Easter In Alaska - 4/11/09

Easter Sunday was mostly cloudy and in the upper 30s all day long. We looked out the window at 9:30 PM and this is what we saw. We could see it snowing in the mountains off and on all day. It finally moved to our neighborhood. Our snow had almost all melted, but it looks like we will have the chance to go through another "melt" cycle.

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We took this a couple of days ago when we were a the grocery store in Palmer. The "kids" are just waiting for dad or mom to come out of the store. When I took this picture, the owner was out of sight inside the store, even though you might guess that he/she was walking across the parking lot toward the truck. They were at attention like this for several minutes.

Note the mountains in the background. Those are the ones right outside Doug's office window. This is his view every day!

Jr. Iditarod - 2/28/09

On Saturday, February 28, we went to Knik Lake to see the start of the Junior Iditarod. The lake is about 40 minutes from our house. It is a 145 mile race for kids who are ages 14-17. There were 21 mushers in this year's race. The videos and the pictures are a bit deceiving. It looks like a raging blizzard. In reality, it was a gorgeous day. The snow came in big flat flakes with absolutely no wind. It stacked up on a person if you didn't keep it brushed off. The temperature was a balmy 20*, so it really was a perfect day. The first musher left at 10:00 AM. The kids take a trail 82 miles and then have a mandatory 10 hour layover. Then the continue for another 63 miles to the finish at Willow (where the adult Iditarod race begins). The winning musher finished at 12:30 PM on Sunday, March 1st. The last musher finished about 7:30 PM Sunday. Some of the kids came from mushing families and others have no one else in their family who mushes or raises dogs. The winner is the stepson of Lance Mackey, who has won the Iditarod the last two years. Lance will be competing for his third consecutive victory next weekend. You can read more about today's race and about the mushers on www.jriditarod.com. If you would like to read about the Iditarod, check out www.iditarod.com.

(P.S. to Mr. Brooke: The snow was truly "wafting" down - perfect hot tub snow!!!)

Race Security Detail.
The lathes with the orange tips in the back of the first snow machine are trail markers.

More race security detail members.

Putting booties on the dogs prior to the race.

Dog kennels come in all shapes, sizes and colors.

Team out on the line before they are harnessed and ready to go.

Let's go!! Let's Go!!!!!

This sled dog's eyes were blue, like a Siamese cat's eyes.

Back-to-back Iditarod winner Lance Mackey is to the left of the guy in the orange hat. They are all standing at the start line waiting for a musher to take off.

5-4-3-2-1-GO!!

Concession Stand

This young man got bored and brushed away the 8-10 inches of snow off the ice. What you see at his feet is the frozen lake.




The ultimate multi-tasking mom -- a baby in the carrier on her back, one in her arms, one at her feet and taking pictures too!!

Jr. Iditarod Videos

The teams lined up in a circle before the start. We stood in the center of the circle to shoot the video. This is about 1 hour before race time. At this race spectators are allowed to wander amidst the dogs and mushers and take all the photos they want. That is one of the neat things about going to the smaller dog races. At the Iditarod ceremonial start in Anchorage and at the re-start in Willow, spectators are fenced off from the mushers.

This is about 40 minutes before race time and the mushers are beginning to get their dogs out and prepare them for the race. The dogs begin to sense this and you can hear a few of them barking.







The first team is called to the start line. Notice that the dogs are NOT quiet now. Every one of them wants to GO.





Another team is called to the start line. You can see how the volunteers help to catch the sled and stop it on the start line, so the dogs don't take off before they get the signal to go.







The dogs are ready to go, and another musher is off and running.






Melissa Osmar walking her team to the start line.

If you listen, you will hear the starter countdown the last 5 seconds before he says "GO!"

Driving to Delta with Doug - 2/25/09

Doug went to Delta Junction for training at the north Alaska FSA office this week. Delta Junction is about 6 hours north of us, near Fairbanks. He took these pictures along the way, so you can feel like you are traveling along the Glenn and Richardson Highways with him.

So relax and take a drive with Doug!

Matanuska Glacier

This is the winter view with fresh snow on the glacier. It is about 9:30 AM. The sun is still behind the mountains. If you want to see what it looks like in the summer, check out my blog post entitled "Carter Kids at Matanuska Glacier", posted 7-31-08.

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Note that the trees are getting more sparse.

No trees at all.

This flat surface is a lake. You can see the snow machine tracks.

Alaska Pipeline

These are markers where the pipeline is underground.



Notice that the pipeline goes underground at the bottom of this hill.

Road clearing Alaska-style

I thought when I saw these pictures that this guy was throwing the snow a long way off the road. this is true, but he is throwing it across the road, from the left side of the road to the right side. If he threw it up the hill on the left, it would eventually just slide back on to the road in small avalanches.







These videos show how far he is throwing the snow!








Doug did not see the Northern Lights, even that far north. Every day the forecast for the lights is the same: quiet, low or minimum. Here is a story about why we are not seeing them this year.

http://www.adn.com/front/story/700194.html