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.

The Hat Trick

Three Day weekends are always great to have off in the winter time. time for skiing in the mountains and enjoying powder. its a great way to have fun and spend time with friends.






























Everybody had fun, even Ganik.

Valley Happy Girl

Who wouldn't be happy on a day like today? Clear, Crisp and Sunny with 6 inches of fresh dry powder to ski and run in.

Hot Damn! Pegging the fun-o-meter in Thompson Pass

We spent our 3 day presidents day holiday near Thompson Pass camped between Icy Stair Step and Python Peak. Even though the first couple of days were windy and snowy, the company of the Valdezeans and a great camping situation pegged the fun-o-meter. Its amazing how much laughing a guy can have inside a megamid. What an enjoyable group of folks who I met on the telemarktips discussion forums.

Despite the socked in weather we were still able to get some turns in every day. And when the bluebird landed on our door step, we were ready for even more fun.

can you spot the other dog in the 2nd picture?

Touring out Center Ridge makes for some great scenery and a good workout to get to any tele-terrain. We hit the peak at the end of Center Ridge today after breaking trail from the weather station. A good six inches of powder on a a nice base. A long day for both Ganik and I, but that's what we are built for....slogging!

Day 25

A couple of scenes from ski day number 25 on Manitoba Mountain.
First me skinning up the hill before a slide down.


Now after the skins come off, a little treat for the dogs before we drive the bus down. Gotta refuel! Every malamute is interested in food after slogging up!

Photos by Pete Smith!

This was my first day on the Glittertinds with Excursion boots. Glittertinds are narrow skis, 50 something underfoot. With the excursions, and leaning into the backseat, they steered fine in the powder of the day. Steve Barnet was right!

More Fun...

nothing is more enjoyable for the dogs than getting out and having fun....here's a shot of them chasing after us as we slide down the hill.

Here's Ganik taking a break with Ptarmigan Peak behind him...

and if you are in need of a good laugh or are really freakin' bored...view this windows media file.
The Biteneckers 1

Happy Girl

When Babe(Jago) came into our home she was scared. So scared she remained hidden in her dog house until we extracted her by pulling her out by brute force. The sound of footsteps from walking in the snow scared her. Countless times we were jerked off our feet by somebody in the vicinity way out of touching range. With alot of patience, keeping her below her threshhold, having another dog around for companionship and to see how good life can get, giving her a spot she could feel unthreatened in and setting up a routine. She now has flourished into a dog who talks constantly, wags her tail anytime she sees us, loves to sit with me and get petted, allows strangers to pet her when they have food, pushes up against me when I sit on the floor and loves to sit in the kitchen and beg.

Two pictures from this weekend:



















Enjoy!

Happy WooHoo-lidays

visiting the dark slide

We try to get out skijoring after work as much as we can. This time of year its dark dark dark. But we still go and have a great time, you can tell by the looks on our faces to the left. We carry headlamps in case we need them, like when we run into Bullwinkle. But we prefer navigating by star.

Moonlight skiing

As far as skiing goes, not much is more enjoyable than skiing on a full moon lit night. Tonight we were out with friends and 5 rescued malamutes and husky up at glen alps. 8 inches of 18 degree powder, not a cloud in the sky and the full moon. You couldn't get a better evening to cross country ski.

telemark skiing

I like to ski, what can I say? I've been cross country skiing now for 32 years. Taken up skijoring as well, and that's fun too. Now for 4 years I been telemark skiing by skinning up the hill, and sliding down every Saturday almost, from October to May. I probably telemark skied 40 full days last year. What can I say? I like to hike up and ski down, what could be funner?

HEY! I see my turkey and its running away!!!

Its our 28th annual ski and eat for Thanksgiving. This morning we broke trail in 12 inches or so of powder. Ganik was out front taking the brunt of trail breaking which made things easier on me. About 3 miles out we suprised a moose in the trail which jumped up like a jack in the box, Boing! Babe(Jago) particularly went nuts and so did the moose around her 12 in close vicinity were running away while she screamed "HEY I see my turkey and its running away!". Nicki of course went down luckily I stayed up .


Getting the turkey in the oven is next!

gettin' out again

Yesterday I skijored Ganik up to the base of Manitoba. With my busted up rib it helped! Once we started climbing it was a different story. He ended up wallowing in some deep powder when the trail breaker headed up the middle of a shallow gully instead of a ridgeline.

Skin tracks are hard enough on a dog but in deep powder they are hell. All the dogs were having problems and had we known the powder was this deep would have left the dogs at home.

It was mashed potato down low, a nice ankle biting crust from about 1600 feet to 2300 feet. A break able crust for another couple hundred feet then it was powder. Great snow for turning but the wind kicked up and covered our up track between runs. Thankfully it was shallow slope so we felt the avi danger was down.

Ouch! That Hurts!

Started out skijoring when we hit some rock hidden by snow. Not a big surprised since we don't have alot of snow, but still, my feet came to a standstill and my chest thumped the ground pretty good. Knocked the wind out of me. Later I realized my thumb was sprained and for a bit thought a rib was busted. Thank goodness not only bruised. but it busted the LCD display on the camera :( Here's a pic from out on the trail.