Hatcher Pass, Part 3

Helen and I braved the short entrance to the mine shaft (see the stop sign), thoroughly enjoying the coolness within. A HUGE difference in the temp in there and outside.





















This is the end of the tracks that lead out onto the trestle as seen from the hilltop.











At this point, I'm more or less atop the area where I took Helen's photo above.


This is the side view of the trestle shown above.







Little did I know I was not only going to wind up "climbing a mountain," but even scarier, going down one, too. That's Helen in front of me, above, Donna and Mary a part of the tiny group sorta left lower center. That's where the fun started. See the cable stretched down the hill here?

I'm obviously a rotten photographer cos this photo does not show the steepness of the drop, but I was definitely not taking pictures coming down. Instead, I was hanging onto that cable for dear life and using my right hand to balance.




Looking the other way, I was whining that we weren't all the way down even then!

Finally back on something resembling flatness, I turned my attention to the water over the rocks once again. This place is just full of such great sights.

See what I mean?

Taken out the window of Donna's Honda as we headed down, down, down and back toward home again. I love this place!

Togo is displayed at Iditarod Headquarters, Wasilla

"Give Moose a Brake!"

That's the slogan on signs that line not just the Glenn Highway, but pop up along many of the corridors of Alaska. With good reason. You're putting along one moment, then the next thing you know, you're slamming on the breaks and watching a moose crossing the road right in front of you. Happened to me yesterday on the way back from Eagle River. Fortunately, I was leisurely cruising along, giving some serious thought to exiting at the next exit, Eklutna, so wasn't flying low. Next thing I know, poof, I see a big ol' moose bursting outta the brush to my right, heading straight across the road in front of me.

You know how you just react and don't really think about it. Somehow, I'm slamming on the brakes, heading for the side of the road, and checking my rear view mirror to make sure I'm not about to get slammed into from behind while I'm doing all this. Fortunately, only one other car close at that point and they obviously saw the moose, too, or were confused enough at my actions to decide to slow down, too.

Good thing, cos while all this took just seconds, as mama heads across the road at a trot, I realize that she's got her baby with her and it's closing in on the road, too. Mama looked agitated (bear?) but baby just seemed confused and balked at the edge of the road. Mama got to the median, saw it wasn't behind her, and spun around and recrossed the two lanes of northbound Glenn Hwy.

Somewhere along the line during all this and recognizing that there was traffic coming from behind us, I had the thought, "Hey, Einstein! The camera's on the car seat beside you. You should take a picture."

Duh, did, slowly moving forward as mama and then baby began to trot along the side of the road. I still wasn't quite sure how safe it was and didn't want to be added to that "Give Moose a Brake" sign total for moose collisions, but about that time 2-3 big SUV's just go flying past me and the now two cars crawling along behind me. That was scary, cos had the moose made a left, they'd have been on the road again in a heartbeat. Fortunately, all was well at that point and as the left lane cleared, I moved over into it and cautiously passed myself, as did the two cars behind me. Even better, didn't hear anything about any unwanted moose encounters by vehicles on the news, so hopefully this story had a happy ending.

And that was my Monday Adventure.

Wow, long time no write... Denali Jaunt

Looks like I've been slacking, so here are some photos from the "Driving to Denali" jaunt that Mary, Helen, Donna and I took last Friday. It turned rainy, but we didn't care. Denali National Park is glorious even between raindrops.

Idita-tourists begin to arrive

Donna, with Betty and Doris, who've just arrived for Iditarod 2007.

Doris, Betty and Donna heading out for Donna's place in Willow, where they'll be staying the first couple days.

DIno?

So, how bored am I when I'm going around seeing tiny ice dinosaur sculptures in the melting snow on top of Hazy's house?

Fire Sky

Days like today remind me why I live here. Mother Nature outdid herself with this sunset, surely one of the most spectacular I've ever seen.

Uh, yeah, just a bit of snow in Willow

Somewhere under all that snow is a four foot fence. This is one year that mushers in Willow won't be complaining about having too little snow, that's for sure.

Happy New Year!

Just as the sunlight hitting the tips of the mountain's peaks gives promise of what is to come, may your 2007 be all you've hoped for and more.

Happy New Year!!!

Weather Front Coming In!!!

The weather was changing, and fast, early this afternoon a I headed down to the post office. Snapped this across Lake Lucille around 1 PM. Looks almost like a small twister in the sky, huh? Given how much the wind has been kicking up, gusts to 50 MPH, a pretty fair comparison, tho' it was just a quirk in the clouds.

Merry Christmas!!!

Best wishes for a wonderful holiday to everyone! With 12" of snow on the ground and more falling, plus more in the forecast for tomorrow, I'm truly living in a "Winter Wonderland."

Mooned Again

Just as was the case on Monday, the moon was up big and bright again at around 4 PM today. I took this shot near Fred Meyers, looking out across Wasilla Lake. The wind had been fierce all day, so the icy surface was largely snow free, creating a nice reflection.

Big Moon Rising

Our days here in Alaska may be getting shorter and shorter, meaning I took this shot, no lie, close to 3:45 PM, but there are obviously perks that help make up for the occasionally all too brief hours of daylight.

My Sourdough columns

http://www.thesourdough.com/index.php?sectionID=308
I've been busy doing some writing for The Sourdough, an online newspaper, so have sorta been ignoring this blog, sorry. Most of mine will be found under this link, plus those by others. A few of mine may be elsewhere, depending on their topic. For instance, one about the Aurora is under the Science linked one, go figure.

Bruce Linton-Jason Mackey Dog Truck Wreck

Yikes!

That was about all I could say after seeing this photo, sent to me by Bruce, after the wreck. Amazingly enough, not only did Bruce and Jason emerge alive and relatively unharmed, but all the dogs are safely accounted for, too.

Oh, Christmas Tree

After attending a dog show at Raven Hall in Palmer the other day, I opted to cruise out past the bridge over the Matanuska River. Just beyond it a bit, I stumbled across a lovely scene. Huge, snow covered spruce trees with a gorgeous backdrop of mountains. Ah, yes, the perfect Christmas tree, perfectly decorated by Mother Nature. She does good work, doesn't she? I've added it to my CafePress site, http://www.cafepress.com/sunhusky and to the http://sunhusky.com/photos/ . It's a balmy -8 degrees right now outside, so it's definitely "beginning to look a lot like Christmas."

Holiday Gift Bazaar- Photography

I did something this weekend that I've never done before: took part as a vendor at a market, in this case Palmer's Holiday Gift Bazaar at Raven Hall. Not the way I'd normally choose to spend a day, inside with no windows, but the Reader's Digest version is that I wasn't as bored as I thought I'd be. Even made some bucks before it was all over, which made it even less boring.

Over the last few months, I've been tinkering with creating a web page to offer some of my photography for sale. http:sunhusky.com/photos/ is the result. I took a selection of the photos to the Bazaar, using it partially to see what sold best and which photo holders people liked, so count the weekend a success.
The photo shows some of the photos as well as my laptop, which I took over on Saturday and ran a slide show of the photo selection all day. The wolf head was Donna's.

The Mountain's Out!!!

Denali....

Two Year Anniversary for Hazel

Happy 2nd Anniversary, Hazy Dazy! Two years since you joined the family.

Harvest Moon

So full, so bright, it's the Harvest Moon. Some facts about the harvest moon: http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/harvest/
















Q. What is a harvest moon?

A. Simply put, the harvest moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the date of the autumn equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.
Some people claim that the harvest moon shines brighter and more golden than during normal full moons. However, since the time between moonrises on successive nights is shorter in autumn than at any other time of year, there is very little darkness between sunset and moonrise.

The continuance of the moonlight after sunset is useful to farmers in northern latitudes, who are then harvesting their crops. The full moon following the harvest moon, which exhibits the same phenomena in a lesser degree, is called the hunter's moon. A similar phenomenon to the harvest moon is observed in southern latitudes at the spring equinox on about March 21.

Q. Does the harvest moon always occur in September?














A. No, It depends on the date of the full moon with relationship to the equinox.
While it's a fact that most harvest moons do occur in September you need only to check 2001 to see that it can, from time to time, fall in October.

The one pictured occured the evening of October 5, 2006. I took these shots standing in the doorway of my back door, looking in the general direction of the southeast, where it could be seen shining brightly, the clouds creating a montage of images across its face as they floated past. If you adjust your screen and look closely at the second shot, you can see a dim silhouette of my trees in front of the moon (slightly left of it) and the almost other worldly glow of light about the moon itself. I think I'm ready for Halloween now!

Hazy's Christmas Present?

What do you think? Will Hazy like her Christmas present? True, it needs a bit of work, but since she's been to Nome, thought maybe we needed a sled around here.

Don't get too excited, tho'. No, I'm not taking up mushing. What I am going to take up with it is lawn decor, ie it's going to be a fancy lawn ornament with flowers and who knows what sitting in it next summer. Well, unless I hear the "call of the wild."

Snow on the Mountains, Take Two

As the days grow shorter, there's a crisp coolness in the air that seems to be motivating those of us who've procrastinated to get those outdoor chores done. At the same time, it'd difficult to resist pulling out the camera and sneaking off for a view of the ever changing landscape as it presents its face to us. Taken across Wasilla Lake, this photo shows how far down the mountain the shroud of snow has crept, tho' it's partially obscured by the clouds that seem to be resting on the mountain side.

Taking a more distant look, the colors of fall still linger, made all the more vivid against the blue sky. After a summer of gray clouds and what seemed at times constant rain, we'll take it. Now, true, my yard seems to have suddenly taken on a yellow hue courtesy of the birch leaves that seem to quickly cover it no matter how dedicated I am to making rounds with the bagger, thus reviving my philosophy of, "Whatever. I'll snow soon and cover it up anyway. I'll worry about it after breakup." Ah, yes, Scarlet lives on in Alaska, too.

The Color of Fall

Fall is fleeting in Alaska, so we take advantage of it as much as possible. Captured these all too brief displays of color in Palmer on Tuesday.

Donna's on her way...North to Alaska

Donna left PA on Thursday, heading for her new life in Alaska. Bonnie Lundberg snapped this photo in MN as Donna and her brother-in-law (who's driving the moving truck) prepared to leave the Lundberg's after spending the night there.

RIP Amiga

RIP, Amiga

1990 - Sept. 4, 2006
(Photo taken mid-August)

Amiga left me this morning. While there's a huge hole in my heart, had I been given the chance to orchestrate her last day, I couldn't have written a better script.

As anyone who knew her knows, she enjoyed people. Thus, her day couldn't have been happier as she had company. Donna's "Joe the Painter," who is "Joe the Deck Guy" here, was here and she had fun visiting with him and was thoroughly entertained as he pressure cleaned the deck. I watched her taking it in from all angles and would have sworn I heard a doggie belly laugh at one point as Hazy came flying out from under the deck, totally freaked out.

Later, as I joined Joe to talk over the project, Amiga snagged some of my McDonald's fries, prancing around like a young dog. She was the world's worst watch dog but would bark incessantly if she knew you, so we were getting the full "Amiga Mouth" treatement. She'd also snagged some Pepperoni stick treats, too, during a couple visits to the house for a quick nap on her doggie pillow, one she would periodically share with the Foxy or Hazel.

Later in the day, she was even chatting through the fence with the neighbor's dogs. When I called them in that evening, however, I realized she wasn't with the other two. I got her inside, but it was obvious she wasn't going to be with me much longer. I sat on the floor with her, remembering how she always liked to touch you with a paw or lean (or, okay, sit on your feet), so I was making it a point to maintain physical contact, even a touch, giving her ear rubs and just talking softly to her, even telling her at one point that, "It's okay to go, Amiga." I'm convinced Foxy and Hazel knew. Foxy, who grew up with Amiga from the time she was 10 mths old, lay quietly nearby, making no effort to interfere but quietly, soberly watching. Normally she would have been all over me, wanting ear scratches and attention. Even Hazy, normally a bundle of energy, seemed subdued, watching it all pass with those expressive eyes.

It was all quiet and amazingly peaceful. Amiga simply shut her eyes at some point and didn't wake up. Thus, she lived her final day exactly the way she lived her entire life, just enjoying what life tossed at her. I'm fully confident that when she closed her eyes for the last time, she was happy, with some ear scratches and rubs stock piled for eternity.

For Amiga's full story, click on this link.

http://sunhusky.blogspot.com/2005_09_01_sunhusky_archive.html

Alaska State Fair

What do you think of when you think of going to the fair? If you're like most, it's bright lights, cotton candy, ferris wheels, merry-g0-rounds and cute critters in the animal exhibits. The Alaska State Fair has all that and more. From the top of the ferris wheel, you look down on not just the fairgrounds but the surrounding mountains, an awe-inspiring view. Kids flock to rides while their parents chuckle as the browse through the Salmon on Parade exhibit.

The merry-go-round, with its majestic, brightly colored steeds circles endlessly, delighting those to cowardly or perhaps even sensibly "mature" to tackle the more thrilling rides. It's a time to forget your troubles or, here in Alaska, the approaching winter, and simply remember what it was like to be a kid again. Ol' fashioned and a bit hookey, true, but fun.

Rainy Daze

I took this picture in late June while having lunch at the lodge in Hatcher Pass. Two months later, it's just as applicable today. It seems as though all it's done this summer is rain, rain to the point that the Mat-Su Valley has suffered flooding. Roads have been washed out and homes lost, with even a couple mudslides adding to the mess here and there. Makes me glad I live on a hill, even if I am beginning to think the dogs may be sprouting webbed feet any day now.

Snow on the mountains

Hmm, after days and days and days of rain, the clouds finally lifted, giving us our first real view of the mountains in some time. This was the sight that greeted us. Oh, my, termination dust in August?

Sad news....Susan Butcher is now on the trail with Joe Redington, Sr

This is how I prefer to remember Susan, with a smile that could light up the world. RIP, Susan, and don't forget to call "Trail!" when you, with Granite in lead, pass Joe Sr. on the trail.

Susan Butcher
Dec. 26, 1956 - August 5, 2006

Photo (1999) Courtesy Bonnie Lundberg