Thursday, February 03, 2005

First taste of class

Well, after many moments of waiting I finally got into the classroom... So this fabricated dream world of no school all play has come to an end... Much needed end, read to learn. Thus far things seem like they will go very well. Interesting topics and cool folks in the classes. No worries though I will be keeping busy with new experiences on the frontiers of skate skiing, ice climbing, avalanche awareness, and donating money from my wallet to APU... Other than that not too much I can say for things other than they have begun... However I have the essential facts that you may want to know about Alaska:

Daylight: (what everyone really wants to know about)
Anchorage: Summer Solstice 19.21 hours
Winter Solstice 5.28 hours

Barrow: Sun rises May 10th and sets August 2nd (84 days of light)
Sun sets November 18th and rises January 24th (67 days of dark)

Vastness:

586,000 square miles Easternmost and Westernmost state (55 miles from Russia), and more than twice the size of Texas... Guess Alaska is the biggest state in the union!

Earthquakes:
10 quakes greater than magnitude 8 on the Richter scale since 1889 Alaska has approximately 50 quakes a year with a magnitude greater than 5.... Haven't felt any yet...

Volcanoes:
70 or more active volcanoes. Most are part of the Pacific's "Ring of Fire..." Althought its cold here, still advisable to not get magma on your boots...

Mountains:
Mt. McKinley highest peak in the U.S. 20,320 feet
(called Denali, meaning "Great One" in Athabascan)
St. Ellas 18,008 feet
Foraker 17,400 feet
Bona 16,500 feet
Blackburn 16,390 feet
Sanford 16, 237 feet
Of America's 20 highest peaks, 17 are in Alaska... Impressive in only a way you have to see to believe...

Glaciers:
100,000 glaciers cover 30,000 square miles...
Malaspina, 850 square miles is the largest and roughly the size of Rhode Island... By far some of the coolest features around.

Many more things to know about this state, and I will bring more info as it becomes availible... Until then, keep doing what you're doing, and get out and enjoy that weather...

It's your world...Capture it.
Vivas!


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