Near Moose

The other morning as Mike was driving me to the airport to fly back to the village, a large dark shaped passed between the car in front of us and the truck we were in. At 6:30 in the morning it is still dark out. As we quickly closed in on the figure it became apparent that it was a moose. Mike Swerved into the other land to avoid hitting it. But there was a "Thwack!" What was that, we are still alive so we obviously did not hit the moose, right? I looked out the passenger side window to see that the mirror had been knocked in. No damage, but we must have grazed the read end of the moose with the passenger's side view Mirror! The moose might have had a sore hind end, but a least she lived to see another day, and so did we.

Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race

This year I was in Fairbanks to witness the start of the Yukon Quest. The 24 teams of dogs and mushers organized on the banks of the Chena River in downtown Fairbanks. Here comes the first team!

The handlers need to hold the dogs back until their start time. The teams set out at 3 minute intervals.
The teams start off with 14 dogs. Sometimes dogs can be dropped from a team due to injury or illness, but a team must have 8 dogs to finish the race.
They have 1000 miles to cover from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, in the Yukon territory of Canada.

The first musher to make it into Dawson city and finish the race will get 4 ounces of gold! The trail follows some historic routes used during the gold rush.

This year you can follow the race on Twitter or Facebook. The teams are also carrying SPOT personal tracking transmitters. Although they can give the teams position, it is easy to forget to turn them on when a musher has 14 dogs to take care of! There are twice daily up-dates on the radio. I am happy to say that my boyfriend could care less about the Super bowl, but follows the Yukon Quest closely!

Quest for the sun 2010!

In January, the days are getting longer, but the mountains block sunlight from reaching the village. Last year I set out to catch the sun on the one of the mountain tops where it was hitting. I did not make it because I kept heading towards the North.

This year I had some company, my boyfriend Mike from Fairbanks came up to visit and we headed out about 10 in the morning to try and catch the sun on top of Blueberry mountain.

The moon in the pre-dawn hours, around 11 am.
Bundled up in my wolf ruff and beaver mitts. It was warm that day, about -10, and no wind.

Sun light on Soakpak peak.
We made it about 2:30 in the afternoon, the sun is peaking out from behind the mountains in the South.
Soaking it in!
Group photo. Some of the village dogs followed us up, along out 8 mile trip. We skied most of the way then hike the last 1000ft to the top.
Tired dogs!
Stopped to sip some hot coco.

My "commute"

I live in an Alaska bush village. To get to town I fly in a single engine Cesna Grand Caravan that seats 9 passengers. By town, I mean Fairbanks. Here are some shots of the Brooks range and Yukon Flats on my last flight.

Birch creek, Yukon Flats. The Yukon Quest Sled dog race winds along this river on its way to Whitehorse.
The Brooks range in the glorious February sunlight.

Tolovana Hot Springs

Many of my Alaskan Friends have told me stories of their epic adventures into these famous hot springs. Over a two hour drive to the trail head, the hot springs and private cabins for rent lie at the end of an 11 mile trail. I have heard stories of frost bite, broken sleds, falling on skis, falling in love and broken friendships. I have been told the wind is always howling and the average winter temperatures are near 20 below zero. Ideal conditions for Frostbite. I do not know how I get to be so lucky! 1. It was warm, close to zero. 2. There was little to no wind. 3. I had a dog team to pull me UP the hills... and the hills are killer. 4. The owner had just been in and the trail was cleared up downed trees. 5. fresh light snow on the trail made for good skiing conditions. 6. We had the place to ourselves! 7. I had a fabulous weekend with my boyfriend! 8. I am missing out on a week of awful meetings at school. 9. I had my flight paid for my the district, I just extended a conference trip for 2 extra days. 10. I got to bring my spoiled rotten dog!

chillin' in the cabin after dinner~
King Crab!
The First tub.... too Hot!
Mike getting ready to get in the water.

Mike and Kiita. Kiita is so spoiled she gets to ride in the cab while all the other sled dogs are in the dog boxes on the trailer.

Kiita is learning how to be a sled dog... but she is not pulling her weight when she is looking back to figure out where I am!
The first tub was too hot! So we had to make our way over to the other middle tub. (which was just right!)
Mike Loading the sled on the trailer and dog box.
Stopping on top of the dome for some photos!
The upper tub. Nice view but we liked the middle one the best!using a generator and heater to warm up the truck so it will start.
I know it looks like I am standing still here.... but I am cruising along behind the sled and dog team at about 10 miles per hour!
Looks like Kiita is actually pulling here...
Frosty clothes!

My new Beaver hat! This us the sixth hat I have made in the last year. I think I am getting the hang of it!
Mohawk Mike!
The little Frame cabin we stayed in. Nice and cozy!

Sunset on the night of our arrival.

Walking with the dogs

Nice winter day... Oh wait it is still fall... anyhow it was a nice day for taking the dogs for a walk.

one of the creeks that feeds the John river is not frozen yet.

Zoey.

Whisky, Kiita's Brother.

Field trip to the river

I should have done the unit on water quality first, starting in August! We had to find spots where the water did not freeze yet.

We had to make some holes in the ice.

We found a few places where the water was not frozen yet.

Rock fishing

My first Fish. I caught it with my bare hands! In the winter the river starts to dry up and freeze. The pools of water get smaller and smaller and and the fish are trapped. Sometimes people throw rocks to try to stun them. But by the time I found the fish in the pool, there was so little water I could pick them up with my hands.

I caught two fish on different days.

Fried them up for dinner and ate them with rice. They were really tasty.