Black-capped Chickadee Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), and Boreal Chickadees (Poecile hudsonicus) are two of the few bird species that call Fairbanks home during the winter (for that matter year-round). It is amazing how...
The Richardson Highway, like many roads in Alaska, has been rerouted many times. Its predecessor, the Valdez-Fairbanks Trail, experienced the same growing pains. Soon after the Valdez-Eagle Trail (the Trans-Alaska Military Road) was blazed...
I hiked up to Birch Hill Cemetery before the snow flew. On the property’s south slope (beyond the cemetery’s perimeter) is a small bluff, and along the bluff’s edge the trees are marvelously twisted...
I have yet to seen any recently manufactured screwdrivers that I would call beautiful–even pretty. Most contemporary screwdrivers are simply clunky–all function and no form. If manufacturers do make a nod towards aesthetics, they...
Before the development of Fort Knox gold mine northeast of Fairbanks, it’s likely that most people had only heard about the Fairbanks area’s placer gold production. The early drift mines and later dredges that...
Today was a mellow winter day. The temperature was up in the low 20s (Fahrenheit), and a blustery wind cast about all day for things to toss around. Twigs were scattered along the street,...
I was up at the university at dusk (which is coming earlier and earlier these days) waiting for my son. There is a little mugo pine (not native to Alaska by the way) by...
I gave a presentation at the Pioneer Home yesterday afternoon and had so much fun. I showed a bunch of my drawings and talked about historic resources in the Fairbanks area. Many of...
I am fascinated by old tools. The ingenuity of yesteryear’s toolmakers was amazing, and I also think that many old tools are much more aesthetically pleasing than their modern-day counterparts. The photo above is...
The Ester Gold Camp hotel, constructed in the 1930s, was originally a mess hall-bunkhouse for the Fairbanks Exploration Company. The structure is at the center of Ester Camp Historic District, located in Ester,...
