I moved to Alaska this summer, driving there from MN with two cats and a dear friend, Katie. It was an 11-day adventure, and the scenery was breathtaking. Now I am exploring life in Alaska, and find that posting pictures for family and friends is so much easier than trying to describe it!
So I was telling my dad the other day that when the skies are clear, you can see Denali (Mt. McKinley) from here if you get up to a tall hill. Today was one of those incredibly clear beautiful days. I snapped a picture of Denali for you dad- it's not very good, but I pulled over on a narrow road at the top of a hill and hiked through knee-deep snow to snap a shot between the trees, so it's the best I could do:
See that white blob on the horizon? That's Mt. McKinley. Dad, you might need to double-click on the picture to see it enlarged. It kind of looks small, but keep in mind, that's over 200 miles away (400 if you're driving). As a comparison, here's the Alaska range from the same place, just across Cook Inlet:
More beautiful days for walks with Hooper- snowmobiles make fabulous paths through the woods:
Today I drove out to the Kenai Wildlife Refuge and hiked along Kelly Lake to visit some friends staying in a cabin for a couple days. The refuge has cabins that can be reserved. This one was on Kelly Lake, only about a half mile from the parking area. The weather was incredible- the Kenai range looked beautiful, all covered in snow. Here are some pictures from Kelly Lake:
Here's the Kelly Lake cabin:
We hiked the seven lakes trail to Hikers Lake. It was beautiful and warmed into the upper 40's, on the way back the snow had visibly melted.
Hiker's Lake, with the Mystery Hills in the background:
Supervision on the lake:
Lance Mackey won the Iditarod today. Four years in a row- he's amazing.
I'm house-sitting/dog sitting over break- there is an ancient Newfounland and a sled-dog. Sam, the Newfoundland is HUGE and she's really old, and she will not be rushed. She'll take 45 min for a bathroom break, and waits at least an hour after being fed to actually eat. She's kind of turned my world upside-d0wn, I can't really plan my time because my life is now on 'Sam time'
Hooper is a sled-dog. He's younger and a ton of fun. He likes to hold hands- with his paw always touching my foot. He was found as a puppy curled up on the doorstep in -70 weather in Hooper Bay.
Hooper's good at warning when there are moose in the yard. Sometimes they're hard to see:
There's great paths to walk out here along the lake, and all the neighborhood dogs come to join in the fun.
Nothing too exciting to update on- just trying to get through a bunch of IEPs before the meetings. I officially was hired for next year, just need to sign and submit some paperwork. It's nice knowing I have a job, it sounds like money's pretty tight in the lower 48 and some places might be cutting psychs, or not have any new openings for awhile. Now I need to find a place to live before my lease ends in May.
The Iditarod has officially started an hour ago- probably not all the mushers have even left the gate yet. They do a publicity start in Anchorage on Saturday- I thought about going, but it's not the real thing and packed with bystanders, so it didn't seem worth the long drive for all the crowds and it not being real and all. After Anchorage the mushers pack up their dogs and drive to the real start, which varies based on snow. This year it started in Willow. We haven't had much snow this year, it's been really dry up here, so there isn't a lot of snow to pad the dogs as they run, they're saying it might be a tough race this year. The papers are full of Iditarod coverage and musher profiles right now, which is fun. This is a way bigger deal than the winter Olympics were up here. There are a bunch of local mushers competing, so it will be fun to watch the updates and see how everyone is doing. A friend of a friend has been training a few mushers who are going out this year- he's won the Iditarod in the past- it's fun hearing stories about them in training, and it will be interesting to watch their progress. There is a website you can go to and track the mushers and results:
The latest crisis at one of my elementary schools lately has been a moose family that has found they really like eating on the playground. It resulted in a crisis intervention when the teachers who had playground duty had to try to herd the kids away from the moose and to a safer area. We have a system worked out now to herd the kids first, and moose second. Our poor janitor has been kept busy trying to get the moose out- they are so huge, they just ignore him when he tries to get them to move. He uses a stick and one of those empty plastic water bottles from the water dispenser machines- he explained that if the moose kick at him, the bottle is big enough to absorb the kick, but not hurt him or them. I tried taking some pictures of the moose being herded out of the playground- moose can be hard to photograph- they really blend in. If you look close, you can see the mama and baby moose walking behind the light pole in the first picture. In the second picture, they are walking and Jerry the janitor has his water bottle and pole. The fences are as tall as he is, yet the moose can jump over them from a standing position. Very impressive.
We've had some really warm weather lately- while I was thinking it would be too bad if the trees got confused and started budding, the locals were pretty concerned that the bears would come out of hibernation and be hungry and crabby. Normally when they wake up they glut themselves with grass because their digestive systems haven't worked all winter and there is 'stuff' they need to get out. When they wake and there's no grass, it can be a problem. The moose have been moving a lot as well, because more uneaten ground has opened up. Here's one in front of my neighbor's house:
It has been sad in my apartment lately- my neighbor in the house passed away unexpectedly, and I feel so sad when I pull into the driveway and see the empty yard where the dogs used to greet me and the darkened windows. I really need to find a new place to stay. It's just too sad here.
