Hello all, to day it is 14 degrees F. What a difference from earlier this week when it was a -29 degrees. That is over a 40 degree difference. Like going from 30 to 70 degrees. Wow! We have received about 2 or 3 inches of snow this past week and more coming. We have about 10 inches on the ground now but need more! Going to move the snow machines to the house to get them ready for riding.
There have been some postings concerning Alaska becoming crowded. I am concerned about that too, but if you look on the positive side, there is one person per square mile here in Alaska. Now if you take out the population and land mass south of the Alaskan Range, I would suspect that that density is reduced to about 1/4 of a person per square mile.
One of my most favorable experiences here in Alaska is when we went to the Black River to fish for pike. There were eight of us and three boats. My boats gas tank capacity is 25 gallons so we put in a spare tank of 40 gallons and 4 fifty gallon barrels in the front. Got home with about 30 gallons to spare.
The trip was to drive from here in North Pole to Circle . and put in at the Yukon.
Circle is on the Yukon River, and is where we launched our boats. There is a link at the bottom of this write up that shows pictures of our trip and a view of Circle.
You will see a picture of a motel or lodge that was being built. What a stupid idea. Circle has a population of about 100 people , and the only reason people come there is to launch their boats to get out of there. Any way construction was stopped due to lack of funding.
So we got on the Yukon and navigated down stream past Fort Yukon and went up the Porcupine River to the Black River. Stayed for eight days. Out of contact with the world for those days.
Good food. good company, and the beer was good too.
Interesting thing is the only animal we saw was the mink, which is in the slide show. We did have critter alarms but the only thing that set them off was me at 2 in the morning. When I did set them off no one got up. So much for them!!
As you look at the pictures remember it is July and the sun is up 24/7.
Here is the link Pike fishing
You need to click on the pictures to change them.
Jim<
Friday, December 5, 2008
Friday, November 28, 2008
Yukon Quest
Today is the day after Thanksgiving, I wish you all a belated Happy Thanksgiving. We got about an inch of snow over the week and it has warmed up to 7 degrees today!!! When my wife and I came here, we expected to see dog teams and dog sled races, but we did not expect to have one of the most challenging dog sled races come right by our home. No it is not the Iditarod but the Yukon Quest.
The Yukon Quest is considered to be more challenging than the Iditarod. The Quest goes for 1000 miles from Fairbanks to Whitehorse in the Yukon one year and the next year it is from Whitehorse to Fairbanks. Next year, February 14th, 2009, they will race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks.
One of the reasons the Quest is considered more challenging is that the Iditarod starts next year on March 8th in Willow, AK. while the Quest starts February 14th. In February here in the Interior, we are still averaging temperatures well below zero. In fact last year, if I remember correctly (see video at bottom), it was about -20 degrees. (At these temperatures you have to drink your beer in less than 30 minutes or it freezes). In March the temperature manages to stay above zero most of the time, so the weather is what makes the Quest race more challenging.
The Quest does not commemorate any particular event like the Iditarod (in 1925 the trail was used to transport diphtheria serum to Nome, Alaska). The Quest trail follows old gold prospectors trails and is named after the Yukon River for which most of the race occurs on.
The years that the race starts in Fairbanks, people gather on the river for, what else, parties. Our first year here our next door neighbors had a party where we wore Hawaiian garb. Leis, flowered shirts were the norm. Of course we wore them over coats. Then as the teams came by, usually one team every two minutes, they were handed cookies. Last year we went to our friends about two miles down river and handed sloppy Joes. It was so cold they had wooden pallets to stand on so your feet wouldn't get to cold.
The basic route the race takes when it starts in Fairbanks is to North Pole via the Chena River. Then on to Chena Hot Springs, Central, Circle where they get on the Yukon and on to Whitehorse. When they start in Whitehorse, it is just the reverse. For more information on the race route and on the race go to this link.Yukon Quest Here is a video of last years Quest as it goes by our friends home. At the very end, one person is handing the musher sloppy-joe sandwich. You may need to download the video to see play without stopping.
There was a request on an earlier post to video the water flashing to vapor, will do when it gets cold enough. This will probably be in January 2009.
The Yukon Quest is considered to be more challenging than the Iditarod. The Quest goes for 1000 miles from Fairbanks to Whitehorse in the Yukon one year and the next year it is from Whitehorse to Fairbanks. Next year, February 14th, 2009, they will race from Whitehorse to Fairbanks.
One of the reasons the Quest is considered more challenging is that the Iditarod starts next year on March 8th in Willow, AK. while the Quest starts February 14th. In February here in the Interior, we are still averaging temperatures well below zero. In fact last year, if I remember correctly (see video at bottom), it was about -20 degrees. (At these temperatures you have to drink your beer in less than 30 minutes or it freezes). In March the temperature manages to stay above zero most of the time, so the weather is what makes the Quest race more challenging.
The Quest does not commemorate any particular event like the Iditarod (in 1925 the trail was used to transport diphtheria serum to Nome, Alaska). The Quest trail follows old gold prospectors trails and is named after the Yukon River for which most of the race occurs on.
The years that the race starts in Fairbanks, people gather on the river for, what else, parties. Our first year here our next door neighbors had a party where we wore Hawaiian garb. Leis, flowered shirts were the norm. Of course we wore them over coats. Then as the teams came by, usually one team every two minutes, they were handed cookies. Last year we went to our friends about two miles down river and handed sloppy Joes. It was so cold they had wooden pallets to stand on so your feet wouldn't get to cold.
The basic route the race takes when it starts in Fairbanks is to North Pole via the Chena River. Then on to Chena Hot Springs, Central, Circle where they get on the Yukon and on to Whitehorse. When they start in Whitehorse, it is just the reverse. For more information on the race route and on the race go to this link.Yukon Quest Here is a video of last years Quest as it goes by our friends home. At the very end, one person is handing the musher sloppy-joe sandwich. You may need to download the video to see play without stopping.
There was a request on an earlier post to video the water flashing to vapor, will do when it gets cold enough. This will probably be in January 2009.
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