Page 64 - Winterling's Chasing the Wind

On December 7, 1952, I had just heard that they found the remains of a plane that
crashed into a mountain. There were 52 victims found in the remains that fell onto a
glacier. I didn’t know what the trouble was, but they say that when the weather first
turns cold, there seems to be a series of crashes each year.

Jack Hall and I went to the Ski Bowl in the mountains about 8 miles from here. The
snow was about two feet deep as we climbed about 200 feet to the top of the hill. The
temperature has been about 5 degrees all day.

Sunday after church, I went to the place near the western end of 4th Street where there
was a powerful telescope. It was pointed at Mt McKinley, 140 miles to the north. The
mountain peak reaching 20,320 feet above sea level made it an outstanding sight as the
sun illuminated its snow-covered sides. Afterwards, I went back to Elmendorf to finish
signing and addressing Christmas cards. I had already done 72, and only had about 20
more to do. The next day I received the color slides that mother picked up from
McDaniels Gift Shop. I promptly wrote a letter to her stating that I was sold on taking
color slides. You could see so much detail when projecting the pictures on the wall. I
was glad that I had bought the 35 mm camera. From Alaska, it would be easy to get the
film developed. After taking a roll of pictures in Alaska, I’d simply place the film in a
small cloth bag with an address label that came with the purchase. About ten days after
mailing it to Eastman Kodak, the color slides would arrive in the mail.

It was November here and I found the temperatures were not much different from
Oklahoma. With highs between 30 and 40 degrees, I didn’t need “long Johns”. An
overcoat and fatigues over my regular underwear were sufficient, but the dampness
would penetrate through at night. The food was good, but the milk was “recombined”,
made from powdered milk. Pure milk costs 20 cents, a whole quart 80 cents. Prices
were higher here than in the lower 48.

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