Category: Alaska

The 4th Of July In Juneau

The 4th of July in Juneau Alaska is a little differnt from any other way I have ever calibrated the holiday. Yeah there is a city parade and a fireworks show for all to see. That aspect of the holiday calibration is the same. What is not the same is the time Juneau rolls out the fireworks.

Because Juneau Alaska is so far up north the city gets more sun light in the summer time then the rest of the lower 48 States. Infact it dose not get dark till after midnight around this time of year. Because of that the city puts on their fireworks show at midnight.

The local Juneau Empire has a little write up on the festivities going on around town.

The day had started out awesome. Sunny and warm. But by mid day we started seeing clouds and rained drops. That however did not stop us from going to see the fireworks display. Hannah and I got in our truck and headed down town to our favorite spot right on the city’s water front at about 10:30pm. The place was packed with people and even one of the cruse ships decided to stay docked till after the fireworks show. Everyone seemed to be all smiles as locals started shooting off their own purchased fireworks. Hannah and setup our folding chairs, I lit a cigar, and we sat back and watched the evening sky light up with colors from all around us.

When the city fireworks show started, I pulled out my camera and snapped just a few photos.

The whole show lasted 30 minutes. It took the two of us another 30 minutes to make it home. A drive that normally takes us 10 minutes on a bad day. That gives should give you some kind of an idea how how many people and cars were in the area.

It was a really fun night. I hope the rest of the 4th is just as great.

A Sunny Memorial Day Weekend

This Memorial Day weekend has been nothing but fantastic. The weather for those of us living in Juneau is just amazing. Hannah and I have been getting out and enjoying as much sun as we can get. The temperatures has been climbing to the 70’s. It’s the type of weather that I wish our family and friends from back home could visit us with. We have taken a some pictures this weekend and I thought I would take a minute and share some of them with you. I hope everyone is getting out and enjoying this really nice weekend.

A City On Diesel: The First Weekend

Life styles for both Hannah and Myself (as well as most of Juneau Alaska) has take a big change this weekend. We are running as few electric devices as we can. The lights in our apartment are rarely on. We have candles to light the way for the most part. Everything we own that could be plugged into a surge protector has been plugged into one. We did this because when where not using anything we can just flip the off switch to ensure nothing is drawing any electrical power. We have unplugged everything else. Lights, gaming consoles, computers, and even the microwave.

The two of us went out shopping this weekend for groceries only to find that almost every store in town has at least half of their lights turned off. I am sure there are safety concerns that prevent them from turning off more then that.

At night the town is darker then I have ever seen it. Most building lights are turned off. It’s just dark and spooky almost.

I have been trying to keep on top of the local news paper website (Juneau Empire) to keep informed on what is going on. I feel like it might be a slow week for action. But will see.

A City On Diesel. The Story Continues

The City of Juneau has asked the state of Alaska for $25 million in relief funds.

The Juneau city government shifted into response gear Thursday by declaring the loss of its hydroelectricity a “disaster,” then asking the state for aid to cover a nearly instantaneous 500 percent rate hike.

At a special meeting, the Juneau Assembly unanimously approved the disaster resolution, asking the state for $25 million in relief funds to offset electricity rates for 90 days.

This just gets better and better. Hannah and I have been been living int he dark at our place. The heat has been turned down ten degrees. We are using candles to see our way around most of the time at home. I hope that the city gets this state aid we can go back to living like normal again.

The towers, built in known avalanche terrain by the Army Corps of Engineers, had no specialized structural engineering to reduce avalanche damage, AEL&P Engineer Scott Willis said.

“We’ll probably have to rebuild five towers,” he said. The last tower AEL&P replaced on that line cost about $1.1 million.

Avalanches Are A Pain

Avalanche AreaAccording to the local paper, our power rates are likely to quintuple next month as a result of the avalanche that knocked out Juneau’s supply of hydro power. The whole city is currently running off of diesel generators and will most likely continue to run off of them for the next 3 to 4 months. 

The transmission line to Juneau from the Snettisham Power House, about 40 miles south of town, went down at 3:54 a.m., Wood said. The avalanche started three miles from the power house. It was 1.5 miles across.

Utility Diesel GeneratorsA helicopter was used by Alaska Electric Light and Power Co (AEL&P) to assess the damage. One of the transmission towers was down completely and four others were damaged. The bad weather at the time prevented AEL&P from making a complete assessment of the damage. To add insult to injury, shortly after the the helicopter left another avalanche took out additional towers.

It’s just a terrible place to have a transmission line,” AEL&P General Manager Tim McLeod said. “Those are straight-up-and-down cliffs.