Tag Archives: summer

Loads from days past

Here’s a gallery of photos of various loads Jack has hauled or encountered in his days of driving the Dalton.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right.

Coming back from Prudhoe with a dozer.
Heading north with a dozer in the summertime, fueling up at Hilltop.
Hauling a crane.
Making room for a wide load climbing 3 Mile on the Dalton.
Chained up to start the trip from Hilltop going north (Jack was pushing)..
A Stryker, going to Anchorage.
A turbine in a box in Healy, going to Prudhoe.
Eighty foot pipe for a pipeline.
Who knows what’s in this mod going to Prudhoe.
A couple of cooling units in Glennallen after they were barged to Valdez.
The same kind of load, but turned around and very dirty. Fueling up in Coldfoot.
Not a very big loader but weight restrictions during break up resulted in this long trailer.
Somebody is being funny.
An insulated tank from Greer Welding.
Same load. This tank can sit on its end or on its side.
Pushing a big Volvo loader.
A mod, not covered with plastic.
The same mod – Jack is pushing it to Prudhoe.
Twelve wide trailer with mod going north.
The same trailer (with booster decked up) being pushed back to Fairbanks.

 

 

Lost load, an explosion box

Years ago Jack came across this load that fell off a truck north of Coldfoot.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right.  More info on the captions.

 

Jack is pretty sure this is an “explosion box”, a portable unit that’s probably used as a break room next to a rig most of the time, but it’s most crucial use is as an explosion shelter. If there’s a an explosion individuals can stay in it for protection. It’s actually upside down here and the damaged attached boxes are probably heaters or ventilation units.
The driver was looking to the left, drove off the road on the right, then turned the steering wheel abruptly to get back on the road, breaking the chains that held the box down and tossing it off the trailer.
Marks where the box first hit the ground.
This is most likely how the fallen load was tied down. This truck is carrying a similar unit.
There are four chains here. The fallen load was probably tied down correctly but the force was enough to break pieces of the trailer, probably not the chains themselves.

Jack’s first grayling

You’d think that someone would start small and work up to a 75 pound salmon but Jack does it the opposite way.  When coming to Alaska years ago he caught the huge salmon first and then is working down and crossing the small fish off his list as he goes.

This summer he got his first Arctic Grayling.  Six to be exact.  We kept the first few and cooked them for dinner, but they were a bit mushy and muddy tasting, at least compared to the beautiful trout we’ve been getting.  From now on we’ll catch and release grayling.

Arctic Grayling are actually endangered in the lower 48.  In Alaska though they are quite abundant.

Here are some photos from our late summer Steese Highway camping trip and Jack’s first grayling.  Click on the first one and scroll to the right for the best viewing.  Hope you all had a great summer.

You can’t get a better camping spot than this one right by the river.
Jack trying to remember how to tie a leader onto the line.
Beautiful (and effective) beaver dam right next door.
There it is, his first grayling.
We were saddened to see that this one never got to deposit its eggs.
Two fully intact snails in the grayling’s stomach!
More fishing.
Another grayling.
Jack’s wife, me, enjoying the sun.
Jack next to his beauty of a firepit.
Nature’s beer cooler.
Ready for a lovely dinner. Better get close to the campfire though, it’s chilly.

 

 

Fairbanks is saved by the dam…again!

Recently Fairbanks and the surrounding areas have been getting a lot of rain.  So when Jack and I visited the Chena Dam the other day the floodgates had been lowered in order to prevent high water from flowing downstream toward Fairbanks.  This results in the river backing up into the reservoir area behind the dam but saves Fairbanks as it has many times since it was built almost 40 years ago.

Dermot Cole of Alaska Dispatch News wrote in 2014 when the floodgates were lowered then that Fairbanks’ “most effective flood insurance policy … takes the form of an unusual dam with four 30-ton gates that operate like giant garage doors, stemming the flow of high water when the river rises. The floodgates are one element in an extensive federal flood control project that cost a quarter-billion dollars by the time of its completion in 1979.”

Click on the first photo and scroll to the right to read the captions.

This is the reservoir (floodway) that is now filled because the floodgates were lowered.
A little bit of green is still above water.
That’s our rig in the parking lot where you can access the top of the levee.
This shows Jack standing on the 7 mile long “Moose Creek Dam,” the levee.
The floodgates are in the top right corner of this map. We were a mile or two away from them on what’s labeled here as the Moose Creek Dam, the long straight levee that leads to the Tanana River. Map from US Army Corps of Engineers.
Here are the floodgates.
Another map, also from the US Army Corps of Engineers website. It shows a more realistic perspective of the whole setup.
On the opposite bank there’s debris that’s been picked out of the water on the other side of the floodgates.
Looking toward Fairbanks.
This is a terrific area with tons of biking/walking trails, boat rentals, a beach, camping, etc. There are day use volunteer hosts who take care of this lovely place.
Not everyone gets to see the floodgates being used on such a beautiful day. We’d be willing to bet that most Fairbanksans haven’t even been here.
From top to bottom they say: “Tanana River 40 miles”, “Yukon River 250 miles” and “Spawning Grounds next 35 miles.” Kings actually run through here as well as chum salmon and you can view them from the floodgates when they finally get here from the ocean each summer. I love the artwork but the salmon look more like silvers and pinks than kings and chum. 🙂
Now we’re on the other side of the floodgates looking down to the reservoir.
Volunteers maintain this area for wildlife, cutting hay, putting up nest boxes, burning to keep the brush low.
Not all of the hay got moved before the flood.
The sign shows the high water mark which was in 1992, the only time overflow water made it all the way to the Tanana River.
This is the side of the Chena River floodgates where water is building up and you can see tons of debris that has to be picked out by the crane. They sometimes offer it to the public for firewood.
This dam handles water coming from 1500 square miles of drainage.
According to adn.com, Fairbanks used to flood every 5th spring or so and this was actually desired so that barges could make it farther upstream. Fairbanks was founded by PT Barnette when he was stranded because of low water and a year later he struck gold.
At the end of a walkway that juts into the floodway someone has placed a beautiful memorial bench to someone named Joyce.

For more info:  a slideshow on the Army Corp website and this pamphlet for a little more in depth information.

 

 

Before and during forest fire photos

A few weeks ago Jack and I went north on the Steese Highway to camp for a few days.  When we got there it was a normal clear day but dense smoke rolled in later in the weekend and luckily we were on our way out.  The road we were on, US Creek Road, gave us a good view of the hillside and one fire.  A helicopter was scoping it out but you can’t see it very well in the photos.  Later the road was closed by BLM.  There’s a couple of Jack fishing shots too.  The grayling weren’t biting but I think Jack could’ve kept trying for hours….well he did actually.  To view them at the correct size, click on the top one and scroll to the right.

It was a beautiful day when we drove in.
You often have things all to yourself in the White Mountains.
In the next photo you’ll see a forest fire on this hillside.
Forest fire, courtesy of a lightning strike the night before.
After a night of thunderstorms several fires had been set by lightning, and as we found out later, similar had happened all over Alaska.
US Creek Road is on the right.
This is a previously burned area in front of a smoky hillside.
Here’s Jack fishing for grayling with smoke in the background.
Arctic Grayling have a large blue spotted fin on top which Jack snapped a good shot of with his phone.

 

Photos from a past hauling job

Here are some miscellaneous photos that Jack took a couple of years back at a marine dock in Valdez.  He was there in May of 2012, hauling items for the railroad bridge that’s now finished (although there aren’t tracks leading to or away from it).

Pipe Hammering Device

The above piece is part of the hammer used to drive pilings into the ground.  For bridge foundations in this case.

Pipe roller

This is used to put pipe on so it can roll while being welded together.

Miscellaneous items in marine yardThese are miscellaneous items  used on the bridge job.

Pipe rollerAnother pipe roller.

Piling Driving DeviceJack says this stands on end and the large circular piece drives down into the hole and onto a piling.

Piling driving deviceThis is the hammer that pounds a piling, Jack thinks it’s for 24 inch pipe.

The large circular device in back should be for the large pipe in the far background.

Miscellaneous marine yard items24 inch pipe in back of some other items.

Marine yard miscellaneous itemsSheet piling (which gets pounded into the ground to create an embankment) and miscellaneous steel items.

Six foot pipe in ValdezSix foot diameter pipe that most people can walk though without bending over.

Six Foot Diameter PipeMore six foot diameter pipe with shipping containers in the background.

I must say this marine yard is a tad more attractive than most, surrounded by beautiful mountains and all!

Have a wonderful day and thanks to those of you who follow this blog and make comments. 🙂

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Yearling Moose

Sorry for not posting for such a long time!  I often ask Jack to take more photos on the road but he’s too busy trucking!  So you’re stuck with a few photos of this lovely young moose chomping on willows.

Yearling Moose

She was really feasting up a storm on Chena Hot Springs Road yesterday.

Yearling Moose

She’s stripping the leaves off the willow branches.

Yearling Moose eating willowAnd doing a thorough job of it!

Yearling Moose eating willow

I bet you didn’t know Moose could open their mouths that wide!  (Just kidding, that’s just her lip I think, but it looks funny.)

Yearling Moose

Here she is being alert.  She is actually quite small for a moose that is without a mother.  I’m sure she’s a yearling and probably only about 4 1/2 feet at the shoulder (wild guess!).  (Calling her a “she” is also a guess.)

Yearling Moose

Have a nice day everyone!

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Transportation Art by Christy Hollibone

We want to share this great artwork by Alaskan Christy Hollibone.  You’ll see Jack on the far right and next to him are truckers Tony (left) and Phil (middle).

Transportation Art by Christy Hollibone

We especially like this one too:

Transportation Art by Christy Hollibone

To see more of her transportation art and excellent images of trucks, go to the Moments in Time Art Studio webpage.

Happy November to everyone!

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Of Squirrels & Moose Antlers

We’ve never heard of this before but there’s a squirrel around here who likes to scrape the tines off of moose antlers!

Tips of tines scraped off moose antlersSeveral times over the summer we heard a mysterious scraping sound coming from the area where Jack’s moose antlers are stored in the woods. We knew the resident squirrel was up to something and sure enough, when we inspected the antlers a few days ago, the tips were scraped off the tines!  Jack says he thinks it’s the squirrel sharpening his teeth and you can actually find a couple of references to this on the internet.  (Here is a link to a video of a squirrel sharpening its teeth on some other kind of antlers, in some other part of the country.  Our squirrel looks much different, smaller and more orange-red. It could be that the squirrel is getting some kind of nutrient from them too and in the video it almost looks like the squirrel is eating the bits of antler.)

Jack's moose antlers

Jack hopes to get a chance to replace the antlers this hunting season!

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