Life on the 65th

 

 

"It is not called the 'last frontier' for nothing..."

When I was a young lad in primary school, some of my teachers would say how lucky we were to live in the Twin Cities. Why? We were on the 45th Parallel. That is halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. However when I got in college and took Geography, I learned that was not quite true. Because of the shape of our planet, the actual half-way point is about 10 miles further north than the 45th. In other words, very close to where I live right now.

I have always been fascinated by going north. I would tell people that is where my biological compass points. When my wife and I vacation in Northern Minnesota, that is great. When we are up in Canada, that is even better. However going to Alaska, now that is an entire different ballgame.

The furthest north we got in Alaska was Denali National Park. The park sits about 100 miles south of Fairbanks. Fairbanks is located very close to the 65th Parallel. And how far north is the 65th? If you look at a map of Canada, it is located at the mouth of the Hudson Bay. Now that is north in my book!

As you get closer to the 65th, the landscape starts to change. You start to run out of boreal forest and begin the transition into tundra. Most of the ground has permafrost. The seasons are either very long or very short as is the daylight. The people who live up there year round, be they native to the land or transplant, are tough beyond measure. They are the pure survivalists. Doctors and dentists are scarce, so staying healthy is a must! Walmart and Target? Forget about it.

However, many of the people that live up there dearly love it. It is living on the edge. Northern lights are visible for over half the year. The sky is so blue it almost hurts the eyes. The majesty of the mountains seem to go on forever. Every once in a while the king of the mountains, Denali, will show himself. When "The Mountain" is out, there is no question as to which one is Denali (I know, folks in the lower 48 still call it McKinley). It simply towers above everything else.

So as happy as I am to live almost directly on the 45th, having the chance to visit the 65th was pretty darn cool. If you like to commune with nature, if you like to commune with God, I could not think of a better place to be. I was tough enough to visit and enjoy it, but nowhere near tough enough to live up there.