Not just bees...Alaska trip

Alaska--a good place to visit during the longest days of the year.  I'm not as good a writer as I am talker and responder to questions..that said, here are brief notes of the most impressive things I saw, heard, did during my 28 hours in Barrow and three days in Fairbanks June 18-23, 2011.

June 18-19, 2011 BARROW. AK

Barrow is located at 71°17′44″N 156°45′59″W . Arrived early evening on Saturday; saw the pipeline and tundra from the plane, which had cargo in the front half and passengers in the rear.

Tundra and pipeline from Prudhoe Bay

Walked from the airport to motel, getting lost after being told "you can't miss it"--yeah, well...  Went immediately to the Arctic Ocean…ahhh, very neat.

Here it is--my first sight of the Arctic Ocean

Got my "ocean view room" after some gentle persuasion--did they really think I'd be okay with a parking lot view?!. Perfect room to see the iced ocean and lots of pictures--hard to capture the real sense of being there and a multitude of photos still cannot.  Best two days of the year so far the locals said...50 deg, clear skies, no wind, bright sunshine around the clock--well, less bright about 4 a.m. but otherwise amazing and just what I went for... dream begun at age 8 and now realized.

Ate first meal at Pepe's, noted in all the travel guides for being the northernmost and best Mexican food restaurant...must take a lot to impress me re food but I enjoyed talking with Joe who also arranges the Polar Plunges in the Arctic...more on that later...and had leftovers to take to room for breakfast. And then I hit the streets...gravel roads at their best when frozen smooth but this is spring and warm weather. So I dodged potholes and mud puddles and water spray--water truck spraying down dust every 15 min.

Gravel streets

Kids out playing in snow boots and parkas at 10p and even more amazing I'm wide awake walking around town. Nice police department but everyone said not an issue to be out and about at all hours, so I was taking pictures and gawking and talking. Arctic water didn't seem much colder than our Oregon coast water and I could barely taste the ocean saltiness...would I do the plunge to join the Polar Bear Club?

Set the alarm for 12a to be sure I was awake to see the sun. Sure enough, it was shining right through the window, directly from the west and fairly high in the sky—took pictures. So I said to myself, wouldn't it be cool to wake every two hours to track its path...not really, go to sleep...but I did wake without an alarm at 2a and 4a and 6a and have pictures from the room!

Midnight

Started Sunday with another walk on the beach and roads, collected the requisite rocks.

The Arctic Ocean beach at Barrow

Sealskin whaling boat

Frozen leak under hotel; building on piers

Met the guide and some of the group at the motel and picked up others at the airport for the day's tour. Probably one of the best tours I've been on (but I always say that) with Ryan Oyagak as the guide, an Inupiat and lifelong resident of Barrow. Ryan represents his people well, proudly sharing information about his community and customs, interspersing his remarks with the Inupiat language and translating for us as well as helping us with the pronunciation.

Our group of 28 was quite congenial and talkative. A small group of us connected and had a great day doing the expected exploring, picture taking, etc. Actually quite a lot to see in Barrow--cultural center, ancient hut mounds, the cemetery where people are buried year round by using 15" drilled holes and ice picks to open space to 12' down, how the underground utilities work, trying to spot some of the 185 different birds in the area, and more.

Ryan shared some muktuk with us—whale skin and blubber, fishy tasting and soft yet chewy.

There's a summer beach a couple of miles north of Barrow on the way to Barrow Point--when someone camps there, it's private time without concerns and troubles brought from home.

The only trees in Barrow, at beach retreat.

And then came the big question...who will do the Arctic plunge? If Ryan gets 2 others from the tour to go, he will go for the fifth time this year--there's a certificate and patch in it for whoever pays $10 and submerges every part of their body, with Joe from Pepe's as the judge. I said yes, I'm up for it as did Ray, Mark and Andrew and then Sharon thought maybe so. However, as the long tour ended in the evening at point furthest north and the wind picked up off the frozen Arctic Ocean and I got freezing cold I opted out...and was the picture taker for the other four and Ryan. And of course when I saw that it wasn't so bad, decided I should have done it...next time I come to Barrow it will be winter and we'll be walking on the Arctic ice. It's quite okay that I didn't plunge--I really wanted to wade in the Arctic Ocean and I got that picture.

Standing on the Arctic Ocean

The usual feet photo

The splash from one of the brave five.

Food prices in Barrow would make me really thin--$12 for a gallon of milk; $6 for bread; $9 for a package of chips, usually double what we pay. However, Ryan said wages compensate...for a summer job picking up trash around town, kids get paid $14-17 an hour. Food comes once a year by barge when the water is open and by cargo plane the rest of the year, In fact, our Alaska Air plane had a cargo hold in front and passengers behind the wings--puts things in perspective. Didn't check prices of liquor, but it is gotten through a distribution service since Barrow is 'damp'. One has to get a permit, place an order in advance, and is limited in the amount purchased each month, which is tracked by "them".

Ended the day in Barrow being dropped at the airport at 7p by the tour bus. Most of the 28 tourees had flown up just for the day tour and the majority of us agreed the experience was worth the time and expense, recognizing that those who asked us why would we ever want to go to Barrow probably couldn't understand.

June 20

Checking out Billie’s Backpacker Hostel http://www.alaskahostel.com/ to see the layout and Fairbanks via bus today. Went to North Pole, AK to meet up with Lana and to see the Santa House.  Not so impressed with store, much the same as other Christmas stores; town has cute Christmas-type decorations such as wreaths on business fronts and candy cane light poles. Best part was visiting with Lana, driving about to see the area and where she and Ed are staying outside the city, and having lunch together.

Stopped at the Alaska Wooden Bowl Factory to see how tree trunks are changed into beautiful bowls…bought an oval bowl for use with the ulu knife purchased a few years ago during a weekend visit to Anchorage with Lee and the Evergreen Lear.

Back to the hostel late in the afternoon where I visited with others and ate dinner. Food is prepared by each individual in a shared kitchen and eaten at a long table with benches—quite an assorted cuisine. Up really late for me because 10p seems like 6p—great!!

June 21

Longest daylight of the year for northern hemisphere and I am so lucky to be in Fairbanks, Alaska today!  Have been navigating around the city on bus and feet...great way to get around, meet people, stay in shape out of the daily pool routine. (how are my water-baby friends in Monmouth anyway? looking forward to hearing about the summer pool program and jumping in when I return.)

Today I walked to the University of Alaska (UAF) campus in Fairbanks...college campuses have a unique atmosphere that I so enjoyed at Oregon State and realize after 5 years away that I miss more than I thought. In their library using the open computer system...what a fantastic library...if I were still working in the OSU Valley Library I would be taking pics and talking to staff about the building, services, art, etc, etc. I really liked a piece of glass bead art by Jeanne Leffingwell 1993 and took a photo as an idea for an art project this winter.

So I walked there because it's only "3 blocks" according to one of the older hostel fellows and some steps that "wouldn't be a problem for you"--ah, the trials of looking younger than one is ;-).  The blocks in Fairbanks are about half a mile or more and here's a picture of the steps.

Caught my breath and visited the Georgeson Botanical Gardens, less than its usual stellar self because of budget cuts according to a sign, but still pretty impressive. Found a good example of benches and planters that can be used around the deck when we redo it sometime in the future; talked with a staff member about the poles they use in the planters for vining plants--diamond willow branches, which were stripped of the bark and sealed with oil...another good winter project (I may have to stay home this winter for the many projects I'm gathering); and found a test site for bee hives, including the top bar hive!!! (Skip the rest of this paragraph is you've heard enough about bees.) As so often happens...another visitor who had been a beekeeper in Texas for many years appeared. He started as Jody and I have with one hive and ended with a small business of 90 hives a few years later. Jerry and I spent almost an hour talking bees (while his wife Nell waited patiently)--I heard some fascinating stories, such as how his daddy kept bees in a piece of hollowed-out tree trunk about 24" across, with branches across the top and covered with a piece of sheet metal (sounds like a top bar hive?!). Together we took measurements and pictures, decided what was good and what could be improved...Jody and I plan to build a top bar hive this winter (see what I mean?!).  I learned so much from him and got answers to some of the issues I needed to research and have things to do with the bees when I return home: put the sticky board back in place flush with the bottom of the hive (bees want dark and a sealed hive--the open wire mesh bottom requires too much energy to defend their hive from robber bees which will come in to steal honey and kill the queen); open the hive as fully as possible by moving follower to far left end; check for new eggs and larvae to be sure queen in viable since I found three queen cells on bar 4 last week and if she is, will remove those queen cells--unless they've already hatched and then it's a whole new ball game...and learning experience no doubt!; close off some of the lower entrances as the bees only need a small entrance (entrances were opened for ventilation but that should not be an issue now--Jerry suggested drilling holes at top corners if ventilation is a problem and bees will open or close them as needed); add empty bars on each side of bars that have honey cells--according to Jerry cross combing is caused by too large of a space between bars and one should wait until the bees have drawn and sealed honey cells and then add bars between, not in anticipation of...so I'll try that, too. Enough of bees and the garden. Oh, one more thing...I'll try to find the old school house in Molalla that Nell's dad attended and which is now being used as a hay barn on a farm somewhere there; when found, will try to get the rest of the lights for them...heard the story how they found it in the 80's and only took one light and wished they had the other 11. Now on to more of campus...

Visited the Large Animal Research Station to see musk ox and caribou...did you know that those animals can survive the cold weather up north because they have no muscle in their legs--only bone, tendons, ligaments and legs are kept at 55 deg compared to body temp of 105 deg--so they need less calories to keep legs warm. However, musk ox sometimes get frozen to the ground by their belly hair and die or get killed by predators...their undercoat is very soft and 20 times as warm as wool and $25 an ounce so I did not buy any...one winter project by the wayside.

Caribou with clicking legs



Musk ox; qiviut (underhair) 10 times warmer than sheep wool

To celebrate the summer solstice, there is a special midnight baseball game here in Fairbanks starting at 10:30p. Decided not to go--these late nights are catching up with me so to bed earlier than the usual 11:30p--and glad I stayed at the hostel because it rained at the beginning of the game and then rained so hard about 2:30a that the game was called in the 10th inning, to be continued tomorrow at 6p.

Hostel life is great... I was in a co-ed dorm with 4 guys. I was a bit dubious initially but quickly got over that. People come and go, staying a night or two or many. Billie’s is a popular place, so much so that there are 12 tents in the yard to accommodate those who want to be here. One person has been at the hostel for more than 20 years, sleeping in an outside tent year around; another has lived at the hostel 3 years working a regular job during the school year. It is unusual for people to stay for that long (they help around the hostel and cover when the owner is gone); usually people are in for a day or two or three and then off to other adventures--meanwhile it's neat to meet and hear their stories. Common for international or people with summer jobs to stay a few weeks--right now several young people from Russia, one of whom has a job at a local hotel for the summer, a grad student on an internship, people in training for their new job on the Northslope, older people on motorcycles, etc. Several visitors use Billie’s as a home base as their work has them moving throughout the state. I have two blogs to follow: one is gregmu.wordpress.com by Greg Mu who is riding some mountain bike trails from way up north all the way through Central America to the end of South America, going "until the road or the fun runs out" and the other by Jared Block who came to Alaska 18 mo ago and is detailing his adventures living "off the grid" between Fairbanks and Anchorage. http://foreveradventure.blogspot.com/. Everyone very friendly, no theft or personal issues seem to arise...I'm scheming how Lee and I start up a hostel...

The three year fellow at Billie's has thought about a bike rental business out of the hostel and after he and I talked, he applied for a loan from Prosper.com--he'll keep me posted on the outcome. Plus he requested enough $$ to buy a van to transport people more inexpensively than the local tour companies to Chena Hot Springs by tailoring his services; will be interesting to see what happens there, too. Decided during the bright night that I have been missing the "world" more than I thought these past five years since working at OSU and am happy to be meeting more new and different people again.

June 22

The UAF Museum of the North is a not to miss feature on the campus, and I spent a couple of hours there for a 'quick' overview...would go back anytime I'm here for more indepth information but I'm beginning to go into 'information overload' and need some downtime now. So, if you are visiting Fairbanks and someone tells you to be sure to go to the UAF museum, believe them!

Georgeson Botanical Garden again to visit with Pat Holloway, Director, for some time about bees and the Alaskan experience...again I must say, bee people are so nice and willing to share information. (Again, skip to next paragraph if you've had your fill of bee info.) Most important she says to remove queen cells regularly (if current queen is viable, determined by condition of brood) when found, which mean inspect hive every 7-10 days. The sad part of honey bees in Alaska is that they cannot survive the harsh winters, even on the coast. Pat indicated that they must cage the queen at during summer so she stops laying eggs and the workers will focus on foraging for honey. And then the bees must go in September when they will start eating the honey to survive; since I'm not so into honey production, this seems harsh to me although I must consider that the bees would not survive the winter here...it's been tried. We discussed shipping the bees to the lower 48 for the winter and returning them the next spring; someone in Delta tried that last fall by sending hives to California but Pat had not heard the results. It seems the bees would not be able to catch up with a such late start on producing comb and brood. She has not seen Mason (orchard) bees survive here either; however, there are 22 bee bumblebee and other species in this area. Here's a super tip from Pat: put honey water out during the early spring and yellow jacket queens will be attracted to it and drown. Doesn't work with yellow jacket worker bees though; they want spoiled meat type food. We wonder if it will attract wasp queens...will try next March/April at home.

Evening at the hostel…yawning constantly--I’ve been staying up too late and waking early because my bed is close to one of the three bathrooms in the hostel. That’s okay…will sleep on the long flight home tomorrow.

Billie and me at hostel front door

June 23

Nice to be home…walking, busing, flying, driving from 9a until 10p from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Seattle to Portland to Independence…and no, I didn’t sleep on the planes.