Tobaggan Lane Luge

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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!

Learning to Fly

For the past few weekends I've been out with my new friend Adam, learning how to handle a paraglider. You might be thinking, "Wait a minute - I thought he had a hang-glider?" In which case, you would be right. However, interior Alaska, with its mellow weather and lack of open landing sites, is much more conducive to paragliders which can "spot land" and fly in weaker winds. Just so happens, I e-mailed a paraglider instructor in Fairbanks and he lives right across the road. We became friends quickly.

As you can imagine, snow and cold make this a little tricky. Here I set up for an attempt to get a little controlled air. If I remember correctly, this launch in zero wind wasn't successful.

I am learning more than I am even aware of. Pre-flight inspections involve triple-checking all connections and clearing the lines of tangles. The lines (risers) are actually very resistant to tangling.

Apollo likes paragliding weekends, as it means we go out to an open field and he gets to run around for a few hours.



Here I perform a forward inflation in low winds. The wing comes up pretty well, but doesn't quite make it overhead so Adam gives me the "abort" call. The voice you hear in the videos is his. His patience and wisdom are priceless!



In this one, the forward launch goes well, and I get the wing inflated and make a forward run. This gives me the ability to control the wing as if I were flying, but still safely on the ground. The run goes well, but I failed to put the wing down in a controlled deflation. I've done it since!


So far, my new hobby has taken to me places around Fairbanks I wouldn't otherwise have gone. Last weekend, I was granted the best view of Denali I've had in Alaska, from the top of Murphy Dome. (Keep in mind Denali is 200 miles away in this shot) The ultimate goal is to get certified in Girdwood (Alyeska), near Anchorage, by the end of the summer.

Yukon Quest 2010

Every year, a sled dog race takes place through some of the roughest, coldest, most brutal wilderness on Earth. This race stretches 1000 miles from Fairbanks, AK to/from Whitehorse, Yukon. Yesterday, it started in Fairbanks!


The first racer gets on the move. They were spaced out at 3 minute intervals. The winners will complete the race in about 8-9 days.

It started right downtown, on the river. Yes, that's right - on the river. I'd bet its the biggest event downtown Fairbanks sees. People were all over the bridges, but mostly right on the frozen river in front of the action. You can even make out a musher in this shot, looks like bib 10.

Naturally, the event brought your fair share of folks.

Calm, controlled, and cheerful. I'd like to see him at mile 847.

Another happy face. Most of the mushers seemed very happy to be setting off. The dogs are outfitted with booties to protect their feet from the jagged snow, and to keep snow from bunching up in their paws. Some get jackets, but for the most part these dogs are impervious to the cold.

Lead dogs - focused, hyper, and strictly obedient. The musher calls out commands to the lead dog(s) to direct the rest of the team and steer the sled.

This race is pretty badass because the mushers have only a few checkpoints, which means they'll spend their rest time on the trail, camped out. There are places for them to drop injured or tired dogs and resupply, but not many. Rule is they can start with no more than 14 dogs, but they must finish with 5.

Naturally, this got me all siked up. Skijoring is about as close to dog mushing as I'll ever get. So I went home, grabbed Apollo and hit the trail. We skijored some trails right in the neighborhood, but I got lost and we went quite the distance. I called it the Goldstream Valley Quest. He did great; our best skijoring yet. I foresee many miles on the trail with him. He is all healed up and in great health. He is finally growing some hair back on his belly!