As I write, I am in a comfortable warm hotel in Fairbanks, AK. I am attending the Polar TREC orientation along with teachers who will be traveling to other parts of the Arctic or Antarctic. Outside the temperature is -1 F and dropping...a little harsh knowing that when I left home yesterday, spring flowers were blooming in my yard back home in North Carolina.
The flights yesterday from Greensboro to Fairbanks are the most I have ever traveled in one day. I was amazed by the view... WHITE... the world has been white from the time I left Minneapolis, MN. If this part of the world has such a high albedo, (Ask an earth science student if you don't know this word), no wonder it is so cold.
I was getting very tired of sitting on the flight to Anchorage and was pleased when the others in my row stood up to stretch. As I walked to the back of the plane, I was delighted to meet several other Polar TREC teachers. We stood in the back of the plane talking for quite a while before returning to our seats. As I returned to my place at the window, I was happy to see the mountains then the Alaskan coastline. For the rest of the flight I was glued to the window... the mountains, glaciers and fjords were spectacular.
Here are just a few of the amazing views from the air.
Coastal Alaska glacier and fjord from 32,000 ft on flight to Anchorage.
Coastal Alaska glacier with calving ice front near Prince William sound.
Coastal Alaska glacier and icebergs surrounded by sea ice.
Coastal Alaska recessional moraines.
On the flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks, we flew past mount Redoubt...I was hoping to see it erupt, but it was quiet. As we headed north over the Cook Inlet, we passed over a large glacial plain covered by meandering rivers. The river features showed up clearly as the white snow covered rivers were often outlined by dark trees. Below is just one of the many examples of meanders, and oxbow lakes.
Meandering river with oxbows and oxbow lakes south of Denali seen on flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks.
A little further north we flew past "the great one" Denali... also know by some as Mt McKinley, the highest point in North America.
Denali from 28,000 ft on the flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks.
I will leave you with one last image from my flight. This picture was taken near Prince William Sound. The ground was covered by these crater like depressions. I saw theses many times along the coast during the last hour of the flight to Anchorage. So what caused these round features? (To my students... you are just getting your first assignment from the field... help me figure this out!)
Unusual crater like depressions on either the glacier or out-wash plains. Photo taken near Prince William Sound.
As a parting note, to the citizens of Wolfington, (my daughter Erin's 5th grade class at Northern Elementary) I received a great welcome to Fairbanks...just as my flight was about to touch down, I was looking out the window and I saw a wolf running through a clearing between the trees!
Stay Warm!