Cross-Country Skiing - Jan. 12, 2008

Our Mat-Su Borough provided an activity called Winter Trail Days at Hatcher Pass in the Talkeetna Mountain Range. They had cross country skis and boots and snowshoes (provided by a local outfitter, REI) that you could use for free. They also had people there who were giving lessons on cross-country skiing. They had a mountain bike racecourse laid out and groomed trails for skiers. Fortunately for us “newbies”, the trails circled a small area, so we were never way back in the wilderness. We were always in sight of the instructors who could help us and encourage us. Doug even got his picture taken by the local newspaper. Thank goodness they didn’t take my picture at the same time they took his. I just happened to be on the ground when the photographer snapped a shot of Doug (who was upright). I guess it didn’t matter though. We checked the paper today and they chose to put in a picture of a couple of cute little girls who were sailing along on their first attempt at cross-country skiing.

As you can see, it was a gorgeous day. The temperature was 0* but there was no wind. There were burn barrels all fired up so you could warm up. But we didn't really need to take advantage of the fires.  Once Doug and I got the hang of it, we got warmed up really fast. After about an hour and half we took a break and ate the lunch we had packed. Then we went a couple rounds before we thought we should call it a day (since we could both still walk and didn’t hurt anywhere). We thought it best to quit while we were ahead. But we intend to try the cross-country skiing again. Our instructor told us about some other trails in the area. I think he only mentioned the ones where he thought we couldn’t get into too much trouble!!

When we were finished and turned in our equipment, we had hot chocolate and hot cider (compliments of the bourough).

As we waited for the activities to begin, we noticed the frozen waterfalls on the sides of nearby mountains.  In the summer, these are actually waterfalls tumbling down the hillsides.  If you look closely, you can see the frozen waterfalls in this picture.

Moose at Hatcher Pass - Jan. 12, 2008

Wow!!!! Did we have a great weekend! On Saturday we planned to go to Hatcher Pass (about 20 minutes from our house) for a Winter Trails activity. (More about that on the next post). We left home at 9:00 am. It was starting to get light and we could tell that the sun was going to shine on this day. That itself is a change, since it has been cloudy most of the time. We were driving up the road in the Talkeetna mountains when we saw three moose. It was a cow and her two calves. They were feeding RIGHT beside the road. We stopped to watch and the two calves crossed the road in front of us to feed on the other side. This time of year, moose eat trees and they were all content to just keep munching as we watched. Other cars went by too, but they didn’t react to the passing cars at all. Mother moose was not too amused as she crossed the road though. She had her ears laid back and they were still that way as she continued to eat on our side of the road with her calves. Once again, we got too excited to get really good pictures. The cameras aren’t too sure what to do when it is just beginning to get daylight. We sat about ten minutes and watched them.

P.S. Doug saw moose tracks at the bottom of our driveway again today. I am just SURE that one of these days I am going to walk out to put the trash in the bin and there she will be!!!!

Northern Lights & Moose at the Front Door!

Well---almost. As I left our house in my car yesterday morning about 10:00, I saw a moose about 100 yards from our house. I was able to get within about 50 yards of it. But I was so excited that I didn't get very good pictures. It wasn't very light out yet and the camera wasn't sure where to focus. The little house with the light on is the pump house for the well in our neighborhood.

When Doug & I walked in this area last week, we followed moose tracks for about 1/2 mile. So we knew there was at least one moose nearby. When I walked to get the mail the day after we spotted the tracks, I sincerely hoped I wouldn't encounter a moose while I was walking alone.

I am sitting in my car at the end of our driveway taking these pictures.






I turned the corner as she went over the hill and watched her come down the hillside a little ways before she walked away from me.


So.....the question for today is: It is now time to get the mail. The mailbox is about 1 mile away. Do I want to continue walking that way to get the mail? Doug assures me that she is more scared of me than I am of her. What do you think?

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While I was out shoveling our 2" of light, fluffy snow at 6:30 this morning, I paused for a break at the bottom end of the driveway. There were rays of light shining in the distance behind my neighbor's house. As I scanned the horizon, I saw lots of the lights all around. They were not "dancing", as the Northern Lights sometimes do. But they definitely were the Northern Lights. They moved slowly across the horizon and changed intensity, shape and color. So now we can say we have seen them and will hopefully see more of them in the next few weeks. Maybe they will be bright enough to get some pictures of them to share with you.

Alaska News Articles

I thought you might want to see some of the "wildlife happenings" here in our area the last few months. Here are a few websites to check out. These are links to the Anchorage Daily News. You may have to register to see these links. But registering does not cost you anything.
Some of the descriptions are taken from the articles themselves.
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Musher has run-in with musk ox.

http://dwb.adn.com/sports/mushing/story/9398676p-9311987c.html

Melissa Owens' dog team tangled with a herd of musk oxen on the outskirts of Nome last week.


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Wolf Attack stories --
Anchorage is about 40 miles from us. Some of these incidents happened north of Anchorage (which means they occurred about 30 miles from of us).

http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/wolves/story/9512925p-9423717c.html

http://www.adn.com/wildlife/story/244284.html
A pack of Anchorage wolves has killed two pet dogs and attacked three others in the past two weeks while their owners were walking them, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.


http://dwb.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/wolves/story/9514718p-9424671c.html
The attack was fast and surprisingly silent. Before Lisa Hubert knew what was happening, her dog, Buddy, had disappeared into the pitch-black night with barely a sound.


http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/wildlife/wolves/story/245094.html


http://www.adn.com/wildlife/story/244284.html

The most recent attack by a group of wolves known as the Elmendorf pack happened Thursday morning, when three women jogging down Artillery Road with their dogs were surprised to find seven or eight wolves trailing them.
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Bear stories – Doug is supposed to go to Kodiak Island sometime this summer. At least we know that these two bears won’t be there to greet him.

http://www.adn.com/outdoors/story/256356.html
10 foot 6 inch bear – BIG TIME brown bear (There is a picture of this HUGE bear!!)


http://www.adn.com/bearattacks/story/251643.html

Brown bear killed by Kodiak bunny hunter

Knik 200 Sled Dog Race - Jan. 5

(BE SURE TO TURN YOUR SOUND UP SO YOU CAN HEAR THE DOGS ON THE VIDEOS!!)



We went to the Knik 200 Sled Dog Race on Saturday, January 5. The race started on Knik Lake (about 15 miles from our house). We were able to go out among the mushers and their teams as they got ready for the start of the race. There were about 30 teams. The length of the race was 200 miles. They went out 100 miles, had a mandatory 6 hour rest time and then returned to the finish line on the same lake where they started. The first team started at 11:00 AM. Mushers will start crossing the finish line at about 8:00 Sunday morning. That means they travel the entire distance back to the finish in the dark. This race is a qualifying race for the Iditarod.
A team was started about every three minutes. The dogs are so anxious to run that as the sled approaches the starting line, they have "catchers" (people who catch and hold the sled as the dogs are trying to pull it). The catchers hold the sled at the start line until the countdown and command to go are given to the musher.

As soon as one team gets hitched up, all the other dogs start barking and jumping. They are ready to go too, and do not want to be left behind. There are three or four dog handlers with most teams. As the dogs are waiting for the command to go, they bark and jump and sometimes get tangled among themselves. The handlers try to prevent this so they are ready to head straight out at "go time". (See videos below)
There were people of all ages there to watch the race start and help the mushers. As you can see by the pictures, there were even little tykes in attendance. Everyone was dressed warmly. It was only about 8* (and pretty cold on the ice). Fortunately, there wasn't any wind.




Imagine driving 200 miles in the luxury and warmth of your car. Now imagine crossing that same 200 miles while standing on the back of a dog sled.....

This just in from the Anchorage Daily News:
Ryan Redington wins Knik 200
Ryan Redington, who was the first into Skwentna Saturday evening, won the Knik 200-Joe Redington Sr. Memorial Sled Dog Race Sunday morning, beating Ken Anderson and Dan Kaduce to the finish by about 38 minutes. (Ryan's grandfather, Joe Redington Sr) was the "Father of the Iditarod".







Race official handing out racing bib with numbers on them to mushers.


Putting booties on the dogs to protect their feet.


Getting the sled packed and ready to go.


Doug, Colleen & friend Joann at the Knik 200


A real fan --
Iditarod patches from many years' races.


How would you like this hat? It was beautiful!



Sled dogs are like marathon runners. They are no longer the husky/wolf breed. Most of the dogs are cross-bred.




This team is ready to go...


For more information on the 2008 Iditarod, go to www.iditarod.com

Big Lake

On December 30, we drove west out of Wasilla up the Parks Highway for an afternoon tour of Big Lake. The Parks highway is #3 in Alaska. I think there are only 11 highways in Alaska, so the highest highway number is 11. Most often they are referred to by their name, rather than their number.

Big Lake is the name of a town and of a lake. It has been a summer and winter resort destination for Alaskans since the 1940s. As we approached the lake we could see dozens of people on the lake. There were pickups, four wheelers and snow machines. There were roads cleared across the lake itself so you could drive out on the ice. We decided that since there were so many people out there with heavy vehicles who apparently knew what they were doing, that it would be safe for us to drive our Suburban right out on the ice too. We drove for over three miles until we drove into fog. It really gave us the idea of what a white-out was like. So we turned around and went back. We did not see the end of the lake. What we did see were several small islands in the middle of the lake with house built on them. There were pickups pushing snow to make more roads from their respective homes on the lake to the main center road. We decided that this is where we want to go snowmobiling. We have less of a chance to get lost in the wilderness if we are surrounded by other snow machiners and home all along the bank!

When we stopped at the gas station near the lake, we saw a large map of the lake on a billboard. It actually had the "winter road" across the lake marked on the map. So it is not just a road for recreation in the winter. It is the way folks get back and forth to their houses in the winter too. We also saw three snow machiners who had just picked up a pizza at the convenience store and were sitting on their snow machines having a winter picnic. There was a side-by-side four wheeler getting gas also. Dad was putting gas in the tank as a little guy waited patiently in the four wheeler. He appeared to be about 2 1/2 years old. He had on his snowsuit and boots and helmet with the face shield pulled down over his face. He was strapped in his car seat just wiggling his feet as he waited for dad to finish so they could go four-wheeling.

On the way to and from the lake, we passed several fireworks stands. New Years Eve is celebrated with lots of fireworks here. Not so much on the 4th of July because it never really gets dark here in July. Anyway, the was something incongruous about this picture: the stands were packed with customers in their Carhartt bib overalls and parkas waiting to buy fireworks. Up to this point, the only weather I have ever associated with fireworks is HOT and HUMID!

Happy New Year!!

Welcome back to our blog. 

 I offer my apologies for neglecting it for so long.  When I logged on today, I found a post that I had started on Nov. 12, but never got finished and uploaded.  I was sure that people told me that I would have NOTHING to do when I retired.  I am still waiting for that "nothing" to show up!  It seems we are always checking our "to do" list and finding more things have been added than have been crossed off.  I decided that I would let you know what is currently happening in our lives.  Then I will post some stories and pictures from our "adventures" in the last couple of months.  

For those of you who worried about us moving to the "land of winter and darkness", worry no longer.  We are finding winter here in the Mat-Su Valley to be much milder than it was in Nebraska.  While I was in Nebraska in late November and early December, we had four ice storms in Nebraska.  Each time I called Doug (who was home in Alaska), he could only tell me things like: "It's 47* here.  All our snow is gone" or, "It's 38* here.  I am washing the vehicles." 

I flew back to Alaska on December 14.  Since then it has only reached single digit temperatures a few times.  Most days it is between 10-25* .  Today (Dec. 31) it is 34* and breezy.

Pictures taken from our house on Dec. 22, 2007:

The wind has blown and absolutely howled on a few days since I have been back home.  But after it blows for a couple of days, it quiets down for 4 or 5 days.  It does not blow constantly, as it seems to in Nebraska.  We have had very little sunshine the past couple of weeks.  We can see that the sun is shining on the mountains or on the bay at Anchorage, but not in our valley.  The wind never seems to blow the clouds away either, They just rise up and then they come back down.  This is the way is works in the summer time too.  So the majority of the days are cloudy, yet wonderfully beautiful winter days.  

Pictures of our yard on Dec. 17, 2007:

When it snows, the snowflakes literally float down. No sideways snow!!!  It is a very dry snow.  So when the wind blows, there is no snow left in our yard because we live at the top of a hill.  They say that the snow just wears out and disintegrates from being blown to the south and then to the north when the wind is especially strong.  There are lots of worries and complaints because of the lack of snow this winter.  Snow machines and snow blowers sales are down.  The kids (big and little) want to go play in the snow.  Here are some pictures of the frost and snow on the trees right in our back yard on Dec. 15.

Even though it is cloudy during the days, it is still light.  We do not live in part of Alaska that does not see the sun for several months.  Our shortest day was about 5 1/2 hours of daylight.  That sounds like just a little, but compared to our shortest days in Nebraska, it not that much less light.  We have started gaining back a bit of light each day.  Why, on Dec. 22, we gained back 11 seconds!!!!!  

We have a bay window in our bedroom.  Since we are at the top of a hill, it overlooks our neighborhood.  Now that the trees have lost all their leaves, we can see the lights at each house and all the Christmas lights.  It's so neat to look out that window at night.  It looks like a Thomas Kincaid or a Terry Redlin painting.  You can see the glow from each window of the houses that are nestled in among the trees.  New Year's Eve is celebrated with fireworks here. We heard some going off at the bottom of the hill last night.  We had a ringside seat as we looked out our window.  It should be even better tonight.  There will be lots more fireworks.  (I'll give you a new perspective on buying fireworks in another blog post)  :>)

On Dec. 23rd we went to an Advent celebration at St. Michael's Catholic Church (our parish) in Palmer. We had a hayrack ride and sang Christmas carols. Everyone then gathered at the church hall for chili, cornbread and desserts. The Christmas pageant was held in the church and St. Nicholas was the special visitor to end the evening. It was a lot of family fun and celebration of the reason for the season!