VC/Eagle Trail SP

1. Visitor Center

2. Eagle Trail State Park

So I worked all week in the VC finally. I worked the first 2 days with a native elder (Cora- worked her 20+ years), the 3^rd day on my own and then my last day with another native lady (Sylvia). I have learned a ton just from these two in the last week. Something interesting I learned about has to do with their health. Native Athabaskan’s have fish camps in the summer and it is normally away from their village and they go there all summer long, live there and catch fish that they then clean and eat or dry for the winter. All the Indians living in Northway had fish camps along the local rivers (there are 2 of them that feed into 1 huge one). Now, unlike most native villages, Northway has an airport. The reason for this, it was built during WWII as a way to transport supplies as well as build the Alcan Highway. When the military left, they did as they always do (I have learned this from working for Illinois DNR as well) and dumped everything out so they didn’t have to remove it (IDNR found an active landmine on their land MANY years after the site had been abandoned). Well since these people live off the land i.e. eat the fish, drink the water and eat the large game as well they, unknowingly were affected by this… badly. Every person from that generation who went to fish camps along these rivers has/had cancer. Breast, stomach and intestinal cancer are the main cancers but I have also heard of a few with other types. The two women I have worked with have had breast cancer, undergone chemo and beat it, but a lot of people from the village have not and passed on. A woman studying with UA-Anchorage received her Doctorate from doing research down in the village of Northway and found a direct correlation between all this. The sad part is a lot of it was also passed down to their children who are showing cancer as well. It is actually really sad to hear about. The Greyling and White Fish that they test now show either low or no signs of these chemicals from WWII but the damage has already been done.

Well now that I threw that sadness out there let me show you the cooooooool displays we have at work. Seriously this place is one of THE BEST VC I have ever been to… and I have been to a lot.

Starting in the back we have a “theater” where you can watch some sweet VHS tapes about Alaska, Birds, FWS and Denali/National Parks. Personally we could do some updating to DVD, but hey I love remembering how to use a VCR. Brings me back to my Little Mermaid days.

Trumpeter Swan display. I hate swans of all sort personally but a lot of people comment on this display. Those are the real size, with real sized eggs, with real feathers. Tundra Swans and Trumpeter make their way through here and as I have explained a lot, Trumpeter Swan’s are technically one of the largest waterfowls there is. It is hard for people to tell which is which and they all get mixed up a lot, even with a Snow Goose. But a Trumpeter is larger with a black beak. Tundra swans are smaller and have more coloring on their beak, they can also have more variation in color with their feathers. There is a muskrat in that display too that everyone thinks is a beaver… and some moose poop.

That is a display of a native Athabaskan just doing what he does. The clothing was all hand made by Cora and some of the other women in the office who sew. He is skinning a Caribou leg. Freaks me out… not because of the skinning but I am convinced he moves and will probably come alive one night.

Food tree. This basically explains the different ways the tribes survived during different seasons as well as ceremonial meals. The one that blows me away is Indian Ice Cream… berries, fish fat and fish eggs all mashed together. Every person who has had it loves it… I am a little leery but curious at the same time.

Beading table with some skins. I sit there and bead with the ladies or read when it is slow. We also try to teach people coming in how to bead. People love those skins too… if you ever have the opportunity to feel a skin that is on display, do it properly, use the back of your hand… otherwise all that nasty stuff you touch and oil gets on them and they fall apart. Drives me nuts when people don’t do it right.

Some of the beadwork on display. I am learning how to make the gloves next.

A diorama (kind of) of a fish camp! Really cool.

One of our wall displays of migration season, granted you will not see all those animals at once but it is pretty busy during those times of the year.

A few of our displays about Indians, Fires, Birds, Research and Recreation opportunities throughout the refuge.

Everyone loves this thing. Make your own animal prints! Probably really helpful to people who do not know the difference between these animal prints, especially since some people have never seen these animals. Sad part is… grizzly bear’s print isn’t labeled… they spelt grizzly wrong.

Our INTENSE bookstore. All our stuff goes through Alaska Geographic/Natural History Society. Every federal land in AK is supported by this society so they supply us with all our books, clothing and other goodies. They donate their money back to us to use for environmental education opportunities! They have an amazing selection of reading material! I already read a few short kids books about dog racing, Athabaskan’s, fish camps and what not and a longer book called Two Old Women, an Athabaskan legend, and I just started Shopping for Porcupine.

Birch Basket made by a native who actually lives down the street… hands down best birch baskets I have seen yet. They are beautiful.

So that is the tour of the inside. A little while later in the day I got this:

 

Now, I have Friday-Sunday off so I need to keep myself entertained as well as explore. I think it is really important that I hike all the trails in the area so that when people ask I know what to recommend… my coworkers do not (refuse to) hike.

So today, one of the Rusty Blackbird biologists that lives in the cabins with me and I decided to head to Eagle Trail State Park/Recreation area off Highway 1 **while on our way there a bee decided to hit the edge of my window and land in my lap. I am wearing spandex pants and trying to see if this bee is dead or alive while going 70mph on the highway. Finally pulled over since it kept getting closer and closer to the important parts... it was an experience**. They have three trails here (I read up a lot before I hike so I know where to go/what to expect… this helps with safety as well as planning my pack i.e. extra food, clothes and all that jazz), 1^st is a short 1 mile roundtrip nature trail, 2^nd is a 3 miles round trip trail to an overlook and the 3^rd is a 12 mile (cant remember if it is round trip or not) trail into the beginning of the Alaska Range… Dall’s Sheep and all. So Tara and I headed over there and decided to dip our toes in the short trails first… the nature trail kind of sucked, it was pretty but boring. The signs explaining everything were so worn you couldn’t read them and once again they ran out of the brochures to explain the trail (I hate when people have a nature trail/drive and do not keep good stock of brochures to explain it… way to waste your money developing that trail… and state/federal employees wonder why everyone thinks we are lazy and do not do anything). Then we went on the overlook trail… another pet peeve of mine is not supplying trail maps, everyone preaches left and right about being safe and having maps and knowing how to use a compass and read a topo but no one ever supplies them so I will be thanking you DNR for if I ever get lost… we walked the not adequately marked trail, very common in AK, and realized this sucker was uphill and felt way longer than they explained it too. Tara is 18 and I am getting old at 22 (haha) and let me tell you… we were both dying. Not only was it hot as heck (yes Alaska gets hot, it is 77 degrees today) but also we were starting to get above the tree line so no shade. Ugh by the time we got to the top of that thing… well I will just apologize for my nasty looking self in the picture. But hey it was seriously beautiful up there. The mountains without the snow are the Alaska Range and the mountains with snow still are the Wrangell- St. Elias range (where I am going tomorrow).

So, other than working all week I have been running and eating. I feel like that is all I do! If you have not heard I have not been making friends with a Mew Gull (Sea Gull but we aren’t by the sea) who lives down the road. Twice he has now attacked me. So to my running arsenal I have added rocks that I have to chuck at him once I cross the bridge (um, yes I run OVER a bridge almost every day… and run back over it and I haven’t even cried about it yet). So one hand is bear spray and the other are Gull rocks. He hit me in the head he got so close two days ago… he is an ass.

But, yup, that is my update and I am stickin’ to it.

5/21/2011

Two posts in one day. Woah.

Did some hiking most of the day today- went towards the Canada border and did the hiking on refuge land just so I know what we have to offer. Stopped at the visitors center where I will be working so I can show you that too! Check it outttttt.

That is the visitors center building- it resembles a trappers cabin. Way nicer than the cabin I will show you in a few pictures.

Pretty cool little food cache next to it. Probably good we have it since we do actually have bear problems haha

View from the deck. How gorgeous!!

Now the first hike I did was by the visitor center. It is less than a mile round trip I feel like but it is to some old trapper cabins...

 They look like they were ransacked by a bear or a tornado. I didn't like them too much!

Seriously they creeped me out. I had the heebee jeebees the entire time.

 

haha I just thought it was cool how the moss eats your foot. I wouldn't mind sleeping on that.

This is actually the trail I will be developing this year as an interpretive trail and put some signs up on it! Kind of cool, eh?

The next trail I did was the Hidden Lake Trail which is 2 miles round trip mostly on a boardwalk.

 Those mountains are seriously calling my name...

And that is the hidden lake... taken over by beavers.

Below is from one of the road outlook things.

 Just so everyone knows I am still alive I guess I will take self timed pictures. Sorry about my looks... no water.

 Ugh those mountains... so pretty to look at but I swear I am going to need to get closer soon.

 Playing with the settings on my camera!

These are some of the only flowers in bloom right now and they are gorgeous. part of the crocus family and from what I hear they love areas that are newly burned- just like fireweed. (A lot of people burn their yards here to start growth and get rid of the dead grass and right now is the perfect timing for that). I cannot wait till the wildflowers start blooming here because the fields of lupine and fireweed are amazing... just a few more weeks. Within the week I have been here the trees have already started turning green so we are on the right track!

Things I have learned so far...

In one week of being here, almost exactly, I have learned a lot already.
Not only the difference between a Black bear and a Brown bear and their attacks but about seriously EVERYTHING.

Start out with my work place: Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge is 923,000 acres but technically only around 700,000 are refuge land. They were established in 1980 as part of ANILCA- Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act. This federally protected over 100 million acres of land in Alaska- doubling the ENTIRE amount of National Park and Refuge land. DOUBLING! It also tripled the entire countries wilderness lands. So this one little act, for one little (big) state, signed in 1980 by a president you don't hear too much about (Jimmy Carter) did monumental things to our "environmental" politics. The reason this was put into effect was due to the battles between development and conservation in Alaska, in Tetlin NWR sense it has a lot to do with subsistence. When Alaska became a state in 1959 the government owned the whole state, including everything the native Alaskan's had done beforehand, and allowed people to stake out land claims for commercial use. This started impeding on the native land which had a value other than commercial use- they argued that it was not fair for people to claim their already claimed land. And requested a treaty or act of congress with a Native titleholders to be formed. Native Alaskan's up here are nothing like Indians in the lower 48, they do not live on reservations nor do they flourish in casinos. The land that they were finally granted with ANCSA (Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act) was for living. They still live off the land, they still raise their families and they still follow through with much of the traditional lifestyle passed down by their elders. Speaking of Alaskan Natives- I live with Indians. Not Eskimos. There are different tribes of Alaskan Natives just like down in the 48. Eskimos predominately live closer to the shore whereas Indians lived in the interior. I live with the Athabascan tribe who call Northway, AK their home. They carry a rich tradition and are known for their beautiful bead work, which I am learning how to do!

Things Alaska does not have: snakes or ticks. But their mosquitoes are considered their second State Bird and they have Brown Recluse spiders starting to winter here.

It is not as cold as everyone thinks. It hit 70 a few days ago- pretty sure that is warmer than it was in Illinois. BUT during the winter yes it is cold. The days also change drastically, normally when I get up around 5:30 or 6am it is chilly and by mid day it is hot. Yesterday it was overcast all day and COLD! Right when the sun came out it was hot as hell.

Food is expensive. A box of lucky charms cost me like $6! Gas isn't as bad as we all think- it is $4.29 in certain spots in town.

Everything to me is far away, to them it is no big deal. Tok, the main town by me is like 55 miles from Northway... that is pretty damn far to have to go grocery shopping, but everyone is used to it.

It keeps you on your toes, which is why I kind of like it. Most people don't have to go outside to go to the bathroom but I do... and I have to be aware that at 3am when I am half asleep there might be a bear outside my cabin- just imagine every time you walk to your car you have to keep your eyes out for something black or brown slinking around you. I also have to be aware of elk, moose, and bears running in front of my truck. I also have to have good situational awareness constantly because of the possibility of a forest fire is eminent here (it is very dry and lightening strikes are common).

They don't move as fast as we do. Their lives are a bit more calmer and not as rushed. Chit chatting at the gas station for a while is no big deal. Going exactly the speed limit or less is all too common... which kills me since I am not suppose to pass people in a government vehicle. Many of the people I work with do not have running water (including myself still) and either filter their water out of the lake or drive all the way into Tok to use the public use water. With that being said, my hygiene level is perfectly acceptable and actually it is funny to them that people shower once or more a day. The mosquitoes don't bother you as much and why waste all that water.

I have to speak EXTREMELY highly of people who reside in Alaska. These are some of the roughest, coolest and committed people I have ever met. As they have explained to me, this state weeds out the weak ones very quickly. These people are committed to not only their jobs, but their families, spouses and the words that come out of their mouth. Something you don't seem to find too often with people anymore, which really irks me. They are all armed and dangerous. They can easily survive in conditions that would just make most people I know cringe. I love it. I love this state and all it stands for. The women are all down to earth and have managed to survive without a hairdresser, a mall and a nail salon. Thank the lord.

Alaska is the number 1 state when it comes to drownings and 90% of the people who drown in Alaska are adult men. Sad to say but many of the people who live inland do not know how to swim. They also have alcohol involved a lot of times or they are too macho to wear their personal flotation devices. As well as sometimes men are the ones out getting the food and doing man things... not all the time though, I have seen some pretty rough women.

So far- all is well in the land of the midnight sun.

 

That would be the storm that took my power out and tricked my alarm clock into waking me up like 2 hours early.

5/17/2011

Okay so two days of training down, paperwork, uniform ordering and vehicle swapping.
So I can't exactly show anyone where I work just yet because I have been and will be at headquarters this whole week which is over 90 miles away from where I work! But I can show you my cabin!

That is my cabin. There are 3 of them and they each have two twin beds, two night stands and a dresser with some other odds and ends. I live in number 1 by myself. Two Biologist's live in number 2 and number 3 is empty and locked with a dead battery in the smoke detector and it chirps all night long.

That is the inside of my room. A little messy but I just moved in so back off.

My truck is starting to fit in up here... one thing is for sure I do not stand out anymore as a girl driving a truck. I would probably stand out more if I drove a car! It is also filthy... which fits in even better.

The first picture is the town of Tok, AK. I live in Northway which is a native Athabascan village (do not call them Eskimos). Tok is actually the 4th largest city in Alaska behind Anchorage, Fairbanks and Juneau and that is really not saying much... its small compared to anything we know. Northway consists of the cabins I live in which are owned by the gov't, a gas station, a troopers office, a post office and the Village. Tetlin NWR is actually pretty interesting... it is 923,000 acres but technically only about 700,000 is actual refuge land. The rest is either owned by private owners, native Athabascans and the Alaska Company. The refuge, mainly set aside for migrations, is also set aside for subsistence hunting for the natives. Super interesting. On that note, I had moose today for the first time ever, fried up with some seasoning, onions and a bit of mushrooms (ate around those) over rice and it was AMAZING!

I am planning on going to Chickenstock in Chicken, AK which is a huge music festival up here. I am also registering to run the Midnight Sun Run in Fairbanks- it is a 10k. I just need to get out running but they are doing some heavy road construction in this area right now and the gravel is rough. I also plan on buying a mountain bike around my first or second paycheck and get a little action that way!

Quote of the day:
Teddy: "Yeah the coldest i can remember is about -76 degrees."
Me: "Oh my god! What did you do?"
Teddy: "Let the dogs in."

Scenic shots of the area I work in:

5/11/2011-5/14/2011

Well. I am here! So it took about 3.5 days to drive up and we drove about 16 hours (give or take a few) each day. I managed to get tonsilitis on Wednesday morning when we left and by the afternoon had lost my voice. By Friday I also had a lovely cold as well.
If you can ever road trip from the lower 48 to Alaska... DO IT! But be safe and aware- there are a lot of things that can go wrong and to be stranded here isn't the same as being stuck on the side of I90. The AlCan Highway is amazing and the views are something you may never, ever get to see in your life.

So lets start from the beginning picture wise.

6am Wednesday morning. Notice the small amount of stuff we have-the blue rubbermaid is camping gear and shoes, the green duffle is all my clothing, the black container has a blanket and pillow and whatnot, the cooler and the white is my Dad's stuff. 

That panoramic is from somewhere in Saskatchewan, Canada. The entire province looks just like North Dakota. Seriously boring. We peed in the parking lot here because Canadians apparently don't have bladders. Also, YES they do have cardboard cut outs of police cars. All their road signs are also a pictionary game and half of them don't make sense. And they say eh more than I thought they would.

Once we got through the boring parts of Canada, we hit mountains... and a lot of them. The Northern Rockies were the majority of Day 3's drive (Friday). They were stunning! And cold and snow. The pine trees look like a carpet of green- so much that you can't even tell they are pine trees till you get closer. Also, Geology people, the structural geology as well as just plain old rocks will blow your mind. So much crazy folding!

 

We also hit the Wrangell-St. Elias chain in the Yukon Territory which is the National Park that borders Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge. Its actually 4 mountain chains that converge in that park and contains 9 of the 16 highest peaks in North America. I am pretty excited to head over there. I can see the mountains every where I go here, my cabin, work, the highway and Tok.

Within 5 minutes we saw Buffalo, Elk, Goats, Moose and Bears.
The total count for the drive= 4 Black Bears, 2 Grizzly Bears, 5 Goats, 1 Elk, 3 dead Moose (one was being eaten by a bear), 4 or 5 living Moose, and enough Buffalo to feed the entire country of Africa... twice.

I hate Canada's bridges. Especially when I am driving over them!

That would just so happen to be the shadiest Hotel/Motel I have ever been in. It was in Rancheria, YT and we stayed there on the 3rd night. The first two were cheap but nice, chain motels. This was in the middle of the mountains... the woman running it gave me medicine for my cold, a little leary but I took it and luckily I got majority of my voice back on Saturday. Towns in the Yukon Territory are typically a one family establishment with a bunch of crap in their front yard. This one, which somehow got a dot on the map, had a hotel/motel, RV park (i.e. a parking lot), 2 old school gas pumps, a restaurant and a play ground. That was the whole town.

The big juju Mountain! Awesome view.

 Proof that the road seems to never end!

Watch the storms rolling in!

Well I am now here safely in my cabin/commons. I sent my Dad off around 2:30 today to catch his flight in Fairbanks tonight. I am 3 hours behind everyone FYI. Tomorrow (Monday) I start work with a whole day of Bear Safety, Tuesday is my Firearm training and range certification and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are all CPR/First Aid as well as Wilderness Survival Medicine. I have around 21 hours of daylight and that will soon be more. The birds are out till about midnight or so and the sun comes back up right around my nightly pee, so like 4am. Even when the moon is out, it is still pretty light.
I'll be honest. It is totally a culture shock, but it is a good one. Tomorrow I will publish my cabin/commons and where I work!