Departure Day to Bethel, AK

I have now made it to Bethel, AK. After four flights, going from one extreme of North America to the other.  It was a long day of travel to be rewarded in the end with sunlight after 830pm.  The travel experience was how should I say...interesting.  I witnessed  a change in people on each flight, as I got closer to Alaska it seems the plane was filled with more outdoor enthusiasts than before.  Once I stepped onto Alaska Airlines, I knew I was on my way to the last frontier.

Upon arriving in Anchorage I was surprised and greeted with a bar, at this bar you could purchase your own growlers and have them filled with your choice of brew.  I decided I better get two of these since Bethel is a "damp" village (you can brig it in, but you can't buy it).  I then decided to head to my last gate and ran into my boss Kyle for this summer research!

Growler you can purchase in airport and fly with!

Kyle and I began to board our last flight into Bethel, AK by scanning our tickets at the gate like any other flight.  Then we began walking down a stairway and onto the tarmac.  It hit me then that we were flying into no-mans land.  We boarded a plane that was filled half way with cargo and half with passengers, it was an interesting set-up.  I noticed how this flight changed, the last flight was filled with outdoor enthusiast and now this flight seems to be filled with ALL locals.  Locals who were sweating constantly in the semi-warm plane.  I guess when you're used to living in below freezing temps, 50 degrees is pretty hot!

We landed in Bethel, AK and were greeted by our other group members.  I waited at the baggage claim which was really just a conference hall with a conveyor belt.  I quickly noticed the items on the belt were not normal travel items!  Big Rubbermaid totes, coolers duck taped closed and a variety of other boxes.  These were locals literally flying into town to go to Wal-Mart and the such, and the coolers were certainly people like me flying in their favorite brew.

I then arrived at our bunkhouse where we talked and shot the crap.  I was introduced to Elk tongue and had to try it!  It was surprisingly good actually, but a little chewy. Around 9pm since the sun was still up I decided to take a stroll around to soak in Alaska, of course I took my binoculars and camera in case some awesome wildlife crossed my path. The first bird sighting was a Robin, whoopee! We have those back home.  Then two Fox Sparrows crossed my path.  This is just the beginning of this adventure, only day 1, many more to come.  The sun didn't begin to set until after 1130pm and began to rise around 5am, out of everything in Alaska I think this will be the hardest thing to get used to. 

Fox Sparrow-Gerrit Vyn