Alaska bills itself as the "Last Frontier". And since New Hampshire, at least to Europeans, is almost the first frontier, they should be radically different.

Alaska is colder than New Hampshire. Since we arrived the temperatures have ranged from +20 to -15. Which is what we saw in NH twenty years ago. It is not a cold winter, rather it is a winter as it should be.

Kristina in front of the Geophysical Institute & Arctic Research Center

From a day to day point of view, I think the biggest difference it the amount of daylight. When we arrived Fairbanks was receiving a little under four hours of sunlight a day. Sun rise at 10:55 and sunset is at 2:51. I have pointed out to Kristina how hardworking we should when we can truthfully say that we went to work before sunrise, and stayed at our desk until after sunset.

But there are also these long twilights.

I am still working (remotely) part-time. So I am trying to design my time so I can explore in daylight hours, then working early mornings and late into the evening. Ideally I have Thursday afternoons and Fridays to explore.

Walking

Tim, out walking on Ester Dome

So my first two exploration were a walk along Ester Dome ridge line. This is a peak about seven miles west of us, and 2200 ft up. (Fairbanks is at about 400ft and our house at 750ft). It is covered with radio mast. But if you walk to the end of the road you can get on the Equinox Marathon trail and get into the woods. A quarter mile out there is a small knoll where I stopped for lunch. North of me the ridge lines become higher, barer and more enticing.

The trail itself appears to be used equally by snow machines (snowmobiles) and skiers. I tromped another mile into the this spruce forest, then laid plans for Friday day, and walked out.

Ptarmigans on Murphy Dome

Open landscape on Murphy Dome

Trail back to the top

Sunset on Murphy Dome

On Friday I drove out to Murphy Dome. This is 20 miles west of us, and I am starting to feel like I am "out there". The very top of the dome has a radar dish, the remnants of a Cold War air defense system. These days the radar has been down-graded and is remotely controlled. So the parking area at the end of the road is mainly used for recreational access.

When I arrived there were a few empty trucks, with snow machine trailers, and one truck with a guy sitting in it. There was also a big, unfriendly sign explaining that this was an Air Force facility and stating that I needed written permission from the base commander to be there.

I went and asked the lone truck occupant about the sign. He reassured me that the sign was a relic of another era and that this indeed was primarily a recreational area. In fact as soon as he finished his on-line meeting (yes, he was sitting twenty miles from any where with an iPad on his steering wheel, attending a zoom meeting) he would be on his snow machine, heading into the Minto Flats State Game Refuge, a few hundreds square miles of wilderness starting west of here.

I headed north.

There are a few scattered spruce, but most of the top of the dome is open. I had read that this was a favorite place for picking blueberries, so I am guessing that is what is under foot, under snow. There is about a foot of snow, and most of the time I can walk on the crust, but occasionally I would post. However if I stayed on the snow machine trail I made good time.

I could see that something was moving to my right. Something was scurrying close to the ground. It took me awhile to realize that there were about thirty ptarmigans running across the ground. Their white winter plumage works well to hide them!

There are a few rocky tors on this ridge line. I climbed one with a good view and had lunch. To the north of me is the Chatanika Valley, and beyond that, someplace, the White Mountains of Alaska. And more places to explore.

I walked about five miles. As I was approaching the trailhead the sun was touching the horizon, part of those long, golden, twilights.

Aurora

Aurora & the Moon

Chatanika Lodge

When arrived in Fairbanks, our plane touched down at about 1am, we took a taxi to the hotel for that first night. It is only a mile from terminal to hotel, but during those few minutes the cab driver mentioned that it looked like the Aurora was here to meet us.

And there it was!

Aurora over our cabin

The whole point of us being in Alaska is for Kristina to study the aurora. And we saw it not only that first night, but in the first hour of that first night!

I've seen it three times in the first ten days, even with the full moon!

Ironically, we have driven out twice to the Poker Flats Rocket range, where Kristina fires her rockets, because they have a really nice, heated glass viewing room. On both those night the sky was crystal clear and completely free of any Aurora.

However, being out a Poker also gave us a chance to have dinner at the "Chatanika Lodge", a road house that I've heard about for over thirty years.

Running

5K Borealis Run Holding popsicle sticks for our places

Running Club North Fahrenheit be Darned - with a bit of frost

So I joined a running club here. I think it unlikely that Running Club North (RCN) will ever compete against the Upper Valley Running Club (UVRC) of New Hampshire/Vermont, so I don't feel conflicted about this. They have a Wednesday night run, "Fahrenheit be Darned" and both times I have run with them it was close to zero.

On Saturday the club hosted the 5K Borealis Run, where I took either 2nd or 3rd in the men's division. It was a hoot! A local sports store hosted us and loaded spiked running. I became a convert and two days later returned and bought a pair.

They plow snow, but it never really clears. So most of the places I run are hard packed snow, in which case my "IceBug" spiked shoes keep me from slipping.

And when we are not are hard packed snow, we are pushing through the fluffy stuff on trails in the woods!

Skiing

I am expecting my skis to arrive next week. But in the mean time I am renting cross-country skies from the UAF (University of Alaska - Fairbanks) rec center. Which means I am just starting to explore the trail system. I've been out with colleagues of Kristina's twice, into the UAF "North Campus", ie woods 50 meters north of the Geophysical Institute. There is something like a dozen miles of groomed trails here.

The north campus trail system and the Birch Hill complex on the other side of town are specifically groomed for cross-country skiing. But there are trails all over the place. However most trails are shared with walker, runners, snowshoers, snow machines, skiers, bikers (very fat snow tires) and dog sleds. I have yet to see the dog sleds in actions, but I have come across their tracks in the snow.

Two people have told me that at these temperatures, near and below zero, that skate skies lose some of their advantages. I looking forward to testing this next week when my bundle arrives!

What Now?

I've split enough wood for the next few days, so this evening I'll sit by the fire and try to figure out where some of those places with great names are. Wickersham Dome, Chena Hot Springs, Salcha Nordic Ski Trails, Tanana Lake, . . .