The past few days we have been getting familiar with the area, the Refuge, the trails, and our upcoming responsibilities as well as meeting people we will be working with and for. We have also done the usual – grocery and other shopping, laundry, cleaning, etc.
The weather has been iffy. Most days start out sunny then go to cloudy and some rain. We hope to start doing sightseeing next week (Many of the places we want to visit will start fully opening next week and hopefully the weather will be warmer – :-))
Andy did see a red fox on one of the trails and we saw two cranes doing the mating dance one evening – it was cute to watch – lots of squawking, jumping up and down and dancing….
We have electric and sewer hookups, however our water needs to be brought in from the Fish and Game building. Here is Andy bringing in our water:
One afternoon, I got a chance to explore the Boreal Forest Trail. Boreal means “of the North” and these type of forests are in the northern continents of the world. They consist of spruce, birch and aspen trees. The climate is harsh with a large temperature range between summer and winter. Precipitation and evaporation are relatively low, but perennially frozen ground (permafrost) limits drainage so standing water in ponds, lakes, and muskeg is common.
This is the start of the trail:
This pond and the wetlands around it are flooded every spring. The frozen soil underneath acts as a seal and prevents water from soaking into the ground. By early June, the frozen ground thaws, and pond water begins to seep into the earth, disappearing from sight.
(For us, we have been watching a number of the ponds slowly go down as the ground thaws out.)
This area of the forest is collapsing due to ice wedges in the permafrost. The wedges form when permafrost contracts during the cold winter. A crack opens and is filled with melted water during the following spring. As the cycle continues over many years, an ice wedge can grow to more than 10 feet wide at the top and more than 20 feet in depth.
When ice wedges begin to melt, the overlying soil and trees begin to slump and fill the ice-free trough. The trough becomes a drainage for snowmelt and rainwater. Since 1996, the slumping has been dramatic. Because of the unstable terrain, the trail was rerouted northward 3 times between 1996 and 2006. The trail was first constructed in 1977 and prior to 1996, the trail had never been moved.
You can see the trees collapsing on the right hand side of this picture. It was amazing to see how everything was falling in the trench.
And this is a Thermokarst Pond. This type of pond is formed from fire and ice. Subarctic forests frequently grow on soils underlain by ice-rich permafrost. After a fire swept through here in the early 1950s, permafrost near the surface melted, and the insulating organic layer was removed. After this fire, trees no longer shaded the ground. The soil warmed up from increased exposure to sun and rain. The soil subsided and left a depression which collects the snowmelt and the rainwater. This pond remains full of water throughout much of the summer.
And this picture below is an ancient dune. It is the remnant of an Ice Age dune. Dunes are created by wind transporting silt or sand-sized particles to a location of deposition. They become stable when vegetation that thrives on well-drained soils anchors the particles with their root systems.
These piles that you see around the trees are called middens. They are piles of scales from pine cones (from white spruce trees) that the red squirrels open seeking the seeds inside. As the squirrels get ready for winter, they sometimes store up to 12,000 pine cones (can you imagine!):
And some more pictures from the trail:
What a beautiful trail. As it changes I will post more pictures. (And, yes, I did copy some of the above.)
I have talked about the longer hours of daylight so I wanted to give you an idea of what is printed in the paper.
This is from 5/10/09:
This is from 5/13/09:
Notice the difference between sunrise and sunset and then notice the difference between civil twilight beginning and ending – for tonight it is only 54 minutes of darkness. Folks, let me tell you, that is not much. In another few days we will come to the point where if the sky is clear we will not see the stars until August!!! AMAZING!!!
So how are we dealing with it? Well we are fortunate that the MH bedroom has darkening shades. However, by the bath is a skylight – LOL. We have talked about putting some insulation over it but still haven’t done it – maybe we are getting use to sleeping in the light – LOL.
I will try to post a few of these as we go thru the summer.
Stay safe and a belated Happy Mother’s Day to all!
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