Alaska 2015

[1stimestar]

Yes I have a lot of fun with these threads. I love sharing Alaska. Thanks for indulging me and participating.

Alaska 2014 (http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?24444-Alaska-2014!)

Alaska 2013 (http://www.wilderness-survival.net/forums/showthread.php?21545-Alaska-2013)

Of course I am starting off the party with a Yukon Quest video. The Quest is our 1000 mile international dog sled race. I work at one of the remote checkpoints (Mile 101).

Race starts in 30 days in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada and ends here in Fairbanks, AK, USA 9 days to two weeks later depending on if you are front of the pack or back of the pack.


http://youtu.be/iKKv3Y6u0yw


It is currently -21F. Sunrise is 10:45am and sunset is 15:10 for a length of day of 4:25. Now that we have passed Solstice, our daylight is returning. Yay.

[1stimestar]

The World's Very First REAL-TIME Northern Lights Captured in 4K Ultra High Definition by my friend Ronn Murray. Ok, we're not friends in person, just on Facebook. I know who he is as do all aurora photographers around here but he probably has no idea who I am hahhaha. But he is doing amazing things this year.


http://youtu.be/-ux3DMkbCrA

[hunter63]

I glad you decided to start another edition....always great pic's and vids......from some one that's doing it.



Cleared up today, down here in Louisiana, had been raining and cold (for here) 30 and 40's.......
Lot's of mud.
Louisiana snow man.....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y139/hunter63/untitledpng2_zps4f303a13.png (http://s4.photobucket.com/user/hunter63/media/untitledpng2_zps4f303a13.png.html)

Looking to head back to Wisconsin tomorrow.....where the temp are below zero.

[1stimestar]

Hahha that's hilarious! Going up to the place huh? How long will you be up there?

[hunter63]

No, heading back to Kenosha....home..."The Place" is kinda shut down till March...although we have been know to head over for week or two in the winter.

We have been down here in Louisiana since before Christmas....so time to head back.
Trying to avoid snow and ice storms.

[WolfVanZandt]

Grrrrreat videos. We have plenty of snow here but I don't think Onyx would pull a sled.

I've always wanted to see the aurora but, as many times as it's threatened to appear here and wipe out all our electronics, it keeps renigging.

[1stimestar]

No, heading back to Kenosha....home..."The Place" is kinda shut down till March...although we have been know to head over for week or two in the winter.

We have been down here in Louisiana since before Christmas....so time to head back.
Trying to avoid snow and ice storms.

Oh yea, I'm getting my places mixed up lol.

[hunter63]

Yeah, I move around some.....
Was gonna snow bird down here, but isn't really all that warm....LOL

[1stimestar]

Just found this video browsing around youtube. Unlike the other "dry cabin" video I have posted before, I actually don't know any of these people lol.


http://youtu.be/OY0SyclCMU0

[Western Mountain Man]

Awe inspiring vids. Makes me want to go. :yes:

[wilderness medic]

Now I want a husky. And to go on a trip to Alaska. That would require either a long time boarding her or a frozen dog. :(

[MrFixIt]

Thanks for starting the new edition star, I always look forward to your posts.

[Pennsylvania Mike]

Thank you for posting those pictures about Alaska, the Aurora Borealis video is fantastic, never seen one just in pictures. Looking at the other videos brought me back in time when I had Lobo, someone abandoned him and I found him outside by my house on a snowy December, the vet said he was about 2 years old when we found him, we had him for 15 more and died of old age house, he was a great dog.

[Solar Geek]

1stimestar WOW THANKS!!! I have never seen the Aurora Borealis so this was excellent.

Love your posts.
I am in Central WI and it has been almost as cold for a full week as near you. Highs are 0F or below; wind chills are non-stop at -25F to -40F. Even for us hardened WI people, this is cold. They warn you 10 minutes at these wind chills = frostbite so I can't even go hiking.

Keep posting!

[1stimestar]

A glimpse of life in Barrow.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sB0ZaQnx3q0

[Pennsylvania Mike]

Real nice video about life in Alaska, thanks 1 stimestar. I figured that food would be expensive in Alaska, but not that expensive, that is an eye opener of me.

[1stimestar]

Taken with my cell phone about 3 this afternoon, over the Tanana River.

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10919060_10155042184655697_2371690121525937938_n.j pg?oh=0c3a5654b5982ebf89bc526d2264a8aa&oe=55652466

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10923328_10155042184205697_7698997954863044672_n.j pg?oh=d370405a1e31c9a51d7fc2569704d888&oe=5521302A

[crashdive123]

Great pics as always.


What's all that white stuff?

[Rick]

Dandruff. She does live in God's country ya know.

[1stimestar]

Yea, the newest shipment of Head and Shoulders got stuck in the ice on the barge.

[crashdive123]

Ice on the barge? How about that. I've heard of ice in the drink or ice in the cooler, but barge?

[1stimestar]

Yea, the newest shipment of Head and Shoulders got stuck in the ice on the barge.

Hahha yea that really wasn't worded very well was it? Ahhh another example of posting when I should be sleeping.

[1stimestar]

I love my crew and am starting to get excited for the start of the race. This year it starts in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada on Feb. 7. I'm going out to Mile 101 (our checkpoint) on Thurs. 2/12 as we expect mushers to start arriving by early Sunday morning. But we will start to get race officials, vets, media, and handlers before the mushers show up.




A short essay from the Checkpoint Manager:

Yesterday we had our second Checkpoint meeting.
You know, .... when things simply click between crew members, you have to lean back and try to stop talking, a challenge I have rarely succeeded in.
There was Chris, brought in by Mike Bowman. Mike is now Mile 101 Checkpoint Manager whenever I am not available. His title used to be 'dog lot manager' (a title that should exist at every checkpoint), which pretty much takes care of everything except communication or cooking. Honestly, ... what is more important than the dog lot ? Mike is still a bit hesitant about race judges and rule interpretations in the absence of judges, but he has worked the race at 101 for over 8 years now.
Chris is his neighbor; a sturdy, tall bright eyed and calm Alaskan guy who simply looks like he knows s...t. I liked his dress code. Warm, clean and worn. That tells a lot about a person living in Fairbanks, Alaska.
-
Before I continue the story, I would like to thank race manager Alex Olesen and his second in command Ryan for coming to our checkpoint meeting. They listened patiently to our necessary requests and gave us good input.
Alex is still one of the best organized YQ race managers I ever worked with over the last 20 years and I easily give him an A+ for checkpoint meeting attendance.
Nathan Brisboise also showed up. He was head of the crew which made updates at YQ headquarters in Fairbanks last year. Back then he got quickly but quietly disillusioned with the rather random way checkpoints transfer information... or maybe don't. I am sure that there were many reasons out there along the trail, one maybe being a lack of coffee.
I have no idea if or how many asprin he might have swallowed during the race due to understandable headaches, but when he asked to join the '101 crew' as com-manager for the 2015 race instead of staying in Fairbanks, our crew responded with a sound 'yes' !
As a YQ volunteer who has overseen internet updates at YQ headquarters in Fairbanks with all the quirks and shambles that occur, he was the perfect choice for us, after loosing our longest serving member, Kevin Abnett. Nathan will not only understand all the faults checkpoints make (thereby teaching us), all the mistakes 'headquarters' makes, but also part of his old 2014 crew will still be in Fairbanks to communicate with him. The perfect choice.
The final big question about Nate was: Would he fit into our rather ragged renegade crew ?
"So how do dogs get counted ? We sometimes got dog counts at head quarters last year that were simply wrong," he asked.
I waved that question to Mike Bowman. Mike laughed:" You get the wrong count, because some checkers don't count the dogs in the bag. We'll do that for you. No worries."
That statement did put a smile on Nate's face.
He relaxed and began to talk to Mike about times and how to relay them inside a checkpoint. I quietly leaned back when they talked about similar army backgrounds and strayed off the topic.
Yes, ... Nathan fits in perfectly into our crew and choosing him as YQ com-manager will keep us on our toes.
It is good to see a crew come together.
Georganne and Kelly talked on the other side of the table about food lists. They are actually a crew in themselves. They run the cook shack, keep the peace in the only public cabin at 101, feed the mushers and ration food as well as chairs to handlers or media. More for the mushers, less for everybody else. Those are basic rules.
They honestly once did mange to kick me - by all means, me being the Checkpoint Manger - out of the cook shack. So please don't come to me and complain about them. They are wonderful ladies ... or dragons.... depending how you behave. [LOVE IT!]
If you get kicked out of the cook shack, you must have a very good reason for me as Checkpoint Manager to reinstate you. Chances are quite slim. My tile is not what it sounds like. I have to behave too!
A long time ago, when I got personally got kicked out of the cook shack because I tried to tell them how to cook (stupid, stupid, stupid) for mushers, I ended up quietly walking out into the dog lot to realize under a starry darn cold sky, that I had created an almost perfect team, and that ...... at a certain point.... I just had to shut up and let things be.
-
The point of it all is, that at the checkpoint meeting, I saw how easily the 2015 crew came together. There was a good feeling in the air; something that would most likely hold under duress if storms, bitter cold or emergencies would come our way....
--
In the end I finally come to the understanding that a Checkpoint Manager's job is not to rule a team of people who are at your disposal. Her or his main job is, to put together a diverse team for all kinds of weather or occasions who work well together as individuals who have pride in what they do.
If you bring the perfect team together, you as Checkpoint Manager might find yourself standing around and feeling useless during the race. But....
Mike Bowman's comment in 2014 puts it best: "You look tired, Peter. Go to bed. Everything is taken care of. Unless something goes wrong. Then we'll blame you."
Yeah well, ... with lucky me being with the excellent crew we got, I think I'll be able to afford that nap.

[dkr]

Another race that doesn't get into the news is the Iron Dog race. If you like snow machines and going really fast - this is your race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4c9DCKcUao

This year, with the poor snow conditions, race organizers for both the Iron Dog and the IDITAROD haven't announced the route that will be used. I suspect both will start in Fairbanks. Could be an interesting year.

[1stimestar]

I would love for the Iditarod to start in Fairbanks again. After the no snow fiasco of last year, they are sure to do something different if this year also has so little snow.

[1stimestar]

So, a neighbors dog got lose out here. It's been missing for a couple of weeks with local sightings here and there in the area. She would go walk the trails and power lines, set out a live trap, followed up on any sightings. You know, actively searching. We have a community Facebook page for our little area outside of Fairbanks. Then the a couple of days ago she got a call from a trapper saying he found the dog's collar with her number on it and that the dog had been taken by wolves. She was a bit suspicious that the dog had got caught in a trap as that happens around here to lose dogs pretty regularly (unfortunately). So she went to check out the area herself. "Thank you all for your condolences. The trapper was legit, happened on the other side of the Parks from us. I checked it out for myself and there were wolf tracks everywhere. They took Zoomer down 3 times over half a mile before it was done and he took some chunks of wolf fur out of them. At 13 years old. Zoomer was truly an incredible animal." Normally the only time we have problems with wolves are in low snow years, like this one. This is because the low amount of snow allows the prey to get away more often. At least they aren't taking dogs off their chain like was happening a few years ago with one pack. But yea, this is why we don't allow our dog to run free. Life in Alaska.

[dkr]

So, a neighbors dog got lose out here. It's been missing for a couple of weeks with local sightings here and there in the area. She would go walk the trails and power lines, set out a live trap, followed up on any sightings. You know, actively searching. We have a community Facebook page for our little area outside of Fairbanks. Then the a couple of days ago she got a call from a trapper saying he found the dog's collar with her number on it and that the dog had been taken by wolves. She was a bit suspicious that the dog had got caught in a trap as that happens around here to lose dogs pretty regularly (unfortunately). So she went to check out the area herself. "Thank you all for your condolences. The trapper was legit, happened on the other side of the Parks from us. I checked it out for myself and there were wolf tracks everywhere. They took Zoomer down 3 times over half a mile before it was done and he took some chunks of wolf fur out of them. At 13 years old. Zoomer was truly an incredible animal." Normally the only time we have problems with wolves are in low snow years, like this one. This is because the low amount of snow allows the prey to get away more often. At least they aren't taking dogs off their chain like was happening a few years ago with one pack. But yea, this is why we don't allow our dog to run free. Life in Alaska.


And folks wonder why I carry when walking around. We have an active wolf pack on the edge of town/JBER - just North of the base.

Had a woman attacked this summer in the open area on the border with Eagle River. And the d*** fish and fur toads refuse to do anything. I guess it will take a couple of school kids getting killed...then they might do something. Pets have been getting killed in larger numbers every year.

[1stimestar]

Yea I think I posted about it in the last year's Alaska thread.

[1stimestar]

Our remote villages do not have police. Some of them have VPSO (Village Public Safety Officers) which is like a police light. Anyways, a lot of villages don't even have one of those. Exile is the way many villages handle problematic people. They put them on a plane to Anchorage then put them on the list to not be allowed to fly back. Looks like some people in Huslia just got da boot.



Huslia school placed on lockdown as residents exiled
POSTED: 07:45 AM AKST Jan 21, 2015

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Austin Baird / KTUU-TV
FAIRBANKS -

Alaska State Troopers say the school in the village of Huslia was placed in lockdown this week as local residents were exiled from the community.

The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reports the brief lockdown occurred Tuesday.

Troopers spokeswoman Megan Peters says the people who were asked to leave are no longer in the Koyukuk River community.

Peters said she couldn't elaborate on why the residents were exiled, or how many were asked to leave. Peters says troopers are still investigating, and no one has been charged with any crime.

The community of about 275 people is located nearly 260 miles northwest of Fairbanks.


http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/huslia-school-placed-on-lockdown-as-residents-exiled/30839876

[1stimestar]

I'm Georganne.

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t31.0-8/p600x600/10900028_603353433099425_2356028742605875181_o.jpg


Some information about Mile 101 ...
Checkpoint Mile 101 is a conglomerate of old cabins which are often used in the summer as a goldmining camp. The cabins are owned by gold miner Steve Olson, who has quite a few claims up there but lets us use the cabins during the winter as a checkpoint. Thank you, Steve. We would have no clue where to go if you wouldn't let us stay in that windy part of the country !
By the way, all cabins are heated with wood.

Here are some explanations of how the checkpoint works.
=======
For visitors, handlers and media:

Arriving at '101' and the cook shack:
Coming from Fairbanks you will find the easily recognizable driveway to the checkpoint roughly at Milepost 102 of the Steese Highway on the right. Parking space should be available at the beginning of the driveway. This also goes for handlers ! Please do not drive up to the cabins. Running cars can create smog in the rest area for dogs and only officials are allowed to park close to the cabins.
In the cook shack you will be able to get the newest information on the progress of the race. This is where mushers sit down for a meal and -only if willing to do so- will conduct interviews.
It is also a place where you might be able to charge batteries if you bring a multiple outlet and want to warm up.
The cook shack is the only cabin allowing public access at Mile 101. Even so our hospitality seems to be somewhat famous, we are ordered by the YQ race marshal to clear the small cook shack of visitors, handlers and media (in that order) if the mushers are bothered or don't find enough room to sit down on the musher table to enjoy a semi-quiet meal. After all, we are there foremost for dogs and their mushers, so please keep this in mind.
Kelly and Georganne, who are our cook shack managers for many long years, have after the race marshal and his judges absolute say in the cook shack. Arguing with them will only bring you face to face with a grumpy checkpoint manager. You don't want that, especially because it won't change the outcome of your argument.
We will try to give accredited media as much access to the mushers - if those do agree - as possible. Really, ... we are on your side as much as we can. Talk to us and we will try to help you with what you need, including at times internet access.
Any point past the cook shack towards the communication cabin (com shack) and the rest area is restricted. If media or visitors want to go past the cook shack into the dog yard or to the com shack, they have to be approved by a race judge or the checkpoint manager. If approved, a Mile 101 crew member will be assigned to you as a guide.
As for handlers, you know the checkpoint rules. About anything else concerning 101, ask a veteran YQ handler at the race start about Mile 101. If this does not work out, ask for the checkpoint manager Peter Kamper, or for the assistant checkpoint manager Mike Bowman when you arrive at our place. We gladly help.

For mushers:
If you look to the right side of the attached picture, you will see 'check in'. This is where you will be signed into the checkpoint. The area will be lit by a light with a quiet generator. Assistant checkpoint manager Mike Bowman or crew will be on the lookout for your headlamp at a window in that cabin. You will be informed of the best rest spot available at that time and a crew member will help you lead the team to that spot if you wish.
After signing in and parking your team, we will have a bale of straw and hot or at least very warm water in a barrel for your dogs. They can then lay down in the quiet rest area, where you will also receive your drop bags.
Musher sleeping areas will be in the two designated cabins inside the 'off limits' rest area. The dog water barrel will be conveniently situated next to the musher cabins.
After taking care of your dogs, you can walk up to the cook shack to get a decent meal. Usually it's bacon and eggs with toast, maybe a beef and moose stew, a salmon stew or maybe deep fried halibut, most of it courtesy of the Ivory Jack's Restaurant and Bar in Fairbanks who supports us since 2001. Thank you, Dick and Joni !!
We will also have hot water for your thermos, coffee, Gatorade or tea. If you are on a run and don't want to stop much longer than it takes to go through your food bags at our place and simply want to order an egg and bacon sandwich, please do so as soon as you sign in. Even if you are in a hurry, we will try to have one of those ready for your fist when you sign out.
The sign-out could be easily done by informing checkpoint personell. We then will bring the sign-out sheet to you. Otherwise stop your team between the cook shack and the com shack on your way out. Go in there and sign out. We provide a well lit area right there for visitors and media to shoot photos while they remain in the 'public' area and all of them appreciate if you stop your team for a short moment.
Even so veterinarians, judges and checkpoint crew will most often be available in the dog lot, the com shack is not only available for sign-out but also the best place to find judges, veterinarians or information. Make sure that you visit the com shack for trail reports or any other info/ help/ advice you might be interested in concerning the last part of your teams long trail towards Fairbanks.
----
We hope this helps.
If anybody needs more information, please message us. We'll answer as best as we can.
Happy Trails,
Checkpoint Mile 101
The crew smile emoticon

[Rick]

If they'd straighten out the route it would be a lot shorter....just sayin'.

[1stimestar]

Har har.



My friend is the one that pushes the button so to speak to set these rockets off. He was our communications manager out at the checkpoint for years but then we had to get some one else for the full race as he couldn't stay. He had to take off to play with rockets and such. Darn.

http://youtu.be/spcibOOLqEE


Published on Jan 27, 2015


On January 26th just after midnight the University of Alaska, Fairbanks launched 4 sounding rockets to study the interaction of solar winds and Earth’s atmosphere. Using different gasses they were able to make a glowing cloud of sorts that would allow them to study this interaction with imagery. Learn more here. http://www.nasa.gov/content/m-tex-and...

The temperature at the time of this video was around -43ºF

This was filmed with a Sony a7S and a Atomos Shogun.
The fluid head tripod wasn't very fluid at these temps, thus some of the camera shake.

We documented most of the event but have cut it down to a few digestible clips. We may produce a full video later from this event.

[Rick]

That's crazy. I'll bet he had a lot of fun doing it. Ron takes some amazing vids.

[Grizz123]

these Alaska threads are killing me, I gotta get out of the city!!!!!

[1stimestar]

Spent a great Sat. night having dinner with friends, listening to violining friends and basically enjoying a nice place. Moose stew, caribou ribs, home made yeast rolls.

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/p600x600/10952892_10155110729500697_7917366221245677437_n.j pg?oh=eda50deb73bad18fc792185475725ec9&oe=5565C0C4

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p600x600/10959579_10204923110131792_8709750090999409931_n.j pg?oh=1272558feb7da689e69bc568b6a2b0b5&oe=555A58A2

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10947354_10204923110731807_232391198721833413_n.jp g?oh=687d822a79266b26859f4be93119611a&oe=5561F932


http://youtu.be/iANCD-xgWE8?list=UU6l575dlsttFJzJQz8G8z0w

[1stimestar]

http://youtu.be/Sujjf90W8A4?list=UU6l575dlsttFJzJQz8G8z0w

[1stimestar]

I woke up early this morning because I was cold. I was afraid that I had run out of heating fuel in the night so got up to check it out. Nope, my little Toyo stove was still plugging away, it was just really cold out. Whew. Time to hang a blanket over the door!

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10959736_10155135352490697_140310601976829746_n.jp g?oh=a186cd25c092833298377c5f8ffc83b4&oe=55663E5C

[Rick]

Okay. Let's set the record straight on this. That is not a cold wave. A cold wave is, oh ... say 17 F. If your thermometer reads -44F that's a "colder than Billy he!!" wave. That's a "if I ever get out of this alive I'm not coming back" wave. Maybe even a "God never intended for a man to have to endure this and I have not intentions of ever doing it again so I'm moving to South America" wave. It is most definately a "sorry, honey. Gotta pee but I am not getting out from under the covers" wave.

[1stimestar]

Lol we got spoiled with our "warm" temps so far this winter.


Yukon Quest mushers head down frigid trail

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Yukon Quest start line

Musher Brent Sass of Eureka, Alaska, pets his leaders in the starting chute of the 2015 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race in Whitehorse, Yukon, on Saturday. Erin Corneliussen/News-Miner

Posted: Saturday, February 7, 2015 10:00 am | Updated: 10:25 am, Sat Feb 7, 2015.

Jeff Richardson, jrichardson@newsminer.com

WHITEHORSE, Yukon — Defending champion Allen Moore left the chute to cheers from a hardy crowd this morning, launching the 32nd Yukon Quest.

Thousands of spectators crowded the trail starting in Shipyards Park near the Yukon River, braving temperatures approaching minus 40 degrees. They came to watch an international field of 26 mushers begin a 1,000-mile sled dog journey from Whitehorse to Fairbanks.
Advertisement

Mushers began assembling before dawn in Shipyards Park in downtown Whitehorse, spending the morning tinkering with gear and mingling with race fans.

Moore, who is seeking his third consecutive victory in the Quest, was the first on the trail. He leads an impressive group that includes participants from five countries and four Quest champions — Moore, Hugh Neff, Lance Mackey and Jeff King.

Sixteen veterans and 10 rookies are running the Quest this year. The 2015 purse includes more than $130,000, which will be distributed among the top 15 finishers.

This story will be updated.

Follow staff writer Jeff Richardson on Twitter: @FDNMquest.

http://www.newsminer.com/mushing/yukon_quest/yukon-quest-mushers-head-down-frigid-trail/article_4ff8d830-aefb-11e4-9dec-4bb14c8b6c77.html#.VNZkcoA0G2A.facebook


Follow it live with the live race tracker. http://yukonquest.com/race-central/current-standings/live-tracking

[1stimestar]

So I went and done some shopping for my friends that live on the Yukon River. You know, the ones I go visit every summer? Turns out they just got filmed for one of the Alaska reality shows too lol. I sware, half the people I know are on tv. Be watching in April....

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p600x600/10850163_10155137216845697_7247133389289668730_n.j pg?oh=b599be74f017f0a0d32e138fbcb8f9fe&oe=5561961C


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[1stimestar]

That is actually two orders, going out on two different planes on two different dates.

[1stimestar]

The timeline of waking the checkpoint. (I'm Georganne.)



As of tonight, Checkpoint Mile 101 has been opened up by assistant checkpoint manager Mike Bowman. If anybody needs help or a cup of coffee on the Steese Highway between 12 Mile Summit and Eagle Summit, please feel free to stop by.
At this point the weather is good and no problems are anticipated. For emergencies (but only for that) we are for now connected to the outside world by Sat-Phone.

Our checkpoint time table is as follows:

02/8: Delivery of straw and food drop bags for mushers, cabin repairs and set up.

02/11: Our communication manager Nathan Brisboise will arrive and open the communication cabin. He will stay until the last musher leaves.

02/11: Hughes net technicians will arrive and set up our internet link to the outside world. Thanks for being such an awesome sponsor !!

02/11 -12: An extra crew of trail breakers will arrive (not the ones who check the trail before the first musher) to go over the trail from Central over Eagle Summit down the Birch Creek drainage and up to Rosebud again to add markers and gather last minute trail reports. At least two trail breakers will then be stationed at 101 for trail care or emergencies until the last musher leaves.

02/12: Georganne Hampton will arrive to officially open the Mile 101 cook shack, which she runs for 6 years now with Kelly Kamper. She will also bring with her the awesome food Ivory Jacks, a restaurant in the Goldstream Valley near Fairbanks provides for us to feed mushers. Ivory Jacks used to be a sponsor of our little dog drop when no one cared. They are still providing us with food for mushers at what has now become a checkpoint more than 15 years later. Thank you again, again and again ! smile emoticon

O2/13: Kelly Kamper, the checkpoint manager Peter Kamper and all additional crew will arrive.

02/14: Final set up of the checkpoint. Stews and soups will be prepared and the dog lot will be laid out.

02/15: First musher will arrive. We anticipate this to happen in the early morning hours.

The weather is supposed to warm up considerably over the next week and we will keep you posted on this page about weather/wind conditions at 101 and the surrounding Summits as soon as information becomes available.
If you have questions, feel free to contact us.
Happy Trails to all... smile emoticon
Checkpoint Mile 101
The crew

[1stimestar]

And so it begins.


http://youtu.be/jlpO9RPZnU0

[1stimestar]

My German Checkpoint Manager...


A checkpoint manager's perspective on the race:
I think, that the first thing to mention is the fact that I am not a musher, but I do have a bit of an idea about the race. I am running a drogdrop/checkpoint for 20 years and with a good crew to back me up, I also did video coverage of the whole trail for 10 years until 2013. When the race started in Whitehorse, I jumped ahead from Circle to Mile 101 and stayed there to be with my crew. When the race started in Fairbanks I usually started with the crew and then jumped again forward towards Circle once all mushers had passed. There is a lot you learn while watching and talking to mushers in their hours of glory or moments of defeat, sitting down with race vets and judges. Listening, watching, learning.
So this year I will comment on the 2015 race as I see it,... not being a musher.
My perspective will by no means reflect the opinion of the Yukon Quest organization or of our awesome crew.
Take it all with a grain of salt: smile emoticon

So far I'm not surprised about the race. It is going as well as it is supposed to go. There will be the usual hype and the media. They will have to suck all kinds of predictions and stories out of their keyboards. That's what they get paid for. That is what we as spectators want and what we expect.
Two things I know....
First of all:
"The race is not won in Braeburn if you start in Whitehorse." This is an old quote I first heard from 4 time champion Hans Gatt almost a decade ago and it still holds. He knew darn well what he was talking about.
Arriving in Braeburn in first place is no art and does not tell you much about the condition of a team. I've known quite a few mushers who came first into Braeburn and later on stalled and eventually scratched on the long way to Fairbanks. Martin Massicote and later on YQ champion Hugh Neff were just two of those.
In my opinion the jockeying for positions will not start in earnest before mushers leave Pelly Crossing for the black hills towards Dawson. Anything before then should mostly be considered a game of cat and mouse. Tonight's Checkpoint times will not reveal much of anything about the teams, the mushers or the race.
The only goal that needs to be achieved by mushers in Braeburn tonight, is leaving with 14 well fed, well watered and happy dogs.
Dog care, patience and stealth are the three greatest arts a musher needs to handle in a long distance sled dog race, in that order.
So what we see tonight or tomorrow will in my mind have nothing to do with times, but rather with exciting a team to run a 1000 mile/ 1600 km race, making them happy and showing them 'what we are up to'.
Second:
Nothing can beat a good musher who's happy team truly want to win, in whichever way they perceive such a notion. They do have a sense of what is going on !
It happens often enough. Hans Gatt told us in Mile 101, when he arrived almost 8 hours before the next contender on his way to Fairbanks said about his dogs: " They just wanted to run. I have no clue where everybody else is, but this team simply came together for me after Pelly Crossing. They just wanted to run. I was amazed...."
Hugh Neff coined this occurrence 'a magic carpet ride' when his team did something similar.
Since this rarely ever happens during the first 100 miles, it is now up to mushers to make their team want to 'eat the trail'. Record times have nothing to do with this.
The foremost challenge mushers face at this point is not only to make their dogs happy, but also to prepare them for the '300 Mile barrier'.
The '300 Mile barrier' is something I will mention later on in the race. smile emoticon
Happy Trails..... smile emoticon
Unlike ·

[crashdive123]

Pretty cool, but then again....some might consider -36F downright cold.

[1stimestar]

Ugh, I am leaving on Thursday to go up to the checkpoint where I will have very little time to practice. After I get back, I only have a matter of days before I do my second performance on Street Jelly (online busking community). A bunch of us fiddle players get together and take it over for the whole day. So I have been practicing pretty heavily.

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/l/t1.0-9/p600x600/10246830_10155144499780697_4745770012382479935_n.j pg?oh=51c9acae686773230fba603e603e2825&oe=555EA8BC

Then this morning, I noticed this. I've only been playing for 3 years and about 4 months.

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Blarg! Guess I am going to learn how to replace a finger board. There is only one "luthier" in town and he is backed up for months as it is only his hobby. But I'm just going to have to keep playing it like it is and hope for the best for now.

[1stimestar]

Well 4 mushers have scratched so far. It's really not that unusual as normally only a third of the field finishes. It's not called The Toughest Race on Earth for nothing.


There are still unconquered lands.

I saw a bumper sticker not long ago that said 'Alaskans For Global Warming.' I had to laugh. I think there are 22 mushers somewhere in the Canadian Yukon who would gladly support that cause right now.

The dwindling ‪#‎yukonquest‬ field has largely checked through Pelly Crossing, and is now making the 201 mile trek to Dawson City. Temperatures are reported to be in the -50 range.

We don't count wind chill up here. At -45 (the lowest windchill charts go) even the 10 mph wind speed created by a dog team drops the effective temp to 72 below. Anyone who's ever traveled the Yukon knows there is a near constant wind.

I say somewhere in the Yukon because we don't really know where the mushers are. They are carrying little GPS trackers, but there are places on this planet where GPS doesn't work. Where satellite phones say 'no signal.' Where you remember that no matter how many machines we put into space, how smart we can make a computer, or how many warplanes we can stack on a boat, humans are still not in control. We are very, very, very, small.

Right now 22 mushers are feeling very small. Their world consists of the 10' beam cast by the LED headlight. It shows 12 little dog butts, concertedly scurrying towards some unknown destination. They have no idea where they are, and rarely see markers. They are relying entirely on those lead dogs to follow the trail, on those little trail markers to lead to somewhere, on the 3 AA batteries in that headlight to last until daylight, on these 24,506 goose feathers to keep their core temperature slightly above hypothermia. The only thing they can hope to control is to make their fingers hold onto that handlebar. Never let go. But at -72, they're not even in control of their fingers.

Have you ever been in 50 below? Try to eat. A snickers bar might as well be a concrete block. A banana will drive a 20 penny nail into a plank. If spilled, freshly roasted coffee will freeze before it hits the ground. Same goes for bodily fluids.

If you're frustrated watching the GPS trackers, don't worry, they're not telling the truth. Jeff King (I'm 99% sure) isn't still stopped, and all those other blips DO NOT accurately represent where the teams that carry the signal actually are. We'll know when they get to Dawson. Fortunately the Yukon Quest Facebook page is doing a phenomenal job posting updates.

But Facebook doesn't work where those guys are either.

https://www.facebook.com/seaveysididaride?fref=nf

[1stimestar]

You can listen to this here: http://fm.kuac.org/post/mushers-navigate-highs-and-lows-along-yukon-quest-trail

Lance is already missing one finger. Fingers are turning black and he is still mushing...




KUAC
On Air
Talk of Alaska
10:00 AM - 11:00 AM

Yukon Quest
4:34 am
Tue February 10, 2015
Mushers navigate highs and lows along the Yukon Quest trail

By Emily Schwing


Pelly Crossing, YK - Along the Yukon Quest trail, Mushers experience all kinds of highs and lows. Sometimes their dog teams cruise. At other times a rough trail and harsh weather can make even the toughest musher question why they signed up for he race.

In the last three days, almost every musher has had something to say about the persistent deep cold that has settled in over the Yukon. “None of us had thermometers with us because none of us wanted thermometers with us,” said musher Matt Hall.

Hall said teams in the middle of the pack have been running close together in part because of frigid temperatures. “So it was kind of fun. It made us kind of stick together,” he said. “You’d come around a corner and there’d be mushers grouped together and a big fire going and even though you’re competing against each other everybody would sit around the fire together and talk and it’s just a different side of things versus when it’s warmer and everybody spreads out more and you’re just all on your own.”

Despite the camaraderie, Hall arrived in Pelly Crossing in low spirits. “Yeah, I think I’m at what they call the wall,” said Hall.

He said his team just didn’t seem geared up, but he was convinced his dogs were responding to his own low mood. “Oh, I think it’s me. Everything feeds off of you,” he said. “You’re the coach so I think once we get to Dawson that will be the light that pulls us out of it.”

Hall dropped two dogs in Carmacks, and four when he arrived in Pelly. His team left quietly from that checkpoint, but two hours later, he returned to scratch - perhaps an ultimate low for the up-and-coming musher who placed third as Rookie of the Year in 2014.

Highs and lows on the trail aren’t out of the ordinary for even the most veteran of mushers. “Just one minute everything’s great and then the next minute it’s like what the hell just happened? I’ve been referring to as being plugged in and unplugged,” said Lance Mackey.



Nearly every one of his fingertips is frost bitten in spite of battery powered glove heaters. “I can’t put it out of my head. It’s one of those things that’s a constant reminder,” he said of his aching fingers. “I need a replacement with a booty horn on one hand and a hook on the other or something,” he joked.

But the four-time champion is experienced enough to know the Yukon Quest is fraught with ups and downs even for the dogs. “Well coming through some of that jumble ice, I had [a dog] fall in a crack and as soon as it happened I knew she was going to be done,” he said. “So I stopped right away and apologized for not being able to control all the things and I go up there and I have my little talk with her and I’m walking back to the sled and then I fall in a crack and I fall on my head and I tuned back and ‘See?’ and we kind of laughed about a bad situation,” said Mackey.

And then there’s Thorsten Kohnert. “So far I was pretty leveled,” said Kohnert. “No high not low just average. But of course there will be moments you probably regret singing up like if you’re standing in your knees in some overflow in 40 below or something, that’s not so funny.”

The even-keeled Swede didn’t have much to report from the first 300 miles of his race. His plan is to take it easy into Dawson City.

“Well, I don’t believe in stressing things up,” Kohnert said. “Nothing good comes out of it, so I try to be leveled.”

Mushers are looking forward to 24 hours of rest in Dawson. A few say they might consider staying longer. Whether they are serious isn’t entirely clear. The weather forecast is calling for a break in the cold over the next day or two, but few mushers say the trust that prediction.

[1stimestar]

Brent Sass, my favorite, is first into Dawson, the halfway point. If he finish the whole race, he'll get about $3000 worth of gold. He's ran it many times but last year he came the closest to winning. Things were looking great for him possibly winning, when he fell asleep on the back of his sled, on the river and knocked himself silly putting himself out of the race.


http://youtu.be/0Cu4OECHNgg

[Williepete]

I just don't see how the dogs or humans can stand a race like this. I can not see how the human body can get used to that kind of weather. I do enjoy your posting about the race and all your other posts about Alaska. My DW and I did the inside passage cruise several years ago and had a number of land tours and enjoyed everything up there.

Bill

[1stimestar]

They all have coats, even the dogs. Also, only northern breed dogs are allowed. So they have the double coat, soft downy undercoat and long protective hairs to layer over the tops. The dogs also wear booties to protect their feet from ice and snowballs that build up in between their toes. During breaks, the mushers will go check all his dogs' feet (as well as other things like wrists and shoulders for soreness). The dogs that train up here are better able to deal with the cold temperatures and fare better then say, dogs that train down on the Kenai or other places south where it is warmer. Also, dogs are very good at transforming fat into calories/heat. That's why they are fed fat in every meal during a race.

[Rick]

What sled dogs do in the off season.....

http://www.petcp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/sled_20dog_20on_20vacation.jpg (http://www.petcp.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/sled_20dog_20on_20vacation.jpg)

[1stimestar]

It's 11:30 pm and everyone is asleep. The wood stoves are banked for the night. The coffee pot is set up to go for the early morning departure of the trail breakers. The sound of the generator is providing a restful hum in the background and there is a soft snore coming from the back room. The northern lights are doing a little bit of dancing outside. We expect our first musher tomorrow morning sometime and are ready.


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Well, the checkpoint is set up, the crew is ready and there is nothing much to do but being trouble on facebook, ... as you might have already noticed. smile emoticon
But there is still a story to be told that all the media following the race misses by 24 hours. When the media arrives at a checkpoint to get photos and videos from every angle and word from the first musher to arrive, a part of the story has already left.
That's the never told story of the trail breakers, men and women who break the 1000 Mile (1600 km) trail for the mushers who run this race.
When you hear about jumble ice and a bad trail, they eventually get mentioned. If the trail is good and not too hard for the dogs (that might lead to wrist injuries), and not too soft (that might lead to shoulder injuries), those boys and girls are hardly ever mentioned.
If the trail is bad and things go wrong, they most often get blamed and finally get the media attention they deserve...., the wrong way.
This year, we have two experienced trail breakers stationed at 101 and when I asked them, it turned out that they had broken the Yukon Quest trail between TwoRivers and Central for four years. "Or was it five years ?", one asked the other. They didn't remember and they didn't care either.
Trailbreakers don't get paid. If anything, they get reimbursed for fuel, but damage to their machines is not included.
To break trail, you need a good snow machine. That costs roughly $10.000 . Breaking trail will wear down your machine much before it's time.
Then there is the matter of the deep Yukon River. The river always has some open water. Whatever ice holds a snow machine used to break trail, will also hold a musher and his or her four footed friends. But finding and staking such a river trail is a mixture of art and daring.
There will be news stories about the jumble ice, sheets of river ice that thawed and broke again until they finally froze solid 'man high' between Slavens Cabin and Circle.
"How do you find a trail through that mess ?", we asked.
They laughed. "You can't. You go by instinct and on the first run you hope for the best until you get stuck, then you heave your machine around to go back until you find a passable trail." With a shrug the trail breaker added:" If we can make it, a dog team can make it. We get stuck with our machines a lot easier than dog teams do, but before we finally stake a good trail through such a mess, we turn around a lot.... and try again."
Another group of trailbreaker came in this afternoon before sunset. They are sitting down with deep fried halibut, bacon, scrambled eggs as well as other comforts tonight, courtesy of Ivory Jacks Restaurant in Fairbanks.
One of them came all the way from Whitehorse, the rest came from Circle.
"We'll go back out tomorrow to check on some overflow 10 miles out of Central."
That's a meager 60 Mile run over Eagle Summit back and forth.
Those trail breakers are dedicated.
Two of them will stay at Mile 101 until the last musher leaves: "We are here for the duration and go over the hill (Eagle Summit) to pick up trail markers when everything is done."
We feel comfortable, knowing that we are backed up by experienced trail breakers.
In return we can only offer our hospitality, a bunk and food.
They deserve much more.
Photo left to right: Trail breakers Caleb Wiseman and Lyle Croft at Mile 101

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10155160903170697&set=a.10150703099905697.700181.656605696&type=1

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/s370x247/10993092_10155160806620697_3602543519432179114_n.j pg?oh=79ca8f86cf1ecb79e1ba30d77a1383c5&oe=5591BF4B&__gda__=1435540148_bf3b5cb7e531be2489ef4c88ca01578 e

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[Rick]

I don't know much about dog mushin' but if the back of that van is any indication you don't have nearly enough beer.

[1stimestar]

Lol there is more up in the front of the load. Those are just ones I threw in last minute.

[DOGMAN]

Great thread. Lots of cool vids and info! A big congrats to Brent Sass for pulling off the win this Year in the Quest. I wonder if he can pull off an Iditarod win as well? Can't wait to find out

[crashdive123]

Nice to see you back DOGMAN - don't be such a stranger.

[1stimestar]

I know, we were all so very excited for Brent's win, especially after knocking himself out last year. I just got back yesterday afternoon. After napping around today, then the finish banquet tonight, I'll probably be recovered enough to post videos and pictures. Nice to see you back Dogman!

[DOGMAN]

Glad to have some time to check in and catch up!

[1stimestar]

Here is an opportunity for an adventurer. Where is Payne!? These are my friends that I go visit every year and I can certainly vouch for them.


BUSH ALASKA EXPEDITIONS needs a dog handler NOW through the end of May...permanent position available also for the right person...hard-core "off-the-grid".....incredible dogs....message us if interested..web-site
https://bushalaskaexpeditions.com

[hunter63]

Glad to have some time to check in and catch up!

Good to see you check in.........

[1stimestar]

Welcome to Checkpoint Mile 101, so named due to its location of 101 miles up the Steese Highway.

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The inside of the cook shack.
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The crew.
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Putting up the sign, getting set up.
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Drop bags. These are bags that the mushers send on ahead to be waiting for them at each checkpoint. They contain dog and people food, batteries for head lamps, runner plastics, dog booties, clean socks, dry glove liners, etc.
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Trail breakers taking a break. Trail breakers create and mark the trail. We also always have trail breakers assigned to us to help rescue mushers in case of emergencies.

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/14373_10155160809190697_4673580752958410469_n.jpg? oh=eb2919ffbebfb56386f31ede51cf9b9a&oe=5592D2AE

It's hard work and hard on the snow machines too.
https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/10991213_10155187512905697_4782664295912036332_n.j pg?oh=84ed51c590031fda2021a0ed6ec4e8ed&oe=5548257C

This is our location on the elevation map, right between Eagle Summit and Rosebud Summit, the two gnarliest summits on the race.
https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/10991279_10155161112370697_6335175055164514393_n.j pg?oh=b64d0400fc26a39615282a90e53d1cc3&oe=554AA450

We had a couple of nights with active lights.
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Lance Mackey, taking a nap in the sun with his dogs.
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The beard brigade. We had such an awesome crew this year.
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My newest volunteer patch, the yellow one, on the back of my fiddle case.
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Working..
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Outgoing trail.
https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/10391008_10155187530240697_5661751035246791943_n.j pg?oh=c3f100b03fe23a1c57a7af02a5c77714&oe=558EA7F2

Bacon is a staple at 101.

http://youtu.be/UiFGYdXjaag

Anyways, that's just a bit.

[crashdive123]

Awesome pics.......and bacon!

[WolfVanZandt]

Woof! I want one of those!

[Rick]

I would hate to see any of the participants including volunteers succumb to bad food. It would just be terrible. Therefore, I am volunteering to be the official food taste tester next year. I'll even be the official camera person.

[hunter63]

Wow, Awesome pic's.......makes a person feel they are there......Thanks!

[1stimestar]

Super cute video made of what it's like to live in Fairbanks. It's so spot on!


http://youtu.be/MfDrHd6eijI

[crashdive123]

Kind of like a cool vid.

[hunter63]

....."new construction is a relative term".......LOL....Outstanding.......

[1stimestar]

I think that construction thing has a lot to do with our extremely high property taxes as well as no building codes needed outside of the city limits.

[hunter63]

Had a neighbor that had a building permit and 1/2 done house for years....figuring he couldn't be charged for a "House" that wasn't "done".
That was the first thought I had, after that line and picture of the plywood/tar paper in the vid....LOL

[1stimestar]

Yep, exactly. You should see the insides though lol.

[1stimestar]

We lose a few people a year but haven't ever lost two in one day from separate incidences of hypothermia. And it was only -25 which is not really cold for us. It's just been such a mild winter in general, I think people forgot it could turn colder at any time.




FAIRBANKS—Two men died of suspected exposure in two separate areas of Fairbanks on Friday.

The first death was reported at 10:22 a.m. by a person who saw someone lying down west of the sidewalk that runs along Farmers Loop, between Taku Drive and Alumni Drive at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus.

UAF police and Alaska State Troopers responded and found the body of Evan B. Charles, 30, of Emmonak. UAF police suspect Charles may have died of exposure and was not the victim of foul play, according to UAF spokeswoman Marmian Grimes.

The second death was reported shortly before 5 p.m. when Fairbanks police received word that a man's body had been found on the bike path east of the Steese Highway, according to Sgt. Gary Yamamoto.

The man was identified, but police are waiting to notify his next of kin before releasing his name, Yamamoto said. It appears the man froze to death and that foul play is not suspected, he said.

A late winter cold snap settled into the Interior last week and the temperature dipped down to 25 below zero Thursday night and Friday morning.

Charles was a UAF student but did not live on campus, according to Grimes. The man found near the Steese Highway was a member of the homeless community, according to Yamamoto.

Contact staff writer Dorothy Chomicz at 459-7582. Follow her on Twitter: @FDNMcrime. Staff writer Sam Friedman contributed to this report.


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/two-men-reportedly-die-of-exposure-in-fairbanks/article_e7f56230-c9c1-11e4-9be2-1f3e383680fc.html

[1stimestar]

Eh, big magnetic storm coming...blah, blah, blah, all day Facebook burning up with updates, aurora notifications, and aurora hunting plans, etc. I get out there and it shuts down. I stay out an hour and a half and come back home. Sit down at computer, download my photos to have a look at them. My focus is off. My ISO was too high making it "noisy". Check the aurora cam and danged if it isn't blowing up again. Boo, I'm going to bed!

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/q85/p180x540/11080905_10155282900720697_4800015787434083287_n.j pg?oh=9f1522b052f2dba91242e1800ed42afd&oe=5572B532

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/q85/p180x540/10968362_10155282900715697_5339100968370012894_n.j pg?oh=7e5dd93f617e768d7116937360496030&oe=557AA9EC

[crashdive123]

Beautiful pics regardless of your self critique.

[Rick]

Gorgeous pics. You could always bottle that and sell it to the cheechakos. You'd make a fortune.

[randyt]

awesome thread... back when I was a young fella some folks offered to pay my way to fairbanks. They have moved there and my buddy their son was going down a bad path. They figured I would calm his butt down, he probably would have took me down that path with him. LOL.

[1stimestar]

awesome thread... back when I was a young fella some folks offered to pay my way to fairbanks. They have moved there and my buddy their son was going down a bad path. They figured I would calm his butt down, he probably would have took me down that path with him. LOL.

Well you certainly would have fit right in lol. But yea, it's easy to go down "the wrong path" here with the months of cold and dark.

[1stimestar]

So the Iditarod, our other, more well known, 1000 mile dog sled race is going on, just finishing. Aliy Zirkle is a local favorite here in Fairbanks. She is also the only female winner of the Yukon Quest (Toughest Race on Earth), the 1000 mile dog sled race I work with. Anyways, she is one tough broad.

You can see the video of the interview here: http://www.adn.com/article/20150320/post-race-arm-wrestling-match-leaves-fan-broken-bone-and-musher-zirkle-mortified


Post-Iditarod arm-wrestling match leaves fan with broken bone and musher Zirkle mortified

http://www.adn.com/sites/default/files/styles/ad_slideshow_wide/public/150320ZirkleArmWrestle5.JPG?itok=rgTlKlHn

http://www.adn.com/sites/default/files/styles/ad_slideshow_wide/public/150320ZirkleArmWrestle2_0.JPG?itok=RworZtYi


NOME -- There was a sickening pop, followed by an eerie silence as the crowd inside Breakers Bar realized what they’d witnessed: Aliy Zirkle had just broken some woman's arm.

Grace Liu learned a painful lesson about tangling with mushers Wednesday night in Nome when Zirkle, a 45-year-old sled dog racing superstar from Two Rivers, snapped the California lawyer’s arm like a piece of driftwood during an arm-wrestling match just hours after the 15-time Iditarod finisher guided her team to a fifth-place finish in the 2015 Iditarod.

“Everyone gasped,” said Liu, a 36-year-old patent lawyer from Fresno. “And you know it takes a lot to quiet a bar in Nome.”

Zirkle said it was her first arm-wrestling contest. And likely her last.

“God, I feel bad,” she said Friday.
Big Iditarod fan

By the following day, the incident was the talk of the historic gold mining town of 3,800 people, where rumors of the unbelievable contest spread faster than a sled dog charging out of the starting chute.

“It’s funny how fast news travels around Nome,” Liu said Friday from Breakers, a rough-and-tumble joint on Front Street with a sign hanging inside that reads “No Sniveling” and a box crammed full of VHS tapes of amateur boxing matches beneath the dart board.

Everywhere Liu went, people stopped her to ask about her right arm, which was covered in a fiberglass splint. Upon hearing what happened, some reacted with disbelief. Others stopped to snap Liu’s picture.

The Harvard-educated attorney who works for the California State University system said she never expected to become part of the story of The Last Great Race, an event the die-hard mushing fan has traveled to Alaska five times to watch. She said it’s fair to say she’s in love with the state and its signature winter sporting event.

“People who live up here choose to live up here because they choose not to take the easy way out in life, and I have a lot of respect for that,” she said.

Breakers was packed with spectators for the contest, which began at 7 p.m., four hours and 15 minutes after Zirkle and her team arrived at the finish line, just a bone’s throw away from the bar.

After losing one match and winning two others, Liu found herself face-to-face with Zirkle, who is known as one of the most competitive mushers in the sport. The first and only woman to win the 1,000-mile Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race, Zirkle finished second in the Iditarod three straight years from 2012 to 2014. Liu said she was thrilled to be matched up with the famous musher.

“I was really excited. I mean, how many times do you get to arm-wrestle an Iditarod musher?” she said.

The raucous crowd was cheering both women on.

“It was packed,” Liu recalled. “Arm wrestling in Nome, as you can imagine, is pretty popular.”

The bout lasted about 10 seconds, Liu said. As Zirkle began to get the upper hand, Liu turned her shoulder to try and counter Zirkle’s strength – a move that proved disastrous.

“I think my arm was slowly moving back and that’s when I made my fatal – not fatal but arm-breaking error,” she said.
'It was awful'

Liu said Zirkle was mortified.

“She just looked shocked and horrified,” Liu said. “She goes, ‘Oh my gosh, I felt that break.’”

Zirkle said the sound wasn’t as bad as feeling Liu’s arm let go.

“All of a sudden – it was awful, it was bad – her arm broke,” said Zirkle, who got about a two-hour nap between finishing the race and entering the contest.

Liu said the break didn’t hurt all that much. Adrenaline and shock dulled the pain.

Someone who works for a local mining company – Liu doesn’t know who – offered her a ride to the hospital in a pickup. There, she learned she had a spiral fracture of the humerus, the long bone in the upper arm between elbow and shoulder. She got a fiberglass splint and plans to have a full cast put on after she gets home Sunday night. Doctors tell her it’ll take at least six weeks to heal.

Liu learned later that Zirkle’s handler, 2012 Iditarod finisher Ryne Olson, ended up winning the contest. Zirkle took second.

Liu said she “absolutely” plans to return to Nome, where she and friends have met up several times for weeklong vacations, watching mushers and their teams pull into town. This year just happened to be a little bit crazier than most.

The broken arm, she said, is a small price to pay for perhaps the most talked-about story of the Iditarod – a 1,000-mile race won this year by Dallas Seavey for the second straight time.
Zirkle very fit

Liu joked that mushers like Dallas Seavey and his dad Mitch, – who finished one spot in front of Zirkle to win the 2013 race – better make sure not to cross Zirkle out on the trail.

“I’ve been joking like, ‘Yeah, that girl will break your arm to get what she wants,’” she said. “If Dallas or Mitch ever come in with a broken bone, you’ll know who did it.”

When told what had happened Wednesday night at Breakers, both Seaveys politely declined comment.

Zirkle said she’s sorry the break happened and said the competition will be the final arm wrestling tournament of her career.

“First arm wrestling competition and last arm wrestling competition,” she said.

Liu said she holds no hard feelings toward Zirkle. And although she’s a lawyer, she said suing the musher is the last thing she’d want to do.

“I’m not a litigious person,” she said.

Zirkle said she has a huge amount of respect for her broken-armed competitor.

“More than you know,” she said. “She walked off to the hospital with a smile on her face.”

Liu said she’s always respected Zirkle for the musher’s relentless drive to win the Iditarod, and the arm wrestling match only served to crystallize her belief that sled dog racers are a breed apart.

“When you see her, she is fit, she is strong and this is her dream -- she really goes for it,” Liu said.

Zirkle said she’s been working out hard in preparation for Iditarod and is as “fit as a person can be.”

Zirkle agreed that the story is likely to be talked about for a while.

“She experienced Iditarod firsthand,” she said. “Her right hand.”

[hunter63]

WOW, where else but Alaska.....

[1stimestar]

Lance. That's my boy right there.

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8714/16878789935_d2a3fd1146_s.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/rHwdcz)
Lance Mackey rescues Scott Janssen's dog team (https://flic.kr/p/rHwdcz) by @mysuitcaseofmemories (https://www.flickr.com/people/112762807@N03/), on Flickr


Web Extra: Scott Janssen says Lance Mackey rescued his dog team outside of Koyuk




Web Extra: Scott Janssen says Lance Mackey rescued his dog team outside of Koyuk
By KTVA CBS 11 News 1:07 PM March 21, 2015
189

Iditarod 2015 musher Scott Janssen scratched just outside of the Koyuk checkpoint. Janssen said his team lost the trail, and they spent more than 12 hours stranded on the ice in the worst blizzard he’s ever seen.

A search-and-rescue team found him hypothermic, with a sleeping bag draped over him and his 11 dogs.

“I couldn’t move,” he said. “My left arm was frozen to my body.”

SAR took him to the clinic at Koyuk, but Jannsen’s dog team stayed behind.

“I was crying,” Janssen said. “I didn’t want to leave my dogs.”

Fellow musher Lance Mackey came upon the team out on the ice, Janssen said. He hooked his leaders to the back of Janssen’s sled. The dogs wouldn’t move.

Then Mackey told them, “Let’s go find dad” — music to the dogs’ ears.

When Mackey came into the checkpoint, the checker said it looked like a ghost team leading Mackey’s team.

“When Lance came into the checkpoint, he had tears streaming down his face. All the way in, he thought I was out on the ice dead somewhere,” Janssen said. “Without Lance Mackey getting my dogs in…he is an incredible friend, an incredible musher and an incredible person.”

The video here of Scott telling the story is really worth watching.
http://www.ktva.com/iditarod-2015-musher-scott-janssen-says-lance-mackey-rescued-his-sled-dog-team-outside-of-koyuk-653/

[randyt]

"let's go find dad" awesome story with a good ending.

[pete lynch]

+1 for Lance Mackey and a kid named Dan!

[hunter63]

Great story........now I gotta go find a tissue.........

[1stimestar]

Sooo after almost two years, my daughter passed up to level 2 in her roller derby. This means she will now be playing in full contact bouts. Gulp. Don't know if mamma is ready for that...

My little bad a**.

https://scontent-1.11404.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10409621_10155308327930697_5414655981438951894_n.j pg?oh=392bf7076d7f6cfa26fd61ee058a8bab&oe=55B18F62

[randyt]

kids grow up fast, first it's t-ball and then the world series LOL.

[crashdive123]

Congrats to you both.

[kyratshooter]

A girl with her own theme song, you can't beat that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwhxXjdMPd8

[1stimestar]

Lol Kyrat. I've not seen that one. I'm going to share it with the roller girlz. Thanks.

[1stimestar]

I think I may have shared this here a few years ago but recently came across it and thought I'd share it again. It's a story a friend wrote about me taking her for a dog sled ride.

She's a good writer and an excellent photographer if you want to look around her photography site.
http://susanstevenson.com/blog/2010/03/dog-sledding-adventure/

[1stimestar]

So 3 and a half years ago when Justin died, I was totally broke. Getting three last minute plane tickets out of Alaska is terribly expensive. Being in Oklahoma, where he was in the hospital and then died, being off work and down there for a month took more then I had. It took a long time to recover from that just financially. Anyways, he didn't have a head stone until recently. His mother saved up and bought it. I am in a much better place financially now but she did not want help in buying it. She wanted it to be just between her and her son. I respected that even though she is on social security and lives very frugally. So she bought it, but was unable to get out of the house to even see it. So my brother in law went and took a picture of it with his phone to show her. Unfortunately, I guess it's a life line phone so can not send pictures. I asked the family down there for someone to PLEASE take a picture and send it to us. No one could be bothered (mother in law is disabled and can't just go do it herself). So I looked up the cemetery online and was going to email them and ask if any of them could send us a picture when I found a group called Grave Walkers of Oklahoma. They mostly are for looking up the graves of people to help with ancestral research. I sent a message to them with a photo request and one of them got right to it. I am very thankful to the young woman. I don't know, long story, rambling post to say here it is. It's a bit weird to say, "I like it". But I do.

http://image2.findagrave.com/photos/2015/83/76551251_1427323615.jpg

[Rick]

Not rambling at all. It's all about feelings. I like the stone and if it were mine I'd certainly be happy with it. It gives him some perpetuity beyond the good memories you and your children share. 100 years from now those who pass by will not know the stories, the good times or the bad but they will know who he is.

[hunter63]

It never ceases to amaze me the kindness of people and lengths they will go for others.
Just reading this very personnel story confirms that again.
Tnanks for posting......

[crashdive123]

Not rambling at all G. It is a fine tribute that will last.

[madmax]

Jeez. I was born in '58. Thanks for sharing. I'll try to treat loved ones better. Never know.

[1stimestar]

Jeez. I was born in '58. Thanks for sharing. I'll try to treat loved ones better. Never know.

You really don't ever know. That is why it is so important to stop putting off things that you want to do to a distant "some day". There will never be enough time, money, energy, etc. to do all the good things we want to do. That is why it is so important to just start doing them now as best you can with what you have. Live life before it's gone.

[Rick]

One of life's rules is that our family always says, "I love you" and a hug when someone leaves. Boys, men, girls, it doesn't matter. I've very lucky to be able to say the very last thing my father and I and the very last thing my mother and I said to each other was I love you.

[crashdive123]

Yep - when I walk out the door every day, the last thing I say is I love you. If no words are ever heard from me again, I want those to be the last words she hears.

[Batch]

Yep - when I walk out the door every day, the last thing I say is I love you. If no words are ever heard from me again, I want those to be the last words she hears.


I had just finished the last round of golf I would ever play with my Dad's Uncle Walter. He was in his 80's and would whoop yer arse on the course with nothing but his 7 wood and a putter. LOL

I asked him what were his regrets? He said he wished he had come home and hugged his wife and asked how her day was.

My family is also in the habit of hugging and kissing and saying I love you. Cause tomorrow is not promised to any of us.

[hayshaker]

batch your so spot on these days i take nothing for granite. since my wife took sick a few years back
i treasure every moment with her. she,s in a wheel chair now yet i still find a wat to do the things we used to do.
sure there are ajustments to make you just do what you have to. we still camp out back weather permitting for her.
we do powwows and rendevouexs she really enjoys all the excitement i can see it her eyes and when she laughs.
shes my whole world.

[1stimestar]

Ironic that this popped up in my news feed today. Best obituary ever. Written by his daughters.



Obituaries
Obituary – March 25

Donald Alexander Malcolm Jr.

Captain Donald Alexander Malcolm Jr., 60, died Feb. 28, 2015, nestled in the bosom of his family, while smoking, drinking whiskey and telling lies. He died from complications resulting from being stubborn, refusing to go to the doctor, and raising hell for six decades. Stomach cancer also played a minor role in his demise.

Don cherished family above all else, and was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. He met his future wife, Maureen (Moe) Belisle Malcolm, after months at sea, crab fishing. He found her in his bed and decided to keep her. Their daughter Melissa was born “early” six months later. They decided to have a boy a couple years later, and ended up with another daughter, Megan. He taught his girls how to hold their liquor, filet a fish and change a tire. He took pride in his daughters, but his greatest joy in life was the birth of his grandson Marley, a child to whom he could impart all of his wisdom that his daughters ignored.

After spending his formative years in Kirkland, Wash. with a fishing pole in hand, Don decided his life’s calling was to yell at deckhands on commercial fishing boats in Alaska. As a strapping young man of 19, he moved to Dutch Harbor to fulfill this dream. Over the next 40 years, Don was a boat cook, mechanic, deckhand, captain and boat owner. Although Don worked nearly every fishery in the Pacific Northwest at one time or another, his main hunting ground was the Bering Sea. He cut his teeth crabbing; kept his family fed by longlining halibut and black cod; then retired as a salmon gillnetter in Southeast Alaska.

Don had a life-time love affair with Patsy Cline, Rainier beer, iceberg lettuce salads and the History Channel (which allowed him to call his wife and daughters everyday in order to relay the latest WWII facts he learned). He excelled at attempting home improvement projects, outsmarting rabbits, annoying the women in his life and reading every book he could get his hands on. He thought everyone could, and should, live on a strict diet of salmon, canned peas and rice pilaf, and took extreme pride in the fact that he had a freezer stocked full of wild game and seafood. His life goal was to beat his wife at Scrabble, and although he never succeeded, his dream lives on in the family he left behind.

Don is survived not only by his wife, daughters and grandson, but by his father, Donald Malcolm Sr; brothers Howard and Mike Malcolm; sisters Lisa Shumaker, Nicki White, Melinda Borg and Patsi Solano.

He also has many nieces, nephews, aunts and cousins who love him dearly, and deckhands who knew him. He will be having an extended family reunion with his mother, Winifred Thorton; foster parents Marvel and Dutch Roth, brothers Larry and Steve Malcolm, sister Doodie Cake, and other assorted family and friends who died too young.

http://homertribune.com/2015/03/obituary-march-25/

[Rick]

Most excellent.

[Williepete]

Really the neatest Obit I have ever seen. I'll bet he's having a blast up there.

Bill

[Batch]

If you got to have an obituary, that ain't a bad one to have.

I hope we all have a lot of good years left to give our loved ones some more stuff to write about us.

[hunter63]

That was a great find....and does kinda put thing into perspective.....

Always liked this one.....


https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=prop+me+up+beside+the+jukebox

[1stimestar]

So, Susan is in town. I can't say why other then snowmachines don't fly and Suzie don't bounce. While she is here, I got her out and took her to my daughter's roller derby practice. Not too many showed up as Sat. practice is voluntary. They had a blast though.

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/p600x600/11035546_10155322427300697_7662049478946124124_n.j pg?oh=123129ffd5d645891b2486b897bd0f8e&oe=55AB7001

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/10421141_10155322431510697_8523329850578834931_n.j pg?oh=a90b5b978aa8e7ee682bce346fda33d9&oe=55AD20A8&__gda__=1436916805_b605697adf9ac3bb03fda8632510365 4

[1stimestar]

Pretty cool short video about the Gates of the Arctic.



https://vimeo.com/19731783

[Seniorman]

I enjoyed the video you posted. Thanks for posting it.


S.M.

[crashdive123]

Great vid. Looks like an incredible place.

[1stimestar]

Alaska doesn't have a lottery. What we do have though, is the Nenana Ice Classic. Every year a tripod is placed on the frozen river and a cable is strung to the clock tower on shore. Tickets are sold for $2.50 each. When the ice goes out enough to trip the clock, we have a winner. Actually it is most often several winners. Anyways, I think it's going out today. The tripod is leaning. Here is a webcam showing it. You have to refresh for the new picture every 5 minutes.

http://www.borealisbroadband.net/vid-nenanamega.htm

[Rick]

It must have tripped the server. Looks like it's offline. Darn the luck. I was getting ready to my money in.

[1stimestar]

Everyone is checking on it today. It's back up. http://www.borealisbroadband.net/vid-nenanamega.htm

[1stimestar]

It moved quite a bit last night but not much at all day. Of course today it is just 40. Yesterday and the day before we got up into the 50s.

[Rick]

I would like to park my vehicle directly below those ropes.

[1stimestar]

Now it's just taunting us!

http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/icecam/icecamxga.jpg

http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

[1stimestar]

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11168551_803670569687973_6495535090964304840_n.jpg ?oh=30f16d9b9b9608cc4d81a39dbe52fee0&oe=55CEEB31&__gda__=1440400903_8a7426c4c33fcf610a856f0e9748077 4

[1stimestar]

And now, just because I am one proud mamma and you all are my buddies, I'll share this. Today was my daughter's first actual, real scrimmage. Her team won. Here's a picture of her during the bout after she fell on someone's skate wheel on her shin. Ouch. But she put an ice pack on it for a few minutes and got back out there. She's 13. She's so cool.

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11156157_10155430231935697_2232387603107403177_n.j pg?oh=9887d61c9e9da5eb701b6314a7491046&oe=559A0425

[1stimestar]

So I THINK that next Thursday is the day you might really want to watch Life Below Zero...just saying.

[1stimestar]

A very Alaskan prom night: Girl shoots grizzly before dance, family says


By Chris Klint, Senior Digital Producer, cklint@ktuu.com

Published On: Apr 27 2015 12:33:31 PM AKDT

Updated On: Apr 27 2015 01:41:41 PM AKDT

Kotzebue girl shoots grizzly bear, goes to prom

http://m.ktuu.com/image/view/-/32598160/highRes/1/-/maxh/300/maxw/480/-/s77n80/-/20150427---Kotzebue-girl-shoots-grizzly-bear--goes-to-prom-1-.jpg
Courtesy Kramer Family

ANCHORAGE -
Prom night is a memorable event for teens across the world -- but it’s even more so for a Kotzebue girl, whose parents say she hunted and killed a grizzly bear hours before taking to the dance floor last weekend.

A Facebook video posted by 15-year-old Cassidy Kramer’s mother, Corina Kramer, shows a series of images from the hunt and her preparations for the Kotzebue Middle High School prom. The video, shared with KTUU by the family, congratulates Cassidy, addressing her by her nickname “DD.”

Cassidy’s father, Lance Kramer, led the Saturday bear hunt in which she took part. He said predator control is important to local families, with moose populations declining in the area’s Game Management Unit 23.

“It’s important to go out and get bears in the springtime,” Lance said. “We always try to get a spring bear every year, this time of year.”

On Saturday, Lance and Cassidy set out with her brother, 10-year-old Cody Kramer, traveling into the mountains along the Noatak River. The first bears they encountered were sows with cubs, however, so they continued farther to find fair game.

After about 90 minutes, the group began to see boars. Cassidy had an opportunity to shoot her bear as it was running up the side of a mountain.

“We got downwind of that bear so it couldn’t smell us, couldn’t hear us,” Lance said. “Sure enough, it came around the corner and Cassidy shot it and it rolled down the mountain.”

Kotzebue girl shoots grizzly bear, goes to prom

Lance said she initially hit the bear in the back, then landed a kill shot after it stopped rolling.

The party sat down to skin and dress the bear, in high-altitude temperatures Lance said were “hot enough to suntan in.” Although the bear was relatively young, Lance said shooting it was important to help protect game animals.

“Eventually it’s going to kill a lot of moose cubs,” Lance Kramer said.

With Cassidy’s prom looming, the group turned around and headed back. Lance, who was riding a heavier snowmachine than Cassidy, said she eventually “just passed me and rode ahead and went home by herself.”

“We had to get back fast, because it was 5:40 and prom was at 8,” Lance Kramer said. “We got back at 7 and she went upstairs and took a quick shower and did her hair.”

Once she got home, Cassidy traded in her outdoors attire -- ski pants, bunny boots, a snowmachine jacket, goggles and mittens -- for a strapless pink prom dress ordered online from PromGirl.com and a recently purchased pair of shoes.

Kotzebue girl shoots grizzly bear, goes to prom

“I think it’s her first time wearing heels like that -- she’s a hunter girl,” Corina said.

Cassidy didn’t have a prom date, instead joining a group already waiting for her.

“She went with her friends,” Corina said. “There was a boy who asked her to go, but she wasn’t old enough.”

Lance said that in accordance with Eskimo custom, Cassidy plans to donate her first bear to someone who needs its meat and hide.

“She’s going to give it to her grandmother,” Lance said.

Cassidy’s first stop before donating the bear will be to get the hide sealed by the state Department of Fish and Game. Her mother proudly joked about her unorthodox path to prom night compared to other girls across the country, but said Saturday was especially important to her.

“It was her first bear and it was her first prom,” Corina said.


Copyright © 2015, KTUU-TV



http://m.ktuu.com/news/a-very-alaska-prom-night/32598140

[hunter63]

Now that a date to remember.....Hey?
You go girl.

[crashdive123]

I'll bet her Dad didn't need to have "the talk" with her date.

[hunter63]

Girls that can shoot and throw tomahawks....can take care of them selves. ....LOL

[1stimestar]

Ok bath and blow out, pedicure, teeth cleaned, ears clean, LET'S GO HOME!

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11160570_10155446213980697_275899646475181520_n.jp g?oh=6c0a39a22e0d63684a7ae45d39991535&oe=55CB1F99

[hunter63]

Good looking girl, getting big....

Bella doesn't like scarves....poor girl had wrestled her to the ground to get it on....she pulled and pulled till it came off....took her a week but chewed it up

[1stimestar]

They put it on her. I just took it off her, gave it to her, and she shook it and shook it then walked away.

[1stimestar]

Finally May in Fairbanks!

https://youtu.be/niqYffEtP70

[1stimestar]

One of my girl friends called me yesterday to let me know she found an owl's nest so we met after I got off work and took some pictures. We are having an early spring. I don't think we normally have babies this big yet.

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11203128_10155466922050697_5893088495694482629_n.j pg?oh=cb1cc10ac2ec8a04d5ef2061dfe0f595&oe=55C8E3F3

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11118830_10155466922045697_4529262316326277572_n.j pg?oh=f06ba7050235db20443857f3e6f61761&oe=55CF8D54

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11188370_10155466922035697_520012803730249697_n.jp g?oh=7e4cb4e9843ee23f34cd3a130095a4da&oe=55D7365C

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11057291_10155466922060697_3240094919749771257_n.j pg?oh=a08d052796b98117d9b1a8d3e006f117&oe=55D9673E

[hunter63]

One of my girl friends called me yesterday to let me know she found an owl's nest so we met after I got off work and took some pictures. We are having an early spring. I don't think we normally have babies this big yet.

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/11203128_10155466922050697_5893088495694482629_n.j pg?oh=cb1cc10ac2ec8a04d5ef2061dfe0f595&oe=55C8E3F3

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/11118830_10155466922045697_4529262316326277572_n.j pg?oh=f06ba7050235db20443857f3e6f61761&oe=55CF8D54

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11188370_10155466922035697_520012803730249697_n.jp g?oh=7e4cb4e9843ee23f34cd3a130095a4da&oe=55D7365C

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11057291_10155466922060697_3240094919749771257_n.j pg?oh=a08d052796b98117d9b1a8d3e006f117&oe=55D9673E

pic's........up now

[1stimestar]

Thanks. Crazy board.

[Rick]

Are you lookin' at me? Are you lookin' at me? Well I'm the only one here. Awesome pics, kiddo. Healthy looking little guy.

[1stimestar]

Ugh, spring time in Alaska, where the bodies start appearing out of thawing rivers and snowbanks.


FAIRBANKS - The body found at 38 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road on May 2 by a group of boaters has been identified as a man from Wisconsin who has been missing since last fall.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/body-found-in-chena-river-identified-as-missing-wisconsin-man/article_57c01630-f598-11e4-8a03-0fb3ca481e42.html



ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A body believed to be that of an Akiak woman missing since December on an all-terrain vehicle trip has been recovered from the Kuskokwim River.

Alaska State Troopers say the body found Sunday may be the remains of 27-year-old Sally Stone.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/body-found-in-kuskokwim-river-may-be-missing-atv-rider/article_f7331e8c-f364-11e4-9956-abefc5c9864e.html



FAIRBANKS - Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of a Nenana woman whose body was found outside in Fairbanks on Sunday.

Troopers received a report of a body in the woods in Fairbanks, according to a news release posted Sunday night.


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/body-of-nenana-woman-found-in-fairbanks/article_37609fdc-f28b-11e4-b629-078a7123749e.html

[1stimestar]

What to do when it finally reaches 65 in Alaska? Well you find a way to let that fresh air in without the dog getting out! Yay spring!

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11263142_10155483021585697_2515803619087546594_n.j pg?oh=c5af6587d6308a346b1c56f6e34c984e&oe=5606D8A1&__gda__=1440548708_37b087244d970a16d33ce8baaa9c384 7

[Grizz123]

ahhh, let the dog out to play

[Rick]

but, but, but, he'll play with the grizzlies.

[1stimestar]

Oh if I let her out, she'll just want back in in a few minutes, then she'll want out, then she'll want in....

[LowKey]

Your dog took the Cat Classes, eh?
I have a cat that took the Dog Classes. He is such a dog.

[1stimestar]

Ok, she's all shined up for tomorrow's recital. Hope I don't mess up.

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11046521_10155493877095697_4854838644336405581_n.j pg?oh=2a65b1d4fcb6663261297c6792d66809&oe=560C14EB

[crashdive123]

Good luck!!!

[Rick]

Ditto! Break a leg.

[1stimestar]

Just one of the extra chores you have living in a dry or damp cabin, cleaning the jugs. Jugs and caps get a regular cleaning with a mild bleach water.

https://scontent-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11237213_10155511254675697_3525109277396850795_n.j pg?oh=f871f2ff5c0a880dbb4678d5dead1459&oe=55CC486F

[crashdive123]

The same holds true regardless of home style. I store a lot of water and go through the same cleaning procedures.

[1stimestar]

Yep yep.

Since we had only about 3 days of spring and then jumped right into what is turning into a record breaking summer, we spent today doing some spring cleaning. I just brought home my porch flowers from work, where I keep them all winter. Last week I scored a nice little window unit. Only used last summer (record breaking wet and cool summer) for $80. Since most of us don't bother with A/C because we don't get that hot that often, there's not a lot of used ones floating around. New ones cost about $300. I had to watch a youtube video to find out how to put it in my side sliding window but got her done lol.

Then we threw some hot dogs and corn on the grill and have jello/cool whip, cottage cheese for dessert. Yummy. I don't go camping on this weekend as it would be too crowded for my taste.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10563191_10155533445405697_8829254729536957190_n.j pg?oh=e5f46523bca9cb4cde08ae87af3277e5&oe=55F80FDA

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11265250_10155533826805697_5530122939676031804_n.j pg?oh=c9ee498fde9844ef4f5354669e31c8fc&oe=55FBC2F5

[crashdive123]

Most excellent!

[Rick]

There are definitely times when that air conditioner is just the bees knees. We went straight from furnace to air conditioner here in the last week. Crazy weather. Those dogs and corn look pretty darn good!

[1stimestar]

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11200633_10155537991150697_5249481825274865461_n.j pg?oh=68513945a60fb6821287d7dd017a1462&oe=55C725AF

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/10930091_10155537991050697_8313970161922460624_n.j pg?oh=ab1b38272540a41673a2d368c9e12b0c&oe=55F33A39

[1stimestar]

Heimo and Edna Korth are going to be in a show.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/the-last-alaskans-a-reality-show-with-a-heart-as-big-as-its-subject/2015/05/24/f6184f5a-fe53-11e4-8b6c-0dcce21e223d_story.html

[hunter63]

Heimo and Edna Korth are going to be in a show.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/the-last-alaskans-a-reality-show-with-a-heart-as-big-as-its-subject/2015/05/24/f6184f5a-fe53-11e4-8b6c-0dcce21e223d_story.html

He was the guy that inspired my epiphany on a spare shelter........saw it on an older program.
Has a tent set up, in case the cabin burns down....where you gonna go?....otherwise?

Your grill is green,... but looks like the same grill we used last night on the porch of "The Place".....while it was raining.......LOL

[1stimestar]

Some recent pictures from the Land of the Midnight Sun.

My cat hunting in my "back yard".
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11401240_10153385548616303_1248115056114729103_n.j pg?oh=d5bb82672316b9f746f6e8bd8563f2bb&oe=56328AFB

After 10 years, I finally had to break down and get a new family tent.
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11390346_10155594975260697_8969504413575656465_n.j pg?oh=f308e44eccac60447115cd8923910c55&oe=55F2C90F

1:30 am.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10672184_10155603880515697_178399547977451352_n.jp g?oh=0108a170a068cf4c37af5c3987814e4f&oe=55FF341F

Next weekend, Chickenstock! Cluck, cluck!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RHpj4_bJeh4

[hunter63]

Y'all are easily entertained.....LOL

[1stimestar]

Eh that's just the daytime entertainment. The "real" bands only come out at night hahaha.

[1stimestar]

So I broke down and bought a SPOT. I'm not worried about my safety on the Yukon River but Olivia is. Last time she went canoeing with a friend and her dad, they ended up rescuing a family who had capsized and it was very scary for her since there were a couple of very little kids and an infant in the river. So now, you can follow me on my adventures. I'm going to test it out on my trip to Chickenstock this weekend.



I have a SPOT device. SPOT devices use satellite technology to allow people to share communicate and share GPS coordinates from virtually anywhere in the world. Click the link to locate my SPOT. Learn more about the SPOT product family at FindMeSPOT.com!

Just follow this link to see my location updates:
https://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=1gYOHq76QTX6HXzfaOHZc3VtDxYfXHp 3h
The password is: Castirongirl
If the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting it to your browser's address bar.


Thanks,
Georganne

[crashdive123]

Cool - looking forward to your review of it and wish that it had a video (from what I've heard of Chickenstock).

[1stimestar]

Chickendance.

https://youtu.be/iJhWIPKiIDs

General hijinx.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TfR4yfdI7KE

[1stimestar]

My fiddling friend Rachel and the Dry Cabin String Band.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zgIMmM1R3C4

Some of us even dance in the rain.

https://youtu.be/s4R2DIh4C0A

[1stimestar]

Not my video but much better then any of mine plus, you can see ME dancing. You know, there in the crowd hahaha. But it has a good shot of my daughter, ponytail, blue shirt. And yes, the MC is wearing an egg costume and underwear...at least he is wearing underwear hahahha.

https://youtu.be/w35EM2WvdmA

Downtown Chicken, Alaska.
https://youtu.be/NEN_uXfqxrI

[1stimestar]

This one isn't mine either but I do make a sassy appearance (I have long red hair). They had told all the kids to come up to the front and wait for a surprise. They waited and waited so one of the musicians got up and started an improv rap. I was pretty impressed with his perseverance. Keep watching as right at the end, there is another surprise.

https://youtu.be/6na3aSqoQ2g

[Rick]

Whewy. There for a minute I thought it was going to be the infamous WKRP Turkey drop.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3mgmEdfwg

[1stimestar]

Hahahha I had forgotten about that one.

[1stimestar]

Happy Summer Solstice! (tomorrow)

This is 1:30 in the morning. All the wild land fires we are having to the south are giving us some beautiful sunsets. Luckily we got a tiny bit of rain early this morning so hopefully WE don't burn up.


https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11429818_10155648246175697_6443147949558272067_n.j pg?oh=f9fe8094d38f7d1f4efbf85f4b98fb0b&oe=55F1EBC2

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/10520551_10155648246050697_5152441974963564769_n.j pg?oh=2db39e68c32ff95ccea4636a7e5977cb&oe=55F3E1D5

[hunter63]

Looks like a few people were under the "aflunce of inkahall"

Good times......

[1stimestar]

Lol I was driving home from the Great Alaskan Foodstock.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11535686_10155648259855697_7086868185364151488_n.j pg?oh=dbcadf4c52dd09bdb0748624490c10ab&oe=5625E406

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/l/t1.0-9/11221296_10155648260045697_7735101091658742853_n.j pg?oh=1bdd408c18749db02c7d4a4cb8bef53a&oe=56341683

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11228102_10155648260180697_1462876904688900770_n.j pg?oh=ac2d4e06318b9335500e55e777c8ceed&oe=5631B66F

[1stimestar]

Took a friend and her son out on the Tanana River today. This is a braided river with a lot of channels. So it should have been around 7 miles from point A to point B. But we got in this little side channel and I could see ahead that there was a sharp bend overhung with a tree. My friend was not as good at steering and draw strokes ect and is pretty hard of hearing so I called to pull over before we got swept under the tree. From there we walked out to the road and had her daughter pick us up. It was pretty handy because it was in an area just off our flood control dike and used by a lot of 4 wheelers so I was able to drive back there in my high clearance Toyota and pick up the canoe. Anyways, we almost made it the whole way. Beautiful day regardless.

Channel entrance. See, I wanted to go in that middle channel..

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11427190_10155651637150697_66493803580509111_n.jpg ?oh=46831128ed5d56c8a34d8abd2858ea17&oe=561F5F8C

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10336764_10155651637215697_5277769287912162937_n.j pg?oh=85a137cd347b778721c3efceb54537ec&oe=56319F10

See that tree laying over the water? I could see us getting swept under that!

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11147194_10155651637110697_1146257608087167975_n.j pg?oh=f8a08b97a8bb27dd71b1a79226141334&oe=562FBC73

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/20085_10155651312875697_225451843042694009_n.jpg?o h=adf14a939105a0aa7f7b5d5628af431b&oe=56255E3B

Picnic break.
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10153093_10155651350785697_3564366602183338383_n.j pg?oh=3a42e724aafc5dabacff34eb06ea0bf4&oe=5621B8A4

[crashdive123]

I've had a few run ins with sweepers...no fun...Madmax talked me through. Glad the river wasn't flowing any harder than it was....might still be there.

Looks like you had a great day.

[Batch]

Took a friend and her son out on the Tanana River today. This is a braided river with a lot of channels. So it should have been around 7 miles from point A to point B. But we got in this little side channel and I could see ahead that there was a sharp bend overhung with a tree. My friend was not as good at steering and draw strokes ect and is pretty hard of hearing so I called to pull over before we got swept under the tree. From there we walked out to the road and had her daughter pick us up. It was pretty handy because it was in an area just off our flood control dike and used by a lot of 4 wheelers so I was able to drive back there in my high clearance Toyota and pick up the canoe. Anyways, we almost made it the whole way. Beautiful day regardless.

Channel entrance. See, I wanted to go in that middle channel...

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11427190_10155651637150697_66493803580509111_n.jpg ?oh=46831128ed5d56c8a34d8abd2858ea17&oe=561F5F8C

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10336764_10155651637215697_5277769287912162937_n.j pg?oh=85a137cd347b778721c3efceb54537ec&oe=56319F10

See that tree laying over the water? I could see us getting swept under that!

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/11147194_10155651637110697_1146257608087167975_n.j pg?oh=f8a08b97a8bb27dd71b1a79226141334&oe=562FBC73

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/20085_10155651312875697_225451843042694009_n.jpg?o h=adf14a939105a0aa7f7b5d5628af431b&oe=56255E3B

Picnic break.
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10153093_10155651350785697_3564366602183338383_n.j pg?oh=3a42e724aafc5dabacff34eb06ea0bf4&oe=5621B8A4

Sounds like a good day. Clearance Toyota would be the same as a lifted Toyota?

[1stimestar]

Sounds like a good day. Clearance Toyota would be the same as a lifted Toyota?

The Rust Princess. Toyota 4 Runner with no running boards, very high clearance.

[1stimestar]

Happy Solstice!

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11011473_10155654797615697_5857063637185013399_n.j pg?oh=3cd24bf46d7a7e302ea46eaae57a29f1&oe=562EFFAB

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/10345563_10155652017140697_8489126117965477366_n.j pg?oh=d094e1e055fc4e3990e3e4bbdaa813bc&oe=55F4BC76

[tundrabadger]

About what latitude are you at there?

[1stimestar]

64.85. A bit north of Fairbanks.

[1stimestar]

So there are thousands and thousands of acres on fire up here right now. It started down in the southern portion of the state in the community of Willow and burned up a whole bunch of people's homes and kennels. That area is the main dog musher capital of the state! Now we had over 100 fires start over the weekend due to lightening strikes and the smoke is rolling in. I have friends up north of me. They are off grid homesteaders with 3 little kids and a bunch of animals. He is away at work, has a rotating 2 weeks on/2 weeks off schedule. She contacted me on Facebook and asked if I could call in about the fires as she only has a VOIP phone. She says they are about 4 miles away from her. Asked if she should evacuate? What the hell? Get out of there! Since I was the second call the coordination center had for that area, they put a plane in the air to check it out and will call me back. How surreal. Smoke is terribly thick here but we are safe. http://fire.ak.blm.gov/

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/1896890_10155661019805697_6343806949430193182_n.jp g?oh=1877c0f70ee944dd024fbf040eb39c14&oe=55E6E5F5

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11011123_10155661019910697_6109000614183967276_n.j pg?oh=ab16c4c1276d4a43303a40c7de434915&oe=5625DCDE

[1stimestar]

Whole dammed state is on fire!

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/11061319_976231915742206_7916411555717354376_n.jpg ?oh=bef78233e9739caede58c73a5951a23b&oe=561D5A22

[1stimestar]

Smoke returns to the Fairbanks Area
JUNE 22, 2015 BY ALASKAJOINTINFORMATIONCENTER COMMENTS OFF ON SMOKE RETURNS TO THE FAIRBANKS AREA

Residents in and around the Fairbanks area are certainly no strangers to smoke in the summertime. After over 100 new fires over the weekend, Fairbanks woke up this Monday morning to a familiar smell in the air and hazy view out their windows.

There are currently several large fires burning outside Fairbanks in every direction. That means that no matter which way the winds blow, they are going to continue bringing smoke for the foreseeable future. Most of the smoke today is due to the Blair Fire burning near Blair Lakes, over forty miles south of town.

There is also a fire burning off the Little Chena River (north of Chena Hot Springs Road), over 30 miles northeast of Fairbanks. Smoke from this Anaconda Creek Fire is not currently affecting Fairbanks, but is heading north.

For more information about smoke conditions across the state, please visit

http://dec.alaska.gov/air/smokemain.htm.

[1stimestar]

Alaska News
Wildfires prompt evacuation alerts in Western and Interior Alaska
Tegan Hanlon
June 22, 2015
Share on emailEmailPrintText Size-A+A
Wildfires prompted an evacuation notice for a six-mile stretch of the Elliot Highway in Interior Alaska on Monday evening, while the village of Nulato in Western Alaska remained under a recommended-evacuation alert because of smoke from a nearby wildfire, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.

The Baker fire and, to the northeast, the North Fork fire were nearly four miles from the Elliot Highway and northeast of Manley Hot Springs. The sizes of the fires Monday were not immediately known; the last estimates of the fires on Sunday put the Baker fire at 5 acres and the North Fork fire at 20 acres, according to the coordination center in Fairbanks.

The evacuation notice issued Monday evening covered the Elliot Highway from Mile 131 to Mile 137. With limited cell phone service in the area, officials could not do a reverse 911 call and were relying on door-to-door notification, said Kale Casey, a public information officer at the coordination center.

RELATED:
Sockeye evacuation ends, but fires continue in much of Alaska
According to early estimates, 20 to 30 parcels of land are along that stretch of the highway and many had structures on them, he said.http://www.adn.com/article/20150622/wildfires-prompt-evacuation-notices-western-and-interior-alaska

[crashdive123]

As of yesterday morning we had 47 wildfires in and around Jacksonville. Last night, just north of town the afternoon thunderstorms hit and produced about 40,000 lightning strikes in a little over an hour. They were estimating about 8 lightning strikes a second. I'll bet a few new fires were started.

[Rick]

Wildfires....on the list!

[hunter63]

Fire in general, with flood, and tornado....are my top three.......Bug Out reasons if threatened.

[crashdive123]

For those that live remotely in Alaska or anyplace else for that matter must have wildfires near the top of their list. I think that would be one of my biggest concerns.

[1stimestar]

As of yesterday morning we had 47 wildfires in and around Jacksonville. Last night, just north of town the afternoon thunderstorms hit and produced about 40,000 lightning strikes in a little over an hour. They were estimating about 8 lightning strikes a second. I'll bet a few new fires were started.

Whew yea, that's a lot of lightening!

[1stimestar]

Yep, wildfire is my top bug out scenario. It's not too risky here as I live close to town in a cabin patch. Since there are more then one home here, it's more likely to be given resources for protection if one gets close. But as I am looking to buy farther out, more remote and fewer neighbors, it is something that I have to keep in mind.


FAIRBANKS — Forty-seven new wildfires were sparked around Alaska on Sunday, pushing the solstice weekend total to 152.
Interior Alaska received a large portion of Sunday’s new fires — leading to burned structures, evacuations, a thick haze and air-quality advisories. An estimated 25 fires are active within 100 miles of Fairbanks.

[1stimestar]

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11535800_918821404846090_8188078872411194432_n.jpg ?oh=e28aaee607e009838d69a8014dd1a24d&oe=562E5C77

[hunter63]

Big Dot........

[crashdive123]

There's always Barrow.

[1stimestar]

No kidding. Today I woke up nauseous and with a head ache from all the smoke. I RARELY get headaches. So I went to work for a little while to make sure all was good but left early, went home and got my kids and took them to the movies. The theater is air conditioned so has filters. An hour and half or so of smoke free air did wonders! So yea, anyone ever bug out to the movie theater? lol

[Batch]

We get large fires periodically and many wild fires every year. While the predominant wind usually spares us most of the smoke. From time to time we do get burnt sawgrass hulls all over our trucks and smoke in the air.

I like big fires. They renew and we had a great time camping during the closure of Bear Island during the Jarhead Fire of 2011. The wildlife viewing was off the chain.

Now, we have had the Mud Lake Fire burning since May 9th of this year. When it reached 40,000 acres after burning most of May, they renamed it the Mud Lake Complex Fires and split it into smaller fires.

http://www.winknews.com/2015/05/28/largest-wildfire-in-u-s-continues-to-burn-30-miles-from-naples/

[1stimestar]

We get large fires periodically and many wild fires every year. While the predominant wind usually spares us most of the smoke. From time to time we do get burnt sawgrass hulls all over our trucks and smoke in the air.

I like big fires. They renew and we had a great time camping during the closure of Bear Island during the Jarhead Fire of 2011. The wildlife viewing was off the chain.

Now, we have had the Mud Lake Fire burning since May 9th of this year. When it reached 40,000 acres after burning most of May, they renamed it the Mud Lake Complex Fires and split it into smaller fires.

http://www.winknews.com/2015/05/28/largest-wildfire-in-u-s-continues-to-burn-30-miles-from-naples/

That's a pretty big fire for that area. Our problem is the black spruce which is most populous tree in the interior. It's the hottest burning tree in the world. It's like gasoline.



Alaska will pass the 1-million mark in acres burned today. We're at 921,716.4 acres as of this morning, which is an increase of almost 300,000 acres - 297,220 acres to be exact - from yesterday.

At this point, we're ahead of the acreage burned in 2004, which ranks #1 on the list of record fire seasons in Alaska. In 2004, the there were a total of 701 fires that burned 6,590,140 acres.

As of Friday morning, we are already up to 594 fires and 921,716.4 acres burned and both those numbers are expected to go up.

To put things in perspective, there were 216 fires that burned 1,153,258 acres in June of 2004. That compares to 381 fires and 912,940.4 acres this June and we have five burn days left in the month. At this rate, we may hit the 2-million acre mark before June is over.

Here are today's official numbers from the Alaska Interagency Center Coordination Center in Fairbanks, along with a photo that Division of Forestry technican Trevor Kaufmann from the Kenai Area office took during response to the Card Street Fire on the Kenai Peninsula.

New fires: 28
Active fires: 317
Season to date fires: 594
Acreage burned: 921,716.4 acres

You can find the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center's fire situation report at fire.ak.blm.gov/content/aicc/sitreport/current.pd.

[1stimestar]

Saw that coming.


It is hard to compare fire seasons for many reasons, but we have been reviewing 2004, the largest fire season on record in which 6.59 million acres burned. Much like this season, 2004 took off with a major lightning event. Already, this June has surpassed June 2004 for the number of fire starts and acreage burned:
June 2004 - 216 fires burned 1,153,258 acres
So far, this June - 391 fires have burned 1,181,061 acres
In 2004, the majority of the large fires were located in the Interior. This year there are multiple fires scattered throughout Alaska, most of them between the Brooks and Alaska ranges. It is unusual to have this concentration of starts, making it critical to prevent new human-caused fires.
Alaska's lightning season generally spans from June through July. That said, we can't predict the future. Timely rains could shorten the fire season at any time. Thanks to all the firefighters out there who are working hard.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/11225176_10155683225855697_8916261733472217434_n.j pg?oh=33730cbbd9cb703962f1c7dfa80719e4&oe=561EE261

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11666079_10153434648041303_816221232916803749_n.jp g?oh=077d5117354977d5460f86730eb6b00c&oe=55EB4D72

[1stimestar]

3:30 am.

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11666213_10155714962340697_5461477079715787189_n.j pg?oh=c58512860104ebd5e507c8f34ae949c0&oe=561C51F6

[crashdive123]

Beautiful view.

[1stimestar]

Ohhh some excitement on the Yukon Quest home front. My checkpoint manager has resigned. Last year he said he was going to, but there were doubts he actually would. I already have my call in this morning to see how I apply. Wish me luck!

[crashdive123]

Good luck. That really sounds (and looks) like a fun event to work.

[hunter63]

Wishing you well.....
Great pic's BTW.....

[1stimestar]

It's not perfect (because I will seemingly never be able to play perfectly while being recorded), it's a fun tune.
Harvest Home. Hornpipes are generally cheesy little Irish tunes played to be danced to.


https://youtu.be/-ipSijbZHCc

[crashdive123]

Well done!

[MrFixIt]

*Does a little jig in the office*

Thanks for sharing!

[hunter63]

Hey very cool.......
Neighbor across the street plays the bagpipes.....the melody is familiar.
Thanks for the treat.

[1stimestar]

Hey very cool.......
Neighbor across the street plays the bagpipes.....the melody is familiar.
Thanks for the treat.

Yep, I mostly play Celtic music with a few old around the camp fire stand byes.

[1stimestar]

Food staging has begun! No, this is not all the food. I just wanted to show you the bear resistant food barrel that the food goes in. The food does not come into camp with us, only what we are cooking that night. Then all the food and cooking supplies goes back down to the river or somewhere away from camp.


https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10955325_10155809477655697_4212955782212426201_n.j pg?oh=574a6bc28d8602276cd57f24a24e9d8a&oe=560F005E

[crashdive123]

Have a fun trip.

Have you heard anything back yet on the checkpoint manager gig yet, or still way too early?

[1stimestar]

No, they don't make that decision until Sept. It's killing me!

[1stimestar]

Ok this should be a public sharing page for my location. There's nothing on there yet. http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0MGFgOvIPvbUpU3WXthHZVtNEKoH0Yg K8

[Williepete]

I just saw a report several days ago that there's something like 4.7 million acres burning up there. That is a whole lot of burn.

Bill

[crashdive123]

I would imagine that for those that live a remote lifestyle that wildfires are one of the biggest threats they face.

[1stimestar]

Here's some of our pictures and videos. I only got my good camera out once because of the river silt that got in everything. I didn't want it in my good camera too. One of the two bears we saw is about minute 23. We saw the second on our way home. Strangly enough, both black bears. I have only ever seen grizzlies up here and have only seen black bears in the southern part of the state. Anyways, we had a fantastic time even though some of it was terrifying (choppy water, sand bars, log jams blocking the channel)!

https://vimeo.com/135768231

[Rick]

To use a well worn word....awesome! Both you ladies have my respect for having done a grand adventure few would dare and even fewer complete. Somewhere, there is a black bear posting on BearBook about the canoeists he encountered along the river.

[sjj]

Glad you both made it back safely.

[crashdive123]

Awesome trip. Thanks for taking us along. Glad to see the knife is getting a lot of use.

[sjj]

Where the mosquitoes of any concern?

[1stimestar]

Not too bad. That was one of the reasons we camped on gravel bars, very few mosquitoes. Now if we went up into the brush, they would have swarmed us for sure. Another reason we chose Aug. as they are dying out by then. It was 29 degrees the night we got back.

[hunter63]

Well what do you know.....a canoe trip with a sound track, like the toons...Little Eagles, little Janis Joplin...sounds like Beatles.....? ...LOL

And a Crashblade for spread cheese?....OMG....

Great vid, thanks for the ride-along.....

PS aw...gotta spread the rep around.

Someone hit this trip post?

[crashdive123]

I gotta spread the love too.

[1stimestar]

We had everything from The Doors to Ella Fitzgerald! And yes, Crashblades do it all!

[randyt]

got it!!!!!!

[1stimestar]

So yea, just got a new toy. Charging the batteries right now!

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11863467_10155869625915697_4158749583385184019_n.j pg?oh=fb4acc8cc585553dc40623c692280f5a&oe=5641D22C

[crashdive123]

Cool. Be careful that your neighbors don't shoot it down.....there seems to be more and more of that going on.

[1stimestar]

So, in my continuing efforts to not become a fat old lady, this is happening... I'm determined to give it the winter at least.

https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11899861_10155880626840697_604141306999377895_n.jp g?oh=c0aad1a865e29b5208ad9580ffd83461&oe=5682B2E4

[crashdive123]

http://cdn3.whatculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Roller-Derby-Girls-2.gif

[1stimestar]

A different kind of bear video. So you know, when you go into Denali, you can only go in one of their busses, no POVs.


https://youtu.be/4sEazfbKwf8

[hunter63]

Just remember the difference between young and old ...id recovery time...LOL
Good on you...

So now you can knock DD down...legally? LOL

[randyt]

they say what don't kill ya makes ya stronger, may be true but it also makes it hard get out of bed sometimes.

[1stimestar]

My daughter's first day back, new season. Blue helmet but not the lightest blue one. We are both so excited as just at the end of last season she moved up to the level that gets to play in actual bouts.


https://youtu.be/8guSlo91R3U

[crashdive123]

Sooooo - now she gets to pound somebody?

[1stimestar]

Yup. She's already good at it as she handily controls her brother who is over 6' already.


So...do you see it?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v40/1stimestar/11887872_10153655593454374_1015063267769454468_n_z psoiahqowz.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/1stimestar/media/11887872_10153655593454374_1015063267769454468_n_z psoiahqowz.jpg.html)

[hunter63]

OMG...Snow?....

[Rick]

That right there ain't right. It's August for pity sake.

[crashdive123]

We have plenty of snow in August. Of course, it usually involves the DEA and characters of ill repute.

[Rick]

I was watching some boat recovery show and they had to go into the mangrove swamps, eddies, coves, whatever, to recover a boat. The guy said he hated to go in there because if you pick the wrong one you'd often run into drug dealers. Sure enough, floating against the shore line was a large package covered in packing tape. "See?" he said. I'd have been looking at the help wanted ads post haste. They may have tossed it out for the show but still....

[Batch]

Square groupers and smuggler's paradise.

[1stimestar]

This happened today, 120 miles south of me.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11902465_1071033399588445_6866722038045917598_n.jp g?oh=1ca5fb06047142300f635e86292ed30e&oe=567523B5

[crashdive123]

Hmmmmm. What's all that white stuff?

[1stimestar]

Some of my pictures of DENALI.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/10653703_10154556473215697_928180398318790054_n.jp g?oh=31e66b31e8fcf97bd85f0e4749f1b5a3&oe=56746AFA

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xta1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/10409193_10154556473115697_2163355686489146264_n.j pg?oh=83dec8f142bd8352f7c6cf79e4812bd0&oe=56613D4A

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpt1/v/t1.0-9/p180x540/10659325_10154556472830697_2733385268435779686_n.j pg?oh=4b7dd2d4151d63d16b788c5df5bda6b8&oe=56735C51

https://fbcdn-photos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/v/t1.0-0/p180x540/10702016_10154556473425697_8937210399686991868_n.j pg?oh=51eeefc7e08619ccfe4d67dce11a39ac&oe=567EB52F&__gda__=1449592433_d8b047a76827aaecefc4d8ed9cad989 b

https://fbcdn-photos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpt1/v/t1.0-0/p180x540/10628544_10154556473285697_5522334649508182443_n.j pg?oh=91bc8e571809695d8b7cb6895c3dc67a&oe=5664A3A1&__gda__=1449899331_a37bec1c2ff3d709b8c98111eb0a247 7

[DSJohnson]

Okay 1st I tried to give you some reputation but it was denied on account I must have done that recently or something. Amazing pictures! Thank you and thank you so much for all the stuff you post and contribute here!

[hunter63]

Okay 1st I tried to give you some reputation but it was denied on account I must have done that recently or something. Amazing pictures! Thank you and thank you so much for all the stuff you post and contribute here!

I hear ya...same here....some one what to rep that post?

Fantastic pic's.....

[Grizzlyette Adams]

I repped that post f'sure.

Thanks for the wonderful eye candies. You certainly have a gift for photographic artistry.

If I was actually *there,* with those mountians before me, I would probably forget to breathe...it IS that breathtaking! I just cannot imagine what it would be like...

One more for my bucket list.

[1stimestar]

Thanks. It is breathtaking even after seeing it regularly for almost 12 years. I'll never get tired of it.

[crashdive123]

Great pictures. I too must spread the rep love.

[MrFixIt]

This thread (and the other ones you've posted) never fail to deliver.
I appreciate you taking the time to update and share the photos with us.

[Rick]

Those are truly fantastic pics. You have a great eye. However, and I'll bet you agree with this, no picture can ever accurately convey the true beauty and majesty of that mountain. Pictures just don't convey the sense of scale. It is so big and so awe inspiring that you almost want to cry. I've only been two places that I felt that way, Denali National Park and the Grand Canyon. Pictures just can't capture the true scale of either one. I'm almost envious of those that have stood at it's peak...almost.

[1stimestar]

Hit the nail on the head Rick. How do you explain the feelings you feel when noticing the mountains in front of it are big mountains? How do explain understanding how it makes its own weather due to sheer massiveness? You just can't.

[1stimestar]

They're baaaaccckkk!

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11885208_10155954051755697_6154709813377206432_n.j pg?oh=40e72dcc128ad38923bda28a20960b65&oe=566D85D7

Big Dipper.
https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/11986349_10155954051745697_3489694977418360134_n.j pg?oh=33e809745d5980907a19b7123672e257&oe=565E0027

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/v/t1.0-9/11947675_10155954051810697_685309266026806960_n.jp g?oh=048fc7e29d7a2e5e782d54d9ac84618b&oe=56632819

[Grizzlyette Adams]

That is so beautiful! I couldn't stand it anymore and searched YouTube to see what something like this looks like in real-time...and I just want to weep because it is so awe-inspiring.

Alaska is calling me...resistance is futile. Meanwhile, I will live vicariously through your camera lens, gal!




.

[1stimestar]

That is so beautiful! I couldn't stand it anymore and searched YouTube to see what something like this looks like in real-time...and I just want to weep because it is so awe-inspiring.

Alaska is calling me...resistance is futile. Meanwhile, I will live vicariously through your camera lens, gal!




.

Well come on up! Here is where you can find the best real time videos of the northern lights. You have to have a special (very expensive) camera to take video of them. That is why you will mostly see time lapse. But technology is advancing so that now some people other then NASA can afford them.


http://www.ronnmurrayphoto.com/Aurora-Videos


And this bit just tickled me pink. No new signs needed because we don't, and haven't been, calling it McKinley.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/dot-no-new-signs-needed-for-denali-name-change/article_beff6ec6-5534-11e5-8287-ab1dcaaffb9f.html


It may be a headache for map makers and Ohio politicians, but not for [Alaska] DOT roads crews. After doing an inventory of road signs in the state, officials from the agency determined they didn’t have a single sign reading “Mount McKinley.”

[1stimestar]

My husband died 4 years ago today. Normally I reserve this day for moping and doing things with my kids. But first thing this morning I got the call that I have been chosen as the Checkpoint Manager for Mile 101, the checkpoint I work at for the Yukon Quest. I'm going up there tonight or tomorrow morning to get some work done. We need to brush it out so we have room to park the dog teams. I like spending the night up there. Really, the news couldn't have come at a better time, well maybe not 8 am on a Sat. morning, but I'm good.

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/12011264_10155975719565697_2622534930707762547_n.j pg?oh=4d6e533eb331aa39407cf56e1ba32baf&oe=565DD790

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11002597_10155160807845697_9030717925519898628_n.j pg?oh=552c00bb442244306e57d85cf34ab9ec&oe=566DA7B7

[Rick]

This is both a remembering you and congratulations day. I'm glad you got the manager's slot. I know you were wanting that so congrats.

[Solar Geek]

Anniversaries of this type are so hard but also important to remember where we came from so we can look forward to where we're going. Took almost 10 years from when our son died for me to really have perspective. Hugs to you and congrats on the new job !!!!!

[hunter63]

Congrats there Star.....thing happen for a reason....good time to get the news.

[Batch]

Congrats on the managers position!

[crashdive123]

Getting the notification today will help bring fond memories to this anniversary. We know you'll do great as the check point manager.

[Williepete]

Hey there Gal, congra's on the new job, seems that will be a lot of responsibly, but I bet you wil not have a problem handling it.
I've had eleven years plus and still think of her most every day. I'm having trouble keeping my mouth shut in front of my 'new' wife. I don't think you can ever really forget all the memories that you have stored up.

Hugs on your special day.

Bill

[Grizzlyette Adams]

Recently I lost my best friend, my mother. A friend's words comforted me so much, I would like to share them with Star, Williepete, Solar Geek and others out there who may have lost loved ones...

One day pain will not be the first thing you feel. Rather, you will smile to remember all you shared and loved together, and the pain will recede to a gentler ache. No one can take their place, but we are fortunate to have traveled a time along their road. As time goes on you will smile more and more each day and will enjoy the comfort of those sweet memories.

There is an old saying, "Love is how you stay alive even after you're gone." In that case, our loved ones are very much alive in our hearts!

[Grizzlyette Adams]

Star, congrats on your managerial upgrade!! (HowsZAT for good timing?!?)



Thanks sooo much for these links. The Ron Murray one... is. just. too. awesome. for. words. Without a doubt, the very best aurora vids I've seen. They have a permanent place in my files, f'sure.


Well come on up! Here is where you can find the best real time videos of the northern lights. You have to have a special (very expensive) camera to take video of them. That is why you will mostly see time lapse. But technology is advancing so that now some people other then NASA can afford them.


http://www.ronnmurrayphoto.com/Aurora-Videos


And this bit just tickled me pink. No new signs needed because we don't, and haven't been, calling it McKinley.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska_news/dot-no-new-signs-needed-for-denali-name-change/article_beff6ec6-5534-11e5-8287-ab1dcaaffb9f.html

[Rick]

Good stuff, GA. The Chinese have a saying, "No man is truly dead until he is no longer remembered".