Plenty of mountain shots to come; UAF Faculty Development took us on a trip through Denali National Park last weekend, and there was plenty to see and document. Mountains. Lakes and streams. Bears. Wolves. Mountain goats and Lynx. Very sweet.

Before we arrived in Alaska, as we were making plans and coming to terms with such a big move, Sarah relayed a couple of times the truism she'd heard from a UAF colleague: that in Fairbanks, we'd never forget our location on the globe. There are plenty of reasons for this... our weather shifts dramatically and rapidly, daylight hours are first abundant and then rare and precious, and access to amenities can never be taken for granted. But the mountain above, Denali, is perhaps the most dominant and dramatic reminder of our unique position and landscape. One hundred and twenty miles away, the mountain is plainly visible from Fairbanks on a clear day, and the closer one gets, the more intimidating and surreal the vision becomes. It's a monster.