Work and Play

First order of business: I'm now officially a park ranger. Uniform arrived yesterday in all its oddly-proportioned glory. Apparently female park rangers are expected to have ginormous butts and 3-inch waists, according to the size trousers I received, but alas, it'll have to work over the summer. Go ahead, have your laughs. :)

Fellow park ranger and I, ready to serve America

Bipolar weather and end of training

I've been trying to update this blog for about 3 days now, but the internet is so slow it keeps failing to save or post. So here we go again -- fingers crossed. 

Looks almost like a painting!

Springtime in Northwest Alaska

This week has kept me busy with training at work, but on Thursday we got to get out on the road system for a little excursion and to deliver a 55 gallon barrel of aviation fuel to the airstrip at the end. It was cold and foggy in town, but as soon as we crossed over the mountains, it was beautiful and sunny, although the spring landscape remains pretty brown.

Coming down out of the mountains

My first few days

Somehow, although totally sleep deprived, I managed to go on a hike up Anvil Mountain on Saturday after I arrived in Nome. Around 8pm a bunch of us piled in a friend's truck and drove up to the local peak so we could all catch up again and enjoy the late night sun shining high in the sky.

GoProing in the truck bed

Begin Chapter Two

The view out my window, winter and today

After 23 hour of flights, a couple hours of sleep, and one lost bag (yet to be found -- I may be wearing this same shirt for a while..), I've made it to Nome for a second summer of arctic adventure. It's a perfect day, 55 degrees, dry and sunny. Way better than when I got here last year in mid-June when it was 40 degrees and rained for a week straight.

Second chances and new ambitions

Drawn with SketchBookX app

When I went to Alaska for the first time last year, I had a few simple goals:

• Don't die
• Try sledding, mushing, and snowshoeing
• Play in the snow (a lot!)
• See whales, grizzlies, and moose
• Learn basic survival skills

And a few others of the like. 

Going back again this year, I've been trying to think of ways I can take advantage of this second chance and make the experience "new" again in as many ways as possible. In light of that, I've come up with some new goals based on what I did and learned last year, knowing what I know now.

Goals for summer 2013 (depending on opportunities):

• Don't die (again)
• Jump into the Bering Sea
• Volunteer at the community garden
• Get my fishing license
• Go to Pilgrim Hot Springs
• Camp out on the tundra (outside of work)
• Go Geocaching
• Work out regularly
• Go rock climbing 
• Go on a midnight hike (it'll be broad daylight for a couple months)
• Do more night photography (when it starts getting dark again)
• Cook one new recipe every week

It's not a full list yet, so I'm open to suggestions. What else should I do this summer in Nome? Throw me your ideas.

First Law of Alaska Dynamics...

You may or may not be familiar with it. The First Law of Alaska Dynamics: The closer you get to the middle of nowhere, the smaller your planes get. 

Case in point: