Category: Life in Alaska
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Pumpkin Berries and Ptarmigan Berries, Week 20 in Healy
Three more edible berries are ripe nearby. We have a lot of pumpkin berries (Geocaulon lividum) around the house. While they look gorgeous, edible does not equal tasty. The pumpkin berries can stay on the plant as yard decoration. Fortunately the Ptarmigan Berries (also known as alpine bearberries, black bearberries and many other names) are…
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Denali on a Clear Day, Week 18 in Healy
“That big, white mountain is Denali, this is my best view in 4 1/2 months!” While I wasn’t as verbal, I was impressed as well. This was my best view in just over 4 months, and probably my second best of all time. My lovely husband, who constantly checks the weather and visibility for his…
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WEIO
I met my parents in Fairbanks and we attended 3 days of the World Eskimo Indian Olympics. It was wonderful! I thoroughly enjoyed the variety of high kick events. So many impressive athletes doing the seemingly impossible. And we loved the way other contestants would offer tips to their competitors, with everyone appearing to genuinely…
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Surprise
These are the first baby moose that we have seen from the house. This mother is relatively small. I wonder if she is a two year old, though rather impressive to have twins if she is that young. In the Park later in the day I saw another moose, a caribou, 3 baby mew gulls,…
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Wildlife Babies IV, Week 17 in Healy
On the road near home we saw a Ptarmigan and 5 chicks. We think it was a Ptarmigan as the adult clearly had feathered feet. The mother was not happy to have chicks on both sides of the road. They would run or fly from one side to the other, but didn’t seem interested in…
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Savage Alpine Trail
On July 4th C needed to work and I hiked the steep 4 mile Savage Alpine Trail. I hadn’t expected the variety of habitats and wildflowers. So many different species were blooming. My labels are a decent guess. I dawdled, looking at flowers and mountains and hoping to see a pika or marmot. Most of…
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Persistence, Week 16 in Healy
We have done a lot of fishing so far in 2023 to catch four fish and keep two! We have fished in ice and in mosquitoes. We have fished raging rivers, tiny streams, ponds and lakes. We fished near the Arctic Circle and down on the Kenai Peninsula. If all that mattered were fish to…
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Cousins on the Kenai, Week 16 in Alaska
We had a great time with our cousins on the second half of our long weekend off. The weather was gorgeous and they took us out on the Kenai River in their boat. It was a lovely time! C caught a dolly varden and I caught a trout. Between the 4 of us we caught…
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Russian River and Cooper Creek
It has been rainy and C got an extra day off so going further afield to fish for sockeye this weekend. Very few mosquitoes or potholes so far! We drove an extra 100 miles to the Kenai Peninsula. With the good roads it wasn’t that much extra driving time compared to last week. During the…
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Potholes and Mosquitoes, Week 15 in Healy
Alaska is not all sunshine, rainbows and wildlife. At times the wildlife hides. There are a lot of potholes and frost heaves on Alaska roads. And there are even more mosquitoes than potholes. If we had caught even one fish last weekend this post might have a different title. When C found out at 9:30…
Me & C 