Far North
The plane departed from Los Angeles at 9pm on a warm, dark California evening and traveled toward the arctic lands far away over the course of the next five hours. A warm orange glow from an old sun reluctant to set seaped into the 757's passenger windows by the time it was around midnight, Alaska Standard Time. Watching the sun "rise" at a time of day it was supposed to be setting was my first experience with this eccentric climate.
Last december, I found out the Army was sending me to the Yukon. I wasn't exactly thrilled at the time; I was still enjoying a balmy Alabama winter and wasn't at all prepared to live on the opposite side of the earth so early into my career. This clip from Cool Runnings immediately came to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnIIgOEONa0
After five months in Missouri, though, I was about ready to live anywhere but Ft Leonard Wood and was really wondering why I ever fretted about my upcoming move.
My first few days quickly turned to my first few weeks and before I knew it, I had already caught my first salmon, raced in three bike races (including the Tour of Anchorage consisting of 5 different races), and found the best places in the city for a roast and a brew. I've taken every weekend to explore somewhere new. Anchorage is a truely unique city, not just in America, but as far as I'm concerned, anywhere. It's a 12 minute drive to Ship Creek, right in downtown, where I caught two silver salmon (I've learned many new names for salmon up here) and stocked up the freezer with delicious fillets. Another 40 minutes down Seward highway, the world class ski resort, Alyeska, is nestled just outside the small town of Girdwood in the southern portion of Chugach.
Anchorage is bounded to the east by the Chugach Mountain Range. This range is riddled with hiking trails which turn to ski trails when the powder begins to fall. Books fill the shelves of the local REI with places to explore within just an hour's drive. On clear days, the beauty of the surroundings, especially when seen from the top of a mountain you just climbed, is really too much for the eyes to process.
My first PT session with the soldiers here consisted of meeting at a trail head in Eagle River and hiking for half an hour to the top of Mount Baldy. (Eagle River is sorta like the suberbs of Anchorage). Once there, we could see out for miles upon miles. The distant peaks looked like a painted backdrop from some western movie. It was just too majestic, too specacular to absorb with a few glances.
There always seems like there's something else to do. I've been hard at work exploring as much as I can around the city but there's so much here and so much more to see. It's gonna be a packed three years.
So I'm sure there have been plenty of lists like this made but here's my take:
You know you're in Alaska when:
People move here becasue Texas was too small.
You know the moose in your neighborhood by first name.
The guy that comes to hook up your internet looks like he just emerged from the woodline wherein he built his log cabin by hand many years ago. You may have been his only human contact in weeks.
Your boss encourages you to get things done faster because today, low tide is at four in the afternoon, the best time to catch silvers on Ship Creek.
You never buy fish at the grocery store.
A day that's sunny and 70 degrees is worth its weight in gold.
A five dollar footlong is a seven dollar footlong.
If you walk into your realty office to sign a lease in full cycling kit, no one bats an eye.
If you want a firearm, you must be tall enough to reach over the counter...and that's it.
And finally, if you tell someone you went to school at Auburn, they reply, "Is that the 'Roll Tide'?"
And the response is your hand planted firmly on your forehead.
Last december, I found out the Army was sending me to the Yukon. I wasn't exactly thrilled at the time; I was still enjoying a balmy Alabama winter and wasn't at all prepared to live on the opposite side of the earth so early into my career. This clip from Cool Runnings immediately came to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnIIgOEONa0
After five months in Missouri, though, I was about ready to live anywhere but Ft Leonard Wood and was really wondering why I ever fretted about my upcoming move.
My first few days quickly turned to my first few weeks and before I knew it, I had already caught my first salmon, raced in three bike races (including the Tour of Anchorage consisting of 5 different races), and found the best places in the city for a roast and a brew. I've taken every weekend to explore somewhere new. Anchorage is a truely unique city, not just in America, but as far as I'm concerned, anywhere. It's a 12 minute drive to Ship Creek, right in downtown, where I caught two silver salmon (I've learned many new names for salmon up here) and stocked up the freezer with delicious fillets. Another 40 minutes down Seward highway, the world class ski resort, Alyeska, is nestled just outside the small town of Girdwood in the southern portion of Chugach.
Anchorage is bounded to the east by the Chugach Mountain Range. This range is riddled with hiking trails which turn to ski trails when the powder begins to fall. Books fill the shelves of the local REI with places to explore within just an hour's drive. On clear days, the beauty of the surroundings, especially when seen from the top of a mountain you just climbed, is really too much for the eyes to process.
My first PT session with the soldiers here consisted of meeting at a trail head in Eagle River and hiking for half an hour to the top of Mount Baldy. (Eagle River is sorta like the suberbs of Anchorage). Once there, we could see out for miles upon miles. The distant peaks looked like a painted backdrop from some western movie. It was just too majestic, too specacular to absorb with a few glances.
There always seems like there's something else to do. I've been hard at work exploring as much as I can around the city but there's so much here and so much more to see. It's gonna be a packed three years.
So I'm sure there have been plenty of lists like this made but here's my take:
You know you're in Alaska when:
People move here becasue Texas was too small.
You know the moose in your neighborhood by first name.
The guy that comes to hook up your internet looks like he just emerged from the woodline wherein he built his log cabin by hand many years ago. You may have been his only human contact in weeks.
Your boss encourages you to get things done faster because today, low tide is at four in the afternoon, the best time to catch silvers on Ship Creek.
You never buy fish at the grocery store.
A day that's sunny and 70 degrees is worth its weight in gold.
A five dollar footlong is a seven dollar footlong.
If you walk into your realty office to sign a lease in full cycling kit, no one bats an eye.
If you want a firearm, you must be tall enough to reach over the counter...and that's it.
And finally, if you tell someone you went to school at Auburn, they reply, "Is that the 'Roll Tide'?"
And the response is your hand planted firmly on your forehead.
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