The Bear Witch Project

We took a day trip yesterday to the Kenai Peninsula for a long hike with glacier views, culminating in an ice field overlook (supposedly the only trail in the U.S. that leads to an ice field).

At the trail head, we see a sign warning about bears, how to respond if we see a bear, etc., and I point out that we don't have bear spray, bear bells, etc., so we're probably going to die.  The Companion is not amused.  About two miles in we see . . . bear poop.  I get all MacGyver on that poop: I hold my hand close to it, decide that it's cold, and that the bear is probably long gone.  But then . . . we notice that, at various points in the trail, the plant life on either side is crushed, as if, perhaps, a bear had crushed out of one side and into the other.  We start hypothesizing: maybe those spaces were made by heavy machinery used to maintain the trail.  Maybe a boulder rolled down the mountain.  Maybe there was a meteor shower.

As we continue up the mountain, the plant life becomes less dense, and I stop thinking that every sound from the bushes is the sound of my life coming to an end.  Eventually, the trail becomes a barren wasteland of rocks and fog, which is pretty neat, actually.  But once the thrill wears off, I realize that it is, in fact, really cold near an ice field, and that ice field better make its appearance stat.  After the Companion finally convinces me that I'd probably enjoy myself more if I stopped stomping up the path, we make it to the ice field/glacier, realize that it is still freezing, and head back down.

After a mile or so, we get back into bear country, but aren't feeling quite so nervous this time, especially once we pass the bear poop (still cold, in case you were wondering).  But then we see it.  We round a bend, with the Companion in front.  He freezes, a "holy crap" escaping his lips, alerting me to the news.  I look up, and there it is: a black bear, bolting away from us down the path.  For both of us, the first instinct is to freeze, hoping the bear will continue along its way, leaving us unnoticed and un-mauled.  But then we remember: make noise!  So we start sounding like two parents looking for their four year old in a game of hide and seek.  "OH WOW WAS THAT A BEAR?"  "YES IT WAS.  I WONDER WHERE IT WENT."  "I SURE HOPE IT WENT BACK INTO THE WOODS AWAY FROM US!" 

Needless to say, we made it out alive, and now I've gotten my first bear-while-hiking experience out of the way. Not bad for a Tuesday.

Alaska plates!

I finally (finally!) got my car registered in Alaska, and with it I got some Alaska license plates.  I want to post a picture, but I'm a paranoid lawyer, so I'm not going to.  Side note: in the process of registering the car, I had to make a call to a customer service representative.  I went *crazy* when she referred to Alaska as "outside of the United States."

The Companion is doing a great job at suggesting hikes out of my awesome hike book and we had dinner at the Bear Tooth Theatre, Pub, and Grill (http://www.beartooththeatre.net/ . . . it's a movie and dinner AT THE SAME TIME.  Heaven for lazy people.)

We're driving to the Kenai Peninsula tomorrow for another hike, so I hope to have more to share after that.

Anchorage

Well.  I'm here.  I've been a bit manic today: one minute I'm so excited, and in disbelief at how new and different and beautiful it is here, and the next minute I'm panicking about how cold it is already, how unfamiliar everything seems, and how crazy it is that this is actually happening.

The lows: it is cold.  Already.  It's already fall here, and I wish I had my warmer clothes.  Food is almost as expensive here as it was in NYC.  I worry that I will be lonely here this year.  I worry that I won't be good at my job.  I worry that it will be hard for me to keep in touch with the people I love.  I worry that I'll get sick of being outdoorsy and that I'll want to spend all winter watching TV and eating M&Ms.  It's 4hrs later in NYC and DC, and 3hrs later in Houston, making me feel cut off from the rest of the world.

The highs: it's beautiful.  After almost a week of towns with only a couple hundred people, Anchorage seems huge, yet it's surrounded by mountains and ocean (or inlet).  Decent Mexican food for dinner.  Met (and liked!) my future roommates at a fun bar with good beer.  I live in a cute house, in a cute neighborhood, within walking distance of work.

It seems, re-reading those lists, that my lows are mostly worries, whereas my highs are real things.  Good sign?

Ragin'

For a long time, the working title of this blog was "Putting the Rage in Anchorage."  I decided against this, though, because I didn't want people to think that I was angry all of the time.  However, while I might not be angry *all* of the time, I'm definitely angry *some* of the time, especially when I am, for example, cold.  Which, let's be honest, I'll probably be about 95% of the time next year.

I hit my head on a metal bar this morning (which the hotel had strategically placed right above a good luggage spot), and I then learned, while raging, that my road trip has been brewing some frustrations.  For example:

1. Why the HECK is it so cold here?  It's August, people.  Not November.  And stop raining, Canada.  Your trees look great.  They don't need anymore water.

2. When hotel employees answer the phone, they simply say "hello?"  And then I have to ask, "is this such-n-such hotel?"  And they always say "yes" in a tone that suggests "duh" and I think to myself: You're running a business here, buddy!!  The customer is always right and I am the customer so I am right AAAHH!!

3. I'm sick of eating the kind of food you have to eat while traveling.  That salmon was great, but everything else has been . . . fried.  I want Thai food.  Or good (actually good) pizza and a nice bottle of wine.  Or some Levain's cookies (http://www.levainbakery.com/).  Or Chuy's!  Chuy's = best TexMex ever (http://www.chuys.com/).

OK I think that's about it for now.  More raging throughout the year, I'm sure.

Stewart, B.C and Hyder, AK

First, allow me to introduce you to my new Subaru, which was purchased expressly to aid me in my Alaskan adventure.  As the Subaru is made for roughing it, I hope to feature it in a glamor-shot or two over the next year.

We left Houston, B.C. in the late morning, continuing along to Stewart, B.C. ("Where the Bears Are!") and its sister city Hyder, Alaska, (http://www.stewart-hyder.com/).  Immediately after turning left onto 37A, we learned that Stewart is indeed where the bears are, as we saw two roaming around on the side of the highway.  Having the first bear-sighting out of the way, we stopped at amazing Bear Glacier to take some pics of the Subaru in front of a natural wonder (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Glacier_Provincial_Park).

After checking in at our hotel, we drove over the border to Hyder, Alaska.  After breathing a sigh of relief to be back on American soil, we quickly realized that, at least in these parts, Canadians take much better care of their roads.  See above for a picture of a pothole so deep than an orange street cone rested comfortably inside of it.

In Hyder, we stopped at Fish Creek, a national park with a bear-viewing observation deck set up over a salmon-filled river.  Although we were met by a couple grumbling about waiting two hours and seeing nothing, we managed to catch two feeding bears (and snap some pictures of the less fortunate salmon in the area).

After making it past the least friendly custom's official I have ever encountered (although he was a bit of a Sam Harris look-alike, so that helped), we stopped for dinner at the Bitter Creek Cafe (http://bittercreek.homestead.com/), where I had my first salmon of the trip (and although my hopes were high, I was not disappointed).  My companion, perhaps regretting his dislike of seafood, opted for the fajitas.  They were, much to my surprise, not terrible.

Given that we had a kitchenette that evening, and given that it was 50 degrees and rainy (which, incidentally, is pretty common weather for Anchorage in the "spring" and "fall"), we stayed in that evening and made s'mores.  (And watched this, which is worth a viewing, in my opinion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Kid_Could_Paint_That.)

This morning, we once again left a bit late, although our timing was perfect: we saw eight bears (five of which were cubs!) on our drive to Dease Lake, B.C. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dease_Lake,_British_Columbia).  The roads leading here aren't too well-paved, and the landscape has become a bit more forlorn (and a bit less Jurassic Park . . . I swear they could have filmed that movie in some of the places we've seen), but I'm excited to eat dinner at the Tanzilla Pub tonight after a walk around Allan Lake.

Houston, British Columbia

Less driving today, which has meant more time to explore the town of Houston, British Columbia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houston,_British_Columbia).  For dinner, we decided to try the most popular place in town, a restaurant called “The Elements,” which turned out to be a Chinese restaurant in disguise.  The food left something to be desired, but, as my companion noted, eating there was a pleasure, in spite of the food.  Most people there seemed to know each other, and their familiar chit-chat was comforting, even if it did make me a bit homesick.

Sunday, August 21, 2011: entered Canada

It’s as beautiful as everyone says.  Reminiscent of the American west, yet somehow entirely different.  Crossing the border was a bit unnerving, as I am a freedom-loving Texan, but everything else has been lovely.  We’re at a “health lodge” in 100 Mile House, British Columbia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/100_Mile_House,_British_Columbia) for the evening, and plan to have a run through the mountains and a big breakfast tomorrow morning.  But for now, sleep.

Saturday, August 20, 2011: Seattle

I never thought there would come a time in my life when I thought about Alaska every day.  I was wrong.  In mid-October, 2010, I accepted a year-long position in Anchorage, Alaska, population 291,826 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchorage,_Alaska).  I have, since that time, thought about Alaska every day.  And who can blame me?  Alaska has bears in back yards, people stomped to death by moose, and packs of wolves living within Anchorage city limits.  Alaska has earthquakes, volcanoes, the Northern Lights, and almost 34,000miles of shoreline, much of it stunningly beautiful.

And soon, it will have me.