Erin and Hig Near Anchorage

I met Erin McKittrick and Bretwood Higman yesterday morning. They had spent the previous night with a friend at his house above the Old Glenn Highway, between Palmer and the Butte. You could look out the window and see the lower Matanuska River flood plain as it meanders behind the long-closed Fireside Restaurant building. I couldn't stay for more than a few minutes - just long enough to show them a draft of the poster I'd created to announce their multimedia presentation next week at UAA, which I'm producing and the UAA Art Department is sponsoring.

They didn't stay at their friend's house for long, either. Long enough to rest, clean up, do some laundry and update their blog. They had some questions for me: How did the lower Matanuska look from the Glenn Highway freeway? Not very full. How did the Knik River look from the bridge? OK, but a narrow channel. How does the Knik Arm channel work from Birchwood over to Fish Creek and the northern edge of Goose Bay? And so on. I wasn't a whole lot of help.

They are a striking couple. Young - she's 27, he's 30. They look younger. You'd better believe they are fit right now, but they don't look extraordinary in a way that would give away the amazing feat in which they're now fully engaged. And happy. Here's a link to their bios.

They're hoping to make Anchorage either Thursday evening or Friday by mid-day. I'm helping get the word out to the media in a way that Erin and Hig approve. They'll probably be on Aaron Selbig's KUDO program on Friday at 3:30 p.m. or at that same time Monday.

Their first public presentation in Anchorage will be on Tuesday evening, January 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall at the UAA Fine Arts Building. The talk, slide and YouTube video presentation will be free. Parking in the Fine Art Building in the evening is free, so don't worry about the campus parking Nazis.

Here's a link to their YouTube video page.