The first step on my summer journey to Siberia takes me to Fairbanks, Alaska, in frigid February. As part of the PolarTREC program, we teachers are required to go to Fairbanks for a week of training in what we can expect to encounter in our polar research expeditions. This year, there are about a dozen of us who will accompany researchers to some pretty remarkable Arctic and Antarctic research destinations.
A Blizzard in Denver
But first, I need to get to Alaska. It is early Friday morning as I leave my house near Denver, Colorado, to get to the airport. However, it appears that Alaska has come to me. The entire Denver area has been socked in by the largest February blizzard to hit in more than 40 years. As I pull out of my driveway in my truck, I am already crunching through nearly a foot of fresh snow. Today has already been called a snow day across the city, so there are a lot of students still sleeping in and no tracks on my neighborhood streets. I have already called Alaska Airlines to see if the are still flying, as most of the major carriers have cancelled their flights already. The representative replied, “Well, we are Alaska Airlines. We do know how to fly in the snow!” I find her sarcasm ironically funny, as I am hoping I do know how to drive in the snow well enough to get to the airport.
It takes me an hour to make this first 15-mile leg of my journey to the airport – my first leg of my eventual journey to Siberia. The snow and wind are blowing hard and the sky is a gloomy shade of gray-white. At the airport, it is difficult to tell where to park, as no lines are visible in the parking lot. I park next to another car, hoping they are parked in an appropriate parking spot. After a short shuttle into the airport, my flight is still on, though slightly delayed. There are many stranded travelers reading the “cancelled” notices on the departure screens, so I count myself fortunate. I think of how this trip will help me get to Siberia, and I recalculate to count myself extremely fortunate.
The Flight to Fairbanks
My flight takes off and within an hour we have left all traces of the blizzard and head across Wyoming on the way to Seattle, my one stop on the way to Fairbanks. The sky is completely blue and the freshly snow-covered Wind River Range gives way to the Tetons and Yellowstone, then to the Northern Cascades of Washington, and eventually to the Seattle skyline, dominated by the incomparable Mount Rainier. As I sit in the Seattle Airport, I am grateful for the five-hour layover that gave me time to catch my flight to Fairbanks and to watch the glow of the sunset on Ranier before my flight out to Alaska. I am surprised by the contrast from Denver’s snowy weather to the leaves beginning to grow on the trees in Seattle, where the locals are wearing shorts on a beautiful February day.
Mt. Ranier dominated the view from this window at the Seattle-Tacoma airport.
Four hours later, my flight touches down on a moonlit night in Fairbanks. Our pilot welcomes us to Fairbanks where it is -20°F. It is time to put on the down coat and gloves and to catch a taxi to the hotel where my polar training will begin in two days. My cab driver is excited because it is 20°F warmer than the previous day!
At Fairbanks
I have intentionally arrived a day early to catch the beginning of the Yukon Quest dog sled race – a 1000 mile trip from Fairbanks to White Horse in the Canadian Yukon Territories.
Continue to follow as I introduce you to a great dog race and to some really amazing teachers who are training with me to go to many distant points across the globe!