Where Do I Begin To Explain...... EVERYTHING

From day 1 on arriving to Yakutat I have recieved nothing but kind, generous smiles from everyone I meet and MASSES of new information!

For starters:  not an hour won't go by where I won't learn something new.... (this is what I have already learned from memory)

• There are over 100,000 glaciers in Alaska; 14 of them are ADVANCING
• #1 river in the world for native steelhead trout is in Situk River --> salmon and halibut fishing is HUGE here too
• 5 of top 10 tallest peaks in North America reside around me:  Mt Logan (#2) at 19,800 ft and Mt St. Elias (#4) at 18,008 ft I can see from the Yakutat Harbour on a clear, sunny day
• Tidewater glacier, Hubbard Glacier is advancing at an extremely "fast" rate --> it might be a journalist/researcher/photographer dream to be here b/c the glacier might meet with Gilbert Point thereby blocking Russell Fiord where water goes into.
• DiGiorono pizza cost #9.78!  A gallon of milk is $12.00!
• The Artic Tern bird will divebomb your kayak/canoe if you get to close to their nests..... and draw blood if they make contact with you
• It rains over 132 inches/year here
• Malaspina Glacier is a piedmont glacier that is the size of Rhode Island
• Bald eagles are flying outside my house ALL OF THE TIME!

People I've met:

• Jaq: my boss; been in Alaska for sometime and knows so much!
• Jared: interpretator/roomate; from Charlotte; been at park for 2 years; adventurous
• Freddie: intrepretator; college student from Juneau; been in Fish and Wildlife for 3 years, here for 2 years
• Travis: law enforcement/roomate; hiking for 5 days in backcountry as we speak
• Pam: training in law enforcement/roomate; hiking for 5 days in backcountry as we speak
• Sarah: teacher at highschool; FSU grad; worked for Peace Core;
• Jake: "landlord"; smokes a pipe everyday on the front porch
• Matt: biologist/photographer; "Inside Passage"; documenting glacial advance of Hubbard Glacier and contacting National Geographic to do a proposal on a story (boy does he have some stories to tell!)

So the pattern of me documenting my adventures will be with a gummy bear....  started it last year with my friend, Josh, and it will continue.

This is what I see out of my bedroom widow/bubble windows: Monti Bay whichs heads out into the Pacific Ocean!

Can you see Gummy?

Next week I am already scheduled to go around in a plane to take a look at the glaciers here at the park!

AHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!