Christmas and Chewie

For Christmas Jeremy and I usually stay home, but not for a lack of invites. Many of our friends are not from Alaska and given that we are all far from family we often spend holidays together. Jeremy and I like to spend Christmas day at home, though. We start Christmas day with apple cider donuts with a special mix imported from Vermont. This year Jeremy's mom supplied us with the prized mix.

Here is one of the delicious apple cider donuts. (How about that hairdo?)

The day after Christmas we went skijoring with a couple of the sled dogs. Jeremy skijored with Chewie, our newest sled dog. He's a lead dog. In case you've lost track, that's 9 dogs. Someone needs to let Santa know we are full up on dogs.

This is Creamer's Field where we went skijoring. It is an old dairy farm that has since been designated a migratory bird refuge. This picture was take around 2 p.m. Another beautiful day in Alaska.

Annual Tolovana Trip

The beginning of December means a trip to Tolovana Hot Springs. There are a couple of cabins you can rent. We rented the log cabin with friends, Tom and Melissa. Tom took the snow machine, Melissa sledjored with her two pointer-huskies, Jeremy mushed, and I walked. I sledjored on the way out, though. It was much faster, even with Tommy, our fluffy, slow Serbian.

Here's a picture of Jeremy getting ready at the trailhead. Normally it's a little "breezy" at the trailhead, but not this year. It was really nice.


The day we went in was absolutely beautiful. This is a picture looking south along the trail. It's about 12:30 p.m. Those who live outside of Alaska often think it is completely dark here in the winter, but it is not. Although this is as high as the sun will get, it is not completely dark. The days are just short.

This is the log cabin with Tom outside.

(picture from last year)

The upper tub. I can't tell you how wonderful that water feels. I love it.

Tom and Melissa with Elka and Wader.
Tom used to work in Forestry with Jeremy and I used to work with Melissa in Lands within the Department of Natural Resources. Tom now works for the University of Alaska and Melissa works as a planner for the North Star Borough. A borough is the same as a county. They are originally from Wisconsin. I've never met a person from Wisconsin I didn't like. Good people.

Jeremy and I with Crash, who wasn't that interested in sitting still for a picture.

Jeremy mushing on the way out. The lead dogs are outside of the picture. Tommy, the Siberian, is beside Jeremy. At that point I took Tommy and sledjored out with him. It snowed the day we left. It was another great Tolovana trip.

First Run of the Season

The Animals

Mushing season is almost here, so here's an introduction to the animals that haul our crap around....

Mushing 101

Lead Dogs - the dogs up front that know what Gee (Right), Haw (Left) and Whoa (stop) mean. Typically smarter than the musher.

Swing Dogs - the dogs that are right behind the lead dogs and are supposed to.... keep the gang line relatively straight in turns so the team and wheel dogs don't get pulled into the trees.

Team Dogs - the engine, between the swing dogs and the wheel dogs.

Wheel Dogs - right in front of the sled. These are typically big dumb strong dogs that don't get mind getting pushed around by the weight of the sled.

The Musher - fat guy sleeping on the runners of the sled.

Tommy - our first dog. He's too furry to pull for long, is slow, fights with other dogs, and is generally a huge pain in the ass, but he looks like a sled dog and when we got him (not knowing anything about sled dogs), looking like a sled dog was the most important thing. Rookies.

Crash - our second dog. She doesn't pull at all, but she's a great dog. She comes when called (most of the time), she's a great bird dog, and eats whatever is in front of her. Again she looks like a sled dog but that's as far as it goes, so clearly we didn't learn anything after our first dog.

Skidder - our third dog. Not really being interested in feeding a bunch of non-pulling dogs we got a real sled dog. Skidder is one of our lead dogs. This guy has lead finishing teams on the Iditarod and the Yukon Quest (both over 1000 miles) not to mention numerous 300+ mile races around Alaska. He taught me, Dianna, and the other dogs how to mush. His previous owner said Skidder lead him through wind storms on Norton Sound during the Iditarod. Now he's here with us. The only bummer is that he's 14 and tired of dealing with all our f**k ups. He's like an NFL football player going back to high school to play second string. Sometimes when things look rough and I'm frustrated, I look at Skidder and I can tell he's saying "listen dumb ass, do what I tell you and we'll make it through this."

Duncan - our fourth dog. A true diamond in the rough. This Chow husky mix is a good mannered lead dog. He loves working, knows his left from his rights (thanks to Skidder), and can even single lead. He's only about 6 so I imagine that he'll run away any day now to join a real mushing team so he can realize his true potential. Good luck, Duncan.

Strugi (puppy #1) - has the heart of a lion and the strength of a lamb. He's in swing position (right behind the leaders). He's high energy and loves to run, but on occasion will have seizures. He likes to bark... a lot.

Neve (puppy #2) - has the heart of a lamb and the strength of a lion. Lovable and the heart of the dog yard. She runs next to Strugi in swing. Once in harness she won't stop working. She's the motivator of the team.

Yukon - our seventh dog. We've had this dog for 2 years and he's still a little shy, but when he's in harness, it's all business.

Biscuit - our last dog. In this photo he's lower right. He's not very photogenic, as a matter of fact I'm not sure he's a dog, he may be a goat. Anyway whatever he is, he holds one of the wheel (closest to the sled) positions. Wheel dogs are known for being strong and stupid. Biscuit lives up to the reputation.

Here's the 6 dog team together. All of our dogs except the puppies came from the shelter.

And Dianna skijoring with Crash and Tommy.

And last, but not least, the cat with many names - Some call him Ahab (he only has 3 feet), Lester McKankle, Kitty Witty, Big Boy, Economic Stimulus Package, The Ambassador. We're going to try him in lead when Skidder decides he's had it!!

Sauerkraut Throwdown!

The First Annual Sauerkraut Throwdown was held October 24th. The rules are that you must have grown the cabbage and made the sauerkraut yourself.

The three judges, Eric, Steve and Rachel, get ready to begin the tasting.


Hank in his authentic lederhosen is supervising.


Winners!


Jeremy with his third place medal (a canning ring) getting a little love from Eric the Kraut Judge.

Part III - The End of Summer

Well, here it is part III of III, the end of summer.

Over Labor Day we went to the town of McCarthy which is located at the foot of the Wrangell Mountains and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. The area was originally seasonally inhabited by Athabascans, but copper was discovered in 1900 and soon the Kennicott mine was established about 5 miles from McCarthy. McCarthy came into existence due to the strict rules against drinking, gambling and prostitution in the company town of Kennicott. These rules did not apply in McCarthy.

There is a road to the town now, though originally you could only access it by railroad. The public road only goes to the river, then you have to walk or ride your bike across a bridge. There is a private bridge for vehicles, but a pass is $300, so most everyone walks or bikes.


This was our cabin located about 1 mile from McCarthy on the road side. It is advertised as the only establishment in McCarthy that has full facilities and showers in all their rooms and cabins. The cabin had propane heat and electricity from a generator.


Not a lot of options in McCarthy. This is where we had breakfast all three mornings. It's a structure built around a van. They had great coffee and excellent breakfast burritos.


We went to McCarthy to do a run and mountain bike. Jeremy did the 1/2 Marathon and I did the 10k. The finish was Main Street McCarthy. It's a great little town. I think it has about 50 people that stay through the winter.


It was an absolutely beautiful weekend with fall colors and wonderful weather. We definitely felt as if we were back in Colorado. This is the road up to the mine that we biked up the second day.


This is the mill at the mine. It has some serious structural issues, so you couldn't go into it. There are plans, however, to renovate it. The railroad arrived in Kennicott in 1911. The mine was abandoned in 1938. Abandoned in place. Because the railroad was also abandoned there was no way later mining ventures could bring the copper to market, so eventually the land was sold to private individuals. What land did not sell was eventually bought by the National Park Service.


The old hospital is on the left and the buildings on the right are the bunk houses. These buildings are also due to be renovated. We got to tour some smaller buildings that had been renovated and it was a pretty impressive process. Very interesting.


After touring the company town of Kennicott we hiked up to the glacier.


Jeremy and I in a self portrait on the glacier. We didn't have our crampons, so couldn't explore it much.


Once back from the glacier we biked back to McCarthy on a road they call the "wagon road." It was a great trail and a lot of fun going down.


Along the wagon road was an old cemetery. I love looking at old graves. I like to read the names and dates and try to imagine their lives back then. Most of these graves were, as would be expected, from the early 1900's.


On the third day we headed back to Fairbanks. On the way out we got to see everything we missed on the way in because it was dark. While this bridge is a road bridge, it was originally for the railroad.


Here is evidence of the old railroad line. We also often saw railroad rails coming out of the road bed because the road for the most part was built right over the old railroad bed.

We had a great time in McCarthy and will most certainly return next year. Maybe next year I'll even run the 1/2 marathon. Maybe.

Part II - August

Part II - August

If June and July were about festivals and merriment, August was about food - hunting, vegetables, canning and fair food.

The first week of August Jeremy and Tom went caribou hunting. They got their caribou the first day out!

This is Tom with his caribou.

It snowed the day they hiked out. After a couple of days of rain and being wet, they were more than ready to head out when the snow came.


Although fire season usually ends the beginning of August, we had a couple of the worst days of smoke I've experienced since being in Alaska.

This picture was taken in the middle of the day looking down our driveway.

Something I'd never seen, an air quality warning on television.

But the rains eventually came, of course, because what would fair week be without rain? The Tanana Valley State Fair is held the 2nd week of August each year and it always rains. This year was no different, never mind a week before the entire state was on fire. We checked out the livestock, vegetables, rides, and booths, but mostly spent time looking for the perfect fair food. This is what we found:

Funnel Cake . . .

and a Block of Fries with cheese.

We found out later that we missed the fried cheese curds! Dang. Next year.

We didn't just eat, though. We took some time to check out the animals. Below I am posing with a reindeer.

I prefer to be photographed with the animals while they're still living.


The last week of August Jeremy and Tom went sheep hunting. Jeremy was very lucky in that he drew a tag for a Dall sheep in the Tok Management Area. There is a 2 1/2 percent chance at getting drawn for a TMA Dall sheep tag.

Eastern Alaska Range
They hiked in about 7 miles with an elevation gain of about 2500'.

Here is Jeremy with his sheep, which he got the first day out!

Towards the river just out of the hills Jeremy and I have a piece of property. Two years ago we were selected in a lottery and were allowed to stake a parcel of land. We staked 10 acres. Someday we hope to build a cabin on it. In the background you can see the Robertson River which flows out of the Alaska Range into the Tanana River.

While Jeremy was hunting I was managing the vegetables we received from our cooperative share. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the pounds and pounds of fresh veggies we got, but I did get a couple pictures of it cooked and preserved.

This is what 8 cups of beet greens looks like once stir fried. They were delicious, but I would not recommend eating 8 cups of greens in one sitting.


This is a picture of our canning. I canned the pickled beets and spicy green beans. Jeremy made and canned the sauerkraut and brewed and bottled the beer. It's his Oktoberfest beer which he is saving for the 1st Annual Sauerkraut Throwdown. Nothing like a little sauerkraut competition between friends. We'll also be serving up caribou brats. We'll keep you posted on the results.

Well, that's August.