Denali National Park

BABY MOOSE

Its now June and I have been in the park since May 3, 2010. Nancy has recovered nicely from the accident although she is still regaining strength daily. Champ and I have been enjoying the beautiful scenery and abundant wildlife. Seems we see at least one moose a day. Few days back we were lucky enouhg to see this young fellow having some fun while his nearby mom continued her grazing. Yesterday's encounter was while walking back from the Murie Science Center. As we neared the Nenana Bridge, I detected movement on my right and there in the thin section of timber between the path and the highway, browsed a medium sized cow. She was less than 20 feet from us and actually walked alongside us for a few yards. Didn't see a calf so I felt safe though when you have a dog you never know. Champ was interested but only slightly so. I guess seeing these animals all winter practically living in our yard has inured him to their sight. Now if they were caribou..............different story.

This porcupine is perhaps my favorite in all the time I've been here. I saw him near the roads edge on the way to a night at the Savage River Campground. I stopped the truck and got this shot when he climbed a short spruce tree.

Long time no post

Not sure why I haven't been posting. Its not like stuff hasn't been happening. A trip to Denali in mid winter, up close and behind the scenes at the Klondike 300, Iron Dog, Fur Rondy, Running with the Reindeer, Iditarod, Mountain House for a week, and finally the great carriage accident downtown.

Texas

Made it to Texas for my annual reimmersion in all things Texan. Had some Tex Mex with brother Charles and family Friday night. Spent all day today at the movies watching Sherlock Holmes and The Daybreakers with my nephew Jacob. Worn out from doing nothing.

Its funny watching everyone here cope with the 20 degree weather Mother Nature sent this way. The sun has been shining so the days are really pleasant, but everybody acts as if the ice age is upon us. Guess I am more used to the cold than most.

ALASKA ACES

Celebrated New Year's eve with 4800 rabid hocky fans at the Aces game. Saw them beat up the Ontario Reign 6 - 3. Lots of cowbells, horns and at least one real fight! Go Aces!

HIKE

Well thats the new word for "go" when I want Champ to start mushing. He is proving to be a real sled dog. Christmas Eve found us on the Kenai Peninsula headed to the Barber Cabin on Russian Lake, a really nice cabin owned by the USFS. We had it booked for Christmas Eve and Christmas night so the sled was loaded with lots of goodies. About 80 lbs worth and Champ didn't miss a beat pulling it all the way. He was a bit tired as we crossed the frozen lake on the last leg to the cabin but all in all I was impressed. I also felt a tad bit guilty as all I did was drive!

Weather was really mild the entire time. From the mid twenties when we left Anchorage to an almost balmy 40 on our return to the parking lot at the Russian River Campground. Was that rain we felt?

By the way, monopoly is the new gin rummy! Better luck next time David.

CABIN CAMPING

Spent the past weekend out at Nancy Lake State Recreaton area near Willow, Alaska. There are numerous "public use" cabins which can be rented. The cabins are usually pretty rustic but are way superior to tent camping especially in winter.










Friday night we hiked in 4 miles to Lynx lake Cabin No. 2. Started hiking about 3 pm, just before dark! A couple of friends were ahead of us having started earlier in the day so we were looking forward to a warm cabin at hikes end.
When we reached the cabin, no friends and no warmth. They were lost! We started a fire but after a few minutes with no change in temperature, we saw the problem. A window missing a pane. We used Highlands ingenuity to fashion a repair and the cabin slowly warmed up. By the time we backtracked a mile or so to find our friends and then returned to the cabin, it was almost tolerable.



Temperatures Friday night dropped to 25 below. Everything inside the cabin froze solid despite efforts to keep things warm. I was toasty in my minus 10 degree down bag so getting up was hard. But I did and soon we were on our way to James Lake for our Saturday night cabin. The cabin at James lake was paradise comparatively speaking. Best of all, double paned windows and a supply of ready to use firewood.

Sunday's hike out was 8 miles and the weather was chilly but nice. When we reached the truck, the temperature was 0, same as when we started two days before.

EAGLE RIVER

Have been wanting to check out this area for sometime so when a friend rented the cabin at the nature center for Sunday night I was raring to go. Turned out that she couldn't stay the night so I got it free. A real nice rustic log cabin located on the north end of the Crow Pass/Iditarod Trail. Weather was not too cold on the way in Sunday although it got down to zero during the night. We stayed nice and warm inside by the fire. Even had a portable radio to listen to carols. Hiked around the area Monday morning and decided I will return to stay in the yurt a little farther down the trail. Looked cozy. Champ showed promise as a musher so he has earned a new harness and lead for Christmas.