Snowy Shenanigans

So in addition to dogsledding, there are some other ways to cut up nice powdery trails through the woods.  For this adventure, we headed to Girdwood and joined a snowmobile tour...machines, helmets provided (think they had extra warm gloves and jackets for the tourists who might not be packing snowpants and jackets).  We took an off shoot road, which I think was an old mining road, out into the boonies.  And the powder out there was AMAZING!

Again, there are plenty of different tours in different locations, but this is the one we grabbed.  They had another one that goes out on a lake around some glacial...bergs?  It looked pretty cool too, but t was not being offered on this particular day.

Looks like sitting on top of the clouds...but nope, thats all fluffy white stuff.  Guess it's a snowmobiler's heaven.

The first pass we were led down the trail, and given a bit of an idea of what the bigger loop looked like...where there were some wide open spaces to cut into the powder, where the slopes were, dips and hills, and those blissful straight stretches for going all out on the throttle later.

It was the second part I enjoyed....lettting the group get a head and then going faster that I would have been able to in the line :)  It had been years since I last rode a snowmachine, but, it came back quickly and it was just as much fun as I remembered.

After about an hour we parked the machines and stopped at a musher's cabin....they had a smoker going making hot dogs and hot cocoa, and some marshmallows handy for toasting at the open fire waiting for us.

Is there ever a time when a bonfire happens and it isn't a great day?  No, I didn't think so either.

Just another great way to spend a day in Alaska.

 

Happy Feet

Further to my photography goals at Forest Fair, a new endeavor took shape.  I needed to a) stay dry and therefore remain in a static location, and b) not be overtly creepy by taking a bunch of head shots without permission.  While it's allowed, it didn't feel right.  Besides, these people had some pretty interesting things going on below eye level...Forest Fair footwear is an art of its own.

This flowing white full length skirt is the perfect example.  I loved the way the skirt flowed and gave the shoe surprise that went with this classic skirt.  What footwear should a Forest Maid wear?  Rubber boots with blue stars and script of course.

I started looking around and realized that Alaskans collect a special type of footwear.  In Bermuda, I had rows and rows of open toe, strappy, glitzy heels and sandals.  I may have to change my footwear accessories from rhinestone to rubber if Forest Fair is a good example of fashion days to come.  This lady is rocking out the rock star skinny jeans with green rubber boots with a puppy print.  I have to say it has a natural flair to it.

I didn't realize the wide array of possibilities for finding just the right rubber boot before this day.  I kept my eyes out for cat boots, but never did see a pair.

It wasn't all flamboyant on the feet...sometimes if the skirt was crazy enough, the boots would be a little more neutral.

However, the hardcore hippies were having no part of fancy footwear.  They let their feet run naked through the woods, which contributed to the overall effect of crazy wild forest guy.

This photo catches rubber boots, flip flops, and cowboy boots in conversation together.  A few stars and stripes for the 4th of July weekend, and some red, white, and...pink?  Why not...anything goes at Forest Fair.

I kind of get the skirts and rubber boots....staying fashionable but keeping it practical.  Not quite sure the open back leather half man shoes and skirts were a success.

Every once in a while the outfit was too much, even for Forest Fair.  This Hawaii hippie print with triple layered fringed suede boots had me too confused to come up with  a funny commentary.  There was briefly something about hula dancing woolly mammoths...but i lost the thought in the chaos of the outfit passing by.

photo by Sharon Vernon

Here's the best dressed couple of Forest Fair Footwear.  Granted she saves him a bit with her awesome and unique boots, but the his and her look of red socks and skirts, the stance, and intertwined fingers makes this a Forest Fest Fave!

Now THESE boots were made for walking.  Walking into stuff if the bandages  on the thigh are correct.  These boots brought the sexy back to Forest Fair.  I doubt they kept the feet dry without sufficient rain deflecting clothing above the calf, so while sloshing around through puddles with water squishing between your toes inside your sexy boot gets you on the best dressed (or best partially dressed) list, it isn't on the practical list.  Good look though.

Now this set really caught my eye.  This woman woke up and said "I am going to spend the day in the woods...in my red leather boots."  That says something.  Every girl should have a pair of red shoes...oh the stories that revolve around my red Dior heels could have a blog of their own (they have made cameo's in the odd Bermuda leaving video, some desperate women crawled under a table and tried to pry off my foot once, they may or may not have been the root of at least one international legendary shopping incident,  they may have been kidnapped by a crazy customs lady for a weekend before delivery, and I got several tourist comments about how amazing it was that my scooter matched my shoes).  The point is, red shoes are an awesome accessory.  Red boots don't come up that often.  Footloose is the only pop culture reference off the top of my head.  So these boots get on the Forest Fair path of footwear fame.

In the movie Back to the Future, they travel from 1985 to 2015.  This could be what happened in the image below.  Madonna may or may not have hopped in the Delorian with Michael J Fox midway through her Like a Virgin tour and landed in Girdwood Alaska, July 5, 2015.  There really is no other explanation.

photo by Sharon Vernon

That's the end of the freakiest feet of forest fair.  Hippies and kids, wellies and heels, rain and sun, Forest Fair is worth a look.  Next year I will make plans to stay for more than one afternoon.  Add this into your summer tour of Alaska!

Sprites

Sprite:  noun 1.  an elf or fairy.  synonyms:  fairy, elf, pixie, imp, brownie, puck, peri, leprechaun, sylph, naiad.  By the light of the moon the woodland sprites do dance and play.

That is a pretty close enough definition for the next set of pictures.  It sounds a lot better than rugrats unleashed at hippie fest...and there was no moonlight because this is the land of the midnight sun...but there was dancing and playing...in the forest...and in the rain.

This first photo is one I just love.  People standing in the rain, listening to the tunes, just hanging out getting wet.  This little girl in her vivid raincoat, riding on dad's shoulders, quietly observing everything, her little fingers trying to pinch raindrops.  She didn't make a peep...neither complaining of the rain or delighting in it...just a little forest bug quietly enjoying it all. 

This little girl was delighting in the festival mood and alternated between skipping and stomping along in her sneakers and veils and flowers and frills...topped off with a magic wand.

There was something comical about this little lady.  I have always maintained that kids are pretty much born who they are going to be.  I became convinced of this watching my own nieces and nephews grow -- over the years, the expressions on their faces remain the same.  Perplexed at 3 months has the same raised brow as perplexed at 16 years old.  They grow, choices take them on certain paths than you might have imagined, but when a certain look crosses their face you know exactly what they are feeling...because you have seen that look their whole lives.  This little girl screams determination to me.  I got the sense that at least part of this look was of her choosing, and it's pretty rock and roll for a toddler.  I kind of hope she keeps the look.  It was also cute watching her size up a tree stump just about her height and watch her struggle to get to the top, kicking and wiggling until she was triumphant.

I have a feeling in 10 years she will be the one on stage.

This to me is "Little Boy Lost."  He looks the part of a hippie vagabond, weary and soulful.  He is trailing hippie grandma and grandpa, but I think he was ready for a nap.

Every once in a while the kids could wrestle a hula hoop away from the adults and have a little fun.  This little girl had high aspirations of hula dancing and spinning and jumping all at the same time...fortunately she has a few years to fine tune the skills, but she was sure having fun!

 And what is a generation without....Batman!  Fortunately this little dude was around to keep things in line.  Nobody was going to mess with his popcorn.

There were a lot of tweens about as well. They managed to make Forest Fair a little more punk.

I call these Trippies...Trainee Hippies.

So many spirited sprites in the woods that weekend.  I am sure there are many more tales to tell.

People of the Forest

Leaving your camera in the car when you expect to be standing in a constant drizzle of rain for the next several hours is a good idea.  Yet, the moment I walked by a woman furiously hula hooping in an open back gold lame jumpsuit that somehow reminded me of Star Wars, I realized that I had made a grave mistake and found myself pining for my camera, a solid mile away in the trunk of my car.  So I was kind of relieved when Sharon offered me her camera from the protection of the Keul FM booth.  However, I was still kind of in a fixed point due to the rain, so had to wait for the entertainment to come to me.  It felt too creepy to take pictures of people unawares, so I had a little fun trying to catch the spirit of the people, without actually photographing them head on.  For example, there were a few wise souls who brought their hippiest umbrellas.

A lot of the modern age flower children didn't mind the rain, and didn't even bother to put their hoods up.  Maiden or modern day hipster, they stand hand in hand at Forest Fair.

In true hippie style, love was in the air, and lots of couples were cuddling under their umbrellas.  There was a lot of smooching and hand holding going on...the love vibe is alive and well.

There is something to be said for practicality.  This woman may be wearing a giant sandwich bag, but unlike me, she does not have pneumonia a week later.

Bride of nature?  Wood nymph?  Mystic sprite?  So many flowered headdresses I didn't know who was what.

A couple of psychedelic frogs were enjoying the show from the booth.  I am sure they look more innocent when viewed from outside the booth, but I found myself wondering about the volunteer who set up the booth from my angle.

This lady was camouflaged well enough to blend right in with the local flora.

And the crafts were awesome.  I bought some advance Christmas gifts.  I also almost bought these 'wee winkies' because they were so cute....and so soft...and because saying wee winkies makes me smile.  

Saturday stayed pretty damp at Forest Fair.  Even though I left around supper time, I am pretty sure the party went long into the night.  Even this wooden bear statue...

...looked a little more tripped out by Sunday morning as evidenced in the photo below.

photo by Sharon Vernon

My friend Sharon is a big supporter of Forest Fair, and this blog, so she carried on with the themes I started on her camera on Sunday.  She was bold enough to get a few awesome head on shots as well.  This is a pretty conservative look for forest fair -- don a sunglass wearing bear head hat on top of what would otherwise double as a "Heidi" costume (think Swiss Alps and yodelling), and spice it up with your favorite cowboy boots and accessorize with a fur wrapped cello...at least i think that's a cello...and then rock your heart out on stage.

photo by Sharon Vernon

Imagine waking up, wondering what you were going to wear to Forest Fair, and coming up with this next outfit.  It leaves me extremely curious about what else is in that closet.  I am willing to bet he has Mr. DressUp's whole Tickle Trunk in there.  And I am dying to know what didn't make the cut that day.  I have seen a few episodes of Fashion Police...I think they could do a Forest Fair Segment and the ratings would go through the roof!
 

Photo by Sharon Vernon

A picture is worth a thousand words.  In this case, I need a thousand words to understand how this photo came to be, in 2015, in a quiet mountain town in Alaska.  It's quite the paradox when you put it in that perspective.  My Fashion Police commentary -- BeetleJuice remake.  But seriously, being a bit crazy is part of the Forest Fair experience, and in that respect, this guy gets an A+.

 

photo by Sharon Vernon

If Sharon meant go get an iconic Forest Fair feel photo, she did it here.  I think a man in a dog mask wearing a tutu while hula hooping with children under the blissful and wreathed gaze of a carved wooden bear visually sums up the quirkiness of Forest Fair.  The colors reflect the vibrancy felt in the air, a moment where young and old take time out to play, where conventional is replaced for unconventional, people dance like no one is watching (even though they totally know everyone is watching), and life pulses to the main stage beat for one magical weekend in the woods of Girdwood.

photo by Sharon Vernon

Forest Fair

Forest Fair.  So this is a new concept to me.  Shortly after landing in Alaska, Girdwood residents Sharon and Dave took me on a tour of their home town.  Sharon was already looking forward to the annual Forest Fair.  "What's that?" I asked.  She explained that it's a weekend affair, a bit of an Alaska Lollapalooza if you will, with hippies, in the woods, and sometimes ice cream eating bears and mushroom eating humans, bound to be an interesting mix.

A few months passed, and then it was time...Forest Fair, 2015...taking place 4th of July weekend.

photo by Sharon Vernon

Forest Fair is a gathering.  There are little tents everywhere, and people come to sell their crafts.  There are food tents....even a Canadian Food tent, although I am not sure how Canadian corn fritters are.  I went with good old American comfort food...mac and cheese.  They gave me two choices "Small, or large, but only large comes with the goodness."  "Goodness?" I asked.  "Yeah, you don't get goodness with the small."  So I went with the goodness, assuming it would be a layer of baked cheese.  Turns out goodness in America means topped with a sliced hot dog and handful of crushed potato chips.  Oh well...when in Rome....

Forest Fair is also about music.  There are several stages, the main one has music playing all day and late into the evening.  The smaller stages had a lot of hula hooping, or is it hula hoopery, and other shenanignas going oh.  There was good music.  Local bands, travelling bands, but no big rockstars...the mainstream is taboo at Forest Fair, so they aren't flying in trendy headliners...but again I say there was some darn good music.

Sharon volunteers as a DJ at the Girdwood Radio Station,  88.9 Keul FM is the the local bandwidth, and they play everything from bluegrass to death metal...tune in if you are near Girdwood while travelling on the Seward Highway.

88.9 Keul FM, Girdwood's Station -- photo by Sharon Vernon

When my coworkers asked about my weekend plans, I said I was going to hippiefest, since Sharon said Girdwood is a hippie town.  I was mostly kidding.  But...it really is kind of a hippie fest.  There was tie dye and bright colors, some good old hippie mantras like this one on the sign below

photo by Sharon Vernon

And some good old hippie ideals like this one!  In the spirit of sharing and and hippie neighbourliness, Sharon handed me her fancy camera, since I left mine in the car when I saw it was going to be raining all day.

Photo by Sharon Vernon

Sharon also shared most of the photos for the blog today....the signs are all not only her camera, but her eye...capturing the ideals of Forest Fair Folk.  Speaking of the Forest Fair Folk, now THAT's a story for another day.  Hopefully tomorrow

Portage Glacier

Just west of Whittier was another spot Sharon and Dave pulled over to show me...Portage.  Portage is sort of a place that was but is no more.  The town of Portage was basically destroyed and abandoned after the 9.2 earthquake in 1964.  People around here still refer to the area as Portage, but there is no town...just a park area.  From this site in 1958 you could walk to the base of the Portage Glacier.  The park where I stand in the photo below was set up by the parks service in 1968 to view the glacier.  But you can no longer see the glacier from here.  Today the glacier has receded so far that it can't be seen from the park designed to access it.  In the summer, you can take a boat trip to see it.  I think I will do that this summer while the opportunity still exists.

 

Less than 50 years ago, the Portage glacier would have filled much of this view

From the parking area, this area actually looked like solid but cracked ice.  Up close it was mostly ice...but the blocks were not continuous and had obviously moving against each other, over and under other ice blocks, with moving water in between.  I found it really pretty.  It was also a reminder of how strong nature is as well, as the pavement at the level of the ice had also been heaved around by freeze and thaw cycles and was cracked torn away from the plane it was originally built on.  It also felt very cold...the wind coming off the icy water was chilling.  I took a few quick snapshots and bolted back to the car.

yup...big ice cubes

Spring here is called breakup...referring to the ice.

After looking out at all the ice towards where a glacier hides, it was neat to turn 180 degrees and see a forest waiting for spring just a few feet away.  Yup.  I think I am going to like this place.

Our next stop was back to Girdwood.  Girdwood is where the local ski resort is and it's a town with a neat feel.  We went for a yummy lunch at Chair 5 (where I learned you can buy a beer called Moose Drool), a very cozy, log cabin ski chalet cross that I would definitely like to visit again.  Sharon and Dave made a few quips that have me thinking the town is full of happy hippies and ski bums, so it may well be one of America's happiest places.  After Chair 5, we headed over to Grinds coffee shop, where I saw this guy...

And after that we stopped by the local radio station where Sharon volunteers as a DJ, 88.9 KEUL.  I joked that I could head up their heavy metal hour, and she said I most certainly could.  I always wanted my own radio show...I might have a new hobby! 

It was an afternoon well spent!  I am very thankful to have some old friends in my new hometown.  Even though it has been several years since our paths crossed, Stan, Sharon, and Dave laid out the welcome mat when I arrived...and one thing I am learning about Alaskans, is they like to be first...so that welcome mat is HUGE!  Thank you guys for helping me feel at home!