North to Alaska!

To set the mood for this blog, listen to one of my favorite songs, “North to Alaska” by Johnny Horton. I promise you those will be three worthwhile minutes.

Lucy Smith and Lisa Jaeger in 50 Below temps on the Iditarod Trail

Ok, so for the past few months I’ve gathered info on the happenings up North at NOLS Alaska. But for whatever reason, I got waylaid by other events and never blogged about our beloved NOLS Alaskans.

So now, NOLS Alaska is going to get a “mega-blog.” Here’s what our NOLS Alaskans have been up to:

• For Leadership Week, NOLS Alaskans distributed NOLS course catalogs to local high school students and did a trash clean-up of Farm Loop Road
• In the advocacy world, NOLS Alaska wrote to their Assembly members in support of a Nordic ski center at Hatcher pass, and NOLS Alaskan Lisa Jaeger has been advocating for Alaska’s wildlands through Alaskans for Palmer Hay Flats.
• In March, NOLS Alaskans worked the Iditarod trail. Lisa Jaeger worked
  the Rohn checkpoint, where several years ago she met her husband Terry,
  who drives for NOLS. Based on the photo below, it looks like Terry is also the
  sheriff of Rohn, a booming metropolis with a population of . . . 2! Fellow NOLSies
  Steph White, Lucy Smith, Paul Twardock, and Trevor Bird helped out this
  year. NOLSies Jake Schaepler, Lannie Hamilton, and NeNe Wolf have worked
  the trail in years past. NOLSie Jack Niggemyer used to be race manager
  for a number of years, and was trail sweep this year.

Terry Boyle, Lisa Jaeiger, Rob (not a NOLSie yet), and Steph White at the Rohn Checkpoint on the Iditarod Trail

• This summer, a local high school teacher from in and around our NOLS Alaska base will be attending a 23 and over mountaineering course on a scholarship. He is
  excited to be bringing what he learns to his outdoor education and
  physical education classes.
• For the first time, WMI of NOLS is
  bringing a Wilderness Medicine Expedition to Prince William Sound in
  July. NOLS Alaskans have been sending out packets of information to medical
  professionals to inform them of this exciting training opportunity.
• In April, 20 middle and high school students from Alaska converged in the Talkeetna Mountains at Hatcher Pass Lodge for the state’s first Truth About Coal Summit. Participants learned about the environmental consequences of coal development in Alaska as well as how to take action to protect Alaska’s ecosystems. Highlights from the event included a snowshoeing adventure, for which NOLS Alaska donated 20 pairs of snowshoes!
  
• NOLS Alaska Director Don Ford visited Lander in April for the Branch Directors’ meetings.
• NOLS Alaska will be experimenting this year with pack rafts, which are light-weight packable rafts that will permit courses with the versatility to hike or raft at any point during their expeditions. This will allow NOLS Alaska to explore even wilder and more untouched areas of Alaska.