Monthly Archives: April 2022

Alaska, Off-grid living, Stories

Backups matter.

We’ve been without power for a week. It’s not a huge deal this time around because the daytime temps have been above 40° and we have the Little Buddy to warm us up at night. We spend the days at work where we can charge our devices so that’s been fine. Our backup plans work.

Of course we shouldn’t have to be out of power. The reason we are is mostly due to timing. A week ago we filled up the gas cans, which was painful. But before adding gas to the extended run tank we decided to let it go dry so we could take out the generator for an oil change. It had been a week since we added the last ten gallons, so we figured it could go dry at any time. It lasted until 11:45pm on Sunday night.

Who wants to get up at midnight to do generator maintenance? Nobody! We agreed to take care of it after work the next day. Cue the backup heat. We went back to sleep.

Now, an oil change only takes 15 to 30 minutes. We should have power, right? Except that the starter pull cord broke. To fix that you have to take the entire thing apart using a socket that apparently got lost from the tool kit. So all week we’ve gone to work with the plan of fixing the thing in the evening, only to get home and say screw it we’re tired.

Today I don’t work. I woke up ready to tackle the generator. I even watched a video on how to do the job before I went to sleep in case my phone died before morning. Then we actually argued about who was going to fix it. I believe it is my responsibility to know how to do stuff. Chris feels responsible to take care of the hard stuff. After a bit I had to agree that his plan to acquire the missing tools before doing the work made the most sense.

So here I am, at home with no power and a phone that was at 5% and dropping. I might have to spend the day without it! Oh no! Then I remembered my backup battery. It sat on the shelf for a year through heat and extreme cold. Would it have power still? Yes! It read 100%. I plugged in my phone and happily got charging.

The moral of the story is that you should have backups, even if you don’t need to use them. You should maintain them in good order and remember that they’re there so they can do their job when you need them.

As soon as the generator is back online I’m going to put my battery back to charge.

Alaska, Cold Weather Life, Off-grid living

Seasons change

One is the view just outside my door at 9 this morning. The other is from 2am. (Again, the benefit of the midnight bathroom run.) Soon both of these will disappear.

Aurora season ended a week ago at my job. Last week was all about closing things down and cleaning up before the break. I don’t think I was really prepared for the break. With the extra daylight and the busyness of season’s end I seemed to be more energized than usual. I had momentum so it was almost a shock when everything was done. Now I have to readjust.

In the last two weeks I ran several private shuttles at odd times. I drove to the Castner Glacier twice, once with a church group, then again as driver for a staff outing. I did some laundry and cleaning at the shop and showed up on last Thursday ready to do some more, only to discover that I wasn’t scheduled. That was okay. I did my own laundry and worked on a quilt until the needle broke. I had a massive headache anyway so it was a good thing to rest.

Okay now it’s picture time. A picture really is worth a thousand words because I could never fully convey what it’s like with mere words. Even photos are barely adequate. Most of this has to be lived and even then it barely seems real.

Driving down to Delta.
Inside the glacier there are bands of gravel in the ice. The pebbles and dirt just float there.
(Shhh, don’t tell him I put in a pic of him.)
View of the world.
The river was breaking up south of Salcha.

So now I have to shift toward summer. I have a lot of things that need to be done and I will have to crank out a list soon to make sure it isn’t really the same five items rotating to look like infinity. But for now I rest a bit. The world isn’t ready for me to start on all the things I want. That will come later. There is a season for everything.

Alaska, Cold Weather Life

Breakup is coming!

Most places already have spring. Up here in Fairbanks we kinda skip spring and go straight from snow into summer. No, that’s not quite right…let me explain the seasons of interior Alaska.

Summer is green and bright.

You have Summer. That one is pretty easy to recognize because there’s no snow on the ground and even though the sun does set the sky never gets dark. Summer runs from around Memorial Day through mid August. The first night it gets dark enough to see the stars is August 14th or thereabouts.

The first dusting.
Winter takes hold.

Then there’s Fall. This goes from late August until there’s snow on the ground. I have been told that the latest date on record for snow was October 19. Last year we got our first good dusting on September 19 and our first 6 inches on the following weekend. It was just in time for the wedding that rented out the entire property up at Basecamp. Those must have been gorgeous photos with the golden birch trees in the snow.

Noon at the solstice.
Watching the aurora is the best part of dark winter.

Snow means Winter. Winter means darkness. Well, at least for the first five months or so. The darkest part of dark winter is the winter solstice. Here in Fairbanks that means that the sun doesn’t rise until around 11am and sets at about 2:40pm. Even though the sun is only above the horizon for 3.5 hours though, there is over an hour of pre-dawn light and twilight, which gives us around 6 hours where the sky isn’t totally dark. Every minute of that time has color in the sky. I love it!

Sunset and snow means gorgeous color in the sky.

Light winter kicks in around Valentine’s day. That’s when you suddenly realize that it isn’t dark before dinner time and you might leave the house with the sunrise. It’s a great relief, but it also signals time to find your sunglasses. The sunlight reflected off of all that snow gets pretty bright.

Light winter gets bright. At least the roads start clearing up.

That brings us to Breakup. Our version of spring. The roads are finally clear of ice. Mostly. The ones that aren’t yet clear are either slushy or polished shiny as glass. You have to be careful driving still. The snowbanks get plowed one more time to push them off the shoulders of the road so that meltwater doesn’t run across the road and turn to ice overnight. Parking lots are getting scraped clear and the thick chunks of ice are piled up to the side to melt. People bet on when the river ice will break up and move. Really! Look up the Nenana Ice Classic. I think it’s too late to buy in though. Pretty soon the creek will start to thaw out also. It’s a great time of year.

Soon. It’s getting warm enough that we’ll see this soon.

Spring? Yeah, I guess we get that too. The trees green up and the birds and squirrels get more active. Locals don’t talk about Spring though. It’s Breakup and Mud season. That’s because the ground thaws more slowly than the snow and the water doesn’t drain away very quickly. It takes until June to be fully out of Mud season and by then we are firmly into summer.

AK Tuff boots are a favorite for good reason.

That’s the year up here. Was that clear enough? Clear as mud, right? That’s okay. The seasons, like so much else up here, are hard to wrap your head around until you experience them. It’s worth the visit.