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A male rusty blackbird in breeding dress. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

Sports

On the Trails: A hungry goshawk and some early spring observations

Every late afternoon, a bunch of mallards is in the habit of coming to snack on fallen birdseed…

From left, Lauren Shea, Chantale Bégin, Isabelle Côté and Noelle Helder propel their 28-foot boat Emma off the coast of Florida during a training run for their crossing of the Atlantic Ocean. (Photo courtesy Noelle Helder)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Marine scientist rows across the Atlantic

The first days were the hardest days, Noelle Helder said.

The author and his wife ride a lift at Eaglecrest over the weekend. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: All you can eat pizza

There are times you’re confronted with the culmination of your career as an active human and you end…

Kara Haeussler skis back to an airstrip on Kahiltna Glacier in 2014 with Denali in the far background and the Kahiltna Peaks in the foreground right. (Photo by Peter Haeussler)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Why is Denali so tall?

Denali, North America’s highest peak at 20,310 feet above sea level, always seemed abnormally high to Peter Haeussler.…

An infection of dwarf mistletoe has caused the deformation of tree branches, making what is called a witch’s broom. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

Sports

On the Trails: Witch’s brooms and gumboots

Local creatures have often been given the names of early explorers and naturalists that visited our northern shores…

Hydrologist Heather Best rides her fat bike in the White Mountains National Recreation Area north of Fairbanks. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Wet overflow a winter hazard in Alaska

While following a snowmachine trail recently, my dog and I came to a low spot that looked like…

As a teenager, shooting hoops was a major stress reliever for the author. (Photo courtesy of Jeff Lund)

Sports

I went to the woods: The reward of risk

One of the easiest things for athletes, coaches, former athletes, former coaches and parents to say is that…

Forest Wagner visits Kanuti Hot Springs, located in Interior Alaska not far from the Arctic Circle. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska hot springs, far and wide

After a few hours of skiing through deep snow, Forest Wagner and I smelled a tuna sandwich. We…

A female varied thrush pauses to look around during her foraging bout. (Photo by Helen Unruh)

Sports

On the Trails: Early signs of spring

The ground is heavily blanketed with snow. The snow berms in my driveway (and, dangerously, at some street…

The Department of Fish and Game will release great adventure permission slips on Friday. The author tagged along on a hunt in 2023 and it ended up being a highlight. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: The wait is almost over

Clarity comes on Friday.

A map showing some orange streams found in national park units in northern Alaska. (Map created by Carson Baughman, USGS; photos by Ken Hill, National Park Service)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: The rusting of northern Alaska streams

During these late winter days, researchers who are studying the rusty discoloration of northern Alaska streams are prepping…

Redpolls have come to Juneau in large numbers this year. (Photo by Mark Schwan)

Sports

On the Trails: Snow flies and other wintery things

January brought us two massive snowfalls, piling up about six feet deep, and pretty much shutting down the…

Fairbanks residents engage in a favorite cold-weather activity of taking photographs of themselves in front of the University of Alaska Fairbanks time-and-temperature sign on the morning of Jan. 27, 2024. (Photo by Ned Rozell)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska still excellent at manufacturing cold

Moments after bashing some drywall with a hammer to expose my home’s water pipes to warmer air, I…

A mallard feeding on rockweed in North Tee Harbor. (Photo by Bob Armstrong)

Sports

On the Trails: Mallards eating rockweed (and how plants hear)

Mallards are omnivores, eating seeds, little invertebrates, an occasional tiny fish, and whatnot. Recent midwinter observations at North…

John Eichelberger of Fairbanks took this photo of the full moon on Dec. 26 north of Fairbanks. At the time he took this photo — solar noon in Fairbanks or about 1 p.m. local time — the full moon appeared due north of him. (Photo by John Eichelberger)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: The super moons of this Alaska winter

Has the moon seemed exceptionally noticeable this winter? There’s a reason: The full moon currently never sets for…

A coyote pauses on its way through the Presidio of San Francisco, a two-square mile former military base that is now managed by workers for the National Park Service. (Photo by Heather Liston)

Sports

Alaska Science Forum: The coyotes of San Francisco

A person is bound to notice changes if he bicycles the same pathways for 20 years. Such is…

A firefighter clears loose brush from around a sequoia tree in Mariposa Grove in Yosemite National Park, Calif., in July 2022. (Garrett Dickman/National Park Service)

Sports

On the Trails: Fire-adapted trees

In areas subject to fairly frequent wildfires, especially surface fires, we find many plants that have evolved resistance…

An illustration shows a new Welcome Center and plaza area at the Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area as proposed in May. The facilities approved in a Notice of Decision on Thursday are similar, but are being relocated further from the face of the glacier to the existing commercial overflow parking lot. (Image from the Notice of Decision published by the U.S. Forest Service).

News

Mendenhall Glacier Recreation Area improvement plan gets a final decision

New welcome center and outdoor amphitheater, more trails, no motorized boats in multiyear plan.

A local display of flowering rhododendrons may include some types with toxic nectar. (Photo by Denise Carroll)

Sports

On the Trails: Honey and nectar

Several kinds of bees can make honey, although domestic honeybees are the most famous and best-studied. They make…

Through the author’s spotting scope: A Dall sheep feeds in Denali National Park near the Teklanika River. (Photo by Jeff Lund)

Sports

I Went to the Woods: Too tough to call

The Teklanika River grows and moves swiftly as it flows north. Eventually the Alaska Range relents and gives…