WARNING LIGHTS ARE FLASHING II - Wilting in Cascadia, Trouble in the Taiga

Friends and family are suffering down in the Northwestern lower 48 states. Summer heat as bad as any ever recorded is afflicting Western Oregon and Washington:

Excessive Heat WarningURGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
230 PM PDT WED JUL 29 2009

COAST RANGE OF NORTHWEST OREGON-
CENTRAL COAST RANGE OF WESTERN OREGON-LOWER COLUMBIA-
GREATER PORTLAND METRO AREA-CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY-
SOUTH WILLAMETTE VALLEY-WESTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE-
NORTHERN OREGON CASCADE FOOTHILLS-NORTHERN OREGON CASCADES-
CASCADE FOOTHILLS IN LANE COUNTY-CASCADES IN LANE COUNTY-
UPPER HOOD RIVER VALLEY-SOUTH WASHINGTON CASCADES-WILLAPA HILLS-I-
5 CORRIDOR IN COWLITZ COUNTY-GREATER VANCOUVER AREA-
SOUTH WASHINGTON CASCADE FOOTHILLS-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...VERNONIA...JEWELL...TRASK...
GRANDE RONDE...TIDEWATER...SWISSHOME...ST. HELENS...CLATSKANIE...
HILLSBORO...PORTLAND...OREGON CITY...GRESHAM...SALEM...
MCMINNVILLE...DALLAS...EUGENE...CORVALLIS...ALBANY...HOOD RIVER...
CASCADE LOCKS...MULTNOMAH FALLS...SANDY...
SILVER FALLS STATE PARK...SWEET HOME...GOVERNMENT CAMP...
DETROIT...SANTIAM PASS...VIDA...LOWELL...COTTAGE GROVE...
MCKENZIE BRIDGE...OAKRIDGE...WILLAMETTE PASS...PARKDALE...ODELL...
COLDWATER RIDGE VISITORS CENTER...MOUNT ST. HELENS...FRANCES...
RYDERWOOD...LONGVIEW...KELSO...CASTLE ROCK...STEVENSON...
SKAMANIA...VANCOUVER...BATTLE GROUND...WASHOUGAL...TOUTLE...
ARIEL...COUGAR

230 PM PDT WED JUL 29 2009

...EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PDT
THURSDAY FOR INTERIOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON AND
NORTHWEST OREGON...

AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PDT
THURSDAY.

WITH A STUBBORNLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL RIDGE FIRMLY IN PLACE OVER
THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST...HIGH TEMPERATURES THIS AFTERNOON ARE
EXPECTED TO REACH OR ECLIPSE TUESDAYS RECORD BREAKING MAXIMUMS.
TEMPERATURES IN THE 105 TO 110 DEGREE RANGE ARE EXPECTED FOR
LOWLAND AREAS. THE COAST RANGE AND CASCADES WILL ALSO BE
HOT...WITH TEMPERATURES REACHING 95 TO 105 DEGREES TODAY. THE
WEATHER WILL BE LESS HOT ON THURSDAY...HOWEVER MAXIMUM
TEMPERATURES WILL STILL BE NEAR 100 DEGREES.

IN ADDITION TO THE HOT AFTERNOONS...LITTLE RELIEF FROM THE HEAT
IS EXPECTED OVERNIGHT TONIGHT. WITH LITTLE TO NO COOLING
INFLUENCE FROM THE OCEAN...AND A SOMEWHAT HUMID AIR MASS IN
PLACE...NIGHTS WILL REMAIN QUITE UNCOMFORTABLE AWAY FROM THE
COAST. THIS WILL ESPECIALLY BE THE CASE IN URBAN AREAS SUCH AS
PORTLAND AND VANCOUVER. THIS LACK OF OVERNIGHT RELIEF MAY MAKE
THIS HEATWAVE PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS IN THE CITIES...ESPECIALLY
FOR THOSE WITHOUT ACCESS TO AIR CONDITIONING.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING MEANS THAT A PROLONGED PERIOD OF
DANGEROUSLY HOT TEMPERATURES WILL OCCUR. THE COMBINATION OF HOT
TEMPERATURES AND HIGH HUMIDITY WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A DANGEROUS
SITUATION IN WHICH HEAT ILLNESSES ARE LIKELY. DRINK PLENTY OF
FLUIDS...STAY IN AN AIR CONDITIONED ROOM...STAY OUT OF THE SUN...
AND CHECK UP ON RELATIVES AND NEIGHBORS.
&&
$$

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...RESENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
552 AM PDT WED JUL 29 2009
ORZ003>014-WAZ019-020-022-023-039-040-301300-
COAST RANGE OF NORTHWEST OREGON-
CENTRAL COAST RANGE OF WESTERN OREGON-LOWER COLUMBIA-
GREATER PORTLAND METRO AREA-CENTRAL WILLAMETTE VALLEY-
SOUTH WILLAMETTE VALLEY-WESTERN COLUMBIA RIVER GORGE-
NORTHERN OREGON CASCADE FOOTHILLS-NORTHERN OREGON CASCADES-
CASCADE FOOTHILLS IN LANE COUNTY-CASCADES IN LANE COUNTY-
UPPER HOOD RIVER VALLEY-SOUTH WASHINGTON CASCADES-WILLAPA HILLS-I-
5 CORRIDOR IN COWLITZ COUNTY-GREATER VANCOUVER AREA-
SOUTH WASHINGTON CASCADE FOOTHILLS-
552 AM PDT WED JUL 29 2009

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST
OREGON AND SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT
AN EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING IS IN EFFECT. TEMPERATURES INLAND WILL
REACH NEAR 107 THIS AFTERNOON. OVERNIGHT LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT
WILL ONLY FALL INTO THE 60S AND LOWER 70S MOST AREAS...PROVIDING
LITTLE RELIEF FROM THE HEAT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY
THE EXCESSIVE HEAT WARNING CONTINUES THROUGH THURSDAY EVENING.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES...THOUGH DROPPING...ARE EXPECTED
TO BE 95 TO AROUND 100. TEMPERATURES BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON WILL DROP
TO THE 85 TO 95 RANGE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
$$

Very hard for those living there, and the environment. Why?

The answer shows up in our satellite image from this morning. The Polar Orbiting Satellite swaths here show hot dry air with a strong upper-level high pressure ridge extending north along the West Coast from the subtropics all the way to the Arctic Ocean.

State-of-the-science numerical forecast models are showing this ridge weakening over the west coast of OR/WA, but still remaining the dominant feature over British Columbia, Eastern Alaska, and Northwest Canada even out at day 7.

Good news for those in western WA and OR, some relief from the heat is coming.

Things are not so rosy in interior Alaska as well. Fairbanks has only picked up .04 of rain since June 28. With none expected the next few days, thanks to the persistent high pressure ridging, July 2009 will rank as the driest July ever and driest summer month ever, since records began in 1904.

High pressure ridging has been dominating our interior Alaska weather since late June. First, directly over the area, then gradually moving north. Then, over the past 10 days, re-building north, to our east over Canada, up the Pacific coast. Putting the central and eastern interior under a very warm southerly chinook flow.

Our trees have been gradually showing the effect over the last few weeks. Especially in the hills, where there is no real water table for our shallow-rooted trees to draw moisture from. The reason they are shallow-rooted is that historically, July and August are our wettest months, with 2 or more inches of rain, on the average each month. And with average highs of 65-73, evapotranspiration demands aren't usually overwhelming for our Taiga, or Boreal Forest, stands of Birch/Aspen/Balsam Poplar, and White/Black Spruce. With our short summers, and only 5-6 month snow-free period, historically, the trees usually were able to obtain their necessary moisture in the top few feet of the ground. The small hardwoods adjacent to A.P.R.'s Chena Ridge Research Centre are showing the stress. The smaller willows, birch, and aspen are turning yellow from drought stress, while the leaves on the larger ones are wilting. The spruce are similarly drying, but are not quite as obvious.

That also means we are having a real fire season this year in Interior Alaska, up to near 2 million acres burned already. After three slow seasons in 2006/07/08, conditions are back to bring above average (910,000 acres 1955-2008) wildfire activity.

With another week or longer of dry weather, and records being smashed in Fairbanks, and other interior locations, we'll likely get to at least 3 million, maybe 3.5, before things slow down by September. Due to the longer nights, and lower sun angles,

shortening the daily burning period, even if rain continues to be meager.

Thus, our fire danger chart, left, shows most of the central and eastern interior in the Very High to Extreme fire danger category.

What a difference one year makes. One year ago at this time, record heavy rains across the interior brought flooding to many areas in the Central and Eastern Interior.

Including here in Fairbanks, to the left.

And, Nenana, above, which is 45 miles downstream (west) along the Tanana River from Fairbanks.

Somewhat ironic, since I was driving and working along these very same streets from July 08-July 22, providing weather forecast support to one of the larger fires in the state. The Minto Flats South fire, which is currently up to around 300,000 acres, and was about 10 miles west of Nenana.

This picture of a plume on the south edge of the fire burning at 930 pm in the evening of July 21, I thought particulary interesting. The plume extends up to at least 20,000 feet. Smoke from the Wood River fire, 27 miles south of Fairbanks, is streaming over in an east flow aloft, and capping the plume from the Minto Flats fire. Southeast winds interacting with the inflow winds over the intense fire in crowning black spruce (flame lengths over 80 feet), induced a rotation in the entire column. Eerie, yet beautiful... almost like a living, breathing creature.

This means that our graph of Alaska seasonal wildfire acreages, left, will have another spike on it, for 2009, to at least 3 million. Or about halfway up the chart. What is that saying? That higher acreage years have been occurring more often, and have been larger, since about 1986. Which agrees with data from the western lower 48 states as well, where similar trends are occurring.

http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/313/5789/940

How will this keep playing out? Well, that's one thing being examined heavily at the University of Alaska. Climate change research focused on the Arctic is very prominent here. http://www.acia.uaf.edu/

In fact, my thesis project for my M.S. in Forestry/Natural Resources Management, involves using a linear regression model relating upper-air weather parameters that estimate seasonal wildfire acreage accumulations in interior Alaska (Rsq=.80), with climate change modeling outputs of those weather parameters. To estimate seasonal wildfire acreages in 2060 and 2080. The results aren't in yet, but I think it's safe to say that the trend line on our actual acreage chart will continue it's upward trajectory. Which translates to higher, more frequent spikes. Thus, acting as a "Positive Feedback" mechanism, adding more CO2 to the atmosphere, adding to warming already occurring, which will melt more permafrost, lead to greater wildfires, producing more warming, etc..." Scary. What will stop it?

So far, all of the fires are far enough from the major population centres to only merit occasional fly-overs, or focused small groups of fire-fighting operations around a few cabins or timber allotments.

Meaning, they are just nuisances so far to us in Fairbanks. The daily plume from the now 80,000 acre Wood River Fire (started by lighting 7/12) pushes toward Fairbanks every afternoon from it's source 27 miles south of town. Sometimes providing dramatic shading, and the usual smell and haze. All depending on the direction of the prevailing winds.

So, I may have to go out and work on another fire, if one grows a great deal, in our continuing dry weather, and threatens designated resources or population areas. Fortunately, I will be able to fast-pack the Chilkoot Trail with my friend Erik Hursh this weekend, in near-perfect conditions, thanks to the high pressure ridge.

There is a "cutoff low-pressure system" forecast to develop off the Northern Calif. and OR coasts early next week. Those are capable of generating intense lightning events in those normally thunderstorm-scarce areas. Large and persistent fires (because of the incredible fuel loadings of the big trees) sometimes occur there which can last until November. So, it's possible that very large fires will be developing there next week as well. Especially since the preceding heat will have really dried things out.

The A.P.R. staff traveled to Denali NP Tuesday (7/28), to give a presentation to tourists in the park. About park weather and Denali weather for climbing. Which went very well, there was great interest in the park climate record, and climbing weather on the Mountain.

Afterward, we stopped at the Mt. Healy trail, that goes steeply up one of the fore-ranges of the main crest of the Alaska Range. The trail is quite steep most of the way. However, with our strong south flow aloft, being on the west portion of the upper ridge, strong chinook winds, funneled through the Nenana River Canyon, were blowing. You can see the picture above, the air is clear, thanks to those winds, but the Minto Flats fire, 40 miles north, is cooking, in the bright sun, and broad southeast flow of wind (maybe 10-15 mph). This plume easily extends 20-25 thousand feet up in the atmosphere.

We thought it highly ironic, and interesting, to see one of our coal plants, which burns low-grade lignite coal mined in the vicinity with the large fire in the background. What do you think? And interesting too, because this valley, that Healy is in, is incredibly windy, because of terrain-channeling (like Altamont and Beaumont pases in California) . Large-scale wind-power generation would be very successful there.

Since we didn't start our hike until 9 pm, we only hiked up for about 90 minutes. But the evening light and view was quite grand.

Mattie and Homer were greatly enjoying themselves, note their long shadows. The wind in most areas, wasn't too bad, 20-40 mph. Tolerable. And it was fairly warm, 65 degrees.

However, as we got higher, the winds became stronger. Finally, at a saddle to a higher ridge, probably around 5000-5500 feet (the start was about 1800 feet), sustained winds were south 50-60 mph. We snapped this self-timer picture as we and the camera were blowing around. Mattie's ears are pretty comical in the wind.

But this was too much, since I was in my Chaco sandles, I didn't want to get blown off the trail. We headed down.

Homer surprised a 20-something hippie-type dude coming up the trail. He shreaked and jumped, when he came upon our veteran editorial assistant, thinking him a wild wolf as he rounded the corner. Homer took it all in stride though. He's used to it. Being between .25 and .50 wolf (I need to do a background check), visually, he is quite striking. But as gentle and kind as any canine I've ever seen. We all laughed though, once we met up, and I explained the situation.

Cheers.

BELLY OF THE BEAST?

We have to admit, here at the A.P.R., that sometimes when we think just what has happened since 2002 in this country (to say nothing since about 1949), a despairing mood arises, since nothing seems to be getting done, in the quest for justice. Let's review:


2002: White House begins talking up Iraq threat of WMDs, with no documented evidence, lies in fact. Additional sanctions, No Fly Zones over that country.


2003: Under continuing pressure Sadaam Hussein actually agrees to let UN weapons inspectors, with free reign to do as they need.


2003: Too late, the U.S. invades a sovereign country that was not threatening it, or its neighbors, and in fact, would have been hard-pressed to do anything, weakened as it was by years of economic sanctions. 750 cruise missiles rain down on Baghdad in mid-March 2003, causing untold thousands of casualties among civilians in the city of 5 million.



2003-2009: The nation of Iraq destroyed, up to 1.2 million civilian deaths, 4200 US troops, many more thousands of wounded. Unemployment in Iraq over 50 percent, electricity in most cities 2-4 hours a day, running water, if present, similar. 2004: The city of Fallujah destroyed in an illegal (according to UN charter, which US has signed) operation, flattening hospitals and civilian infrastructure, while civilians were present.



2003-2007: Bush administration used illegal torture, not just to interrogate supposed "real" terrorists, but to extract made-up confessions to justify the Iraq invasion. Very similar to what the Soviet GPU used to do to political prisoners under Stalin's rule.



With all these things, which if done individually, would merit life inprisonment or death, why are they being allowed to go unchecked? Setting bad precedents for all politics to come in this country, and others. We won't go into what the Obama administration should be doing, and isn't here, that could be several articles, but suffice it to say, nothing really is being done.



We get down because we meet so few people who understand all these things, and wish for there to be real investigations and charges drawn up. Because the time is past for the curse of nationalism to afflict us. If we do not come together as a planet, there is no future. But this can't be done, unless all nations live truthfully, and constructively with the others. Which this one hasn't been and isn't doing. The "Belly of the Beast" refers to the death/destruction producing "military-industrial/fossil fuel/financial/corporate entities that we at A.PR. know are the cause of great suffering world-wide. Here in Fairbanks, we are right in the midst of it, with our large Army and Air Force Bases, and the oil industry activity. Fortunately the University of Alaska here provides a beacon of progressivity and realism, in a sea of apathy.



But some people are taking action:



http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/07/24-2



Published on Friday, July 24, 2009 by CommonDreams.org
Dubya's Dallas: Into the Belly of the Beast
by Ray McGovern


The hellish-hot weather persuaded me that I was wise to ignore the caution expressed by a close friend who grew up in Dallas, as I set off to give talks there. Better wear a bulletproof vest, he told me.

I was, nonetheless, feeling a bit anxious, given what had happened during my last major speech there, when I addressed the World Affairs Council of Greater Dallas on Jan. 20, 2004. Then my topic was "Intelligence and War: Lessons From the Recent Past," and I was very intentional about being, well, fair and balanced in devoting equal time to listing the baleful lies of two Texans - Lyndon Baines Johnson and George W. Bush - both of whom got a lot of people killed in unnecessary war.

I even reached back into history to enlist help from a former president whom Bush had called his favorite - Teddy Roosevelt, who said:
"To announce that there is to be no criticism of the president or that we are to stand by the president right or wrong is not only unpatriotic and servile, but morally treasonable to the American people."

Suffice it to say that my attempt at evenhandedness failed miserably, even though I used up a lot of precious time rehearsing LBJ's perfidy on Vietnam - dissecting, in particular, his exploitation of dubious intelligence regarding the Gulf of Tonkin non-incident of Aug. 4, 1964. I gave pride of place to that well deserved castigation before I delved into a reconstruction of what was already discernible as of January 2004 with respect to the lies told by George W. Bush to "justify" attacking Iraq exactly 10 months before.

Okay, so maybe I laid it on a little thick in citing what Nazi war criminal Hermann Goering told his American interrogator in Nuremberg:
"Naturally, the common people do not want war. That is understood. But after all it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a communist dictatorship....
"The people can always be brought to do the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

Oil executives and other Dallas insiders in the audience took that as a signal to bolt - and did. One of the early departed, Herbert Hunt of the Hunt Oil family expressed chagrin at having been tricked into attending on false pretenses. He told an associate that, hearing of my continuing friendship with George Herbert Walker Bush, he was deceived into thinking I was "one of us."
Following the Q & A session after my presentation, the World Affairs Council president at the time, Jim Falk, was icily proper. It was not until much later that I learned that he labeled my speech "awful," and that the WAC Executive Committee member who had invited me became the target of a whispering campaign for not really being "one of us." My inviter was declared persona non grata and removed from the Executive Committee.
I had made what I thought was an honest effort to be fair and balanced but, clearly, my attempt had fallen far short in Dallas. This Time It Would be Different

Now, five and a half years later, the task of exposing lies and spreading some truth around had become much less daunting, given the abundant material that had become available in the interim. And Dallas seemed the ideal place to do so, since George W. Bush had just moved in, causing not a ripple of concern - much less disapproval - among the indigenous, so to speak.
Indeed, far from the embarrassment I thought I would encounter among Dallasites over having a suspect war criminal as neighbor, the vast majority seemed utterly pleased - with one notable exception. There were recurrent complaints over inconvenient delays on the golf course, when the former president and his friends insisted on playing through.
Neither George nor Laura Bush came to the Dallas Peace Center dinner at which I spoke on July 9 (although I extended them a cordial invitation). And the nouveau riche were conspicuously absent. Fine by me. Except for a few predictable grimaces when I mentioned the dangerous Israel-centric policy pursued by Bush-43 in the Middle East, I enjoyed an audience that was, in Ciceronian terms, "benign [and] attentive." No one stormed out this time.
The week before my talk, I had offered an op-ed draft, "Is Texas Harboring Torture Decider," to the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, both of which rejected it (surprise, surprise).
That homework having been done, I rang some changes on the theme of the op-ed - namely, that a "smoking-gun" executive memorandum of Feb. 7, 2002, signed by George W. Bush, is confirmation that the responsibility for torture is correctly attributed to rotten apples, but that they fouled the barrel from the top, not the bottom.


The four nauseating "torture memos" under Department of Justice letterhead show (1) that the "banality of evil" did not stop with Adolf Eichmann and other functionaries of the Third Reich; and (2) that top CIA officials displayed fawning obeisance in their eagerness to go over to "the dark side." But the sum total of ALL the memos and investigations now at hand shows with embarrassing clarity that there was only one "decider" - the one now playing 18 holes in a fancy Dallas neighborhood.


And if further proof were needed, we now have the full text of the Senate Armed Services Committee report, approved by the full Committee without dissent, the executive summary of which was released by Carl Levin and John McCain on Dec. 11, 2008.

Its conclusions are equally nauseating, showing - among other things - that not one of the eight addressees of Bush's Feb. 7, 2002, directive demurred about his decision to exempt al Qaeda and Taliban detainees from Geneva protections - a violation of the War Crimes Act of 1996, as well as the Geneva agreements.
The Senate report asserts that the president's memorandum "opened the door to considering aggressive techniques."
Conclusion Number One states:
"Following the President's determination, techniques such as waterboarding, nudity, and stress positions ... were authorized for use in interrogations of detainees in U.S. custody."
None of the guests at the Dallas Peace Center dinner did a Cheneyesque shrug, as if to say, "So...?" That was encouraging, and an easy segue into What Do We Do Now?


Accountability Are Us
Dallas progressives were receptive to the notion that, by happenstance, they may bear a special responsibility to face into the reality that one of their new neighbors is, arguably, a war criminal. How does one actually deal with that? It seems a matter of conscience; ignoring the situation does not seem quite right. And yet, an American is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
A dilemma. Because, those who are not captives of the Fawning Corporate Media (FCM) are aware of so much incriminating evidence of such heinous crimes, that the prospect of walking down the street with a, "Hi, George; how's Laura?" really jars.


A consensus seems to be building that perhaps Dallasites are uniquely situated to bring their dilemma to the attention of the country as a whole. How do we Americans handle this unprecedented set of circumstances?

By investigating what happened and, if warranted, initiating a judicial process.
As one Dallas Peace Center activist put it, "We are here in Dallas, with George W. Bush playing golf and living a life of ease, while a library and institute are built to enshrine his version of history. Our struggle for clarity and accountability must intensify, not out of vindictiveness but because there will be dire consequences in the future, if no one is held accountable for the suffering and devastation of torture."


Even Dick Cheney now says that the former president knew everything Cheney knew about "enhanced interrogation techniques." On May 10 the former vice president told Face the Nation's Bob Schieffer that Bush "knew a great deal about the program. He basically authorized it. I mean, this was a presidential-level decision. And the decision went to the president. He signed off on it."
This is not to suggest we have to take Cheney at his word, but is there not a compelling need to get to the bottom of this? The question answers itself. No One Is Above the Law cannot become an empty slogan.

And so, it was very encouraging to have a good turnout on Saturday morning, July 11, at the Dallas city branch library nearest the new Bush residence. We took some time to think these things through, and ponder Cesar Chavez' dictum: Without action, nothing good is going to happen.


A dozen of us decided to exercise our First Amendment rights and go see if George and Laura were home. http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/print/44657







And you know the best news? As one hardened activist put it:
"For some of those joining us this was their first such march. There was the distinct possibility we might end up in the pokey, but they did not blink an eye. It was a small group, but the point was, we took it right to the belly of the beast. I think we all knew that we were doing what has to be done. We were jacked!"
No pious platitudes for peace. Rather, placards for justice and accountability. And BLOCK LETTER reminders that no one, no one is above the law.


It is, no doubt, too early to know for sure. But it does seem as though a sturdy group of George W. Bush's neighbors are determined to hold their new neighbor accountable, and may become an example - a catalyst - for the whole country.

Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in Washington, DC. During his career as a CIA analyst, he prepared and briefed the President's Daily Brief and chaired National Intelligence Estimates. He is a member of the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity (VIPS).

Ray McGovern and the progressive people of Dallas have our full support at A.P.R. for their actions. Let's hope people like them keep up this vital work, and that it will spread, so that justice can be served. And then can the USA rejoin the World community in good standing.

We leave you with a song from one of our favorite groups, Thievery Corporation. Around since 1995, this duo of innovative electronica artists incorporates multi-ethnic sounds and artists in their compilations. Many of which have groovy, progressive, even radical lyrics. Protest music for the 2000s and 2010s! Listening to them always revives our spirits here at A.P.R.!

http://www.ilike.com/artist/Thievery+Corporation/track/Blasting+Through+the+City+%28featuring+Notch%29

War keeps blasting through the city tonight
Love assassinated in broad daylight
The righteous are hiding in the graveyard grass
While the wicked sell their sons and daughters for cash
Hope cries louder than gunshot sounds

Wait for the dawning of light as we lay on the ground
Things have gotten so low that they can't fall down
Inspiration comes faster than incoming rounds
Feel the struggle but don't give up the fight
Life never seemed so clear through all the chaos tonight

Fear is blasting through the speakers tonight
The land of the free and the vain never misses its rights
Hope cries louder than gunshot sounds
Wait for the dawning of light as we lay on the ground
Things have gotten so low that they can't fall down
Inspiration comes faster than incoming rounds
War keeps blasting through the city tonight

Open up your eyes, don't be blinded by the light
All things must change, it's always been the same
Don't disguise 'cause the system is devised to divide us
Them can't divide I and I
Them can't divide, them can't divideI and I, I and I,
I and I Them can't divide, them can't divide
Them can't divide, I and I

War keeps blasting through the city tonight
Love assassinated in broad daylight
The righteous are hiding in the graveyard grass
See the things I see, them can't see
Them can't see, them can't see

COPPER RIVER RED BLUES [or] MATTIE'S BUM TRIP [and] ASTA LA VISTA S. PALIN!

We are fortunate in Alaska to be one of the few areas in the U.S. where subsistence gathering of food is still possible. Whether it be from hunting moose, caribou, or even bear (which we don't approve of here at A.P.R.!), or the abundant fisheries of salmon, halibut, and other bottomfish.

A very popular way of gathering a good supply of salmon, possibly an entire year's worth, is to go dipnetting on the Copper River, near Chitina. When the Copper River Red Salmon are running strong, you can get 40-50 fish in a half a day. It does require time to process the fish, once they're hauled in, so one or two people can only handle one fish in 5 to 10 minutes, since you have to get them out of the net, make sure they stop thrashing, then string them on an underwater line, to keep them cool, and alive, before hauling them out in a cooler at the end of a session.

http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Management/Areas.cfm/FA/copperSusitnaChitina.chitinaMap

My friend Erik partially grew up in Glenallen, in the Copper River Basin, and so learned how to hunt and fish. When he asked me if I wanted to do some dipnetting on the Copper River at Chitina, I jumped at the chance. Because I want and need to learn more ways of subsistence living, as a way of bonding and grounding with the area I live in, and in case troubled times come, when people will need to be more self-sufficient.

So the entire A.P.R. staff threw our camping material together and hauled down the Richardson Highway from Fairbanks, south from Delta Junction, through Glenallen, then east from Copper Center. Erik has a cabin on the bluff above the Copper River, on the Old Edgarton Highway, with a beautiful view of several of the Wrangell volcanoes. (Drum, Wrangell, Blackburn).

We spent the night there, then headed over friday morning to Chitina, were we arrived around noon. Erik's brother Cameron and his family, Erik's three kids, his parents, and some others made for a large group. Our camp was by the Copper River bridge, about a mile east of Chitina on the McCarthy highway (a place we need to get to soon, Mc Carthy. Just so far away...). Right on the river, it provided a way to cool off, on all three hot days we spent there. Each day was 80-85 degrees F, and sunny. Not too shabby for interior Alaska, and the bugs were tolerable too!

The river is very silty from the melting huge glaciers it drains in the Wrangell mountains. So after you dry off after being in it, fine silt coats your hair and body, and whatever else you may be wearing.

Erik had two dipnets for us to use, I brought two coolers, and he brought one. He also had the knives, and all the other gear. We parked at the O'Brien Creek bridge. This is the furthest south you can drive on the O'Brien creek road. This road is an old railbed that runs south above the river all the way to Cordova, on the coast, over 100 miles south. Through the incredibly steep and glaciated St. Elias mountains. The road has been covered by many slides over the years, the last major one in 2001 ended forever the possibility of driving. The state of AK decided to close the road, by not maintaining it. So now only people on foot or four-wheelers, or dirt bikes can go on it. Most people use four-wheelers to haul supplies in and camp. But we went light. Erik had a dolly we hauled our cooler and nets on, while I hauled the poles, and my gear on my back. We walked about two miles down to a steep trail on the bluff, that led to a great secluded little beach-like area, so we could set our gear down behind us, and not have to be tied to a tree to do our dipnetting.

The river runs swift and fast here. It seemed about 50F, from what I felt by being in it at our camp. Cold, but not as bad as straight from a glacier! But, if you were to get swept into the main channel, even with a life jacket, the fast-moving current could easily overcome efforts to get back toward shore, once the cold started it's work. So we were careful not to step out too far, or fall in.

This is the view upstream. 14,163 foot Mt. Wrangell, an active shield volcano (like Mauna Loa in Hawaii), shimmers like a vast cloud in the distance. That gently sloped volcano has a huge glacial expanse in it's wide area above 7000 feet.

Downstream, you can see how swiftly it's moving. And down the canyon, how it narrows. To fall in in a place like that, would be very dangerous!

Homer quickly settled in onshore to snooze in the heat (the joys of semi-retirement!), while Mattie went off exploring.

Erik and I quickly put our nets together and started dipping. The nets are 2-3 feet wide on the end of 15' poles. We just dip the net in a slow-running pool, that will keep the net open, and slowly move it around, waiting for fish to pop in. We were not having much success though, it was quite slow. We had heard from others we talked to, that the run was not good that day. And we were not sure why. The river was a little low, but who knows...

While holding my net, I was even able to snap other pictures, including probably my first ever successful self-portrait. It wa really hot in that glaring sun! But I didn't want to step much in the water either, too dangerous there!

Erik caught our first of only three fish (one got away sat.) of the entire trip, about an hour after we started. I had no nibble on my net at all!

We kept at it until late afternoon, then decided to try again tomorrow.

We packed up, Homer came up with us, and we hauled up everything to the road. But Mattie was missing. She had run off earlier and come back, so I wasn't too worried.
But, I called and called, nothing. Now I was worried. We slowly walked back to the car, while I called, but no success.

On the way back, we could see lots of eagles in the trees or flying around, eating the dead and dying salmon.
I got back to the car worried and slightly upset. I was not expecting this! Mattie has always been very good about staying around whenever we are in wilderness settings.
We decided to go back for dinner, then come back later. Which we did, this time on Cameron's four-wheeler. This way we were able to get about 7-8 miles down the trail quickly, past the 2001 slides. But to no avail, no sight or sound of her could be found. So, we had to call it an evening. I just hoped she'd be ok on her own overnight. We would come back in the morning and fish the same spot. Hopefully she would show up! So, after an edgy night, I got up and quickly got ready, hoping I'd find our intrepid Assistant Editor.
But we got to our friday fishing spot saturday morning around 10 am, and saw no sign of her. We fished for about four hours, catching only two more (one from me, one from Erik, which got away). Still no sign of Mattie. We decided to head back to camp and I would come back later to see if I could find her. Which I did, walking back and forth along the trail, calling, but still no sign. I talked to many people who were walking or four-wheeling on the road, but no one saw her.
After my last sat. evening try, I got back to camp very depressed. I figured she had gotten swept away in the fast water, and was trying not to think about it. Or had a run-in with a bear. I couldn't even enjoy dinner with Erik and his family, I was too down. Because I lost five sled dogs in the past year to hit and run drivers, and tragic accidents.

But I was able to pull myself out of this funk later, while we all visited and played with fireworks (we made sure we were fire-safe).

I went to bed very sad though saturday night. I prayed for guidance and asked my higher self to give me information about what happened to her. I had to have some closure. About 0500 I was in that interesting (and potentially quite productive) half-sleep/wake state. I saw her in front of me, looking for me. I immediately came awake, happier, knowing she was alive. I've always trusted my dreams and visions to help me in the past few years, and always am rewarded. I told Erik when he was up and around that she was still alive. We had breakfast and planned to go back to the area one more time, before we had to leave.
Mattie's collar has our A.P.R. Chena Ridge Research Centre phone number on it. So I called my room-mate Rick saturday with my cell phone (amazing it worked out there), and asked him to call me if any one called that number, reporting on Mattie. Sure enough, around 0830 sun. morning, someone called and said they had her. She was running on the road between O'Brien Creek and Chitina. They took her to the ranger station in Chitina. I rushed down there, incredibly happy, knowing she was alive (though I already knew...).

She bolted from the ranger station, yelping, and jumped on me. Two and half days of worry and fear for me, and who knows what, for her.


I'd give anything to know what was going on with her all that time, and what she went through. When I got her back, she was 10-15 lbs. lighter! And she only had weighed about 65 lbs! Here she is when I got her back to camp. One of her paws was scraped pretty badly, and she was moving very slowly. I had to lift her into the car.



Based on all that, I offer the following reconstruction. She must have gotten turned around and went down the wrong way down the road. Then, being lost, went up and down multiple times, still not sure where to go. Then, sometime sat. or sat. night perhaps, realized she had to get back to the O'Brien creek parking area.

Which she did sunday morning, then was picked up running up the road shortly thereafter. Unless she tells me otherwise directly, this is what we're sticking with. Who knows, maybe she made it all the way to Cordova, before turning back!

I always like to make the best of situations, if things get stressful. I learned all I need to know now about dipnetting, so that I could come back at any time, and get what we need. It's always great spending time Erik and his family, I love being around them. Erik and I are very good friends, and he was very understanding. And the setting we were in was true Alaska wilderness. The town of Chitina has an interesting and surprisingly old history from mining, in that extreme setting.

This also reinforced to me how important it is to relax and ask for guidance from the universe and our higher selves, when we need. Many times over the past few years, especially when I've been in that half-sleep/half-wake state, I've had important dreams and visions. About people or issues I've been concerned about, and which were very helpful in giving me useful and constructive information. I always ask for this right when I fall asleep, when I feel it is necessary. And it works, sometimes not that night, but even during the following day, when something will just pop in.

We headed back home with our two fish, after saying goodbyes, and having a great lunch with Erik at the Copper River Princess resort, while we gazed at the volcanoes, eating outside. I did something I rarely ever do. I had to use the car air conditioning the whole way! It was hot, and Mattie and Homer were overheating in their thick coats. Mattie lay the whole time with her little head on my arm. Welcome back Mattie!

OK, when Erik and I stopped at a country store on the highway to Chitina, not too far from his cabin, sunday, we saw the news. About our governor Sara Palin up and quitting inexplicably, the previous day, on the 4th of July.

http://newsminer.com/news/2009/jul/07/palin-makes-first-public-appearance-days/

We were stunned. What? So, A.P.R. needs to offer commentary on this perplexing issue.

The above article from our local paper and especially the comments afterward, give you an idea of the local vibe on this situation. She's pissing off alot of conservatives. For that we applaud you Ms. Palin :) !

But we agree with them in the sense that she is letting down the people she agreed to work for by taking on the job. And why?

Well, we at A.P.R. think there must be some incredible large mass of excrement poised above a large fan near her, waiting to hit at any time. What is it? If you have some good ideas, let us know, we'll be happy to share them!

Why else would she suddenly do this on a family holiday? Someone must have given her an "offer she can't refuse" (GOP leadership?), or is extorting her. It certainly doesn't make sense, if she wants to run for national office again in 2012, to be seen as a quitter, dropping the job when things get a little tough.

Since she is a republican, who we at A.P.R. truly regard as fascists (their national platform only needs examining by an unbiased historian to see that), we are happy just in that sense, to see one of them go down in a dysfunctional way.

http://www.gop.com/2008Platform/

While she comes across nicely, as a warm, neighborly, outdoorsy, woman, if she truly believes what the G.O.P. espouses, that is scary. I would hope that at least some of her persona is genuine, however. Since we haven't met her, no judgement can be offered on that. There have been disturbing reports from many sources, that she still clings to a fundamentalist Christianity, so extreme, that they still believe the Earth is 6000 years old! Do you want someone with that mindset interacting on our behalf with other nations and cultures? The American Taleban! God Help Us! And, in most of her interviews, she comes across as woefully ignorant of real geopolitical issues and cultures.

So, with all that in mind, we here at the Alaska Progressive Review, give a hearty HASTA LA VISTA S. PALIN! out to the World. Our Lieutanent Governer Sean Parnell will be taking the helm in late July. From all reports, he sounds at least to be more focused on state issues, and working for the people of the State.

BATTLING FOR THE FUTURE - One Small But Important Victory [and] Something Interesting at the Hot Springs

In our "Open Veins of Latin America - The Latest Chapter" post, from the 7th of this month, we examined the struggles of the Peruvian Indigenous people in the Amazonian rain forest area of that country. GOOD NEWS FROM THERE! They have temporarily won their struggle to save their homeland from destruction, and have helped humanity as a whole as well. http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/06/19

Peru Indians Hail 'Historic' Day

Indigenous groups in Peru have called off protests after two land laws which led to deadly fighting were revoked.

Natives armed with spears set a roadblock at the entrance of the Amazonian town of Yurimaguas, northern Peru, on June 10, 2009. Peru's Congress on Thursday revoked two controversial decrees on land ownership in the Amazon river basin which triggered protests by indigenous groups that left at least 34 people dead in early June.(AFP/File/Ernesto Benavides)

Hailing victory, Amazonian Indian groups said it was an "historic day".

At least 34 people died during weeks of strikes against the legislation, which allowed foreign companies to exploit resources in the Amazon forest.

The violence provoked tension with Peru's neighbour, Bolivia, where Preisdent Evo Morales backed the Peruvian Indians' tribal rights.

"This is a historic day for indigenous people because it shows that our demands and our battles were just," said Daysi Zapata, vice president of the Amazon Indian confederation that led the protests.

She urged fellow activists to end their action by lifting blockades of jungle rivers and roads set up since April across six provinces in the Peruvian Amazon.

The controversial laws, passed to implement a free trade agreement with the US, were revoked by Peru's Congress by a margin of 82-12 after a five-hour debate.

Diplomatic dispute
The worst of the clashes occurred on 5 June when police tried to clear roadblocks set up by the groups at Bagua, 1,000km (600 miles) north of Lima.

At least 30 civilians died, according to Indian groups, as well as 23 police.

Peru's Prime Minister Yehude Simon said the reversal of policy would not put at risk Peru's free trade agreement with the US, but he has said he will step down once the dispute is settled.
The dispute led to a diplomatic row between Peru and Latin American neighbours Venezuela and Bolivia.

Peru recalled its ambassador to Bolivia for consultation on Tuesday after Bolivian President Evo Morales described the deaths of the indigenous protesters as a genocide caused by free trade.
Peru's Foreign Minister Jose Antonia Garcia Belaunde called Mr Morales an "enemy of Peru".
BBC © MMIX

And, as this article shows, http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/24-4, it is widely recognized just how important these people's struggle is, and what is at stake. Naturally, you heard about it here at A.P.R. first! We will continue to follow this important story, and keep you apprised of any future developments.

Something to ponder though, this victory against the forces of greed and environmental destruction was not won by writing or calling politicians, or at the ballot box. But through direct action, by people risking everything, for something they believed in. Just as all struggles for peace, social/environmental/political justice, and civil/human rights have been, over the past few centuries.

Here in the U.S.A., another important struggle is occurring in Appalachia, being waged by mining corporations with support of state and federal governments, against the environment, and the people living in that region. This is the fight to continue the incredibly destructive and short-sighted practice called "MOUNTAIN-TOP REMOVAL". A method of removing shallow seams of coal by blasting away entire tops of hills and mountains to access the coal seams, and filling in adjacent valleys with the rubble. The pictures and stories of the devastation are incredible, all done to deliver just 7 percent of the U.S.'s yearly coal needs for power generation. Thousands of tons of dynamite and ammonium nitrate explosives are used daily, mainly in West Virginia, in this process. The article below comes from acclaimed climate scientist Dr. James Hansen, who was one of the first researchers to start highlighting the perils of increasing CO2 and methane atmospheric levels, due to fossil fuel combustion.

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/06/23-10

A Plea To President Obama: End Mountaintop Coal Mining

Tighter restrictions on mountaintop removal mining are simply not enough. Instead, a leading climate scientist argues, the Obama administration must prohibit this destructive practice, which is devastating vast stretches of Appalachia.

by James Hansen

President Obama speaks of “a planet in peril.” The president and the brilliant people he appointed in energy and science know that we must move rapidly to carbon-free energy to avoid handing our children a planet that has passed climate tipping points.The science is clear. Burning all fossil fuels will destroy the future of young people and the unborn. And the fossil fuel that we must stop burning is coal. Coal is the critical issue. Coal is the main cause of climate change. It is also the dirtiest fossil fuel — air pollution, arsenic, and mercury from coal have devastating effects on human health and cause birth defects.

We must make clear that we the people want a move toward a rapid phase-out of coal emissions now.

Recently, the administration unveiled its new position on mountaintop coal mining and set out a number of new restrictions on the practice in six Appalachian states. These new rules will require tougher environmental review before blowing up mountains. But it’s a minimal step.The Obama administration is being forced into a political compromise. It has sacrificed a strong position on mountaintop removal in order to ensure the support of coal-state legislators for a climate bill. The political pressures are very real. But this is an approach to coal that defeats the purpose of the administration’s larger efforts to fight climate change, a sad political bargain that will never get us the change we need on mountaintop removal, coal or the climate. Coal is the linchpin in mitigating global warming, and it’s senseless to allow cheap mountaintop-removal coal while the administration is simultaneously seeking policies to boost renewable energy.Mountaintop removal, which provides a mere 7 percent of the nation’s coal, is done by clear-cutting forests, blowing the tops off of mountains, and then dumping the debris into streambeds — an undeniably catastrophic way of mining.

This technique has buried more than 800 miles of Appalachian streams in mining debris and by 2012 will have serious damaged or destroyed an area larger than Delaware. Mountaintop removal also poisons water supplies and pollutes the air with coal and rock dust. Coal ash piles are so toxic and unstable that the Department of Homeland Security has declared that the location of the nation’s 44 most hazardous coal ash sites must be kept secret. They fear terrorists will find ways to spill the toxic substances. But storms and heavy rain can do the same. A recent collapse in Tennessee released 100 times more hazardous material than the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. If the Obama administration is unwilling or unable to stop the massive environmental destruction of historic mountain ranges and essential drinking water for a relatively tiny amount of coal, can we honestly believe they will be able to phase out coal emissions at the level necessary to stop climate change? The issue of mountaintop removal is so important that I and others concerned about this problem will engage in an act of civil disobedience on June 23rd at a mountaintop removal site in Coal River Valley, West Virginia. [Dr. Hansen was arrested there that day! eds.]

Experts agree that energy efficiency and carbon-free energies can satisfy our energy needs. Coal left in the ground is useful. It holds up the mountains, which, left intact, are an ideal site for wind energy. In contrast, mountaintop removal and strip mining of coal is a shameful abomination. Mining jobs have shrunk to a small fraction of past levels. With clean energy, there could be far more, green-energy jobs, and the government could support the retraining of miners, to a brighter, cleaner future.Politicians may have to make concessions on what is right for what is winnable. But as a scientist and a citizen, I believe the right course is very clear: The climate crisis demands a moratorium on new coal-fired power plants that do not capture and safely dispose of all emissions. And mountaintop removal, providing only a small fraction of our energy, should be permanently prohibited.

President Obama remains the best hope, perhaps the only hope, for real change. If the president uses his influence, his eloquence, and his bully pulpit, he could be the agent of real change. But he does need our help to overcome the political realities of compromise.We must make clear to Congress, to the EPA, and to the Obama administration that we the people want mountaintop removal abolished and we want a move toward a rapid phase-out of coal emissions now. The time for half measures and caving in to polluting industries is over. It is time for citizens to demand — yes, we can.
© 2009 Environment 360 (Yale)

Dr. James Hansen is director of Nasa's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and adjunct professor in the department of earth and environmental sciences at Columbia University. He was the first scientist to warn the US Congress of the dangers of climate change and writes here as a private citizen.

It goes without saying that we here at A.P.R. fully support the struggles of the people of Appalachia to save their land from destruction. Dr. Hansen, and actress Darryl Hannah, along with dozens of other people, were arrested in direct-action protests two days ago, while blockading a road near a new mountain-top removal site. We are right there with you! What will future generations think, when they see this kind of devastation?

Here in Fairbanks, Alaska, our local power company, Golden Valley Electrical Association (GVEA - a non-profit cooperative!), generates electricity by burning lignite coal (a relatively dirty, low-grade variety). Which comes from the Alaska Range foothills near Healy, 70 miles south of Fairbanks. We at A.P.R. think this is frankly disgusting, for numerous reasons.

One, coal burning is terribly polluting, heavy metals and contaminants in the ash rain out from the plumes, and get into the water supply, as well into people's lungs.

Two, the mining of it, whether through conventional strip-mining (as is done in Healy), or mountain-top removal, is incredibly destructive.

Three, Fairbanks sits in the very large Tanana River Valley, in the Alaska Interior. Colder air in the months from October through March settles into the valley, forming extremely strong, stable, temperature inversions. Which act as a lid, preventing the dispersion of pollutants, holding them in. The picture above shows a late October view from the University of Alaska, looking out over the valley. Two coal-fired power plant plumes are visible, one from the Univ. power station, the other from the larger GVEA plant. These are right in the middle of the population of Fairbanks! All the contaminants from this dirty coal are pumping into the airshed where 80,000 + people live. And when the temperature inversions are very strong, as in November-March, when it is very cold, more coal is burned, to produce the electricity people need for heating, etc.. The emissions of which then settle in over the city, sometimes creating ice fog, as seen below, when temperatures drop to -30 F or lower.

Ice fog does make for some interesting and beautiful optical effects, and some of it is from the thousands of home furnaces and cars. But the coal-fired power plant components are surely the most dirty and dangerous.

This is primarily why our A.P.R. Chena Ridge Research Centre is located 500 feet above, and 10 km west of the city. To always be above this unhealthy brew, in the warmer (during winter), cleaner air.

Something Interesting at the Hot Springs

Chena Hot Springs is one of the favorite places for everyone living around Fairbanks to take visitors for a soak in the relaxing warm waters, especially in the winter. And, after a marathon, fast-pack, or long ski outing, nothing better than a visit out there to soak some tired muscles.

But something interesting is going on at Chena Hot Springs.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/science/earth/4245896.html

The owner, Bernie Karls, has for some years now, been engaged in serious efforts to develop the geothermal power potential there. Not just to make the resort self-sufficient, but to export power for use in Fairbanks, as well as even generate hydrogen gas. This provides great hope for the future for green energy production and use in Alaska.

However, the fossil fuel industries, oil, coal, and natural gas, are very powerful forces in Alaska politics. And so Mr. Karl's efforts have not been getting the full governmental support and assistance they should, to expedite his efforts to generate and export clean, geothermally-derived electricity. We'll look at the status of these efforts out at Chena Hot Springs, in a future article. Cheers.

KAHILTNA DREAMING

As most of you know, my other job, which funds the Chena Ridge Research Centre, allowing the A.P.R. to continue bringing you the most up to date, incisive socio-political and environmental news and commentary, has travel occasionally involved.


It was my privelege to be allowed to travel last week with one of my colleagues to the climbing Base Camp of Denali, the highest peak in North America, at 20,320 feet, in Denali National Park. Our purpose, as meteorologists for the federal government, was to interact with the climbers present, and the National Park Service rangers, to see if their forecasting needs were being met. To see if there were any significant problems with our forecasting (the NWS prepares a climbing forecast twice-daily for Denali in the late April-mid July peak climbing season), obtain suggestions for improvement, and conduct a site survey, examining and calibrating their weather instruments. All these goals were met, and informative and valuable interactions occurred, making the trip a success on those counts. But that is incidental to this story.
I want to just describe this amazing place, which is unique in the World, and which is still gripping my daily reality. A place I will never forget, and to which I will be returning, several times, since a Denali summit is planned year after next.


The only way in to the Kahiltna glacier, in summer, which the Base Camp sits on the southeast spur of, at 7200 feet, is by ski-plane, from the climbing base town of Talkeetna, 50 miles southeast of Denali National Park. This is the 1961 De Havilland Beaver, which took us over from Talkeetna. One could ski in, in winter, on a several day traverse, when the rivers and swamps are frozen, which would be a tempting option next March or April, when days are longer, and temperatures a little warmer than in January or February. Something we would like to do, since Mattie would be able to accompany me, and whoever else was able to go.


For now though, our short plane ride only took 35 minutes over the wide Susitna River, the swampy taiga beyond, then the foothills, and finally over the 6000-10000 foot spurs of the Denali massif, separated by glaciers in the valleys. We landed in camp at noon, under a bright sunny sky, with a nearly unprecedented 42 degree F temperature.


Base Camp is a collection of four rigid-frame shelters occupied by the National Park Service climbing rangers, and employees of the aviation services in Talkeetna, who coordinate the drop-offs and pick-ups of the dozens of climbers daily, from Talkeetna. Most climbers usually spend a night there before beginning their ascent process (which involves hauling supplies successively higher, to different camps, before the actual ascent), and there are sometimes mountaineering classes present as well (I will be in one of those there next year). So, there can be dozens of people camped there at any given time. To keep the area clean, CMC's (clean mountain cans) are used. You have to sit on these for your solid wastes, it is a plastic bucket with a lid and bag inside. These biodegradable bags are disposed of in deep crevasses.


Here a 12 day mountaineering course (the one my friend Erik Hursh and I will be taking next year) sets out on the most popular and least strenuous West Buttress climbing route (in green, on map, above), for different tasks and lessons.

This is Chris Erikson, one of the NPS climbing rangers. He was nothing but helpful and professional, as he went about his busy day answering questions from climbers, interacting with us, and collaborating in two incidents (more on these later). They have our greatest admiration in their duties of assisting climbers, sometimes in extremely adverse conditions, when problems arise.

Chris began his mountaineering growing up in Oregon and summiting all the Cascade volcanoes, and worked his way up from there. These are highly sought-after jobs, and only extremely skilled, courageous mountaineers are selected, and receive extensive training in trauma and high altitude emergency medicine. He and a volunteer assistant remain in Base Camp on 21 day assignments, while another ranger works at the 14,200 foot camp, on the West Buttress trail. There are others also standing by at the ranger station in Talkeetna, with a helicopter, in case a complicated rescue situtation occurs. They can only provide assistance though that does not pose undue hazards to themselves, which is why summitting Denali, especially on more difficult routes, is not something to be taken lightly, without extensive planning and preparation.

So what makes this area so unique? Well, for starters, the terrain. The vertical relief of Denali, from the 7200 feet Base Camp, to it's summit at 20,320 feet, is 1000 feet greater than Everest's, from it's climbing base to it's summit. This is 17,450 ft. Mt. Foraker, looming 10,000 + feet over the Kahiltna glacier, just a few miles west from camp.

The broad summit of the Denali massif looms 13,000 vertical feet above camp just six straight-line miles away. This is more vertical relief than Everest offers from it's base at 17,800 feet, to it's summit at 29,028. On this amazing day, winds were light, even on the summit, since there is no banner of blowing snow, which is often present with stronger winds. And, no clouds either. Not many days a year like this, though the reason the climbing season is late April through mid-July, is that this time is the driest in the area, when temperatures are warmest. Later in the summer, precipitation increases as the jet stream begins to gather strength and more low pressure systems move over, bringing heavy snow, strong winds, and white-out conditions for days at a time. We were sure lucky to be there in conditions like this!

My favorite view, which held me for hours, was this, to the south. 14,570 foot Mt. Hunter rears 7300 ft. vertically above the Kahiltna, just a half-mile across from camp. I was simply transfixed by this amazing mass of rock, snow, and ice. Avalanches were frequent, booming across the valley, day and night. Some incredibly brave and skilled climbers ascend this, but of course, rock and ice anchors are needed, and it is a slow, and dangerous process!

Around 1800 in the evening of our first day in camp, a radio message came in from some Italian climbers at 18,200 feet on Cassin ridge, which faces toward camp. They had miscalculated climbing a different route, run out of food and water, and were calling for help. They felt they could go no further.

Chris and his supervisor, who happened to be at camp that day quickly determined that a helicopter pick-up was impossible, in that precarious location. It was decided to drop a bag of food and water to them. The first bag slid down the mountain, the climbers couldn't catch it. One more chance. At 2000, a second bag was lifted up, this time the climbers snagged it. Fortunately for them, the weather was favorable for helicopter operations, otherwise, they would have been in much more dire straits. We could see them through the powerful spotting telescope in camp, setting up for the night, then, packing up the next morning, heading for the summit, so they could descend on the easier West Buttress climbing route.

The evening lighting on all the peaks was stunning. This is looking up the southeast fork of the Kahiltna glacier, that interesting altocumulus standing lenticular cloud (ACSL) was there all day, in the same position, indicative of a very stable, and persistent weather pattern.

I decided to stay up late that night, the shifting pattern of sunlight and shadows on the peaks was too amazing to let go of. Around 2300 hours, I had to put my down parka on. It was fairly warm, about +32F, but a cool 10-15 mph wind was blowing, and since I wasn't moving, just sitting in my camp chair drinking in the views, or going for short walks, bundling up was mandatory. Even though I had all my glacier travel gear (crampons, ice axe, helmet, rope, etc..) Chris warned us that he couldn't guarantee our safety if we wandered outside of camp. The recent warm weather had weakened snow bridges over the many crevasses. I was not about to doubt his word.

Mt. Hunter this evening at 2300 was particularly stunning. I must have gazed at it a total of several hours that night, thinking of climbing routes, and the dangers all that ice and rock could pose, for someone trying to ascend it.

The lower ridges north of Mt. Foraker shaded it after 2200 hours, leaving just the top in the gentle northern summer sun. It must have been nearly calm up there on it's summit, judging by the lack of any blowing snow.

Denali was just as beautiful as all the others that evening. And again, look at how smooth it looks up there, I can only hope for such conditions when I make it up to that summit the year after next.

I didn't get to bed until well after midnight, but slept well in my 4-season tent and -20F down bag. Climbers rousing early for 0400 departures woke me up, but I just listened in and occasionally dozed until about 0600. The morning views were just as amazing as the previous evening.

Ski planes (DeHavilland Beavers and Otters, and Cessna 185s) began dropping off and picking up climbers by 0800.

They look like little gnats compared to the gigantic peaks.

My colleague Ray and I packed up by noon, for our planned 1300 departure.

As accurately forecast by my co-worker Corey Bogel, in the office the previous day, clouds began increasing by then, the fore-runner of an incoming low pressure trough from the Bering Sea, which promised to bring some snow, stronger winds, and occasional white-out conditions to much of the area.

Just before 1400 hours, our plane was late, and clouds kept thickening. We hoped we'd make it out, before the weather closed in around the landing strip there at 7200 feet (most of the interior surrounding the Alaska Range is much lower, only 100 to 2500 feet above sea level, so even that elevation is very high, comparatively).

Then, right at about 1400 hours, the radio traffic began:

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/06/roped-together-climbers-die-fall-mount-mckinley-denali-national-park-and-preserve

Roped-Together Climbers Die in Fall On Mount McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve

Posted June 12th, 2009 by Kurt Repanshek
Two acclaimed climbers fell to their deaths on Mount McKinley in the vicinity of the mountain's West Rib and West Buttress routes. NPS photo.

Two acclaimed climbers who were roped together while climbing on Mount McKinley in Denali National Park and Preserve have fallen several thousand feet to their deaths.

While two medics and an emergency room were quick to reach the two, there was nothing they could do.

Killed in the accident Thursday were Dr. John Mislow, 39, of Newton, Massachusetts, and Dr. Andrew Swanson, age 36, of Minneapolis, Minnesota. While part of the fall was observed by other climbers on the mountain, park officials say many factors remain unknown about the accident, such as the location where the initial fall occurred and whether the team was ascending or descending at the time.

Although the onset of the fall was not witnessed, a team did observe them falling between the 16,500-foot elevation on the Messner Couloir and its base at 14,500 feet.

Park rangers at the 14,200-foot camp were notified via FRS radio within minutes of the event, which occurred shortly before 2:00 p.m. on Thursday. Three skiers in the vicinity were first to respond to the climbers, who were located approximately 30 minutes away from the 14,200-foot camp. A team of four volunteer NPS rangers, including an emergency room nurse and two medics, followed close behind and confirmed that the two men had died in the fall.

The bodies were recovered by the park’s A-Star B3 helicopter that same evening and flown to Talkeetna.

The two men began an ascent of the West Rib route on May 30, and their climbing registration forms did not specify a particular descent route. Situated in between the West Rib and the West Buttress routes, the Messner Couloir is a steep, hourglass-shaped snow gully that drops from near Archdeacon’s Tower at 19,000 feet down to the 14,200-foot basin. With a 40- to 50-degree snow and ice slope, the Messner Couloir is an occasional advanced ski descent route, but is rarely descended on foot or ascended.

Drs. Mislow and Swanson were both experienced mountaineers. In 2000, Denali National Park and Preserve presented the two men with the Denali Pro Award, an honor recognizing the highest standards in the sport for safety, self-sufficiency, and assisting fellow mountaineers.
During their 2000 attempt of the West Rib route they aided several different teams in distress; assisted a National Park Service patrol with multiple visitor protection projects; and

demonstrated sound risk assessment in their climbing objectives.

The rangers Chris, and his volunteer assistant Kurt swung into action, communicating with the 14,200 foot camp, and preparing supplies, in case they would need to be ferried up for a rescue operation. The tragic news came shortly though, there would be no need for one. Judging from the radio traffic we heard, death came to these poor men quickly. The conditions on Denali were still quite good, no banner clouds indicating increasing winds were visible, and it was still mostly in the clear. Which makes this tragic accident all the more mysterious, especially since they were such experienced mountaineers. May they be at peace.

The mood in camp plummeted. Our plane arrived at 1500, and we loaded in to our Talkeetna Air Taxi DeHavilland Beaver. Chris and Kurt, in spite of all this, wished us safe travels, and we said our goodbyes. Their jobs are just as, or even more, stressful, than what I can remember of my worst days in our local volunteer fire department, when we had the occasional mass casualty incident. We were all heavy of heart, thinking of what terrifying moments the two climbers must have experienced, and what those they left behind would soon be experiencing.

The flight back went a slightly different route, more directly through the Alaska range. Which would make sense, to avoid the incoming planes, ferrying in fresh teams and classes, for their adventures.

As we flew over the main part of the Kahiltna glacier, I saw these large areas of meltwater ponds on it. A very stunning shade of blue. We were told by the air service people working in camp that it was highly unusual to see so many of these so early. And it had been unprecedentedly warm there over the past few weeks. Not only that, but there had been no snow in Base Camp, since it was set up on 27 April, only a little rain the week before. Again without precedent in anyone's experience working there.

Although I only spent about 30 hours in that amazing place, it's an experience I'll never forget. I've always been drawn to snow-capped peaks, whether they were in Southern California in winter, the Cascade volcanoes, shimmering in the distance above the gentle lowlands of the Willamette Valley of Oregon in summer, or the high Andes of Bolivia and Peru, floating above the Altiplano. They radiate some sort of essential purity, and to be among them, is truly a spiritual experience. I look forward to my return trips to the Andes and Alaska Range, and perhaps others, as well.