Alaska 2013

[1stimestar]

Fairbanks shivers in deep freeze

Story
Comments (1)
Image (4)


Posted: Sunday, January 27, 2013 9:22 am | Updated: 10:43 am, Sun Jan 27, 2013.

Staff Report | 1 comment

FAIRBANKS - Frigid temperatures are gripping Fairbanks and North Pole this morning.

Fairbanks International Airport is reporting temperatures of minus 48 degrees, but residents around the area are reporting lows of nearly 60 below zero.

A dense ice fog advisory is in effect through noon, with visibilities reduced to less than a quarter mile in some areas. An air quality alert has also been issued for the North Pole for unhealthy levels of particulate pollution.

Highs could reach the minus 20s today, before dropping again tonight to near 50 below. Temperatures are forecast to begin moderating on Tuesday, with highs above zero predicted later in the week.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/article_98621fcc-68ae-11e2-b6f6-001a4bcf6878.html#.UQV1pn8rZoI.facebook

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/article_98621fcc-68ae-11e2-b6f6-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=image&photo=1

Ice fog
http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/newsminer.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/e/d6/ed6d5abc-68af-11e2-842b-001a4bcf6878/510573723c6e3.preview-300.png
Ice fog covers downtown Fairbanks in this screenshot from the Arctic Cam at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner taken at 9:15 a.m. Temperatures from 45 below zero to nearly minus 60 were reported around the area Sunday morning.

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/newsminer.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/3/0e/30eb3d16-68b2-11e2-a724-001a4bcf6878/510576fd90f5f.preview-300.jpg

Minus 60 Melinda Shore of Two Rivers took this photo of the thermometer registering minus 60 degrees on her porch "on the low side" of Chena Hot Springs Road at 21 Mile.



Sunday Night
nt_partlycloudy Partly cloudy. Low of -51F. Winds less than 5 mph.
Monday
clear Partly cloudy. Fog early. High of -11F with a windchill as low as -74F. Winds from the ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
Monday Night
nt_partlycloudy Partly cloudy. Fog overnight. Low of -17F with a windchill as low as -40F. Winds from the ENE at 10 to 15 mph.
Tuesday
partlycloudy Partly cloudy. Fog early. High of -2F with a windchill as low as -36F. Winds from the NE at 10 to 15 mph.

Craaaaaap!

[prariewolf]

That is sure enough cold !

[welderguy]

:noway: WOW , and people actually want to live there. who would of thought that!!

[Sourdough]

:noway: WOW , and people actually want to live there. who would of thought that!!

There is an UP side..........not much to do but Cuddle & Snuggle in bed under bear skin blanket, while drinking Tequila and watching DVD movies. Only -14 here in the Bananna Belt......:hugs:

[hunter63]

I think all y'all thermometers are broke........

[welderguy]

There is an UP side..........not much to do but Cuddle & Snuggle in bed under bear skin blanket, while drinking Tequila and watching DVD movies. Only -14 here in the Bananna Belt......:hugs:

Thats a good up side, -14 thats not bad compared to -60

[1stimestar]

There is an UP side..........not much to do but Cuddle & Snuggle in bed under bear skin blanket, while drinking Tequila and watching DVD movies. Only -14 here in the Bananna Belt......:hugs:

Yea, I'm going to HAVE to go into town today. I just went and plugged in the truck so going to give it a few hours at least. I do not want to go! Last night I went out for a few drinks with friends. I had to set my alarm for every 2 hours to go start the truck to warm it up. Bars should have plug ins hahhaa.

[Warheit]

I've been in some "cold" temperatures, but seeing a picture clocked back at -60 just makes me shiver in the comfort of my own home. Goodness!

[1stimestar]

Ugh, this just exhausts me.
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/321308_10152458039340697_999683271_n.jpg

[crashdive123]

I think we'll hit 80 today.

[prariewolf]

When you think you got it bad look around and sure enough someone has got it worse...!

[1stimestar]

http://youtu.be/eryxAcsTcOA

[GreatUsername]

I haven't seen a commercial I've enjoyed this much in a while! Thanks 1timestar!

[1stimestar]

Heehee bazinga.

[crashdive123]

cute......

[1stimestar]

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151193710735957

I'm not sure if I can get this video to embed.

[crashdive123]

Linky no worky.

[welderguy]

HAHAHA Funny stuff.

[1stimestar]

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151193710735957

I'm not sure if I can get this video to embed.


Linky no worky.

Hmm, try this. It's a time lapse vid of the northern lights.


https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10151193710735957

[welderguy]

It worked for me. cool vid

[alaskabushman]

8856

This is was just a week ago on Prince of Wales island in the Southeast panhandle. I think its was 42 degrees on this day.

[1stimestar]

Boys survive a blizzard in a snow cave.
http://www.adn.com/2013/01/30/2771192/bethel-brothers-survive-blizzard.html

[crashdive123]

Sounds like they had a good teacher. I'll bet though - that in the lower 48 if school was cancelled because it was 45 below - very few would say....Hey! Let's go hunting!

[1stimestar]

8856

This is was just a week ago on Prince of Wales island in the Southeast panhandle. I think its was 42 degrees on this day.

Oh that's beautiful. I want to go hiking on the Kenai this summer.

[1stimestar]

Can someone familiar with the country's latest gun-control debate explain Alaska to me?


This is a gun-crazy state. Guns are everywhere. About 58 percent of Alaskans own a gun, according to the Washington Post. Given that the U.S. Census says the average household size in the 49th state is 2.65 people, there is, on average, 1.53 guns per household.


Or to make this simple, there is basically a gun in every house.

Alaska homicide rate dropping
And yet, the Alaska homicide rate for 2011, the latest year for which figures are available, was 4 per 100,000 people. That's significantly lower than the 6.4 per 100,000 people for New York City, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg likes to brag about how many guns the New York Police Department has taken away from the citizenry, and about a fifth of the homicide rate for Chicago (19.4 per 100,000), a city with stringent gun control that has been labeled the world's "Deadliest Global City."


But none of that really concerns the question that begs an answer.


If guns in and of themselves are evil, if more guns means people are more likely to kill other people, why does the death toll for Alaska "firearms homicides" stand at 2.6 per 100,000? Actually, the number is probably lower than that now. The data on specifically how people kill each other -- with guns, knifes, beatings -- dates to 2004, and the Alaska homicide rate has fallen about 25 percent since then. But suffice to say, fewer than half the people killed in homicides in Alaska are killed with a gun.


The state's gun-homicide rate is a low number. At 2.6, your odds of being shot and killed in Alaska are lower than your odds of being murdered in the European principality of Liechtenstein (2.8 per 100,000) and about the same as your odds for being murdered in Luxembourg (2.5 per 100,000). Neither country is known as a hotbed of violent crime.

Swiss mandate gun ownership
Then again, the chances of being killed with a firearm in Alaska -- or in Liechtenstein or Luxembourg, for that matter -- are a lot higher than the chances of being murdered in Switzerland. The death rate there is 0.7 per 100,000, and gun ownership is mandatory for men of military age, some of whom are volatile young men. Some studies in this country have pinpointed men between the age of 21 and 30 as responsible for 40 to 50 percent of all homicides. The Swiss, however, arm them. And they don't only arm them, they give them assault rifles.


"Between the ages of 21 and 32 (all) men serve as front-line troops. They are given an M-57 assault rifle and 24 rounds of ammunition which they are required to keep at home," according to the BBC. The 24 rounds is a government requirement. People can buy more if they want.


(A personal note here. Young men casually handling automatic weapons in train stations and elsewhere in Switzerland always scared the beejesus out of me. It isn't so much that they are armed with automatic weapons, but that their handling sometimes seemed inattentive, even careless. Nonetheless, there do not appear to be a lot of accidental shootings in Switzerland, or at least people dying from accidental shootings.)


The Swiss clearly illustrate there are factors other than the simple availability of guns in play when it comes to violence, death and firearms. And so, it would seem, does Alaska. With all the guns around in the 49th state, why do slightly more people die due to knifings, beatings or other violence -- 3.05 per 100,000 -- than shootings -- 2.58 per 100,000?

Status symbol?
Or maybe the better question is this:


Why is death by firearm so much more prevalent in major U.S. cities, most of which have made it harder for people to legally obtain guns than in the Wild West of Alaska? Wouldn't you think that given gun control in those places, the ratio of knife, beating and other deaths would increase in proportion to gun deaths?


Or have gun bans, helped by pop culture, simply made it something of a status symbol to kill someone with a firearm in urban America?


Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com

Lots of other Alaska related news here that some of you might find of interest.
http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/alaskas-contradiction-lots-guns-few-homicides

[1stimestar]

Woke up to an unexpected chilly morning!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc6/207282_479369885449743_1683143462_n.jpg
The combination of clear skies and a cold airmass has resulted in a chilly morning across northern Alaska. Temperatures of -40° F or colder were reported at many locations from the Interior to the North Slope. Although these readings are below normal for mid-February...no records were tied or broken.

For the latest interior and northern Alaska weather information visit: www.weather.gov/fairbanks

[letslearntogether47]

Wow,that's cold.
We're expecting anoth foot+ this weekend.Looks like it's going to be one of those years here in the N.E.
We've got snow caves also.lol

http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/worcester-area/10009902413683/worcester-man-creates-giant-igloo/

[1stimestar]

Heh, that's pretty cool. I'd like to do something like that one day.

[hunter63]

Is that a "Kee bird" in the pic?

[1stimestar]

Raven, of which we have lots. They also play a large part in Alaska Native culture.

[hunter63]

Ahhhhh....Thought maybe y'all had Kee birds up there.
When it's really cold around here (that's kinda a joke for y'all), the kee birds come out......You can hear their call...."Kee, Kee, Kee-ripes it cold out!"

[1stimestar]

Hahhaha yea I can imagine them saying that. It's funny to see them when it's really cold. They fluff up to a HUGE size.

[crashdive123]

How 'bout that.......I would have thought there would be shrinkage in those temps.:whistling:

[1stimestar]

Hahah. No comment.

[hunter63]

I think it's the Kee birds that you hear every time there is a film or vid on Alaska........
Like "North to Alaska"....and off in the distance you hear the "Kee", right?

[1stimestar]

Heh, I just found this vid about living in a dry cabin (which I do) and was surprised to see friends and co workers in it.
http://youtu.be/7CILcdkcJL8

[scumbucket]

I'd love to live in Alaska, spent a few weeks on the Kenai peninsula in Soldotna fishing and exploring with my brother who has a guide service up there. Absolutely beautiful, and the people are great up there. She won't leave her grown children in AZ though. Helpless babies need their mommy to take care of them. We had a blast up there, fished for halibut and salmon. I fell in love with the place. I can take the cold, it's everything else that makes it worth while to live there.

[1stimestar]

Well I'm not one to get in between a mamma and her kids, no matter how old they are. But yea, if you move up here together and one doesn't love it, neither one will in the end.

[1stimestar]

We normally do not have wind here in the interior. But March is coming in like a lion for sure. It's a down right blizzard out there. -40 and no wind is doable. -40 because of wind, not so much.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/69813_10151560894706419_1270696058_n.jpg

[rebel]

I'm ready for spring.

[1stimestar]

Ugh, bring on the spring already! And I'm a musher so don't say that lightly. I LIKE winter. But come on! Last week, it got above freezing. This weekend, got up into the 40's. This morning, -30!

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/429510_546836148681787_199367381_n.jpg

[1stimestar]

Probably the last lights of the season as our daylight is coming back full steam. I had to go out at 3 am to get this one.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/72106_10152703325440697_1716978944_n.jpg

[crashdive123]

Great view. Love the street sign. Our days are coming back too and all of the snow is gone.:innocent:

[1stimestar]

All our main roads were clear and dry. The side streets and less used roads still had snow pack but it was on it's way out. Now it's been snowing for 2 days and we have another couple of days snow in the forecast, 6".

Ugh. My deck WAS totally clear of snow. Stuck my camera out the door this morning for this.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/16200_10152716088790697_172352947_n.jpg

[1stimestar]

-20 this morning. Good thing I just got another 100 gallons of fuel. $410....

"Baby, I fall for you like turds from a tall moose." _Alaskan Pick-up line

[welderguy]

-20 this morning. Good thing I just got another 100 gallons of fuel. $410....

"Baby, I fall for you like turds from a tall moose." _Alaskan Pick-up line

Good think you got more fuel!!! Im gonna try that pick up line next time im out Ill let ya know how it worked out.

[Rick]

We don't have moose here. Can I use raccoon instead?

[1stimestar]

Well it wouldn't be much of a fall now would it. I would be much more impressed with a moose then a raccoon. But you know us Alaskan gals are a hard sell.

[1stimestar]

Day before yesterday it finally stopped snowing again and yesterday the sun started to make its way back. Spring Attempt Part Deaux!

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/s480x480/543728_461631360580934_922824044_n.jpg
Photo bombing Raven over Fairbanks.

[1stimestar]

We had a big solar flare so should be getting auroras this weekend. They will probably be the last of the season as it is staying lighter and lighter out as we plunge towards 24 hours of light. It's not getting dark until well after 10 pm now. I finally got a decent lens for the Nikon body my bestie is loaning me since there is something wrong with my Canon (I bought it used...) Not much of a show tonight but tomorrow night is supposed to be really active. We are planning to set up the Arctic Oven tent out on the pond again so will hopefully have some really interesting pictures tomorrow. We'll probably spend most of the night out there. But here are some testing of my settings and the lens from tonight.

9110 9111 9112 9113 9114

[crashdive123]

I don't think I could ever tire of a view like that. Thanks - great pics. Looking forward to the big show (he says in his best Ed Sullivan voice).

[1stimestar]

Well it's April 16 and snowed for a few hours this evening. It's stopped now.

The aurora show that was predicted didn't pan out as very active after all. So I just hung out with a friend and took some photos from his deck. I did catch an iridium flare though so that was kind of neat.

9118
9119
9120
In reality, it was much darker out then what I was able to pick up with the camera, so I didn't notice this power line in the way until the next day looking at these on my computer. bleh
9121
That's a planet.
9122

[1stimestar]

9123
9124
It's kind of cool when the whole big sky turns green.

[1stimestar]

Oops, can only post so many attachments.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/59728_10152729995640697_331362321_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/544899_10152729995645697_138200567_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/15156_10152729995680697_66650738_n.jpg
Here's the flare.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/64125_10152729995725697_433695061_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/529473_10152729995825697_763556757_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/563182_10152729995860697_1862509194_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/561894_10152729995910697_1530129824_n.jpg

[crashdive123]

Beautiful view. Thanks for letting us have a look.

[BENESSE]

Pure magic!
Thanks, 1st!

[1stimestar]

A new Alaskan survival show. I know two of these guys. Every one here knows Dallas Seavy and his family. I have a picture around here somewhere that I took of him at Mile 101. Brent is one of my favorite mushers so I know him better.
http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2013/04/17/ultimate-survival-alaska-to-premiere-sunday-may-12-on-national-geographic/178372/

[1stimestar]

Since it was supposed to be such an active storm, many of my Aurora Borealis Notification group were out trying to get those perfect photos. Many of us got a shot of the swirly formation we are calling the @. One of our group put them all together in this nifty video. I was tickled pink when mine showed up as the cover, even though it is obscured by trees.


http://youtu.be/ihpZ4lBXBmU

[1stimestar]

Ugh, are you kidding me! Even *I* am done with snow already! The snow was almost gone. The roads were almost dry. There is still a small stretch of road right before my house that is not plowed that was really nasty, other then that spot, I would have taken the 4 runner out of 4 wheel drive already. Then this morning, here it is again.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/919099_10152755102900697_1186009540_o.jpg

This late spring is the same conditions that caused the destruction of Eagle Village by the Yukon River a few years back in 2009. Once spring finally broke, it went right into summer. The river broke up too fast causing large ice dams to back up the river. It was terrible. Here are some pictures of that. http://www.nps.gov/akr/photosmultimedia/photogallery.htm?id=3928FB9C-1DD8-B71C-078BA78411B5F107

Now on to another, happier note. I can finally officially talk about this. My friend Sue was filmed for a National Geographic show called Life Below Zero. Yes, yet another reality show about Alaska. "My address is a gps coordinate" is her saying lol. I also know another couple in this show. The couple who lives at Calico bluffs on the Yukon River. I went and visited them once with my friends Wayne and Scarlet who I go visit every year. Alaska is such a small world. Here is my trip report and pictures of their place. http://cloud9doula.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/a-fowl-adventure-2011/

Anyways, here is the blurb and trailer of the show. http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/04/23/national-geographic-life-below-zero-trailer-exclusive/

[crashdive123]

No snow here today.:tt2: Not sure what the forecast is for tomorrow.:lol:

[1stimestar]

Dang it! Good thing I haven't taken my extension cord off my truck yet. I thought I was done plugging it in by now and could use it to plug in my new deep freezer.



FAIRBANKS — Just when it was starting to thaw out and look like spring in Alaska’s second-largest city, winter is expected to return with a vengeance today.

The National Weather Service said an Arctic cold front today could produce as much as 4 inches of snow in Fairbanks and as much as 6 inches in parts of the Alaska Range by Thursday morning. A wind advisory also is in effect through today for Fairbanks.

Denali Park could get 2 to 4 inches of snow, and parts of the eastern Alaska Range near Tok could get as much as 6 inches, said meteorologist Scott Berg with the National Weather Service in Fairbanks.

If that’s not bad enough, temperatures are expected to drop dramatically and remain below normal through the middle of next week.

“There are two fronts coming down, the first one with moisture and the second one with cold air,” Berg said. “We could actually see a little bit of rain before it mixes in with or turns to snow (tonight). It depends on when the cold air comes in.”

Once the cold gets here, it’s expected to stick around for several days, Berg said. Temperatures are expected to be 10 to 15 degrees below normal, with highs in the 30s and lows in the single digits, at least into early next week, Berg said.

“I don’t see a whole lot of warm air even into the middle of next week,” he said.

That means there’s a good chance the temperature will not hit 50 degrees in the month of April. The high so far this month has been 47, which it hit Tuesday.

The average temperature of 15 degrees so far this month is 14.9 degrees below normal as of Tuesday, according to the weather service.

The new snow could push Fairbanks’ total winter snowfall above average. As of Tuesday, 62.1 inches of snow had fall so far this winter at Fairbanks International Airport. The normal snowfall through that date is 63.6 inches.

Fairbanks has received 5.4 inches of snow this month, which is almost double the normal snowfall — 2.9 inches — for the month.


http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/newsminer.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/8/29/829dee5c-ac68-11e2-a005-001a4bcf6878/517710e82d5dd.preview-300.jpg
Trying to clear off the baseball field...


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/fairbanks-may-see-inches-of-snow-much-colder-temperatures/article_c41fe43a-acb7-11e2-9a1d-001a4bcf6878.html

[1stimestar]

Mama got a new toy. My friends got me a good deal on it. Colt border patrol .357 Mag. I took it straight from the gun show to the range. Dang it's a nice shooter.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/936838_10152764663175697_2034978503_n.jpg

[Ken]

:thumbup1: New toys are so much fun!

[jarhead]

Nice find Star, have fun. Love those revolvers.

[crashdive123]

Nice find. One of these days I've gotta think about getting a firearm.

[Ken]

Nice find. One of these days I've gotta think about getting a firearm.

First gun, huh? :whistling: Try one of these for starters.

http://content.antiquesnavigator.com/an/ebay/images/2012/230793995438.jpg (http://www.wilderness-survival.net/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=cork+gun+rifle&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=rvv4wwFqA2lVOM&tbnid=rXyvFALxw5jCAM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antiquesnavigator.com%2Fprice-guide%2FAntique-Toys%2F160%2FSoldPrice.html&ei=yBd9UZetMcbk0QHipoDgCg&bvm=bv.45645796,d.dmQ&psig=AFQjCNHByK35AOcvs5Jiy-rIrZdIrZIWJQ&ust=1367238911564192)

[2dumb2kwit]

[QUOTE=1stimestar;394550]Mama got a new toy. My friends got me a good deal on it. Colt border patrol .357 Mag. I took it straight from the gun show to the range. Dang it's a nice shooter.
/QUOTE]

Great tool. Fun and function!

[2dumb2kwit]

First gun, huh? :whistling: Try one of these for starters.

http://content.antiquesnavigator.com/an/ebay/images/2012/230793995438.jpg (http://www.wilderness-survival.net/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=cork+gun+rifle&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=rvv4wwFqA2lVOM&tbnid=rXyvFALxw5jCAM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.antiquesnavigator.com%2Fprice-guide%2FAntique-Toys%2F160%2FSoldPrice.html&ei=yBd9UZetMcbk0QHipoDgCg&bvm=bv.45645796,d.dmQ&psig=AFQjCNHByK35AOcvs5Jiy-rIrZdIrZIWJQ&ust=1367238911564192)

Is that thing Mass. compliant?

[Ken]

Is that thing Mass. compliant?

Probably not.

[1stimestar]

6 shooter.


Yea, snowing again today. When the heck is spring coming! We are getting 17 hours of daylight a day. Gaining 7 minutes of light a day, and yet, the snow continues...

Took this an hour or so ago.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152770532320697&comment_id=39998070&offset=0&total_comments=1&ref=notif&notif_t=video_comment

[crashdive123]

Sounds like kitty was not amused by the snow.

[1stimestar]

Yea you should hear her this morning. She is just going on and on.

https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/p480x480/942689_10152771488460697_214954049_n.jpg

[1stimestar]

I think I've mentioned my friend Sue before. She's the one they are filming for another Alaskan reality show. Life Below Zero. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/life-below-zero/

Anyways, "they" finally sold Kavik Camp, her home, to her. http://www.kavikrivercamp.com/ She is in town right now and we are going to go out and celebrate! What perfect timing as tonight is the opening of The Howling Dog Saloon. It's closed in the winter as they can't heat it. It's just an old roadhouse. It's the place I go when I want fun and no tourists, or very few anyways. Guess they will be filming "What Sue does on her rare trip to town." Dang, sure wish I had started that diet I have been meaning to start....

[1stimestar]

For those who dream of moving to Alaska and building a remote cabin, here is a deal for you. One of my friends just wrote a book and he is currently offering it free on Kindle. If you don't have a kindle, there is a little program you can down load to read it on your computer.

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Wild-Alaska-ebook/dp/B00CNX8CSE/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1368115619&sr=1-1&keywords=building+in+the+wild

[1stimestar]

Some gorgeous Alaskan scenery in this vid. I'm going down to some of these places this summer. I'm so excited.



http://youtu.be/aJH1JQWrARQ

[crashdive123]

***sigh*** Someday.

[1stimestar]

Got a new camera and some new lenses. Now, just to learn how to use them all! I really need to get a handle on the workings of it before my big trip this summer. Crash I'd appreciate any tips on settings etc. It's a Nikon D200. I went down to Denali National Park after work last night so these photos are pretty dark. The darkest one, well, that is our night. I got home at 3:30.

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dsc_7145.jpg?w=486

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dsc_7210.jpg?w=726

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dsc_7327.jpg?w=726

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dsc_7223.jpg?w=726

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/dsc_7356.jpg?w=1000&h=

[crashdive123]

I think those came out fantastic. Getting a clear and well defined picture in low light is tricky and you seem to have it down.

[BENESSE]

Beautiful shots! They make me want to visit sooner than later.
Thanks, 1st!

[1stimestar]

Well come on up! I make a great tour guide.

[1stimestar]

Brent running 22 dogs. Lol crazy Alaskans...


https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=3134294092492

<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=3134294092492" width="1280" height="720" frameborder="0"></iframe>


https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=3134294092492

Well blarg, trying to get it to post correctly.

[1stimestar]

It's May 17 and snowing this morning. The Yukon River is finally breaking up though. So far, not too much flooding.


https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=288379231298393

[crashdive123]

Cool vid. The only ice we get this time of the year.......OK........just about any time of the year is in our sweet tea.

[1stimestar]

Ugh. I spoke too soon.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/p480x480/306795_601342499885478_1906030096_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/p480x480/936254_601343606552034_611015977_n.jpg

[ClayPick]

There must be a awful ice jam somewhere. The weatherman is calling for mixed snow and rain today. Waiting for spring at the end of May gets to be a bit much.

[Trident]

Dear hubby was a laborer and worked up in Prudoe Bay when the facilities were built and the pipeline was going in. He worked for a long while at Atigan Pass camp. We were blessed to go up an live in Fairbanks in 82 and 83. He worked at a station on the haul road doing refurbishing of the science lab. He had a nice long commute up the haul road to work each day.

I was able to work at a fish camp on the Yukon and it was an experience I will always cherish. We got hitched at the court house in February and it was about 60 below.

We have been back south for many a decade now and my hope is for us to be able to to go back up and take the AL-CAN again.

This time we want to do the touristy things and enjoy the journey, not just working.

The benefit of going up when we did, is it allowed us to save up the money we used purchasing our tiny homestead here.

I have the much respect for folks who are able to make a go of it living in the bush.

[1stimestar]

Trident, thank you. I love hearing stories from the pipeline days. I was just born a bit too late.


Here is an uncut interview of my friend Sue who I am hoping to get to go visit this summer. All you single guys wanting to get away from it all, you might want to get to know Sue hahaha.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4314446/uncut-kaviks-only-resident/

[crashdive123]

Trident, thank you. I love hearing stories from the pipeline days. I was just born a bit too late.


Here is an uncut interview of my friend Sue who I am hoping to get to go visit this summer. All you single guys wanting to get away from it all, you might want to get to know Sue hahaha.
http://video.foxnews.com/v/4314446/uncut-kaviks-only-resident/

I saw her on an episode of the flying show that was done with the Tweedos(sp?).

[1stimestar]

Yep that was her.

[1stimestar]

Ask and you shall receive.
Click on the link.
Choose putlocker or sockshare.
Watch the countdown in the right upper corner.
When it says skip ad, click on it.
Click on close ad and watch as free user.
Click start video now.
CLOSE THE POP UPS
You don't have to download anything or register anywhere to watch this.

http://videobull.com/tv-shows/life-below-zero/

Poor Susan. It was so hard for her to be here for those 3 months. Also, she has pretty bad PTSD about the bear attack. She doesn't like talking about it but she does a bit on the show. You can tell she gets teary eyed anytime they ask her to talk about it. It was a pretty bad deal.

[1stimestar]

May 23. Due to our late winter, I just took all the hats, gloves, and artic bibs out of the back of the 4 runner today. Yay. Spring!

[1stimestar]

Right down the road from my house. Denali (Mt. McKinley) in the background. Sorry I am just learning to use my manual settings on my new camera and it was 11 pm so not too light.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/968866_10152839205160697_677031017_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/969830_10152839205430697_225337520_n.jpg
Full moon over the Tanana River.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/969404_10152839205195697_2024177768_n.jpg
Midnight in the land of the Midnight Sun.

[crashdive123]

More fantastic pictures. Thanks.

[1stimestar]

Ask and you shall receive.
Click on the link.
Choose putlocker or sockshare.
Watch the countdown in the right upper corner.
When it says skip ad, click on it.
Click on close ad and watch as free user.
Click start video now.
CLOSE THE POP UPS
You don't have to download anything or register anywhere to watch this.

http://videobull.com/tv-shows/life-below-zero/


Poor Susan. It was so hard for her to be here for those 3 months. Also, she has pretty bad PTSD about the bear attack. She doesn't like talking about it but she does a bit on the show. You can tell she gets teary eyed anytime they ask her to talk about it. It was a pretty bad deal.

Ah here it is on youtube. First episode: http://youtu.be/XuSJV6pNfOU

Second episode. http://youtu.be/7qDEMfGW5pY

[1stimestar]

Looks like we absolutely just skipped spring. It's 90 degrees today. Just 10 days ago it was snowing! Green up FINALLY happened over night two days ago. One day all the trees are bare, the very next day whole hillsides are green. I love green up. It normally takes 3-4 days though. 24 hours of daylight really helps.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/217347_10152853307100697_1634457220_n.jpg

[hunter63]

Great pic's ....Thanks for posting.

[Grey]

Tell Sue that my house is pulling for her, she is tough as nails from what I saw on "Life Below Zero."

Was really crappy to see that someone stole all her gas when she got back to her camp!

[1stimestar]

Published on Jun 2, 2013

Fairbanks, Alaska — Three days (64 hours) are compressed into this two-minute video revealing a remarkably fast spring greenup. This series of 3,800+ photos (one per minute) shows birch trees from bud to leave. Springtime passes by quickly in Alaska. This time-lapse series was photographed in high-definition May 25 - 27, 2013 with a GoPro Hero2 camera. Eric Muehling © 2013. All Rights Reserved.



http://youtu.be/NwRVIbTplBc

[1stimestar]

Tell Sue that my house is pulling for her, she is tough as nails from what I saw on "Life Below Zero."

Was really crappy to see that someone stole all her gas when she got back to her camp!

I'll tell her. I may be going up there for her birthday later this summer.

[1stimestar]

Ah the new VW commercial. It has the midnight sun, it has a sign that says Fairbanks, AK, it has a Noble Street, it has a caribou. It is NOT Fairbanks. We have plenty of moose wandering through town, but caribou are herd animals and do not roam the streets of town.


http://youtu.be/2Mre7wIm9Lg

[1stimestar]

I'm going to go down to backpack on the Kenai Peninsula next month. Can you imagine sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean playing this song? I'm learning it now. It's fairly simple so is easy.

http://youtu.be/ZG8pYy4B-JE

[crashdive123]

Make sure you shoot a vid of it so we can all listen.

[1stimestar]

Fairbanks man fatally mauled by bear

Posted: Friday, June 7, 2013 12:25 pm | Updated: 12:26 pm, Fri Jun 7, 2013.

Staff Report | 0 comments




FAIRBANKS - A Fairbanks man was fatally attacked by a bear Thursday evening at George Lake near Delta Junction, according to Alaska State Troopers.

Troopers identified the victim as Robert Weaver, 64.


Troopers said they received a report of a bear mauling at about 6:45 p.m. The report indicated that one person was on the ground outside a cabin and that second person was seeking shelter inside the cabin and calling for help.

A trooper helicopter from Fairbanks, a Blackhawk helicopter from Eielson Air Force Base and a trooper in an airboat responded to the scene.

Eielson personnel found a person inside a cabin shortly after 9 p.m. and found Weaver’s body outside the cabin.

Troopers searched the area but no bear was located.

A black bear wandered on the scene, however, during the investigation and was killed by the trooper.

It is not known if the bear is the animal that killed Weaver.

The Department of Fish and Game has been notified of the attack and the death.


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/fairbanks-man-fatally-mauled-by-bear/article_5e75abc6-cfb0-11e2-b939-0019bb30f31a.html#.UbJEVzj7btE.facebook

[1stimestar]

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/fairbanks-man-fatally-mauled-by-bear/article_5e75abc6-cfb0-11e2-b939-0019bb30f31a.html#.UbJEVzj7btE.facebook

It was the black bear that killed him.
http://www.ktuu.com/news/necropsy-links-black-bear-to-fatal-delta-junction-mauling-061113,0,743772.story

[1stimestar]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/983574_10151490198108155_1730277135_n.jpg

Best excuse ever for being late to work: there's a bear on the front porch, eating a neighbor's chicken! Thanks to Sue Bahleda for the incredible image!

[BENESSE]

Godamighty, what a sight!

[1stimestar]

I've said it before, black bears are b8tches!~

[1stimestar]

I leave tomorrow for my annual Fowl Adventure but this year will be sans kids. They are currently with my sister in Ft. Worth. First I drive 6 hours to Chicken, AK for Chickenstock. It is a fun music festival in the middle of nowhere. Then I drive from there 3 hours to cover the next 100 miles to Eagle, AK where I park by the river. My friends come pick me up in their boat and we go 7 miles up river, park the boat and take the ATVs a few more miles up a trail to their house. This is true off the grid living, in the middle of no where and I love it. Here are a few pictures of previous trips from my blog.

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/img_3093.jpg

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/img_4118.jpg

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/img_3042.jpg

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/img_1770.jpg

Here's the Taylor Highway. Yes, it can be a single lane and still be a highway in Alaska. This is why it takes 3 hours to go 100 miles. It also shows the river and the trail to their cabin. If you are watching Life Below Zero, my friends are Kate and Andy's nearest neighbors.

http://vimeo.com/27380355

[Rick]

That's awesome. What a huge chicken, too. Do you have a burning chicken at the end of the festivities?

[pgvoutdoors]

You've done a great job with your posts on the Alaskan winter, I've enjoyed them tremendously. Thanks!

[Sourdough]

I'm going to go down to backpack on the Kenai Peninsula next month. Can you imagine sitting on a cliff overlooking the ocean playing this song? I'm learning it now. It's fairly simple so is easy.

Wave as you go past the Hope Cut-off. Bring extra women. If you tain't never been to the Sea View Bar in "Downtown" Hope, Alaska it be worth the 16.8 mile side trip.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=yfp-t-900-1&va=seaview+Bar+Hope%2C+Alaska

http://www.seaviewcafealaska.com/bar.html

89.4 degrees above zero today..........http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/hope-ak/99605/weather-forecast/341707

[1stimestar]

I'm back from the first trip of the summer. Awesome is all I can say about it. Two flats and a truck full of dust now (that last 100 miles is brutal). But it was worth it. Will post a trip report on blog later. Right now I am just recovering.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1002717_10152918495730697_1814465626_n.jpg

[1stimestar]

And yea, I had the funnest time jamming at Chickenstock. I was invited to play with these guys. 4 guitars, a banjo, a dobro, 1 and a half (me) fiddle players, and two harmonica players. Fun fun fun and I learned a lot. Sorry the picture isn't that good.
https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1017117_10152920202155697_1595341115_n.jpg

[BENESSE]

You go, girl!
Lovely, pics...I can just transport myself in #112.

[1stimestar]

You go, girl!
Lovely, pics...I can just transport myself in #112.

That's the sweetest spot on Earth. Up on a cliff so you get the breeze and the sound of the wind through the leaves, right below is a fast moving creek so you get the sound of that too. It's an awesome place.

[1stimestar]

I think I've mentioned my friend Sue before. She's the one they are filming for another Alaskan reality show. Life Below Zero. http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/life-below-zero/

Anyways, "they" finally sold Kavik Camp, her home, to her. http://www.kavikrivercamp.com/ She is in town right now and we are going to go out and celebrate! What perfect timing as tonight is the opening of The Howling Dog Saloon. It's closed in the winter as they can't heat it. It's just an old roadhouse. It's the place I go when I want fun and no tourists, or very few anyways. Guess they will be filming "What Sue does on her rare trip to town." Dang, sure wish I had started that diet I have been meaning to start....


Guess where I am going this weekend? Sue is flying some of us up for her 50th birthday. Should be great fun and quite the adventure.

[crashdive123]

Sounds like fun. I know we don't have to tell you to take lots of pictures.

[BENESSE]

Guess where I am going this weekend? Sue is flying some of us up for her 50th birthday. Should be great fun and quite the adventure.

Wish I was there! I really need to be there.
I also wish Sourdough was there. I think it would recalibrate his POV and get him to take in the immediate and beautiful world we live in...here and now.

Forgive me all for stepping out of line and not minding my own bidness...I just felt I had to say it.

[1stimestar]

Yea, but would he be open to that? I don't know. Sourdough want to chime in here on this?

[Sourdough]

I also wish Sourdough was there. I think it would recalibrate his POV and get him to take in the immediate and beautiful world we live in...here and now.

Forgive me all for stepping out of line and not minding my own bidness...I just felt I had to say it.


What is POV................?????

[crashdive123]

Point of view.

[1stimestar]

Hey SD if you'd move to Fairbanks, I could get you hooked up probably. Wait, that sounds like I'm pimping out friends. That is NOT what I mean. I mean I could introduce you to a single friend or two, or three.

[Sourdough]

Hey SD if you'd move to Fairbanks, I could get you hooked up probably. Wait, that sounds like I'm pimping out friends. That is NOT what I mean. I mean I could introduce you to a single friend or two, or three.

Years ago I taught classes in Fairbanks.................I assure you there is not a lady alive for whom I would move from paradise to Fairbanks. And my dance card is as full as I need it, for this time of the year. http://www.seniorpeoplemeet.com/v3/Profile?profile=69E9EB0E7B818885ACA0C235BB8ED21D&back=MyProfile

[hunter63]

Oops, did I just stumble into a chat room.........?
Never mind......

[1stimestar]

Tomorrow I'm flying up to Susan's Kavik River Camp (Extreme Lodging for Extreme People!)

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/992998_10152952662620697_1472156757_n.jpg

[crashdive123]

Have a safe and fun trip.

[1stimestar]

Thanks. We have blow up palm trees, Hawaiian leis, Alaskan Amber, and a sparkly, sparkly birthday tiarra! I think we'll have fun. One of the other girls going is actually doing an article for Alaska Magazine. She's coming up from Anchorage and staying at my cabin tonight.

[1stimestar]

We have winter and fire seasons. We have a big one going right now that is closing in fast on my best friends house. They were just under an evacuation watch a couple of weeks ago. That fire got to within half a mile of them! This one is about 80,000 acres so far and 0% contained. Could turn messy very fast. I spent yesterday out at my friends' kennel as they were down in Valdez. They thought it was ok to go but this sucker doubled in size over night. They cut their trip short and made it home by late last night. A mile away from the evacuation area, we wanted to be ready! We got some friends to come take the horses home with them but held off on evacuating the dogs.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1043929_10152983129235697_1994761590_n.jpg

http://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-frc3/1000770_10152981116495697_1636516376_n.jpg

http://sphotos-e.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1000395_10152981113935697_1413084821_n.jpg

http://sphotos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1010982_10152981113285697_1862346572_n.jpg

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/544365_10152981112230697_1406366913_n.jpg

http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1044111_10152981108445697_2110565436_n.jpg

It is NOT NIGHT TIME. That's just how dark it got under the smokey clouds.

http://sphotos-b.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1016728_10152981103635697_398457238_n.jpg

[Cast-Iron]

Be careful & prayers sent!

[crashdive123]

You and your friends stay safe. Beautiful area - hope it stays that way.

[1stimestar]

Thanks. You just never know when you'll have to bug out. Here is a friend that had to. Seems he wasn't very prepared. He forgot the coffee!!! Maybe it was because he thought the fire wouldn't REALLY get to his house.
http://oldschoolak.blogspot.com/2013/07/refugees.html

Here's a really good video taken from someone's house.


http://youtu.be/eVUh1-spNTY

[crashdive123]

A fire like that could jump that creek in a heartbeat with a wind shift. Hope it didn't.

[1stimestar]

It did in a couple of places but they were able to jump right on it there. The problem is that most of this fire is in a place where there are no roads. So they cut bulldozer fire lines. But on Sunday it moved too fast for that and it was too smoky for the water bombing planes to see. On the other side of this river, is the main road and on the other side of that is where all the houses are.

[1stimestar]

Another cyclist chased down by a wolf.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/wolf-chases-cyclist-in-yukon-rips-up-tent-bag/article_15ab6e94-ea5e-11e2-9c49-001a4bcf6878.html


"I saw an 18 wheeler round the corner and began to wave, shout, and point to the wolf frantically," Hollan wrote. "After taking a good look at the scene the driver resumed his speed and drove on."

The panicked cyclist had his hopes dashed four separate times as vehicles passed. The wolf would back off and close in again between each rig.

"As I came around the corner, to my horror, I saw a quick incline, and knew that I would not be able to stay in front of this wolf for much longer. . It was a surreal moment to realize that I was (the) prey, and this hill was (the) moment."

[Sourdough]

THREE things run away from all predators...................Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.

Stand your ground, and never, EVER run from a predator.

[Cast-Iron]

I imagine this cyclist spent weeks, if not months, planning for this trip. You know things like route, schedule, supplies and gear. Evidently he gave little if any thought to preparing for the inevitable encounters with wildlife. He was traveling in a group, he should have stayed with them but he chose not to. He may be one heck of a teacher, but he is lacking much common sense. Folks like this can put an entire group at risk. I'm not so sure the wolf shouldn't have won this one?

[1stimestar]

I imagine this cyclist spent weeks, if not months, planning for this trip. You know things like route, schedule, supplies and gear. Evidently he gave little if any thought to preparing for the inevitable encounters with wildlife. He was traveling in a group, he should have stayed with them but he chose not to. He may be one heck of a teacher, but he is lacking much common sense. Folks like this can put an entire group at risk. I'm not so sure the wolf shouldn't have won this one?

He was prepared for wild life in that he had bear spray. He should have been armed... but that's a lot of extra weight when you are weighing things out in ounces.

[1stimestar]

My friend Susan S. is the real photographer and got some great pictures from the fire that is still going. It's now over 84,000 acres and 25% contained. 2 injuries.
http://susanstevenson.com/blog/

[crashdive123]

Incredible pics.

[Rick]

She certainly has a great eye. Those are great pics.

[1stimestar]

What? YOU don't take boas camping with you? The heck you say?

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/q75/s720x720/1012200_10151780064541303_1629586726_n.jpg

[BENESSE]

What? YOU don't take boas camping with you? The heck you say?



When a girl goes out nekkid, why, she needs a little something to take the chill out in the evening, no?

[1stimestar]

I'm back, didn't get et by bears! Had a fantastic trip. I took almost 1000 photos so it's going to take me a while to go through them and get them posted. But here's a sneak peak.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/q77/s720x720/1069929_10153027084740697_617273816_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/601738_10153027661775697_1805821382_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/1017678_10153027730870697_790672712_n.jpg

[1stimestar]

And I got to meet Sourdough! He lives in a GORGEOUS area and let us in on a very cool place to check out, which we did. Thanks a lot D.
https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/995431_10153027743650697_2036435189_n.jpg

[crashdive123]

Awesome pics. Glad you got a chance to meet SD.

[Rick]

I love that first pic. All right contests, a boa, a violin and a tent.

Answer: Who is 1stimestar?

That's a great pic of the two of you. Glad you two got to meet.

[1stimestar]

While camping down in Homer, I met a friend from home who is a photographer. We were having a bon fire on the beach when she took this picture. My new album cover?

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3788/9345374900_2a4d22af59_c.jpg

[crashdive123]

That's a great picture and one worthy of framing to display.

[BENESSE]

Wonderful pic, love everything about it!!!! I loved the others, too.
I can certainly understand what attracts you to Alaska to want to live there and put up with some of the adversities.
btw...now that you met SD, do you have any new and exciting ideas of finding him a lady friend? Just think...it could be a spring board to a whole new side business of matchmaking.

[Rick]

That is a great pic! The waves of the mountains, the waves of the ocean, the waves of the stone on the beach and the waves of music in the air. Me likey!!!!

[MamaBear]

Beautiful pictures, thanks for sharing!!

[1stimestar]

Canoed the Chatanika this weekend and learned how to fly fish. Had a great time.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1003497_10153052717795697_329580084_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a-pao.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/q71/s720x720/995145_10153052721465697_426129156_n.jpg

The rest of the photos are here: https://www.facebook.com/georganne.hurthampton/media_set?set=a.10153052717015697.1073741836.65660 5696&type=1

[BENESSE]

Love it! Looks like you went to camp and the kids stayed home. If they're having half as much fun as you are, you guys will have enough to share to see you through the winter.

[Rick]

What a hoot. Um, shouldn't that read Outdoorslady? (that's a little more classy than Outdoorswoman)

[crashdive123]

Looks like an awesome time.

[1stimestar]

Eh, the shirt was made by a friend of mine trying to start a business. He is making me a pink one with the next order.

[1stimestar]

Now here is a cute, local outhouse.
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/q71/998727_10151709089644194_143650265_n.jpg

[BornthatWay]

Looks like that hanging plant could be a real head banger when you go to the head that is if you got surprised that is.

[Cast-Iron]

Now that's a room with a view!

[crashdive123]

Now that's a room with a view.

[Rick]

Deja vu all over again. You two posted at exactly the same time and exactly the same thing. That right there is scary I don't care who you are.

[crashdive123]

That whole great minds thingie and all........wonder what our excuse is.

[1stimestar]

Now that's a room with a view.


Now that's a room with a view!

WOOT, Simulpost!

[1stimestar]

Care to make a comment on this headline in my local paper? The comments on the article are pretty fun to read.



Man uses assault rifle to kill charging bear near Anchorage


ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A trail south of Anchorage has been closed after a man killed a brown bear that charged him.

Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Jessy Coltrane tells the Anchorage Daily News (http://is.gd/DbGgti) that an unidentified man came across the bear Sunday morning while hiking alone. He told Coltrane the bear charged him, and he fired 13 rounds from an AK-74 assault rifle he was carrying on his hike.




Chugach State Park Ranger Tom Crockett said the bear ran off, but later died.

Officials say the bear was skinned and the head taken to Fish and Game. But a large portion of the carcass remains about 100 yards off the trail, and likely will attract other bears.

Rangers have closed the trail between McHugh Creek and the Rainbow trailhead.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/man-uses-assault-rifle-to-kill-charging-bear-near-anchorage/article_3470e44a-f8b3-11e2-b51b-001a4bcf6878.html

[crashdive123]

Some very funny comments.

[Old Professor]

1stimestar, I finally had the opportunity to watch several hours of the tv show "Life Below Zero" last night (I had just read all of the posts on your Alaske 2013 entry). You have some very interesting friends! I wish that I could come up and meet them, especially Susan! I admire any one who can surive a bear attack and go back to living in such an isolated location. Quite the poster woman for the Alaska Backwoods Woman! I wish that I had pursued my Dream of moving to Alaska after college. Cold never bothered me and I love the wild beauty of Alaska. Now I am too old and infirm to follow that dream but I salute those of you who have or will. Give Susan my best wishes and respect, please.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Whoa! Never thought about hauling an AK-74 on a day hike. After 13 rounds the bear ran off....and died! I guess so. Guess things get pretty wild back in there.

[1stimestar]

Thanks. She is quite the woman for sure. We are trying to get me back up there this fall for some hunting. I can't wait.

[1stimestar]

Whoa! Never thought about hauling an AK-74 on a day hike. After 13 rounds the bear ran off....and died! I guess so. Guess things get pretty wild back in there.

Lol yea.


Here's an "only in Alaska" picture.

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/375673_603042803061121_1628492545_n.jpg

[BornthatWay]

Does that mean a playground for bears or lunch served daily to bears?

[Winter]

Care to make a comment on this headline in my local paper? The comments on the article are pretty fun to read.



http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/man-uses-assault-rifle-to-kill-charging-bear-near-anchorage/article_3470e44a-f8b3-11e2-b51b-001a4bcf6878.html

I'm almost sure this guy used to be a member here and left to start his own forum. I joined his forum and was promptly banned when I questioned his military record.

[1stimestar]

I'm almost sure this guy used to be a member here and left to start his own forum. I joined his forum and was promptly banned when I questioned his military record.

They don't identify who it was Winter. Do you know who it was?

[1stimestar]

And in other news, it is now getting dark enough to see stars AND the northern lights! They were spotted last night about 2 am.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Lol yea.


Here's an "only in Alaska" picture.

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/375673_603042803061121_1628492545_n.jpg

A caution sign to watch out for teeter- totterers! I love it :):tabletalk:

[1stimestar]

A caution sign to watch out for teeter- totterers! I love it :):tabletalk:

Well you know, things can get a bit bumpy hahahha.


Here's what's happening on a Wed. night. My friend Kim came over and used my fiddle as a cello to try and figure out Ashokan Farewell. I think she did pretty darn good.

Well I can't get it to embed. Here's the link.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10153114284190697&l=9065326755187397299

[1stimestar]

Took Olivia into Denali National Park for the first time this weekend. We stayed in a campground as I don't think she is old enough to go into the back country. Here are a few pictures from it.

We only got one glimpse of Denali as it got covered by clouds as we got closer.
https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/996903_10153128361775697_486922928_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1185890_10153128361860697_999941701_n.jpg

Mamma and spring cubs.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/1005238_10153128361925697_1561654298_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/945999_10153128349990697_1171891212_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1173800_10153128351815697_609369381_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1157444_10153128351850697_1102805603_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1149066_10153128352200697_99257100_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/1175437_10153128352445697_239119555_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1044883_10153128352740697_1074202413_n.jpg

The rest can be seen here:

https://www.facebook.com/georganne.hurthampton/media_set?set=a.10153128349605697.1073741837.65660 5696&type=1




Oh, that's the Swiss Army Knife I got from Phaedrus the Christmas before last.

[crashdive123]

Awesome pictures. Thanks.

[Rick]

Amazing country. I never ceases to astonish me.

[1stimestar]

Dang, I WAS going to take the kids camping in this area last weekend but we went into Denali instead.


White Mountains trail closed after grizzly accosts family

FAIRBANKS - A hiking trail in the White Mountains National Recreation Area north of Fairbanks has been closed after a big grizzly bear accosted a family picking berries along the trail last weekend.
The Bureau of Land Management temporarily closed the Table Top Mountain Trail off Nome Creek Road about 45 miles northeast of Fairbanks while it investigates the incident. The 3-mile loop trail is a popular hiking and berry-picking destination.
BLM spokesman Craig McCaa said the bear, described as a large grizzly, approached the family of four, which included two small children, several times as they were picking berries near their camp on Saturday night. The father fired several warning shots at the animal with a .44-caliber handgun to scare it away but the bear persisted with its aggressive behavior, McCaa said.
“They pulled camp and hustled down the trail and heard a crashing noise in the brush,” he said.
The bear then evidently charged the father, who put himself between the bear and his family, McCaa said. The man fired his last two shots at the bear but wasn’t sure if he hit it.
“It was quite dark at that point,” McCaa said.
According to a narrative written by BLM ranger Jonathan Priday, who interviewed the man, the bear “made an unnatural movement into some thick vegetation” after the father shot at it. Priday checked the trail on Sunday but found no sign of the bear, McCaa said.
Priday and the father returned to the area on Tuesday to see if they could find any sign of the bear and to determine if the bear was possibly wounded or killed.
The man reported the shooting to Alaska Wildlife Troopers as a defense of life and property shooting and plans to skin the bear if he finds it, as law requires, McCaa said.
BLM put up signs to alert hikers and berry pickers that the trail is closed because of the bear encounter, McCaa said.
It’s possible the bear is the same one that uprooted and pilfered a pair of bear-proof trash cans at the nearby Ophir Creek Campground back in June. Nobody ever saw that bear but tracks on the road indicated it was a large grizzly, McCaa said. The trail is about two miles from the campground.
“We don’t know if it’s the same bear or not,” he said. “There’s no way to tell, especially since nobody ever saw that bear.”

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/white-mountains-trail-closed-after-grizzly-accosts-family/article_2c65d0f2-09d0-11e3-922c-001a4bcf6878.html

[Rick]

Approached the four several times? Seriously. Once would be way more than enough to figure out I has in HIS berry patch. Dang bear goes to eat some berries and gets shot for its troubles.

[1stimestar]

Only in Alaska. People get together to run a drug dealer out of town. This method has also been widely used for wife beaters and sexual offenders.

http://www.ktuu.com/news/sand-point-residents-run-suspected-drug-dealer-out-of-town-082113,0,2122306.story

[Rick]

Here's your hat what's your hurry? They even bought him a ticket. Yes!

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Now that is the Voice of the People, in action. Love it.

[1stimestar]

So as not to continue to highjack that other thread. I thought I would post some of my Howling Dog Saloon pictures here.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Howling%20Dog%20Saloon/2a1d5be4.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Howling%20Dog%20Saloon/2a1d5be4.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Howling%20Dog%20Saloon/8cc30163.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Howling%20Dog%20Saloon/8cc30163.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Howling%20Dog%20Saloon/2353790e.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Howling%20Dog%20Saloon/2353790e.jpg.html)

The stage is carpeted with "The Pope Carpet".

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/c73972aa.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/c73972aa.jpg.html)
Pope John Paul II and President Regan came to visit Fairbanks. This is the carpet they walked on off the airplane.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/07%20May%2012%20The%20Dog%20Awakens/IMG_0125.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/07%20May%2012%20The%20Dog%20Awakens/IMG_0125.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/07%20May%2012%20The%20Dog%20Awakens/IMG_0123.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/07%20May%2012%20The%20Dog%20Awakens/IMG_0123.jpg.html)

Take your shirt off, throw your bra on the "chandelier" get a free t shirt.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/140f3044.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/140f3044.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/f57d141b.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/f57d141b.jpg.html)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/e13ea065.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/e13ea065.jpg.html)
This is as dark as it gets in the summer. The bar stays open till 3:30. It's about 15 miles out of town. So any bar outside the city limits is only required to close for 1 hour per 24.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/07%20May%2012%20The%20Dog%20Awakens/IMG_0134.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/07%20May%2012%20The%20Dog%20Awakens/IMG_0134.jpg.html)


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/ce984b5e.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/Miss%20Lulu%20Small%20%20misc/ce984b5e.jpg.html)

Halloween party. Me and my late husband.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-0A.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-0A.jpg.html)

I came as my friend Lulu Small.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-7A.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-7A.jpg.html)

It was funny.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-22A.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-22A.jpg.html)

It's always packed for Halloween.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-13A.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/04%20Oct%20Halloween%20party/Hampto-R1-13A.jpg.html)

[crashdive123]

Soooooooo - how many free t shirts do you own?

[Batch]

Soooooooo - how many free t shirts do you own?

Come on Crash. Here I'll take up your slack...

Pics or it didn't happen! ;)

[1stimestar]

Are you kidding? My bras are way too expensive to go throwing them away!

[Rick]

Soooooooo - how many free t shirts do you own?


Pics or it didn't happen!

I swear, you guys are a couple of real boobs.

[crashdive123]

I swear, you guys are a couple of real boobs. [/COLOR]

You know us. If there's a joke to be had, we milk it for all it's worth.

[1stimestar]

Hahha, yea I'm laughing.

[1stimestar]

These pictures are kind of old. I'll bring my camera tonight and take fresh ones.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Love it! Halloween at Fairbanks or Bust....and Bust.

[1stimestar]

Now just to find my corset and red satin pants... Where did I pack those away to? Hmmmm.

[crashdive123]

You can always borrow Sarge's.

[Rick]

http://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/homer-doh.jpg (http://barfblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/homer-doh.jpg)

[1stimestar]

They're baaaack. This was taken south east of Fairbanks last night. I live north west of Fairbanks and only saw a pale strip for a couple of minutes. By the time I went in and got my camera attached to my tripod, they were gone.

http://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=621458427876225%22%20width=%22800%2 2%20height=%22600%22%20frameborder=%220%22

Well I can't embed it so you'll have to click on the link.

[Rick]

You know, it's little wonder than early folks that didn't understand what the aurora was attributed it and may other things to various gods. How else do you explain something so beautiful? Thanks.

[1stimestar]

Ok didn't take my camera so just used my phone.

Lots more bras then that other, old photo.

https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/66780_10153151292240697_1454320842_n.jpg

All ceiling space is taken, and most of the walls.

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/529420_10153151291695697_59825513_n.jpg

Many flags fly over the dance room floor.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/553477_10153151291180697_1676007836_n.jpg

The bar, now sealed.

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/563430_10153151290665697_369559625_n.jpg

One of their many tshirts.

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/1240532_10153151289880697_304340000_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/557091_10153151289335697_535893495_n.jpg

Yes, they have Jagermeister on tap.

https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1234408_10153151288660697_1976462050_n.jpg

Little cafe at the back.

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/1013277_10153151287840697_213267522_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1150220_10153151286870697_1942259967_n.jpg

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc1/998080_10153151284820697_1900535_n.jpg

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1236733_10153151283730697_1393580467_n.jpg

I take the back road home, which in Alaska, in the summer, means road construction.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/527068_10153151282945697_1734541616_n.jpg

They go 24 hours a day. It's weird now that it is getting dark at night.

https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1174542_10153151282265697_1208142390_n.jpg

[Rick]

Whew!! I thought it was a check point. Nothing here to see folks. Move right along.

[1stimestar]

Lol no checkpoints here. But I do take the back road so as to bypass town. It takes longer but it is shorter. Just have to drive slower in case of moose. And the road construction. I had to wait about 15 minutes for the pilot car.

[crashdive123]

Looks like a cool bar with lots of character....probably characters too.

[BENESSE]

Since there are more men than women in AK, I'm surprised there aren't boxers and shorts on the chandelier instead of bras. You girls are letting them off easy, if you ax me.

We all know Rick's hong would be up there just for the (not) asking.

[Rick]

It's in the mail. What? If I can't be there in person the least I can do is mail it to them.

[1stimestar]

Seriously, if you send me a hong in the mail I will come down there and smack you! Hahhaha.

Yes lots of characters. Since it's an old road house, mostly tourists do not find it, so lots of locals.

[Rick]

Anyone know how to recall snail mail? No seriously. Anyone?

[1stimestar]

Don't make me come down there!

[1stimestar]

http://bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/newsminer.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/5/48/548ee2c0-0c5b-11e3-8dff-0019bb30f31a/52180a8c59c62.preview-300.jpg

Fairbanks family recounts grizzly encounter on Table Top Mountain Trail


Sam Harrel/News-Miner
Grizzly bear encounter



The Wyatt's, clockwise from left, Pearl, 12, Alina Chris and Eli, 10, pose with their dogs Mistletoe and Holly on Wednesday evening, Aug. 21, 2013, at their home above Farmers Loop. The family encountered a grizzly along the Table Top Mountain Trail during a recent overnight berry picking trip.

Posted: Sunday, August 25, 2013 12:03 am | Updated: 9:24 am, Sun Aug 25, 2013.
Tim Mowry/[email protected] | 25 comments
FAIRBANKS — It was 12-year-old Pearl Wyatt who saw the bear when it returned for the third time.
“There he is,” she said loud enough for her father, Chris Wyatt, who was packing up camp, to hear.
Pearl and 10-year-old brother Eli, along with their mother, Alina Wyatt, were standing lookout on a talus slope above him as Chris hurriedly disassembled their camp.
The bear, a sizable grizzly, had visited the family twice in the hour or so since they had set up camp near the top of the Table Top Mountain Trail in the White Mountains National Recreation Area north of Fairbanks on Aug. 17, a Saturday.
The first time, just a few minutes after they had set up camp, Alina had spotted the bear.
“We had just got some macaroni boiled up for macaroni and cheese and my wife saw the bear approaching from the east, coming down from the very top of the trail,” Chris said.
The family’s two loose huskies, Holly and Mistletoe, spotted the bear, too, and gave chase.
“They met the bear about halfway down the rock slope and the bear turned around and all three of them disappeared over the top,” Chris said.
He took the pot off the stove and was getting ready to investigate when the two excited canines returned. The bear was nowhere in sight.
“We thought that was going to be the end of that,” Chris said. “The bear’s seen us and got scared away.”
Favorite place
After getting a late start, the family had started hiking up the trail about 5 p.m.
The Table Top Mountain Trail, located about 50 miles north of Fairbanks on Nome Creek Road 10 miles off the Steese Highway, is one of their favorite hikes.
It’s not too far out of town, but it’s far enough to make you feel like you’re in the wilderness. At only 3 miles, it’s short enough for the kids to handle but still climbs above tree line and offers spectacular views of the White Mountains. It’s also prime berry picking country.
“We spent the night up there this time last year with another family and had a real good time,” Chris said. “You kind of have the place to yourself.”
As they hiked up the trail, they took mental notes where the thickest berry patches were located so they could return on Sunday to fill their buckets.
Big bear
Twenty minutes after the dogs had chased the bear off, it was back.
“This time, he was coming from the south,” Chris said. “He had circled us out of sight 90 degrees.”
The fact that the bear returned was not a good sign, both he and Alina knew. They are both geologists who have spent enough time outdoors to know this wasn’t typical bear behavior.
“My wife and I knew this was a different game now,” Chris said.
The bear was only about 50 yards away and closing. At one point, when it was about 20 or 30 yards away, the bear stood up on its hind legs to get a better look.
“I’m six feet, and he was bigger than me,” Chris said.
Chris, 45, told his wife and children to climb up a talus slope behind him so they could get a better view of the bear while he stayed in camp.
“I started making noise and held my pack above my head to look big,” he said.
The bear continued to come closer, and it was at that point that Chris decided to fire a warning shot with the .44-caliber handgun he was carrying.
“I fired a shot over his head, and he didn’t even flinch,” Chris said.
The grizzly continued to come closer as the family continued to yell and make noise. Then, for whatever reason, the bear turned and headed back in the direction it had come from.
At that point, both Chris and Alina decided it was time to pack up camp.
“The second time it came back we said, ‘OK, we’re not staying here,’ ” Alina said.
Chris started packing up camp — “Just cramming stuff in bags,” he said — while Alina and the children kept a lookout for the bear.
“I gave them each 180 degrees to watch,” Alina said. “I said, ‘You look this way and you look this way.’ ”
Even at that point, the situation wasn’t all that scary, she said. The bear hadn’t acted aggressively. It hadn’t charged them. It seemed more curious than anything else.
“It was more like a stray dog than it was a bear,” Alina said. “It just kept coming back. The fact it came back from a different direction each time it came back was a little unsettling.”
Chris started ferrying gear up to Alina to pack into her backpack and tearing down camp as the kids kept watch. Not wanting the bear to get a taste of any human food, Chris even packed up the macaroni they had boiled and the water they used to boil it by pouring it in their berry containers.
“Just as we get it all packed up and I’m getting ready to put my pack on, my daughter says, ‘There he is,’ ” Chris said. “That’s not what I wanted to hear.”
Bold bear
This time, the bear was coming from the west. It was about 100 yards away, moving toward the family.
“Let’s go,” Chris told his wife and children.
Before leaving, he fired another warning shot at the bear. But, like the first one, it had no effect on the bear.
The bear was coming down the trail, so Chris decided to go straight down a hill that intercepted the trail and would put them farther ahead of the bear. They headed down through thick brush with what Chris figured was a 200- to 300-yard lead on the bear. The kids had the dogs on leashes.
Chris figured the bear was going to check out our their camping spot to see if there was anything to eat, but that wasn’t the case. Instead, the bear continued following the family down the trail. They could see the bear through thick brush coming toward them.
“He was moving fast in our direction and there were no trees up where he was so you could see a long way,” Chris said. “I said, ‘Man, this bear doesn’t get it.’ ”
When Chris caught up to his wife and children, he told them to continue down the trail while he stopped and pulled a second ammunition clip out of his pack. He also decided to let the dogs off their leashes, thinking if they chased the bear off once they might do it again. Chris was unhooking one of the dogs and adjusting its pack when he heard his wife scream.
“I turned around to say something to him, and it was right behind him,” Alina said. “I just screamed.”
Close confrontation
Chris whipped around and saw the bear coming down the trail toward him. It was moving fast, as if it wasn’t looking where it was going. The bear stopped when it heard the family making noise and appeared surprised, he said. At that point, the bear was only about five yards away.
“By the time we saw him and he saw us, he was that close,” Chris said.
The bear didn’t charge or act aggressively.
“He turned around real fast for a split second and stepped off the trail looking at us,” Chris said.
He told his wife to head for the trailhead with the children. A frightened Alina hustled the kids down the trail.
“I turned around and told the kids, ‘Go, go,’” she said.
While the grizzly hadn’t necessarily acted aggressively, its behavior, he knew from training classes he had taken, was strange enough to give him concern.
“I kept trying to give him the benefit of the doubt, but how do you know when (the bear’s behavior) transitions to aggression?” he said. “He kept coming back and kept coming back.”
Deciding he’d had enough, Chris pulled out his .44 and fired two shots at the bear.
“I shot at it once, and it moved a few more feet to my left, and I shot at it again,” he said. “The second time I shot, it made this weird turn, and I thought maybe I hit it.
“I’d never shot a bear before and didn’t know what to expect,” he said.
Alina heard the two shots as she was hustling down the trail with a 50-plus pound pack trying to keep up with her frightened children.
“I yelled back and said, ‘Are you there?’” she said.
“Yep,” Chris responded.
The bear, however, was gone, having disappeared into the brush after the second shot.
“That was it,” he said. “We never saw it again.”
No berries
When they reached their truck at the trailhead, it was getting dark. They scribbled a note about an aggressive bear on the trail and pinned it to the bulletin board before driving down the road to the Mount Prindle Campground in hopes of finding a Bureau of Land Management ranger to report it. Not finding one, they drove back to Fairbanks.
The next day, Sunday, Chris called both BLM and the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to report the incident but got recordings at both agencies. He ended up calling Alaska State Troopers, who put him in contact with BLM Ranger John Priday.

[1stimestar]

The ranger checked the trail Sunday after speaking with Chris and didn’t find any sign of the bear but still closed the trail based on Wyatt’s report. Priday returned to the scene with Chris on Tuesday and found some flagging Chris had tied to the stump near where he shot the bear. They searched the area in the rain but found no sign of the bear or that a bear had been killed or wounded, such as a blood trail or birds scavenging a carcass.
Priday praised Chris and his wife for doing an “exemplary job” in dealing with the bear, noting that they packed all their food out even though the situation was tense, left a note at the trailhead warning people about the bear and called it into troopers as soon as they got back to town.
While the bear never displayed any real aggression, Priday said its behavior was “concerning” and that Chris had cause to consider it a dangerous situation.
“It wasn’t afraid of warning shots. It wasn’t afraid of attempts to haze it. It was intent on interacting with them, and that would have concerned me,” the ranger said.
Whether it was the same bear that uprooted a pair of bear-proof garbage cans at the Ophir Creek Campground a couple miles down the road in June is impossible to tell, Priday said. Nobody ever saw that bear, but it was a sizable grizzly based on tracks found on the road.
“It’s definitely possible,” he said.
Alina said the bear seemed more interested in their food than them.
“I don’t think he wanted to eat us,” she said. “I think he wanted people food.”
Both Chris and Alina praised their children for their courage in what was a scary ordeal. They did what they were told, didn’t panic, kept the dogs under control and helped pack up camp.
“They were really solid and helpful,” their father said.
The worst part, Alina said, is that they went home without any blueberries.
“That was the whole point of going up there,” she said. “We didn’t get any berries.”[/SIZE]

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/fairbanks-family-recounts-grizzly-encounter-on-table-top-mountain-trail/article_e8b16af2-0d5c-11e3-9203-001a4bcf6878.html

[1stimestar]

By NATHANIEL HERZ — [email protected]

ANCHORAGE — Jim Tuttle knew the bear that mauled him.

http://media.adn.com/smedia/2013/08/26/19/23/7nWNu.AuSt.7.jpg

Its nickname was Buddy. Tuttle and the hunters he guided often spotted the small female grizzly in the rolling tundra northwest of Anaktuvuk Pass.

They joked that it was the most photographed bear north of the Brooks Range. It had even snuck into camp, stealing the hanging chunks of caribou meat that Tuttle would save for dinner.

The hunters would toss rocks or clap their hands to scare the bear away. But it had never been aggressive -- until two weeks ago, when Tuttle, walking alone along a creek, heard a grunt and turned to see Buddy charging straight at him, snapping her teeth.

He hoped it was a false charge. It wasn't.

"It's only 20 or 30 feet away, and I have two or three seconds," he said. "I can remember the sickening feeling when you realize she's not stopping."

The attack left Tuttle gushing so much blood from his left arm that he had to tie a tourniquet to stop it. His cheekbone was cracked; he remembers spitting out broken teeth. And he was still 36 hours away from a rescue.

But after a flight in a National Guard helicopter, a surgery, and dozens of stitches, Tuttle, 52, is now back home in Anchorage, recovering from the mauling.

His left wrist is in a cast, fixing his forearm in place so that it can grow back a missing chunk of muscle. The swelling on his face has gone down, but nerve damage from the bear's bites remains, as do wounds to Tuttle's groin and knee that have left him temporarily hobbled.

In an interview Sunday, with small strips of tape still patching the wounds on his face, Tuttle was upbeat, saying he felt lucky to have escaped from the attack, and grateful to the National Guard crews that flew through dense clouds and darkness to rescue him.

But he also had some regrets, saying that 16 years of guiding in the area had dulled him to the risks of working in bear country. When the mauling occurred, Tuttle said he was walking to a caribou carcass by himself, armed only with a pair of trekking poles.

"I am partly to blame. I got complacent, and I paid for it," he said. "I guess I should have had a gun in my hand, safety off, ready to shoot."

Tuttle had flown into the hunting camp in early August. It was 15 miles away from the base camp run by his outfitter, Arctic North Guides, and Tuttle planned to remain there for two weeks, as small groups of caribou and bear hunters rotated in and out.

Grizzlies were a common presence in the area and would feed on meat scraps the hunters left behind, said Chris Carrigee, a Texan who had stayed in Tuttle's camp with his son before the mauling.

Carrigee, 46, was familiar with Buddy, and even photographed his son and Tuttle in front of the bear with their coffee and oatmeal.

"We didn't feel that there was any danger at all. It was almost like our entertainment," Carrigee said. "We weren't going to shoot this bear -- it wasn't a challenge."

Carrigee and his son each left the camp with two caribou. On Aug. 14, Tuttle was working with a new pair of hunters with one day left before they all flew out.

The group had killed a caribou in the morning, three-fourths of a mile away from their camp. They carried some of the meat back, ate lunch, and then Tuttle returned alone to the carcass.

He was walking along a creek bed, through waist-high brush, when he heard the bear coming from his left, just behind him.

"There were no options," Tuttle said.

Tuttle said he swung his trekking poles into the bear's face as it plowed into him, but it still knocked him over, then bit him on the arm and hand before it started walking away.

"I thought maybe I'd get lucky, and she'd leave. No, she turned right back around, and then really chewed and got into where she could bite my face," Tuttle said. "I said to myself, 'You're dead.' I thought that was going to be it right there. Then, she stopped."

The attack took less than 15 seconds, Tuttle said, leaving him "a mess, that fast."

He climbed up a nearby embankment, trying to calm his breathing to slow the blood he could see flowing from his left arm, then used a piece of rope from his backpack to tie a tourniquet.

After 10 minutes waiting to make sure the bear didn't return, Tuttle limped back to his camp, where an assistant with first-aid training dressed the wounds and stopped the bleeding.

The hunters called Tuttle's girlfriend with a satellite phone to request a rescue. But after two weeks of good weather, fog had descended on the camp that morning, making a flight too difficult.

The following morning, during a brief break in the weather, the owner of Tuttle's hunting outfit flew in with a single-engine plane, bringing a retired paramedic and medical supplies from the base camp. They left Tuttle where he was, since they didn't think they could fly him all the way out to a hospital.

At that point, Tuttle said he was stable--just uncomfortable from lying immobile on a cot, and worried about how long it would take for rescuers to reach him, given the potential for his wounds to become infected.

"I've seen the weather up there," Tuttle said. "That can last for a week."

Finally, at 3 a.m. that night, Tuttle heard the sound of an airplane, then a helicopter--the National Guard coming to rescue him. They loaded him into the helicopter and flew him to Eielson Air Force Base in Fairbanks where he was transferred to an ambulance and rushed to a hospital. He was released two days later.

Buddy is now dead; she was shot by one of the hunters in Tuttle's group.

What provoked her attack is hard to say, said Harry Reynolds III, a retired biologist who worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for more than 30 years.

"They're wild animals, so you can't ascribe motives to them, as you would to a human," he said.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/08/26/3044248/bear-mauling-survivor-i-got-complacent.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.adn.com/2013/08/26/3044248/bear-mauling-survivor-i-got-complacent.html

[Rick]

Dang, they even name them. I'll bet the bear had a name for him too....prey.

[BENESSE]

What provoked her attack is hard to say, said Harry Reynolds III, a retired biologist who worked for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game for more than 30 years.


Well, just a wild guess here, but...could that caribou carcass have had something to do with it?

Why kill Buddy after the fact (not in self defense which would have made it OK) for doing what a bear does--protect it's food source?

[crashdive123]

This from the interview
But he also had some regrets, saying that 16 years of guiding in the area had dulled him to the risks of working in bear country. When the mauling occurred, Tuttle said he was walking to a caribou carcass by himself, armed only with a pair of trekking poles.

"I am partly to blame. I got complacent, and I paid for it," he said. "I guess I should have had a gun in my hand, safety off, ready to shoot." is a reminder as to why Sourdough says he won't even go to the outhouse without firearm.

[1stimestar]

Why kill Buddy after the fact (not in self defense which would have made it OK) for doing what a bear does--protect it's food source?

Because once they figure out what a human is and how easy they are to eat, they become much more dangerous.

[1stimestar]

Ugh, by the time I got my settings figured out again, the main show was over. So I dinked around getting these until my battery was about dead, then headed for home. At which point, they came out again! Ugh.

Big Dipper in the background.

https://sphotos-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/1237696_10153209370630697_1784318520_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/1175476_10153209370965697_1839379743_n.jpg

https://sphotos-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/1231447_10153209370990697_1212527016_n.jpg

[crashdive123]

Great pictures.

[1stimestar]

I could kick myself because it took me 20 minutes to remember to change my f stop from 20 to 1.8. Ugh, the simplest thing to do!

[pete lynch]

Are you kidding me? If I saw that beautiful sight, not only would I forget to change the f-stop, I'd forget to take pictures altogether. lol
There is nothing wrong with those pics. :)

[1stimestar]

Are you kidding me? If I saw that beautiful sight, not only would I forget to change the f-stop, I'd forget to take pictures altogether. lol
There is nothing wrong with those pics. :)

I do sometimes just sit and watch. Thanks.

[1stimestar]

Went up to do some work on Mile 101 this weekend in preparation for the Yukon Quest. When the race starts in Fairbanks, they are still pretty bunched up by the time they get to us so we have to have room to park them all.
https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/q71/s720x720/548391_10153225108355697_289110355_n.jpg
Peter, the checkpoint manager, Mike runs the dog yard, Alex is actually the race manager.

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q79/s720x720/1236100_10153225108360697_608117374_n.jpg

I stacked the left over wood up again the cabin so we can still find it after it snows. I forgot to take an after picture.
https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q77/s720x720/1260884_10153225108455697_1783232899_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q81/s720x720/598544_10153225108640697_2041946281_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn2/q77/s720x720/1238383_10153225108850697_271680208_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q74/s720x720/1238239_10153225108895697_1582957297_n.jpg
Fall colors.

https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/q71/s720x720/560076_10153225108995697_374747156_n.jpg

https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/q72/s720x720/1016399_10153225109040697_1140323791_n.jpg

After we left, I drove up to the top of Eagle Summit. The drive up was a 4 wheeler trail and quite scary, but my 4 Runner made it just fine.
https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q77/s720x720/1236217_10153225109100697_2090857148_n.jpg

I played the ghosts a few songs.
https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/q71/s720x720/1236360_10153225109235697_13856967_n.jpg

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/q73/s720x720/1234294_10153225109145697_444467999_n.jpg

[crashdive123]

Quite a beautiful and peaceful area. I'll bet that during the race it is a wee bit more hectic.

[1stimestar]

A bit...

http://cloud9doula.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/img_54642.jpg?w=474&h=355

[1stimestar]

Here is what it looks like full of mushers and media.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wqmBFZcmpw&feature=player_embedded

[thefemalesurvivalist]

gorgeous photos, 1stimestar, Alaska is marvelous.

[1stimestar]

Hey, when you thinking of coming up?

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Hey, when you thinking of coming up?

I'm thinking for that Halloween Party! I'd have to ask for Saturday off, the first of November, though, cause won't be no driving with THAT kind of a hangover....:batman:

any other suggestions? We're real slow now at work, so...ask and you shall receive time off, I'm thinking (how can this be, the more time I have off, the more I want!) heheheeee

[1stimestar]

I would put this in the Pic a Day thread but I can't find it. Too early in the morning.
Sept. 18, first snow.

https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/1236537_10153233100310697_1469079260_n.jpg

[1stimestar]

I'm thinking for that Halloween Party!

Ah ok, guess that means I'm spending the night at home afterwards then hahahhaha.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Ah ok, guess that means I'm spending the night at home afterwards then hahahhaha.

ah, If you're hooking up with some Devil, I can figure lodging out, no worries :devil:

[1stimestar]

Hahhaha no no, just kidding.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

as the guys lean forward in their computer chairs, wondering...

what will those Two Do????

gotta get a costume, whadda ya thinking would be awesome?:pirate

[1stimestar]

Well I'd show you mine but there is new concern on the board about posting sexy pictures...

I'll just say my guy friend is going as a gambler.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Well I'd show you mine but there is new concern on the board about posting sexy pictures...

I'll just say my guy friend is going as a gambler.

hahaha! wow, the visions of Loveliness! how many red petticoats does one need to pull that off?

[1stimestar]

Oh many, many frilly, girlie petticoats.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

I'm thinking....Cat Woman? could probably get me a cape etc....:ban:

[thefemalesurvivalist]

first Alaskan Halloween Party...I better be cautious, don't want to have to shoot my way out of there!

[1stimestar]

Lol. And just so you know, it will be COLD in there.

[Rick]

Ya'll lost me somewhere between you two spending the night together and the first snow being Sep. 18th. First snow? That's just not right.

[1stimestar]

Hahahhah. Love it.

[thefemalesurvivalist]

Ya'll lost me somewhere between you two spending the night together and the first snow being Sep. 18th. First snow? That's just not right.

Look, Rick, you have to practice the Quantum Leap thing.....stick with it, eventually you MIGHT understand females

[crashdive123]

Not gonna happen. Nope. Not gonna happen.

[1stimestar]

Want to see what real subsistence living in Alaska looks like?

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/110992-A-calander-of-my-life-as-a-Subsistance-Hunter-Fisher-Gather-r

[thefemalesurvivalist]

great link, 1stimestar,
those pelts are gorgeous, and lots of hard work

[Desert Rat!]

Good article, thanks for posting.:nod:

[1stimestar]

Heh, only in Alaska.



<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=10151740460977880" width="400" height="224" frameborder="0"></iframe>

[1stimestar]

http://youtu.be/cclgW0HJByg

Heh.

[crashdive123]

Funny stuff.

[1stimestar]

What's that saying the God protects fools....


A 61-year-old Haines bow hunter said he decided to emulate a charging bear last week when he found he didn't have time to go for his gun.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2013/10/07/3114220/bear-hunter-charge-each-other.html#storylink=cpy

http://www.adn.com/2013/10/07/3114220/bear-hunter-charge-each-other.html

[1stimestar]

Yay, Life Below Zero returns for a second season on Oct. 29. It's also premiering in Germany on the 19th. They got rid of the little irritating guy and got another one who looks, uhm, interesting. Here's the trailer.


http://bcove.me/vpmpv6gb

[1stimestar]

Really nice aurora time lapse.

https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=647591475274481" width="1280" height="720" frameborder="0" (https://www.facebook.com/video/embed?video_id=647591475274481&quot; width=&quot;1280&quot; height=&quot;720&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot;)

[Rick]

That was pretty cool. Some day I'm going to see that in person!