Our Blog

• A personal map of Chester Creek – Construction

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• Listening to Tall Tails

  We have created a unique AR channel through Junaio for Tall Tails. You can still click on the points of interest on the map above to access each story, but can also listen to them on the trail by using...

• Thank You

  Thanks to the Parks Foundation, Parks and Recreation, Fish and Game, US Fish and Wildlife, the ARC of Anchorage, Fairview Rec Center, Bike Anchorage, the Anchorage Senior Center, UAF Cooperative Extension IPM, Lydia Selkregg Greenhouse, Northern Placemaking, Aaron Leggett, Lannie...

• Accumulations of Blue

  I’m back in New York City now, musing on my final map and all the blues I saw in Alaska. The most beautiful blues of course were not manufactured. They were the startling ones, the glimmer of the magpie...

• Documenting Tall Tales

  http://www.adn.com/video/video-seeking-source-chester-creek-trail...

• Sources

  I made up this narrative about this place before I arrived. I thought a man named Chester had come into Anchorage by following a pathway along a creek. I thought that this foundational expedition was part of the celebration of...

• A personal map of Chester Creek – Final

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• Walking back from the source

  On our way back from the Headwaters we ran into an assemblyman, a neighborhood resident and construction workers, all of which gave us insight into the future of the eastern section of the creek. There is a desire to re...

• Southern Headwaters

  After finishing up our final potluck the crew drove up to Muldoon and hiked along the southern branch of Chester Creek, up to where it enters Fort Richardson. The second, larger headwaters to the creek starts as a couple springs...

• Off Trail and Headed For the Source

  On Friday evening we headed for one of the sources of Chester Creek - Russian Jack Spring and then up to Muldoon to watch the creek wrap through the subdivisions and forest up there. On Saturday, we walked back from Russian...

• A personal map of Chester Creek – Roads

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• 5/22 – Potluck at the Source: Russian Jack Springs

  On Friday evening we had a potluck at one of the Russian Jack Springs. It is one of the headwaters of the Chester Creek and is the only source the creek has within the greenbelt. The crew discussed their experiences...

• Guy Sidewalk Meets the New Mayor

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• Playing with Perspective

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• Sketchbook Update 3

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• 5/22 – Meeting with UAF Cooperative Extension IPM specialist Gino Graziano

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• taking time to smell the flowers

  Lydia Selkregg green house at Russian Jack Springs Park.

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• A personal map of Chester Creek – Upper Trail

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• 5/22 – Lydia Selkregg green house at Russian Jack Springs Park

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• 5/22 -We joined the Senior Center Nordic Walking group for a nice morning stroll

  Thanks Carol and Arlene...

• Letter of Concern, An Idea

  May 25, 2015
   

  Dear Mr President and Mr. Chancellor

   

  We understand that this letter arrives to you unsolicited, but it has come to the attention of our crew that you and your colleague - President Don Bantz and Chancellor...

• Goose Lake Winter Use Map

  Susan also shared this map. She has been charting how people cross Goose Lake in the winter when it is frozen, mapping the paths that develop. Susan has charted some paths that consistently form year after year...

• The Crew Visits the Beach at Goose Lake

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• 5/21 Moose Encounter

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• Tall Tale Moose Encounter

  I have a tale to add to the trail. We were talking with a biker on the bridge over the creek just before the bridge over Northern Lights, when a moose that was on the side of trail decided to...

• Zula Swanson

  Zula Swanson came up in our 5/18 potluck while discussing Chester Bottom(Fairview Flats). On our Goose Lake expedition Susan share showed us what was Zula's Property.

  More about Zula can be found in this old Ebony article...

• Susan Share showing the crew where the Bragaw Extension is planned

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• 5/21 – Goose Lake Wetland Walk with Susan Share

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• Feeling Blue

  I've been writing about blue as if it is only a color, and yet there is another way we talk about blue. Perhaps more than any other color, blue is associated with feeling. I'm not sure where along...

• Thursday Tall Tales (Tikishla- Goose Lake)

  Thursday Tales from the trail:

  Creatures of Goose Lake
  Goose Lake Last Day of School
  Goose Lake Swimming
  Valley of the Moon Long Commute
  Stand Up Paddle Board
  Bridge Seasons
  Airport Heights Iditarod
  Moose Cyclocross

  Check out https://soundcloud.com...

• Trails of Wheels, Part I

  “Share the road,” they say.

   

  Chester Creek Trail is a bike path from the beginning, among other things. It was envisioned by Lani Fleisher in the early 1970s as a means of connecting the mountains to the sea via...

• Losing Blue

  As we move farther along the trail, it becomes more forested and blues are few. I bike along the trail and through culverts; the corrugated metal tunnels make me feel like I am inside a whale’s throat. I pass...

• Bike to Work – Map making at Midnight Sun

  While talking bikes with the Bike to Work folks at Midnight Sun Brewing we made some memory maps of the roads and routes around Chester Creek. Here is a pretty detailed one...

• Bike to Work Day

  On May 2oth we joined forces with the Bike to Work crew. A couple of crew members were at the morning Bacon Station at Woodside park and we joined an evening ride from there to Midnight Sun Brewing. Here is...

• Drawing Plants with the Fairview Recreation Center

  We gathered up a crew of kids from the Fairview Recreation Center and brought them down to the trail to talk  mapping and plants. Here are a few drawings Sarah made with them while explaining some of the local plants...

• Georganne and Sarah discuss local plants

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• OXBOW

  A spot we kept returning to, the oxbow in the creek east of Woodside Park and south of Hillstrand Pond served as lunch site, meeting place and even classroom. On Wednesday we met at the oxbow to work on map...

• 360: Oxbow

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• georgeanne sprinkle

  Georgeanne  worked with Sarah today naming local plants...

• Colin talks trail upgrade with construction guy

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• Wednesday Tall Tales – Bike to Work Day Bacon Station

  Tales added from Wednesday at the bike to work day bacon station in Woodside Park:

  soundcloud.com/guysidewalk

  Park planner
  Treasure trail
  Enjoy wildlife
  Lagoon
  Fishing in Creek
  Eye level view of creek
  Slight downhill
  Bunker Spur
  Bike to Work...

• Lydia

  Lydia walks the trail every day...

• Woodside Park

  Have you ever seen this sign? For many of us the answer is no. Or at least not the front of it. Woodside park is down the hill from Rogers Park, on the East side of the highway, just across...

• Sky Scales

  I recently read of a Swiss physicist named Horace Benedict de Saussure who, living in the 1700s, wanted to measure the intensity of blue in the sky. He created the cyanometer, a round dial that had 53 shades of blue...

• Walking Class

  Chris is a kind man. He was forthright and sincere. He told us about his interests and what he was like as a kid. He showed us a charm he collected on a trip to Vietnam with his father. He...

• Sketchbook Update 2

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• Potluck 5/19

  Colleen Rutledge and Wallace Arthur Smith grew up in Anchorage. They shared some great stories with us a part of a discussion on the history of the creek...

• Gathering on 5/19 at Valley of the Moon Park

  On 5/19 we met with Tracy Smith from fish and wildlife and her father Waly Smith at Valley of the Moon to discuss the history of Anchorage and fish in the creek, then and now...

• 360: Tunnel

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• Tuesday – Valley of the Moon to Smith Park

  I spent my "walk" on Tuesday walking from Valley of the Moon to the basketball courts and park that fronts the trail at Loussac Manor. Is this Smith Park? Here are the stories:

  Link to Guy Sidewalk Audio Station 

  BBQ...

• Doug shoots super 8mm camera

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• Fairview Flats

  "I'd like to hear a little bit more about the urban renewal of Chester Bottom."

  -Steve Heimel

   

  Fairview minority history comes up in 5/18 gathering...

• Notes on the Non-Landowners

  May 18th began with a bike ride. After I passed through Valley of the Moon Park I entered a terrain of thick wilderness marked with small footpaths leading deeper into the forest. In the dense woods you sense the presence...

• Alaska legend Vic Fischer

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• 5/18 Meeting 2

  Homelessness comes up in 5/18 gathering.

  http://www.anchoragehomeless.org/currentstate

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• Sketchbook

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• Some pictures from our 5/18 potluck

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• 5/18 Evening Potluck

  A group gathered Monday evening to listen to Vic Fischer, Lanie Fleischer and Dwayne Adams discuss the Chester Creek trail and parks in AK. Thanks to everyone for joining in the conversation...

• chris paddling

  chris paddling the canoe towards the culvert between westchester lagoon and eastchester lagoon.    He is not wearing the required uniform.   Green Vest...

• 1 minute

  On Monday morning we met with David Wigglesworth and Katrina Mueller from Fish and Wildlife at Westchester Lagoon. Here is a photo from the 1940s David provided. It is of the site before it was dammed up to create the...

• US Fish and Wildlife Meeting

  David Wigglesworth and Katrina Mueller from US Fish and Wildlife talk about the recent Westchester Lagoon renovations and trap us some fish...

• Fish and Wildlife Meeting 5/18

  On Monday morning we met with David Wigglesworth and Katrina Mueller from US Fish and Wildlife. This is a recording of our conversation about the lagoon, fish, wildlife and the creek...

• D&D Map of Westchester Lagoon

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• sarah frary, naturalist

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• A personal map of Chester Creek – Valley of the Moon

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• Mapping Tall Tales

  I have collected around 20 sound bites of people sharing their favorite places and memories on the trail. The Chester Creek Trail continues to amaze me with the resources it provides. Today I heard stories of commuting, prayer, and feeding...

• Mapping Blue

   

   

   

   

  These first two days on the trail, I find myself between two expanses of blue, the dome of the sky and the bowl of the water. More blue than I’ve been around for weeks. These...

• Monday Tales: Bunker Street to Valley of the Moon

  "High" lights from this walk include walking over the bridge at Bunker, under Arctic in the tunnel, and into one of the Chester Creek's best parks: Valley of the Moon. As usual, dog walkers, families and people out to...

• Notes on Parallax

   

  Parallax, n. - the effect whereby a thing viewed from two different perspectives is considered in two different ways.

   

  Most people default to one of two ways of dealing with this term. The first involves stars being viewed at...

• A personal map of Chester Creek – Lagoon

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• Expounding Jimmy Riordan

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• Guy Sidewalk (Meghan) takes a few steps

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• A personal map of Chester Creek – Creek

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• First Day of Tall Tales: Mile 0.0 to N Street

  First day on the trail - what a milieu. I love this section of the trail for the wide variety of activities and people enjoying the trail. Over the week, many people have shared that the lagoon and the view towards...

• 360: Arron Leggett

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• 5/17 – Westchester Lagoon with Aaron Leggett

  Historian Aaron Leggett discusses the Dena'ina history of the Chester Creek and Anchorage bowl.

  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dena%27ina...

• 5/17 Landing at Westchester Lagoon

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• Dear Mr and Mrs,

  While exploring the Chester Creek files at Parks and Recreation we found a stack of letters sent out on Aug 11, 1982 to various home owners who's gardens, fences and other out-buildings encroached upon the greenbelt...

• A Few Maps – taken with Doug’s phone at the 5/15 Parks and Recreation Meeting

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• Ayden doing research at City Hall

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• 5/15 Parks and Recreation meeting – a selection of documents

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• 5/15 meeting with Maeve at Parks and Recreation

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• Parks and Rec Talks about the Trail

  We had a great trip to the Parks and Recreation department, where we learned about the history of the Chester Creek Trail and had the amazing opportunity to see and record all of the original maps and documentation that have...

• Off-Trail Tales

  Before Seeking the Source took to the Chester Creek Trail, we set up booths at the Saturday Spenard Farmer's Market and the In-Tent-City Festival down in Ship Creek. Here are the stories collected during those two events...

• Hi, My Name Is…

  My name is Meghan Holtan, but for this experiment I will be masquerading as my alter ego - Guy Sidewalk. Guy Sidewalk is an inquisitive flanneur, who enjoys experiencing the built environment as a very tall pedestrian.  Earlier work appears here...

• Guy Sidewalk Gets New Duds

  New outfit for trail exploration!

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• Meghan

  And here is Meghan Holtan. Another crew member based in Anchorage, Meghan brings years of experience clowning and environmental and community organizing.

  As part of her contribution to the expedition she will be performing Tall Tales:

  "Stilter Meghan Holtan takes...

• Chris

   Say hello to Chris Stiegler. Chris joins the crew from Portland Maine where he teaches art history and runs the Institute for American Art...

• Colin

  Meet Colin Allen, joining the crew from Brooklyn, New York. This isn't Colin's first time orienteering. He used to be a guide / troupe leader for the Boy Scouts! He is also responsible for our new website. Thank's...

• Jimmy

  Meet Jimmy Riordan (photo by Mike Conti). Also from Anchorage, Jimmy projects have involved earth building, comics, letterpress, translation and now exploration. All united by his interest in autodidactics, the self-taught and group learning.

  More of his work can...

• Mike

  Photographer and video artist Michael Conti joins the crew from Anchorage. Many of you are probably familiar with Michael's Hockey Shorts and Don Quixote Project. Check out more of his work at http://contiphotos.com/Contiphotos/home.html...

• Doug

  Meet Doug Williams. He joins the crew from Oakland, CA. More of his work can be found at www.dougisfamous.com...

• Ayden

  Meet Ayden LeRoux, an interdisciplinary artist and writer. Ayden is joining our crew from New York. More examples of her work can be found at http://www.aydenleroux.com/.

  Here you will find pictures from her Pillow Book project. Pillow...

• Sarah

  Meet Sarah Frary! A member of our crew coming up from Homer, where she's been living for the last couple years. Sarah is an illustrator, adventurer and tattoo artist. These pictures are of her watercolor rendition of the Cook...

• Naturalist Sketches

  Sketching aquatic life outside of Kachemak Bay in Homer, Alaska. Moth in flight! Dead juvenile Loon. Coastal exploration of the Cook Inlet. Everything is full circle.

   

   

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• APU Ski Trails

  Susan Share shared this map of the APU ski trails with the crew before heading out on their wetland walk. APU and UAA are working to develop the land around Goose Lake and Susan says that they have removed this...

• Here We Come

  We will be arriving in Anchorage in less than 2 weeks and will start our exploration on May 17th...

• The Chester Creek

  Seeking the Source is a mapping expedition, focusing on Chester Creek, the Lanie Fleischer Chester Creek trail, and adjacent parks and neighborhoods. Through routine, group activities and meetings, solo endeavors, scheduled community activities and spending more time looking and being...

• ABOUT (Revised 6/5/2015)

  (tap the X on the bottom right to exit)
   

  This guidebook contains links, videos, pictures, audio and text from Seeking the Source was a weeklong mapping expedition that took place from May 17 – 23, 2015 along the Chester Creek...