Back in Juneau

Hello everyone sorry it has been so long since an update.

We are happily back in Juneau at our summer camp. It’s nice to be back in our little paradise tucked in the Sheep Creek Valley. Tours are in full swing and we are a lot busier this year than last. Half of our crew returned this year, which is nice. Matt my handler hasn’t arrived yet but we expect him in about a week.

The massive amounts of snow Juneau received last winter (over 200 inches…they hogged all the snow this year, Fairbanks only received 28!) has slowed the greening our canyon, but slowly the Hellebore is growing tall and the wild geraniums and monkey flowers are blooming along the sides of the Sheep Creek Trail. The mountain goats are moving higher up the mountain, though they still can be spotted in the narrows. And our resident black bear, a young lanky thing, perhaps one of the cubs with his mother we spotted last year, has been hanging out on the hill above camp. He is easy to spot silhouetted against the snow chutes that still come down the mountain. They are melting fast though. The waterfall we like to stop and point out to our guest is slowly shedding its white cloak it falls behind. I remember hiking up to where it drops behind the snow last year. I was amazed at how far it went down. I stood where the water flowed out at the bottom of the massive snow cave. A cold wind blows from inside, like it’s kept there saved from the winter winds that are notorious up here. I will have to hike up there soon, but I am going to let it melt just a little more first.

I am also impatiently waiting to hike up to the top of Sheep Mountain, I have been eyeing the line of trail on the ridge, it seems the snow is getting closer to being safe. So my hikes have been limited so far to our valley. Yesterday morning I took the puppies, Pluto and Polaris, down to creek. I lay in the sun amongst the buttercups and starflowers, while they chased each other around, up and down the trail and through the salmonberry and currant bushes. They even went for a swim in the creek.

I ran up the Perseverance Trail last weekend, training for a race next week, there was still enough snow at the top ½ mile that I finally turned around. Part of the trail was even wiped out up there from a slide. So wonder if we are even going to be able to run the 7 mile race. They may have to shorten it.

Our trip down to Juneau was an adventure again, as it always goes when you travel with 33 dogs. Though it was a little more challenging this year because most of my females were in heat, it was a lot easier because I wasn’t traveling alone this year. Jim came down with us so he could start working on the boat. When we first arrived in Juneau we stayed over on Douglas Island to wait for the snow to melt up at Sheep Creek. We set up the Arctic Oven, a winter camping tent, about half way up the Eagle Crest Road. There was a real nice spot across a meadow, where the dogs could have some privacy. One of us Jim would let the dogs out of the truck and I would call them across to the other side of the meadow. It was fun watching them try to pick their way across the swamp, dodging water holes, and sometimes missing. I fell in one myself, I was up to my waist in snow melt!

We are busy saving up for this year’s race season. Both Jim and I will be racing so it should be a great year. Plus I am getting close to buying a large parcel of land 40 miles north of Fairbanks. It is located in a favorite training area in the White Mountains. Miles and miles of BLM maintained trails, with public use cabins scattered every 20 miles or so. It is southern facing hillside with a view of the Alaska Range. It should be perfect. Mushers all over the state go to the White Mountains to train their dogs. We are still working with the realtor at this time but we are getting pretty close to having our Cosmic Canine “Home base.”