North to Alaska - July 12 - 21, 2012

This is the last summer of my "two year" (4 summers!) NSF grant to study adaptation, or lack of same, of tundra plants in response to climate change, a substantial issue in Alaska, and in the arctic generally.  We re-visited two 30 y old transplant gardens set up in the late 70's/early 80's to re-measure the plants and examine sorting of genotypes along gradients by natural selection.  This has been a wonderful project, not only because of the science, but because of the opportunity to reunite with some of my favorite past collaborators and students - Ned Fetcher, Gus Shaver, Terry Chapin, Milan Vavrek, and Cindy Bennington, and introduce them to WVU grad students (Sara Souther, Zach Fowler, Jessica Turner, Jennifer Chandler) and a group of undergrads from Wilkes Univ, Stetson Univ, and Glenville State College.  This year, the crew consisted of Ned, Milan, Jessica, Jennifer and me.

Last summer was our 'big harvest' of cottongrass tussocks.  This year, we were focusing on 'my' plant, Dryas octopetala (see picture below). [reminder; you can click on the pictures to make them bigger - recommended esp for the wildlife shots]

We did several sets of studies: (a) re-measuring tagged shoots on plants for a 'demographic' model of shoot populations (repeating something I had done as a PhD student), (b) taking aerial photographs of the transplants, (c) measuring photosynthesis and respiration on them, (d) repeating a harvest of 'fellfield' vegetation done in 1977 to see if that vegetation zone had changed overall in the past 35 y, and (e) documenting the establishment of multiple genotypes in a disturbed area to show 'release' from selection.  I'll spare you the details of all of these, but suffice it to say, we got a lot of science done, thanks in no small part to being able to stay at Mile 101 camp, and to the hard work of the entire crew.

Mile 101 camp is one of the stops along the Yukon Quest sled dog race ($200,000 purse!); considered by some to be the toughest dogsled race in the world (even exceeding the Iditarod, due to cold and rough conditions).  Here's one of the thermometers on the side of a cabin...

After working hard for 4+ days, we treated ourselves to 2 days in Denali National Park.

I'll let the pictures do most of the talking...

Day 1; Great day for wildlife photography, and a 6 mile hike.

For those who have been to Denali, you know the 'thing' to do is to hop on a shuttle bus and take the trip into the park because you can't drive your personal vehicle.  We had tickets for the first bus of the day to Eielson Visitor center (2/3 of the way to Wonder Lake).  We planned to go on a hike and explore a new area of the park somewhere near Eielson.  The first 30 miles or so was rather dull and we saw little in the way of wildlife.  Then, suddenly we began seeing them in abundance!

A magnificent female grizzly and 2 cubs cavorting in the willows near the bus.

There were too many clouds to see 'the mountain' (typical of 95% of the days in the park!), but at Eielson, we discovered our planned hiking route blocked by another griz, who was hunting ground squirrels above the road:

So we hiked along the road for a couple of miles, all the while keeping a wary eye on this bear.  S/he kept his/her distance, and we eventually veered off the road up over a ridge toward a remote valley.  In less than a mile or so, we found a knoll and ate lunch where we watched as a moose warily ascended from the creek bottom about 200 yards away, then settled down for an afternoon nap.

After lunch we ascended a ridge to a high point and looked down into the mini-canyon formed by the stream.  There were some nice wildflowers, though this is not the high time of the year for them.  Need to be here in June for the real show.

Here's Ned Fetcher hiking up the ridge.

And Jessica posing over the canyon.

On the bus ride back, we saw more bears, and this female caribou acting crazy, snorting and running.  Our bus driver explained that this is in response to attempts by parasitic flies to lay eggs in its nostrils.  I think I'd snort and run too!

Also on the bus ride, we happened upon these Dall sheep in their usual habitat high up in the rocks, hiding out from wolves.

Then the bus turned a corner and encountered these boys...in the road.  They seemed like 20-something guys at a bar trying to decide what to do and where to go next...I can't cull the photos much - their expressions are just wonderful.

Then last but not least for Day 1...well, maybe they were least, in size at least, were the pikas, pointed out by our astute bus driver - a retired military guy with long hair, a raspy voice, and a wry sense of humor, who enjoyed pointing out the less-noticed critters, like grayling, and pika.

Well, Day 2 we weren't sure whether to hike or go all the way to Eielson and hope the view might be worth it.  The weather soon answered that question as the skies began to clear, the fog began to lift, and the mountains in the distance began to loom.  We decided, despite our wandering instincts, to stay on the bus and hope for a view.  We were soon rewarded, and the expressions on my students' faces as we topped a certain knoll en route to Eielson confirmed that we had made the right choice.

It was truly an awe-inspiring scene.

[click to make larger!]

There it was.  Denali (aka Mt. McKinley) in all its glory.

Just to prove we were there:

Now this would have been a sufficient be-all and end-all to a great trip, but when we got to Eielson, for me personally, this scene was augmented further by the presence of a glorious pair of golden eagles performing an aerial ballet IN FRONT OF DENALI!  One of those, 'you cannot be serious', 'are you kidding me?' 'I cannot believe what I am seeing right now' moments.  The pictures tell the story.

The only way to end this entry is with an image of 'The Great One'...