On Thursday, May 24th, the second to last day of our trip, we traveled into Denali National Park. At 9:00 AM, we got on our bus that would take us around 53 miles to Toklat. Round trip it was a trip that takes approximately six and a half hours to complete. It was amazing. The vistas there were like nothing else I had ever seen. It did evoke a similar emotion in me as the Southern Alps of New Zealand do, but the Alaskan mountains have a stateliness all to their own.

We also saw a huge amount of wildlife while there, much more than I expected. The sheer number of ptarmigan there was overwhelming, we counted at least eighty, but we must have seen a hundred or more. The flora is pretty consistent in Alaska, but as far as fauna goes for the most part we had only really seen ptarmigan, mosquitos, some really distant caribou, and some moose (which were huge and amazing and I love them). The famous Alaskan brown bear had yet to be seen. Until today at least. We saw I think seven it was on our excursion deep into the Denali National Park wilderness. Alongside that, add an extra nine caribou, bringing our caribou sightings up to around twelve or thirteen total. What I loved the most though were the moose. The first thing we saw when we began our drive in was a cow and her calf casually grazing alongside the road, and how beautiful they were. Moose are truly amazing creatures, they’re so large and powerful, but yet so calm and majestic. At least to me! We also saw a few other animals, a porcupine, a short-eared owl, a pika, and plenty of ground squirrels.

After the ride, we returned to the Denali park commons, Robert and I watched a movie about Denali wildlife and some safety tips to keep in mind around them. Very informative. After, we waited outside on Prof. Jackson and some others. Once we were ready, we left and returned to the hostel which we were staying at. Some people had decided to go on a hike in the park, so when Prof. Jackson went back to get them, Robert and I started a campfire in the pit at the hostel. When Craig returned, the group split in half, Craig and I and a few others going to Panorama, my favourite pizzeria/pub in Alaska. We hung out, and I met a super cool dude named Wilson, and when we came back we all hung out by the fire until we went to bed. I love Alaska.

(I guess it was really day two, but this was the first day in Fairbanks.) To begin, I am already late. At least I am not alone. Armando and I were left at the hotel, everyone had already left for breakfast. So we had to walk. Armando decided to take the lead, giving directions. Perhaps not the best choice, as we took a wrong turn and walked for ten or so minutes in the completely wrong direction. We turned around and finally arrived at the Bakery Restaurant, where I ordered a delicious Eggs Benedict, the same as Dr. Jackson. It was delicious. We then went to Safeway to get rations for the upcoming few days.

We returned to the hotel, and at 12:30 pm, we left to go to the CRREL Permafrost Tunnel. Our tour guide, Mikhail was our tour guide, and the resident dog scientist was Ruby Tuesday. We descended about 18 meters below the ground to view ancient fossils (woolly mammoths, etc.). The ice wedges were of particular interest. The air had a distinct odor.

After, we left at around half past two, we went to visit the historical Chatanika Gold Dredge. Armando and I explored the abandoned, burned down ginormous machine. It was truly fantastic. The rusted holding tanks, littered with beer cans and bottles that lined the ladder landing, had great reverberating acoustics. We climbed up the various components of the machine. Armando got all the way to the top of the central plateau. Very fun indeed. Afterwards, I ate my lunch quite hastily as we left to go to visit the Alaskan Pipeline. On our way, we stopped at an outlook. There was an abandoned home with just the foundation, chimney, and one lonely chair remaining. We stopped and took pictures of some sparse mountains far in the distance, then moved on to the next location.

When we got to the Alaskan Pipeline, we learned about the radical advancements in pipeline engineering that were necessary in the development of the pipeline, the largest in North America. We skipped rocks on the creek that ran adjacent to the pipeline. Aidan nearly knocked me out with a misaimed toss, as we were trying to throw rocks through the pipe under the bridge that ran across the creek. After we left the pipeline, we returned to the hotel to relax before heading out for dinner. We went to the Silver Gulch. I ordered a Shirley Temple, which was nostalgic in itself, while we conversed about our favourite things. I got I.P.A. battered fish and sea salt fries and it was delicious. Then, we returned to the hotel, and Armando, Aidan, and I went for a walk downtown at around ten thirty. We saw a beaver under a bridge on our way back. Then, finally, we went to bed.

It was a beautiful Monday morning, May 21^st, the first part of that day we spent hiking along the river to the pretty waterfall that was up in the mountains. It was a pretty challenging walk because the trail was right through the river so rocks were pretty slippery; I fell and filled my shoes with water twice, and ice sheets that were left from winter could not have been really trusted (p.s. never try to impress others by amazing hiking skills as it most likely will not go well haha). However, all of this was worth it as a hike was pretty adventurous, we were surrounded by lovely views and a really nice weather and some surprises, such as a hare’s skull that I was able to find right next to the trail.

The trail on the river

My friend walking on the the last snow left from the winter

After the really nice but challenging walk our group got back into the lodge we stayed in. We were almost exhausted, however, some of us still could not stay inside and really wanted to explore the area of the Black Rapids at that awesome nice sunny day. Our amazing charming hosts Annie told us that there was a gorgeous path that began right behind her lodge. She said that it was a way to the top of the mountain with gorgeous views of valleys, mountain ranges, and even a glacier. The glacier became shorter in the last thirty years Annie was a resident here, but still can be seen with binoculars. However, she said if we decide to go up we should never look back until we rich a top… later we understood why. The strongest maybe even the craziest people of the group, proudly can say I am one of those people, have decided to go and see how awesome the view actually was. We began our new hiking adventure with the same trail as before, however, turned earlier into the deep forests. The first part of the way was hard with a really uphill slope, so many of us ran out of breath pretty quickly. Although the path became easier later, knew struggles began as we lost the trail and were not sure where to go. Few people got initiative to go and find the path through woods but they got back pretty quickly as it was really hard to go through boreal fulfilled with pine and spruces trees woods. We had to come back to the place where we were sure the trial was right. Some of us already thought that we have got lost and would have to come back to the lodge without seeing pretty views.

Going to the top of the mountain

We got lost

After some time we finally found the way up, Hooray! Continuing to go up, we did what Annie told us and did not look back. After approximately 50 minutes of going up we saw that the highest point was very close and we became motivated and recharged again. And few minutes later we were there at the SUMMIT! I do not have enough and right words to describe a view opened to us from the top – it was breathtaking!!! Annie was right that the view to overlook the area would be the best from here. All of us took lots of pictures. After celebrating our achievement to get to the place we hardly can imagine down in valley, we rewarded ourselves with some snacks, when we have realized that it was time to go back.

It was a beautiful hike with some challenges but with unforgettable emotions and pictures that will remind me of the amazing time I had in Alaska. I am very glad that I took this course and was able to see amazing flora and fauna of the “last frontier” and met and spent time with really cool people. I want to thank Dr. Jackson and Dr. Anderson for organizing this great trip. I appreciate all their help, advises and knowledge that they shared with me and other people of our group.

Me enjoying the beauty of Alaska

Leia and I are happy to be here

Waking up this morning, knowing that our trip has come to an end was a bit sad, although, some people seemed very ready to get home. We packed our bags, packed the vans up, and headed towards Healy to get to the NEON data collection site. Once we got there, we had a tour of the phenology site that monitors three different species which are the top three species that show an abundance in this particular site.The first plant NEON data collectors look for is the Betula Nana/Glandulosa – they look at the breaking leaf buds.

The second plant is the Labrador Tea – just as the Betula Nana/Glandulosa, the Labrador Tea is looked at the breaking leaf buds.

The third is the very well-known White Spruce – they check whether or not the needle buds are breaking and if so, if they are young needles.

We walked around the half mile perimeter while observing these three species. Two things that were extremely interesting that our group noticed is that how little White Spruce there were and that the Labrador Tea wasn’t as ripe compared to the Labrador Tea we have seen throughout the past week.

We then walked back to check the flux tower and hut. The flux tower measures multiple different variables such as wind speed, wind direction, in-bound and out-bound radiation, wind speed and wind direction in three dimensions, precipitation. The levels of the flux tower depend on the canopies. – each level of measurement pulls different types of validation gas and is analyzed in the hut. An example of analysis used by NEON data analysts from the measurements is to look at what concentration of water and carbon dioxide are on each level.  We also saw pipes and devices in a particular area that measures the soil carbon dioxide concentration, soil temperature, soil water content, photosynthetic active radiation, and more.

Because our class discussed a lot about atmospheric heat transportation and used the weather tower in Paxson as a practice to collect data (which the tower measure wind speed, wind direction, and temperature), it was extremely pleasing to see this on a larger scale. We had a discussion and reflection on how combining the two classes were. Although I thought that it was more biology, today’s NEON research site was an integration of what both classes learned. It was a great way to end our traveling learning course.

A closeup on the beautiful clear water.

To start off an amazing day at Blackrapids lodge, we began with a nice and light breakfast of pancakes, seasoned potatoes, orange juice, and some fruits.  After we packed a small lunch, we hiked up the trail to see the waterfall.  There was some treacherous trails, loose rocks, muddy soil, and thin sheets of glaciers that were a challenge to climb.  We then had a quick lunch break.  I had a Cliff’s Protein bar and seven slices of ham.  We resumed our hike to the top of the waterfall.  At the summit, we had a couple of group photos before we hiked back down.  On the way back, I slipped four times.  Each time, water filled my boots.

This is one of place where I slipped on the rock and water filled my boots.

This is the summit of the waterfall.

This is Annie’s cabin, a couple miles down the road from the lodge itself.

In the afternoon, I was supposed to go on the optional hike, but since my boots were soaking wet, I decided to cancel on the trip.  Thanks to Annie, our host, she invited me to go on a hike to her cabin, a few miles down the road and a half hour hike up the hills.  However, we did not anticipate that the snow would be knee-high since Annie presumed that most of the snow has already melted.  About a third of the way to the cabin, she has some doubts on whether all this effort to tread through the snow is worth it just to see the cabin.  However, I told her it is worth the climb up the hill.  Soon enough after more snow treading, we made it up to the cabin!  My first thought was about the cabin being not completed.  It seems like it was still under construction.  My next observation was that the knobs on both doors are chopped off.  We went inside the cabin, and Annie described her peace and her memories of the cabin and shared it with me.  We went upstairs to experience the stillness.  After fifteen minutes of silence, I felt relaxed and I understood what Annie was telling me.  Sometimes, after a long day, peaceful silence is needed to recharge.

This is the view from the second floor inside Annie’s cabin.

We headed back to her standard transmission Toyota pickup truck.  Since I told her that I wanted to learn how to drive stick, she offered to teach me after we headed back to the BlackRapid lodge.  Before she gave me any lessons or tips, I had already understood some basics because I will get a standard transmission as my first car after I graduate.  After she gave me some basic instructions, I had my first experience with a standard transmission.  I thought I was supposed to feel the sweet spot of the clutch pedal.  However, without fully engaging on the clutch, I was not able to get the car moving.  I then shoved my foot all the way onto the clutch pedal, shifted into first gear from neutral, and slowly released the clutch while putting pressure onto the gas pedal.  Before I knew it, I got the car to move!  I was a little bit confused because I was not able to tell the difference whether I shifted the gear into the third gear or the fifth gear.  After several trials, I was able to differentiate between them by listening the sound the engine puts out after shifting gears.  Though I did not stall the engine my first time, I did eventually stall the engine after moving from a stop.  I disengaged the clutch pedal too suddenly.  After a few rounds of driving stick, we headed back to BlackRapid lodge.

I had gotten a room upgraded from a broken uncomfortable couch to my own room, my own bed, and my own bathroom.  I was really touched by Annie’s effort to make my experience as best as possible.  Right before dinner was served, I was award the Golden Egg Award, an award acknowledges me for not giving up and trying something completely new.  I was very honored to receive the award.  After dinner, Annie and I went for my second stick shift lesson outside the BlackRaipd lodge.  Though I stalled a bit more than the first lesson, my gear shifting was much smoother, and I had acquired more knowledge about shifting.  We took a turn down the road towards the river.  We both mistaken a bunch of pipes as bison.  I drove back to the lodge, where I had multiple stalls from parking into the spot.  After Annie left the parking to me as she went inside the lodge, I tried two more times and finally succeeded  in parking the truck.  I felt so relieved and accomplished in learning to drive stick.  I was and am very thankful to Annie, who gave me the first two lessons in standard transmission.

This is the standard transmission Toyota pickup truck I drove. The picture was taken from my upgraded room.

Our first Alaskan Friday, May 18^th, our group spent visiting the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), where the first thing to give us goose bums was the view from the campus at gorgeous mountains of the Alaskan range. The first part of the day was dedicated to mathematics and related to math topics. Few professors, whose papers we have read earlier in the class, gave talks on the areas of their studies. One of the most exciting talks for me was by Dr. Vladimir Alexeev. He focused on describing how changes in Arctic area, such as declined sea ice and warm wind storms, have affect on the lower 48 (this is how Alaskan call states that locate on a lower continental part of America), causing cold mid-latitude winters. Warm winter events, winter days when temperature can reach up to 14 degrees Fahrenheit, are a normal part of Arctic, however, they become more frequent and last longer than they did even few decades ago.

View from UAF campus at the Alaskan range

After the talk I was pretty impressed by the information we learned and so I decided to find out more about it. I looked at NASA website that stated that fall and winter are crucial times for Arctic as sea ice grows and becomes thicker at this time, that’s why any increased winter air temperatures can impede ice growth and accelerate the effects of global warming. Few studies by Geophysical Research Lettersshowed that since 1980 an additional warming events occur each winter at the North Pole; and average length of each event has grown from fewer than two days to nearly two and a half days. Another important finding from 2015-2016 is the increase in temperature to nearly 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit from the previous winter (NASA Official, 2017).

After some homemade lunch, it was time for biology students to have fun and for us, math students, to learn about boreal forest and plants that can be found here. We had a tour by Teressa and Katie, field scientists whose papers our tour mates had read at the biology class. They guided us through woods of campus, showing and teaching about various plants of the Alaskan boreal forest. I don’t know almost anything about native species of plants so I found it pretty interesting to learn new things such as differences between white and black spruce, identification of Labrador tea, and a chance to try some cranberries that were hidden between leaves and moss.  After some time of walking, we came into a part of forest that was not touched by humans. It was an area covered with a thick layer of moss, small bushes, and pretty short and thin spruces. Katie and Teressa prepared a challenge for us that required us to dig into the ground until the permafrost layer or layer of ground that would be equal to 0^o C. Using scientific equipment, my group was finally able to drill into the ground after really tiring work as the ground contained ice practices and was really hard to work with. It took us approximately 30-40cm to reach the layer that was equal to 0 degrees Celsius. After that we also collected some information about spruces in that area. Due to small size and diameter of trees, we all assumed that these trees were pretty young, however, data collected by drilling into the trees’ outer and inter cores showed that these trees were approximately 80 years old and it was concluded by our group that the size was effected by small amount of nutrients in the ground and a cold climate.

Moss

Drilling the ground to find permafrost layer

Collecting spruce age data

Right after that we went to another area of the woods that was affected by human activity earlier in time. In the beginning of 20^thcentury, agricultural department of the UAF decided to conduct few experiments and convert the boreal ground into farming land. When we got into that area of the woods it was hard to say that we walked only for 2 minutes and just crossed a road. The area looked completely different: dry, no moss or spruce, and only birch trees. However, the biggest difference was in the ground landscape as it consisted of a lot of small hills. We conducted same experiments as at the previous stop. However, drilling here was much easier and after some time of drilling we gave up as we drilled more than a meter downwards and temperature did not really change from the surface layer temperature of approximately 20 degrees Celsius.

Hilly birch forest

Later Katie and Teressa told us why there is such a big differences in two areas that initially were alike but became so different after human activities. Moss is an important factor of a boreal forest. When it covers the surface, it protects the permafrost layer in the ground, keeping it cool and absorbing sunlight. And when people took the covering moss layer, ice ridges in the ground began to melt causing the formation of the hills.

Bright and early on Sunday morning, we packed up our cars and left Fairbanks. We drove through some fast-food restaurants (still in Fairbanks, still civilization), then onto a road with forests after forests (with occasional homes) and stopped at an abandoned gas station. After this break, the farther from Fairbanks we got, the more we left civilization. All along were beautiful views after beautiful views of the mountain and glaciers that we had to stop to take photos. We were in the middle of absolutely no where! The closest store felt as if it was 50 miles away and it probably was. It was absolutely breathtaking to be the only people out here, appreciating how beautiful the mountains are.

We then continued our drive to the lodge and once we arrived, all of the girls in the “Mystery Machine” screamed at how beautiful the view is from the lodge. We look out and all we see are mountains after mountains, glaciers after glaciers, forest after forest – nothing else – absolutely stunning views. The whole reason coming to Paxson was to collect data. Twenty-four-hours worth of data on the weather does not do much; however, we need to experience how data collectors set up their equipment. By using a weather tower, we can measure weather temperature, wind speed, and wind direction.

We had a test run of setting up the project in Fairbanks, which was the first time we have ever touched the device. However, we all worked to get by starting to put the poles together for the base, adding a device at the very top that collects the three variables and we also put a device that stores the data. We left the first weather tower, facing perpendicular to the glacier, to measure the temperature, wind speed, and wind direction in order to compare results with the glacier.

We then started to head to the glacier. Gulkana Glacier was decided to use for our data because it is supposedly an easily accessible glacier; however, the amount of snow made it extremely difficult. We walked through thigh high snow for about an hour; some turned around in 20 minutes due to the intensity of the snow. For those who did stay on the walk took some fun photos! We were all exhausted and soaked after our mini-trek. We got back to the historic lodge and had a great lasagna and salad dinner!

The Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) group gave us a tour of a river on May 17, 2018. This group records data from many sights over long periods of time because the longer the collection period, the more useful the data. They brought 4 boats and had 4 researchers to drive the boats. My tour guide was Mark, the vegetation expert who knew all of the plants and mosses. I was really excited about the ability to learn about the different flora of Alaska. Along our boat ride, we made some cool stops to see some awesome wildlife, in particular a peregrine falcon which was nesting on the side of a mountain. The peregrine falcon is the fastest animal on earth, reaching up to 200 mph on the hunt. It was too far away for me to grab a picture, but some others in the class may have gotten some.

The falcon nest on the cliff face was at the bottom of ring of juniper shrubs. We actually have species of juniper in Ohio, but back home it exists as a full tree. The species in Alaska is only found on the sides of steep cliffs which don’t retain much water. The area we were traveling in was also not affected by glaciers during the last ice age, so the juniper and a few other species in the area may be refuge species which therefore have really old genes. By contrast, the glaciers did reach Columbus, which resulted in the relatively flat areas which contain some species carried south by glaciers, such as Eastern hemlock.

Along the way in the boats, Mark pointed out a white line where the water line usually is during the summer. As the temperature increases, glaciers melt and feed into the river, raising the water level. When we made our first real stop, we landed at a place where there weren’t many plants – just a sandbar. At some point, there was a step up into a scarce plant area. These were mostly sandbar willow (Salix exigua), which can be found around the Delaware Run. The step up was created by the build up of silt over time by the tide. Willow is the first step in primary succession -> turning ground with no previous plants into soil. It is a nitrogen fixer, putting essential nutrients into the silt and building up a bit of a biolayer. All of the willow was snipped at the same height as the snow cover because the snowshoe hairs came and ate whatever was above them.

We took another step up and went through a wall of shrub known as alder (Alnus viridis). Alder is the next stage in succession, and takes root once the ground is more solidified and nutrient fed, where it is responsible for creating about 98% of the nitrogen in the soil. It also creates a lot of leaf litter, which recycles plant nutrients back to the soil and builds up more of a biolayer. Just inside the wall was balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera). The leaves on these were not fully out yet, and as a result were sticky and smelled good.

The next spot for succession was the white spruce forest. White spruce (Picea glauca) usually grows in the understory of alder/poplar and at some point overtakes them. Alder is not very shade resistant, so when the spruce become taller, alder tend to die out. White spruce does not have the red hairs on it, but is otherwise commonly found around Alaska. This part of the forest starts to have a developed bed layer, mainly of feather moss. It also has a lot of rose thorns and mosquitoes. This area we were being shown was originally used as plots for fertilizer tests to see which nutrients were limiting the growth of plants. The ground at this point wasn’t really leaf litter, mostly feather moss.

Next, we landed at the black spruce (Picea mariana) forest. This was a non-vascular wonderland. There were many different kinds of mosses, likely created by the trapping of moisture. we learned to distinguish between sphagnum moss and feather moss. Within a handful of moss, Mark found about 4-5 different species of moss, the only one I really remember being liverwort. The only other tree species we saw was larch, also known as tamarack (Larix laricina), which can be found in Ohio as well. Many black spruce had a lichen on them called Old Man’s beard, which really looked like hair. Additionally, we found some reindeer lichen and another species where the only difference was a slight discoloration. My theory for the transition from white to black spruce is that once the white spruce have grown they have used all of the resources and then the black spruce are able to take root due to their resilience in a harsh environment. Underneath the black spruce was definite permafrost, only a couple centimeters below the surface.

Finally, we visited the site for secondary succession -> where a fire occurred and new growth was sprouting. This particular area was dominated by paper birch (Betula papyrifera) which was only about shoulder height. The ground had a lot of water, but not too many species of moss or anything. There was a lot of dead fireweed, which spawns initially after a fire. This area was a huge data collection site because it had data from before the fire. A lot of current research is focusing on what determines the kind of forest which spawns post-fire.

Boat ride

Sand bar, no plants yet

White spruce forest, with feather moss

Post-fire area

The abandoned ship we were supposed to ride. 😉

On our first Thursday here, we had a boat ride through the Alaskan river.  We had seen the primary succession and the secondary succession.  The primary succession starts off when the ground is void of nutrients and minerals to start new vegetation.  The fine silt is composed of deposit from the river.  It has a high capacity of water, which has the consistency of slime.  The side with the developed forest will have the nutrients and dirt stripped and into the water they go.  As the glacier seasonally melts, the river will increase in size, which deposits the silt and other various minerals on to the other side of the river.  This will help build another layer of silt for the plants to grow.

Primary Succession

Forest after Fire

The little plants that grow on the silt are often cut short due to the winter snow and the snowshoe hares eating the tip of them.  Over the next decade, the layers of silt will grow, and the plant will grow.

First, the silt will gather enough nutrients and minerals to support vegetation.  Shrubs and graminoids will start to form in the coming years.   Alder will then form with the abundance of nitrogen in the soil.  Birch and white spruce will form after.  Black spruce will take over the white spruce within a couple decades.  Some black spruce will show qualities of white spruces.

The forest after 1.5 decades of silt depositation.

The secondary succession occurs after fire, or other natural events, that clears the existing forest.  The forest will recover within a couple of decades, while the primary succession takes up to 150 years to grow.  There are two weather stations set up next to each other to collect data, one belongs to Jamie and co. while the other belongs to the other scientists who wanted to collect data as well.

OWU students  are going back to Alaska in 2018 as part of a travel learning course on Mathematical Models of Climate. We will visit familiar sites in Fairbanks (see previous posts) and do some new things too! This time around we will be joined by Dr. Anderson’s class on Plant Responses to Global Change!