Week 1

We had a jam-packed first week getting out on the river. The ferry from Juneau to Skagway was an unexpectedly great start to the trip: we saw humpback whales, seals, many birds, and a pod of orcas.

Sarah and Aric were a huge help in getting us ready to finally launch. We took a test drive on the Taiya River, and spread out all our gear for packing. Then, we drove to the Yukon (seeing three black bears on the drive) and camped at Teslin Crossing. The next day, we practiced flipping the boats and getting back in. (The water was very, very cold.) After some champagne, we were ready to launch! Sarah, Aric, Orca, and Willow waved us off as we set out.

The Teslin was slow-moving for the first few days. (And until we came close to Dawson about 10 days later, we saw no other paddlers except for a lone canoeist on our second day.) The current began to pick up bit by bit, but the biggest excitement came at the confluence of the Yukon River and the Teslin. We camped at Hootalinqua that night, and ended up paddling through a forest fire the next day. (Stay tuned for more on that; Ben's upcoming dispatch in the ADN - should be June 21 - gives a good account of it. We were totally fine, but it was pretty amazing.)

After not quite a week, we made it to Carmacks, where we had lots of chores to do. We were happy to get a shower, too! The campground we stayed at had bikes we could borrow, and it was great to get out on the road and pedal. Your legs don't get to do a whole lot in a kayak 8 hours a day.

Photos forthcoming...

Laying the groundwork

We've had a busy few weeks, with preparations for our Yukon trip getting into full swing. Here's a sampler of what we've been up to.

A kayak in hand is worth two posted on Craigslist, I've heard some say. After an exciting search, we procured two fine red kayaks. This photo shows an early test run of packing the boats -- this is about half the stuff that will ultimately fit in the two boats (we hope).

Next, we took the kayaks for a paddle on Westchester Lagoon. With some friendly faces looking on -- Aric, Bruce, Meghan, and Orca and Willow -- we launched into a stiff breeze (good practice for the river). I especially liked my rudder. It'll be interesting to see how the boats feel with a full load of gear and food.





We also had a great visit with Sarah and Aric, after Aric's safe and happy return from Denali. They kindly transported our kayaks (and a bunch of other stuff) down to Skagway, where we'll be meeting up with them again later this week. Thanks guys!!


Here are Orca and Willow, looking cute.












Over the last few days, we've been tackling the food for the trip -- 9 weeks' worth. We got lots of good tips from the Denali team: instant mashed potatoes and soup mix, freeze-dried fruit, garam masala...Did you know there's such a thing as powdered coconut milk? There is, and it's coming along.

This photo shows about 2 weeks' worth of food. We calculated lunches by the pound (2/3 pound per person per day), and have about 16 bars (Clif, Lara, Snickers, fruit bars, Zone) for every week of the trip. Some of the items I'm looking forward to are crunchy snack mix, cheese and crackers, and a deluxe version of Annie's mac and cheese. Ben's interested in the potato mash, masala, and dried mangoes. And fresh fish.

A couple other things

Our cabin as tree desiccator:

I've read that the relative humidity indoors in Alaska in winter is lower than in the Sahara Desert.  I found these pictures from earlier in the winter:

Before

A few needles fell off on the way out the door

After

 Spring visitor:

Hairy Woodpecker

Ski to Portage Glacier

This morning Dave and I drove down to Portage to try some crust skiing.  In the spring when there's been lots of freezing and thawing, the top layer of snow can become hard enough to support a skier.  Suddenly it's possible to ski anywhere - until the afternoon when the sun softens everything up again.  Portage was spectacular under clear skies!

Portage lake from the parking lot - the glacier is below the pointy peak on the right

Break on the way to the glacier

Portage glacier!

Dave takes a closer look

 

It was still early, so we turned around and followed other skiers toward this saddle

We huffed and puffed to reach the low ridge ahead...

 

After a bit of climbing, we suddenly found ourselves looking over Whittier and Prince William Sound.  We were both surprised - we had no idea it was that close!

The crust was so good bikes could make it, too

On the way back down, soaking in views of the glacier

an afternoon browse

We went for a pedal to Westchester Lagoon this afternoon to search for water birds, and came across a moose instead. (Baby moose was browsing nearby.) So far, mallards and goldeneyes have arrived to the open water here.

Ski Trip on Resurrection

We had fantastic weather for our ski trip on Resurrection Trail in March. We started in Hope, and spent 4 days/3 nights on the trail, ending in Cooper Landing. We loaded up our orange sleds with gear, harnessed ourselves up, and were on our way...


The trail was tough going on the first day, and continued to be challenging all the way up to the pass. But Fox Creek Cabin, where we spent our first night, was very beautiful and made the effort worthwhile. We saw fresh wolf tracks on our way up to the cabin, and had crossbills and a few other birds outside the next morning.






With a lot of ups and downs on a narrow trail, I switched to snowshoes for the second day, and Ben kept at it on his skis. We made it to Devil's Pass cabin for our second night in time for the sunset.


The wonderful sunny weather continued on Day 3, when, with the exception of a very difficult half mile of trail, we had a smooth ride downhill from the pass. We skied most of the way, but got to sit on the sleds for a good mile of fast downhilling. The last couple miles to Romig Cabin were the best trail we'd seen yet.


Our final day also went smoothly. A highlight was the sight of some very large wolf tracks, following the same trail we were.


We had a great few days out in the late winter sunshine.

Dog Mushing Retrospective

This spring brought an unexpected surprise for us: Laura met a couple from Chugiak who were looking for help training their dog team.  They didn't have to ask twice!  Starting in January, we took turns driving 20 minutes north of Anchorage to meet Alan and Barbara at their house.  We'd load the dogs in their truck, drive to a nearby trail network, harness the dogs to two sleds, and go.  Alan or Barbara mushed one team, and Laura or I followed with another.  We ran anywhere between 10 and 30 miles, at a rate of 5-10 miles per hour.  Although at first it was it was hard to tell which dog's back end one was looking at, by the end of the spring we had their names down and felt like we had 20 new friends.  It was great fun!

If this video loads, it should show a sample of one of the prettiest sections of trail.