A Fowl Adventure 2014

Yes I know, this is my 5th year going to Chickenstock and Eagle and using this same title, but hey, it’s the perfect title.  Why mess with perfection?  But really, I can only repeat these so many times, so if you would like to hear more of the story or see some of the other years with more pictures and/or story, check out these other years as basically I am dumping my pictures here and posting it.

2010

2011

2012

2013

We begin with Chickenstock Music Festival in the little town of Chicken, Alaska.

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My friend Kate’s husband, Dave Parks of Grassroots Guitars.

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Such a little cutie just dancing away.   Mostly it was just kids dancing during the daytime.

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Spank Williams and friends.

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Dry Cabin String Band

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The Flock

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The Cluck Off was a tie!  We were dying with laughter because these two finalists really brought it.  They were clucking and pecking, scratching the dirt and shaking their tail feathers.  Good times, good times.

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1000 baggie clad Peeps were dropped by three different passes.

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Kat Moore from the Super Saturated Sugar Strings.  She is really fun.  When not playing she is dancing, visiting, and hoola hooping with us all.

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Here is a compilation of video clips I took during our trip.  Most of the one during Chickenstock were during the day when I had time to video.  During the evenings, I was too busy dancing to worry about taking video.

I really love visiting my dear friends Scarlett and Wayne with Bush Alaska Expeditions.    They really help me to refocus on what is important and even our rare, annual visit helps to keep me grounded in my goals.

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They have a young handler staying with them and he used to play the violin.  “It had to do with a pretty girl, who taught violin.”  It was really fun to spend an evening just taking turns trying out different tunes, seeing what we each could remember.

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They also had a new batch of puppies with eyes just opening.

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The most sweet spot on Earth is right here.

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The Mighty, Mighty Yukon River!  I’m going to canoe this river next year.

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Well that’s it in a nutshell.  I love our busy, busy summers.  They really are the promise that Alaska makes us in the winter.  Until next time my friends.  Have a great summer, love your family and your friends, and be happy.

The Good Ol’ Summer Time; kind of.

We had a marvelous spring.  It really made up for last spring, which is known as the spring that never came.  We had winter, then all of a sudden we had a bit of summer.  But last spring was just an extension of winter.  This year it warmed right up.  The days got longer and the sunlight oh so welcome after the long dark of winter.  Green up happened in about 3 days which is always a wonder to see.  Now we begin summer in earnest.  Summers are always so busy.  By the end of summer I am looking forward to winter; to snuggling down with in my warm, little cabin with my kids, cooking, talking, reading, planning, dreaming.  But summers are for doing.  So here we go.

We started off early spring with the annual World Ice Art Championship.

Mike and a peacock.

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The road into Denali National Park is 90 miles long.  Personal vehicles are not allowed except for one week a year by lottery.  You can drive in to mile 15 during the summer and mile 30 in the shoulder seasons after they clear the roads and before tourist season starts.  Lori and I drove in to mile 30 on the last day before the closure, May 18.  We met with a snow storm.

Dahl Sheep

Dahl Sheep

Wolf and caribou tracks in the snow.

Wolf and Caribou Tracks

Ptarmigan are white in the winter and mottled brown in the winter.  These are in the process of changing into their summer feathers.

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Ptarmagin

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I love this outcropping and have taken pictures of it several times.

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A mew gull.

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I would take a picture, then walk a few steps closer, then take another picture, trying to get as close as possible.  I was tickled pink when he opened his beak right as I was about to take another one.

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Caribou and more caribou!

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Snowy Lori taking pictures of the caribou lol.

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Ah Alaska, how I love thee!

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Eagle

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Moose

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We also saw a bear but he was so far in the distance even my telephoto lens wasn’t able to pick him up well.

 

When I first started to do henna, my pregnant friend Sandy allowed me to do henna on her pregnant belly.  Hers was the very first belly I did.  That was over 7 years ago.  Now she also allowed me the honor of doing her head.  This was certainly a learning experience.  So many new angles and not many places to anchor my hand.  She was tickled with it but I think I need much more practice hennaing heads to be any good at all on them.

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So much easier to do hands.

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Did I tell you we got a new puppy?  Her name is Maari named after a Pyrenees Goddess.  She is part great pyrenees, part black lab and golden retriever.  I’ll post some better pictures of her soon.  She is 15 weeks now and is huge!

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We also got a new to us canoe.  It’s a 17′ Grumen.  I want to learn canoeing well enough for a trip from Eagle to Circle on the Yukon River.  I really want to be ready to do this trip next summer but we will see how comfortable I am by the end of this summer.

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Got a new 15 gallon barrel to haul water and use my small pump to pump it up into the house with.  Unfortunately, I had Olivia hold the hose in the barrel while I ran up to do something else and she pulled the hose out of the water and burned the pump out.  ARG!  Live and learn.  Now I am going to teach myself how to fix the pump.  My neighbor said something about bearings and seals so I’ll look into that.  But it will probably be set aside for a winter project.  I have found that I can learn just about anything on Youtube.

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Olivia graduated from 6th grade.  I’m a proud mamma.

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She also finally had a growth spurt.  Look how tall she is.  My son was taller then me by the time he turned 11.  She is 12 and not quite as tall as I am.  Of course, he is over 6′ now and just 15.

Olivia graduates

Now that roller derby is over for the summer, we thought soccer would be a good thing to keep her going.  Yes, I am now officially a soccer mom.  What a strange place this is in my life.

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My friend Sue came out of the bush for a few days to take care of some business in town.  Of course we had to stop in at the infamous Howling Dog Saloon for a bit of music by my friend Mike Stackhouse and a few libations.

Sue Aikens and Mike Stackhouse

We have so many exciting plans in the making that I was sad to see her go.  I wish we had more time to sit and scheme but of course, a trip to town means a LOT of stuff had to get done in a short amount of time.  She is one person who really gets me.  ie She didn’t blink an eye when I told her that I planned to do my Eagle to Circle Yukon River trip even though I have only been in a canoe twice in my life.  She understands if you want to do something, you can only accomplish that by getting out there and DOING it.  Because that is the way she lives her life as well.

Me and Sue

Today I start packing for our great Fowl Adventure 2014.  For those of you who have been reading for a while, you know that this is my annual pilgrimage to Chickenstock Music Festival in the tiny hamlet of Chicken, Alaska.  We leave from there and go visit our friends outside of Eagle, Alaska who live in the Yukon River, Bush Alaska Expeditions.  It will just be Olivia and I as my son does not enjoy that type of thing.  Luckily enough that works out well for him to stay home and take care of the animals.  Handy huh.

See you when I get back.  Thanks for reading.

Georganne

Is Spring Really Here?

Last year we had the spring that never sprung.  It was cold and wet and nasty until finally, summer was here…then gone.  Our warmth passes so quickly.  I love winter, obviously, or I wouldn’t be able to live here.  But when it starts to warm up, it’s such a time of excitement and expectation.  It’s almost heartbreaking when it doesn’t happen as it is supposed to such as last year.  This year, it seems like Mother Nature is apologizing for last year as we are already in breakup.  The snow is melting, the sun is out, life is good!

I know it’s been a long while since I posted anything.  Mostly I have been hibernating so there’s been little of interest to write about.  I’ll try to catch you up with a few pictures.

Christmas came and went fairly quietly except for the kids got their first guns.  They are just little .22s.

Of course, there was always nights of chasing the auroras.

One of my aurora photos was used on a Denver station news program.  I was pretty excited.

We did a bit of entertaining and a lot of cooking.

Olivia’s very first home made cinnamon, raisin, yeast bread.

I also taught her how to make home made chicken noodle soup, with home made noodles.

Worked at Checkpoint Mile 101 for the Yukon Quest again.  This was my 5th year working there.  Needless to say, I love it.  I ended up staying an extra night and day after everyone left, just putting wood in the stove and playing my fiddle.  I’m going to plan on doing this every year as it was so peaceful and restful after all the commotion and lack of sleep that working there during the Quest brings.  I didn’t write about it this year but you can look back over the years in this blog to see some stories if you care to.

I did take some video of the two passes I have to cross coming home from the checkpoint.  The roads were actually very good even though in the videos, you can see they were icy.  Last year three of our members got stuck or left the road while trying to get out to the checkpoint.

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Cleary Summit

Did a bit of henna here and there.

I love doing bellies the most!

Of course, winter is a time to go visit friends, hang out, have fun, drink some beer, etc.

Here’s my Solstice centerpiece, complete with Yule Log.

While Olivia was working on her roller derby skills.

I got to hang out with pretty mushers in tuxs for the Bunny Boots and Bids fundraiser and Wine Tasting.

And of course, practiced and played my fiddle.

I don’t think I posted this video yet.  It’s how I have to unfreeze the drain.  Living in a dry cabin, having to haul all our water, makes us really conserve.  Of course, if you are only using tiny bits of water here and there through out the day, and it’s -40 outside, the water freezes before it clears the drain.  We have a grey water system which means that the water just goes straight from the kitchen sink to the gravel pad that the cabin sits on.  I have had to do this a couple of times each winter.  It’s not really a big deal but yea, at that cold of temperatures, one’s lungs do not want to inhales so you end up breathing very noisily as you can hear in this video lol.

So, onto the upcoming summer!  I have a camping, float trip down the Delta Clearwater planned for the kids and I.  I have a trip up to visit my friend Susan in Kavik River Camp planned for later in the summer.  I have a zipline adventure trip down near Talkeetna planned with my friend Lori.  And I want to take my kids back packing in the back country for the first time.  I have taken them camping lots of times but never into the back country.  There be bears out there you know.  Backpacking has almost always been my special solo adventures.  I keep them for myself.  But maybe my kids would like them for themselves as well.  Of course, you can’t forget my annual Fowl Adventure.  Chickenstock Music Festival then a visit to my friends’ Wayne and Scarlett who live off the Yukon River.  Can’t wait to see them!

Until next time my dearies.  I’ll be here.

2013 in review

Wow, this is exciting.  Thank you friends for reading.  Think I’ll write a book now.

Have a wonderful new year!

Georganne

 

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2013 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

Madison Square Garden can seat 20,000 people for a concert. This blog was viewed about 69,000 times in 2013. If it were a concert at Madison Square Garden, it would take about 3 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Hello Winter

Yes of course, winter has been here for a while now.  It’s been a pretty good one so far.  We did have a blizzard that knocked out thousands of people’s power for a week or so.  I think it was pretty interesting that the city opened up a warming center at the high school (because a lot of our stoves burn heating fuel but are powered with electricity) but after a few days they closed it because it just was not being used.  Fairbanks helps its own.  We all have friends we can go stay with if not generators or battery back ups.  We are down to 4 hours of sunlight a day.  Of course, we have twilight on either side of that so it makes for some hours long sunrises and sunsets.

Sunrise 10:25, sunset 2:55.

Length of Day, 4 hours and 29 minutes.

Length of Day, 4 hours and 29 minutes.

Of course, all this darkness leaves more time for aurora hunting.

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As you all have read, I had plans to retire the “Rust Princess”.  She was old and tired though still going like gangbusters.  After keeping my eyes open all summer for a fitting replacement, may I present, “The Princess”.  Yes, she is a princess with all the bells and whistles.  Why have I been here almost 10 years and only now getting auto start and heated seats?!!  Never again!

Alaskan cabin

Our Halloween was extremely warm.  This is the first time since we’ve been here that it wasn’t around -20 or colder on Halloween.  Also, we normally have between 6 and 9″ of snow by then and we had none on the ground until that evening.  The trick or treaters loved it!

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Olivia has joined the jr. roller derby league here.  She is really enjoying it but frankly, I think I have as much fun as she does.  It’s great because it really focuses on team work as well as strong women.  She has wonderful, friendly but badass role models.  I’m grateful we finally found her something to put her heart into.

roller derby

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With winter comes mushing season.  Here are a few pictures from the Bunny Boots and Bids Yukon Quest Fundraiser and Winetasting, where the mushers served hors d’oeuvers dressed in tuxedos.

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Me and Allen Moore, winner of last year’s Quest.

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Two favorites, Brent Sass of Wild and Free Mushing and Mike Ellis of Team Tsuga.

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Rookie (to the Quest) musher Matt Hall and friends Amanda and Robert.  Keep your eyes on Matt folks, I do believe you will be seeing much more of him.  I go visit Matt’s mom and dad (Wayne and Scarlett) every year as part of my “Fowl Adventures”.

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We had 9 people in our little cabin for Thanksgiving.  We also had 9 pies so it worked out really well lol.

Olivia working on pies.

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Now on to Christmas preparation.  We got the tree set up and the cat got her present of playing with the boxes.  We are cat sitting for a friend and the cats were fighting over the boxes.  It was pretty funny.  Guess I’m easily amused.

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Rowwwwwrrr!

I guess that’s all for now.  I think I will have a Solstice party to celebrate our upcoming 10th Anniversary in Alaska.  What do you think?

Getting Water

Welcome to all my new friends and followers.  I’m happy to see so many.  Sorry I haven’t written lately but I’ve been so busy wrapping up summer I haven’t finished any blog posts lately.  But they are coming.  I’m working on a monster post about my trip to the Kenai Peninsula.  And then there is a trip with my daughter into Denali National Park (her first time.)  We saw 11 bears which is exciting because it seems the number 11 is my magic number when it comes to seeing bears in Denali.  More on that later.

But for now, here’s just a little update about chores that also take up my time.  Hauling water.  I’m in a bit of a contest for our new Fairbanks Outdoorsman forum which involves wearing their T-shirts in different locations.  That was the point for taking pictures with the shirt on.

Since the Fairbanks area has so many dry cabins, we also have two bulk water stations, one out of each end of town.  This is the bigger one.  It’s like a gas station only much, much cheaper and unattended.

Most of my jugs are 5 gallons but I have two 4 gallons ones as well.  As you can also see, I haven’t finished unloading the 4 Runner all the way from our camping trip.

There are several “stations”.  But only the two at the end are for 5 gallon jugs with the smaller spouts.  The others are all for big tanks that go on the back of pick ups.

We got our first real frost last night.  Winter’s coming.  Believe me, hauling water at -40 really is just unpleasant…

Ta ta for now my friends.  Hope to hear from you soon.  I’ll try to get my fall chores under control and work on my postings more often.

Georganne

A Fowl Adventure 2013

Once again I embarked on my annual foray into the deep interior of Alaska.  Chickenstock is a small, funky music festival held in Chicken, Alaska.  The village of Eagle is 100 miles further, but takes 3 hours to drive that 100 miles.

You can right click these pictures and open in new tabs to see them better.

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The hill starts to fill with tents.

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Took a little walk about.

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Dredge buckets which would scoop up the dirt/gravel and bring it to the gold dredge to be seperated and run through to collect the gold.

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The stage.

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It was hot and dusty.  I found some shade and spent some time with Fairbanks area firefighters.

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Was invited to jam.  That was the most fun I had at Chickenstock.  We ended up with 4 guitars, 2 fiddle players, a banjo, a dobro, and a tambourine.

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In the camp next to us, I noticed people were naked.  Funny that those pictures I tried to take, didn’t turn out.

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Moon rising over chicken butt?

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The Taylor Highway between Chicken and Eagle.  Got one flat on the way up, and one flat on the way back.  It was hilarious because at first a car load of tourists stopped to see if I needed help, then shortly thereafter, while we were standing there visiting, a pick up pulled up with a young couple.  We were all visiting and the girl asked me if my name was Georganne.  I said yes, are you XYZ?  I know her sister.  The amazed tourist said “Here we are in the very middle of no where, and you two KNOW EACH OTHER?”  Yes, Alaska is a very, very large state, with a very, very small population.

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The road is brutal but worth it.

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My favorite river, the 40 Mile!

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Get to Eagle, park at the Yukon River.  Take the boat X amount of miles up the river, park the boat.  Take the ATV up the trail to the little cabin in the woods.

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Scarlett and her sassy feather that she just got in South Africa!

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Dinner the first night, moose steak and sprouts salad.  It was delicious!

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There is no better dining facility in the wold.  That’s the Yukon River in the background.

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Yay puppies!

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This is the life!

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Soft, feathery horse tail ferns cover the forest floor.

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The sauna.

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Dried salmon to feed the dogs through the year.

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Wayne, working on a dog sled.

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Scarlett watering the tomatoes in the greenhouse.

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Training a lead dog to “line out”.  This is the command given to the lead dog to hold the team tight and straight while stopped.  It’s the most difficult thing for them to learn.  Normally takes about 2 years.

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A little afternoon snack.  Dried salmon.

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A bear got into one of their salmon storages last winter so they removed what was left and stored it in 55 gallon barrel/s.

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Wayne and Scarlet are some of the most fun and interesting people to sit around and visit with.  My dad is one of those types of people, imparting knowledge, entertainment, and comraderie all at the same time.

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Finally it was time for me to go home.

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I love the Taylor Highway.  It is closed in the winter so residents up the road either fly in and out or just sit tight for our long, cold winters.

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Arctic Lupine line the road side.

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We do have sand dunes in Alaska.

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Tetlin Junction, Milepost 0 of the Taylor Highway where it begins from off the ALCAN.  The buildings on the northwest corner of the intersection are what remain of the old Fortymile Roadhouse.

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Have you ever seen a mile post with this many miles on it?  This is towards the end of the ALCAN (Alaska Canadian Highway).

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Alaska Pipeline crosses one of the many rivers on it’s journey from the Arctic Slope in Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, our only port that doesn’t freeze up in the winter.

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Sorry this one is short and sweet but I am about to embark on an 11 day backpacking, camping, fishing, communing with nature, just kicking around the Kenai Peninsula trip.

You can read my previous “Fowl Adventures” by clicking here:

A Fowl Adventure 2010

A Fowl Adventure 2011

A Fowl Adventure 2012

These all have many more pictures and a lot more information.

Kavik River Camp

Kavik River Camp

Distance between Fairbanks and Kavik River Camp

I just returned from a visit with my friend Sue.  Aka Super Sue, aka, Tundra Babe, aka Susan Aikens.  Last winter when she was here in town recuperating we had talked about doing this for her upcoming 50th birthday but then I didn’t hear any more about it until the week before her birthday.  I didn’t bring it up again as I didn’t want to feel like I was inviting myself lol.  She chartered a plane and brought several of us up there to help her celebrate in style.

Super Sue's Pre Part

Those of us going met at 11:00 am on Sunday morning at Everts Air here in Fairbanks.  KT had driven up from Wasilla the night before and stayed at my cabin.  Suzette and her husband drove up from Anchorage and stayed in a hotel taking advantage of the jacuzzi tub after their long drive.  Lori, Mike, KT and I all went out to the Howling Dog Saloon for a Saturday night outing.  For Lori, Mike, and me, this is our regular Sat. night.  Oh, I also transported a retired sled dog up to her.  Ermine arrived at my house earlier in the week.

Ermine

One of the most unique views of the trip is flying over the Brooks Range.  Many of you know of it from watching Ice Road Truckers.  They cross at Atigan Pass on the only road that goes up there, the Dalton Highway, also known as the Haul Rd.  This is the mountain range that divides the main portion of Alaska from the northern coastal plains.  North of the Brooks range is called “the North Slope”.  The oil fields of Prudhoe Bay are on the North Slope.  This mountain range forms the northernmost drainage divide in North America, separating streams flowing into the Arctic Ocean and the North Pacific.  They top out at over 9,000 feet.  No real trees grow north of the Brooks and very little plant life grows on these mountains.  It makes for a very surreal landscape.  I think the moon would look similar.

Brooks Range

Our flight was only 2 hours.  At last Kavik River Camp comes into view.  It is very, very isolated.  There are no roads other then her trails, no other buildings, no people, nothing man made in view of the camp nor for a 100 miles (with the exception of her run way, but that’s part of the camp).  It’s 12 miles south of the Arctic Ocean.

Kavik River Camp, Extreme Lodging for Extreme People!

Kavik River Camp is a one of a kind camp located just a few miles from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 2010 marked the 50th Anniversary of the Refuge and what a time to see it! The Camp offers logistical support for all your Arctic needs. Camp, hunt, fish, bird viewing… just about anything you can think of, we are here to help see your Arctic Dreams realized!

Kavik River Camp

Me and Susan

The theme was tropical.  Suzette brought up an inflatable palm tree and a Hawaiian shirt.  I brought a sparkly, fur lined tiara and leis.  Suzette brought leis as well.

The first day we all went on a 4 wheeler ride.  Even picking the shallow river crossings, it got a bit “exciting”, especially when we started to float away with the current.  We all got wet but I got some good shots of flowers when ever we stopped.

Arctic Lupine

Tundra flower

I don’t know what these pink ones are but they were very pretty.

ATV ride

I’ll put a bit about the mosquitos here.  Yes they were very thick.  Deet is your friend when hanging on the tundra.

Yummy dinner prep

Sue’s brother in law Rick, her son and his girlfriend, as well as her grandson were all there to celebrate as well.  Rick did most of the cooking and cleaning as his gift to Susan.  Her son and grandson did a whole lot of chores as well.  What a great time we had just relaxing.  I went up and offered to help several times as I am a bit uncomfortable just sitting around and allowing others to wait on me but I was told “get out” hahaha.  Nothing as manly as men who cook and clean.  Really.

Dinner

Dinner the first night, chicken cordon bleu, baked mac and cheese, veggies.  Yum!

Lori

CHEERS!

Life Below Zero

After dinner we watched the show.  It was fun to watch there with Susan.  We had several great laughs.

Suzette

Helicoptor

This is one of the helicopters coming in for refueling.  You can see the dive bomber mosquitoes that were in competition for air space!  This couple was following the nearby caribou heard.  There was also a plane doing research on how many migratory water fowl nests were in the area.  Yes, they were counting nests.

This far above the Arctic Circle, the sun doesn’t actually set.  All these pictures were taken between about 11:30 pm and 12:30 am.

Fox Friend

Suzette feeds Foxy.

Happy birthday Sue!

Chocolate cake with coconut on a bed of cherries, covered in home made whipped cream, drizzled in chocolate sauce.  Yes we all attempted to put ourselves in a sugar coma!

I did henna on anyone that wanted some.  It’s always fun.

We serenaded Sue regardless of the mosquitoes.

Mike, Suzette, Sue, me.

Mike, Suzette, Sue, me.  Photo by Suzette.

I really enjoyed playing my fiddle this far north.  I consider my fiddle a traveler and love finding unique places to play it.  This is certainly the farthest north it’s been and probably ever will be.

Fireweed

I was invited on a little ATV expedition.  We were keeping our eyes open for the caribou heard that was about 12 miles away.  Sue offered to help me hunt one (hunting license can be bought online.)  But they ended up not coming through this direction as expected.  Taking in the mosquito population I decided to post-pone hunting until this fall.  Should be lots cooler then and fewer mosquitoes.

If you notice, even the 11 year old grandson goes armed.

Arctic tundra flowers

We had a lot of fun just hanging out and being silly.  Here is the Kavik River Mosquito Dance.  No matter how much Deet one applies, there are still mosquitoes that swarm around you as you take that long, long walk to the outhouse.  These are the movements such a walk necessitates in order to not breath in any of the little buggers.

Video by Lori!

Mosquitos want a ride.

When we got into the plane to leave, it was full of mosquitoes!  We were smashing those suckers for the first hour of our trip.  Thankfully we were all pretty much covered in Deet.

The lovely, magnificent Yukon River from above.

Yukon River

Thank you Sue for a wonderfully unique opportunity.  It was a lot of fun.

Spring, FINALLY!

We had the coldest April on record.  Spring really just did not come until this last week, May.  But now it looks to be fully on its way.  When it starts to turn warm, and the snow starts to melt, it is called Breakup.  It’s very muddy.  It finally got to 60 yesterday, for the first time since last fall.

Sunrise at 4:41 AM, Sunset at 11:00 PM giving 21h 48m of visible light.

Yesterday after work, my friend Lori and I decided to take a spontaneous trip down to Denali National Park.  My other friend Jan had given me a new camera and lenses that I am trying to learn to use so it was a good trip to put it to use.  I have a big trip planned for this summer and sure hope I learn to use this camera sufficiently enough to do it justice!

While “The Mountain” wasn’t out, it was still beautiful.  It’s not getting full dark anymore.  We didn’t get home until 3:30 so we got to see the beginning of sunrise as well.

This is from the last aurora show of the season.  Until next fall, it will remain too light out at night to see them.  See you then my Lovelies!

On April 14 there was a unique swirly formation that many of us captured.  One of our Aurora Notification group members put them together for an interesting video.

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Colt border patrol .357.

I got some new toys.

This “Crash Blade” was hand made by a friend.  It’s so fantastically awesome!

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But just because Alaskan girls might like guns and knives, doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t also like pretty, pretty toenails to dance with in the snow.

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My friend Sue is being filmed by National Geographic for another, although I may say better, Alaskan reality show.  Life Below Zero.

http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/life-below-zero/

Life Below Zero Trailer

I took her out to the infamous Howling Dog Saloon to celebrate her finally being able to buy Kavik River Camp, where she lives.  The film crew followed us.  That was pretty fun and interesting.  So yea, they may show me on tv.  I also know the couple on there, Andy and Kate.  I got to visit their place on one of my Fowl Adventures when I went up to visit my friends Wayne and Scarlet.

Yukon Quest 2013

Welcome to my trip report of the 30th running of the Yukon Quest, the Toughest Race on Earth.   It’s a long one so get a cup of coffee, throw another log on the fire and sit a spell.  I have the honor of working at Mile 101 Checkpoint, named due to it being located at mile 101 of the Steese Highway.  You can right click pictures and open them in a new tab or window for a better view.  I really enjoy comments and the opportunity to get to know who is reading my blog so please feel free to leave some.

The route started in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada this year and ended in Fairbanks, Alaska.  Next year it will start in Fairbanks and end in Whitehorse.  There is a 36 hour mandatory layover in Dawson City, the halfway point.  This is the only point in which the mushers can have help with their teams (other then veterinarian care).

Yukon Quest map

This map is not quite accurate. Mile 101 is actually between Eagle Summit and Rosebud.

The very first Quest had 26 entrants, 3 of which were women.  20 finished.  On this, the 30th running, there were 26 entrants, 3 of which were women, and 20 teams finished.  Pretty neat huh?  In the 30 years of the race, there have only been a bit over 300 people who have run it.  It’s a pretty exclusive list.  About a third of those entering, do not finish at all.  It’s not called the toughest race on earth for nothing, although this was a pretty mild year.

The course follows the route of the historic 1890s Klondike Gold Rush, mail delivery, and transportation routes between Fairbanks, Dawson City, and Whitehorse.

The route runs on frozen rivers, over four mountain ranges, and through isolated northern villages. Racers cover 1,016 miles (1,635 km) or more. Temperatures commonly drop as low as −60 °F (−51 °C), and winds can reach 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) at higher elevations. Sonny Lindner won the inaugural race in 1984 from a field of 26 teams. The fastest run took place in 2010, when Hans Gatt finished after 9 days and 26 minutes. The 2012 competition had the closest one-two finish, as Hugh Neff beat Allen Moore by twenty-six seconds.

In 2005, Lance Mackey became the first Yukon Quest rookie to win the race, a feat that was repeated by 2011’s champion, Dallas Seavey. In 2007, Mackey became the first to win both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, a feat he repeated the following year. The longest race time was in 1988, when Ty Halvorson took 20 days, 8 hours, and 29 minutes to finish. In 2000, Aliy Zirkle became the first woman to win the race [her husband Allen Moore was this year’s champion], in 10 days, 22 hours, and 57 minutes.”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yukon_Quest

Here’s my trip report from last year:

February, You Were a Tricky Wench

Yukon Quest 2011

Yukon Quest 2010

In 2009, I had the honor of handling for my friend Wayne Hall.

Adventures in Handling

The Spell of the Yukon 

“I wanted the gold, and I sought it; I scabbled and mucked like a slave. Was it famine or scurvy – I fought it; I hurled my youth into a grave. I wanted the gold, and I got it –Came ourt with a fortune last fall, Yet somehow life’s not what I thought it, And somehow the gold isn’t all.  No! There’s the land. (Have you seen it?)It’s the cussedest land that I know, From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it, To the deep, deathlike valleys below. Some say God was tired when He made it; Some say it’s a fine land to shun; Maybe; but there’s some as would trade it, For no land on earth – and I’m one.”

Mile 101 CrewPhoto by Julien Schroder

This is our starting crew.  A few  members had to go back during the week due to work obligations.  But it was nice to have everyone there at the start.

“For all you sled dog and musher fans out there! Our film from the start of the Yukon Quest 2013 which is celebrating it’s 30th anniversary. 26 fearless mushers and their faithful dogs on a 1000 mile adventure from Canada to Alaska. We love covering this race, we hope this video goes some way to capturing the heart and soul of this event and the incredible Yukon.

Music:
‘Dirty Paws’
Of Monsters and Men”

I got to the checkpoint on Saturday.  I’m glad I didn’t attempt it on Friday because 3 of our crew who did, ended up in either the ditch or a snow drift.  Once again, the DOT guys helped us out.  I had brought them cookies.

Then it was time to get to work.

wood burning stove
Piia collects wood for some of the other cabins.

Travis installs lights.Travis hangs some lights.

Peter, our Checkpoint Manager.Peter, our Checkpoint Manager

Drop bagsDrop bags are ready for mushers.  These are bags previously packed and sent out by the mushers.  They contain dog and people food, extra gear, parts and pieces, socks, gloves, batteries, etc.  They are put in alphabetical order.

Icicles

Icicles, it was a warm year.

Kerry BarnsOne of our trail breakers, Kerry.

Comm ShackThe other trail breaker Dave, Julienne our Communications Guru, and Travis, one of our yard guys.

Lukas and Piia kill some time.

“You come to get rich (damned good reason); You feel like an exile at first; You hate it like hell for a season, And then you are worse than the worst. It grips you like some kinds of sinning; It twists you from foe to a friend; It seems it’s been since the beginning; It seems it will be to the end.  I’ve stood in some mighty-mouthed hollow, That’s plumb-full of hush to the brim; I’ve watched the big, husky sun wallow, In crimson and gold, and grow dim,Till the moon set the pearly peeks gleaming, And the stars tumbled out, neck and crop; And I’ve thought that I surely was dreaming, With the peace o’ the world piled on top.”

Pink MountainsI love our pink hills.

LucasLukas, keeps the fires in all the wood stoves going as well as doing what ever else needs to be done.  He is Peter’s son and has been coming to work at the checkpoint for years.  He’s pretty handy to have around and a great Farkle player.

Pretty skyWe normally have some very interesting skies at least once while there.

Jullien working on the chainsaw. Julienne doubles as chainsaw mechanic.

Kevin Abnett and GinnyKevin Abnett is our normal Communications Manager.  He came to help get us set up then had to go back to work.  He brought his fun girl friend Ginny for us all to meet.  Good luck you two.  You make such a cute couple and it’s nice to have your cheerful happiness around.

“Hugh Neff arrived five minutes ahead of Allen Moore at Mile 101 and left four minutes after him.
Interview by Emily Schwing (KUAC Fairbanks)
Video by B. Dannenhauer, M. Grosch, P. Kamper and S. King”

Hugh NeffHugh Neff, first into the checkpoint.  He only sat there about 2 minutes total and finished eating standing up on his way out the door after he saw that Allen was going on through.

Emily Schwing from KUACEmily Schwing, Reporter for KUAC.  She’s a regular here at the checkpoint.  Piia updating the leaderboard.

Mark Sass, Mike Ellis, Joe Brent’s dad , Mark Sass.  Mike Ellis and Joe Krueger (another part time yard guy).

Solitary HandlerBeing a handler can be lonely business if you are doing it alone.  Their job is to meet the musher when s/he comes into the checkpoint, direct them to where the straw, hot water for dog food, drop bags, and dog parking is if the checkpoint personnel doesn’t tell them.  They cheer their musher on and pick up after them when they leave.  All the straw has to be picked up as well as any drop bags left.  They also care for any dogs the musher drops.

Brent Sass and Jake BerkowitzBrent Sass and Jake Berkowitz being interviewed, all while eating our famous bacon and eggs.

“Brent Sass lends a hand to fellow competitor, Jake Berkowitz to help get his team over the infamous Eagle Summit in the 2013 Yukon Quest.”

“A Go-Pro Camera view of Brent Sass helping Jake Berkowitz to bring Jake’s team up the final stretch of Eagle Summit. We are posting this simply for the ‘high five’. The camaraderie between mushers is rarely better shown than here.
Go-Pro footage by Kerry Barnes (Mile 101 trailbreaker).”

“Brent Sass and Jake Berkowitz arrive at Mile 101 and talk about their climb up Eagle Summit and the final miles of the race into Fairbanks.
Video by B. Dannenhauer, Michael Grosch, Peter Kamper and Sui King.”

IMG_5487The view out of the Comm Shack window.

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We have a generator to run the lights in the cook shack, another one to run the comm shack and a final one down at the checkers’ cabin to run the lights where the incoming trail enters the area and the checker checks in the mushers.  Occasionally they would run out of gas or be off while the guys performed maintenance on them.  No problem though as we would just fire up the Coleman lantern.  It lent a nice ambiance lol.

“Darin Lee and Cody Strathe help each other to bring their teams up the steep northern slope of Eagle Summit on their way to Checkpoint Mile 101. The weather on the summit is rarely as nice as it was on that day. The sound has been muted because of loud wind noise.yil
Video B. Dannenhauer, M. Grosch, P. Kamper, S. Kings”

IMG_5509One gets rest where and when one is able!

IMG_5510We have a sleeping cabin for the mushers but this one didn’t want to walk all the way down the hill when he really just was planning on a short nap.  Besides, as he said, if he had an actual bed, he’d be out cold.  These guys get very little sleep.

20 minute napThe bottle of “101” next to my head was completely coincidental hahah.  Yes, I also have a bed in the back room but I was waiting on a musher who had just come in.  They get checked in, take care of their dogs, come in and eat, then take a nap themselves.  I feed them then as well as once again before they leave if they have the time.  If they only get a two hour nap, so do I.  The one above was 45 minutes.  Any longer then that and I would have laid down in my bed.

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Abbie West arrives in Mile 101, talks about Eagle Summit, her team, her hopes for next year’s race and past the last great hurdle: How to get her dogs past her kennel along the YQ trail in Fairbanks to the finish without a dog team strike.
Video by B. Dannenhauer, M.Grosch, P. Kamper and Sui Kings.

When a musher enters a checkpoint, they sign in on the clipboard.  Their arrival time in entered next to their name.  The Checker (Piia) supervises this as well as checks off that all mandatory gear is in the musher’s sled bag.

The following items must be presented to the checker before checking in at each checkpoint:

 1.  Proper cold weather sleeping bag.
 2.  Hand ax with an overall length of at least twenty-two (22) inches/56 centimeters.
 3.  One pair of snowshoes with bindings, with an area of approximately two hundred and fifty (250) square inches/1612 square centimeters each.
 4.  Veterinary records (loss will incur a five hundred dollar ($500) fine.)  The veterinary book must be returned to a Race Judge upon completion of the race or when withdrawing for any reason.
 5.  Any promotional material that YQI has asked the driver to carry…
6.  Functional cooker
7. Eight (8) booties for each dog, either in the sled or in use and in the sled, are required when a driver signs out of each checkpoint.

Abbie West

Abbie using our hammer to break the ice off of the clasps of her boots.

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IMG_5532My friend Jodi Bailey.  She got to spend some time with us while waiting for her husband Dan Kaduce to get over the summit.

IMG_5549We had a break in between mushers that was long enough for us to make a run up the road to the Summit and watch the next musher come over.

Drive to Eagle SummitThe Eagle Summit weather station.

Emergency shelterThis is an emergency shelter off the road up Eagle Summit.  The road is often closed in the winter due to drifting across the road.

Eagle SummitThere is a musher coming over the saddle.  Right click and open in a new window for a larger view.

Wolf tracksEvery year many people see hundreds of caribou that come through here.  I never see more then 3 or 4 at a time.  I assume by these wolf tracks that they ran off to a new area when they were being hunted.  That’s a pretty big paw print.  This is the same pack that Dyane Bergen talks about being chase by in her video below.

Carribou tracksThe hill side is covered with caribou tracks!

Gee haw bunny boots

Mile 101

Mile 101 HalibutMake sure to tell Ivory Jacks thanks for sponsoring us with bacon, eggs, and halibut.

Veggies, oh how I love thee!Kerry brought some veggies which I threw in a pan to fry up with some butter.  Yum.  Asparagus, red, yellow, orange peppers, jalapeno, onion, a lemon, a clove of garlic…  After a week of no fresh veggies, this was a real treat.  Next year I’ll bring some myself, a lot more though.  This little panfull didn’t go far hahaha.

sky lanternsI buy sky lanterns by the case.  We have started a tradition of lighting them off on the anniversary of Justin’s passing.  I had a couple left over and I think I’ll bring some every year.  I know we wont have as still of a night every year but we can try.  They are beautiful as they float away, a wishing light in the sky.

Northern LightsWe also got quite the light show!

I put my pictures together so you get a bit of a time lapse.

Northern Lights

“Dyane Bergen reaches the finish line in Fairbanks to claim the red lantern award. 26 mushers started the 1600 km/ 1000 mile trek and 20 teams pulled through to the finish. Congratulations Dyane !
Video by B.Dannenhauer, M.Grosch, P. Kamper and S.King”

Fiddle caseI brought my fabric glue with me so I could put my newest volunteer patch on my fiddle case before I even got it home.  I can hardly wait till I have no more room!  Next year will be my 5th year up there.  I’m looking forward to it and trying to think of something special to do while there.  Do you have any ideas?  Come on, I know I have some very creative followers.

“The summer – no sweeter was ever; The sunshiny woods all athrill; The grayling aleap in the river, The bighorn asleep on the hill. The strong life that never knows harness; The wilds where the caribou call; The freshness, the freedom, the farness –O God! how I’m stuck on it all. The winter! the brightness that blinds you, the white land locked tight as a drum, The cold fear that follows and finds you, The silence that bludgeons you dumb. The snows that are older than history, The woods where the weird shadows slant; The stillness, the moonlight, the mystery, I’ve bade’em good-by  – but I can’t.” 

LeaderboardThis is the final leader board.  It keeps track of which musher came in when, with how many dogs, and when he left and with how many dogs he left with.  Then it shows what time he reached the next checkpoint and the finish line.  Of course I could not pass up a big empty spot on the dry erase board without decorating it with a bit of henna type design.

“This is the ‘live’ version of the Yukon Quest Finish Banquet including sponsor recognition, all awards and musher talk. Enjoy…, you will find a lot of stories and humor in this 2 1/2 hour audio.
PS: No, …. you don’t want the video version. It would take us a day to upload it from where we are.
Until 2014: Happy Trails from all of us at the Yukon Quest!”

“A video/slideshow of the 30th running of the Yukon Quest that captures the mushers, dogs, handlers, volunteers, sponsors, vets and directors that made it all possible.”

“There’s a land where the mountains are nameless, And the rivers all run God knows where; There are lives that are erring and aimless; And deaths that just hang by a hair; There are hardships that nobody reckons; There are valleys unpeopled and still; There’s a land – oh, it beckons and beckons, And I want to go back – and I will.  They’re making my money diminish; I’m sick of the taste of champgne. Thank God! when I’m skinned to a finish, I’ll pike to the Yukon again. I’ll fight – and you bet it’s no sham-fight; It’s hell! – but I’ve been there before; And it’s better than this by a damsite –So me for the Yukon once more. There’s gold, and it’s haunting and haunting; It’s luring me on as of old; Yet it isn’t the gold that I’m wanting, So much as just finding the gold. It’s the great, broad land ‘way up yonder. It’s the forests where silence has lease; It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It’s the stillness that fills me with peace. ”                                         R. Service

Steese HighwayThen all of a sudden, it was over for another year.  This is always a bit of a melancholy time for me.  I love it so much out there and have such a good time.  The lack of showers and sleep quickly fade into vague memory while the friends and camaraderie, as well as the stark, extreme wilderness remain sharp and clear.

CarribouI did see a few caribou grazing down in a valley so peacefully.

OverflowThis is overflow.  It occurs when the weight of the ice on top of the water grows so heavy it sinks.  Liquid water then flows over the top of the ice and the top layer freezes too.  Rinse, repeat.  This is what mushers often have to go through on the trail.  It doesn’t show very well in the picture but the ice is really a beautiful sage green.

Steese HighwayThe drive home was uneventful though I did stop and take a few pictures of the lovely sky and scenery.  I take my time when I have the opportunity to “commune with nature”.  I also pulled my fiddle out at a lovely little pull out.  I play the best when by myself.  It was too cold to play for long but it was certainly good for my soul.

Thank you for reading.  I hope you enjoyed it.