Overload

Here's a shot of Denali or Mt. Mckinley. Believe it or not I see this mountain on the way to my PO Box if the weather is clear.


I've gone on numerous weeklong hikes with less gear than I'm hauling in this weekend. The old smokey for cooking steaks (Ted's bringing them in from Mr Prime Rib), a lantern, a mess of roasted potatos, a salad, a dog bed, a ton of firewood, and all the usual backpacking stuff. Oh yeah, a mug for the growler from Moose's Tooth (Thanks Larissa). Hopefully I will not forget something important.





Weather forecast has improved. Partly sunny skies and temps ranging from 12 to 25. Hope to see the northern lights on Saturday night.

BYERS LAKE

Headed to Denali State Park this weekend to spend the night at the Byers Lake Cabin. Was there almost exactly one year ago with my bud David. The cabin is a real sod roofed Alaskan log cabin situated right on Byers Lake. The lake should be frozen somewhat by now and there will be lots of snow on the ground. Forecast is for warmer temperatures and snow. I'll be toting in enough wood to stay warm, as well as the old smoky for grilling steaks. Hope to see the northern lights Saturday night.

The Beauty of Winter

Here's another snowshoe pic. A real fun descent of a rather steep slope. I'm to the far left. If you look close you can see Champ's tail to my right. If you click on the picture it gets bigger. The guy to my right has two legs, you just can't see one.

Still Cold

As if I really thought a day would make a difference. Minus 2 this morning at my place. Less than 3 miles down the road they were reporting minus 8. Oh well, the sun was out again so I took advantage and got in some more of the birch. Should of done it two months ago! Cold I was!

MINUS 1

Is it that time of year already? The thermometer says yes. Minus 1 in October. Global warming is not all its cracked up to be, at least not here in Big Lake Alaska. The snow was crunchy on our morning walk. Great cure for a runny nose, the stuff just freezes instead of running.

Return to Hatcher Pass

Hatcher Pass is one of my favorite places in Alaska. As scenic as it is in the summer or fall, its absolutely stunning in the winter. Today Champ and I had an awesome snowshoe trip climbing up about 1200 feet above Independence Mine. Temperatures at the start of our hike were single digits but the sun was out and warmed things up nicely. We followed a broken trail up a gradually sloping ridgeline to a spot near here for lunch. After lunch we headed straight down the steep snow covered slope on a more direct line back. Even with snowshoes, you were sinking to your knees with each step. It was especially tough on the dogs who joined us. In fact, there was one spot that all three dogs simply did not want to cross. Whining, we eventually coached them through.





Here's Champ giving me the eye for choosing the shortcut down. At one spot he disappeared complety under the snow, except for his nose. Alas, I was having a little trouble myself so the photo op was lost.

Brrrrrr!!!!!

Friday night at bedtime it was 10 degrees! Wow, made me wonder how cold it would be next morning. Turns out it warmed up overnight and the 17 degrees that greeted me wasn't too bad. Course, it was a balmy 51 inside. Just about cold enough to kick the Toyo stove on. Thanks to my magic spruce, I had a fire going in short order.

CHAMP

Something about the snow brings out the puppy in Champ. Here he lies squirming on his back in the white stuff on our afternoon walk. Completely happy or so it seems. With the snow and ice on the road, our games of fetch the ball get pretty funny. Stopping on the slick stuff is hard even when you have four feet on the ground.

Snow

Here's a pic of me snowshoing on Sunday at Hatchers Pass. The elevation is about 3500 feet and there's already tons of snow. We had some more of the white stuff last night. It seems that winter may be here to stay. Days are getting shorter. Sunrise is 9am and sunset is 6:30pm. Temps
this morning were right at freezing. So between the chill and the snow, Lester may have regretted his decision to "tomcat" last night. I'd ask him but he's sleeping the day away.











Here is a pic of the neighbors dog"Bear" enjoying the inside life on a doggie sleepover. He's about 12 years old but still pretty spry. Plus a world class blues howler!

HATCHER PASS

Here we go snowhoeing up to Hatcher Pass. The snow is already two foot deep, making for a pretty good workout especially if you are in front braking trail as I am in this picture. Believe me, I didn't stay there all day. A total of ten snowshoers were on this trip while ten more chose to ski the groomed trails at Independence Mine. Another great Anchorage Adventurers outing.

CARIBOU CREEK CABIN

Friday afternoon Champ and I motored down to Anchorage to meet up with Ted for the trip to Hope. By mid afternoon the sun was out and it was a pleasant 52 degrees. Of course by the time we loaded up and hit Turnagain Pass the rain started. No worries though because we had raincoats, right? And anyway by the time we reached the trailhead the skies were clear. Temp at 8:30 was about 35 and the winds were slight so not too bad.


The hike in was rough. Lots of water on the trail and mud. Add in the darkness and it made for a bit of work. Plus the grizzly sign was abundant so the senses were on high alert. There were supposed to be six of us on this trip but we were only two, and a dog. Champ in fact decided that he would hike in between Ted and I, abandoning point duties to Ted. On on occasion we heard a loud plop next to the trail, "What was that?" Ted asked. "Relax" I replied, "it was only Champ exploring the bush." The words were no sooner out of my mouth when I felt Champ brush my leg on the side away from the noise. Guess it wasn't him. After hearing the same noise several more times finally identified the culprit. Mr. Beaver. The beaver dams were everywhere and we must have been passing through a beaver work party, On the way out you could see their signs on lots of trees, trees that will not be standing in a few days.


Made it to the cabin at 11:30 only to discover squatters! Oh well they quickly made room for us and since there was room we invited them to stay. It was nice to have a warm cabin. Next day Ted and I found a nice size birch that had been recently downed by the wind. Cutting it loose, dragging it to the cabin, and then cutting it into lengths for the stove was exhausting so we ate lunch and once the fire was going, took a nap. Woke up after an hour or so when Holly and Stewart and Alexis came hiking in with there dog Emma. Pretty good hike in for Stewart who is 7 yrs old. Had a nice evening visiting and a warm night despite the rain/snow which started up about 7 pm. Was too warm till after midnight. Then I fought Champ for the sleeping pad and bag as he wanted both. Nice hike out the next day as the snow was falling in really big flakes. With daylight, Champ resumed point duties and even managed to find a few spruce grouse to chase. Emma went back and forth herding everyone along. Back in Anchorage the snow was falling pretty good. I was eager to leave the traffic and city behind.

MMMMmmmmmgood

Woke up this morning to see that the temps had dropped to 18. Hmmm. Kind of early for it to be that cold but you never know. Spent the morning enjoying a good book and some leftover homemade beef soup. I made it last night with buffalo meat and locally grown produce including turnips, cabbage corn and carrots. It was even better today than last night. Probably the jalepeno!



Sufficiently nourished, I decided to harvest a little more wood. By afternoon the temp had climbed to 28 so not too cold. Especially once you start cutting and hauling wood. My neighbor had a few really nice birch trees down so I took Jim up on his offer and cut them into four foot lengths and carried them home. I then cut them into 15 inch rounds which I next split twice with a splitting wedge. The resulting quarters are then stacked on the deck and covered with a tarp for use later this winter. This wood will be okay to burn by about February, just when it starts to get really cold.



Champ and I are headed out tomorrow on a weekend camping trip up the Resurrection trail out of Hope. We will be staying in a small cabin with a few others and enjoying the snow. I'll post some pictures when we return.

FIRST SNOW

We had our first snowfall of the season Sunday afternoon. It started slow at first, with just a few flakes mixed in with a light rain. Then it stopped for maybe thirty minutes only to return with huge fat flakes that quickly covered the ground making everything look christmassy. Its still early for thoughts of the yule time season but what can you do? Snow is predicted most of the week.

Champ and I managed yet another trip up Bodenburg Butte on Saturday morning. There was no snow yet but it was clear and cool. Its covered in snow now so another trip will be pencilled into the schedule. Its really pretty covered in snow. Heading out Friday for a weekend on the Resurection Trail. We'll be going in at night on Friday and hiking near the river to a cabin about six miles in. The river is still full of salmon so the possibility of bears will be there, but we'll stay together and should be okay. I'll be there until Sunday so I will miss the OU/UT game. Somebody please text me the score!