Yukon Quest 2012

The Yukon Quest covers 1,000 miles between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska during the depths of the Arctic winter. It is by far one of the most extreme winter sports out there and it has now made its way onto my bucket list! I'm sure if I ask Kitty she could tell me all I need to know about mushing...Michelle and I went down to the Chena River this morning and watched all the dog teams take off on there 1000 mile journey. It's a good time to start the race, the weather is supposed to be nice for the next few days as a high pressure fills the eastern interior of Alaska. This mornings temp at the starting line was around 8 below and the mushers might see some daytime highs above 0 along there way! The teams start on the frozen river and travel from check point to check point. They all carry Spot GPS systems and are easily tracked all the to Whitehorse:

http://yukonquest.com/site/live-tracking/  


We took a video and posted it to youtube:

 http://youtu.be/DIfOt-FEj0A

Here are some photos we got (keep in mind we are all standing on the Chena River!):

49 Below, check it out!!!

We survived our first cold snap and I'm sure it won't be our last! The month of January was extreme to say the least...There were 16 days where it was 40 below zero or colder, which made it one of the coldest January's in 40 years. The all time record was set in 1970 where they saw 21 days of 40 below or colder! There were several days where the low temps were 50 below or colder. Not much to do when it's that cold, except hunker down in the cabin and enjoy some hot chocolate :-)

But one fun thing to do is throw a hot cup pf water into the air and watch it evaporate. Michelle and I were told about this neat trick and have been waiting to do it, so click on the link and check out the youtube video we posted:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUslOkdquBk&list=HL1328419414&feature=mh_lolz

And I guess this makes it official:

Just a few shots from a morning when it was 42 below...

 

First Snow

Last week (October 13th) was our first measurable snowfall of the year. It was a little late according to some people but that's ok, it will be hanging around for a really long time! We only got about 2 1/2 to 3 inches, but it is so cold none of it is melting. The thermometer read 10 degrees that morning and as one of my friends would say "welcome to the icebox"....

Here is the driveway and the thermometer on the porch:

Evaporation fog

Woke up this morning and the thermometer on the porch read 18 degrees F, the coldest yet! No significant snow yet, but it is on the way. The ground and all the trees were all white with frost, in the sun it sparkled like diamonds.

The lake across from the cabin had a thin layer of steam fog advecting across the surface. It is caused by a cold air mass passing over a warm moist surface, this is also why it as known as evaporation fog. In this case the lake has not frozen over yet and is warmer than the air temperature (even though that lake is no where close to being warm enough to swim in).

Sourdough Fuel

I had mentioned before that the cabin is heated by heating oil. Today I finally got my fuel delivered by Sourdough Fuel. It was definitely a new experience. It's basically a traveling gas station that comes to your front door. I know I probably sound silly, but it's not every-day-living when your house, I mean cabin, is ran off of oil from a tank that sits right outside your stoop.

Anyways, the delivery was this afternoon and the delivery man pulled the hose from the tanker and filled it up. He said the oil comes out at a rate of 55-65 gallons a minute. It literally took him longer to back the truck up than to fill the tank. I think he thought I was crazy because I was asking questions and taking pictures, oh well!!! 

Wickersham Dome

Last weekend we had this great idea to head to the arctic circle. It's about 150 miles north of Fairbanks on the Dalton Highway. Alex and I got a really late start thinking that normally 150 miles wouldn't take that long, but we both didn't know that the Dalton Highway is a dirt road that follows the pipeline all the way to the Beaufort Sea!

I'm not sure if anyone knows the t.v. show Ice Road Truckers on the Discovery Channel, but  the ice road that the truckers travel on is filmed on the Dalton Highway. We started out in the afternoon thinking we would be back before sun down, as we got further away from town we both realized that this trip would not be doable.

To make it feel as if the whole day was not a waste Alex and I found a trail and went for a hike. We pulled off the highway and turned into the Wickersham Dome Trailhead. These trails are designed for mushers, so we didn't have the time or resources to do any of the full loops (20-30 mile loops and some go out 100 +). We just did an out and back, which was roughly twelve miles round trip. It's really neat, these trails are maintained by BLM and there are cabins along the trail that you can reserve and stay the night. It would be neat to snow shoe or cross country ski in and stay the night. The trails/cabins would be perfect for viewing the aurora borealis.

The whole time walking through these trails I was nervous we would run into a bear or moose. There was a lady and her dogs who we stopped and talked to for awhile. She had her gun and bear spray on her and that didn't calm my nerves!! All we saw though were a ton of moose and caribou tacks, oh and fox poop!

I didn't get a lot of good pictures, it was overcast and really hazy. I tried to get some good ones and here they are.  

We took the Summit Trail and made it to the summit:

This would be perfect for viewing the aurora, there is a fire pit and the view goes for miles:
 

I think I forgot to mention it was cold!! We estimated that it was maybe 38 F, there was snow in the shady spots and the creeks were frozen over:

The only animal we saw was a ptarmigan. They are normally a brown color in the spring/summer months, but during the winter they turn white as snow:

The view from the summit looking toward the arctic circle. The picture doesn't do it justice and I wish the camera wouldn't pick up so much haze, but it was beautiful from the top. There was a cloud bank off in the distance sitting on the Brooks Range and seeing that made the whole trip worth it.

On our way back the sun was starting to set and I snapped this shot:

The Pipeline

If you were ever wondering where a lot of (all) the oil the U.S. likes to hoard comes from, well here you go... It all begins in Prudhoe Bay, on Alaska's northern slope where the largest oil field in North America is located. It spans a wide 15 miles by 40 miles. The oil is sent through a pipe, which travels 800 miles from the north slope to Valdez, Alaska. Not only does it travel 800 miles, it crosses 3 mountain ranges, 34 major rivers and 800 smaller rivers. Pretty neat, huh!?!?!


Last weekend a friend of mine, Alex, and I wanted to get out of town, so we cruised a couple miles north and stumbled upon the pipeline. The pipeline travels above ground, as well as, below and the pipes have a diameter of 48''. Here's the pipeline: 


If you can click on this picture to enlarge it you should read the pipeline history and stats: