A meteorologist from the National Weather Service’s local office recently told a newspaper reporter that heavy, wet snow would materialize in a few days. He said it would resemble “cement falling from the sky.” Three days later, I grunted to lift a shovel blade full of heavy slush. How did that weatherman call this from […]
Weighing as much as a cup of walnuts and resembling a squeaky dog toy, the short-tailed weasel is easy to underestimate. The spunky little creature that springs through snow drifts and woodpiles all over mainland Alaska is one of the fiercest predators around. The ermine — another descriptor for the short-tailed weasel — is one […]
Two mountaineers who are also University of Alaska Fairbanks students were successful in their attempt to reach the top of North America’s highest peak in summer 2024. On June 7, while they were standing 20,310 feet above sea level, they pulled plastic bottles from their down jackets. They stuffed snow inside those bottles to sample […]
Skip Ambrose has floated the upper Yukon River almost every year since Richard Nixon was President. Back then, in 1973, only 12 pairs of peregrine falcons perched at nest sites over a 180-mile stretch of river. Ambrose saw that number rise to more than 60 in 2012. The birds’ subsequent rebound from the effects of […]