Seward's Folly

Alaska.
One of my top five life experiences and probably the most memorable of my trips with Dad. It was my first big trip as an upper level geology major, and really the first time Dad ever had to argue with me that it was time leave the outcrops. We were also very amused by their straightforward signs, such as the one pictured left.

Earlier that year (2006), I had started some preliminary research on chemical weathering in glacial environments with one of the younger faculty members. He is an avid believer that you should be able to experience what you are studying, and since he needed an extra hand on his sampling expedition that summer, he offered me the spot. It also meant that I got to augment my sample set.

Our goal was to sample the major rivers, the Copper and Kennicott, their major tributaries and, where possible, the glacial drainage that feeds them. So, we rented a 4WD SUV and drove from river access to river access using truly technical sampling equipment -- a stainless steel spoon and whirlpacks -- and collected dirt. Lots of dirt.






The trip did have several "firsts," though, including:


Trekking across glacial streams without gaiters (bad idea, by the way) to the terminal morraines of the glacier, where they are sourced from.

This is at the Exit Glacier, where we had to get temporary permission to do these crossings. We attracted a crowd and became the momentary glacier experts when we got back with our mud.











The glacier featured in the two pictures above is the Exit Glacier. This was my first real introduction to proglacial stream dynamics and morphology. It is always changing depending upon where the the englacial water is exiting the glacier itself. These two pictures were taken about two weeks apart. We had to slog through water to get there the first time; the second time I just hopped right on.




Alpine glaciers, the kind on mountains, are the ones that are seen in Alaska. There aren't any true ice sheets in Alaska. Much of the landscape has been shaped by the erosional properties of glaciers.








I also learned why you're supposed to ditch your tent. This was my brand new tent. It had kept me warm and dry during field camp, and believe it or not it kept me warm and dry when Squirrel Creek overflowed during the night. It was like sleeping on a water bed










One of my favorite properties of glaciers is the glacier blue forms as the firn forms. It is one of my favorite colors.







There was also the case of my first extended hike in the back country by myself. It came across because we needed to sample the headwaters of the Kennicott, which is sourced from the
Kennicott Glacier near an old copper and gold mining town aptly named Kennecott.

The road out to McCarthy and Kennecott os a ~60-mile dirt road that is built on top of the old railroads that connected them to relative civilization. There are a few areas where the original framework of the railroads, such as the picture to the left, remains in tact.

Due to the proximity of the roads to the rails, copper pegs are a real hazard. In fact, when my group attempted to go out to the river crossing to access McCarthy/Kennecott, we promptly ran one over and got a flat tire. And thus, I was sent out on a tourist taxi to get our samples.

I took the taxi to the Kennicott River. Crossed the river via the pull cart that was set up to ferry visitors across and collected the basic sample. Then I hiked out to McCarthy, and on to Kennecott where I met a fellow member of the Gator Nation who was giving the tour of the mine buildings.



I continued further out to find the terminus of the Kennicott Glacier. I past the most amazing series of ice-cored morraines and dunes on the way alongside the abandoned outer buildings of the mine.

The hike was full of views of the Wrangell-St. Elias mountains and the separation and convergence of the Kennicott Glacier around one of the peaks (pictured right, above) which really brought to life the power that a glacier contains.

When dad joined me after my week of field work, we steadily worked our way north to the Arctic Circle via Denali and then back south to Seward for a glacier cruise.
In Denali, true to Deuerling Luck, our bus back to the McKinley approach trails broke down. We were definitely not complaining. We also went to a sled dog demonstration out of sheer curiosity. The true Alaskan huskies are the prettiest dogs. If I were to actually get a dog, I would want one of the retired rescue dogs from Denali.

We had an awesome time nerding-out over the metamorphism in the area and waiting around for the sunsets just to get the most dramatic photos we could.

The gas pipeine was interesting to see, as well. Since there are so few major roads in the state, the pipeline tends to parallel the north-south oriented ones. You can infer what the ground conditions are like based on what the pipeline does. Where it is above the surface, the ground is most likely permafrost and the pipes would not be able to stay below ground without bursting. There are areas where the pipes go underground for only a couple tens to hundred yards or are elevated ~10ft that correlate with the paths that the caribou take when they migrate.

The biggest thing I took away from Alaska was a strengthened awe and respect for the environment. And a love of glaciers. Which, considering the work I do now, was a pretty big turning point in my life.