Tobaggan Lane Luge

Made possible by Helmet-Cam v1.0.

Gaining Light

With the turn of the equinox, light is quickly returning to the North. Although it is still 20F outside, it is officially spring, and I wrote this song in celebration.

My Alaska, Pt. 1

Alaska means different things to different people. For some, its working the pipeline and snow machines, or maybe its skiing 30 miles to a cabin in the wilderness. It could be studying musk oxen in the Arctic, mushing dogs, or owning an espresso stand. I've finally gotten around to taking some photos just for the sake of taking photos. This is the Alaska that I've found, so my ongoing project is called "My Alaska".


I decided to start with the pipeline. I drive by it often and always wanted to take a look at these funky things. (They are convective radiators so the ground below the pipeline doesn't thaw and sink.)

Apparently Sattie loves Cal.


The ol' Howling Dog Saloon, closed for the winter because the building isn't insulated.

An adornment of the less-traveled St. Patrick Road.

Willow Run.

North Star Borough Solid Waste Disposal, Fox Station. (No curbside pick-up around here)

Part II is in the works! Snow is melting quickly...

Some aurora

The aurora hasn't been all it can be recently, but it was still worth going out and trying to take some pictures. We froze our butts off on the highest elevation in the area, wind brought the wind chill well below zero. I got the one above, which looks a lot like how it really appears to the naked eye. Exposure time was about 45 seconds.


This one is an awesome long exposure by Oliver, about 8 minutes. The sky looked nothing like this, but it shows that the entire atmosphere above us was glowing even though we couldn't see it. The strong bands were visible to us, but other than that it was dark sky. The burrs from the stars are from them moving across the sky while the shutter was open.

Ice and snow

Hey there. Sorry - I've been slacking.

Last week I went and checked out the World Ice Art Championship, which is an ice carving competition held in Fairbanks every year. Something about the climate here is ideal for large blocks of ice sitting around. Overall, it was very cool. Some incredible sculptures. My tripod broke right when I got there, so the photos are a little dark or blurry.


There was a maze, although there weren't too many decisions to make.

(Sun, sailboat, lighthouse). They shine lights, sometimes changing color, at the sculptures. The index of refraction of ice makes the whole thing glow.

1st prize in the single block competition. There were different types of ice that provided texture on the rings, incredible.

This is one from the multi-block competition. If I stood next to the scorpion, I'd be as tall as the pincer.

Also multi-block, also huge.

Oh yeah, Lauren - forgot to tell you, I built you something. Lets try to save it until August, ok?

Oliver did an incredible job of spinning an ice top. I was inside.
I am sick just looking at the photo.

A couple days later, Julie showed me ropes on snow biking. It was very cool. The snow here is firm packed and dry enough that it felt a lot like riding a dirt trail. Except, every so often we would find ourselves on a frozen creek or pond. Apollo likes biking, too. Thanks for the photo, Julie!