Upper Angel Creek Cabin

Upper Angel Creek Cabin was our last cabin trip with the dogs for this year. Spring seems to be on its way and the snow will soon be melted. The trail to the Upper Angel Creek Cabin is ideal for skijoring. I skijored with Tommy and Crash while Jeremy mushed in with the team. We didn't take many pictures on this trip, though by this time you're probably not that interested in seeing another dog or cabin picture.

Here's Jeremy on the deck of the cabin with Crash and Tommy sunning themselves.

Here I am inside the cabin. This is the table at which I beat Jeremy at cards. : )

Jeremy was kind enough to let me sleep in. I'm in the yellow sleeping bag. I usually wait until Jeremy wakes up and gets the stove going before I get up. It's chilly otherwise!

Well, that's it for the cabins off the road system. A friend suggested I add a map to the post so that people could see where the different cabins are. We tried and it was difficult to actually see the map, very pixelized. So here's a link to the map:

http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/chena/chenarsrmap.pdf

Stiles Creek Cabin

Our most recent cabin trip was to Stiles Creek Cabin. I mushed in with our 6 dog team and Jeremy took in the snowmachine. The next day Jeremy mushed out and I took the snowmachine.

This is a more challenging mush than some of the other cabin trails. The route I took in was 11 miles and involved some hills. The above picture is of me pushing the sled as we had just come up a hill. You can see the dogs are looking a little tired.

"Sled Dog"
Tommy is our furry Siberian. He overheats because of all his fur, so doesn't do that well in team. We let him run behind the snowmachine, but he gets tired after a while. When he slows down we put him in the sled behind the snowmachine. It's not his favorite place to be; he'd much rather be running.

This is the Stiles Creek Cabin. It's one of Jeremy's favorites, but I think my favorite is Colorado Creek .

Here's a view of the inside. This cabin has a nice loft.

Me and T Dog (Tommy)

Below is a video of Jeremy taking off with the dogs the next day. I'm trying to explain what's going on, but you really can't hear me over the dogs barking.

Self portrait. Another great cabin trip.

Lower Angel Creek Cabin

I had drill (now referred to as Battle Assembly) the weekend Jeremy went to the Lower Angel Creek Cabin so he went solo.

This is the "dog truck" at the trail head. The dogs are hooked up to the truck while Jeremy gets the sled ready and then harnesses the dogs.

Here's a view up the valley. He just caught the setting sun. Our days are getting longer!

Jeremy took this great picture of Crash as she runs next to him on the sled. She decided early on that she was not going to be a team dog. She's great following the team, though, and rarely gets in the way. She's a crappy sled dog, but a great pet.

This is the Lower Angel Creek Cabin. It's not that nice of a cabin, but it's only 3 miles in and a good distance if you are skiing, skijoring or have guests visiting that don't want an epic adventure.

Nugget Creek Cabin Trip

Our first cabin trip of the new year was Nugget Creek. This was built by a long time local when there used to be mining in this area. It has a lot of character.

This is the cabin with our sleds and Neve out front. We both mushed in with 4 dog teams. It went pretty well except it was a little warm for this time of year. It was a sweltering 30 degrees on the way in and out.

This stove may look little, but when people tell you that the stove can run you out of the cabin, they are not joking. Holy smokes, did it get freakin' hot!

View of the inside.

So, this trail had three creek crossings. Above is a picture of the South Fork Chena River. Below is a short video of Jeremy bringing his team across. It is completely ice and impossible to steer. I put the camera away as he got closer just in case his lead dog decided not to take the right. He's like that sometimes. You can hear Jeremy giving the command for the team to go right, "gee."

Yukon Quest 2010

While most everyone has heard of the Iditarod, there is another sled dog race that is even tougher, the Yukon Quest! It is a 1000 mile race between Fairbanks and Whitehorse, Canada, and follows the historic Gold Rush and mail delivery routes. The race start changes each year, switching between Fairbanks and Whitehorse. This year the race started in Fairbanks and a friend had the idea to rent a cabin near the trail and then spend some time on the trail catching glimpses of the mushers as they went by.

This is the Chena River Cabin we stayed in. Obviously it's a summer picture. I took it off the State Parks website. It's 1 of 3 cabins that are road accessible in the Chena River Recreation Area.

This is us set up along the trail waiting for mushers to come by. It was an amazing evening. Earlier in the week we had had some cold weather, 28 below, but by the weekend it had warmed up to about zero. This picture was taken at about 4 p.m. The days are getting longer!

This was the first musher to come by while we were there. I think it is Hans Gatt, a musher from Whitehorse, Yukon. There are 24 mushers this year; 6 are women. Men and women compete together.

Here another musher passes by, though I'm not sure who. I was able to get his entire team in the picture, 14 dogs!

There is also a Yukon Quest 300 race (300 miles). This race is a qualifier for the 1000 mile race and this year a friend of ours, Paige Drobny, is running it! We actually were on the trail when she went by, but I didn't have my camera at that point. So, I took the below picture off the musher profile page from the Yukon Quest site, www.yukonquest.com.

To follow Paige you can check out her blog, squidacres.blogspot.com. Her husband, Cody is updating it. He's her dog handler as well.

Good Luck, Paige!

UPDATE: Paige came in 5th in the Yukon Quest 300!

Colorado

The first week in January Jeremy and I traveled to Colorado to visit family and meet friends in Steamboat Springs for a music festival and some skiing.

This is my Grandma Jean and I. We spent three days visiting and had a great time.

After family time we headed to the mountains for skiing and music.

We had a lot of fun at the festival, but didn't take many pictures. Actually we didn't take any pictures. I got this one from a friend's FB page.

Group photo in the music tent. It was wonderful spending time with my long time friends.

While away, however, our new lead dog, Chewie, ate a rag of some sort, which didn't make it through him. That meant a vet had to remove it, which as you can imagine was not cheap. It also required him to stay inside for awhile. Once he chewed his way out of the kennel, though, we knew it was time for him to return to the dog yard. I guess we now know why his name is Chewie.

He doesn't even looked ashamed of himself. Bad dog.

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.