| The
Journey Continues
November 22, 2006
It is still cold here. The typical winter
day in Anchorage is overcast with highs in the mid-twenties and lows
in the mid-teens. It has been clear and beautiful here, but that means
cold. In the interior they call the phenomena “severe clear”
– which means nothing unless you live there. Clouds trap the
infrared (heat) radiated by the earth and bounce it back, slowing
down cooling at night. If the skies are clear the radiated heat goes
into space and everything cools down. The cold air is denser than
warm air and sinks into the lows spots. In Fairbanks it can be –
60 in the low lying areas and -30 to -40 just a couple of hundred
feet higher on the hillsides. The process continues until a storm
moves in, mixes the air masses, and moves the cold air out. With the
long nights, clear weather means beautiful but cold.
We saw 25 at the house last Saturday and I think it was the first
time we broke 10 degrees in over a week. The lows have been just below
zero almost every night, and our house in one of the warmer places
in the area. The trails where we normally train are in a cold spot
and I saw -15 there last week.
With the cold I am adding fat
to the dog’s diet. I've got some suet that they really like,
then some tallow that they kind of like, and some fat blend that they
eat if they are hungry. With the runs getting longer and the temperatures
staying cold we are going through the dog food. When we first turned
cold the dogs spent most of the day inside their houses staying warm,
but as the cold has continued they are acclimating (getting thicker
coats) and spending more time outside. I notice the same thing myself.
Every winter I loose 10 pounds running dogs in the cold. Every summer
I put it back on being lazy. Their must be a moral there somewhere
;-)
Frost on the
car windows
(CLICK PHOTO TO ENLARGE) |
With the cold we have beaten the little
bit of snow we have into ice. The dog lot is getting slick and difficult
to walk in. The trails are slick from all the 4-wheeler traffic. The
best winter is when we get a good dump of wet snow early to form a
solid 3 to 4 inch base to cover the ruts and hold a snowhook (anchor
for a dog team). Then every week we get a couple of inches of snow
to keep the surface fresh and not ice up. The last winter I saw that
started like this was 1995-1996. It turned cold early and was hard
frozen by Halloween. November stayed cold and without a snow cover
there was 10 feet of frost in the ground – the design limits
for Anchorage. Several of the buried pipes froze. The area under a
heated home tends to stay thawed, so that is where the water went.
What a mess. I remember thinking we would get snow any day, but it
was February before we could get the sleds out. Qualifying races around
the state were cancelled. The Copper Basin 300 was halted mid-way
through the race because it was -60 in the checkpoints. That is the
only time the Copper Basin has not been run. For the record, 1996
was my second year as a trail volunteer and Jeff King’s second
win.
I was feeding the dogs after a run and Abby, now one of Bonnie’s
dogs, bumped the water bucket and spilled water down the side of my
Carhartts. It was around zero and the pants froze quickly. The water
never penetrated all the layers to my skin, so I was dry; and I wasn’t
particularly cold. But it sure felt funny walking in that suit of
frozen armor.
Last Tuesday we were about half way
through a 20 mile run taking a trail through the woods when a large
canine ran across the trail in front of the team. I stopped the
dogs and it took me a minute to realize it was a wolf. Bonnie and
Leslie were some minutes behind me on the other 4-wheeler and I
tried to call them on the radio, but there was no answer. About
two miles later on the road a large black wolf ran across in front
of the team. Wow! I had heard of wolves following dog teams in the
area years before, but had never seen one. I called Bonnie and Leslie
to let them know and they topped my story.
Going down the narrow trail through the woods a large canine came
out of the woods and stopped in the trail looking at the leaders.
Leslie and Bonnie were trying to figure out how to haul the lost
dog back to the trailhead when they realized it wasn’t a dog.
About 10 feet in front of the leaders looking right at them was
a large grey wolf! They stood up on the 4-wheeler, trying to make
themselves look as large and threatening as possible. The wolf moved
off to the side just a few feet. Bonnie called up the dogs, which
were being very quiet, and drove past. The dogs did great, not even
looking sideways, but the wolf fell in and followed them for ½
mile just a few feet back. I’ve spent years driving around
Alaska, even through Denali National Park, just to catch a glimpse
of a wolf and here there are watching us in my own back yard. The
nearly religious experience was heightened somewhat by realizing
that these over 100 pound canines had very sharp teeth and we were
all unarmed.
Otherwise last week has been a tough one. Bruce Linton, signed up
as a 2007 Iditarod Rookie, and Jason Mackey were driving down oilfield
road to chase snow to train when they slid off a bad corner and
rolled the dog truck, with dogs, several hundred feet down a hillside.
Officials think they must have rolled over 10 times or more. Luckily
Paul Gebhardt was driving a second truck. Paul had to cut some of
the dog boxes open with a chain saw, but in the end all the dogs
were ok, Bruce was fine, and Jason only had a few broken ribs. You
can read Jon Little’s story about the wreck at http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/coverage_2007/cov07_nov15_01.html
. Bill Borden of Checkpoint Mortgage contacted Bruce and offered
him the use of the Cool Dreams trailer, just like he took care of
me after my wreck – Thanks again Bill.
Wednesday night I lost my wallet and cell phone. I had them at home
before the run and didn’t have them after. Off I went to re-run
the trails. It was almost mid-night, so not much traffic, but -15
with a 10 mph wind made it more than a little cold. By 3:30 AM I
had found the cell phone, but still have not found the wallet. I
did manage to catch a cold and spent 4 days staying home nursing
a fever. Ah, the joys of winter life.
Just when I was feeling good and sorry for myself, I heard that
the 18 year old son of the man I used to work for had died of complications
from Cystic Fibrosis. Zack Simpson was a fine young man who battled
this disease courageously. He and his dad worked to raise funds
for research and to support others. Pat Simpson said that Zack was
now in a better place where he could breathe easily. May God bless
Zack and his family.
Keep ‘em Northbound
Eric
© 2006 All rights reserved
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