Weather

'Some days are diamonds... some days are rocks... ' -Tom Petty

So not every day is a sunny day out on the glacier. This past week we had a 'weather day' which means that the weather made it impossible for helicopters to land on the glacier. I'm not talking about extreme wind or freezing rain that's falling sideways, nope just clouds. The elevation from town to the glacier is a change of 4000ft, and dog camp is only about 2 miles from town. This drastic change in elevation means that town as completely different weather. When town is overcast it means that the glacier is above the clouds. We can see into the valley and sometimes it is a like a lake of clouds. Other times on the glacier we can't even see the mountain which is right next to us. When the pilot can't see the ground they can't fly, end of story. Unfortunately, tours get canceled. The helicopter base does try to do weather checks on an hourly basis, so they know the moment that they can start tours again. Some days we might have an hour or two canceled, other days canceled until lunch and then some others, canceled all day. At dog camp we just sit around and wait all day, not that we have anywhere to be. These days are not bad, but not good either. It's nice to have a break but its' also nice to make some money, no tours= no $.

Then there's the day that we had yesterday, beautiful, sunny and clear for miles. Tours every half an hour. It was hot, and all the employees were walking around in t-shirts. The heat is reflected off the white of the snow, and since white is the dominant color in the landscape it gets pretty hot. Tourists come off the helicopter in their fur coats (no joke, some people actually wear fine fur coats to go and play with dogs) and helly hansen ski pants and we're in jeans and t-shirts with ball caps on. These are good days, the best tours happen days like this. These days are also the days that everyone gets sunburned, everywhere. Because the sunlight is being reflected from the snow, which is everywhere, you get sunburned in places you wouldn't normally think about. Such as under your chin and up your nose. You feel like a grease ball all day long because you're also sweating. When I get back I'm going to have an amazing sunglasses tan, watch tan and potentially a strap tan from the camera bag I wear around.

Living on a Glacier

So I've been living on a glacier for about a couple of weeks now. The first week I was up with a small crew and we build dog houses all week long, along with shoveled out groomers, walk through 2ft of fresh snow and of course, as always, take care of dogs.

This past week the full crew was up and we transported another 100+ dogs to camp. There are 13 people living on the glacier with me. There are mushers, dogs handlers, tour assistants (that's me!), the cook and our manegment team.

Tours started on Monday and have been going ever since. We have tours every day. We never have a scheduled 'day off' without people coming up the glacier. On certain days of the week there are less tours than others and during those days we are flown down from the glacier (via helicopter!) and we get to have the next two nights in town and then we are flown back up in the morning. For those who are curious my schedule goes a little like this:

5:50am alarm goes off

5:55 roll out of bed and put rain pants/ boots/ jacket on

6:00 grab a shovel and start finding poop, put poop in a 5 gallon bucket. Usually a dog yard of 40 will have approximately 2-3 buckets of poop

6:30 feed dogs if necessary, put eye drogs in irritated dogs eyes and use zinc on any part of the dog that's pink to prevent sunburn.

7:00 breakfast! (eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, pancakes, oatmeal, yogurt, fruit....coffee...)

8:00 first helicopter lands full of tourists! I unload the helicopter of the tourists/ gear and put gear back on.

Next I lead tourists to mushers after they recieve their safety speech

I then go and stand in the 'photo spot' and wait

I take an 'action shot' of them on the sled

I then walk briskly back to the photo tent where I edit and print off the pictures

I hopefully am ready a few minutes before they get back to the camp so that I can get their pictures organized.

I remember that I sell thousand dollar a night condos when I'm trying to get these people to purchase a picture of themselves

I then lead them back to the helicopters 'no I'm sorry you cannot change seats...' and get them ready to go

Once the helicopter lands I help the new tourists in the helicopter and then I put the old tourists, photos hopefully in hand, back inside. I then unload the gear/ load our gear into it.

This process repeats itself every hour. Tours on 'slower' days run every hour, a full day is every half hour.

5:00ish-7pm tours stop. we feed dogs/ water/ poop scoop once last time.

7:30pm we eat.

8pm a crew does dishes/ we hang out.

I usually go to bed sometime between 9:30 and 10pm.

The picture is of what I'm living in. Note the snow is above the door on either side by about 2ft. I'll keep you all posted about what's going on but for now I'm oging ot get my things organized again to go back up to hang out with the 240 dogs!

Getting to Small Town Alaska

I have spent my first 24 hours at my home base for the next 6 months. Once again out of respect for my company I'm not going to disclose the name of the town, if you're interested in knowing my address please just email me, mperry421@gmail.com. I flew into Juneau at about 7:30 and then got to my hotel where I made a few phone calls and went to bed. I didn't wake up again until 5am, 30 minutes before my alarm was going to go off. I was getting up early because there are one of two ways to get my home base and both leave at ass-crack-of-dawn o'clock. The first way is to fly in a small plane from Juneau. When I say small I mean an 8 seater cessna. The other way, which takes longer but is much more relaxing and scenic, also has no weight restrictions on baggage (big plus!) is to take the ferry. I've flown into Rutland, VT before which has about the smallest airport one could ever ask for. The one here in this town is the same size. When sizing up my options I thought about the flight from Boston to Rutland and how it was beautiful, it also got tossed around a lot. I also thought that I hadn't yet traveled by ferry. So my choice was easy. Ferry it was!

Continental breakfast at my hotel didn't start until 7am, which was a bummer because it meant that I had to get breakfast on the ferry. I also like to eat a big breakfast from the continental counter because then it means I have to pay for less food later. At 5:30am the coffee wasn't brewed let alone the bagels set out. So on an empty stomach I set out to discover how one travels by marine highway. Now here is an interesting tid bit of knowledge- if you own a car and wish to drive it on the ferry you MUST be there two hours in advance. However, if you're a traveler with an excessively large bag and nothing else besides yourself you can pretty much arrive 30 minutes before the ferry leaves, even though the website says an hour. So I could have slept another 30 minutes, but what did it matter? I still would have missed breakfast anyway. I had bought my ticket in advance which means that I reserved it and would pick it up when I arrived. The kid who gave me to my ticket was very nice and I asked if I could board and he said yes, if I wanted to. I figured there might be breakfast, or at least a cup of coffee on the ferry so I went straight for the boats. I checked my abnormally large bag and walked onto what was about the size of a cruise ship.

I then saw a sign for the cafeteria, and went to investigate. After going up 3 flights of stairs I saw it, with a big sign that said 'Open at 11:30am.' I was crushed. I had some pistachios and some granola in my bag as snacks that was going to have to do until 11:30. There were people milling about but it seemed to me they were mostly people who just wanted to sleep in the cushioned booths. I walked away feeling a little let down, and surprised. 'Really they'd have this place open for boarding but not serve coffee... huge money loss' I then saw someone come out of a door from the cafeteria with a steaming cup of coffee. I retraced my steps to find that the place where they sell the food isn't visable from those walking around. I then got my cup of coffee, nothing else seemed to interest me so I was going to wait for lunch and have granola instead. This was a good decision. BEWARE they only take cash and there ZERO atms on board. I had enough to get my lunch but not enough to get lunch and breakfast.

After my cup of coffee I found the front viewing deck and fell asleep again. Totally worth it. When I woke up I watched the beautiful scenery as we passed. The mountains were still snow capped and came right up out of the ocean. I saw a whale and some porpoises along with an eagle or two. The landscape was clearly rugged and wile. Nothing for miles, we didn't see any sign of human impact besides the occasional abandoned lighthouse. If you have the chance to take the ferry out of Juneau I highly suggest it.

When it was a respectful time to call others I tried to reach those picking me up in my town. No answer. I left a message. I tried two hours later. Still no answer. It got the point where they were supposed to pick me up in an hour and half, still no answer. I finally call a person who I'd been speaking to in Juneau and no answer, I asked that she try to get a hold of the ground crew in my town so that someone would be there to pick me up. I was stressed at this point. I realize that I'm on this kick about trusting others, to know that they care about strangers... blah blah blah. I still believe this, but as far as trusting others with my logistical plans I generally try not to leave it to fate. Benin has taught me that especially in travel, if you're planning something, you cannot leave it up to others to follow your schedule. So I confirm all hotel reservations, double check flight times, check in early, weight my baggage, speak to those I need to speak to in advance, and so on. I also realize that I should have called about a week ago, or even the night before. Because I didn't calls someone before all I could do now was cross my fingers and hope for the best. I hadn't heard from anyone until the ferry was 50 feet from the dock of where I was getting off. I got a phone call and they said that someone would be holding a sign with my name on it and they were there right now. I thanked the travel Gods and skipped off the ship to get my luggage.

The town I live in is very small approximately 700 people. I can walk anywhere and they even loaned me a bike, which I realized the seat was set for someone who's about a foot taller than me. I tried to lower the seat but it was rusted in place. The rest of the bike looks good (thank you Peace Corps/ Papa Velo for training me about bikes) tires were solid and the brakes/ gears worked, chain needed oiling but other than that it appeared to work well from the time I spent poking it. I also found the laundromat, public library, grocery store and local hardware store. The joke about the hardware store is that if they don't sell it you don't need it, true statement. I left with all the items on my list. Overall I'm happy to be here and interested in exploring my area before I get on the glacier, but still anxious to start working!  

Afralaska Island

It has become clear to me that nobody really knows what I'm doing this summer... even my closest family. I love my family, and I probably haven't given them enough information to begin with. Also I think that my life kind of blends together for my relatives. When I came back to Okemo apparently my co-workers were playing the 'where in the world is Melissa game.' It's been funny to hear people try to explain to others what I'm going to be doing this summer. Rumors include: Working on an island. Studying native flora/ fauna. Musher. Going to New Zealand. And my personal favorite: going to Africa (Lynn accidentally says this instead of Alaska which confuses everyone). So I'd thought I'd clear some things up:

So to re-cap here is what I've done since graduating college:

Peace Corps Benin
Lodging and Welcome Center at Okemo
Waitress (also in the Ludlow area)
Environmental Educator in Beaumont, California
Wilderness Guide in Wyoming
Environmental Educator in New Hampshire
Back to Okemo....
and now I'm off on my next adventure!

Here is the job announcement I found and replied to:

Tour Attendant / Photographer, 

We offer helicopter/dogsledding tours on the Juneau Icefield. 

Greet guests, load  & unload  from helicopters. introduce guests to mushers, action photos and sales. 

Entry level position: TAPS work directly with guests. Must be personable, enjoy working with people, professional in appearance and manner. Capable of working with helicopters and operating tours in a safe, professional manner. Applicants must be physically fit and capable of lifting 50 pounds on a regularbasis. Employees live and work on a glacier for the summer. The glacier camp has helicopter access only.

We are looking for energetic, enthusiastic folks who are good team players. Must be capable of working well with others in a remote environment. All positions are seasonal. Dates vary depending on the camp you are working in but typically run from May through mid September.

Prior glacier travel experience, extended backpacking, Wilderness medicine skills welcome.

 So there you have it. I have edited the above renouncement and left out some privacy information such as exactly where I'm going to be living/ company name. 

The Three Days of Green

 Some thing that I love are: Breweries, Hiking and Beauty. Not in that particular order and for my birthday I got to experience all three! My birthday lies between two interesting dates on the calendar, April 20th and April 22nd. Now I'm not going to explain 4/20 I expect if you are reading my blog you can go look it up if you don't know. April 22nd is Earth Day. I like to refer to this series of days as 'The Three Days of Green'. April this year is also the month of unemployment for me. Ski season ended early and my job starts late. While some would view this as a negative thing I saw it as an opportunity to take an extended vacation. I've been staying with my family in Vermont, and then I came down to North Carolina and am spending a week or so with my brother Jason and his fiance/ my best friend Lynn. They took me to spend some time in Ashville for my birthday weekend.

I met some really great people in Ashville, going from my last blog post. I spent some time with Rachel and her husband Bryan. While Rachel wasn't a perfect stranger, she's Lynns sister and I've met her before I didn't ever spend enough time to get to know her. Bryan I had never met before. I'm glad that I did, they're both great people. Bryan plays in a band and we went to see him play at the Pisgah Brewery. The reason why I love breweries is because they're 99% of the time laid back places to enjoy craft beer. This unpretentious attitude lends itself to attracting people with the same outlook on life. Overall, it was a great night good beer, good music and good people.

 The next day, on my birthday, we went hiking in the Pisgah National Forest with Lynns cousins and their dog (because what is a hike without a dog?). We looked at the weather and saw that there was an extremely high chance of rain. The hike that was chosen was one that was along a river. The original plan was to go until we wanted to turn around. The river contained swimming holes and beautiful scenery. Unlike when one hikes to a destination such as a waterfall or summit there was no specific place to turn around. This made it perfect for a rainy day. When one is hiking in the rain, even for those who like hiking, there is a fine line between enjoyable adventure and painful endurance. If you leave the car and view the day as a hardship to muscle through, you might as well of stayed home. You have to choose that it is going to be a good day. We all did just that, we all decided to enjoy ourselves. When we began it wasn't raining, but about 15 minutes into the hike the rain started, it was slow and then when we decided to turn around it was a soaking rain. The hike was beautiful. I would come back and camp there. Coming out of the woods we felt good, refreshed, and at peace, we were also soaked. When I go hiking I remember what I love about nature, it gives you much more than just beauty or opportunity for exercise. Wild places have a soothing effect on people. After hundreds of thousands of year of evolution people weren't meant to live in boxes. We weren't meant to keep our lives free of bacteria and movement, we evolved to be outside we adapted to the natural environment not the one that we created for ourselves. Now, I realize that it is extremely difficult to live 'off the land' and that I personally wouldn't want to do it. The developed world is a great place. But there is a piece inside all of us that is wild, and instinctual.

On Sunday Jason took me to see the Blue Ridge Parkway. If you haven't ever been there, it is beautiful, and  when you go you're left without a sense of awe I would question if you had a soul. We ended up parking going on a stroll, I'd be hard-pressed to call it a hike (it was only 1/5th of a mile on mostly boardwalk and pavement), to a waterfall. We then relaxed and watched a couple of guys catch trout out of the pool beneath the falls. They were almost catching good meal-sized ones every time. It must have been a man in his 40's and his father. I'm glad to see others enjoying this natural place. Getting people to care about nature is the first step toward gaining the support to preserve wild places. We then ate lunch at the Pisgah Inn, which is a restaurant that overlooks the Appalachians. After our exhausting weekend Jason, Lynn and I returned back to their apartment and fell asleep. Overall a great way to celebrate The Three Days of Green.

People are Good

It's not an Earth shattering revelation, it is in fact what many others think; people are good. I feel that 99% of people are walking around following their own paths are not out to hurt others, and generally speaking, want good things for others even those they don't know. So why doesn't anyone trust anyone else? How come we've gone from respecting to fearing our neighbors? What happened to goodwill toward our fellow man?

Some would argue that the opposite is true. most people don't care about you. Everyone is only out for themselves. Being uninterested in strangers problems is just human nature to protect ourselves from pain, be that pain emotional or physical. That we're hard wired through millions of years of evolution to be this way, basically we can't help it. I know this is not true 'human nature' and evolution of how people view ourselves is not just an individualistic endeavor. The people of Benin proved to me that you could trust others. I did things there that I would never do in the United States. I was able to have an on-going bar tab at a few places I would eat at, I accepted rides from strangers, and I basically hitch-hiked around a 3rd world country. Don't get me wrong life wasn't without it's frustrations, but people there take your problems as their own and try as hard as they could to realize your goals, and share in your happiness when success was found.

What happened in the west? Now people don't even make eye contact with strangers, let alone talk to them. Is it really so hard to make connections with others without technology getting in the way? There's too much fear in our society. There are commercials about identity theft, doing background checks on your friends and hidden cameras which watch your baby sitters. What happened to trusting people?! Growing up, I never locked the door to our house, my babysitters were the neighbors children, and I would go swimming at the local pond with many other people.

Now people are afraid, and that type of lifestyle in the United States is dying. It makes me very sad to see the society become more and more distrustful of each other, to stop looking at those who live around them as neighbors and more as criminals. I feel that you can trust the vast majority of people on the planet, but the distrust that's been perpetuated in society doesn't help foster this reality.

A new goal that I've set for myself is to trust strangers, to reach out, to prove to the world that 'people are good' isn't just some sort of romantic sentiment, but rather a reality.

Opening Camp

 In April my family and I like to go to camp.There are a few birthdays in the month and it gives us an opportunity to celebrate together. Camp is a place to have fun, be with family and relax. normally by April I have what my dad calls 'a case camp-itus'. Which basically means that I miss it a lot. When I have it in my head that I want to go to camp I can usually convince someone else in my family to go with me. This year my Aunt Monique, cousin Nathan, and Lisa, Greg and Sue. Great food, company and good times were had.