Alaska 2018

[kyratshooter]

OK guys that message was dated 4/1 and it is now 4/4 and no follow up.

I hope they did not fall through the ice!

Anybody got 1TS work phone number?

[1stimestar]

He made the last load in yesterday. Stayed the night out there to let the trail harden back up overnight. I had to come back to work yesterday so our friend out in Manley was going to go with him. He ended up going by himself, crazy boy. So I am not posting any pictures or anything until I hear he made it back to Manley safely. Hopefully here in a few hours.

[1stimestar]

Looking good!!

If you guys ever make it down to the Kenai area look me up, maybe we can get lunch or something

Would love that. Maybe we can get Akbushman in on it too.

[alaskabushman]

Would love that. Maybe we can get Akbushman in on it too.

Haha, that'd be fun! I enjoy visiting the Kenai, beautiful place. I spent a year in Seward. Unfortunately I don't make it up there very often, Seattle is actually closer to me...I do have relatives in Soldotna though, so its not impossible...

[1stimestar]

First 150 mile drive to Manley Hot Springs, then a 6 hour snow machine ride to the Cosna. Rinse, repeat.

My dear friend Sarah, where we were staging the supplies.

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First load is about 1500 lbs.

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First leg of the trip break.

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Deep Creek. The first time was scary, the other times were fun. On the last trip, I stayed on this side to video Daniel going up it. I seriously could not walk up that. Had to crawl. It was funny.



After almost 90 miles, I had been beat up enough on my smaller machine. I had what's called throttle thumb as the tension on the throttle was so stiff. I couldn't go as fast as we needed to and still remain on the trail. Daniel's sled is a brand new freighter. Mine is just a rough, wobbly ping pong ball. So on the return trip, we just loaded it up.

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Anyways, we did it. The supplies are up there. Building will happen this summer.

[hunter63]

That's looks like a "trip"....lots of work...
Thanks for bringing us along.....

[crashdive123]

Awesome! Lots of work, but lots of reward at the end.

[Rick]

Man, you folks are amazing! I was worn out just looking at the pictures.

[1stimestar]

Not sure if I posted this before but it's a trip through the Alaska wilderness.

[1stimestar]

This is a video of my friends Wayne and Scarlett that I go visit every year.

[1stimestar]

So went down to Wasilla for the state roller derby tournament. Got a few cell phone pictures.

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Denali.
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Mt. Foraker with Denali in the background. This is from the south, looking north. My normal view is from the north.

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Skiis are off the Taylorcraft and tires are back on. Annual inspection is done. I'm still working on ground school.

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He's thinking of selling the Taylorcraft and buying a Citabria.

And in honor of Mother's Day, here's a great little video with some spectacular scenary and baddass women.

[hunter63]

How in the heck do you get anything done....with views like that......WOW.
Thanks again for the wonderful pic's.

PS ....when are you going to get your own TV crew?

[1stimestar]

Hahha seems like half the people I know are on tv I have been filmed several times by Life Below Zero as part of Sue's segments but they always cut me out. They don't like to show her getting help.

[Seniorman]

Wonderful videos. Thank you for posting them.

S.M.

[crashdive123]

Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1stimestar]

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Fairbanks has reached a major summer milepost: it won't be truly dark again for more than two months.

The Interior Alaska city has entered its annual string of 72 days where the sun just barely dips below the horizon at night, leaving a lingering glow known as civil twilight.

Civil twilight means the sun travels no more than 6 degrees below the horizon, said Brian Brettschneider, a climate researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks International Arctic Research Center.


"It's usable twilight," Brettschneider said, meaning people can take part in outdoor activities without needing additional light.

Civil twilight began Tuesday at 1:53 a.m., according to the U.S. Naval Observatory. The city won't see civil twilight end again until July 27 at 1:40 a.m.

Fairbanks, AK, doesn't technically receive midnight sun, but starting today, they have 24 hours of daylight plus civil twilight. @AlaskaWx pic.twitter.com/7WDI5tICIc— Brian Brettschneider (@Climatologist49) May 16, 2017
Sitting about 100 miles south of the Arctic Circle, Fairbanks doesn't technically get 24 hours of sunlight, Brettschneider said, but civil twilight can make it feel like it does.

On June 21, the longest day of summer, the sun sets in Fairbanks at 12:47 a.m., and rises at 2:59 a.m.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/fair...days-of-light/

[1stimestar]

I'm back from Chickenstock. Unfortunately, I didn't get to go see my buddies on the Yukon as we were flying and the weather was crap.

We had all of camping stuff. Me and Olivia, Daniel, Jim and Morgan, and Roger all camped together. It was a great camp set up. Since all of them flew up, we were the support gear to haul all the heavy stuff. Morgan drove my vehicle and kiddo back while I got to fly with Daniel.

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We had a couple of really nice camp jam sessions. We had fiddle, guitar, mandolin, flutes, and this dobro player stopped by.Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Friday night we played all night. Sunset.
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Sunrise.
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Moose and two calves came into camp for a drink of water.Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Daniel sold his Taylercraft and bought a Citabria.Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.

Unfortunately, this trip made me realize that Daniel and I were not meant to be. Kind of last nail in the coffin. So after a full year, I am once again single.

Next weekend I am finally having a housewarming party for Summer Solstice. Lots of jamming and fun to be had there to keep me busy.

Apparently I have some mentors. A couple that are old time jam members in the jam that I have been going to every Sunday. I had to quite violin lessons because after 5 years, I just can't afford them until my car is paid off. Mortgage you know. Anyways, they sponsored me for two classes in the Summer Arts Festival which is two weeks of all kinds of arts classes done here every year at the University. So I am taking an Irish fiddle class and a Norwegian fiddle class.

That's my update for now.

[hunter63]

.......snip

Unfortunately, this trip made me realize that Daniel and I were not meant to be. Kind of last nail in the coffin. So after a full year, I am once again single.

Next weekend I am finally having a housewarming party for Summer Solstice. Lots of jamming and fun to be had there to keep me busy.

Apparently I have some mentors. A couple that are old time jam members in the jam that I have been going to every Sunday. I had to quite violin lessons because after 5 years, I just can't afford them until my car is paid off. Mortgage you know. Anyways, they sponsored me for two classes in the Summer Arts Festival which is two weeks of all kinds of arts classes done here every year at the University. So I am taking an Irish fiddle class and a Norwegian fiddle class.

That's my update for now.

Sorry to hear about the break-up....but yeah.... somethings are not meant to be...

After a bit I sure you will bounce back....

Picture are wonderful....Thanks

[crashdive123]

Incredible pictures. Glad you found out when you did that it was time to move on. Sorry it didn't work out for you. It will.

[1stimestar]

Sad day yesterday.
When we first moved up here when I was 11, we lived in the tent for a while in the Bird Creek area.

BREAKING: Teen dies after being mauled by bear


By Beth Verge | Posted: Sun 5:32 PM, Jun 18, 2017 | Updated: Sun 9:33 PM, Jun 18, 2017

ANCHORAGE (KTUU) - A parent's worst nightmare came to life this Father's Day when a teen running an annual trail race was fatally mauled by a bear near Bird Creek.

Law enforcement officials and fellow competitors said a 16-year-old boy was participating in the Robert Spurr Memorial Hill Climb at Bird Ridge, which was being run for the 29th year straight.

Dozens of runners, including the teen, toed the starting line that morning. The mountain race begins at the start of Bird Creek Trail, and meanders through heavily wooded terrain. As for the ascent, that's a 3,400-foot vertical climb that spans three miles for adult racers and half that for juniors, those who are 17 and younger taking on the mountain.

Challenging terrain, but in those three decades, many said the territory had never proven to be a big problem.

That all changed shortly after noon Sunday.

"I've been running in the mountains for 30 years," said Brad Precosky, a director of the race. "People come down off the trail and say they've run into a bear. Sometimes that means nothing; other times, it's really serious. Like this."

The teenager reportedly sent a text message to his mother during the race, sometime around 12:30, saying he was being chased by a bear.

"The mother was here with her family, her children," said Anchorage Police Dept. Sgt. Nathan Mitchell. "They were running the race."

Precosky said the teen's fellow competitors had lost him in thick brush. When one came barreling down the trail saying there had been an attack, he said, the entire race crew went into crisis mode.

Other runners, most of whom who had completed the race already, immediately volunteered to be part of the search for the boy. They returned - weaponless - to the trail.

"There were probably a dozen mountain runners up there keeping the bear on its toes," Precosky said.

One of the runners said he saw a bear circling the teen somewhere off the beaten path.

John Weddleton, who didn't win a lottery spot for the race this year but attended to cheer his fellow runners on, was first to find the boy after the attack.

"I ran up to cheer, came down, and thought, I might as well go back up," he said. "All I knew was there was a boy missing, and missing in bear country."

He was on his own after splitting off from the main search party when he heard the rustle of a bear.

"I heard something above me and thought, maybe that's him," Weddleton said. "The bear came by me, maybe about 10 feet away, and then I saw him. No motion. He looked awful."

The police department received a call reporting the mauling around 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon.

"We didn't have a whole lot of info initially," Mitchell said, "so we started sending assets. It sounded like park rangers were ahead of us, but they didn't have any long guns.

"There really wasn't much here when we arrived," he said. "Just people pointing up at the trail."

APD, the Anchorage Fire Dept., Alaska State Troopers, the National Guard, and park rangers were all part of the search.

"We got word that it didn't look good when we got eyes on the bear around 2:30," Precosky said. "This is not - it's not something I want to see."

What was described by police as "a large black bear" that attacked the boy wasn't the only one in the area Sunday afternoon. Runners reported seeing multiple bears while along the trail during the race.

"There was a brown bear sighting, there was a black bear with cubs sighting," Precosky said. "We didn't know which was which."

After an extended search, the boy was eventually located off the main trail, about a mile up the path at about 1500 vertical feet.

"The terrain was really, really rugged," Mitchell said, "to the point where we only sent down a team of six. The officers went down, very guarded, and located the victim."

Mitchell said the teen was pronounced dead at the scene, and the body was airlifted out of the area.

"How do you respond as a parent when you hear news like that?" he said. "It's devastating. It's tough."

As family and the community mourn, for now, that bear continues to wander the trails, which remained closed as of Sunday night.

"Pray for that family," Weddleton said.

This story is being updated. Please check back for more details.

http://www.ktuu.com/content/news/Bea...429297643.html