Adak, Alaska 2000 -- Page 6

This photo strip is a bit confusing. It appears to be the old buildings north of the northeast end of the runways. The first two photographs are really the same photo; the first scan emphasizes the building, the second emphasizes the sky. The men gazing at the old buildings are interesting, but a clue exists in the background, the two-track road coming down to a dirt pad. Obviously, something these men remember once existed at this location. Finally, two photographs of an old building. Notice how the boards were applied on diagonals to make the building resistant to extreme wind. In fact, it has been here for about 50 years and has withstood typhoon force winds of over 120 mph. The old wood makes superb picture frames, since windblown sand etches the grain very deeply and makes it feathery soft to the touch. It isn't very strong and it does not burn well; the volatile components (sap, resin) have long ago been leached away by the endless rain.

• Final photo of the weathered building. It must have been one of the buildings closer to the weapons compound since the photos are sandwiched between two views of the weapons storage compound.
• View from Toothpick Bridge area to the weapons storage compound.
• Seals on Clam Lagoon, view somewhat northward with Mount Adagdak in the background. Okay, how'd we get here so suddenly? It was a nice day so we went quickly to photograph as much as possible. That is why so many photographs of Adak look nice but really the weather is almost always horrible.
• Candlestick bridge, from northwest of it. Clam Lagoon is at the left, invisible at the right is Kuluk Bay.
• More seals. Same ones actually, but different view, now looking northeast across the Zeto Point seawall.

Photography copyright 2000 by Paul Roberts