This is all you'll ever get...: Alaska: So Much To Do, So Little Time

My time in Alaska winds down today with my early afternoon flight out of Juneau to Baton Rouge via one last night in Seattle. Reflecting upon my brief visit here I have to conclude that it's been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life so far. Not only have the beautiful landscapes and intimate wildlife encounters been some of the best I've ever seen, but I also made some good friends, had an immense amount of fun during the trip, and gained some really valuable teaching experience. Most of all, I feel I learnt a lot about myself and am now in the healthiest and happiest shape of my life!

We certainly packed a hell of a lot into the three weeks of our time here. Classes generally started at 8 am and ran all the way until 5:30 pm, with students alternating between lectures with the professors, and labs and research projects with the three of us graduate students in 90 minute slots. On top of this they had to write papers, prepare lab reports, and study for tests and practical exams. Despite this, we still managed to somehow find the time to go on fun adventures and I feel we certainly made the most of the experience. I definitely would have liked to have been able to get out into the wilderness a bit more, but really this trip has just left me hungry for more of this beautiful place. I'd definitely like to come back to Alaska one day with more free time to explore under my own agenda. As the largest state in the US it seems like there are endless wonderful things to see and do: I want to see would be polar bears roaming around the town of Barrow in the far north, Mt. McKinley in Denali National Park (the highest peak in North America), and the aurora borealis (the northern lights). I'm also still yet to see a brown bear or go fishing for salmon, and I'm sure I could spend a few weeks walking the trails absolutely anywhere.

There were many highlights of the second half of the trip despite it seeming to fly by so quickly. We went whale watching one afternoon and managed to spot six or so humpback whales and a bunch of Stellar Sea Lions fighting for prime basking position on a buoy. The boat didn't get particularly close so it wasn't as great as the trip I went on in Maine last year, but afterwards we stopped off at an island to enjoy a fresh pink salmon bake which was absolutely delicious. A couple of days later we had the entire day off to enjoy a cruise to the stunningly scenic Tracy Arm, a huge fjord a couple of hours boat ride from Juneau. We were super lucky to see orcas twice during the trip, including a mother and her calf. The fjord itself was lined with towering rock walls and littered with waterfalls of all sizes (I put my head under one which was pretty refreshing). But the most spectacular scene was the two huge blue glaciers at the end of the fjord. We even got to see a chunk of ice calve off one and rode the resulting wave. I also had a great time getting out and being active thanks to the endless recreational opportunities; we went hiking to the top of Eagle Crest Ski Area and Nugget Falls, sunset walking along Eagle Beach, swimming and kayaking in Auke Lake right on campus (it wasn't even that cold), and I went running every two or three days, enjoying the stunning views as I pounded the pavement.

Thanks has to go out to the many people who made this such a memorable experience. Dr. Bill Stickle and Dr. John Caprio were two great guys to talk to, room with, and learn from - I really owe Dr Stickle a huge amount for inviting me on this trip as a teacher. Both Katherine and Jenessa (the other graduate students up here) were awesome to hang around with, worked their butts off tirelessly, and I now have two good new friends. The students themselves were an awesome group; tons of fun to be around and they seemed to really enjoy the fairly tough field work we threw at them. I'd definitely never got to know any students quite so personally before which was really great. And finally, the weather; what an unbelievable run we had. Out of the 21 days we spent in Juneau we only saw rain about five or six times, which is quite unbelievable considering Juneau is know for getting over 2000 mL of rain per year. The sun was shining on most days and the temperatures were so hot I spent most of my time in a t-shirt, shorts, and jandals - perfect weather! It really made a nice change from the 30-35 °C temperatures I'm now heading back to in Baton Rouge.

I'll leave you with some of my favourite pictures from the second half of the trip (I took over 1500 photos during the four week trip so managed to get a few good ones!).