This is our yard with a very large moose calf standing next to the sign that reads "Ye Old Watering Hole, which is where we dump the beloved slop bucket that catches our water under the sink. Mama was on the other side of the house and you better believe that David took this photo and ran back into the cabin!
One event that Fairbanks holds in the winter is the Tired Iron which is a race (of sorts) of old snow machines.
This photo was taken on 2/22/11 on or trip to Talketna
Of course, one of the main attractions in the area is dog mushing in all forms. Here is a "fun" race at Dog Musher's Hall, right down the road from our cabin...weekly races for all sorts of amateurs.
On of our last "winter" trips was a day trip to the Blackwater area and a skiing trip with friends. David in snowshoes.
In June I was lucky enough to hook up with two ornithologists who took it upon themselves to check 9 boreal owl boxes along the Steese Highway going out of Fairbanks twice a week, from before the chicks were born to when they left the nest.
In June we decided to take Fred on a shake down float on the Chena River to see how he did in a canoe.
Before we went on the Clearwater River for a canoeing trip David, Fred and I went to camp on its banks in late April. Note all the snow on the ground.
We made our annual trek to Chicken for Chickenstock, the little bluegrass festival that a friend of ours runs at her parents gold camp in Chicken. This year we added an actual gold panning trip to the gold camp of a workmate of David's. Never again. First of all it started to hail. Then I got stuck in sucking mud and had to take off my boots to get out and then retrieve my boots by popping them out with a shovel. Yuck! The people we visited had a real deal going and used a sluice box.
Our first canoeing camping trip of the season was with Jack Wilbur, David's boss and 4th generation Fairbanksian and super canoer. On May 5th David and I with 2 other men and Jack went for an overnight trip on the Clearwater River. Cold but really great and we learned a great deal about canoeing and camping.
After this trip we never cooked on a coleman stove again.
We take the solstice very seriously here and along with the midnight sun baseball game which we have attended, we have the Midnight Sun race with over 3000 runners, from all over the country, many is costumes. Fittingly it starts about 8 pm and, you will notice how light it is,
In June one of David's clients took us on a great flight over the Alaska Range. We had hoped that we would be able to have him drop us off in August for a weekend camping trip, but the weather never cooperated. But we had a great flight. The funny thing is, he parks his little, fabric covered plane right in his backyard!!!
We had a lovely 4th of July in Homer, listening to Dylan's band, Burnt Down House play at two fundraisers and then ride in a fire truck with Fred in the 4th of July parade.
In August we had friends come to visit and we took them on our favorite trip, canoeing on Tangle Lakes to fish and camp.
A big trip for us was the Labor Day trip to Haines and Skagway, 1600 miles. The big draw...bears!!!!
I was so lucky to go winter camping with Peg Billingsley, the musher that I am helping in her training for the Yukon Quest 2012. here we are at -10 camping overnight. I built the fire!!!!