Caroline Grass

Arriving in Alaska!

When the conveyor belt carrying everyone’s bags ground to a halt and my very large, very heavy duffel bag with all my clothes was nowhere to be found, I knew I was going to be the one with lost luggage. I had just completed over ten hours of travel across the continent to start a nine-month fellowship program in Alaska, and now I was contemplating whether I had to do it with just two sets of clothes. And I know that’s a crazy jump because while bags get lost at airports all the time, I don’t travel very much, and I was now on the other side of the world from my hometown of Burke, Virginia.

Anyway, after talking with an airport representative, it turns out the bag never made the connection I did in Chicago. Not unheard of, but not preferential. I knew I booked it through O’Hare to make my connection. It seemed everyone was running somewhere in that airport.

The worst part was that the next day, I was leaving with the 32 other fellows in our Fairbanks opening convening at a Boy Scout camp over an hour away at 5 pm. The next flight, which would have carried my bag, wasn’t coming into Fairbanks until 8 pm. “Don’t worry about it,” my United person told me, “We’ll have someone drive it out to you.”

To a remote camp over an hour away? Apparently, yes. “We send stuff to Denali (over three hours away) all the time,” they added. So, that’s exactly what happened. Late the next night, a cab driver made it up the long gravel road of the camp, and I got my bag. Hooray!

I did have to carry the bag on my back, looking much like an oversized turtle, down a big hill to my cabin once it got to camp, but it was so worth it as I now had clean (and warm) clothes! Even though it’s still August, it’s not super warm in Alaska. Highs in the 60s, lows in the 40s, and at least for the first two days of the convening, no sun and long periods of drizzly rain. It’s a huge difference from the hot and humid Virginia summers. But I’m not complaining because man, this place was beautiful. The camp is situated next to Lost Lake (fitting for the luggage debacle) and the area is quiet, serene and simply stunning. Aspens, spruce alders and birch (I’m working on my plant ID skills!) stretched into the sky and as I gazed up to admire where I was, I knew this was a special place.

It was remarkably quiet outside, but inside the lodge, chatter and laughter filled the air. Put 30 young people who all applied to live and work in Alaska together in a room, and conversations will fly. Aside from my boyfriend, who is a Fairbanks fellow, I knew nobody, but this was quickly going to change. I learned names, hometowns, schools, past jobs, and so much more in the four days. We hiked, canoed, cooked, ate, (fitfully) slept in cabins of ten people, and had so much fun. Seeing the Tanana River on the last day was one of my highlights.

Past the river, you could see huge mountains in the Alaska Range. The word that keeps coming to mind and what I keep writing is stunning. Synonyms include breathtaking, awe-inspiring and marvelous. The northern lights can also be described with all these words. While it was so dark outside, the countless stars shining in the sky and the pale green banding in the sky lit up the night.

Four days flew by, and after a goodbye to Caleb and all the amazing fellows I met who were going to Sitka or Juneau, my cohort hopped on a plane to Anchorage. Home sweet home for our upcoming winter. Anchorage greeted us with a downpour of rain, but I already know it has so much to offer. As we settle in this weekend and prep for our jobs to start tomorrow, I’m still processing being here and taking it all in.