Updated:
April 16, 2010

SnowSTAR-2010

The traverse reached the mid way point at Anatuvuk on April 8th, where Henry and Tom Douglas have switched places. We received the latest dispatch from Henry Huntington which is loaded with fantastic pictures. These series of photos highlight the different types of ice formations and animal tracks that were seen along the trails. As with all long days of field work, you never know where conversations will take you, it appears the team is taking the poetic approach. Two poems were also sent for our enjoyment.

April 9, 2010:

ICE

Traveling on snow at the end of winter, we expect to see ice. But it’s always amazing how many kinds of ice we see. Here are a few examples:

A block of ice pushed up in the middle of the Tanana River

Smooth ice along the banks of the Yukon River, with jumbled ice across the rest of the river channel

The Tozi River, covered with fresh ice and no snow

A big section of blue ice pushed up from below, higher than the rest of the Alatna River, and very slippery as Henry shows by sliding across

An overhanging icicle from the top of a cliff on Unakserak Creek

And of course the biggest problem, an occasional lack of ice!

Tracks

One of the wonderful things about snow is that you can see everything that has walked by. Here are a few of the tracks we saw:

A wolf, next to Henry’s size 12 bunny boot.

A snowshoe hare, going away from us.

A lynx, which likes to eat snowshoe hares. Notice how well it floats on the snow—the tracks are only an inch or two deep, even though the snow is very soft and fluffy.

A brown bear. Notice how big and deep the prints are.

Lots of ptarmigan tracks in a willow stand.

A ptarmigan being caught or dragged by a much larger bird, whose wings leave the distinctive tracks on either side. (We saw what was left of the ptarmigan at the end of this trail …)

Snow, Snow, Everywhere

(Matthew’s favorite children’s book is “The Cat in the Hat Comes Back,” by Dr. Seuss, which opens with deep, deep, deep snow. That was the inspiration for this poetic effort on the trail …)

Snow, snow, everywhere
Everywhere we go
Everything is covered
In the white, white snow.

There is much to learn
So much more to know
Let us go find out
All about the snow.

How much snow is out there?
Is it very deep?
Let’s wander woods and meadows
With a thing that makes a beep.

Step, step, step,
Beep, beep, beep.
We have done so many
We hear them in our sleep.

Hard snow, soft snow
Old snow and new
Many tiny crystals
That into big ones grew.

Through the many layers,
Shovel out a pit.
Take a picture, weigh a sample,
Look at every bit.

Snow is frozen water,
Fluffed up full of air.
How much water is there,
With what does it compare?

Stick a tube into the snow
And weigh the core you take.
Divide the weight by volume,
An answer you will make.

Put them all together,
All these things we’ve learned,
They give us lots of reasons
For all the gas we’ve burned.

SnowSTAR* 2010

*Sturm’s Neighborhood Operation With Sicilian Tactics and Reasoning

(We carry computers and a generator for our scientific work, with the additional perk that we can watch movies in the tent at night for a little respite from the trail. This year, Jon brought along the complete set of “The Godfather” movies, which inspired many jokes as well as this poetic recap (best in a Brooklyn accent) of the first half of the trip. Making the so-called rhymes with the places we went kept Henry busy for much of the drive into Anaktuvuk Pass … )

Now listen to the Sturm Family news--
It’s an offer you cannot refuse.

We left on a mission from Fairbanks
And I can tell you we weren’t packin’ blanks.

Matthew’s cover is studyin’ snow.
What he really does—you don’t wanna know.

John Burch is an expert wit’ tracks.
He’s tailin’ you, you never relax.

Jon Holmgren they call “da mechanic.”
He’ll fix you a right state o’ panic.

Henry—he don’t seem too vicious.
But cross him, you sleep wit’ da fishes.

Our first stop was there in Nenana.
When we left—they knew who was top banana.

We expected some trouble in Manley.
We solved it with our drill, name o’ Stanley.

Then to the banks of the Yukon,
For a couple o’ jobs that we took on.

In the trees of the ol’ Dagoshlennik,
We MagnaProbed a skull dat was too thick.

At the cabin on the east side o’ Big Lake—
Let’s just say we iced dat cake.

We stopped in to see Allakaket,
To make sure of our share o’ da racket.

To da Black Spruce Gang on da Alatna,
We said, “ You get in our way, we flatten ya!”

We took us a shortcut through Lake Iniakuk
Where we stopped in to get us some good luck.

On the overflow of the Unakserak
We showed that wit’ an axe we have a certain knack.

Then through April and July Creeks
The traitor, he sees us, he freaks.

At a domestic dispute on Lake Chandler,