Alaska Blogging Misc. Dec. 2010

Finally the temperatures are reaching below zero farhenheit in Anchorage. Up the hill in East Anchorage it is generally colder than toward the water, and a thousand feet higher in elevation.

Frost on the inside of a tent at this temperature can become a problem. It builds up on the inside and clogs up vents as well. If one has a propane bottle it is possible to warm the inside enough to melt the frost, yet it is possible to cold camp for several months evidently.

If camping at such temperatures goose down car coats are nice if not walking far enough to work up a sweat-they tend to freeze wet then and become ineffective. it is better to layer clothes such as a wool sweater and gore-tex parka shell to stay dry and warm simultaneously. If in Anchorage it is a good idea to have a coat that covers up the groin because the wind may blow 20 m.p.h. when its just ten or fifteen degrees f. making it possible to freeze skin below pants. Keep your notebook computer in the sleeping bag with you to prevent the battery from freezing solid and expanding.

I probably will reduce the quantity of posting here at gather for a while as winter issues and other concerns present.

'A World Without Ice' by Henry Pollack Phd is quite a good read. Published in 2009 it is an eye-opener. Its much warmer in Anchorage now than it was in the 1960s. The North Slope permafrost driving season has reduced from seven months to 3 or 4 months as the surface doesn't freeze hard enough due to global warming reportedly. In the future getting access to onshore oil drilling sites for maint. may be quite a problem when the driving season drops to a month or less.

U.S. Senate candidate Joe Miller has been given until Tuesday to fill suit with the Alaska Supreme Court to keep his investigation of voter ballot irregularities and election hopes alive. it is possible that some cheating could have occurred in the election-its happened elsewhere and the vote is reasonably close.