The Perfect Remedy to a Rainy Day

Tuesday was the first time I experienced what I thought of when I imagined Alaskan weather. It was chilly, overcast, and looked like rain. But that wouldn't stop us because we had a full day planned and it started off with no class, which was awesome. Instead of class, that morning we headed to the US Army Corps' project -- the permafrost tunnel. This is a tunnel that was cut into a hillside so people could study the permafrost. But before we could go in, we got suited up with giant, army surplus parkas and hard hats. The temperature inside was below freezing, so I definitely appreciated the jacket, especially since I tend to get chilly easily. Inside the tunnel was amazing. There were plenty of lights, otherwise it would have been pitch black and there was a super fine dirt everywhere, which quickly got all over our clothing. But it was worth it because it was just so interesting inside. Our tour guide pointed out the different ice wedges and and other points of interest in the tunnel. He told a story of some Japanese scientists that took an ice sample back to Japan to study it. Once it thawed, they found microscopic bacteria that actually came back to life! These things had been frozen for thousands of years, yet they still managed to survive. That's pretty crazy to think about. Hopefully there wasn't anything frozen in there that's a deadly bacteria. That would definitely put a damper on the experience of being there.



This is one of the visible chunks of ice. It's pretty cool to think about how you can have dirt, then ice, then dirt again. Of course it makes the ground unstable if the ice begins to thaw, but it's still neat to think about.

After the permafrost tunnel, we jumped to the other end of the temperature spectrum and visited the Chena Hot Springs. First, though, we at a terribly expensive lunch that wasn't all that great, which was lame. But what came afterwards was worth it. The hot springs felt incredible, and it was the perfect day for it. Since it was a little chilly, there was steam all over the water, which made the scene really pretty. Here's a group photo of the gang. I think we were attempting model shot.


We all thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the hot springs and we're already looking forward to the next time we get to visit on in Iceland.

More to come later on the happenings of yesterday and today.