All Spruced Up...

Well not exactly, down is more likely. The spruce bark beetle infestation that hit southern Alaska a while back has apparently made it's way here. We have several large spruce that died over the winter and needed to be removed. Since a couple were near the power line, we called the local electric service and they came out and dropped them.

While they did a good job dropping the trees, they still had to be bucked up and hauled away, so that's my job.

This was a pretty impressive tree; it was kind of sad to see it go.

The logs were so big you could only get three at a time into the bucket.  But they also dropped some small birch that apparently were in the way, so used them to fill the load. Lots of firewood!

Social Distancing...

Saw some funny signs for the so-called social distancing that we're supposed to do to avoid close contact with the Covid virus.

Apparently this is being used in parts of Canada as an official information sign.

This one is from a restaurant in Chicago. Trubisky is the Bear's quarterback, who had a less than stellar performance last year.

This was posted on another blog, it didn't say where it was from.

Spring has sprung...

Last week there was still a foot of snow on the ground and it got below freezing every morning, so it hardly seemed like spring. This week it's been getting up to near sixty, the snow's mostly gone, and the mosquitos are coming out, a sure sign of spring!

The road is already dry and all the water's running in the ditches. Most years this would still be a muddy mess with the snowmelt runoff going down the road. But thanks to my neighbor, who got his track Bobcat going and cleared all the hard packed snow off the road, the water's where it belongs.

Just cleared the snow off the upper dog yard a couple of weeks ago (previous post) and now it's dry enough to move them up to their summer spot. They seem very happy to get out of the muddy part of the  yard.

The old Ski Doo is getting a new magneto, throttle cable, and pull start rope. As soon as that's done, it's back to working on the 650 Guzzi. Fortunately the 850T is ready to go for a ride, maybe tomorrow?

Breakup...

After the last dog run, it's time to haul in firewood. While some years it's a fairly leisurely job. this year was a race to haul wood before the trails were too soft.

Cut down a bunch of standing dead spruce next to the dog trail. With the snow near 3 ft deep. had to snowshoe to chain saw the trees. Wanted to get them last year when there was less snow, but the trail melted out too soon.

Not a huge load of firewood but had to hurry to get it home before the trail got too soft in the near fifty degree weather.

Jack Black likes this weather just fine, now he can sit on the water tank, get an occasional drink, and keep an eye on everything.

Scraping off the upper dog yard before the mud arrives, then we'll move the dogs here when it starts to dry out. The Russians have a name for this time, Rasputitsa, the season of mud. Up here we just call it breakup, the shloppy time between winter and spring.

Last Dog Run?

The forecast for the coming week is temps in the forties and mixed rain and snow, so maybe yesterday's run will end the season. Here's a few pics, no real story, just another dog run.

Heading down the trail, it was a beautiful day to run dogs.

Taking a break after the turn for home.

Heading up to the ridge and the climb back to the dog yard. Here's where I get to work, kicking (pedaling) along side the sled, encouraging them with an occasional "let's go boys, almost there!" Sometimes I throw in "and girl" so Missy doesn't feel left out, but she never seems to notice. Not sure if it helps, but keeps me busy and warms me up on the cold days.

April's fool...

Well April's here and it finally quit snowing... it turned to rain today! But was able to get out yesterday with the dogs before the rain started, so that's something I guess. I'll just keep running them until the weather finally gets too warm, so maybe that makes me the fool?

The pond near the creek crossing has started to fill with overflow, a sure sign of spring.

Here's the weather summary for March. The average temperature for the month was 8.8° which was 2.6° below normal. The high was 38° on the 26th while the low was -41° on the 5th. Total precipitation was 1.6" which was 1.3" above normal. Snowfall totaled 27.5" and the end of the month depth was 32". Updated summary with the UAF GI climate chart.

Snow and more snow...

March is usually one of the drier months up here, we'd expect maybe half a foot of snow, but we've gotten almost two and a half feet so far this month, that's about three quarters of a meter to the French. It's getting to be a problem finding places to push it when plowing and of course have to worry about the snow load on the roofs, since it was near freezing when it snowed, so the snow was much wetter and heavier than normal.

Had to dig out the tractor every time it snowed this past week.

The snow berms by the driveway are so high, can't dump over them with the loader, so have to push it to a spot further from the house.

But at least there's still plenty of snow to run dogs. Last year at this time, the trails were largely melted out.

While it looks like a sunny spring day, this is what you wear with a brisk north wind blowing. Too much fun!

Tripping Out...

After not doing any trips last winter due to the hernia, that sucked in more ways than I care to remember, my friend Bill and I finally got out for a trip with the dogs.

The dogs staked out with the sled at the trail head. This is actually on the way back, I didn't get any pics the first day, so this one will have to do for both ways.

The real excitement came about half way to the cabin when we hit a wide section of overflow ice at one of the creek crossings. Made it almost all the way across when the sled broke through the ice and got stuck. I had to get off the runners and push it out. The water was almost knee deep and got into my boots. Now normally that's no big deal, cause I usually wear VB (bunny) boots, which are water proof. Unfortunately I had chosen to wear pac type (Sorel) boots and the felt liners got soaked. But it was above freezing by then, so mostly just had cold feet and no toes were frozen. The rest of the trip in to the cabin was uneventful, except for some side hill ice that sent the sled crashing into trees. But alls well that ends well and we made it to the cabin a little damp, slightly sore, but largely intact.

Bill heading out from the cabin the next morning. It warmed up and snowed a couple of inches over night, so made for some slow trails.

Typical shot on the run back to the trail head. It warmed up to the upper thirties (about 4° C to the French) and the wet snow made for a slog. But the dogs hung in there and we made it out after many stops and starts. Not the best trip ever, but a lot better than sitting home, thinking about it.
BTW, the truck fired up just fine after sitting out all night, so I guess the new battery solved the starting problem.

Getting Started...

With all the snow we've been getting this winter, have had to move the pickup a lot to plow around the garage. The last time, or maybe the time before that, it wouldn't start. Cranked merrily away but wouldn't fire. Since it was below zero, I waited a few days until it warmed up, then threw a tarp over it and put an electric heater underneath the engine. Also plugged in the engine heater, but it didn't seem to be working. Anyway, it fired right up after a couple of hours, so put it into the garage to let it thaw out.

The recalcitrant rig, waiting to be warmed up.

Then went to town and bought a new heater pad, the kind that's glued to the bottom of the oil pan. But before installing it, plugged the old one in again just to check it and it worked fine, no idea why it didn't get warm before. So then checked the battery and it only had 12.3 volts, so maybe that's the problem. Hard to believe it needs replacement, it's only ten years old! Will be hauling the dogs out for a trip in the "park" next week, so better pick up a new battery to get'er going on these cold mornings.

February Summary...

Here's the NWS summary for Feb...
Mean monthly temperature was -6°F, which was 4.7°F below normal. The maximum temperature was 29°F on the 8th of the month, while the minimum temperature was -42°F on the 14th. There were 17 days when the temperature dropped to -20° or colder at the airport. While not a record, it was the coldest Feb since 2011, but no where near the record set in Feb. 1979 of -27°.
The total monthly precipitation was 0.5", which was 0.06" above normal. Snowfall totaled 8" and the end of the month depth at the airport was 21".

Kind of an odd month where we had a couple of warm spells when it got to almost thirty above and then several cold spells when it got down to near forty below.
But we were able to get out with the dogs, so that's something,  I guess.

Taking a break on the way back home. At least the sun's up at lot higher now, even tho it's not much warmer than last month.

Battle of the Bus...with 3 Updates

Ever since the John Krakauer  book and Sean Penn movie (Into the Wild) came out, there's been a steady stream of visitors wanting to visit the old bus where Chris McCandless died.

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/families-voice-support-of-bridge-across-river-to-reach-into/article_270e76a2-5223-11ea-bc85-3b3bc31e06df.html

Now they want to build a bridge, at the cost of how many million dollars, plus annual maintenance for upkeep. The easiest thing would be to haul the bus out to a more accessible spot where the trekkers don't have to cross the swift Teklanika River. They used to haul in mining equipment, that was the original purpose of the Stampede Trail. Why would they want to go the expense of a bridge rather than getting a small dozer and sledge to haul it out in the winter when the ground's frozen? Inconceivable!

Just like the book and movie, this print is a glamorized view of the bus, with a panoramic view of mountains in the background. In reality, the bus sits in a grove of trees, largely hidden from any scenic views.

I visited the area in the 70's with a friend who was going there on his dog team.The state had some open to entry land for homesteading. Since I was getting into back country skiing, I tagged along just for the adventure of skiing into some new places. We camped out near the bus and checked it out while we were there. Nothing special, just an old city bus that someone had hauled in for a hunting shelter. It had a wood stove, some cots, and a table and chairs. Kind of rough, but usable in a pinch. Now a days, it's apparently been stripped of most of the furnishings and the windows are mostly broken. Seems like a sad reminder of someone's wasted life.

Update: And then there's this...
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/five-tourists-rescued-after-trying-to-reach-into-the-wild/article_47aee2f8-567d-11ea-a879-47e7c8ec707d.html

Update 2: And now the government steps in...
http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/denali-borough-proposes-moving-magic-bus-east-of-teklanika-river/article_e8e2b0ac-58e7-11ea-85c4-1f512e53897b.html
After almost thirty years of inaction, they're going to talk about it!

Update 3: Finally the government takes action!

http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/denali-borough-assembly-supports-removal-of-mccandless-bus/article_1f9433e0-6681-11ea-b1db-e73f0b3be5f2.html

Unfortunately, the bus is not on borough land, their vote is kind of meaningless.

Cold January?...

We didn't really need the NWS to confirm it, but here's their summary:
Mean monthly temperature was -21 °F, which was 13.5° F below normal. The maximum temperature was 4°F on the 15th of the month, while the minimum temperature was -43°F on the 8th. This was the coldest Jan since 2006 and ranked as 16th all time coldest in 112 years of record.
The total monthly precipitation was 0.42", which was 0.16" below normal. Snowfall totaled 7.3" and the depth at the end of the month was 19".

But so far, it's gotten a lot warmer in Feb...

It was warm enough, about fifteen above, for the older dogs to get down on their bellies to cool off on the way back home. What's interesting is how the three oldest have figured that out, while the youngsters just stand around waiting to get going again. They'll learn!