Alaska Outdoors

This photo shows the colors of deciduous trees and bushes on the upper Delta River in Interior Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: The season of senescence is upon us

Trees and other plants are simply shedding what no longer suits them.

This photo shows the colors of deciduous trees and bushes on the upper Delta River in Interior Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
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The Salmon State: An early fall trip to Hasselborg Lake

We were already happier, ready to skip our phones across the water like stones.

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The typical cocoon of a Caloptila moth, a leaf miner and leaf roller, with a plate-like cover over the pupa.

On the Trails: Small things living on leaves

I found a funny looking thing on the underside of an alder leaf.

The typical cocoon of a Caloptila moth, a leaf miner and leaf roller, with a plate-like cover over the pupa.
The author managed to take a grouse despite being deep in thought for a good half hour of his deer hunt. He made jalapeno poppers that night. Internal dialogue of a hunter (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: The internal dialogue of a hunter

There is always something that comes to mind when I am outside.

The author managed to take a grouse despite being deep in thought for a good half hour of his deer hunt. He made jalapeno poppers that night. Internal dialogue of a hunter (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Jeff Doty and Faisai Minhaj check traps baited with oats and peanut butter for voles and squirrels in Interior Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Setting traps to catch an Alaska virus

Tracking down Alaskapox.

Jeff Doty and Faisai Minhaj check traps baited with oats and peanut butter for voles and squirrels in Interior Alaska. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Elizabeth Graham, entomologist for the U.S. Forest Service, talks about the black-headed budworm outbreak in front of a spot on Mount McGinnis that shows the effects of defoliation. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)

Find out more about the very hungry caterpillars munching on Southeast Alaska’s hemlock trees

No need to bug out. They’re a natural part of the forest.

Elizabeth Graham, entomologist for the U.S. Forest Service, talks about the black-headed budworm outbreak in front of a spot on Mount McGinnis that shows the effects of defoliation. (Ben Hohenstatt / Juneau Empire)
A yellow slime mold is an aggregation of separate cells that came together to reproduce; this one engulfs several plant stems. (Courtesy Photo / Mary F. Willson)

On the Trails: A good morning in the meadows

Yellow sun and slime mold.

A yellow slime mold is an aggregation of separate cells that came together to reproduce; this one engulfs several plant stems. (Courtesy Photo / Mary F. Willson)
The Elvey Building (with the satellite dish on top), home to the Geophysical Institute on the UAF campus. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Diversity helps a place survive

“From the center of the Earth to the center of the sun.”

The Elvey Building (with the satellite dish on top), home to the Geophysical Institute on the UAF campus. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
The small white flowers of sticky asphodel may be pollinated by small flies. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
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On the Trails: A not at all mythical sticky situation

A pretty little perennial plant, sometimes called sticky asphodel, grows in many of our muskegs.

The small white flowers of sticky asphodel may be pollinated by small flies. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
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This photo shows the aurora borealis over Fairbanks. To a large degree, the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks owes its existence to the aurora. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: What does it take to reach 75?

Here are a few elements that were pivotal to the Geophysical Institute’s early development…

This photo shows the aurora borealis over Fairbanks. To a large degree, the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks owes its existence to the aurora. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
In July, Yakutat Surf Club kicked off their first camp of the summer. This is YSC’s third year supporting local youth in accessing Yakutat’s waves (Courtesy Photo / Bethany Sonsini Goodrich)

Resilient Peoples Place: Riding Northern swells with Zoé Bulard

Hanging 10 at Latitude 59

In July, Yakutat Surf Club kicked off their first camp of the summer. This is YSC’s third year supporting local youth in accessing Yakutat’s waves (Courtesy Photo / Bethany Sonsini Goodrich)
This Aug. 9, 2021 photo shows Chief Ranger Erika Jostad in Grand Teton National Park in Moose, Wyo. Erika Jostad’s baseline for what Grand Teton National Park is like in the summer, is skewed by 2021, easily the busiest year in the park’s 92-year-and-running history. Teton Park’s incoming permanent chief ranger has been in the job for months on an interim basis, during which time she’s overseen some 60 “incident responses” to fire — and that’s with a couple months of wildfire season remaining. The more general emergency call caseload has ballooned, too, outpacing gains in visitation and increasing nearly 70% over the average from the past five years.(Mike Koshmrl/Jackson Hole News & Guide)

New job keeping Grand Teton’s 1st female chief ranger busy

Teton Park’s incoming permanent chief ranger has been in the job for months on an interim basis.

This Aug. 9, 2021 photo shows Chief Ranger Erika Jostad in Grand Teton National Park in Moose, Wyo. Erika Jostad’s baseline for what Grand Teton National Park is like in the summer, is skewed by 2021, easily the busiest year in the park’s 92-year-and-running history. Teton Park’s incoming permanent chief ranger has been in the job for months on an interim basis, during which time she’s overseen some 60 “incident responses” to fire — and that’s with a couple months of wildfire season remaining. The more general emergency call caseload has ballooned, too, outpacing gains in visitation and increasing nearly 70% over the average from the past five years.(Mike Koshmrl/Jackson Hole News & Guide)
A marmot lies near the Shrine of St. Therese on Aug. 16. (Courtesy Photo / Carolyn Kelley)

Wild Shots: Photos of Mother Nature in Alaska

Reader-submitted photos of Southeast Alaska.

A marmot lies near the Shrine of St. Therese on Aug. 16. (Courtesy Photo / Carolyn Kelley)
Beavers get more than their share of blame for spreading Giardia. (Courtesy Photo / Frank Zmuda, Alaska Department of Fish and Game)

Alaska Science Forum: Beavers not always to blame for fever

If river spray hits you in the face, keep your mouth shut.

Beavers get more than their share of blame for spreading Giardia. (Courtesy Photo / Frank Zmuda, Alaska Department of Fish and Game)
The author's wife makes her way across a mountain during an unsuccessful hunt with friends. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Giving it our best shot

Is it a feeling of accomplishment to simply get to the top? Yeah.

The author's wife makes her way across a mountain during an unsuccessful hunt with friends. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
This photo shows adult crane flies mating on goldenrod. The flying adults are interested in just one thing — mating. They only live for a week or two, so males and females have a short time in which to find each other. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
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On the Trails: No, they don’t eat mosquitoes, but these long-legged bugs are food for many animals

Crane flies while you’re having fun.

This photo shows adult crane flies mating on goldenrod. The flying adults are interested in just one thing — mating. They only live for a week or two, so males and females have a short time in which to find each other. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)
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A cabin on Chowiet Island off the Alaska Peninsula in which two biologists were the closest humans to a recent magnitude 8.2 earthquake. (Courtesy Photo /Erik Andersen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)

Alaska Science Forum: The closest people to an 8.2 earthquake

The people who were closest were two biologists who are living on Chowiet Island this summer.

A cabin on Chowiet Island off the Alaska Peninsula in which two biologists were the closest humans to a recent magnitude 8.2 earthquake. (Courtesy Photo /Erik Andersen, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.)
The author expresses a look of...something on a perfect early morning of deer season. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: When the bucks win

Not basketball.

The author expresses a look of...something on a perfect early morning of deer season. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
(A bumblebee probes a flower of self-heal (Courtesy Photo / Deana Barajas)

On the Trails: Interesting and overlooked summer flowers

We may neglect some lesser lights that are interesting in their own right.

(A bumblebee probes a flower of self-heal (Courtesy Photo / Deana Barajas)
Neal Brown in 1967, holding his newborn son Kris. Brown accepts the Roger Smith Lifetime Achievement award in 2016 from Geophysical Institute director Bob McCoy. Brown in 2021, on an outing in New Hampshire with his dog Molly. Courtesy Photos / Kris Brown, Geophysical Institute, Becky Lees)

Alaska Science Forum: Neal Brown leaves legacy of learning and laughing

Brown never lost his child-like wonder about the world.

Neal Brown in 1967, holding his newborn son Kris. Brown accepts the Roger Smith Lifetime Achievement award in 2016 from Geophysical Institute director Bob McCoy. Brown in 2021, on an outing in New Hampshire with his dog Molly. Courtesy Photos / Kris Brown, Geophysical Institute, Becky Lees)