Memorial.

Photos of the fireplace at the Princess Mt. McKinley hotel (of course, of the fireplace) on the drive north. If you book a side tour, this is where you will stay. Upscale resort hotel with all the conveniences of home for cruise passengers. I'm sure the views from the top are wonderful of surrounding mountains, but fog blocked them - back another time when it's sunny.

Interesting businesses along the side of the road - folks who have stuff and want to sell it to the tourist trade. Suspect their selling season is pretty short, so all the good stuff comes to the front so buyers can see what's there. The occasional B&B/cabin rentals, but pretty much an unbroken winding highway north. If you took the railroad, you would miss all that roadside scenery. The railroad was a big deal when it was constructed, so they have the prime route and go right to the denali visitors' center. You can follow the tracks on mainly level ground northward. Those of you who have traveled west in the lower 48 know the railroad had a much more challenging route through mountain passes with rock cuts for tunnels and fill for grades to allow the engines of the day to make it up steep grades. None of that here - a challenge to build, but the route is a much smoother one.

The tundra. Finished a good book on alaska (a funky love story set north of anchorage during wwII on the background of the japanese balloon attacks on the US in the last months of the war; The Cloud Atlas, Liam Callanan) and wanted to see tundra - the photo shows the desolate beauty of this area that goes for thousands of square miles. This area is so desolate because of freezing below the surface and thawing in summer of several feet - enough for grass and moss to grow, but not good for supporting plants that need deeper roots. The pines have managed to survive by a broad root system that tolerates the freezes. This is not permafrost that occurs further north - permanent ground freeze. More information (The TUNDRA background). Apparently global warming is thawing the southern portions of the tundra with structures tipping (because they are built on permamnetly frozen ground), including the pipeline that now requires building supports for melting permafrost.

In an earlier post i mentioned the denali creek cabins - stopped to get photos of these and they seem like a good value with good location and reasonable price (for alaska). The highpoint was a darn good piece of pie (photo album). (aside: what is it with this writer and pie, he writes about it all the time!!!!). Well, had some excellent fresh halibut fingers and a wonderful salad and the pie selection looked spectacular. The waitress was nice enough to lightly warm the pie, so that if i'd have had ice cream, it would have melted nicely over the sides of the pie. For me, the pure pie experience was enough.

The road to Denali has lots of smooth ruts where the highway system has repaired earthquake cracks. This is an active earthquake area.

Denali national park is a gem - easy access from road or rail, super visitors' center with good information about the park, and.... a fireplace (photo album). A small spot of sunshine for about 10 min, but no significant photo ops there. Hiked some basic trails, picked up some wine (cheaper than in talkeetna), and headed home. About 150 miles from talkeetna.

Good to get out. Perhaps the next drive north will be sunny to appreciate the scenery.

Living off the grid

The power grid is essential to most of us. It allows connection to civilization and provides those creature comforts we've become used to. A significant number of new alaskans come to realize a dream of a home away from civilization with cheap land prices. A typical young couple may move from the lower 48 to somewhere like talkeetna because they love climbing. They move here, research the area, and find a plot of land off the power grid (cheap). They buy the land and set up a homestead.

According to Brian that may be a very comfortable homestead (in nonwinter) that has no running water - they may use a well they have paid to have dug or use stream water they may haul to their little campsite. It is running water, even haot runing water - all you have to do is tilt the kettle. They may not have a septic system, but can build an outhouse. They may eventually buy a gas-powered generator for minimal power needs.

They may work at any number of entry jobs in the area (cleaning, waitress, laborer) and have enough money to make ends meet. If they are industrious, they will put enough aside to buy small building materials for starting construction of some structure and may get some parental support. Building starts and continues when they get time and money. Hopefully) by winter they have an inside structure with a wood heater (plenty of wood!). If things continue upward for heir dream, they gradually build, improve, get a septic system, perhaps pay for an electrical connection to their property (5000-30000, depending on if it is available and how far they are off the grid) and continue their good life. If things go less well, they may lose money each month with fuel costs for cars and generator, not have enough to build or improve, start drinking, have a child, lose their jobs, or any number of hurdles in life's road. The spirit of adventure is what brought them here, but once here, the advenutre continues, but with hard work, they can make it,.

As i've mentioned, Northern Exposure was supposedly modeled after talkeetna with the local doc, the pilot, the radio station, and the funky alaska atmosphere. I looked for a doc's office on my first walk around town and found one. The local doc according to Brian is a character and i may try to meet him. A GP, he wears lots of fur, and carries a six shooter side arm everywhere he goes, even in patient's rooms. Apparently he has had issues before and wants the extra portection that a hefty firearm gives. Maybe i can get a photo

Sidearms are very common here and they are a major purse accessory for females. No sense having one if you are not a good shot, and to his knowledge of local lore, they ARE great shots. The topic came up when brian mentioned a local bar with great bands. Apparently you are expected to check your firearm at the door to avoid the occasional bar-related shooting - fact or fiction - i just report the characters that brian shares. I'll have to verify the doc story when i go to town next.

The wilderness: walking to the construction site (about a 1/4mile walk uphill both ways), I'm on the edge of wilderness (or off the grid described above). Nothing for 50 miles and then you come to the alaska mountain range. There is a shortcut back from the construction site thorugh a corner of the wilderness that i plan to take with his guidance. I'm not usually a nontrail hiker and want to experience just a bit of backcountry hiking

Yesterday we went to local event - the talkeetna ice cream social at the firehall. Donated pie and ice cream for free. Lots of young couples and children, volunteer fire related. Did not get to talk to many folks, but GREAT pie. I had small slices of lemon, rhubarb, blueberry, cherry and apple rhubard topped with a big blast of vanilla - have not had many sweets up here and that was enough to put my pancreas into overdrive.

Scouted a canoe to use at the lake from colby and caytlin for adventure. Advantage is that it's at the lake, no transport required

Plan on an upcoming post on the interior of the cabin as a photo album. Very comfortable place to stay.

THE WILDERNESS, LOOKS INVITING DOESN'T IT

weekend plans

Still working oo the computer issues and hope to get some photos posted today. Most readers are in the hot, sticky time of year with hail storms, lightning and rain thrown in. It has been great here the last few days, starting out cloudy in the high 50's then later turning to blue skies, sunny and 70's. I hesitate to mention that because it may be a jinx.

Rock work moving along, but we've run out of rock. As you can see, we've made good progress up the walls. It appears as if each small quadrant (like below a window) weighs somewhere around 700# between stones and mortar, Lots of weight on a wall, so it has been important to try to maintain a good line downward so the weght is not pulling off the wall, but pressing downward.

SLINGING MORTAR

FRONT DOOR ENTRY WITH BENCH

Brian found some interesting looking purple rocks (hope the photo shows them well) that look just like they were dipped in a stain, but the color goes all the way through.

PURPLE ROCKS

The inside fireplace plans are coming along and i will be cutting screen today for the slab to be poured over rebar that will actually hold the fireplace . Brian thinking of having a friend try a new type of dyed highly polished concrete on this. Brian puts a lot of rebar in his concrete forms because of the high earthquake rate in alaska. It would be a shame to have a quake and shake the fireplace down. Apparently this building method will protect against structural damage from the minor ones. The ulimate plan is to finish the slab and then start block framing with rebar and concrete filling (lugging the concrete up the stairs and dumping into the block will be a good exercise!)

Had a shock yesterday in the batchelor diet. Imagine my surprise when i popped my marie caldender's chicken pot pie out of the microwave and saw that each LITTLE PIE has 670 calories and 41 fat grams!!! Predominant saturated and trans fats I've seen hearty meals that have less - now know why they are so filling

Did a wash with concrete residuals on shirts and pants as a memory of alaska.

Tentative weekend plans (tentative because i'm the follower):

- ice cream social today in downtown (locals, free, pie and ice cream), all things that register with me
- perhaps a kayak on the lake (pulled brian's kayak out from under the house) - need the truck to get it to the lake though
- perhaps a trip up the parks highway toward denali national and state park to check out hiking trails sunday or monday - brian on guiding job to the glacier and i may have the car.

Small improvements

A good day of rock laying and making progress. went back to the main house and collected several more batches of rocks. I'm feeling more comfortable, and starting to experiment with larger rocks. We're about ready to start moving onto the scaffold for the courses where windows are not involved and that will add a level of lifting that will be challenging.

I told you that sand is one important part of the mortar. My job is to sift sand. I do it early in the morning before Brian gets there and it tends tt make the work progress smoother to have prepped sand to mix various batches of morar. The sand we're working with now came from down the hill (free) and has a mixture of small pebbles that can't be used in the mortar for the rocks, so it has to be sifted. That is a messy job that Ive manged to improve slightly (readers I'm sure are thinking how insignificant this is, BUT, improvements in efficiency help me keep my creative side going). The sand table now conists of an old skanky wheelbarrow, a woooden frame, and the sifter. This combination is at just the right height to stand comfortably while you run your hands through the moist sand to joggle it enough to separate the pebbles from the sand and dump the pebbles. The combination works much better than previous ones and is very comfortable and mindless enough to be interesting.

THE SAND TABLE

The second small improvement is in the wire brushes. Brushes are important for scraping excess mortar off the rocks, ideally done about 6 hrs after they are layed, but can be done as late as 18-20. After that the morta is too hard to get off easily. Taking off the mortar has been good because it allows me to see how rocks were layed to fit together and what are acceptable spaces between them for a good finsished look. The brushes take the most wear at their ends - that's the part that gets into the cracks between rocks. Brian used to throw the brushes away after the ends were worn down (several days of scraping). I decided to saw off the dead ends and then be able to re-use the new ends . This stretches brush usefullness and the sawing is not an issue with a chop saw.

BRUSHES

small improvements I know,but improvments

I took photos of the cabin interior and will post those in a photo album when we get the computer i-net connection adjusted (now on dialup and takes > 10 min to upload photos)

computer issues

switching computers and i'm on dialup - too slow to upload photos.

Medical emergencies

Not that i have one, just had been thinking about yesterdays post and splashing concrete into my eyeball. Eye is fine with washing and common sense (wear safety glasses!), but what do the people of Talkeetna do for medical services? As it turns out, they are very well equipped with a volunteer 911 system, ready helicopter or fixed wing support to specialists in anchorage. Alaska Mountaineering (colby and caytlin, dinner the other night) run a very extensive wilderness medicine course (WILDERNESS MEDICINE COURSE DESCRIPTION). According to brian, Talkeetna has one of the highest per capita densities of EMS personnel of any place in the country.

My question to Brian was: if you fell off this roof, what would happen? (other than the obvioius for you readers who are witty - he'd hit the ground). If his cell phone were not crushed in the fall, I could call 911 and a volunteer truck would be here shortly (I had to find out the address first). They would stabilize (I hope i would have done some of that), and contact anchorage or local medical facilities (closest level 2 hospital is wasilla, 50 miles or so south). They would decide if transport is needed and options are helicopter from anchorage or fixed wing from local airstrip. There are a lot of moutaineering expeditions that go out of here, so lots of available resources. Hope i do not have to use them, but comforting to know they are there, at least in theory.

The key to good rock laying is good mortar. Much of my time is spent mixing mortar - the experience of the right mixture of sand, concrete, water and lime is essential to a good job. Luckily we have an electric mixer. Picture me tilting the mixer full of "good mortar" towards a big buket, missing the bucket and dumping a mess of mortar on the ground - bad words were said. I scraped it up, hauled the big, HEAVY bucket into the house and dumped it into the block for the fireplace - hence the splash in the eyeball. The mortar on clothes is wet and cold. It sticks, it dries, and it creates havoc with a washing machine, so i make a habit of flaking it off when semi dry the next am. Good upper body strength building.

Brian has decided that the rock facing looks so good, we'll extend it along another front face, so he started laying there after i did the required prep work.

Laying courses can only go so far because the lower courses are dependent on dry mortar for the higher courses, so the longer the runs, the faster it can go. I've become more experimental in my laying and working to get the hang of dry fitting, mortar, and scraping. Scraping the same day makes a huge difference in time and effort and helps me see his placement stye for tightness and artistic eye appeal.

Photo is of the developing house on 4 sides of the front (5th side just has a few stones layed). We are stuck at this level on several sides until he installs windows and trim so rocks can go up to the trim. Still have some rocks to lay on the other sides

HOUSE FRONT WITH DEVELOPING COURSES - MY FRIEND THE MIXER AT RIGHT

MUD

Rain stopped and was able to get up to the site to do some work later in the afternoon. Mud everywhere. Made good progress in block inside for the coming fireplace. Lots of hauling wet concrete from outside mixer into the house, dumping into a hole and filling with rocks to get a stable foundation base. That to be followed by form building for a slab, rebar support, and more concrete today. Had an incident of a big drop of wet concrete splashing into my right eye - washed it and promptly back to house for more washing and drops. Was concerned about the lime in the mixture we make. The ONE time i did not have my safety glasses on! Luckily eye is fine this morning. Work clothes so concrete laden, it's just better to strip them off outside and leave them to dry and dust off the dry concrete. Guess an apron of some kind would help keep some of the bigger wetness off. Sunshine really makes a difference in the outdoors experience.

Did some outside rock laying and there will be scraping/trim work to do this am. We're making progress. Brian repaired the roof leak as it was becoming more of a problem for that upstairs floor. He had all his moutaineering gear to go up there. If you saw the photos of where they go, the roof is a minor climb.

Thought I'd share a typical day diet choices. I used to love diet mountain dew and have not missed that caffeine rush in the afternoon.

B-fast - granola bar, oatmeal, powdered milk with raisin bran
lunch - salad, cheese sandwich
dinner - chicken pot pie, frozen egg rolls, fish (salmon/halibut), mac and cheese, frozen lasagna - batchelor food
snacks - granola bars, left over snacks from brian's mountain treks

all-in-all pretty time-focused meals: quick, something that can come from cosco, something that stores well. Brian has a freeze dried teriyaki chicken pack from one of his climbs that i'm going to try for variety

what do i miss most: sushi

Photo is of fireweed in bloom - lots in meadow below the house and moose seem to like it. The local legend is that when the flowers are gone, the summer is gone. So in the photos you can see they are half gone.

The bikes you saw in previous post are in various stages of repair. Brian has collected them from folks who have come and left them or from people in town who found them around their stores at the end of the summer. About 5 semi together bikes with one or another major defect (no brakes, bent wheels, broken frames, no pedals) - my challenge is to get one or more functional. They are nice mountain bikes with shocks.

RAIN AND MORE RAIN

Yesterday it rained, this morning it's raining. I made the best of it yesterday by reading, a nice long walk in the rain, meditated, got into a positive space.... but, I can see how an alaska winter can make someone go a bit off. This is such an outdoor place, that to be inside is a type of punishment. I walked to the job site and see the benefits of our backhoe work to put gravel down around the house. Drainage is redirected and the site is pretty dry without the mud that surrounds the rest of the nongravel areas. Found a leak in the wall in one of the rooms that will be frustrating to fix for Brian, but better to know it now before the hardwood floor is in.

Went out this am to shoot some rain shots for this post and saw the two moose calves without their mom just a short distance from my window. Don't know their age, but when i looked back, they were gone into the woods.

MOOSE CALVES

The rain has a sort of calming sound on the roof, but I can only do so much calming and then i want to lay some rocks! Unknown what the day holds, there is certainly plenty to do at the job site inside. Maybe we can get some fireplace block layed...

Exploring tourist pamphlets to share with you on line so you get some idea of the area. One of those that covers the area attractions including denali park things is BEAR FOOT GUIDES When i first looked at this opportunity, I was impressed with how close talkeetna is to denali and i thought it would be great to just scoot up to this most impressive of all national parks. In planning a trip to denali, you have to consider the following:

- how to get there - bus or train, both once/day, about $100/pp round trip and both require an overnight stay because of schedules
- where to stay - park hotels expensive ($200+/night), nonpark cabins more charming and about 150/night, but need to be sure there is a shuttle into the park visitor center. Thi is the peak busy time, so early reservations essential
- what to do - flightseeing is the most streamlined - rent a plane seat with 2-3 others for 1-2 hr flight over denail (about $350 pp), tour busses go into the park and a narrated tour (8-12 hrs) covers the entire park road (approx $80-120), or the more popular shuttles ($30) that are on-off as you wish to do independent hiking along the 95 mile park road. Entry to the park requires a park permit ($20/family) or $10/person. The "off" part of the shuttle is easy because you have reservations, the "on" part more uncertain as you have to wait for a seat and shuttles often full this time of year, so waits in the "wilderness" of 1+ hrs may delay your meeting your train/bus home
- what to eat - no food vendors inside the park, but plenty of nice alaska-type food places outside, but need a car to get to them unless they are on site of your cabin. They can pack a hearty lunch for you to take on your hike ($30/pp) with advance reservations

Still working on the planning - imagine if you planned all that and it rained like today!!!!

Got so excited about moutains after Brian's slide show that i checked into mounteering schools. One of the best ( ALPINE ASCENTS) has an excellent brochure that gives you the overviews of what's involved and the costs (note the cost to climb Mt. Everest!!!!! at $65,000). If you can, take the time to read the cybercast under the "climbing everest" section on the left of the page for some on-site description of what these expeditions are about. Great slideshow and some of the photos are Brian's. I was especially interested in the Everest Base camp trek (right side of the screen under treks) because that is close while i'm in nepal in october/nov this year - in the description it says it's for the "very fit" climber - i'm in pretty good shape, but very fit, not likely. I can picture myself huffing and puffing up that trek. The photos are worth your checking it out.

VIEW UP THE DRIVEWAY - NOTE THE ALASKA PUSH LAWNMOWER AND THE BIKES I'M REPAIRING TO INCREASE MY RANGE OF TRAVEL

I think maybe the rain is letting up a bit.....

A TRIP TO TOWN

Drizzly, wet morning after a spectacular day yesterday. No posting because we were doing computer swaps.

Lots of newsy stuff this morning.

First, the rock project: Making great progress according to Brian and the levels are rising. We ran out of sand and he took the backhoe down the hill to collect another bunch. Next will be rocks and anticipate a rock run coming soon..

BENCH BY THE FRONT DOOR - PERFECT FOR GROCERIES WHILE YOU OPEN THE DOOR

Amazing the holding power of mortar. We're now several courses above this and the bench is "rock" solid (ha, ha).

Took the beautiful saturday to go to town with a nice hike/hitch. Was lucky because Brian's cousin Pete had come to pick up the backhoe and brian drove that while pete offered me a ride to town. Pete is a heavy equipment mechanic for Alaska DOT and does gold mining in the off season. His story is that the alaska govt officials have made it so cumbersome to get permits for gold mining, that lots of folks just avoid the permit process and do their mining at times when everyone is gone (late fall, early spring). The frozen ground is hard on the equipment, but no officials. Apparently it is profitable enough to make it worthwhile. Anyway, a great ride to town. Downtown Talkeetna full of tourists on weekends, mostly cruise folks on side trips. Overheard conversations about how boring this was, how the denali trip did not show them any wildlife, how the bus rides were long, and general comments of that nature on a beautiful day! Spent some time in the second hand bookstore (referenced earlier with the free cookies) and good discussion with the owner about writing. She is writing a murder mystery about Talkeetna. We went over several plot lines and she is focused on a central theme of a body found in the moose dropping bag at the festival (it IS the major event of the year), the body may be the witch-like administrator for the festival. The body is discovered as it hits the ground with a splat as the moose dropping are released (you can fill in all the gruesome details of that scene). She hosted the kids zone during the moose dropping and claims to have had 1600 kids through her area in 2 days. The kids zone was free and had games, prizes and other kid-related diversions. No intent to make money, just to provide a fun experience for kids.

Back to the Alaska lodge shuttle for the uphill trip home (pack now heavier with two large bottles of wine to restock my supply). A mile walk in the sunshine, and a quick pickup on my thumb nearly to brian's house (must have been the shave and shower), but the lady had a full cab and asked if I minded sitting in the back. I felt the joy a dog feels in the back of a pickup with the wind blowing and moving uphill! (wish i had a photo of that one). My intent was to stop at the lake and get some sun/shots, but a ride is a ride.

Back home and brian's slide show was changed to sat night, so we went to Alaska Mountaineering (Kaytlin and Colby Coombs) for Brian's slides with a climbing crowd and dinner. The high point of the dinner was a fresh baked blackberrry-rhubarb pie with vanilla ice cream - wonderful. Got to talk with folks and get some of their stories of climbing. These are incredible climbers who have done all the major peaks in the world (everest, denali, etc) (Disaster in the Mountains!: Colby Coombs' Story of Survival (True Tales of Survival) (Paperback) . Brian's slides of his antarctic trip with the national science foundation had them salivating for the peaks in antarctica. Home at midnight and it was still light with developing storm.

Will take more photos on the next nice day.

Professionalism

A few more thoughts on professional work as we continue the rock work. There seem to be two sides to this project; the technical side (screen, mortar mix) and an artistic side (placement of the rocks, joints between rocks, smoothing the joints). I am learning that the technical side is pretty routine and anyone can learn that with a good teacher. The artistic side takes time and experience and that side is what you want to look for in a professional who you may hire to do your work. The artistic side makes a finished product that you can be proud of.

Brian is experienced in both. In our rock laying, i try to choose rock placements that work for me and then get his clearance before placing them. He is an excellent teacher. The feedback of why something works or not is the professionalism. After clearance, i place it in the wall. Most of my work has been in the finish job, making trims of the day-old mortar that "spluges" between the cracks as the rocks are set in place. The trim work is relaxing because it moves right along and you can see a good result if you do it correctly. I'm finding that my rock placements go well if i use lots of mortar CLOSEUP OF NEARLY FINISHED ROCK

Notice that the joints are smooth and tight between the rocks. The trim work has taken out most of the excess mortar and left that in place that follows the natural contour of the rock to give definition and depth to the face. The small holes will be filled to give a smooth finish and the entire face will be power washed as the final step

BLOCK BASE ON REBAR

The inside fireplace base was layed. The photo shows the base being developed on the concrete slab. The mortar is drying after placement yesterday and packed with lots of rocks to give strength and bulk for later block courses to be layed today. For those of you who have any passing interest in construction (and for me as a late reference), the link has detailed instructions for the rumford-type we're installing RUMFORD INSTRUCTIONS

My sister asked about work schedule. I'm an early morning person, even on alaska time, so try to do this blog posting first after coffee, then get ready and walk to the jobsite. I get there usually before Brian and find one or another thing to do to get ready for the day - finish rocks done the previous day, or firm up scratch coat with wall hangers. The weather is GREAT most days to date and right now is a sunny clear morning, about 60 degress on the way to a high of 70's - a wonderful time to be outside. I usually finish about 6-7 and Brian often stays much later to do puttering or catch up on one or another project. His daughter Natalie is working some to earn extra cash and her drywall work requires him to keep ahead by laying more drywall so she can finish it. In short, a typical construction project - many things going on.

BRIAN IN WORK MODE - LOVE THE HAT!!!!!!

Plan for weekend: maybe a road trip with the backhoe, maybe supply run to Wassila, maybe riding/hiking to town to rent a canoe for some lake rowing. Plans to swap this computer for another one - just in case that does not work, posts may be delayed. Thanks to all for commenting!!!!

Rocks #2

Good rock laying progress. It is so helpful to work with a professional to get the tips and tricks that make a job not only go smoothly, but give a professional result. The corners are going well and are the most difficult. Brian has built the turret to be an eye-enhancing visual impression to the house front. We had a discussion about how to finish those angles at the front. The consensus was to place rock woven up along the corners to protect against snow damage (wood would tend to wick water, eventually causing breakdown of the wood; rock will not have that problem with the sealing prep job we've done). The fate of the wood beams that were originally intended for that space remains to be seen because the woven rock at the corners looks better.

ON A CORNER DOING THE CLEANUP WORK

The rock placement technique is simple and complex at the same time. The screen base has a scratch coat of mortar that is anchored to the wall with brick hangers driven into studs to hold the weight of the rocks and mortar. That can dry and then a layer of rock is layed. Choice of rock is crucial, so it is important to have many rocks. As the rock selection decreases, the chance for a tight fit at each joint lessens. We're nearly out of rocks and will need a new load. Discussion about where to go, vehicles to be involved are continuing. The "best place" is about 3 hrs north of here with large and small rocks for the picking, but with that length of trip, we'll need a large truck and perhaps a pulled trailer. Brian is working on those items from friends.

Because of the weight of those large rocks in the photo, you can only lay a few rows at a time to assure the mortar holds the entire weight. There is a long string of rocks along the side you can't see in the photo.

Dry fit the rock into place. The choice of a rock requires a developed sense of spatial orientation to fit it into the right place. Sort of like a vertical jigsaw puzzle. The technique is to mix a big 'ole batch of mortar with just the right amount of stickiness, fling it onto the screen to get a thick coat, butter the back of the stone, and fit it into place. Hold it for a bit and fill any air gaps with plenty of mortar to make a firm seal with the backing.

After seveal rows have been layed, let the whole thing dry for 6 hrs or so, but less than 24. Then take a spoon, screwdriver head, and wire brush and clean the old mortar from the stones and cracks to get a clean job. As we go higher, we will put something over lower stones to avoid having to repeat that step with dripping mortar.

IMPORTANT TO DO EARLY CLEANUP AS THE MORTAR SETS VERY HARD!

Talkeetna is an area that requires cooperation. Brian's cousin needs the backhoe this weekend requiring road travel to east Talkeetna (a suburb I guess). While over there it makes sense to find another job to make use of the moved backhoe. Brian's friends have a developing site with no running water or septic system, so he's thinking of trading digging their septic system hole for unspecified future projects.

PRETTY INLAND LAKE JUST DOWN THE ROAD - MAY TRY TO RENT A CANOE FOR SOME TIME THIS WEEKEND

Rocks

Had a great day yesterday doing facing rocks. Lots of physical work with mortar and screen. Got the scratch coat down and Brian layed several courses of rocks. We will quickly run out of the rocks that he has and will have a make another rock run. The rocks are a gray/brown slate-like rock common in Alaska. Good because they are generally flat on one side and have a nice color and texture and a variety of shapes. These are different from the river rocks in the fireplaces at the lodge in previous posts. Generally a messy business though - Glad i brought plenty of work shirts, because my mortar technique involves lots of splashing! Suspect we will finish with the existing rocks today and have to plan another strategy for later in the week.

Learning lots from Brian who has done an apprenticeship with stone mason and has done multiple such projects in and around Talkeetna and California. It's great to work with an experienced professional. Photos of the fireweed station B&B outside of town with stone work by Brian. I've gotten help from the typepad support group so that my weblinks should work now (sorry for that in past posts) FIREWEEED STATION B&B

STONE FIREPLACE SIMILAR TO THE ONE WE'LL BE BUILDING IN THE HOUSE. I LOVE THE BENCHES ON EITHER SIDE

COZY BATHROOM - IT'S ALL ABOUT HEAT HERE! THE BUILDINGS HEATING SYSTEM IS BEHIND THE ROCK WALL ALLOWING RADIATED HEAT THROUGH THE WALLS FOR A NICE COZY FEEL TO THE BATHROOM DURING TUB SOAKS. THE ROCK EXTENDS AROUND WITH LOTS OF LITTLE SHELVES FOR CANDLES AND THINGS

Good discusison with Brian about the current trend for homeowners to self-install faux rock facings. They go on easily without the requirements for structural support in real rocks. The higher end products look good (I have them at the river house around a fireplace), but for the sheer bulk, texture, variety and heating efficency, the extra work for real rock wins in my opinion if you can do it.

Several readers have asked abot how I got to Alaska and found Brian's program. Well, it was through the helpful professionals at Interim Programs Interim Programs. Holly Bull and Kate Warren are creative, patient guides that helped me create a unique year of adventure. I could not have done it without them! Thanks Holly and Kate.

Augie, Brian 5 y/o granddaugher and i had a discusison the other day. She is visiting for 3 weeks from Fairbanks. She knocked on the cabin door:

Dennis, can i come in

yes Augie, what's up?

I wanted to talk with you

Go ahead

I would really prefer if you would not sleep in my bed, you can sleep on the couch

I understand Augie, but the bed is much more comfortable

I understand, but i'd still prefer that you sleep on the couch

Is there a reason?

Yes, you will get the sheets dirty and I like clean sheets
Good point, how about if before i leave i wash the sheets really well so i don't leave any sand or dirt on them and they will be clean when you come to visit. Will that work?

Yes, I suppose so. Will you go on a walk with me and Luna?

AUGIE DRESSED UP. SHE MANAGES TO STAY CLEAN RUNNING AROUND THE MUDDY JOB SITE AS BOYS COULD NEVER DO

Field Trip

Stunning day yesterday with SPECTACULAR views of the alaska range - the earlier photo was poor - you could not see a mountain.

DENALI (MT. MCKINLEY) AND THE RIGHT FROM THE TOP OF SAUNA AT BRIAN'S OTHER PROPERTY

The winding white area at the base of Denali is ruth glacier, a popular guided trip for Brian and Alaska Mountaineering School. Hard to believe that you can see that distance (Denali is over 40 miles). The clear air and wide views yesterday were fantastic.

Went to drop the truck for work and took a field trip to see ruth's house and the yaks. Ruth's yak herd of 10 or so is the only domesticated herd in the US that can be used for packing support - the animals easily take 80-100# of gear and food per animal and go leashless up the trail to support high climbs and backcountry trips. These yaks are very friendly and love to be petted.

NOTE EAR DECORATIONS

Then went to Ruth's house - what a view!

VIEW OFF THE BACK DECK TOWARDS DENALI

BRIAN'S FIREPLACE FACING AT RUTH'S

Prep work at Brian's for the facing at front of the house. Usual construction stuff of Tyvek, screen in prep for rock facing coming. We plan two projects to allow shifting work while concrete dries. Second project will be an inside fireplace built on concrete slab to the ground with brick and rock facing. Idea is good planning for heating efficiency and excellent air flow to eliminate smoke in side house. Working idea right now is a Rumford style fireplace (http://www.rumford.com/articleWhat.html). Fantastic for me to be able to see this at the early stages.

FRONT TURRET TO BE FACED WITH ROCKS - HOPEFULLY I CAN FINISH ALL SIDES WHILE HERE THIS SUMMER

Today: mix up first batch of mortar and start first course at turret, then move inside and pour bases for inside fireplace around rebar and block to raise it to floor level and provide support for the massive weight it has to hold. Lots of sand, concrete and stone lifting.

The Mountain Momma competition

A great sunny day yesterday, 70 high with clear blue skies. Amazing what the air quality feels like - no smog, smoke or haze. That fresh feel that you get in the mountains - makes you want to get out and...... backhoe.

The hole is nearly filled with stumps and junk. i walked proud because i dug myself out of a deep hole. According to Brian the jd310 is an old machine (30+ years) and modern machines have front wheel drive that makes such issues a thing of the past. So, when i do my first rental from Urenco-washington, I'm hoping i can get out of any sticky/muddy situations. Had a great day putting tyvek and screen on the front turret of the house in prep for starting rock laying today. Lots of physical exercise and scaffold work ( those of you who don't know, i USED to be afraid of heights).

Got to the MMC (momma competition) for a bit for some photos (in album below). These girls are tough! The girl who started (the only one i got to see) was competing with a broken finger. The events, all done in sequence for fastest time (with hip-high waders and a 10# "baby" on their back):

- walk a log and rock stream with 2 15# sacks of rocks, drop the rocks
- split a log into 4 pieces and place in wheelbarrow
- haul wheelbarrow to archery target, blow up a balloon and attach to target
- shoot arrow at target (if you hit balloon, extra points), you get 5 arrows
- cast a fishing rod between 2 posts 25# away (challenge, there is an overhead line that can snag your line)
- change you baby (done somewhat roughly due to time)
- make a whipped cream pie with a cherry on top and present to judges to finish

Good fun. I don't think i could do it (the baby is the real drag)

Had an impression during the MMC that i wanted to share In the small audience in front of me was a young man (20's) in camo fatigues with his family, wife and 2 year old. he had facial scars and some injury to his right leg. He was home on leave and had missed the competition last year because he was in Iraq. He as home now recovering and due to go back in a non-combat job for 6 more months. Even here in little talkeetna, we have families impacted. I'm not making a statement other than that we owe a debt to these brave men and women.

Had some GREAT fresh salmon last night from one of Brian's friends. A nice thick steak freshly cut off the fish grilled and seasoned just right, with some wine after a physical activity day

Moose Dropping Festival - day 1

THE PHOTO ALBUM CAN BE FOUND AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF ALL OF THE PAGES - SCROLL DOWN!

The festival is the major fundraiser for the talkeetna historical society and the biggest deal of the year. We made it to the parade and some music, then came back before the moose drop (I know, I'm just as disappointed as you that i did not see the droppings - will look for photos/coverage in the local news sheet)

More photos people ask - well, I'll try to place the parade and downtown talkeetna photos in a photo album and see if it can reference this post - look at photo album for explanation - let me know if you can't view it.

Met Ruth, GYN Oncology surgeon who came to the area (she is the only one in southcentral alaska) from new orleans in 2000 to learn mountainclimbing at age 40 - loved the town, sold her new orlean practice and moved here. Took up mountain guiding, instrument rating flying, bought a yak farm and raises about 30. She practices one week on and one week off and has added 25 people (nurses/pa's and 1 other doc) to her practice. Further discussions about how she can manage that coming.

met tim, first climber to do nighttime ascent of mt everest, tall thin guy who has stopped climbing - lost 4 toes and several fingers from frostbite. We had a nice discussion about how to blast out a large rock from his root cellar to pour concrete to minimize radon problem

Met one of the original Alaska bush pilots who still flies at 84 (for fun in the summer), in winter places trap lines and flies in to get them.

Developing some thoughts about "chartacters" i'll share later for your comments

Got in some festival time, but then we had to get back to work as the rain started.

I repaired the backhoe hydraulic line with the needed part (I broke it, i repaired it, only fair) then i worked a bit pulling stumps and generally filling the big hole. Brian, the cagy guy he is, left me alone to do work and i was feeling pretty good, until after about an hour or so i had to do another move and got the machine stuck in DEEP mud. I tried every trick he showed me and only went deeper with no traction in the soft soil. Was ready to use a chain on the front bucket to pull me out, but it would scar the tree that was to be saved, so i waited.

THE JD310 IN MUD

Heavy rain last night, so it will be interesting to see how Brian gets it out (he is pretty proud that he has never been stuck where someone had to pull him out)

Will be starting some finish rock work on a part of his house at a top part to see how it goes.

Will work on a photo of Brian and Augie (August), his 5 y/o grandaughter for a later post

Here are photos of the truck that i hope is going to be my ride for local trips

SIDE VIEW

INSIDE VIEW

Hope to make it to the mountain momma contest today at 1 PM.

Hitching in Alaska

Back safely from the hike to talkeetna. The walk down was a breeze. Only saw 2 cars; one of which stopped, so a pretty good ratio. Got a ride from Bill who runs a B&B with his wife (http://www.gbfreedomhillsbb.com/) in downtown. He notes that they get 90%+ of their business from the web and that most folks reserve wed-thurs 5-9 PM, go figure. He took about a mile or so off the 5 mile trip down.

some shots from downtown talkeetna

FINE DINING IN DOWNTOWN TALKEETNA

THE OLD AIRSTRIP IN CENTER OF TOWN - SITE OF THE MOOSE DROPPING

THE LOCAL HANGOUT AND WHERE LUNA'S FRIES ARE FROM

I love the stroll through talkeetna when there are few tourists. Found a great used book store on the edge of town that you can browse for a while and the owner makes fresh cookies (free!). By now it was starting to mist and thought i'd better start the hike home

Got lucky and picked up the Talkeetna Lodge shuttle (cut about mile off the uphill walk) and had a nice chat with the driver on the rules of the Moose Drop. Town puts on sale 2000 varnished moose droppings (real ones) with numbers; they are $5.00 each - all are sold within 1-2 hrs, so i could not get one - they are loaded into a cargo net and on the festival day (today at 6 PM), hauled into the air over the airstrip (above photo) by either a fixed wing (no cargo net), a helicopter, or a large crane - different methods used each year depending on weather, clouds, height required. The net is opened and they drop towards a 6 foot diameter bullseye - closest is $1000.00 and the prizes go down from there. You don't get to keep your dropping, they are used next year. The driver (forgot to get her name) is a newlywed and would compete in the mountain momma contest except she was frustrated that the same "hearty" 22 year old has won the last 3 years and had a lock on the contest. Her goal was to go to the all-you-can-eat biscuit and gravy breakfast sat and sun morning ("nothin like some good thick biscuits and thick gravy to start a day").

Took some photos of the Lodge fireplace because i love the stonework

THE STONE FIREPLACE IN LOBBY - GOES UP ABOUT 40 FEET TO CEILING

The lodge is owned by native alaskan corporation from anchorage and caters to tour busses/cruise folks

Now for the remaining uphill 4 miles (runners, I sympathize with you). Good brisk walk, mild misting. The last uphill mile was the most difficult (but then, I'm tough!)

THE LONG AND WINDING ROAD

Brian back from anchorage, backhoe repaired and ready to go. Hope to start exterior stonework next week. But today, the parade and the music of the festival.

The local surroundings

Lots of small items to report this morning.

The three moose i mentioned several days ago are around and have come right up to the house (brian has a photo to be included later)

There are bear tracks at the house site we're working - likely because we've dug up so much mulch. Apparently bear are all around. (http://www.bearinfo.org/bearsafety.htm)

Bugs: you've heard about them if you read anything about alaska back country. The mosquitos are huge (? as big as a mouse? - you feel them landing), but they have not bothered me with long sleeves even in the woods around the house site. Maybe if it gets warmer they will, not using any repellent yet, but they are thick (maybe the backhoe fumes keep them away). Flies - nasty bitin' black flies are everywhere, but not been bothered much with long sleeves and long pants - occasionally they find a chunk of open skin and you all know how that feels

Moss - there is a type of air fern on the trees - anyone know what it is? it looks a bit like spanish moss, but more frondy.

MYSTERY MOSS

MT MCKINLEY IN DISTANCE (BETTER PHOTOS TO COME)

Mt Mckinley - off in the distance in denali, but a great view of it yesterday from tops of hills in Talkeetna. Apparently it's mostly in clouds this time of year (according to the railroad guide on the train up), but got a view of the top yesterday in the sunlight .

backhoe woes. I do not want to overemphasize the backhoe and my thrill running it for those readers who find that a boring "guy" thing, but.... Ripping stumps out and general site prep work continues. I stalled it and the battery cables melted (not my fault) and we had to do a "westvirginia repair" that worked for the rest of the day. Brian went to anchorage to do errands and pick up a variety of needed parts/supplies. The second one WAS my fault - I was ripping out a huge stump and jammed the stump against a hydraulic cable on the outrigger (my, don't you love this pseudotech talk???) causing a hydraultic fluid leak - not an uncommon issue as brian's done it before, but it requires a part from anchorage on this run to continue

Big weekend for the annual Moose Dropping Festival - more to come. Wanted to preview with the event I want to see most - the mountain momma contest http://www.talkeetnachamber.org/event-mountainmother.html

Brian in anchorage with the car (another truck coming , now in repair for wheel bearings and may be available next week - you'll love that photo), so i'm hitching to talkeetna for photos and trip to local library. Would walk the 5 miles or so (I'M TOUGH), but it's uphill both ways (we were so poor growing up that i had to walk to school 5 miles uphill both ways, carrying my brother...... with no shoes). Apparently hitching is an accepted form of travel locally. Have to clean up a bit so i present a more responsible rider

Alaska observations

Good morning friends, a sunny morning in alaska (but then, with 19+ hrs of daylight, it was sunny last night too). As with any mountain weather, it changes rapidly

THE GATHERING STORM LAST NIGHT AT 10:30

The local news reports the hours of daylight and we passed the summer solstice a few days ago, so daylight getting shorter (by 4 minutes yesterday).

The post about Luna got a lot of comments, so i dug deeper with brian on Luna's story. She and her sister came home with his daughter about 7 years ago - a mixed breed. The sister left for better family after about 6 months. Luna (in her sitting mode) - sorry about the photo orientation - working on that

She is loyal, smart, and a bit manipulative, as dogs can be. She's accepted me and i don't even have to feed her. Maybe we can work on some tricks together.

People I've met so far who are associated with Brian are an interesting collection of multi-talented people:

chip (contractor now, denali guide, word class free face rock climber), married to michelle (owner of cafe michelle - new york style eatery featured in food networks Best of the Best book, Amazon.com)
kate (freelance writer and floatplane pilot/instructor) married to todd (sea kayak across north america alone several years ago from nova scotia to seward bay alaska, now a denali guide, mountain climber)
lisa (paint expert, mural artist, does big murals from photos, working at brian's house for paint colors, now works at roadhouse as waitress between mural jobs) http://www.talkeetnaroadhouse.com/
Kaytlin (owner, alaska mountaineering with husband (guide and pilot)) - leading mountain guide service in this part of the state

Talkeetna is a small place - this copied from wikipedia

Geography

Talkeetna is located at 62°18′41″N, 150°5′13″W (62.311397, -150.087053)GR1.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 111.2 km² (42.9 mi²). 107.7 km² (41.6 mi²) of it is land and 3.5 km² (1.4 mi²) of it (3.19%) is water.
[edit]Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 772 people, 358 households, and 181 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 7.2/km² (18.6/mi²). There were 528 housing units at an average density of 4.9/km² (12.7/mi²). The racial makeup of the CDP was 87.95% White, 3.76% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 1.30% from other races, and 6.87% from two or more races. 1.04% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 358 households out of which 28.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.0% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 49.4% were non-families. 38.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.16 and the average family size was 2.92.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 5.8% from 18 to 24, 35.4% from 25 to 44, 29.4% from 45 to 64, and 6.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females there were 113.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 114.5 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $38,289, and the median income for a family was $46,818. Males had a median income of $34,732 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $23,695. About 7.2% of families and 10.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.8% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.
[edit]Other

Talkeetna is a well known destination for many visitors. It has the luxury of being connected to the road and rail systems, while still being considered a real small time Alaskan town. It is most famous for its close proximity to salmon fishing and to Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley). Thousands of tourists travel to Talkeetna each summer to embark on fishing, flight seeing, and rafting trips, and also to indulge in the local arts and crafts boutiques. The height of tourist season revolves around the annual Moose Dropping Festival where artists from all over the state descend onto the town with their wares and sell them at booths set up around the town. Local performers also show their talents via plays and through the local circus. The Mountain Mother contest also takes place during the Moose Dropping Festival.
Talkeetna has a well developed airport and is home to several Air Taxi companies that offer flight seeing trips and support for mountain climbers. Many of the air taxi companies were started to ferry climbers from Talkeetna to Denali, as Talkeetna has the easiest access to the south side of the mountain where the main base camp is located. Talkeetna is home to several well known mountain climbers, including two of the youngest people to ever summit the mountain.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/matsu/story/8388957p-8284253c.html
Talkeetna is also the city on which the TV show Northern Exposure was based[citation needed].
Talkeetna is home to the independent webcaster Whole Wheat Radio.

The hole dug over the last few days is being filled in with tree stumps, dirt and "stuff". The backhoe is great for ripping out stumps!

learning a lesson

Learning a lesson

Coming to a new place requires learning the lay of the land; local customs and things that are expected of the visitor. My lesson came from a dog

LUNA

Brian's dog, luna lives largely alone since brian travels a bunch with guide trips, etc. She has the run of the property and i assumed had some food set out.

When i got here last friday luna happily came out to greet me, thinking i was brian and then was disappointed that i was not and went back to her porch seat. That went on for 3 days as i drove to town or exploring - came back - greeted - disappointment. Being a good dog person, i talked with her, petted her, but had no food for her.

Yesterday she rebelled. As i was driving out, she barked a BUNCH, blocked the car from going and generally let me know I was NOT going again. The drive down from brian's place is a long (1+ mile), steep gravel road. As i nudged past Luna she started running beside the car and kept running nearly all the way down the hill, keeping well in front of the car. Several tiems she stumbled and slipped on the smooth rocks, but got up and continued the run. Finally, after the steepest parts, i opened the door, she jumped in and we went to town. She sat in the seat with that expression all dogs have - "well, it took you long enough dummy".

We drove to town and i got dinner (salmon of course), but saved the fries and half of the bun for Luna. Proudly, i took it back to the car (aside, reading a book by steven king on writing - he says that use of adverbs such as proudly and such is terrible writing - I'll correct it in later posts - end of aside).

Luna looked at it, sniffed it, looked at me and went back to her perch ignoring the food. Well hell I thought and left the car for a slow amble in greater downtown talkeetna (mainstreet photo to follow....). When i returned the fries, bun, lettuce and ketchup were gone - she looked liked she wanted more ketchup on the fries next time

Lesson: intelligent dogs know what they want. Even though they can't talk, they can pretty clearly let you know. Listen to them if you want them to be your friend.

Tomorrow: backhoe excitement

Backhoe excitement

Transformers, Ripley's scene with the robot where she confronts the alien - large steel machines doing stuff - that's always been a special excitement.

I took that excitement to a new level when Brian took me to the new house he's building. Around back was a great big John Deere 310 backhoe

THE JD 310 AND THE HOLE

ME IN WORK MODE (NOTE SAFETY HEADSET)

It is a venerable 30+ year old machine, but starts well and can do some serious digging.

Brian is the kind of a guy who does not believe in extensive instructions - I told him i wanted to operate a backhoe, he said that was great, jump in. After a few comments on the controls, he turned them over to me. For the next 6 hours I dug.

Alaska soil is a combination of top layer (grass, moss), really good dark dirt, clay - about the first 2 feet or so, then gravel. The gravel is the kind we buy by the truckloads for driveways; fine stone that compacts well. For our purposes, i was to remove the top soli layer and place it in a "good dirt" pile for later use in landscaping, then at the gravel layer, dig a hole roughly 12 feet deep (or as dep as the backhoe could go) and make a gravel pile to be spread over the developing driveway. The compacted gravel prevents water puddling and mud and gives a stable base for later concrete, brickwork and the like. I go into some detail on this post so that you know what the project entailed.

A backhoe is a combination of a big shovel on one end and a scoop bucket that allows spreading on the other. Aside - those of you who know all this, please excuse the detail and comment as you wish on whether or not that makes the story any better... you've already seen the photo above, so perhaps this is redundant.

Anyway. I'd always thought that a backhoe should be easy emough to run, but like anything else there is an art and efficiency to the movements that comes with time. The construction guy who operates one in your town has years of finely tuned wrist and hand movements that make the machine a robotic extension of his hands ( not unlike medica/surgical robots in use today). As a novice I do not have that fine movement. I use a combination of jerky movements that even the machine thinks are slow and inefficient as it bucks and whines in protest (steven king's writing book says not to assign human-like qualities to inanimate objects Reference: On writing, a memoir of the craft, Steven King) - BUT, I improved after about an hour to full buckets with most scoops, and a reasonable flow (drop, pull, dig, curl, lift, swing, dump).

The hole got bigger. Brian took over to spread my large gravel piles onto the driveway and I started again. It rained (not a problem with the covered cab of the backhoe). Brian says the gravel is about 300 feet deep - we would not exhaust the supply.

I stopped when the side tires of the backhoe were dangerously close to slipping into the hole (brian was home with his granddaughter). It needs repositioning.

We'll be back tomorrow to continue.

Lesson learned: machinery is a great help for big jobs, gravel is free up here, good hand-eye coordination (ala video games) helps.

Tomorrow: waking up in Alaska

Waking up in Alaska

I find the best time to organize a post is the early morning. Lots of you are NOT morning people, so typing after a cup of good strong coffee at 5 am alaska time may not be your preference.

The cabin is a very comfortable single room structure that is self contained and one of Brian's earlier projects, converting it from a toolshed into this nice guest house

THE CABIN

My little sleep cubby overlooks a great field where i saw 3 moose yesterday (mom and two young calves) - camera not handy. The mornings in alaska are much like the days and the long nights, either bright sunlight with high clouds or gray overcast (like this morning). The weather can change at any time and so sun or rain are equal possilbities. Morning coffee, morning reflective time are much like yours, but it's SO quiet. We are about 5 miles out of town from Talkeetna and border on wilderness, so animal life abounds if you look for it. Saw a sleek red fox the other morning on the short (1/2 mile) walk to the other house we're working. Washington on the water is quiet, but this is a new level of quiet and i've enjoyed the reflective time even more at this time of day. About 8 ish the planes start - Talkeetna is a base for virtually all flightseesing, glacier, fishing, floatplanes and so those regular flights break the silence till about 8 PM or so, but they're irregular enough to add interest to the day.

More backhoe talk

The hole got bigger yesterday (now i've dug about 30 feet wide and 20 feet deep) and the hit with gravel is great. We spread it over the driveway area for mud control and that portion is nearly done. I'll be interested to see the plan for filling it in. I got to a new level of backhoe yesterday with operating the front bucket - a different skill set and one i'll need to work on a bit, but satisfying none the less. Plans for the day: move a 1000# rock up the road and position as an accent in the front of the house.

As one friend commented to me, enjoy your little tonka toy phase - I am. Ready to get to rock laying, but this prep work is needed to get the house front done.

Talkeetna is in high gear for the weekend - the annual moose drop festival is on and you, readers will be in the thick of it

initial impressions

This is the start - not really the start of the adventure because obviously there has been lots of planning that went into it, but the start of the travel. All the uncertainty - leaving home and friends, packing, what will it be like makes those around think i've suddenly lost it. As the days got closer, I thougth i'd lost it!

Travel is an adventure in itself - those of you who travel know that a wide variety of minor and major issues can happen to delay the trip - well; this trip went smoothly. I won't cover the details of travel except to alaska it is long . Arriving jetlagged in Anchorage, getting the alaska railway train to Talkeetna seemed more blurry, but all went well.

Arrived in talkeetna safely.

Impressions on travel to Alaska:

- people are mostly tourists, cruisers, or denali folks loooking for the week/10 day adventure with an impression of "bigness" of alaska
- I was looking for characters - defined as unique individuals who distinguish the area, have a crusty charm in their speech, dress, and approach to tourists
- I have not found any characters yet, but suspect i will and i hope i can accurately document their qualities in photos or words
- There are a LOT of motor homes on the highways, filled with couples or groups taking independent travel on the roads. I had expected a lot after reading the tour books about this new form of travel, but thought there would be fewer with high fuel costs - it's not so. In my few days here i've seen i bet 100 motor homes in little talkeetna - maybe it's because we're on the road to denali
- I had a fun conversation this morning with a lady at the swanky Talkeetna Alaska lodge - I'd gone there to inspect this massive beautiful stone fireplace that takes up the lobby (photo to follow when the camera gets here). She was on a tour, she teacher's assistant; he a cop, both doing the tour as a present for themselves on turning 60 - "when else would we ever get the chance...." She was talking about cruising and how a part of the cruise experience is to grouse about the cruise and how it is better/worse than other cruises the speaker has taken. The grousing is an important social interaction, but her beef was that grousing in general is a negative thing. She was looking for positives and on cruises and on this tour - it was negative (comments about the wet/misty/cool weather, the food, the bus, and other themes you can relate to). Anyway, she wanted to come back to Alaska to see it in depth, to feel the culture and she was not getting that on the tour
- daylight: 20+ hrs and a dusky thing at about 2 AM, but not really dark like we have at home where you can see the stars. I was hoping to see the northern lights - not much chance. Odd to sleep, but great to work in

tomorrow's post: learning a lesson