Winner of a Day on Winner Creek

We had a winner of a day on Winner Creek. Looked like it was going to rain at the house today. As I drove south saw a whole different situation developing. A sunstorm!









Valley seems happy with the view from the pass doesn't she?

Mrs. Bullwinkle

Out on Bullwinkle Patrol and a fall color check in the Tundra. Mrs. Bullwinkle and calf were out looking for somebody to shoot their picture.

Bullwinkle

Valley and I were heading back to barn today after visiting Rabbit and McHugh Lake when I looked to my left and saw this rack protruding from the bushes. Hmmm, I said to my self, I wonder if there is a bullwinkle to be seen.








So I walked around the bushes and Bullwinkle appeared, giving me this full frontal shot. My lucky day.










Valley, as you can see, is as interested in Bullwinkle as I am and was held back. No disturbing the Bullwinkles Valley.



















That's a nice rack you have there Bullwinkle.











All good things come to an end, Bullwinkle goes off and we headed down the trail back to the rig.

Hanging Valley

That's the name of the valley we hiked to, not what we did to our dog :)

On the way back we picked a bunch of blueberries. Saw some sheep up high, and while taking a break near where this picture was taken, heard some ducks coming into the lake sounding like a jet landing, that was cool.

I think I should have fallen over and died.

I can't believe it, I think I should have just fallen over and dropped dead when it happened. A buddy I went hiking with let Valley loose in a very busy parking lot, with 4 young women bearing down on her. I asked her to sit, probably in a frantic voice, she sat and let me walk up and get ahold of her. She definitely was uncomfortable, she had that look on her face. But I can't believe it, she did it! Oh my, and I am glad she did.

So I guess all our love, kindness and practice paid off.

Anyway, here's a picture of Valley earlier in the day (far away from moving cars and girls bearing down on her). She's our Girl!

Another Hike :)

We started out hiking like we wanted to scramble up Manitoba Mountain. The same place we ski, but when we got to the bridge crossing Mills Creek we saw the Bridge Closed Do not use signs. Looking at the spans we could see one was broken and while it might have supported an individual. There was no was I was going to cross the bridge with a dog tethered to me and risk falling in the water if it did go, so we decided to head to Summit Pass. (Click on the image, to enlarge)







Even though it was cloudy, it was great hiking weather, not too hot, not too cold. Even so the dogs need to roll in the snow to cool down. They love it!

Gold Rush Dogs

Check it out, here's a picture taken back in 1898 by Eric Hegg. This is from the Special Collections of the University of Washington Library Digital Archives. I changed the contrast on the original photo as displayed at Uof W so I could see the dogs faces, harness and "gangline". The engine is the same as now-a-days, but the gangline and harness are different. The sled is kind of too, but one still sees some of those up here. Click on the picture to enlarge it so you can see some of the detail that I am talking about.

I am sure the dogs are freighting loads for the Klondike Gold Rush.

Just Passing Through ...

Kodie is the latest dog in the funhog--fundogs foster program. Kodie is a 1 yo and playful as a pup, in fact he's in the back yard ripping around with Valley and the neighbors dog. Poor Valley though, she's tuckered out from all the hiking this weekend. He's going to be a fun dog to have around, kind of fits that daffy looking noggin of his.





You can see his profile on petfinders at: http://search.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=6713383

Weekend Dayhiking.

Out for a day hike at the South Fork of Eagle River. We couldn't believe we arrived at the trailhead at 9 am which is plenty early and the parking lot was full! We had to park on the road which is no big deal but a surprise. Lots of folks spent the night at the lake including a group of Native Alaskan students in town for a month to learn the 3Rs. One student in particular took a liking to the dogs and she petted Ganik and talked to us for 20 minutes about dogs. It was kind of fun talking to Jen.

Yesterday we walked from Glen Alps to indian via Ship Lake Pass. Quite a few folks were out on the Glen Alps side of the pass, and we were surprised to see two horses and riders past Ship Lake. but after that we didn't see anybody. Easy to see why. Once you get to Indian Pass there is knee high to chest high grasses making travel difficult. I was pleased Valley snaked her way through the high grass. Not a pleasant thing to do. She eventually tired and let me lead. Slow going but we made progress. Eventually we were met by Nicki half way to the pass and walked back with her and the dogs. It was exciting to hear the WooWoo from Babe when I spied them on the bridge. She was stoked to see me again.

Flower Power

Here's a shot of Valley while out on a hike up Falls Creek today. The girl turns 3 pretty soon and I have no idea how I can top this!

Weekend Backpacking

We like to backpack in the summer and go places where we don't see alot of other folks. Its quieter, we like the wilderness and its easier to manage the dogs. This l.ast weekend we hiked out Center Ridge which gets some traffic but not alog and after spending the night hiked up to Taylor Pass and down Taylor Creek. The first day was cloudy which was fine but Sunday the clouds broke and it was spectacular, which made the 1800 foot climb hot with our packs on but well worth the views of scenery. (Click the pictures to enlarge)


This is a view from our campsite south towards Kickstep Mountain. Its great to let the dogs loose when not alot of folks or no wildlife can be bothered. They love the freedom and get a good charge out of running around. A tired Malamute is a good malamute.




Lyons Creek isn't major but it does empty glaciers and big snowfields so it would have been really cold and uncomfortable to walk through. Not alot of fun in my book, so when you can find a snow field like we did, its so much more comfortable and easier to cross.





Here's a view from one of our restbreaks looking south. Knee high grasses and plants to walk through, on a relatively steep slope on that nice sunny day made rest breaks really nice.






Mrs Funhog at a real nice flat spot at the toe of Pastoral. Nice thing about going new places is finding great new places we can camp at. The pass is just a hop skip and a jump above us, thank goodness because we're really hot at this point.






Everybody gets to carry aload backpacking, and so do the dogs. Here is Ganik at Taylor Pass, he's got our apres' hike shoes, leashes, and pillows in his pack.




And finally a view of the territory ahead (from the pass) to hike through. Cross country backpacking isn't easy but it sure is might fine.

Wipe that smile off your face

Spent Independence Day out on a day hike to Williwaw Lakes. Clouds were down, sun didn't come out all day but it doesn't seem to affect the dogs all that much now does it?

Committing Homicide

Valley and I climbed Homicide Peak last Saturday. We left the rig at the Indian Creek Trailhead about 9 am, summited about 2 pm and took a long break about 2:45. About 3 we were surprised by 4 dall sheep, 2 ewes, a yearling and lamb of the year...Cool!

Here are some Pics:

I got me a red head malamute now!

I woke up this morning and in my groggy state of mind walked into the living room to find a blood red carpet and a blood red dog bed. My focus, as groggy as it was, turned to the dogs and I found Babe with blood red paws. Now I am thinking, "Oh no, we have an emergency visit to the veterinarian, I wonder what happened". I turned to Valley and found a blood red head and was wondering how they hell they got into a fight without me waking up. Wakened into a state of concern I put my clothes on and started to mobilize.

Right up until I saw the red pen they both chewed on :)

Malamutes got to love them.

Hot and Cold

We opened the backpacking season with an overnighter to Rabbit Lake. Not far, its 4 miles in but about 1 mile in there is snow. The mile of snow was easy to cover then we switched to the west side of Rabbit Creek where there was no snow for the rest of the hike in.

You can see looking over Ganik and Nicki the lake is still frozen and some of the surrounding lakeshore is too. It wasn't too hard to find a camping spot, enough of those were open. But snow was always nearby. We arrived in extremely warm temps, you can see Nicki is wearing shorts, but not long there after the wind kicked up from the north, not too strong, but it was a cold wind.

We headed into the tent for some napping and reading. Upon arising for dinner we saw some campers across the creek. The next day we visited and realized they were folks who had gone on some ski trips with us with the nordic ski club. Its a small world.

It froze that night and the wind was slight again. Not cold but if you weren't prepared for it. Nice easy trip out, instead of punching through the snow, we walked on it. And it warmed up as we headed out. A nice weekend to get out.

Six

Babe’s 6^th birthday was this weekend and celebrate we did. I asked her, “What do you want to do for your birthday?”. She responded with “WooWoo Hoo wooodie”. Which I interpreted as “Let’s go car camping”. I think I got the translation right!

Babe continues shedding her shyness. We walk in a room she’s in and her tail starts pumping, if we give a “Good Girl” for that she’ll talk to us and if we approach her she’ll roll onto her back for belly rubs.

Recently she has become a big snuggler. At night, in the tent, she sneaks in between Nicki and I. In the house, she snuggles while I lay on the floor, or sidles up for pets while we are in the easy chair reading. She loves to lay her head on us, and if we don’t pet her slaps us till we do. When she’s done with the pets, she’ll finish with her back pushed up against us.

Were amazed at how far shes grown, we never thought we'd get much physical attention out of Babe at all. Its shown us the power of a malamute.

Happy Anniversary

We can’t believe it, how times flies. Two years ago Valley showed up from North Carolina at our home, saved by the North Carolina Malamute Rescue. Everybody knows Valley was shy when she arrived in our home. Her original assessment out of rescue scored her a 9.5 on a scale of 10. But that was then and this is now.

While today you’ll still see that shyness promptly, you’ll also find her living the good life like a malamute should. She can be found in the living room with Babe and Ganik, at the table begging during meals, bugging whomever is reading in the recliner for pets and attention even to the point of slapping them with her paw, and out on our walks sauntering up to strangers asking for attention. She even rolls over on her back for pets in the morning and sleeps next to me when I lay reading on the carpet in the living room.

That’s all great but what sends my heart soaring like a hawk is her bouncing up and down when I get home from work, greeting me at the gate with a tail wagging, a single gentle Woo (not a WooWoo) and a little lick on the face to show me her love. We’re happy to see her tail wave when we say “Good Girl” or have her plant herself against our leg with tail wagging.

She’s still a 9 and a half out of ten, but not on the shyness scale, instead now it’s the sweetness scale. A girl so sweet she’s been easy to live with. We’re happy to keep taking the little steps because we know how much they mean and how big they really are. I know we'll continue to grow our acceptance and trust because we mean so much to each other. Thanks Valley, thanks for a great two years, thanks for sharing yourself and trusting us, its only going to get better.

Season Opener Hiking

We still have plenty of snow to ski on but it doesn't support the dogs all the time. So rather than injure them we decided to get some exercise on our trails.

Of course they'd rather be skiing but what the heck, running around on logs or hanging out by the creek taking a break is alot of fun too.

Start of Our Corn Harvest

First day of corn season. Corn on the South Side, hard pack, maybe breakable crust on the West and Powder on the North. Definitely great skiing still out there.

On this particular day, Ganik found a marmot hole out of the snow. He guarded it like a Polar Bear would a seal hole in the ice up in the Beaufort Sea. Luckily we came down the way we skinned or he'd still be their waiting for his prize.

Endless Winter or Never Summer

We are still in the accumulation mode. 6 inches at the trailhead lot near where this picture was taken, and it was all powder. So is summer going to come? Or are we going to ski up until next season :)

Crust Skiing

Some of the best skiing in Anchorage is in the spring when a crust forms and you can skate for great distances out in the backcountry. A guy can easily cover some distance quickly. Its a great way to end a ski season.

We headed up to Williwaw today under clear skies, a bit of wind making things cold but it was great snow and a wonderful day. Hopefully we'll have another month of this.