Alaskan lifestyle

On Friday, at 3pm, I meet up with Andrew. After several days of email exchanges, I met him for the first time the day before. He offered me to come with him and his friends for a week-end. We buy some stuff. We pass by his house to pick up warm gear: from glove liner to down jacket, not to forget -10°C down sleeping bags. We take material to cook and eat, to melt snow, skis, games, swimsuits (you'll see...).

At night, we arrive at the cabin. It is a 6x6 meter room with a wood stove, a massive table in the middle and six wooden bunk beds. No electricity: we warm the cabin with the wood stove and we cook on it. No running water: we melt snow and toilets are outside. 11 people and 5 dogs are going to spend the whole week-end in this space. Nice atmosphere. I try to concentrate on conversations since the US slang is slightly different from the UK slang I am used to and because it is not really my time (still a bit jet-lagged). Dogs are also very happy!

On Saturday, cross-country skiing is on the programme. We plan 14 miles (approx. 20 km). Getting dressed takes ages! Every detail is important. Then we can go. The sun is there, as it is everyday for about 6 hours a day. It doesn't go very high on the horizon, but it gives incredible colours during the (never-ending at this latitude) twilight.

Tacit rule: each of us goes at his/her own rhythm. We can't stop too much, neither too often, otherwise we freeze and it becomes hard to get warmer. At the middle of the distance, we make a stop in another cabin where we can light a fire and eat what America can best offer as junk-food. We could almost see the level rising in our internal calorie-meter. Awesome! We can eat whatever we want, we know we are going to burn all this before getting back to the cabin tonight.

We set off again. Landscape is hilly, with snow and a lot of fine pines. Outdoor temperature is about -40°. No need to ask whether it is expressed in Celsius or Fahrenheit: at this very temperature, Celsius is equivalent to Fahrenheit. Being warmly dressed and moving continuously are the keys to avoid turning into ice. On the contrary, the body is so hot compared to outside that it produces condensation that freezes on external surfaces (e.g. clothes, eyebrows, eyelashes, etc.). At the end of the day, my fingers hurt, most likely because of the constant temperature changes.

Dogs hold out pretty well wearing little coats and kind of socks. My computer stayed home. But my camera surprisingly hang out also quite well, whereas it is not recommended to bring it out in negative temperatures (from 30°F). Eventually, it made good pictures. At the end of the day, I have to admit that cross-country skiing is way better than what I experience 15 years ago. I am not totally convinced that I was faster than a hiker, but I arrived before it was pitch dark!

We cut some logs for cooking and warming up the cabin. To do so, we went along the frozen river. My left leg will remember that the edge of the river are less frozen... Fortunately I had a spare pair of socks. For diner: chili con carne and peanut butter balls (that was killer!).

In the evening, we took the cars to head for the Chena hot springs. What a surprise when the tenant confirmed: “55 below”! Personal record from Kosovo broken by almost 20°C. Back to business; here comes the moment when we need our swimsuits. You have to run a few seconds half naked to reach the outdoor pool. The water temperature is about 40°C (about 100°F), which means a thermal amplitude of 90°C (155°F). Fortunately, the outdoor temperature is not 10°C, otherwise we would have ended the same way the lobster do in a pan!

We don't feel cold in this hot water. We could stay for hours. Andrew notices that even if we gained like 50°F it would still be 5 below (-20°C). The air is very wet around the springs and in this temperature, hair freezes quite fast when it is wet. Wonderful white hairstyle possible! Unfortunately, with the condensation, the camera didn't work. Anyway, relaxation after a sportive day is just perfect. We could then head back to the cabin and wrap ourselves up warmly for the night.

On Sunday, after a brunch made up of eggs, bacon and ginger-stout cake, it is high time to take care of the vehicles. In those temperatures, they also suffer. General warm-up is highly needed before even think of starting the engine. Gas doesn't freeze but oil becomes thicker than honey. Vehicles are plugged to a generator. That will warm up the engine and the battery. Another solution is to burn charcoal under the engine. An ultimate alternative is to warm it up with a blowtorch. It takes about two to three hours, but it is quite fascinating for someone who's interested in cars.

Back to Andrew and Anna's, we realise that the heater is off. Inside temperature droped below 0°C. The cat is so freaked out. I'm sure he saw himself turning into Popsicle. Poor Dobby! Anyway, emergency measure: turn the heater on to avoid the explosion of the pipes.

That was a fun week-end with a bunch of nice people! Not even here longer than a week and I already experienced a lot of the Alaskan winter. Tomorrow, I'll write on the my programme for the coming days, or most probably on the options ahead.

Today I occupied Fairbanks

Today I met a guy. And that guy isn't just anybody. Chris is sixty-ish and is camping between the city hall of Fairbanks and the supermarket parking lot. I don't need to recall the weather conditions up here. But Chris doesn't care that much. And on top of that, I firmly believes in what he does : he occupies Fairbanks...

For the newbies, the Occupy movement is an worldwide pacific protest movement. It struggles economic and social inequality. Born last year in Canada, finding influences in the Arab Spring and the movement of the Indignados in Spain, it reached a certain level of fame with Occupy Wall Street in New York City. Occupy protests had reached more than 1,500 cities in the world, where millions of citizens gathered spontaneously to bring the change our society needs.

Chris, and his fellows Forest, Dave, Beth and half-a-dozen more, make their most to raise awareness among Alaskans. They struggle for policies that are not conducted only by financial markets or powerful economic lobby. They protest against over-exploitation of natural resources (oil, gas, etc.) and its environmental consequences. They camp outside to prove that what is essential is the change of the system. They have one only hope: Barack Obama's reelection in November. “It's the most important election for the century to come”, he warned me. And he knows what he speaks about, in this very Republican State of Alaska.

Chris is an average Alaskan. He was a minor and then a bus driver. He likes hunting and fishing. And same goes to his fellows. They are not anti-capitalists, they are not extremists, even less mad or marginalised. No. They just have faith in what they do and that's how they survive to the -35°C. They have such a strong ownership of the society that they don't want to let it drift just for economic and financial interests. They firmly believe that everyone has a word and can contribute to the change of the society.

They have been protesting here since September. “Our kids went back to University and occupied it, he told me. Then we decided to do something as well”. And they don't want to stop. The mayor tried to remove them but they have for them the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: the one that protects the Freedom of Speech. It is their only weapon but it is amazingly effective. And they start to gain support from the population.

I stayed there a while this afternoon. We drunk a coffee and tried to keep warm next to the wood stove. I took a lesson of citizenship. To keep it short: today I occupied Fairbanks.

It is so cold that...

It is so cold up here that...

... that drivers need to plug their car while parked, to enable a "cover" to heat up the engine and the battery to keep them frost-resistant.

... that boiling water evaporates and freezes when you throw it in the air.

... that roads do not freeze; the air and the snow are too dry.

... that, during the first seconds outside, you hardly breath; the air dries your throat.

... that condensation around your nose and mouth is freezing.

... that animals hibernate to safe calories and some of them, like the arctic ground squirrel, let their body temperature fall down to -3°C (27°F).

... that it becomes easier to go to some places since they are completely icy (rivers, lakes, swamps, etc.).

... that I'm also a bit cold :-)

It's cold, it's white, it's Fairbanks!

On my way to Fairbanks, Alaska yesterday, the pilot announced 20° as we approached Anchorage. I wondered whether we were heading for a tropical version of Anchorage, AK or whether I missed the word "below" after the figure. My confusion was even bigger as I heard couple of people around me speaking about this incredibly warm winter. Global warming...

Last flight of my trip, landing in Fairbanks. We were announced -17°. But that time no need to tell me what I forgot: people here express themselves in Fahrenheit, pounds, inches, etc. After a quick conversion (substract 32, multiply by 5, divide by 9), I get exactly what I was looking for: -27°C and snow all around. But people kept saying "make the most of it coz' it's the warmest day of the week. we're heading for -35 or -40 over the week-end".

Then Melissa came to pick me up at the airport. We waited until Tom came back to have dinner. And this is how I enjoyed the first evening of mines in Alaska with my Couchsurfing hosts. We had very instructive conversations about permafrost, hunt, lands etc. More details to come soon!

As a matter of information, there is a 10-hour time difference between Alaska and Europe (Paris time zone). For the moment, I don't seem to be affected by that. I am in a good shape, which is quite promising when knowing the programme of this week-end: cross-country skiing! Three days with a bunch of crazy people to let me discover what is real Alaskan life style. Full report of that on Monday or Tuesday!

San Francisco in a nutshell

"You just landed in San Francisco. The temperature is 15°C and the weather is sunny..." Departed very early on Monday morning, I reach here my first step on my way to Alaska. All went smoothly, even the control at the boarder.

Our flight took what I considered as an unexpected route. It first heads for Shetland Islands. Then North of Iceland. We cross Greenland and hit Canada. Bypass the Hudson Bay by the North. Then Alberta. We enter in the US air space and cross the three costal States: Washington, Oregon and California.

As Galileo, I know that Earth is round, but still I have difficulties to think that direct routes go that much North. If anyone has an explanation for dummies, feel free to teach us in commenting this post!

Anyway, a surprising event happen during the day: the night. Indeed, as we fly above the Arctic Circle, the night falls, even during the day. We had the chance to have a wonderful sunset on Greenland.

Flight plan

D-1. Every kilo is finding its place in the backpack. No jealousy; they will permute more than once from now till Ushuaia. But they might be deprived of movement for the next 48 hours...


Monday 23. 5.30. Departing home.

7.15. Take off from Paris - Charles de Gaulle.

10.20. Take off from Amsterdam, after 2 hours in transit.

21.35. Landing at San Francisco Intl Airport. People good at geogrpahy know that it means  12.35 local time. Then I have the whole afternoon and evening to discover SF at a turbo pace (no worries I'll be back in April) and meet Dave, my host for the night.

Tuesday 24. 7.30 (local time; +9h Central European Time). Departing San Francisco.

10.10. Take off from San Francisco.

13.00. Take off from Seattle, North-West coast of the US, at the border with Canada.

16.30. Take off from Anchorage, biggest city in Alaska.

17.28. Landing in Fairbanks (never saw such a precise schedule!).

18.30. Arriving at Tom and Melissa's, my first Alaskan hosts. That time, there is a jet lag of 11 hours. That means 5.30 on Wednesday 25 in Europe. Thus calculation leads to a total of 48 hours to make it door-to-door!

What do you put in your suitcase?

This question was often raised during my preparation, in particular by the pupils I met. My first answer was that I will take a backpack rather than a suitcase. Question of adequacy. And this backpack should not be overweight. Maximum 12 kg (27 lb.) which corresponds to the commonly adopted rule of one fifth of the porter's weight.

You can reach 12 kg (27 lb.) very easily. So you'd better think about it a bit before than the night before leaving. Obviously there will be the strictly needed equipment. And the meaning of "strictly needed" is slightly different from the usual context of live. So I started to list equipments with their corresponding weight, and then delete the unnecessary. Golden rule: the more necessary and the lighter, the better for the back it will be.

Three categories: hiking, clothing and electronics. For hiking, unsurprisingly, you will find the backpack itself! And I will then fill it in with a sleeping bag (thanks for my generous providers!), a small tent and an ultra compact and light air mattress - very important for restful sleep. Here are already 4 kg (9 lb.).

For clothing, forget about cotton. Very bad sweat discharge and when roughly washed it turns into cardboard. Jeans have to be avoided. Already heavy when dry, they weigh like hell when wet. Clothing is thus composed of ultra-light and ultra-warm t-shirts, fleece, jacket, pants, etc. When you add the necessary to freshen up, you have another 4 kg (9 lb.).

And then, for 2 kg (4,5 lb.) there are a camera and a small laptop. So for the moment, I have a spare weight. But there will be some unexpected by the time I will finish my bag. So I don't worry!

Click and clicks

End of January 2011. A discussion with a friend whose partner just came back from a Paris-Capetown bike trip (more than 12.400 miles throughout Africa). It suddenly clicked. En route! Several days after, I put some elements down in writing: the Pan-American Highway, more than a year on the road, topic of interaction between humans and nature. You know the rest.

End of December 2011. My flight is booked. The adventure will kick off on 23rd January 2012. My Mum was amazed by the fact that only a few clicks and you end up at another side of the Earth. I have mixed feelings, between excitement and apprehension. But my dream comes true.

In between, everything has to be planed and prepared. Presentation document. Patronage and sponsorship. Have my camera stollen. Buy a new camera. Equipments. Media partnership. Quit my job. Blog. Meetings with secondary schools. Vaccination. Leave my flat. Proxy for the coming French presidential election in May. List of contacts on the road. Fill in my bag. Buy a comprehensive insurance. Water my houseplant. Say good-bye.

"Are you ready?" is most redundant question I heard these last days and weeks. Almost, I would reply. Still couple a stuff to buy. And accommodation to find in Alaska!

Voilà! Before take off, I will post an article on the equipment I will carry with me during the fifteen coming months.