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No, It's Not an Error

8/29/2013

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If you've been watching our SPOT track on the home page, you may have noticed an unlikely diversion to Boca Raton and Telluride yesterday.  It's not a GPS glitch, it's that Collin left Luna and me to go to work for a couple of days (he's in "track mode" when he flies, hence the many position reports).  He's expected to be back with us today, and we'll make our way home to Glade Park starting tomorrow.

We are currently in Seattle, so we may have to visit the REI mothership store while we're here!
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News From the Paraguay Desk

8/27/2013

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She flies! (Well, okay, she left the ground momentarily, August 11, 2013.)
Many of you know Roberto Vera Vierci (aka Beto, or Silver Fox, or half of "Los Dos Robertos").  And some of you know that he and his comrades at the AeroClub Yvutu have been painstakingly building a replica Deperdussin aircraft to be flown on the 100th anniversary of when their great aviation hero, Silvio Pettirossi, flew his Deperdussin along the shores of Asuncion, wowing the people of Paraguay with his act.  Will she be ready for Beto to fly her on November 17, 2014?  I'm betting YES!

You can see more on their project website.  (The videos require no knowledge of Spanish!)
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By the Numbers So Far

8/26/2013

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34
7200
2
12
207
Many
25
7
2
0
45
3
0
0
1
16
2
10
34
Number of days on the road
Number of miles driven thus far
Nights in a motel as opposed to the travel trailer
Salmon and red snapper caught in Valdez
Dollars spent to have fresh fish prepared and sent to your neighbors back home
Days without a shower (not even going to calculate that number!)
Different times we've set up camp
Days we set up camp in the rain
Times we had to bathe Luna for rolling in bad things (salmon guts and bison poop)
Fights between Collin and Marisa (how is that possible?)
Gas stops
Times we worried about running out of gas
Times we actually ran out of gas
Maintenance issues
Minor scrape (tree vs. trailer)
Total grizzly bear sightings
Grand Junction friends seen in Alaska
Stops for donuts and wifi at a Tim Horton's coffee shop
Days until the Western Rendezvous II (I suppose we'd better get home!)
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God Bless This Funky Place Called Alaska

8/24/2013

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As many times as we've been to Alaska, we've never seen it quite like this.  There's something about looking up from below rather than down from above, i.e. the cockpit of our Cessna 210.  We always marveled at just how h-u-g-e Alaska was, what a commitment it took to visit--commitment in terms of time, finances, stamina and so many other things. (And that's when we came to Alaska with you Parkwest folks by air, and could cut highway corners and straighten out the route lines!)  But to do this by ground is amazing.  We took a car ferry from Haines to Skagway, a distance of 14 miles on the ferry and an hour of our time.  By road it would have been 350 miles and a day's travel.

We have made the bittersweet transition back into "civilization," if that is what you call a small city with multiple gas stations, Tim Horton's coffee, and good running trails for Collin.  (He's been remarkably diligent in his training for the Half Marathon, and so far had only one serious wildlife encounter.)
 
Here are some more scenes from the land of Denali and Jack London and all those hard-scrapping homesteaders.  We managed to get our grizzly count up to about 15, blacks about 25.  Still only the one lonely caribou, and as we make our way south, the chances of seeing more are slim.  I think we're becoming wildlife snobs--yesterday I scoffed at a roadside warning for elk, thinking "how boring!"
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Delicious, fresh-caught halibut at "the bus" in Hyder, Alaska.
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The attitude and the menu at Seafood Express bus.
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And we thought the Glade Park post office was unique!
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One of many black bears we saw along the Cassiar Highway.
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What to Do With Airplane Parts?  Grave Markers and Yard Art

8/20/2013

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Those Alaskans waste nothing!  We've seen a few different uses for bent propellers.  Turns out one of these on the "Propeller Tree" belongs to a friend of ours, who shall remain anonymous.
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Plot at Talkeetna cemetery.
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The infamous Propeller Tree, not a one is unscathed!
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Two Grizzlies, One Beaver

8/18/2013

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Despite the afore-composed forecast, there has actually been a lot of rain in Haines,  Ah well, such is life in "Southeast," as Alaskans call this part of the state.  Yesterday Collin went flying right seat in a beautiful Beaver, the latest machine in the Mountain Flying Service fleet.  It was a beautiful loop:  Haines - Gustavus - Skagway - Haines.  Last night, the two of us finally got our grizzly fix: two young bears fishing away under the moonlight at the inlet.  There is a fish weir installed, so it's an easy catch for those guys.  Wouldn't a photo or two be ideal?  I didn't snap any before Collin's fight, and the lighting was too tricky to capture anything valuable with the bears.  You'll just have to believe me!
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Poetic Update

8/15/2013

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We could no longer cope with the rain in Hope
            We left Kenai as soon as we could
Bob Caskey was wishing we’d join him for fishing          
            And boy was that fishing day good!

Though the halibut declined to nibble the line
            The rock fish and salmon jumped on
Bob, Ed and Collin were all day a-haulin’
            Til the fuel in the boat was all gone.

We departed the seas of gorgeous Valdez
            And drove over the green, misty pass
Then there was all that smoke surrounding Tok
            And the numerous stops for gas.

Our Milepost guide once again lied
            About where we could fill our tank
There was a great deal of concern until we learned
            Of a trading post at the next riverbank.    

Those provocative hares and many black bears
            We left behind at Prince William Sound,
Six driving hours of naming wildflowers
            Now we’re back on familiar ground.

It's Snag Junction—not Grand Junction
            Located east of the Canadian line
We’ll stay here again, tho we’ve already been,
            On smoked salmon we will dine.

We expect no rain as we drive down to Haines
            To visit our friends, Amy and Paul
After that, who knows which way we’ll go,
            It’s wherever The Wild calls.
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4085 Miles, and Counting

8/11/2013

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We've been to the Kenai, in quaint little Hope, Alaska and now we head back north in order to go further south (and east) to Haines.  A great salmon show yesterday, watching and cheering on those huge fish as they would leap with all their might to get up the Russian River Falls--most of them failing.  There were no grizzlies to nab them, but Collin, Luna and I did see a black bear mom and 3 adorable and obedient little cubs right off the trail.  The theme of the week has been: fishing!  While we have yet to cast a line ourselves, the Alaskans and tourists are out in droves right now catching their limits of salmon.
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Denali Dreams

8/6/2013

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Collin and I flew Denali country today in Don Lee's Pacer.  Admittedly, the photos aren't the best as we were preoccupied with the scenery, the other air traffic, and unfamiliar reporting points (Moose's Tooth, Root Canal, Toe of the Ruth, to name a few).  Collin is brushing up on all modes of flight: water landings on floats, sand bars on tundra tires, etc.  Fun, fun!
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Into the Wild

8/5/2013

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For any of you who saw the movie Into the Wild, this was the bus used as Chris McCandless' shelter out in the wilderness.  The real bus is still in place, way out on the Stampede Trail, and has become a popular pilgrimage site amongst backpackers.  After re-reading some of the journal entries from his last days, I immediately purchased the booklet "Wild Edible and Poisonous Plants of Alaska."

We are happily settled in Talkeetna for a few days.  Collin is doing some float flying and I am happy to travel by bicycle for a change.  Haven't had to visit a gas station in two days!

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    Cat Herder (aka Marisa) has been guiding pilot tours in the American West for over twenty years.  Keep tabs on your Parkwest pilot friends, National Park news and other tidbits here!

    Also see my Alaska blog "Life at Latitude 65".

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