Playing around in my backyard

Last weekend I was lucky enough to stay at home and enjoy the local trails in my backyard with some friends. It only takes a quarter mile of squirrelly single track trail to get through my property and finally pop out onto the Dunbar Trail.
The Dunbar is a winter trail spanning decades of different use. Originally it was a utilitarian travel corridor for trappers and bush residents to reach the Alaska Railroad or Fairbanks to get supplies. Now it still serves the same purpose for some; but for recreationalists like me it opens up interior Alaska for an enjoyable day trip or an epic trip to Nome if I had the gumption.

Once Luke, Heather and I made it to the dilapidated cabin it was time to hang a left off of the Dunbar and dive into a single track route until we finally cut the Fireplug trail which would ultimately take us into Ester where we had stashed a vehicle to get us back home.



On Sunday George, Brodie and Kiara stopped by for a ski-jor outing. We enjoyed the great weather and fast trails on the Dunbar.





Josie pulled like a champ for most of the day, but she did run out of gas after the warm sun caused her to overheat a little bit.

George is looking good while Brodie eats some snow and moons the camera.

We had to cut our trip a little short since I blew out a ski after trying to take a corner a little too fast…nothing beats the Interior in the spring!

Birkebeiner Rookies

With the 35th Birkebeiner around the corner, I flew down to Wisconsin to compete in the race along with my mother, brother, sister and soon to be sister in law, Heidi. The Conditions for the race were premier and the field of nearly 7000 competitors were welcomed by cheering spectators on our way towards the finish line on Main Street in downtown Hayward.

This years rookie class: Myself, Heidi, Danielle,Nathan and Mary Ann.

I really enjoyed the race and finished in the top 20% in the classic division but my brother stole the show by blowing away the competition in the Carhartt class.


Danielle finishes her first ski race.

Ma hardly broke a sweat on the trail.

We were fortunate enough to stay with Heidi’s parents at their cabin on Island Lake in Northern WI. My brother Nathan and I got out ice fishing a couple times and had a few crappies flopping on the ice after each outing.

Once the race weekend came to an end we traveled south, I got to spend some time with my Pa and Katz at the Home Farm. I did not have much time, but we made the most of it. We played some ping-pong, kept the horses fed, poured some cement in the basement remodel job, got out on a great pheasant hunt, and caught up with friends and other family members.

I even shot straight for a change!

Nugget made several nice retrieves througout the day and we ended up with 9 nice roosters.

The Man in the White Pajamas

My Buddy Luke and I had planned on hunting caribou on the North Slope of the Brooks Range together this past weekend, but when his lower back locked up on him he was forced to back out. The weather looked promising and I figured that this might be my only chance to put some red meat in the freezer, so I jumped in my truck and headed about 160 miles north of the Arctic Circle in search of caribou, or at least a good story.



I woke up because of cold feet; I got out of my sleeping bag because I was filled with anticipation. Once I knocked the frost off of my sleeping bag and crawled out of the back of my truck the first thing I saw was the pipeline illuminated by the moon. The slope provides a a truly unique landscape this time of the year.

I started seeing caribou less than a mile off of the road. I was never alone after I spotted this little group; there was always a small herd within eye shot somewhere.

The moon was still visible at 10:00 A.M. This is a fairly representative picture of the area...wind blown exposed rock and fields of wind packed snow.

Once I got past the invisible "five mile marker", which makes it legal to harvest caribou with a rifle, I started reading some sign. Above are some caribou tracks, and below are some....

...caribou turds.

I made several unsuccessful stalks throughout the middle of the day but I was having a blast...the sun was shining, the temperature hovered slightly below zero and there was a light 8-10 mph breeze.

After dropping down into an expanse of lakes and moraines called "The Fog Lakes" I was able to make a successful stalk on a herd of about twenty caribou. One clean shot dispatched this young cow and it was time to get to work field dressing her. The wind picked up to 25-30 mph and made cutting her up a fairly painful experience.

Once I had the animal quartered out and loaded into my sled I made my way back to the Haul Rd. It took about three and a half hours of post holing and cussing to get back to the truck, but after I enjoyed my first steak last night it all was well worth the effort.

Left Behind

The 2008 Yukon Quest International Sled Dog Race left Fairbanks on Saturday. It was a great day for most, but this pup did not make the final roster and was left in his dog box while the rest of the team started their 1000 mile odessey.

Luke volunteered to handle dogs at the beginning of the race to insure that everything went as smoothly as possible. Here he is helping a fellow cheesehead with his team of malamutes.

The temperature on the river was hovering around -30 F, so everyone donned their polar gear to watch the start of the event.

Lance Mackey gears up for an encore performance to last year's domination of the distance mushing world. He was the first person to ever record victories at both the Yukon Quest and the Iditarod sled dog races in the same year.

I got to wish Brent Sass good luck while he waited under the Cushman Bridge. This is Brent's second Quest and he is planning on making some noise this year.

These next few shots are just some different images from the race.

After the field of 22 competitors rode down the river the crowd thinned and the racers left us all behind to go live out another normal week. Meanwhile they are just getting started on a fantastic journey that will make memories for a lifetime.

2007 The Year in Review

I have to say that 2007 was one of the best years of my life! In this post there will be more images than narration but I wanted to post some of the stuff that took place over the past calender year.

NEW YEARS DAY WALKING OUT OF TOLOVANA 2007

CARIBOU HUNTING WITH LARS ON THE NORTH EDGE OF THE BROOKS RANGE

The black specs are caribou but they were only about three miles in so we could not shoot them...they needed to be 5 miles in to be legally harvested.

It was a great trip but we did not put any caribou in the freezer.

CHATANIKA DAYS OUTHOUSE RACE

George, Trevor, Ed, Melissa, and I geared up for the annual outhouse race at Chatanika, our outhouse did not show, but we were lucky enough to get to use "Old Faithful". It was a heavy beast but it certainly had character.

HIKING KASUGI RIDGE WITH TREVOR

This trip gave us the best of both worlds...we started out with phenomenal weather that allowed us to take our time and deviate from the trail. But then things turned really raunchy (like they tend to do in the Alaska Range in the spring) and forced us to put in a long day to get off of the ridge.

FLOATING THE DELTA CLEARWATER

This was a nice weekend that was set up by Lars and Sharon. This trip really let us feel like spring was here. There were thousands of migratory waterfowl moving through and the river was nearly void of ice.

BACK TO WISCONSIN FOR BRIAN AND JANESSA'S WEDDING

It was great to be back in Wisconsin to see family and friends. Sadly, I do not have any pictures of the wedding...but I do have some pictures from an ear candling party, bear baiting, and boating.

Mom and Kerry took me out on their swanky pontoon boat...we had a nice tour of the lake and finished with a nice landing by the retired pilot.

KING SALMON ON THE KLUTINA

Brett and I went on our annual King Salmon fishing trip. This year trip was a blast: we learned about a river that we had been unfamiliar with in the past, we actually caught fish, and we were witnesses to the biggest barroom brawl that I had ever had the pleasure of watching.

'BUTS IN VALDEZ

George and I met up with the Tonne's with hopes of filling the freezer with some halibut. We caught our limits, and although nobody in our party contended for the derby prize, George hauled in a bonus salmon shark.

George wanted to get a quick shower in before bed...he slipped on the rocks and and cut himself up a bit, but at least he was able to exfoliate.

SALMON SHARK OFF OF HINCHENBROOK

Brett and I joined Dad, Katz, Evan, and Gary on a salmon shark charter in Valdez. After a little looking we eventually got into these big predators. Aside from the four in the picture, we caught, tagged and released one and lost several others. It was one hell of a trip...these brutes weighed from 350 -400 pounds!

Blood in the water. Once the sharks were brought next to the boat they would get shot with a "boom stick". It was a 4 foot rod with a pistol cartridge in the tip that would get driven into the sharks head.

This was the big one from the day. It weighed over 400 pounds. I've been eating shark ever since: pickled shark, shark-ka-bobs, oven fried shark, shark fajita's, grilled shark, smoked shark...

$100 DOLLAR CAR

I picked up this sweet ride to help reduce fuel costs. Josie and I commuted back and forth to Delta Junction for work. It has already paid for itself a couple of times! I call it "The Shark"

FINISHED!

I tied up all of the loose ends associated with finishing my M.S. and headed for the mountains!

EXPLORING THE WRANGELL'S

I have been dreaming of finding a good walk in hunting area for Dall Sheep, so this year, after a bunch of map reading and head scratching, I finally attempted to punch into an area in the Wrangell Mountains. I really got my butt kicked on the first day and ended up getting cliffed out and sleeping in a fairly unnerving location. But after I backed out of my situation I managed to make my way back into sheep country and enjoy the rest of my time in the mountains. I saw one nice full curl ram that will have me back there in years to come!

This canyon got pretty tight and ultimatly dead-ended at a waterfall. I got to start this trip off with wet feet.





Kicken back with a good book or glassing some Dall sheep it was great to spend a little time in the Wrangell's. This trip was just what the doctor ordered.

FLOAT, SOAK AND HIKE...A TRIP TO KANUTI HOT SPRINGS

Ed hatched a last second plan to try to access Kanuti Hot Springs by paddling down the river to the spring and then breaking down our boats and hiking out. Ed and Dan both had Alpaca Pack rafts which weighed in around 5 pounds whereas the boat I had was a bit bulkier and quite a bit heavier. It was a great trip that allowed us to paddle the Kanuti river, basically along the Arctic Circle, get a great soak in a wilderness hot spring, scare off some grizzly bears and have a great hike out.

The hike out was pretty spectaular...from the ridge you could see north to the Brooks Range. Below, Dan had reached the pipeline access road along the Haul Road.

BROWN BEARS IN BECHEROF

Over a year of sceming went into this memorable outing. Brian, Nathan, myself and my Pa flew out to a drainage on the southeastern tip of Becherof lake. The trip did not disapoint; the weather was brutal, the bears were plentyful and the comeroderie was unbeatable!

Nathan fends off this opening morning brown bear and ultimatly prevails.

The big brownie was host to about 40 feet of tape worm...pretty grodie!

The fishing was fantastic...I was hard not to hook up for the first few days that we were in camp.

Brian had a hard time remembering how to use his hunting knife and nicked his thumb a little.

TOLOVANA NEW YEARS 2008



Things got mighty rowdey once the clock struck 12:00 on New Years eve.


A few of us took a late morning soak before hitting the trail on the first.

Josie and Lucky give Bernie some help on the way up to the top of the dome.

Life is good...365 days have passed since the first picture on this post; and I am on the same great trail, headed in the same direction. I hope 2008 will allow me to keep moving in the same direction as well.