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Ryan John glasses the edge of the Sag River as it meets the unforgiving, flat tundra on its way to the Arctic Ocean. (Courtesy Photo / Jeff Lund)

I Went to the Woods: North slope caribou

I had stopped hopping from tussock to tussock attempting to keep my feet dry. Frequent missteps and sneaky depths had put water over my gaiters… Continue reading

Ryan John glasses the edge of the Sag River as it meets the unforgiving, flat tundra on its way to the Arctic Ocean. (Courtesy Photo / Jeff Lund)
A blue darner dragonfly perched on hands, shoulders, and heads. (Courtesy Photo / Ralf Gerking)

On the Trails: Sights and sounds from the trails in late summer

Winged wonders abound.

A blue darner dragonfly perched on hands, shoulders, and heads. (Courtesy Photo / Ralf Gerking)
From left, Kelsey Dean, watershed scientist with the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, and Kaagwaan Eesh Manuel Rose-Bell of Keex’ Kwáan watch as crew members set up tools to drag a log into place. Healthy salmon habitat requires woody debris, typically provided by falling branches and trees, which helps create deep salmon pools and varied stream structure. (Courtesy Photos / Mary Catharine Martin)  

The SalmonState: Bringing the sockeye home

Klawock Indigenous Stewards and partners are working to a once prolific sockeye salmon run.

From left, Kelsey Dean, watershed scientist with the Southeast Alaska Watershed Coalition, and Kaagwaan Eesh Manuel Rose-Bell of Keex’ Kwáan watch as crew members set up tools to drag a log into place. Healthy salmon habitat requires woody debris, typically provided by falling branches and trees, which helps create deep salmon pools and varied stream structure. (Courtesy Photos / Mary Catharine Martin)  
A northern oriole used dietary carotenoids to make its feathers bright orange. (Courtesy Photo / J. S. Willson)

On the Trails: The colorful world of birds

Colors are produced by cell structure, which can scatter light rays, making iridescence, and by pigments, which absorb or reflect particular wavelength of light. Pigments… Continue reading

A northern oriole used dietary carotenoids to make its feathers bright orange. (Courtesy Photo / J. S. Willson)
Ice fog, a phrase in Russell Tabbert’s Dictionary of Alaskan English, is not uttered in many other places because to form it takes a sustained temperature of minus 35 F. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: Alaska lexicon sinks in over the years

When my little Ford pickup chugged into Alaska 36 years ago this month, I didn’t know a wheel dog from a dog salmon. You could… Continue reading

Ice fog, a phrase in Russell Tabbert’s Dictionary of Alaskan English, is not uttered in many other places because to form it takes a sustained temperature of minus 35 F. (Courtesy Photo / Ned Rozell)
Red huckleberries and blueberries in Wrangell at Mickey’s Fishcamp. (Courtesy Photo/ Vivian Faith Prescott)
Capital City Weekly

Planet Alaska: The language of berries

Like the berries, the language lives on the land.

Red huckleberries and blueberries in Wrangell at Mickey’s Fishcamp. (Courtesy Photo/ Vivian Faith Prescott)
Caption: AYS students Allison Mills and Ricardo Sanches help Quinn Aboudara rig a system to haul a log into 2.5 Mile Creek as a part of the crew’s stream restoration work (Courtesy Photo / John Hudson, SAWC)
Capital City Weekly

Resilient Peoples & Place: Alaska Youth Stewards program equips next generation of Prince of Wales land managers

“This work is restorative…”

Caption: AYS students Allison Mills and Ricardo Sanches help Quinn Aboudara rig a system to haul a log into 2.5 Mile Creek as a part of the crew’s stream restoration work (Courtesy Photo / John Hudson, SAWC)
High school students run at sunset as they practice for the track and field season Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Shawnee, Kan. New research hints that even simple exercise just might help fend off memory problems. While physical activity helps keep healthy brains fit, it's not clear how much it helps once memory starts to slide. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)

Even simple exercise may help aging brain, study hints

Doctors have long advised physical activity to help keep a healthy brain fit.

  • Aug 2, 2022
  • By Lauran Neergaard AP Medical Writer
  • health
High school students run at sunset as they practice for the track and field season Monday, Feb. 28, 2022, in Shawnee, Kan. New research hints that even simple exercise just might help fend off memory problems. While physical activity helps keep healthy brains fit, it's not clear how much it helps once memory starts to slide. (AP Photo / Charlie Riedel)
A little fish called a graveldiver had hidden under a flat rock. (Courtesy Photo / Aaron Baldwin)

On the Trails: Bricolage — this and that, bits and pieces

There were good minus tides in May and June, and I went out with some friends to take a look at the intertidal zone in… Continue reading

A little fish called a graveldiver had hidden under a flat rock. (Courtesy Photo / Aaron Baldwin)
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Capital City Weekly

Writers’ Weir: Two poems by Monique Crisafi

Southeast Alaska-inspired poems by Monique Crisafi.

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Red salmon gather at a Gulkana Hatchery fish weir that prevents them from going upstream on the east fork of the Gulkana River.(Courtesy Photo/ Ned Rozell)

Alaska Science Forum: High-country Eden for sockeye salmon

“It’s the largest sockeye hatchery in the world. Two-hundred and sixty miles from the ocean.”

Red salmon gather at a Gulkana Hatchery fish weir that prevents them from going upstream on the east fork of the Gulkana River.(Courtesy Photo/ Ned Rozell)
Linda Buckley, a retired Juneau educator and published author, will be signing copies of her newly published book of poetry, “Made of Rain: words from wilds of Alaska” on Friday, August 5 from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Heartside books Merchants Wharf. (Courtesy photo / Linda Buckley)
Capital City Weekly

Author Linda Buckley’s collection of poetry celebrates life in Alaska

New book of poetry reflects on 50 years of living in Southeast

Linda Buckley, a retired Juneau educator and published author, will be signing copies of her newly published book of poetry, “Made of Rain: words from wilds of Alaska” on Friday, August 5 from 4:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Heartside books Merchants Wharf. (Courtesy photo / Linda Buckley)
Wild iris (Iris setosa) comes in a variety of shades, from the usual purple to pale lavender or reddish. (Courtesy Photo / Denise Carroll)

On the Trails: Considering variation in flower colors

There’s way more than blue genes.

Wild iris (Iris setosa) comes in a variety of shades, from the usual purple to pale lavender or reddish. (Courtesy Photo / Denise Carroll)
Andy Koch enjoys a solo before leaping off the stage to join the dancing crowd while still playing his guitar. (Courtesy photo / Bereniz Blackwell)
Capital City Weekly

Old friends reunite for packed house blues performance at Crystal Saloon

Blues night special.

Andy Koch enjoys a solo before leaping off the stage to join the dancing crowd while still playing his guitar. (Courtesy photo / Bereniz Blackwell)
White sand beaches aren’t entirely rare in Southeast Alaska, but they are special nonetheless, especially on warm summer days. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)

I Went to the Woods: Adjusting the itinerary

It’s not that anglers want things to be difficult, we just enjoy the payoff of time and experience…

White sand beaches aren’t entirely rare in Southeast Alaska, but they are special nonetheless, especially on warm summer days. (Jeff Lund / For the Juneau Empire)
Dancers rehearsed in front of “Tahku,” the whale sculpture, ahead of the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet in 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Mike Tobin)
Capital City Weekly

Art and action: An upcoming fair plans to use art as a way to talk about climate change

There’s free ice cream, too.

Dancers rehearsed in front of “Tahku,” the whale sculpture, ahead of the Climate Fair for a Cool Planet in 2021. (Courtesy Photo / Mike Tobin)
Courtesy Photo / KMHocker photo Recently emerged mayflies landed on our caps and hands, perhaps resting from the rigors of courtship dances.

On the Trails: Fun in Gustavus

A walk near a shallow lake was the highlight.

Courtesy Photo / KMHocker photo Recently emerged mayflies landed on our caps and hands, perhaps resting from the rigors of courtship dances.
Chicago-based blues/rock guitarist Keith Scott takes the stage in Juneau on July 22 and 23 at the Alaskan Hotel and Crystal Saloon. (Courtesy photo / Keith Scott)
Capital City Weekly

Keith Scott coming to Juneau and bringing the blues with him

He keeps on traveling “Down That Road”

Chicago-based blues/rock guitarist Keith Scott takes the stage in Juneau on July 22 and 23 at the Alaskan Hotel and Crystal Saloon. (Courtesy photo / Keith Scott)
The Valley of 10,000 Smokes pictured during a visit in 2018. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Gillis)

Alaska Science Forum: 110 years since the largest Alaska eruption

“Stretching as far as the eye could reach … were hundreds — no, thousands — of little volcanoes.”

The Valley of 10,000 Smokes pictured during a visit in 2018. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Gillis)
The whorl of seed-bearing follicles of fern-leaf goldthread is more robust, but similar in form to that of three-leaf goldthread. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)

On the Trails: Buttercups and their relatives

“Buttercups”—the name conjures up an image of lots of bright yellow flowers, which we enjoyed recently in Cowee Meadows and which brighten the roadsides. But,… Continue reading

The whorl of seed-bearing follicles of fern-leaf goldthread is more robust, but similar in form to that of three-leaf goldthread. (Courtesy Photo / Bob Armstrong)