These dogs are outta this world!!!
Thursday, July 20, 2006
Cosmic Canines: Racing, tours and , modeling?
The other day I was in the middle of the interpretive part of my tour when Matt came over and pulled me to the side.
“Abbie, we drew straws and I can’t explain everything right now, but you won.”
I looked at him puzzled waiting for him to tell me that I had to take some important Cruise Line people or a famous person for a tour next.
“I want you to get your 4 best dogs. The best looking, and it wouldn’t hurt if they were well socialized. You and handler Matt are going to take them up to the glacier for a photo shoot.”
“What? Are you kidding?” I asked trying to piece together all what was going on.
“I can’t explain, Sarah will tell you about it later. Just finish this part of your tour, and when you go to take the guest to the puppies I will take over. You have to hurry because you have to follow the bus down the hill.”
So I finished with my tour and walked over to my dog yard.
“Don’t tell me….Telesto, Comet, Quarky, and…and …..” Matt called out smiling with his arms spread.
“Close, “I smirked; he is really starting to know me as well as my dogs, ‘Telesto, Comet, Vega, and Leo.”
“Leo! Of course.”
In the rush of everything, getting changed into warm clothes to be on a glacier and loading up the dogs into Matt and Sarah’s truck I fell and cut my hand pretty bad on the rocks. But I was too excited to really feel any pain, I was excited to go for another helicopter ride and be on the glacier again.
I had assumed that we were to be doing a photo shoot for AIE, our company, but I couldn’t figure out why it would be with my dogs on the glacier. Why would they want a picture of “dirt dogs:” as we are called for a brochure for the glacier operation? Or why would they want a picture of dogs on a glacier for the ground operation?
As we drove down the hill, Sarah explained how we would be flying with Coastal Helicopters up to the Taku Glacier to do a photo shoot for Rolex. All of the glacier operations were shut down due to weather, so they had to take our dogs up to the Taku because it was the only accessible glacier right now, and even that was getting worse. They were running out of time both because of the weather and the budgeted time of the film crew. So we were to rush to catch the window up to the glacier.
How exciting!
We got to the Coastal Airport and it was immediately clear that this was a somewhat unorganized endeavor. But we packed into the helicopter anyways. The dogs loaded into a wooden kennel in the back seat and Matt and I in the seat next to it. With the production manager Adam in the front with the pilot.
I was nervous taking off, there are rumors that Coastal is the least safe heli-company in town and I kept hearing how the weather was going sour. But soon the scenery and the stories of our pilot’s exciting life took over. We flew over Juneau south bound over the Gastineau Channel then we turned east up the Taku Inlet. This is over the other side from the mountains that cup our dog camp in their green hands. I had long looked at the area in my Alaska Gazetteer Atlas and now I was flying over it in a helicopter. We cut up one of the valleys there were lakes and creeks. We approached a summit and flew only 20 feet over it. When we got over the other side the bottom dropped out quickly. It was amazing! Finally we reached the Taku Glacier. It curved down between the stony peaks in blue, grey, and white striations. Then we were over the white vastness of the ice field. Over to the left in a valley there was Linwood’s Camp. I pretended to throw a grenade over to it. Matt laughed.
We approached camp. It was tiny within the huge ice field. We could see one huge yellow base camp style dome tent. And then a smaller dome. There were many people wandering around.
When we landed we were greeted by Jason Harriman who is the manager of the 3rd glacier operation in town. He remembered me as the girl who would hitch-hike 4o miles to mush dogs at Jack Berry’s. I guess we had met before; he lives down near Jack’s in Homer. I apologized that I did not remember ever meeting him. After we unloaded the dogs and put them on a picket line. I was introduced to various French People who were working with the filming crew, and then to the outfitters, Beyond Alaska, who are from Juneau. I was shown around the tiny camp, including the food which was laid over 4 tables, with 2 chefs’s preparing everything from Crab to Salmon, Ceviche, oysters, fruits, and desserts, and all kind of other gourmet food. Matt’s eyes lit up.
“Help yourself to everything, “ Edjuard, our interpreter said.
So in about an hour we went from our daily routine to eating a gourmet meal prepared for us by personal chef on a glacier in the middle of no where with a bunch of Europeans, most of whom did not speak English, while my dogs were being models for Rolex. How surreal!
Jason explained to me what the photographer, who was a famous in the photo world, was trying to capture
They wanted the snow in front of a sled that was set up just in front of the camera completely undisturbed but somehow they wanted to the dogs to magically be set up in front of the sled, which was of course impossible. The hand model would be lifting his hand just above the handlebar of the sled and in the near foreground would be the dogs, and in the distance would be mountains. So basically it was as if the hand model had just stopped his dog team to check the time on his Rolex. Like any dog musher could ever or would ever afford a Rolex!
I tried to disturb the snow as little as possible as I set 2 dogs in harness in front in the camera’s view. The photographer waves his hands for me to move over one way, then the other. He had about 5 assistants that adjusted the camera at his commands, loaded the film, and various other tasks. Basically all the photographer did was call the shot and press the shutter. He kept explaining to the interpreter for what I should do who would call out in a think French accent.
“AH bee, de photographer vants you to make your dogs you know, bottoms turn laike dis!” He motioned an angle with his hands.
So I tried as best I could to arrange the dogs, who thought they were going for a run so they were jumping and barking excitedly.
The photographer looked in his camera for awhile and then called to the interpreter who called to me, “AH bee, de photographer sayz it iz too hard to take peecture when de dogs are jumping around so.”
So I told the dogs to quiet down. I got the other 2 dogs on the line. Then came a series of commands to move the dogs to the left, to the right, make them quiet, make them howl, turn that dog’s butt this way, turn this butt that way, make them look back, make them look forward, all called out first to the interpreter, then called out by him, “AH bee, do dis, do dat!”
I have to admit I have no idea if anyone else was impressed because no one spoke English, but I was pretty darn impressed by my dogs. They follow my command pretty well for a bunch of wild sled dogs. We shot picture for at least an hour; Matt was busy making his way around the buffet table, huge smile on his face.
Then the light went bad for the photo shoot. Suddenly everyone was like we have to pack up to go. Everyone had to be off the glacier by 8:45 or else they would have to stay for the night. Also the weather was getting bad so we had to catch a window out.
I helped myself to all the food, and then helped the outfitters pack. The first helicopter arrived, and of course the film crew left first. Then another, they were wondering who would be the next group to leave. I looked at my dogs on the picket line and then to the looming clouds.
I turned to the interpreter, “I’ve seen 8 Below. I don’t leave this glacier with out my dogs!”
Matt and Jason laughed but the interpreter looked at me like I was crazy. I had to explain to him about the movie.
We did actually get off the glacier, dogs and all. On the way home we flew over our Sheep Creek Dog Camp. The pilot wouldn’t drop us off even though it would be easier, and darn cool! If we landed by helicopter home after finished our international photo shoot.
It was worth it to fly into Juneau to see the sun breaking through the clouds over the Lynn Canal. I have to say I love this place! This summer keeps getting better and better. Live your dreams and everything will fall into place. The world will unfold a beautiful, wonderful, and exciting path.
By the way the Rolex Campaign is to be released in December in magazines worldwide.
The labyrinth before me is magical
It seems like every weekend my days off keep getting better and better. Juneau really is a magical place, with so many places to discover, things to do, and nice people to meet.
Last weekend Johnny and I took out his boat where Sheep Creek spills into the ocean. The chum salmon were jumping all around us. I mean 100’s of them. So we went out to enjoy the scenery of the beautiful Gastineau Straight and to see if Johnny could catch a salmon. He is a big time fly fisherman, like I mentioned before he was a fishing guide down in Wyoming. All he had was his fly rod and flies to catch trout, so even with the plentitude of fish he didn’t catch any. So to top off our unsuccessful but enjoyable evening we went to the Twisted Fish for dinner. Where of course I had Salmon for dinner.
I had promised to go out with the gang from Sheep Creek to the night life around downtown Juneau. Johnny opted out so I met them and we bar hopped and had basically a fun but silly night. Sean and Matt (my handler) were busy being boys trying to meet girls. While we girls either danced, met new people or tried to encourage girls to hang out with Matt and Sean. I had some interesting conversations. One with an Eskimo guy from Nome that lives in Juneau now. He taught me some Eskimo words, none of which I remember now, much to my dismay. I also talked to the same mushers from Linwood Fiedeler’s camp that I hung out with on a few weeks ago at their bonfire on the beach. I guess a couple of them will be running the Mt. Robert’s Tram Run which is this Saturday. Our camp has been running a few races. Since our run in the “Only Fool’s Run” everyone has kept running. 6 of us ran in a 10k last week. We are team Sheep Creek and we are making a name for ourselves around Juneau. Partially because of our strange cart-pulling performance, and partially because of our enthusiasm. It doesn’t hurt either that Sean and Matt H. place pretty well in the races too. Needless to say we have a vendetta against Linwood’s camp at this Mt Robert’s Race. They are going down!!!
I didn’t go to sleep until 3 am. I camped over on Douglas Island so I could get up in time for a 5k called the Governor’s Cup that would start at 9:00am downtown. Matt (my handler) and Sean were supposed to run in the race but I was the only one to show up. They had shown less self control the night before than I had. But I was still feeling a little “rough around the edges” being I had only had 3 hours of sleep before the race. Still I did well. I came in 2nd in my division, and had a pretty decent time. Now I am 2nd for the Empire Cup, which is a cumulative point contest that goes through out the summer. Goes to show that persistence pays, because I am not the fastest runner but I do try to go to every race, and I always try to do a little bit better. I had a nice “runner’s high” after the race, so I was excited to go get a coffee and meet up with everyone to enjoy the rest of the day. `
A few weeks ago I stopped at beautiful place 20 miles north of Juneau on my way to the end of the road. It is an old monastery called the Shrine of St. Theresa. It sits on a little peninsula that hangs out into the Lynn Canal just north of Auk Bay. It is a serene and spiritual place no matter what religion you claim, so I decided to take a bunch of us from camp there. Kym, Caellyn, Sean, Matt, Cosmos and I all took off in my big blue dog truck and headed up the road. I felt like a Hierophant, guiding everyone on a spiritual day camp. It was a beautiful day, it was overcast but the clouds added to the ethereal feel of the day. There is an old stoned church that sits on top of a knoll. You can see the ocean on three sides. It is surrounded by the 14 Stations of the Cross. So there are stone pillars scattered through out the moss covered Spruce forest. Each with a marble carving of an event in the resurrection of Christ. It is very well laid out, for example the station where they place Jesus in the tomb, is down in a hole, it is dark and low. Then the resurrection is up on top of a sunny hill and you can see the surrounding ocean.
Everyone separated and went off in quiet meditation. It was a wonderful afternoon. There are beautiful gardens everywhere. One is called the Columbarium. Every flower, rock and plant is specifically laid out to represent a bible verse and meaning.
The coolest part is a Labyrinth. A little clearing where paths are outlined with stones. The paths wind in and around themselves so that they form a cross inside of a circle. A labyrinth is different than a maze in that there are no choices in the path you take. You just follow one path to an ultimate goal. Which in this case is a large stone in the center. Everyone carries a small significant item and places it on the stone. It is a meditative exercise and as you can tell very metaphorical to life itself. I placed a Yukon Quest sticker on the rock in the middle, for that is my focus right now. Along with some feathers I had found during the day.
On the way back to town we all stopped at Auk Recreation Center. We walked to the end of Lena Point. There were some people out there snagging Chums. I showed everyone how to determine a Chum salmon from all of the other species. Thanks to all of my years in the fish industry. I decided I should really go get a fishing license and a pole so I can can up some salmon for the summer. It would be nice to have to eat and also to leave with people that I stay with as I travel around the Yukon and Alaska this winter.
We went back to town and I met back up with Johnny for coffee. (Yes again, I went from being a barista to not having coffee except on my day off so I am still doing well) We stopped by the music store so he could get more picks for his Ukulele he just bought. Johnny and two other girls on the glacier bought ukuleles and are going to start a ukulele “band.” they are nice because they are small and light so they can take them in the helicopters on the glacier and not worry about weight or size restrictions. So while we were there I found a Pan Flute. I had been wanting one for quite sometime now. I was so excited, but I didn’t have money, (I purposely put my money away so we can have a great winter this year and focus on racing not working.) So Johnny bought it for me and now I owe him. I also got a book by Pablo Coelho written in Spanish the weekend before which I am slowly trying to read. All in preparation in someday traveling to Peru and Chile. So maybe if I practice long enough they will let me be a member of the Ukulele Band.
I finished off the wonderful day off by going out for pizza with all of the glacier people that had been stranded down in Juneau due to weather. They were trying to get me to “upgrade” to working on the glacier. It s nice to be wanted but I am not sure it would in fact be upgrading. We have a pretty nice set up here in Sheep Creek. It nice to be able to do things like go for jog or pick berries. Things that are not possible when you are on a glacier. But I would make the sacrifice for my dogs, if someone would actually tell me that it is better for the dogs. No one can say, but still maybe one season I will send on the glacier just for the experience.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Happy Birthday America
We had a camp field trip last night. We all piled in the trucks and drove to the beach to watch the midnight 4th of July fireworks put on by the city of Juneau. From the beach you can see downtown Juneau and you can see up and down Douglas Island. Lining the beach there were numerous bonfires and fireworks were being shot up all over. Wow! What a display. They really put a lot of money into the state’s fireworks. It was so impressive. They even had fireworks that were shaped in the outline of a star! It was the perfect night for it. It finally cleared up after weeks of rain. It was pretty dark but there was still remnants of dusk with colors lining the horizon, and brush strokes of charcoal colored clouds hanging above. Up and down the channel you could here everyone yelling and howling. They really get into the 4th here in the Southeast. And the booms just echoed and rumbled rolling down the ridges of the mountains that soot up out of the water. And when it was over every boat, ship, siren and car horn went off. It was awesome!! Happy birthday America Southeast style!
I don’t know how exactly all of this started, but one night we were all sitting around talking about running races. We had an entry form for a race called, “Only Fools Run at Night.” It is a 5K (3.1 miles) race run around downtown Juneau at Midnight. They have a centipede category where racers can run as a team but they must be tied together in someway. Competitors are encouraged to dress up in costumes. So somehow running the race morphed into running the race as a centipede, which led to the idea of everyone dressing up as a dog and puling one of the carts around the course.
For the most part, nobody in camp ran regularly, so this would take some training on the part of the camp. We have a dry erase board in our kitchen which lists our dish duties (we all take turns doing the dishes) and things we need from town. Added to the list was a “running list.” everyday someone ran they would get a star next to their name, except Jonathon the cook, who got a Star of David next his name because he is Jewish.
The whole camp really got pumped and everyone really tried to get in shape for the race. I was really proud of our motivation and team spirit. We kind of wanted to do this to show up the glacier mushers, because they always giving us a hard time about how easy we have it and how we are in some way lesser for it. So everything was kept top secret. Everyone got involved except Dustin and Amanda, which actually worked out in the long run because then we had someone to take pictures of us. Kym, was designated the musher. Cosmos would dress up like a human with a shirt and a pair of shorts on. And Lily would ride in a baby seat in the cart.
The week before the rave we all made our costumes. We made ears and tails out of fake fur. Some of us had floppy ears, some pointy. Everyone was a little different just like the dogs. We had to make harnesses and go for test runs. We recruited Danny who is a “floater” between all of the AIE camps and Jacques Phillip, who is from the Skagway Glacier, but super cool , an athlete, and coincidently in Juneau the day of the race. Jacques is somewhat a famous musher and I thought it was funny that the first I met him he is sitting in our kitchen wearing a set of floppy ears.
Everyone added their own special touches to their costumes. For example I wore a dog collar and made a dog tag that was labeled, “Astro.”
A few hours before we decided on our line up, Imagine if it were really like that, with the dogs debating on who should be where. “Doggy” jokes were being thrown around like, “Don’t put Nicole next to Jonathon, she is in heat.” and, “ I think Danny is a fighter you might what to careful who you put him next to.”
The line up is as follows:
Lead: Matt Hayashida and Danny
Swing: Sarah and Sean
Team: Jacques and Caelynn
Team: Forrest
Team: Jonathon and Nicole
Wheel: Me and Matt, my handler, team Cosmic pulling the heavy load!
We drove into town and went to the start. We were quite the hit. Everyone is looking at us wondering if we were actually going to pull this 1 ton cart around down town Juneau. Of course we were jumping and bucking like a dog team. Barking and howling and really hamming it up. There were some other cool costumes there also, like the US, with 50 people each representing a state all tied together, complete with a fence running next to it labeled “Homeland Security.”
Cosmos really added to the whole thing, standing with his front paws and the bar, like a musher would and baking the whole way, like he was yelling commands to us.
The first part of the race was pretty flat but then started the hills. I have new respect for wheel dogs. It was a lot of work on Matt and I getting up that hill. Then there were the other 4 hills we would have to climb. Also we would have to pull the cart wide around the corners.
Of course what goes up also has to go down. Coming down those hills was very stressful in wheel. Especially when the driver has the nickname “drunk driver” because once she crashed the whole cart full of tourists into the embankment. When this happened my tourists were watching asked me, “Is that driver drunk?” Not to mention that the brakes frequently need work. Needless to say I was always looking over my shoulder when we were heading down hill.
I had also mad a soundtrack which we were blasting from a boom box on the cart. The mix included songs like, “The Theme from Rocky“, “Chariots of Fire“, “Who let the Dogs Out“, and “Giving the Dog a Bone“
People were so impressed with the whole thing. Not only was it cool but we were actually passing people on the way. We crossed the finish line with “Chariots of Fire” blasting and a pretty respectable time. Everyone was amped! What an awesome time.
So now we not only have perspective of a dog’s life, but we also have a new camp bond. A sense of team instead of individual.
For the most part, nobody in camp ran regularly, so this would take some training on the part of the camp. We have a dry erase board in our kitchen which lists our dish duties (we all take turns doing the dishes) and things we need from town. Added to the list was a “running list.” everyday someone ran they would get a star next to their name, except Jonathon the cook, who got a Star of David next his name because he is Jewish.
The whole camp really got pumped and everyone really tried to get in shape for the race. I was really proud of our motivation and team spirit. We kind of wanted to do this to show up the glacier mushers, because they always giving us a hard time about how easy we have it and how we are in some way lesser for it. So everything was kept top secret. Everyone got involved except Dustin and Amanda, which actually worked out in the long run because then we had someone to take pictures of us. Kym, was designated the musher. Cosmos would dress up like a human with a shirt and a pair of shorts on. And Lily would ride in a baby seat in the cart.
The week before the rave we all made our costumes. We made ears and tails out of fake fur. Some of us had floppy ears, some pointy. Everyone was a little different just like the dogs. We had to make harnesses and go for test runs. We recruited Danny who is a “floater” between all of the AIE camps and Jacques Phillip, who is from the Skagway Glacier, but super cool , an athlete, and coincidently in Juneau the day of the race. Jacques is somewhat a famous musher and I thought it was funny that the first I met him he is sitting in our kitchen wearing a set of floppy ears.
Everyone added their own special touches to their costumes. For example I wore a dog collar and made a dog tag that was labeled, “Astro.”
A few hours before we decided on our line up, Imagine if it were really like that, with the dogs debating on who should be where. “Doggy” jokes were being thrown around like, “Don’t put Nicole next to Jonathon, she is in heat.” and, “ I think Danny is a fighter you might what to careful who you put him next to.”
The line up is as follows:
Lead: Matt Hayashida and Danny
Swing: Sarah and Sean
Team: Jacques and Caelynn
Team: Forrest
Team: Jonathon and Nicole
Wheel: Me and Matt, my handler, team Cosmic pulling the heavy load!
We drove into town and went to the start. We were quite the hit. Everyone is looking at us wondering if we were actually going to pull this 1 ton cart around down town Juneau. Of course we were jumping and bucking like a dog team. Barking and howling and really hamming it up. There were some other cool costumes there also, like the US, with 50 people each representing a state all tied together, complete with a fence running next to it labeled “Homeland Security.”
Cosmos really added to the whole thing, standing with his front paws and the bar, like a musher would and baking the whole way, like he was yelling commands to us.
The first part of the race was pretty flat but then started the hills. I have new respect for wheel dogs. It was a lot of work on Matt and I getting up that hill. Then there were the other 4 hills we would have to climb. Also we would have to pull the cart wide around the corners.
Of course what goes up also has to go down. Coming down those hills was very stressful in wheel. Especially when the driver has the nickname “drunk driver” because once she crashed the whole cart full of tourists into the embankment. When this happened my tourists were watching asked me, “Is that driver drunk?” Not to mention that the brakes frequently need work. Needless to say I was always looking over my shoulder when we were heading down hill.
I had also mad a soundtrack which we were blasting from a boom box on the cart. The mix included songs like, “The Theme from Rocky“, “Chariots of Fire“, “Who let the Dogs Out“, and “Giving the Dog a Bone“
People were so impressed with the whole thing. Not only was it cool but we were actually passing people on the way. We crossed the finish line with “Chariots of Fire” blasting and a pretty respectable time. Everyone was amped! What an awesome time.
So now we not only have perspective of a dog’s life, but we also have a new camp bond. A sense of team instead of individual.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Eclipse Lost and Found
I have 5 puppies that I am running here at dog camp. They are my “sun themed” litter. They were born last year, and just had their 1st birthday on June 18th. 4 girls, Corona, Umbra, Zenith, and Eclipse. And one boy, Solstice. With 35 dogs mistakes can happen, and Eclipse was accidentally bred with Saturn while she was on the picket line , waiting to be hooked onto the gangline. To remedy this problem I was going to have her spayed on my day off. So on Thursday afternoon, Eclipse, Cosmos and I all set off down the mountain to go to town. Her appointment was the following morning, so we would spend the night on a beach somewhere. I have been parking my truck at the bottom of the mountain at the Sheep Creek Trailhead. That way I can leave the day before my day off whenever the tours are down for the day because I don’t have to wait for the tours to Gold Mine tours at the bottom of our road to finish. Remember it is a narrow winding one lane road, you don’t want to meet a Tour bus part way down the hill. We can take the Sheep Creek Trail to the bottom and not interfere with the tours at all.
We headed out the driveway. Right outside of camp I meet Sean who was running down the mountain to go to a restaurant that is right up the Thane Road. They have a Salmon BBQ and the camp cook had the day off, so somehow everyone convinced Sean to run down and pick up dinner for everyone to go. I knew Cosmos would follow him anyways, so I asked Sean if he would mind if Cosmos went down with him and if he could just throw him into my truck when they got down there. Sean didn’t mind so off they go leaving behind Eclipse and I to walk down. I had a huge backpack on with all my gear for my day off, so we were just going to take our time. Eclipse was on a leash, but she has run free many times before, just like all of my dogs. They all do pretty well hanging around me. I wanted to make sure she got out of camp before I let her loose, because sometimes the dogs would rather socialize all the other dogs before they go for a walk. So when Sean and Cosmos were out of sight I let Eclipse loose. We took the road down to the old Mine Superintendent’s house, then cut over to the Sheep Creek Trail. Eclipse was having fun and was staying close. Part way down the steep part of the trail I looked around and Eclipse is gone! I called for her. Nothing. I stopped and looked around. I called and called for her for about 5 minutes and then I looked back up the trail. It is straight up and I didn’t really want to climb back up, but I couldn’t find Eclipse. So I headed back up the trail, calling as I climbed. I got all the way back to the top of the hill and still couldn’t find her so I walked back down past where I first discovered she was missing. No Eclipse. So back up I went, uuugg, climbing up and down a mountain with a pack on, when humidity is at 100%, is frustrating. Not to mention I had just taken a shower and put on some “un-doggy” clothes so that I could look half-way civilized when I went town. Now I was sweaty and dirty. I got to the top again, and still couldn’t find her, so back down I went. Along comes Sean carrying a HUGE box full of the food for camp.
“Did you see my dog?”
“No. Cosmos is in your truck.”
Damn! So obviously she wasn’t down the trail, or Sean would’ve ran into her. So much to my dismay I begin climbing up the hill again, following Sean and his box. Part way up I start realizing the strong scent of fish coming from the box.
“So do you realize we are walking bear bait with that box,” I ask him.
“Yeah I thought about that, if a bear comes and steals our dinner, I won’t be mad because then I would have a cool story to tell.”
Now that’s the attitude.
We climb back up to the top. We cut over to the road where Dustin has driven the 4 wheeler to meet Sean. I am very upset now, still not finding my dog. Dustin tells me that my handler Matt saw Eclipse in the bushes just around the dog yard. Good!
So we all pile on the wheeler, that’s 3 people, a backpack, and a large box of fish.
When I get to camp handler Matt tells me about seeing Eclipse on the edge of camp. He tried to catch her but she’s a little shy so she ran off into the bushes. Then Kym walked out into the bushes, thinking that Eclipse would more likely come to a woman than a man. Kym said she heard Eclipse running through the brush but she never saw her.
So I walk out into the brush calling and calling. No sign. So I go back and take the trail I cut to my tree, being that it is nearby. No sign. So I go back up to camp and think. I borrow a bike and go all the way up and all the way back down the trail. No sign. Horrifying images of maimed and hurt Eclipse flash through my head. Its now been 5 hours. I am totally upset. Everyone is trying to reassure me that she will come back to camp eventually. I think that maybe she went back down the trail to find me. Plus Cosmos has been down at the trail head sitting in my truck the whole time. Matt and Sarah loan me their cell phone so that they can call me right away if she show up to camp. And I head down the trail to the bottom. Now I am stuck and unable to get back to camp until tomorrow. So Cosmos and I head into town. I call every so often to camp, worried sick about Eclipse. The next day I call the Humane Society and file a missing dog report. The day drug on forever. It was the worst day off I had in a while. I called camp almost every hour. Finally I got clearance to go back up to camp. I decided to sleep in the middle of the dog yard so that if she came back I would be right there to catch. I was literally sick with worry.
Matt and Sarah went for a hike with a couple of their dogs an Lily their baby. I was sitting inside sulking about my lost dog. Sarah busted in the door out of breath.
“We just saw your dog!”
They saw her down on the trail heading up the mountain. So I headed out the trail to my tree so I could head her off at the pass. When I got to our field where we become “faeries” I saw her running through.
“Eclipse!”
She hesitated and looked at me a little scared.
So I sat down right in the middle of the field.
“Eclipse!”
Then she ran over to me an jumped in my arms. There we rolled in the lupines and buttercups that are in full bloom. What a reunion!
“ You crazy girl! What did you want to play coyote for a day?”
So off we went back to camp, the major load on my heart lifted. The Cosmic Canines all one again.
Hanging with the Enemy and My New Handler
Life here at camp is still wonderful. We are still a little slow on the number of tours we are doing. But as a start up operation it is to be expected. I guess they had a similar experience on the Mendenhall Glacier Camp last year, which was their first season. I also have been warned that when they got busy last year on the glacier they got hit hard. So I am not complaining, but I sure would like to get these tours going in full swing.
The dogs are doing well. They are getting stronger and stronger pulling a 1000 pound cart full of people around. Especially the last little bit which is up hill. The other day we made it up the hill with 7 people and me with no help. A couple of the passengers were very large too. So I was pretty proud of the dogs. As far as my share of the work, I am getting better at this tour thing. Trying to keep it not only informative, but also funny and entertaining. I have to admit my writing skills exceed my oral.
My yard grew a little since last email. Brian MacDougal brought his dogs to stay here for the summer to help us out. We split them up between all of the mushers. I got 4 of them. One of the dogs names is Leo and I already have a Leo, so he is Leo 2. Another of the dogs is named Bruno, and \I already have a Bruno, so he is Bruno 2. The ironic thing is that the first day I ran those dogs, there was a little girl who was named Abbye West on one of my tours! I kept calling her Abbye West 2. She is supposed to keep in touch with me through emails.
When we aren’t doing tours we have been starting to do trail work. As a act of good will when AIE got the permit for this operation, they offered to pay $3000 toward maintenance of the Sheep Creek Trail that runs right here by camp. So we are paying some in man hours. We are cutting back the brush that is growing into the trail, which helps us too because we probably use the trail more than anyone else. We hike it all the time. And everyone has taken up running also we mix it up and run partially on the trail and partially on the mine road that comes into camp. It was getting pretty gnarly with all of the Devils Club, Stinging Nettles, Hellebore, and Salmon berries that were taking over the trail.
Speaking of running. Most everyone has been inspired to start running. We are going to try to run a race next weekend called Only Fools Run at Midnight. They have a centipede category, which mean the runners on the team have to be tied together in some way, and need to be in costume. We are going to try to dress up like dogs and pull the dog cart on the course. It should be interesting.
Matt, Sean and I all ran a trail race last Saturday. It was the Perseverance Trail Run. It had a 2, 4, and 7 mile runs. We all ran the 4 mile. It was 2 miles of uphill and then you turn around and come back down. It was a beautiful run. It didn’t do quite as well as I would’ve liked but I had fun. I feel like I should have pushed myself a little more. I came in 3rd in my age group. Matt came in 2nd overall. Sean won his age class.
Lets see. 2 weeks ago Caellyn, the photographer and I hiked to the top of the mountain here. We took Telesto, Zenith, Cosmos, and Vega with us. It was beautiful. Its amazing how we climb out of our green Valley here and look over the other side and see winter. Its is white and stark on the other side. You can see mountain ridge after jagged mountain ridge for ever. There are rivers in the valleys that are still covered in blue ice. There is a cabin almost at the top. Was imagining what it would be like to wake up in the morning grab a cup of coffee and step out onto the front porch with a view like that. Heaven! There is a weather station on the top. What a view!
After my last email I went out to Douglas Island to camp on the beach near Outer Point. It was near sunset when I got out there. There was some people having a bonfire on the beach so I went out to a sandy point. The sunset was spectacular. Pastel and orange colors accented the silhouetted islands scattered out on the Passage. When I got out to the furthest point I hear a SSSSHHHHHHHTSTS. I looked around to see what it was, then I hear the noise again and there in the water right in front of me a whale breeches! It stayed around for awhile. How amazing! I am pretty sure it was a humpback whale. The tide was coming in pretty fast and I was going to be stranded out on the point so I walked back to see if there would be a better place to camp over on the other side of the bonfire. As I was walking by one of the people called over to ask if I would like a beer. As I get closer I could see the signature “raccoon eyes” that all the mushers on the glacier have. Turns out that that they all work for Alaska Heli-mush, the other glacier tour down here in Juneau. They were all pretty nice so I joined their bonfire party. What are the chances of mushers and whales meeting like this in the middle of no where? I slept a little farther up the beach in the beach peas and sedges. Eagles calling and circling over my head woke me in the morning. The smell of the ocean and the heat of the day to come was delightful. When sat up I looked across the little inlet, where a creek empties into the ocean and I could see two deer eating seaweed on the beach. What a glorious morning, how lucky am I to be living like this.
I gave the other mushers a ride to their companies in town apartment. They were very grateful It would have cost them a $75 cab ride to get them back there. I met up with Johnnie later who had just come down from the glacier. He has a drift boat which is just a nice row boat, made for guided fishing trips on a river. He used to guide on the Snake River in Wyoming. So we took it up to Tee Harbor and went out and around a little island in the Passage called Cohen Island. He rowed most of the way while Cosmos and I sat on the blow of the boat basking in the sun, drinking a beer on the most perfect day. I felt like a queen. What a great day! On the way back I needed to pee really bad, so I had Johnnie pull up to the shore so I could go do my business behind a rock. The harbor parallels the road. Part way through, I looked up the hill behind me. There is a view point pull out up above and there is a group of Harley Bikers looking down. How embarrassing. I just waved at them, what else could I do? All I could think is someone up there with them saying ,“off to the left your see Tee Harbor, there’s a bald eagle, oh and down to your right you can see and Alaskan Girl Peeing .”
Last weekend on my day off I went up to the glacier camp for a day. Its so beautiful up there. Of corse we really have it made down here at Sheep Creek. They have to melt snow for water and don’t have many amenities. Because they are on snow they are always cold and wet. I still think I would like to work up there for a summer. Its beautiful in its own way. The starkness and they feeling that you are living in the sky give it its own charm. While I was up there I help out with Sebastian Schnuelle’s dogs (the ones that Johnnie is running). I cut all their nails and gave them all messages. I feel in love with 2 of his dogs Finn and Rat who are up and coming in his kennel.
My handler Emily left last weekend what a bummer to see her go. She was a really good handler. My new handler’s name is Matt. He is a photography major from Ohio. I really like him. He has a lot of energy and a great attitude. And he loves the dogs, he especially all about “team Cosmic.” All of which makes up for his lack of experience. I have to do a little more work then I did when Emily was around. But we have enough fun that it is totally worth it.
The dogs are doing well. They are getting stronger and stronger pulling a 1000 pound cart full of people around. Especially the last little bit which is up hill. The other day we made it up the hill with 7 people and me with no help. A couple of the passengers were very large too. So I was pretty proud of the dogs. As far as my share of the work, I am getting better at this tour thing. Trying to keep it not only informative, but also funny and entertaining. I have to admit my writing skills exceed my oral.
My yard grew a little since last email. Brian MacDougal brought his dogs to stay here for the summer to help us out. We split them up between all of the mushers. I got 4 of them. One of the dogs names is Leo and I already have a Leo, so he is Leo 2. Another of the dogs is named Bruno, and \I already have a Bruno, so he is Bruno 2. The ironic thing is that the first day I ran those dogs, there was a little girl who was named Abbye West on one of my tours! I kept calling her Abbye West 2. She is supposed to keep in touch with me through emails.
When we aren’t doing tours we have been starting to do trail work. As a act of good will when AIE got the permit for this operation, they offered to pay $3000 toward maintenance of the Sheep Creek Trail that runs right here by camp. So we are paying some in man hours. We are cutting back the brush that is growing into the trail, which helps us too because we probably use the trail more than anyone else. We hike it all the time. And everyone has taken up running also we mix it up and run partially on the trail and partially on the mine road that comes into camp. It was getting pretty gnarly with all of the Devils Club, Stinging Nettles, Hellebore, and Salmon berries that were taking over the trail.
Speaking of running. Most everyone has been inspired to start running. We are going to try to run a race next weekend called Only Fools Run at Midnight. They have a centipede category, which mean the runners on the team have to be tied together in some way, and need to be in costume. We are going to try to dress up like dogs and pull the dog cart on the course. It should be interesting.
Matt, Sean and I all ran a trail race last Saturday. It was the Perseverance Trail Run. It had a 2, 4, and 7 mile runs. We all ran the 4 mile. It was 2 miles of uphill and then you turn around and come back down. It was a beautiful run. It didn’t do quite as well as I would’ve liked but I had fun. I feel like I should have pushed myself a little more. I came in 3rd in my age group. Matt came in 2nd overall. Sean won his age class.
Lets see. 2 weeks ago Caellyn, the photographer and I hiked to the top of the mountain here. We took Telesto, Zenith, Cosmos, and Vega with us. It was beautiful. Its amazing how we climb out of our green Valley here and look over the other side and see winter. Its is white and stark on the other side. You can see mountain ridge after jagged mountain ridge for ever. There are rivers in the valleys that are still covered in blue ice. There is a cabin almost at the top. Was imagining what it would be like to wake up in the morning grab a cup of coffee and step out onto the front porch with a view like that. Heaven! There is a weather station on the top. What a view!
After my last email I went out to Douglas Island to camp on the beach near Outer Point. It was near sunset when I got out there. There was some people having a bonfire on the beach so I went out to a sandy point. The sunset was spectacular. Pastel and orange colors accented the silhouetted islands scattered out on the Passage. When I got out to the furthest point I hear a SSSSHHHHHHHTSTS. I looked around to see what it was, then I hear the noise again and there in the water right in front of me a whale breeches! It stayed around for awhile. How amazing! I am pretty sure it was a humpback whale. The tide was coming in pretty fast and I was going to be stranded out on the point so I walked back to see if there would be a better place to camp over on the other side of the bonfire. As I was walking by one of the people called over to ask if I would like a beer. As I get closer I could see the signature “raccoon eyes” that all the mushers on the glacier have. Turns out that that they all work for Alaska Heli-mush, the other glacier tour down here in Juneau. They were all pretty nice so I joined their bonfire party. What are the chances of mushers and whales meeting like this in the middle of no where? I slept a little farther up the beach in the beach peas and sedges. Eagles calling and circling over my head woke me in the morning. The smell of the ocean and the heat of the day to come was delightful. When sat up I looked across the little inlet, where a creek empties into the ocean and I could see two deer eating seaweed on the beach. What a glorious morning, how lucky am I to be living like this.
I gave the other mushers a ride to their companies in town apartment. They were very grateful It would have cost them a $75 cab ride to get them back there. I met up with Johnnie later who had just come down from the glacier. He has a drift boat which is just a nice row boat, made for guided fishing trips on a river. He used to guide on the Snake River in Wyoming. So we took it up to Tee Harbor and went out and around a little island in the Passage called Cohen Island. He rowed most of the way while Cosmos and I sat on the blow of the boat basking in the sun, drinking a beer on the most perfect day. I felt like a queen. What a great day! On the way back I needed to pee really bad, so I had Johnnie pull up to the shore so I could go do my business behind a rock. The harbor parallels the road. Part way through, I looked up the hill behind me. There is a view point pull out up above and there is a group of Harley Bikers looking down. How embarrassing. I just waved at them, what else could I do? All I could think is someone up there with them saying ,“off to the left your see Tee Harbor, there’s a bald eagle, oh and down to your right you can see and Alaskan Girl Peeing .”
Last weekend on my day off I went up to the glacier camp for a day. Its so beautiful up there. Of corse we really have it made down here at Sheep Creek. They have to melt snow for water and don’t have many amenities. Because they are on snow they are always cold and wet. I still think I would like to work up there for a summer. Its beautiful in its own way. The starkness and they feeling that you are living in the sky give it its own charm. While I was up there I help out with Sebastian Schnuelle’s dogs (the ones that Johnnie is running). I cut all their nails and gave them all messages. I feel in love with 2 of his dogs Finn and Rat who are up and coming in his kennel.
My handler Emily left last weekend what a bummer to see her go. She was a really good handler. My new handler’s name is Matt. He is a photography major from Ohio. I really like him. He has a lot of energy and a great attitude. And he loves the dogs, he especially all about “team Cosmic.” All of which makes up for his lack of experience. I have to do a little more work then I did when Emily was around. But we have enough fun that it is totally worth it.
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Mushers can sing too?
Life here in Juneau is still wonderful. We went through a little bit of a wet spell, I mean downright raining for days, but that is kind of what I expected here in Juneau. However that last couple days have been absolutely gorgeous!
We still haven't been in full swing with our tours, but we had a little taste of of it today. I think by the middle of next week we will be completely slammed. This ground operation is new so we have to make a name for ourselves with the "shore x's". Those are the people on the cruise ships that sell and schedule tours for the passengers. Different cruise lines have sent their shore x's to our tour so that they know what they are selling. I had the Holland American X's and I guess they were completely impressed. The Alaska icefield Expedition Sales Head said they really enjoyed themselves.
It has been intersting to apply my entertaining skills that I have learned from 20 years (gosh I hate that number) of serving and bartending, to my dogs, but I am really starting to get the hang of it. Its all such a show, but what a wonderful show it is. Its great to be able to spread my love of mushing to everyone. There are a couple of those that say, "Oh the poor dogs" and turn up their noses but I'm even starting to firgure out how to impress them too. I like the really enthusiastic ones the best. In fact just today I think I have permenantly planted the dream in the head of a 10 year old boy. He was determined to take one of the puppies home to start his own dog team. In fact I pushed it a little further, telling his parents how my parents had always supported my dream and look now I came all the way from new Jersey and I am living the life I dreamed. They were pretty excited about it too. I bet I'll see him somewhere on the race trail in 10 years!
We still have had some time to play. I am really getting to know everyone at camp. We have so much fun. One day we went out and played capture the flag in the pouring rain. It was a blast! We were running aroung the forest and the old gold mine buildings. It was pretty intense. Another day we played soccer up on our heilcopter landing pad which sits above camp. We got pretty competitive, though my team had an advantage between my previous coaching skills and Amanda's past soccer playing.
I have begun running down to the sheep creek trail head and back, which is about 3 miles. But the trip back is straight up and switch backs so I can only run about half of the way now and have to briskly walk the other. Sarah, Sean and I have all been practicing so by the end of the summer we will be able to run the whole thing.I think Matt is going to start running too. Everyone else thinks we are insane running up the side of a mountain. We keep trying to explain how much we like it but they aren't buying it.
Last weekend I met the lead musher from the glacier. His name is Johnny and he is running Sebastian Schenuelle's dogs. We went hiking around a really cool old growth forest. The trees had to have been 6 or 7 feet in diameter. There also were some twisted hemlocks. For some reason the grow in a spiral and look like they are made of a bunch of twisted cords. It was raining pretty hard so we went down town. I went to a bar and sang kareoke to prove to him that he should sing too because who cares, everyone else in the bar is probably from a cruise ship and we would never see them again. So in the middle of my song that I was completely belting out, and everyone in the bar was screaming and cheering I look up and who is sitting there but Jay Ramras. For those of that don't know him he was my boss for 4 years at Pike's Landing Restaurant in Fairbanks. He still owns Pike's but he is now also a legislator here in Juneau. So after the song he goes out of his way to say "Hi Abbie" and asks what I am doing in Juneau, like he ever cared what ws was doing before! He made sure that every person in that bar knew that he knew me. Probaly because a group of very attractive blond women were all over me telling me how great I was, I see he hasn't changed much! So much for my stranger theory for singing Kareoke.
So Juneau has kind of won me over with is ever changing tide of people that come in and drown the city and go back out to sea again. It makes it so everything is festive all the time. Even though I still feel like King Kong attacking Juneau when I drive my huge dog truck through the narrow streets of Juneau I am getting pretty comfortable. I still would rather spend my time in mountains or on the beach, which is what I will be doing today. I am going to drive all the way up to Bridget Point, where the road ends North of Juneau about 40 miles. I think we will hike around the point and camp out on the beach again, ahh the good life. Cosmos loves to try to bite the waves and its a great place for him to play fetch
We still haven't been in full swing with our tours, but we had a little taste of of it today. I think by the middle of next week we will be completely slammed. This ground operation is new so we have to make a name for ourselves with the "shore x's". Those are the people on the cruise ships that sell and schedule tours for the passengers. Different cruise lines have sent their shore x's to our tour so that they know what they are selling. I had the Holland American X's and I guess they were completely impressed. The Alaska icefield Expedition Sales Head said they really enjoyed themselves.
It has been intersting to apply my entertaining skills that I have learned from 20 years (gosh I hate that number) of serving and bartending, to my dogs, but I am really starting to get the hang of it. Its all such a show, but what a wonderful show it is. Its great to be able to spread my love of mushing to everyone. There are a couple of those that say, "Oh the poor dogs" and turn up their noses but I'm even starting to firgure out how to impress them too. I like the really enthusiastic ones the best. In fact just today I think I have permenantly planted the dream in the head of a 10 year old boy. He was determined to take one of the puppies home to start his own dog team. In fact I pushed it a little further, telling his parents how my parents had always supported my dream and look now I came all the way from new Jersey and I am living the life I dreamed. They were pretty excited about it too. I bet I'll see him somewhere on the race trail in 10 years!
We still have had some time to play. I am really getting to know everyone at camp. We have so much fun. One day we went out and played capture the flag in the pouring rain. It was a blast! We were running aroung the forest and the old gold mine buildings. It was pretty intense. Another day we played soccer up on our heilcopter landing pad which sits above camp. We got pretty competitive, though my team had an advantage between my previous coaching skills and Amanda's past soccer playing.
I have begun running down to the sheep creek trail head and back, which is about 3 miles. But the trip back is straight up and switch backs so I can only run about half of the way now and have to briskly walk the other. Sarah, Sean and I have all been practicing so by the end of the summer we will be able to run the whole thing.I think Matt is going to start running too. Everyone else thinks we are insane running up the side of a mountain. We keep trying to explain how much we like it but they aren't buying it.
Last weekend I met the lead musher from the glacier. His name is Johnny and he is running Sebastian Schenuelle's dogs. We went hiking around a really cool old growth forest. The trees had to have been 6 or 7 feet in diameter. There also were some twisted hemlocks. For some reason the grow in a spiral and look like they are made of a bunch of twisted cords. It was raining pretty hard so we went down town. I went to a bar and sang kareoke to prove to him that he should sing too because who cares, everyone else in the bar is probably from a cruise ship and we would never see them again. So in the middle of my song that I was completely belting out, and everyone in the bar was screaming and cheering I look up and who is sitting there but Jay Ramras. For those of that don't know him he was my boss for 4 years at Pike's Landing Restaurant in Fairbanks. He still owns Pike's but he is now also a legislator here in Juneau. So after the song he goes out of his way to say "Hi Abbie" and asks what I am doing in Juneau, like he ever cared what ws was doing before! He made sure that every person in that bar knew that he knew me. Probaly because a group of very attractive blond women were all over me telling me how great I was, I see he hasn't changed much! So much for my stranger theory for singing Kareoke.
So Juneau has kind of won me over with is ever changing tide of people that come in and drown the city and go back out to sea again. It makes it so everything is festive all the time. Even though I still feel like King Kong attacking Juneau when I drive my huge dog truck through the narrow streets of Juneau I am getting pretty comfortable. I still would rather spend my time in mountains or on the beach, which is what I will be doing today. I am going to drive all the way up to Bridget Point, where the road ends North of Juneau about 40 miles. I think we will hike around the point and camp out on the beach again, ahh the good life. Cosmos loves to try to bite the waves and its a great place for him to play fetch
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
My 1st day off and more from camp
On my last day off I went to the foot of the Mendenhall Glacier. Cosmos and I hiked the Morraine Trail, which was extra beautiful due to the fact that it was misting out and the trail goes through the green and mossy lowlands. The mist and moss seemed to mute the edges of everything. It was like walking in watercolor. Then we went down town. I wanted to get some flower identification books because it is a completely different eco-system here in South east Alaska so I don't know the wildflowers here very well. I also heard there was a good bagel shop downtown so I wanted to buy some to take back to camp because 1. I am a bagel and coffee addict when it comes to breakfast and 2. Our camp cook really isn't very good. So at least I have another option when he makes us "light as lead" pancakes, oatmeal cement or mystery eggs ( so named because they usually have something leftover from the night before in them such as rice and pasta). Anyways the nice thing about downtown is that they let you bring your dog into many of the places. So I stopped at a bar that is open to the street and sat with Cosmos on the stool next to me and had some awesome tacos and a Alaskan Pale Ale (which is brewed here in Juneau) Everybody stopped and said hi to Cosmos . Infact anywhere we walked downtown people want ed to stop and pet Cosmos. It is funny because Matt brought some books to camp about Gold Rush Dogs so we could study up for the tourist. There was a Bull terrier named "Patsy Ann" who would hang around Juneau and great all the steam ship passengers when it docked. So Cosmos is just upholding the tradition.
After I had my fill of town, which didn't take long. I drove about 25 miles north of Juneau to Eagle Beach. There Cosmos and I went hiking along the beach and spent the night there. Sleeping right on the beach listening to the seagulls and the waves,
Life at camp just keeps getting better and better. We finally have most of the set up done. We have two carts now and expect 2 more. The carts are unlike anything I have ever seen before. Matt still laughs ever time he sees one of the carts go off on a run. I compare them to something out of a Hanna Barbara cartoon. The carts are stripped down Honda car chassis. The musher sits high up in the back on a boat seat and steers with a regular steering wheel. In front the are 3 rows of seats for the passengers, for a total of 8 passengers. There is a little hood on the front and a windshield. One is named Raven and the second Orca. The 2 others will be Puffin and Mad Jack ( named for the mechanic who built them). I have been deemed the camp artist even thought there are a couple other people with talent. So I painted the Orca to look like an Orca with the black top and white bottom. I also have been studying South West Native Tribal Art so I have designed logos in that style for the Orca and the Raven. I'm still working on the others.I painted them on the hoods of each.
Tours have begun thought we are still slow. Its a pretty easy job honestly. The handler seems to do most of the work. I have to entertain tourists, I take them through our historical and race tents in the fake Gold Rush Town and talk about mushing then I walk them to the cart where the handler has all the dogs hooked up and I drive the team around our trail. When the ride is over I take the tourists to pet the puppies and the handler puts all the dogs back to their houses. What a difference from the way things usually are at my kennel where I do almost all of the work! I'm going to be one spoiled musher come fall!
We were assigned handlers while I was gone on my last day off, I got the best one! Her name is Emily and she is from Talkeetna, Alaska. She is 16 years old and Matt and Sara's neighbor. She has her own team of Siberian Huskies at home so she is very experienced. Not to mention she is really a smart and sweet kid, a real hard worker, and a devout Christian, so she always has a positive attitude. And she is really into training the dogs, where as some of the other handlers are just into doing their job. She takes extra time to work with some of my dogs with problems such as shyness or line chewing. The bad news is that she leaves at the end of June and a different handler takes over for her, so who knows who I will get next. Emily is also my roommate along with the photographer, Caelyn. We definitely are the tent that has the most fun. Many nights we lie in our sleeping bags giggling about all kinds of things while the other tents "shhh!" us. We always answer with a good ole Waltons stye, "Good night John Boy."
Being that we are still slow we have had a lot of time "extra-curricular" activities. I am by far the most exploritive (is that a word?) of the group. They always make fun of me when I come back, "What did you discover this time Abbie?"
For example I had been looking from camp for sometime down to the valley where a HUGE cottonwood tree grows in the center. I kept thinking, " What a perfect place to sit and read." The branches are huge and spread wide so that there is a moss covered saddle. So one day I spent 2.5 hours cutting a trail through the thick Alaskan Brambles to get to it. It was even cooler than I thought, it is hollow inside. 3 people could fit inside the trunk. However I couldn't climb so I ran back to camp so I could build a rope ladder to get up to the saddle. Then I convinced the tallest one at camp, Sean to climb up it and tie the rope ladder around it. It's been deemed Abbie's tree but everyone goes down there now for quiet time. It is soft and perfectly formed like it grew just that way for people to enjoy reading or writing in it. One day I took all the girls down to it to see ( all of them except for Emily are scared to go very far out of camp because of bears.) We wandered off past the tree to see actually how far it was from the Sheep Creek trail which runs next to camp. On the way we found a huge little meadow full of chocolate lilies, buttercups and violets. We spent the day laying amongst the flowers. We made jokes that this was strickly a "faerie meadow" And no boys were allowed. It seems we have regressed slightly at camp. Weather it be climbing trees or being faeries.
We all climbed to the top of the Sheep Creek trail which goes the top of Mount Roberts on the back side. Eventually we want to try to make it over to the tram that goes to the top of the otherside from downtown. We were way above tree line and there is still a lot of snow up there. So we will have to wait a couple months for that adventure. It was fun though "skiing" on the snow on our boats. We would post hole up a ways and then slide down. I was laughing so hard I was crying.
I still get out by myself. I keep picking waterfalls that a raging down the sides of the mountain from camp and then trying to get up next to them. It is amazing sitting up on a rock watching the water rage into snow canyons while the fog creeps in from the channel. This valley is pure nirvana. Words cannot describe how nice it is.
I picked fiddleheads the other day for everyone to try. Fiddle heads are young fern sprout. The are tender and remind me a little of asparagus. I lightly breaded them and made a garlic Aioli to dip them in. Everyone loved them. But that could be just because it was nice to have some food the "cook" didn't make. Everybody likes it when the cook has a day off because then Emily and Amanda cook usually, and they both are great cooks. In fact he cook is so disorganized that usually someone jumps in to help. It is amazing how much other everyone else does the cooks job for him. I usually refuse to because I have a problem in that the cook gets paid more than the handlers and they are out busting their butts all day while he sits in the kitchen and reads his book. Then it is a huge task to make even a simple meal like Sloppy Joes. He can never make a meal on time or organize everything so that every thing is done at once. And usually there isn't enough made for everyone. But hey! If that's the only complaint I have here life is pretty good. I certainly not starving, its just I wish Emily could get paid more.
The dogs are so happy here. They get so much more attention then they would if I were back in Fairbanks working. I think we are going to have a real nice race season. My "sun pups" that turn 1 year old June 18th are getting some great training. Matt has some puppies here that are 6 weeks old. I think I am going to take the male. The are from excellent breeding, plus it will be nice to get a new line in my kennel. Even though I think they are related to Comet somewhere back.
After I had my fill of town, which didn't take long. I drove about 25 miles north of Juneau to Eagle Beach. There Cosmos and I went hiking along the beach and spent the night there. Sleeping right on the beach listening to the seagulls and the waves,
Life at camp just keeps getting better and better. We finally have most of the set up done. We have two carts now and expect 2 more. The carts are unlike anything I have ever seen before. Matt still laughs ever time he sees one of the carts go off on a run. I compare them to something out of a Hanna Barbara cartoon. The carts are stripped down Honda car chassis. The musher sits high up in the back on a boat seat and steers with a regular steering wheel. In front the are 3 rows of seats for the passengers, for a total of 8 passengers. There is a little hood on the front and a windshield. One is named Raven and the second Orca. The 2 others will be Puffin and Mad Jack ( named for the mechanic who built them). I have been deemed the camp artist even thought there are a couple other people with talent. So I painted the Orca to look like an Orca with the black top and white bottom. I also have been studying South West Native Tribal Art so I have designed logos in that style for the Orca and the Raven. I'm still working on the others.I painted them on the hoods of each.
Tours have begun thought we are still slow. Its a pretty easy job honestly. The handler seems to do most of the work. I have to entertain tourists, I take them through our historical and race tents in the fake Gold Rush Town and talk about mushing then I walk them to the cart where the handler has all the dogs hooked up and I drive the team around our trail. When the ride is over I take the tourists to pet the puppies and the handler puts all the dogs back to their houses. What a difference from the way things usually are at my kennel where I do almost all of the work! I'm going to be one spoiled musher come fall!
We were assigned handlers while I was gone on my last day off, I got the best one! Her name is Emily and she is from Talkeetna, Alaska. She is 16 years old and Matt and Sara's neighbor. She has her own team of Siberian Huskies at home so she is very experienced. Not to mention she is really a smart and sweet kid, a real hard worker, and a devout Christian, so she always has a positive attitude. And she is really into training the dogs, where as some of the other handlers are just into doing their job. She takes extra time to work with some of my dogs with problems such as shyness or line chewing. The bad news is that she leaves at the end of June and a different handler takes over for her, so who knows who I will get next. Emily is also my roommate along with the photographer, Caelyn. We definitely are the tent that has the most fun. Many nights we lie in our sleeping bags giggling about all kinds of things while the other tents "shhh!" us. We always answer with a good ole Waltons stye, "Good night John Boy."
Being that we are still slow we have had a lot of time "extra-curricular" activities. I am by far the most exploritive (is that a word?) of the group. They always make fun of me when I come back, "What did you discover this time Abbie?"
For example I had been looking from camp for sometime down to the valley where a HUGE cottonwood tree grows in the center. I kept thinking, " What a perfect place to sit and read." The branches are huge and spread wide so that there is a moss covered saddle. So one day I spent 2.5 hours cutting a trail through the thick Alaskan Brambles to get to it. It was even cooler than I thought, it is hollow inside. 3 people could fit inside the trunk. However I couldn't climb so I ran back to camp so I could build a rope ladder to get up to the saddle. Then I convinced the tallest one at camp, Sean to climb up it and tie the rope ladder around it. It's been deemed Abbie's tree but everyone goes down there now for quiet time. It is soft and perfectly formed like it grew just that way for people to enjoy reading or writing in it. One day I took all the girls down to it to see ( all of them except for Emily are scared to go very far out of camp because of bears.) We wandered off past the tree to see actually how far it was from the Sheep Creek trail which runs next to camp. On the way we found a huge little meadow full of chocolate lilies, buttercups and violets. We spent the day laying amongst the flowers. We made jokes that this was strickly a "faerie meadow" And no boys were allowed. It seems we have regressed slightly at camp. Weather it be climbing trees or being faeries.
We all climbed to the top of the Sheep Creek trail which goes the top of Mount Roberts on the back side. Eventually we want to try to make it over to the tram that goes to the top of the otherside from downtown. We were way above tree line and there is still a lot of snow up there. So we will have to wait a couple months for that adventure. It was fun though "skiing" on the snow on our boats. We would post hole up a ways and then slide down. I was laughing so hard I was crying.
I still get out by myself. I keep picking waterfalls that a raging down the sides of the mountain from camp and then trying to get up next to them. It is amazing sitting up on a rock watching the water rage into snow canyons while the fog creeps in from the channel. This valley is pure nirvana. Words cannot describe how nice it is.
I picked fiddleheads the other day for everyone to try. Fiddle heads are young fern sprout. The are tender and remind me a little of asparagus. I lightly breaded them and made a garlic Aioli to dip them in. Everyone loved them. But that could be just because it was nice to have some food the "cook" didn't make. Everybody likes it when the cook has a day off because then Emily and Amanda cook usually, and they both are great cooks. In fact he cook is so disorganized that usually someone jumps in to help. It is amazing how much other everyone else does the cooks job for him. I usually refuse to because I have a problem in that the cook gets paid more than the handlers and they are out busting their butts all day while he sits in the kitchen and reads his book. Then it is a huge task to make even a simple meal like Sloppy Joes. He can never make a meal on time or organize everything so that every thing is done at once. And usually there isn't enough made for everyone. But hey! If that's the only complaint I have here life is pretty good. I certainly not starving, its just I wish Emily could get paid more.
The dogs are so happy here. They get so much more attention then they would if I were back in Fairbanks working. I think we are going to have a real nice race season. My "sun pups" that turn 1 year old June 18th are getting some great training. Matt has some puppies here that are 6 weeks old. I think I am going to take the male. The are from excellent breeding, plus it will be nice to get a new line in my kennel. Even though I think they are related to Comet somewhere back.
Pictures on the drive down to JUNEAU
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Cosmic Canines Arrive in Travel to Juneau
We left Fairbanks at 1:30 am on Friday the 12th. 29 sled dog, Cosmos the Jack Russell and everything I need for the summer. They trip was okay but it was foggy, for the first half which is a bummer because it is such a beautiful drive. The stress, anticipation, and the fact that it was the wee hours of the morning got to me so I had to stop a couple times for a power nap. The trip was pretty uneventful except the couple times I had to stop and drop the dogs. It is quite a chore getting 29 dogs in and out of a dogs box that sits in the bed of the truck . I am lucky in that I can let my dogs free but the dogs I borrowed from Jason I had to hook up around the truck except for Rocky who is a good boy and will stick around.
On one of my stops on the border town of Beaver Creek I lost Venus. Its sometimes hard to keep track of everydog when you are watching 22 free dogs. So I went to load the dogs back up and I am wondering where is Venus??? I called and called and she was nowhere. Finally I went inside the the restaurant and asked. Now keep in mind that Beaver Creek is a Canadian town so everybody is pretty laid back, eh?
I ask the woman who is working as the clerk the waitress and the cook, "Has anyone come in to tell you they found a white dog?"
She looks at me puzzled, "Your white dog?"
Now I am puzzled, "Yes."
"No."
Oo....kay. So I go back outside and look some more. There is a hitchhiker hanging outside waiting for his ride to get up from taking a nap. I put ou some food and water for Venus and ask him to come inside to get me if she comes back.
I have lunch inside and no one has come in to report a found dog. Now I am gettting really worried, I have to meet the ferry in Haines so I can't hang out for ever. I go back outside and look some more. I walk way down a trail behind the lodge....still no sign. I go back inside and ask the woman behind the counter if she has heard any word yet.
"Has anyone seen my dog yet?"
" Is this the dog from a little while ago or a long time ago?"
" Um....has ayone seen ANY dog?"
" Oh, yeah a white dog came into the kitchen a while ago but we let it back outside."
What?!? Now I feel like Abbie in Wonderland talking to some cryptical prankster tortoise. I go back outside completely frustrated. I am on the verge of tears. I go over to the truck and look inside at the dogs. I find myself doing this often when I am upset or confused, its like I am looking to them for answers. Even stranger is thats usually how I find them too. I look up at the one the top cubbies, I see a white face with a little pink nose, its Venus!!! She is looking at me , "Can we go yet? Don't we have a ferry to catch.
So now I am happy again, off we head done the Alcan Highway, radio blaring, one happy little travelling kennel.
The trip is cloudy, which is kind of a let down because it is such a beautiful drive through the Kluane Mountains. It really is one of my favorite places on earth. Instead it is blowing and snowing until we get to Haines Junction where we turn South toward Haines. The sun pops out and the mountains tower around us. How beautiful! One particular place we stop is gorgeous. Way up in the mountains near the Takhanni River. The dogs run around and play in the patches of snow and the river. The sun is out and life is good.
As we drop down into Haines the first thing I notice is that the trees are huge. No more interior scraggly black spruce but big towering Old growth white spruce. The road follows the river and reminds me of Valdez in a way. The town is is cute little fishing town I stop at the Pioneer Bar to have some real fresh Halibut fish and chips and a celebratory beer. The locals are very friendly and it doesn't take lond for me to make friends. Infact I had to turn down some free beers and an invite to the other bar or else I wouls be a little tipsy getting onto the ferry. The ferry leaves at 2:15am so I go down to the end of the road to a little lake called Chilkoot lake to drop the dogs one more time before we load onto the ferry. We watch the sunset and is beautiful as it reflects pastel colors unto to lake contrasted by the silouettes of mountains that hold it.
I drive back to the ferry terminal and check in. While we are wating to load one of the attendents comes over and asks if I could please put out my wood stove in my camper. He thought thats what my exhaust pipe that runs up along the side of my dog box is! I explain to him that my exhaust is set up that way so I don't suffocate my dogs with carbon monoxide. By the time we get on the ferry I am exhausted. So I go up to the observation deck, which is outside and lay down on one of the lounge chairs. There I fall to sleep basking in the full moon that comes up over the mountains and seems to like a path on the ocean for us to follow.
I wake up to the intercom announcing that we have arrived in Juneau. The sun is up and I am excited. as I dirve the truck off the ferry I am greeted by a guy in a black sweatshirt with the Alaska Icefield Expedition logo on it. He tells me to follow him. We drive off to Temsco Helicopter Airport which acts a base office for AIE. There I drop all the dogs and we wait for instrcution from AIE. I need an escort to get up the road that leads to our camp, but no one knows who is going to do it. I later find out that to work for AIE you need to learn to go with the flow. Everything is dependent on weather, helicopter landings, cruise ship arrivals, and dogs, so that is to say everything can change in a moments notice. I talk to the guy who met me, he came up from Wyoming with his wife and the other 4 mushers that will be at the Sheep Creek camp with me. They all work for Frank Teasley who is a competitive Iditarod musher and runs a major tour kennel. They all came up in a modified school bus, 100 dogs 5 people, one of them 8 months pregnant, and one cat. That sounded like quite the trip.
While we are waiting one of the mushers who will be working on the glacier arrives, her name is Emily and she is running one of my favorite writers dogs, Gary Paulsen. She is really sweet and we play fetch with Cosmos and her lab husky mix. Finally a group of trucks comes down to the airport and they tell Emily that she has to get ready to take her dogs up to the Glacier, now! Her dogs are being kept up at the camp that I will be at so they decide that I should just drive her up to get her dogs and her truck. We drive through down town Juneau to get there. It is a quaint little tourist town, every little shop has a clever name, because everything is set up to accomodate the cruise ships. When these cruise ships come in the tower over the town making it seem smaller than it realy is. The whole atmosphere reminds me of Martha's Vineyard or Rehobeth Beach. We reach teh road that leads up to the camp. Which is about 4 miles south of town.
"Wow it looks like hobbits should live up here!" I exclaim as we turn onto the road that leads to camp. The bottom portion of the road is the home of the AJ Mine Tour. There are old mine buildings and equipment dotting the whole way up the road. We keep getting higher and higher, until we are far above where you can look out and see the ocean. There are a couple nasty switchbacks. It is a narrow one lnae raod and you definately don't want to meet some one coming the other way as that it is prety dangerous to back up with the huge dropoffs on the side off the road, so every trip up and down has to be planned. Especially with the bus tours for the mine that happen periodically during the day, that combined with the fact that AIE bearly got the permit to use the Sheep Creek Mine and the road make for everybody extra careful about their road use.
The higher we climb the more excited I get. The road finally ends up in a little valley nestled high up in the mountains.
WOW
Its like a dream come true! Mountains shoot up on either side, the tops are snow covered and there are waterfalls raging down everylittle ridge. And in the back is the biggest one Completely snow covered with a little glacier at the bottom. There tucked in this pardise is 150 dogs houses, four wall tents (one of which that will be my new home), a little fake gold rush town, and a big shop which is left from the mine and will be our kitchen, living area, showers and laundry.
Everyone gathers to help Emily load her dogs into her dog truck. Then I unload mine to their new homes. Its nice to get them permanently out of the truck. I meet all the other memeber of the Sheep Creek Camp, or Gold Rush Tours.
Matt Hayashida the head of the camp. An Idtarod musher who used to work for both Frank Teasley and Martin Buser. Then there is the 3 other mushers that came up from Wyoming in bus. Each of them is running a team of Franks Dogs. There is Amanda who is 24 outdoor education major. She has been mushing for a couple of years for Frank. She is an boastful and aggressive woman. A little crude and definately a tomboy. She is the one who brought the cat to camp. We get along but don't realy click. Then there is Dustin and Kym who are 21 and 23, a couple who also work for Frank. They are vegetarians, which ends up being very hard for them being that it is so expensive to eat that way in Alaska. We are cooked for but the company certainly doesn't cater to special diets.Remember I too was a vegetarian when I first came up to Alaska. It took less than 2 summers at fish camp for me to change my lifestyle. They don't ever seem very happy up here. I think Alaska is a little to "wild" for them. They are from somewhere in California originally and I think life is alot different there for them. Then there is Sean, one of the handlers and who is by far the most interesting memeber of the camp. He is from Texas, and recently graduated with a Economics Degree. But he has been inspired by writers such as Jack Kerouac and Hemingway to travel the world. He just wants to do as many exciting things as possible. I guess he finnally received an email that the camp was a go and he got the job and 2 days later he is calling Matt from Seattle telling Matt to meet him at the Juneau airport in a couple days! His next adventure is travelling by car with his friend who will be graduating with a law degree down to South America. He has absolutely no dog experience though so he has a lot to learn here.
Matt tells me to take iteasy for the day and to go into Juneau and check things out.
Juneau is divided into to basic parts. Downtown, and the valley (for the Mendenhall Valley). Downtown is the pretty front for the town all the cutesy gift shops, bars and restaurants. The mouantins in Juneau come right to the edge of the ocean. So the town is built in a small space. The streets are what I whould expect San Fransisco to look like in that the are steep city streets. The cruise ships dock right there next to it all and almost dwarf it in a way. Across the inlet or straight is Douglas Island. Which I hope to cross the bridge over to soon.
The Valley is more for locals in that there are grocery, and hardware store, and even a Costco. Everything the layout of the streeets, and the layout in the stores in Juneau seem cramped and choatic. Like everyone was just trying to stick everything where ever they could find a space. I buy a couple things and head back up to camp.
Life is good! What a perfect heaven this is as I fall asleep in my sleeping bag with Cosmos tucked deep down inside. It gets pretty cool at night so having him certainly is a bonus. We are finally at our destination for for our summer adventure.
I ask the woman who is working as the clerk the waitress and the cook, "Has anyone come in to tell you they found a white dog?"
She looks at me puzzled, "Your white dog?"
Now I am puzzled, "Yes."
"No."
Oo....kay. So I go back outside and look some more. There is a hitchhiker hanging outside waiting for his ride to get up from taking a nap. I put ou some food and water for Venus and ask him to come inside to get me if she comes back.
I have lunch inside and no one has come in to report a found dog. Now I am gettting really worried, I have to meet the ferry in Haines so I can't hang out for ever. I go back outside and look some more. I walk way down a trail behind the lodge....still no sign. I go back inside and ask the woman behind the counter if she has heard any word yet.
"Has anyone seen my dog yet?"
" Is this the dog from a little while ago or a long time ago?"
" Um....has ayone seen ANY dog?"
" Oh, yeah a white dog came into the kitchen a while ago but we let it back outside."
What?!? Now I feel like Abbie in Wonderland talking to some cryptical prankster tortoise. I go back outside completely frustrated. I am on the verge of tears. I go over to the truck and look inside at the dogs. I find myself doing this often when I am upset or confused, its like I am looking to them for answers. Even stranger is thats usually how I find them too. I look up at the one the top cubbies, I see a white face with a little pink nose, its Venus!!! She is looking at me , "Can we go yet? Don't we have a ferry to catch.
So now I am happy again, off we head done the Alcan Highway, radio blaring, one happy little travelling kennel.
The trip is cloudy, which is kind of a let down because it is such a beautiful drive through the Kluane Mountains. It really is one of my favorite places on earth. Instead it is blowing and snowing until we get to Haines Junction where we turn South toward Haines. The sun pops out and the mountains tower around us. How beautiful! One particular place we stop is gorgeous. Way up in the mountains near the Takhanni River. The dogs run around and play in the patches of snow and the river. The sun is out and life is good.
As we drop down into Haines the first thing I notice is that the trees are huge. No more interior scraggly black spruce but big towering Old growth white spruce. The road follows the river and reminds me of Valdez in a way. The town is is cute little fishing town I stop at the Pioneer Bar to have some real fresh Halibut fish and chips and a celebratory beer. The locals are very friendly and it doesn't take lond for me to make friends. Infact I had to turn down some free beers and an invite to the other bar or else I wouls be a little tipsy getting onto the ferry. The ferry leaves at 2:15am so I go down to the end of the road to a little lake called Chilkoot lake to drop the dogs one more time before we load onto the ferry. We watch the sunset and is beautiful as it reflects pastel colors unto to lake contrasted by the silouettes of mountains that hold it.
I drive back to the ferry terminal and check in. While we are wating to load one of the attendents comes over and asks if I could please put out my wood stove in my camper. He thought thats what my exhaust pipe that runs up along the side of my dog box is! I explain to him that my exhaust is set up that way so I don't suffocate my dogs with carbon monoxide. By the time we get on the ferry I am exhausted. So I go up to the observation deck, which is outside and lay down on one of the lounge chairs. There I fall to sleep basking in the full moon that comes up over the mountains and seems to like a path on the ocean for us to follow.
I wake up to the intercom announcing that we have arrived in Juneau. The sun is up and I am excited. as I dirve the truck off the ferry I am greeted by a guy in a black sweatshirt with the Alaska Icefield Expedition logo on it. He tells me to follow him. We drive off to Temsco Helicopter Airport which acts a base office for AIE. There I drop all the dogs and we wait for instrcution from AIE. I need an escort to get up the road that leads to our camp, but no one knows who is going to do it. I later find out that to work for AIE you need to learn to go with the flow. Everything is dependent on weather, helicopter landings, cruise ship arrivals, and dogs, so that is to say everything can change in a moments notice. I talk to the guy who met me, he came up from Wyoming with his wife and the other 4 mushers that will be at the Sheep Creek camp with me. They all work for Frank Teasley who is a competitive Iditarod musher and runs a major tour kennel. They all came up in a modified school bus, 100 dogs 5 people, one of them 8 months pregnant, and one cat. That sounded like quite the trip.
While we are waiting one of the mushers who will be working on the glacier arrives, her name is Emily and she is running one of my favorite writers dogs, Gary Paulsen. She is really sweet and we play fetch with Cosmos and her lab husky mix. Finally a group of trucks comes down to the airport and they tell Emily that she has to get ready to take her dogs up to the Glacier, now! Her dogs are being kept up at the camp that I will be at so they decide that I should just drive her up to get her dogs and her truck. We drive through down town Juneau to get there. It is a quaint little tourist town, every little shop has a clever name, because everything is set up to accomodate the cruise ships. When these cruise ships come in the tower over the town making it seem smaller than it realy is. The whole atmosphere reminds me of Martha's Vineyard or Rehobeth Beach. We reach teh road that leads up to the camp. Which is about 4 miles south of town.
"Wow it looks like hobbits should live up here!" I exclaim as we turn onto the road that leads to camp. The bottom portion of the road is the home of the AJ Mine Tour. There are old mine buildings and equipment dotting the whole way up the road. We keep getting higher and higher, until we are far above where you can look out and see the ocean. There are a couple nasty switchbacks. It is a narrow one lnae raod and you definately don't want to meet some one coming the other way as that it is prety dangerous to back up with the huge dropoffs on the side off the road, so every trip up and down has to be planned. Especially with the bus tours for the mine that happen periodically during the day, that combined with the fact that AIE bearly got the permit to use the Sheep Creek Mine and the road make for everybody extra careful about their road use.
The higher we climb the more excited I get. The road finally ends up in a little valley nestled high up in the mountains.
WOW
Its like a dream come true! Mountains shoot up on either side, the tops are snow covered and there are waterfalls raging down everylittle ridge. And in the back is the biggest one Completely snow covered with a little glacier at the bottom. There tucked in this pardise is 150 dogs houses, four wall tents (one of which that will be my new home), a little fake gold rush town, and a big shop which is left from the mine and will be our kitchen, living area, showers and laundry.
Everyone gathers to help Emily load her dogs into her dog truck. Then I unload mine to their new homes. Its nice to get them permanently out of the truck. I meet all the other memeber of the Sheep Creek Camp, or Gold Rush Tours.
Matt Hayashida the head of the camp. An Idtarod musher who used to work for both Frank Teasley and Martin Buser. Then there is the 3 other mushers that came up from Wyoming in bus. Each of them is running a team of Franks Dogs. There is Amanda who is 24 outdoor education major. She has been mushing for a couple of years for Frank. She is an boastful and aggressive woman. A little crude and definately a tomboy. She is the one who brought the cat to camp. We get along but don't realy click. Then there is Dustin and Kym who are 21 and 23, a couple who also work for Frank. They are vegetarians, which ends up being very hard for them being that it is so expensive to eat that way in Alaska. We are cooked for but the company certainly doesn't cater to special diets.Remember I too was a vegetarian when I first came up to Alaska. It took less than 2 summers at fish camp for me to change my lifestyle. They don't ever seem very happy up here. I think Alaska is a little to "wild" for them. They are from somewhere in California originally and I think life is alot different there for them. Then there is Sean, one of the handlers and who is by far the most interesting memeber of the camp. He is from Texas, and recently graduated with a Economics Degree. But he has been inspired by writers such as Jack Kerouac and Hemingway to travel the world. He just wants to do as many exciting things as possible. I guess he finnally received an email that the camp was a go and he got the job and 2 days later he is calling Matt from Seattle telling Matt to meet him at the Juneau airport in a couple days! His next adventure is travelling by car with his friend who will be graduating with a law degree down to South America. He has absolutely no dog experience though so he has a lot to learn here.
Matt tells me to take iteasy for the day and to go into Juneau and check things out.
Juneau is divided into to basic parts. Downtown, and the valley (for the Mendenhall Valley). Downtown is the pretty front for the town all the cutesy gift shops, bars and restaurants. The mouantins in Juneau come right to the edge of the ocean. So the town is built in a small space. The streets are what I whould expect San Fransisco to look like in that the are steep city streets. The cruise ships dock right there next to it all and almost dwarf it in a way. Across the inlet or straight is Douglas Island. Which I hope to cross the bridge over to soon.
The Valley is more for locals in that there are grocery, and hardware store, and even a Costco. Everything the layout of the streeets, and the layout in the stores in Juneau seem cramped and choatic. Like everyone was just trying to stick everything where ever they could find a space. I buy a couple things and head back up to camp.
Life is good! What a perfect heaven this is as I fall asleep in my sleeping bag with Cosmos tucked deep down inside. It gets pretty cool at night so having him certainly is a bonus. We are finally at our destination for for our summer adventure.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
FIELD TRIP!!
I took the younger half of my dogs to get their rabies shots today. It was also good practice for some of the newbies to take their first ride in the truck. Everybody did pretty good except Titan, who also had a collar on for the first time today, he wasn't about to be chained into the dog box, so he rode up in the cab with Cosmos, the Jack Russell. Which was good practice for Cosmos because he has hardly had to share "his" space in the front of the truck before and on the way to Juneau he is going to have to ride with Telesto, Leo and Saturn. He also did well.
So I want riding in the truck to be associated with going to do something fun, not going to the feed store parking lot to sit for 10 minutes and be stuck with a needle. So I took the whole crew to the city dog park. What fun! I had 10 dogs in the park. It was great to see all the different interactions of the yearlings. Cosmos of course stole the stage and had everyone at his will and beckon to throw sticks and balls for him. 2 of the "Solstice Litter" , Eclipse and Corona were freaked out by the other dogs a little, which I thought was strange because they are around other dogs all the time. So they formed an alliance and hung out back in the corner where they city stores the Golden Days Jails. ( Fairbanks has a week long festival called Golden Days, which celebrates the Gold Rush. During that week you can be arrested and placed in one of these "jails on wheels" if you are not wearing a garter or a Golden Days button. It is a fundraiser in that your "friends" can have you arrested, and you have to bail yourself out for a small price.) They were friendly towards any of the Cosmic Canines and one puppy, but otherwise were anti-social. Everyone else had a great time with all of the other dogs. Alcor, Solstice, and especially Zenith were super friendly with the people there too. Zenith latched on to this one woman for some reason and followed her everywhere. The dogs were so happy. It was nice to watch in a full out and out run. I think it is so beautiful to watch dogs run and weave. The girls were very agile. They are going to be super athletes. An Alcor looked pretty good too. Titan was a little lumbering, but he is only 5 months old. He is still figuring out how to work his legs. I still think he is more wheel dog material than lead dog though. He is going to be huge.
The whole day was great for the dogs for mentally and physically. I know they are getting bored, I've been so busy getting things together the dogs have been just sitting in the yard. It was great socializtion for them. They do great with other dogs, though it was very evident that there is a definite sense of "team" within in my dogs. Which is what I have been striving for. I have to remember to donate to the Fairbanks Dog Park. Its a great space.
Cinco De Mayo Bonfire
Took a break to go hang with the Two Rivers crew. Susan and Jason are clearing their land and had a bonfire to celebrate. It just happened to be Cinco De Mayo however there were no Dos Equis or Coronas being drank. Jose Cuervo did show up later, much to my dismay the next morning! Ouch! I did speak Spanish with the infamous Kris Krestensen for a while, but we both remembered the last time we spoke Spanish we were at Aily Zirkle's musher party last summer. We were talking to some guy that rented from Judy Cooper, who ended up murdering his girlfriend with an axe 2 weeks later. Yikes! I read the police blotter on El Seis de Mayo and much to my relief there were no murders.
Hey what do you call 4 Mexicans in quicksand?
Cuatro "sink-os" (cincos)
Ha ha!
Nice to hang with most of the attendees of the White Car Party* one last time before I head south. Gonna miss these guys.
* White Car Party: A rare occurrence one summer night 2005. There was a party and completely unplanned every single car/truck/van driven there was white....there was about 10 or more cars, all white. Coincidence? Strange but true!
Hey what do you call 4 Mexicans in quicksand?
Cuatro "sink-os" (cincos)
Ha ha!
Nice to hang with most of the attendees of the White Car Party* one last time before I head south. Gonna miss these guys.
* White Car Party: A rare occurrence one summer night 2005. There was a party and completely unplanned every single car/truck/van driven there was white....there was about 10 or more cars, all white. Coincidence? Strange but true!
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
I am living Kafka's "the Castle" again
And now in ring three is the Astronomically Awesome Abbie!!!! She will gracefully jump through every bureaucratic hoop with grace and splendor!!!!!
Too much paperwork!!!! The Canadian government needs one year's salary, a 5000 word essay about my life, a pint of blood, my first born, and a kidney just so I can get through the border!! I'm not even staying there!!! Don't put the coffee on, just passing through. Well at least until I find that hot Canadian Musher I can marry and get my citizenship. Ha! I heard that wouldn't even be enough to become Canadian.
Its a point system, points are as follows if you are American:
Too much paperwork!!!! The Canadian government needs one year's salary, a 5000 word essay about my life, a pint of blood, my first born, and a kidney just so I can get through the border!! I'm not even staying there!!! Don't put the coffee on, just passing through. Well at least until I find that hot Canadian Musher I can marry and get my citizenship. Ha! I heard that wouldn't even be enough to become Canadian.
Its a point system, points are as follows if you are American:
- 1 point if marry a Canadian
- 1 point for every child you bear on Canadian Soil that ends up playing Professional Hockey
- 1 point for every $10,000 dollars you make weekly.
- 1 point for each doctorate you have obtained
- 1 point if you speak French
You need a total of 100 points to earn your citizenship. But you get minus 50 points if you have ever even looked at a handgun.
I don't mean to bash the Canadian Government, I would still move there in a heartbeat. But what do they have against American musher girls anyways?
It will all be worth it though when I am working with my dogs and getting paid for it in beautiful Juneau! Can't wait to leave Fairbanks. This town is way to big for this girl! I am getting so excited. I am halfway done packing. I almost have all of my paper work done. My truck is fixed and even has an exhaust stack on it so it doesn't suffocate the dogs. THANKS TO LONNIE BEACHY!! The nicest guy, who did all the work on my truck and won't even let me pay him. I had to threaten him to even let me buy him dinner and a beer the other night at work!
I cannot wait to quit my stupid job at Los Amigos. I have had enough of the owner. "I ain't gonna work on Randy's farm no more!" Saturday is my last day.
Friday is my last day a the Quest. I am trying to get everything set up to make it easy for the new help.
So many logistics, but totally worth it.
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