Qaniq

My first week in Valdez was a flurry of activity.  Unfortunately, none of those flurries were snow-like precipitation but we've made fun nonetheless.

Last Sunday, my wonderful hosts took me to buy some crampons so we could tackle a hike despite the thick layer of ice covering the roads and trails.  Of course, once we got to the trail, we quickly discovered the conditions were different and gaiters and snowshoes would have been a better choice.  We trekked on anyhow, post-holing on and off.  The first part of the trail was a road to a power line that was connected in some way to the pipeline (I still don't quite understand all the pieces of the pipeline).  Once we broke off the road, we were powering up some steep rises.  The view was spectacular.  I failed miserably and had forgotten my camera but the sun broke through the clouds and we could see across the bay to Valdez and the mountains cocooning the city.  It was a spectacular introduction to the area.

The week in the clinic was great.  Everyone is so kind and willing to let me be part of the family.  The patients are awesome and love to have me see them so they can help me learn.  I've already been to the OR twice - once for an abscess and once for a C-section.  We've seen a spiral tibia fracture (this ice is dangerous!) and a hemo-pericardium (blood around the heart from a chiropractic maneuver gone wrong).  Around here, snow-machining is really popular.  It took me a bit to learn that snow-machine is just the West Coast term for snowmobile. I haven't seen a huge trauma secondary to snow-machines yet but we have had a few sprains and strains.  Then, of course, there have been the usual coughs and colds.  Interestingly, influenza has not made it's way up from the lower 48 yet, but we're expecting an epidemic around February.  Dr. Cullen is an ultrasound whiz, so I've seen nearly head-to-toe ultrasounds already.  It is awesome to see a group that is so attuned to the benefits and risks of medicine's current trend to image everything.  They are very conservative with their use of x-ray and CT scan, even though they can get one within minutes.  Instead, they have perfected using "low technology", radiation-free, cheap ultrasound.  It makes my frustrated-with-the-state-of-medicine heart smile.

This weekend was the first annual Qaniq challenge in Valdez.  Qaniq is the Alutiiq word for "falling snow".  The key to this two-day nordic ski event is that it was a challenge, not a race and thus was held regardless of the conditions.  There has been very little qaniq, so the team worked within hours of the race to make passable trails.  Megan (a family medicine resident from Tucson) and I volunteered both days at the race.  I was posted  near or at the end of the race and I was astonished to see how happy everyone was.  I've been at some half-marathons and other running races and I hate to say it, but participants seem so miserable toward the end.  Even after 17km of rough trails, everyone was still smiling - big, broad smiles.

It was snow-sparkling clear on Sunday, so we went up to "The Pass".  It is a beautiful road that winds through the Chugach Mountains through Thompson Pass and on toward Anchorage.  We did some snowshoeing and watched the sun go down the mountains.  What a fantastic way to end/start another week.

*I am having difficulty retrieving pictures from the camera I used last week.  I promise to post them once I am successful.  In the meantime, you can watch this video my host mom made.

Eagles and Ice

Since Michael has been doing most of the blogging, I figured it was probably time for me to take a turn.  For the next five weeks, I am in Valdez, Alaska for a rotation in family medicine.  Yep, Alaska.  In January.  The most common reaction the past few weeks has been “but won’t it be cold?”  It’s ironic to me because, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but NH can be cold. Case in point, one morning last week was -12°F in Lebanon.  My mom’s school was delayed because it was too cold to wait for the bus.  Anyhow, being cold in Alaska is not exactly something that gives me any pause.  The dark is, though.  This morning, it was still as dark as midnight at 7:30am.  It was a weird experience since I’m still on East Coast time and was wide awake.  It’s 9:45am now and is just on the brink of daylight.  I guess it will make for some lazy weekend mornings since I can’t see much to explore outside.  (I am sure Michael is chuckling right now as I can sleep until 10 or 11am easily – with or without sunlight.)

I have only been here a few hours but it is stunning.  My host told me that at this time of the year, the snow typically reaches the bottom of the stop signs.  NOAA has declared Valdez the snowiest place in the US with an average annual snowfall of 300in. Unfortunately, this year has been odd (global warming?) and they only have a few inches of snow.  The past few days, it has been raining.  The runway was completely covered with a few inches of ice and everyone put on their Yak-Traks before climbing out of the plane.  Feels very familiar.  I’m sitting at the dining room table looking out at the river and a looming mountain.  A bald eagle just lazily flew past.  It is positively beautiful.  I plan to start carrying my camera with me because I expect there will be many, many photographic vistas.

Tomorrow is my first day at the clinic.  It is a true full-spectrum practice doing deliveries, C-sections, and even a few appendectomies here and there.  I am excited to get a better of sense of the profession and maybe even more of a direction as to what I want to do with my life.  Hopefully the rain abates and I can learn to Nordic ski for real.  There’s a lot of backcountry skiing here, too, but right now the avalanche risk is very high.  Maybe I’ll even be able to compete with Michael (and Denali) for winter adventures.  Stay tuned as I hope to keep up with blogging and promise there will be some pictures in the future.