Today I booked my hotel in Barrow, Alaska for the nights of December 19th, 20th, and the 21st. The woman on the phone sounded like she was from Alabama. When I asked her how Decembers were in Barrow she told me to “dress warm.” That’s literally the only advice she gave me. Not “Barrow has the lowest average temperature in the United States” or “There’s a 67% chance you will be greeted off the plane by the open jaws of a narwhal, just “Dress warm.”
When I booked the trip to Barrow the amount I would be spending there seemed horribly short — about three days — but the more I think about it it’s starting to sound like an eternity. For three days, I will not see the sun rise. When I go to sleep, it will be dark; when I wake up, it will be dark; when I eat lunch, it will be dark; when I have afternoon tea, it will be dark; when I have dinner, it will be dark; and when I go back to the Airport Inn where I’m staying to beat my head against the wall in desperation, it will be dark. It will be very interesting to see what kind of effect this darkness will have on me (though I think I touched on it). I already complain about there not being enough sunlight in Seattle, running to the quad every time there’s a few minutes of sun so I can soak up as much precious vitamin D as possible, so what will happen when this sun ceases to exist altogether? Will I survive?
I’m so excited for this trip to Barrow. I’m so excited to travel. I want to travel as much as possible for the rest of my days. This winter break it’s Barrow, and maybe also Southern California after Christmas and before New Years. Then I want to go somewhere in January, and also February. I’m thinking Vegas, Hawaii, or Nashville. Then for Spring Break I want to get fucking gnarly. I want to road trip through Northern Mexico or go to Mexico City or maybe the Deep South. Then in the summer I want to get even gnarlier. I want to go to Finland and Russia and maybe, like I’ve mentioned before, study French in Quebec. I also for some reason have a strong urge to go the Maritimes (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, etc.). I think part of me is convinced I’ll meet Ellen Page in Nova Scotia and settle down with her and live a quiet yet extremely happy domesticated life in the far Northeastern reaches of Canada.
But anyway. The point is that I’m excited to travel. I’m excited for Barrow. I’m excited for winter. I’m excited for cold. I’m excited for it all.
This entry was written by , posted on December 9, 2009 at 3:02 am, filed under Alaska and tagged aeromexico, airport inn, Alaska, barrow, canada, el DF, ellen paige, mexico city, seviglius. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Looking at these photos that my friend Phil just sent me and listening to the “Last of the Mohicans” soundtrack, I feel like I could pretty much take over the world right now. John Williams, you have moved me. Phil Ganz, so have you.
Upper Kenai River
Skilak Lake
Mt. Cecil Rhode
Leaving Homer for Seldovia
Homer spit.
Cecil.
Outside Beach, Seldovia, AK.
Summit, Mt. Cecil Rhode
____________________________
All photos courtesy of Phil Ganz.
This entry was written by , posted on November 14, 2009 at 10:51 pm, filed under Alaska, Capitol Hill and tagged cooper landing, digital vs. film, party, resurrection pass, skilak lake. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Below is your award booking confirmation. Thank you and enjoy your trip.
TRAVELERS
Mark Wetzler
FLIGHT INFORMATION
Flight: Alaska Airlines AS83
Equipment: Boeing 737-800
Departs: Seattle (SEA) on Sat, Dec 19 at 8:00 am
Arrives: Anchorage (ANC) on Sat, Dec 19 at 10:51 am
Class: Q(Coach)
Seats: 22F
Flight: Alaska Airlines AS50
Equipment: Boeing 737-400
Departs: Anchorage (ANC) on Sat, Dec 19 at 2:00 pm
Arrives: Barrow (BRW) on Sat, Dec 19 at 5:21 pm
Class: Q(Coach)
Seats: 20F
This flight stops in Prudhoe Bay (SCC).
Flight: Alaska Airlines AS52
Equipment: Boeing 737-400
Departs: Barrow (BRW) on Tue, Dec 22 at 8:11 pm
Arrives: Fairbanks (FAI) on Tue, Dec 22 at 9:32 pm
Class: W(Coach)
Seats: 19A
Flight: Alaska Airlines AS902
Equipment: Boeing 737-800
Departs: Fairbanks (FAI) on Wed, Dec 23 at 5:05 pm
Arrives: Seattle (SEA) on Wed, Dec 23 at 9:40 pm
Class: W(Coach)
Seats: 17E
FARE SUMMARY
Traveler: Mark Wetzler, Mileage Plan Member
Ticket: 027-2141890867
Base Fare and Surcharges: $0.00
Taxes and Other Fees: $10.00
Traveler Total: $10.00
Total Fare: USD $10.00
This entry was written by , posted on November 13, 2009 at 9:59 pm, filed under Alaska and tagged barrow, dalton highway, kenai princess lodge, party, prudhoe bay, winter solstice. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
I found out that with Alaska Airlines it costs the same amount of frequent flyer miles to go to say, Portland, as it does anywhere else in the United States or Canada. So I might go to Barrow, Alaska, which is located 330 miles north of the Arctic Circle and enjoys perpetual darkness every winter from November 18th to January 24th. 24 hours of darkness. Highs often not reaching above 0 degrees Fahrenheit. An indoor swimming pool open to the public on evenings and weekends. Pepe’s “North of the Border” Mexican food. The northern lights. 4,500 residents. Only accessible by air. Polar bears.
Anyone going with me?
This entry was written by , posted on November 11, 2009 at 12:07 am, filed under Alaska. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
This entry was written by , posted on November 3, 2009 at 1:07 am, filed under Alaska, Capitol Hill and tagged cooper landing, kenai princess, slaughter ridge. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Talk to everyone on Friday.
This entry was written by , posted on August 3, 2009 at 7:37 pm, filed under Alaska and tagged coldfoot, dalton highway, deadhorse, haul road, prudhoe bay. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
So many doubters. So very many, many doubters. Why do people doubt? What is there to doubt? That we’ll make to Prudhoe Bay? We’ll make it to Prudhoe Bay. There is no doubt in that. Even if we have to build a tire out of muskox horn and caribou hide, we will make it to Prudhoe Bay. And then on Friday we will make it back to Cooper Landing, drop the car off, tell everyone how epic we are, and go to work on Saturday. Piece of cake. Nothing to worry about. I’m not worried, so why would anyone else be? Exactly.
I still haven’t washed my hair, and I still haven’t been to Asia. I don’t know why, but this seems pertinent. Other than Australia and Antarctica (which obviously doesn’t count), I’ve been to every continent (though I’ve barely been to Africa; Morocco barely counts). I guess this is pertinent because tomorrow I and some friends will embark on a roadtrip that will bring us into the Arctic Circle, much further north than I have ever been to my life. Further north than the most northerly point in Iceland; as far north as the tops of Sweden and Norway. Fucking far north. And all of this is happening in a Ford Focus, with three other dudes. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend four-and-a-half days.
So nay-sayers, let me say this: You are wrong, but it doesn’t even matter that you are wrong. What matters is that you are nay-saying in the first place, that you are doubting four young dreamers, four young men who dared to drive the Haul Road and push it further than most Kenai Princess Lodge employees have ever wished to push it. Do you not dream nay-sayers, or are you content to live your mundane lives? Do you not want to see caribou? Sit naked atop a snorting muskox? You do not nay-sayers. All you want to do is squelch dreams. But ours is dream that can’t be squelched. Because we’re driving in a Ford Focus.
This entry was written by , posted on at 1:26 am, filed under Alaska and tagged brown town, coldfoot, cooper landing, deadhorse, party, prudhoe bay, road trip. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
These people didn’t go hiking.
But these people did (plus Phil).
Gnar.
Into the wild!
The long trail ahead.
Juneau Creek.
Juneau Creek!
Trevor, Mark, confused.
Society!
Juneau Falls.
Juneau Falls!
Phil and Irv.
Hey, bear.
We purposefully didn’t bring any food with us, wanting to “live off the land” for the night. This single trout became dinner for four.
Cooking said trout, which BTW was effing delicious.
Party.
15-second exposure madness.
No, but like, seriously.
Phil passes out by the fire.
Trevor looks menacing.
!
Photos Courtesy: Phil Ganz, Mark Wetzler
This entry was written by , posted on July 27, 2009 at 10:48 pm, filed under Alaska and tagged bears, camping, cooper landing, fly fishing, juneau falls, resurrection trail, sterling highway, trout lake. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
OK. So here’s why I’m pissed right now. I’m pissed because I’m getting a roommate. Now, I know what you all are thinking: A roommate, that’s not that bad. There could be way worse shit, right? Well, sort of right, but mostly completely fucking wrong. You see, up until now, my time in Alaska has been completely care free. I’m free to sit on my bed in my boxers listening to music and dribbling All Bran crumbs down my chest while every once in a while I pound on the wall to tell the neighbors to “shut the fuck up.” I can even sit around naked if I want. If I wanted, I could lather myself up in peanut butter and jump between the two beds in my room, periodically stopping to squat between the two bed and grunt loudly. But now I can do none of that, because tomorrow I get a roommate.
His name is Cam, and I’ve already decided I hate him. That’s not completely true; I’ve already decided that he’s going to be a wild 19-year-old and I’m going to be constantly complaining at work how he kept me up the night before and how I never get any sleep anymore and he’s always drunk and I pine for the good ‘ol peanut butter days when I was rocking the B-1 dorm room solo, but I don’t think I’m going to hate him. They say that he’s respectful and always smiling and a really good guy, but also that he might have used to be a drug addict and definitely at one point attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (This, of course, I can’t hold against him too hard, as I once had to see a “drug counselor” for an alcohol-related incident and have blacked out more times than a home Seahawks game). Hey, man, does anyone, like, wanna make a run down to AMPM with me? Sorry — sidetracked. Anyway, tonight is my last night of freedom, my last night without a roommate. I guess I should feel lucky. I guess I should be looking on the bright side and counting my blessings and thinking about how awesome it was to not have a roommate the first half of my time here in Alaska (I can’t believe it’s already half over). But I don’t always look on the bright side. This is not because I’m cynical — I’ve come to discover I’m one of the more optimistic people on the planet — but because for me it’s sometimes it’s fun to imagine disaster scenarios. Like Cam being a total alcoholic disaster and snorting lines off the vanity mirror in my room and passing out in the middle of the floor and getting up periodically in the night to scream at me.
But it’s not the end of the world. It never is. Almost never.
This entry was written by , posted on July 26, 2009 at 10:59 pm, filed under Alaska and tagged Alaska, brown town, cooper landing, kenai princess lodge, roommate blues, soldotna. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Mount Cecil Rhode. The epic backdrop of the Kenai Princess Lodge. Covered in snow in the winter, spotted with snow in the summer, and home to a resident population of horned sheep and grizzly bear. Two weeks ago two KPL employees went hiking there and ran upon a mother grizzly bear and her cub, undoubtedly the worst way you could possibly encounter a bear short of strapping bloody sockeye salmon to your back and trying to mount the animal’s behind. Luckily, the mother bear sniffed the air, decided the two young men weren’t worth the confrontation, and eventually went on her way. No lives were lost, and no trousers ruined.
We set out to climb Mount Cecil Rhode about a week later. We got lost finding the trailhead because we always get lost finding the trailhead. We walked all the way to Cooper Lake before we realized our error and then had to trek some four miles back before we could begin our ascent. I thought my achilles tendon might shatter into several small pieces, but it stayed strong. You gotta sidestep.
Getting lost in Alaska can suck, getting lost in Alaska can be awesome.
Snow cave.
Cooper Lake.
The trail up from the road to Cooper Lake is horribly marked and steep. About an eighth of a mile in we saw what we thought were bear droppings followed by a scarf ominously “abandoned” on a tree branch. We began to make large amounts of noise.
Matt: Possibly running from a bear, possibly running from the past.
An exercise in radness.
Rounding the first hump we were presented with staggering views. The clouds were just starting to roll in and reach down towards the hillside in wispy fingers. We could see KPL and the Kenai River below, and much more of Mt. Cecil Rhode above. We could also see snow.
Lichens and the Kenai Princess Lodge.
It was about at this point that Matt started to lag behind and Phil slipped into a groove ahead. It was also about this time that the footing turned to a loose shale, and a snow storm started. With moisture the shale became slippery, and I had to put my hands in the snow or on the often-times knife-sharp rock to keep myself from falling. Matt started to lag even further behind, while Phil charged on like a male ram in search of an in-heat female.
The trail gets steep…
And then it gets snowy.
I almost gave up. I was sliding nearly every step and it was getting dangerous. I was afraid that if I actually fell I might not be able to stop myself, and I was pretty sure that a bad fall was not far off. So I yelled to Phil, “I’m not going to be able to make it. I’m going to stay here,” and then I waited. After a few minutes Matt came plodding past and barely uttered a word but kept walking. At that point the decision had to be made: Bruised body parts, or bruised ego? Like the intrepid young explorer I am, I pressed on.
Things began to get awesome by the ridge. It stopped snowing and the summit was finally in sight. Phil was already up there. The views were amazing. Hiking is amazing. And a few short minutes later and I was there, slightly terrified that I was going to somehow get off balance and plunge several hundred feet to my death, but mostly happy that I hadn’t given up, despite the fact that the bottoms of my New Balances might as well have been coated in petroleum jelly and my hands looked like they were about to fall off from spending so much time in the snow. The views were epic. Cecil was epic. Everything was epic.
And then we went down.
Footprints.
The ridge.
Kenai Lake.
The summit.
Resting Phil.
Happy Matt and Mark.
The view from the top.
A young man making his way in the world.
This entry was written by , posted on July 1, 2009 at 10:15 pm, filed under Alaska and tagged Alaska, cooper landing, kenai peninsula, mount cecil rhode, mt. cecil rhode. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.