North, to Alaska

Hi everyone! So, I started my job at Arcadis exactly a month ago today, and I've been to Wyoming twice to do big game surveys from a small airplane, and now I'm in Alaska doing bird surveys on the site of a proposed gold mine. Did I mention how much I love my job? I landed in Anchorage yesterday along with two coworkers. Our plane got in at about 11:00 at night and it was still light out. We stayed the night at a hotel in Anchorage and this morning hopped on a 20-seat commuter plane and journeyed to Aniak, the closest settlement to the camp where I'm working. From Aniak we got on a couple of 4 seater Cessnas for our 1/2 hour journey to the Donlin Creek camp. Here are some pictures from the morning's journey.

Here you can see the 20 passenger plane we took from Anchorage to Aniak in the background and in the foreground, one of the four-seater Cessnas.

Check out the rainbow! A good luck symbol!

Here is the view I have from the front porch of my tent (cabin?).

And here is my tent/cabin. Yes, mom, I have to walk outside to use the bathroom, but there's only 4 hours of darkness per night. I think I can hold it for four hours and face the bears in the daylight. Actually, we were told that there are hardly any grizzlies around--there are black bears, but that's about it.

I will try to update with more pictures as often as I can. From now on, though, I will be spending 10-12 hours a day in the field, so I don't know how much free time I will have. Love you all! Wish you were here!