Redoubt Update

Well, Redoubt just doesn't want to simmer down just yet. We had eruptions #9 and #10 late last night. Ash fall occurred in Ninilchik (a.k.a. Halibut heaven) and other Kenai areas. Anchorage still has not seen any ash, thank goodness. We did have some ash pass over us early yesterday morning from eruption #8, but the ash was so high in elevation it did not fall to the ground. We also are expecting rain and snow for the next few days which helps to reduce the ash proliferation if we were to see any in our area.

We just keep keep an eye on the reports and live life as normal. We all are doing well and are anxious for spring to come. All this week it has been above the freezing mark for highs and the snow is starting to melt. I am getting spring fever now.

Redoubt Update

Web cam of Redoubt last night after it's 8pm eruption.

Redoubt erupted once more Monday night at 8pm spewing ash along the same trajectory as before North and West toward Talkeetna and Denali National Park. I hope the caribou can hold their breath for awhile. Anyway, we are still in the clear, but always ready in case the winds shift. Shannon and Jaycie are good to go. We are stocked up on food and water and air masks and we have covered all our intakes and vents on the house. So, we should be fine if the ash comes our way. We will just stay inside and watch the fluffy brown snow fall. Many folks here just look at it as free fertilizer for the lawn. Apparently, it is rich with many minerals. If I get stranded at the hospital, no problem. As you can imagine, we have to be ready for anything as we do not close for any reason. So, we are safe and sound and just keeping our eye to the sky and listening for any wind changes. We have "windy" conditions forecasted for late tomorrow and into Thursday, so we will see how that effects things.

I saw that Redoubt has even made KSL.com's news. It said that some are wondering if more explosive eruptions are to come. They are trying to determine if the volcano is growing (i.e. forming a dome on the top of the mountain) which would indicate more pressure building and pushing up the volcano's surface until it "pops."

This is a photo of Redoubt in 1990 when it blew. Realize that the mountain is 10,200 feet in elevation. This give you a good idea about how high the ash plume can get. Pretty cool pic.

The bears are starting to wake up from hibernation now. One guy was chased up a tree by a black bear last weekend. I guess they are either belligerent or hungry (or both) upon waking up. Anyone up for a hike? :)

Phew!...For Now

Just got done with our conference call. The winds are still heading north and west past us, but after the next 12 hours it could shift east toward Anchorage. The weather folks are going to keep us posted. They say the next 2-3 days are tough to predict, but the weather computers are telling us that the winds might be shifting toward Anchorage.

Interesting report on the call, there is a little airfield and helipad at the foot of Mount Redoubt that has been evacuated due to flooding from the nearby creek. The heat from the volcano melted the snow so rapidly up on the mountain that the river jumped its banks and flooded the airfield and helipad. So, the crews headed out and are now in Kenai (accross the Cook Inlet).

I will keep you posted.

Volcano Eruption!

Mount Redoubt, approximately 200 miles from Anchorage, erupted late last night. There have been 5 explosions at the mountain's summit so far (right now it is 11 am on the 23rd). The 4th and 5th sent plumes of ash up to 50,000 feet! Luckily the winds carried the ash fall to the north and northwest (past Anchorage). I got a call last night at 1:15 am from the hospital that ash could be coming toward Anchorage and the hospital would be having to shut of the HVAC systems if ash reached the hospital. Therefore, no heat for our patients and staff. The ash is harmful if inhaled into the lungs, it is very abrasive. Due to the ash passing by Anchorage, it is business as usual right now (thank goodness). However, if the winds shift to the east, things may get exciting. The ash is still pouring out of the volcano. Towns north of Anchorage have reported ash up to a 1/4 inch deep.

Here is an observatory flight photo of the crater at the summit of Redoubt taken last Friday. You can see the steam billowing out of the surface.

Ash fall in Trapper Creek. It looks like snow, but it is not.

Ash on a car along the Parks Highway. You can't drive in the ash fall. It can destroy engine parts due to the corrosive nature of the ash particles.

Here is an eruption photo from the morning of the 23rd (today)

Map of where Redoubt is in accordance with Alaska's major towns. notice all the other volcanoes around the area.

Unfortunately, as I am writing this, the CNO just popped her head in my office an told me the wind is slowly shifting and the municipality of Anchorage will be calling us to go over the procedures if the ash hit us, so I gotta go. No worries though, the hospital has plenty of supplies if we have to stay the night.

Iditarod 2009

Last weekend we went into downtown Anchorage to see the start of the Iditarod sled dog race. Each year, dozens of teams brave the cold and treacherous Alaskan terrain to race from Anchorage to Nome. A journey of about 1150 miles. Some of the best racers get there in ony 10 days! And if you are thinking like I am thinking, no the dogs are not pushed to their limits and run into the ground just to win this race. There are vets along the way to check the dogs and each racer is required to take certain precautions to care for their dogs. So far, only one dog has died in this race out of a few hundred in the competition. This is such a big deal, that a Pathologist is performing a necropsy and it is getting a lot of media attention.

We got to a nice spot to watch the teams pass by. You can get so close, you can give the musher a high-five as they pass by. I didn't, however because I was so busy keeping a certain little girl happy. Jaycie just wanted to play in the snow. It was about 20 degrees, so I was making sure she was staying warm and didn't fall into the snow too much and get her face covered in powder (which happened once).

Here's that little girl slowly turning into an ice cube.

Shannon and Jaycie enjoying the sunshine.


Here is another team. Notice the booties the dogs wear. This is to protect their feet from jagged ice and hard-packed snow. 1150 miles of that stuff would really wear down their feet.

Daddy's Gloves

Just thought I'd share a fun picture with you all of Jaycie wearing my gloves around the house. The other day she put Shannon's shoes on tried to walk around. She is learning and growing so fast. She can now climb up on the couch by herself and we've even caught her trying to climb onto our end tables. We really have to keep an eye on her now as she is becoming more explorative.

Busy, Busy, Busy...

Phew, as you can probably guess from our lack of postings to the blog that we have been busy. I have had a few added responsibilities given to me at work, Jaycie is becoming more and more of a handful (a fun handful, of course), and me and Shannon have had a busy few months with our Church callings. But excuses aside, we have been enjoying the increasing daylight hours and fewer and fewer days below 20 degrees.

We have had some fun moose sightings last week. There is a big bull hanging out by the parking lot at work, I have seen him twice within a couple of days. Jaycie saw him when she and Shannon came to pick me up from work to head off to lunch. She looked out the window and said "horsey!" He was only about 20 feet away. We also have moose tracks in our front yard! A mom and a yearling live in our neighborhood. I guess they came to check out the Moon's place. We didn't see them, they must have cruised through in the night. Here are some pictures of a moose that we saw during mid-day as we were pulling out of the parking lot of Home Depot in the middle of Anchorage!

As you might be able to see, this is a young bull (antlers have shed, but you can still see the knobs where the antler bases were).

He very calmly and confidently (like he knew where he was going) walked behind the Lowe's hardware store (next store to the Home Depot that we were at).

Here is the first picture of the moose (taken from the passenger seat of the Camry) I saw him walking down the sidewalk from the right (yes, they use the sidewalks!). Luckly, no one had to dive into a snowbank off of the same sidewalk he was traveling as he passed by.

Jaycie at a "bouncy gym." There are a few creative ways that you can still get the kids out of the house and give them a work out while it is too cold to be outside for too long. You probably can't tell by the picture, but Jaycie is on a huge bouncy floor. She loves to jump. There are also a lot of inflatable slides that the kids can go on. Jaycie loves slides. Whenever she sees one she says, WEEEE!"

Cute picture of Jaycie with Daddy's hat on.

Jaycie is now running around and learning new words everyday. I don't know if I mentioned it in past postings, but she is making us very proud in that we have taught her to fold her arms while we pray before eating dinner. Now, when we all sit down to the table with our plates of food, she folds her arms before we do. I peaked at her while we pray and she even bows her head.

We are looking forward to the spring and some fun events that are coming up in Alaska. The Ididarod will be starting shortly and we are hoping to see some of the sleds start the trek from downtown Anchorage. I will also be headed down to SLC for my annual work conference in Midway in July. I will be coming alone as Shannon will be in her third trimester and not able to fly - BUMMER. I hope the family is ready to fish, golf and/or have their Phase Ten skills once again put to the test!