Alaska to California Part 1: Leaving

After 3 years in the Alaska interior, it was time for our move to California. We said goodbye to Fairbanks and made our way down to Anchorage to spend a few days with friends before boarding the ferry. On our way, we made one last stop in Denali National Park. We saw 4 moose on our drive through the park, including a baby moose. The weather was pretty much perfect. We did not see Denali (the mountain) but we had some beautiful views of the other mountains. Even though it was late May, there was still some snow and ice on the ground and lakes as we drove down to Anchorage. The snow lasts a long time in Alaska.

We stopped at the Iditarod Headquarters in Wasilla because of my slight obsession with dogsleds. There is a small museum, gift shop, and SLED DOGS!! They had 8 week old puppies that we got to pet and hold. I was tempted to sneak one into my purse. They had dogs harnessed up for ATV rides, but we elected not to take one.

The day we left Fairbanks was our 11th wedding anniversary.  Otter Lake in Anchorage provided a beautiful backdrop for some impromptu anniversary pictures.

While in Anchorage, we crossed 2 more things off of our Alaska bucket list. First, we hiked Thunderbird Falls. It was an easy, short hike with a beautiful waterfall at the top. We also went to Eklutna Village Historical Park, an Athabaskan village with a Russian Orthodox church building and a cemetery of spirit houses. The spirit houses are built over the graves to help protect the spirits of the deceased. Different families use different colour schemes. It was a fascinating stop. The original Russian Orthodox church is still standing and is the oldest standing building in the greater Anchorage area (brown, log building pictures below). You can read more about the cemetery and church by clicking here.

And just like that, it was time to leave Anchorage and head to Whittier to catch our ferry. We took a quick drive past the Balto statue downtown, which also marks the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. Okay, so the statue isn't really supposed to be Balto. It is supposed to represent all sled dogs, but everyone I know calls it the "Balto Statue".

This one-lane tunnel is the only way in and out of Whittier. It is 2.5 miles long and is also a train tunnel. They run a schedule that allows for cars and trains to share the tunnel without any problems. Once through the tunnel, we grabbed dinner, took some pictures, and waited to board the ferry. 

Stayed tuned for the next post which will talk about our ferry experience. 

Yukon Quest 2019

For one week in February I become completely obsessed with dog sledding; that's when the Yukon Quest comes through my neighbourhood. For those not familiar, let me explain..No, there is too much. Let me sum up. The Yukon Quest is a 1,000 mile dog sled race between Whitehorse, Yukon and Fairbanks, Alaska that takes place every February. It alternates the city it starts in every year: Whitehorse one year, Fairbanks the next. This year it started in Whitehorse, which means the finish line was in Fairbanks. How fun for us! Instead of seeing all the teams pass by within a couple of hours, we get to see them spread out over a week. During Yukon Quest week dishes remain unwashed, beds go unmade, laundry piles up, and dust bunnies are given free rein all because I spend my days tracking the sled dog teams as they make their way towards the finish line. Winter gear stays right by the door, ready to be put on at a moment's notice. Several times a day I "suit up" and walk down the block to the river. It takes me longer to walk down there than it does for the team to pass by. I stand on the frozen river, take pictures, and cheer for musher and his dogs as they pass - if you cheer, they will wave to you. Sometimes they will talk to you and give you high fives (if you are close enough). Unfortunately, this year the ice isn't as thick as it should be, especially near the banks. People are being told to stay off of the river. This week I have to stand on the bank and watch, which means no high fives from the mushers. Sacrificing high fives is a small price to pay for not falling into a frozen river. This year I took my obsession to a new level. After I saw some of the teams pass by my neighbourhood, I got in the car and drove a couple miles up the river to watch them go by again (I think I might need an intervention!). 

The winner this year was Brent Sass. This is him coming through our neighbourhood, just a few miles from the finish line on Monday, February 11.

Over the next few days, more mushers came through. Most of them came in hours apart. A few came in during the night. I didn't make it out for those teams. I may be obsessed but I still need my beauty sleep.

Allen Moore, 3rd place 

Michelle Phillips, 4th place (and Canadian!) 

Torsten Kohnert, 7th place

Denis Tremblay, 8th place 

Kohnert and Tremblay came down the river less than 10 minutes apart, which was nice for me. It meant I didn't have to get all bundled up twice.  For these two mushers, I drove to see them go by again. I think I am getting close to being considered a dog sled stalker!

Jessie Royer, 9th place 

Brain Wilmshurst, 13th place.
I tried to get to the finish line to watch him
cross but I was 5 minutes too late.

Because of unsafe river conditions, on Wednesday the finish line was moved from downtown Fairbanks to a spot on the river about 15 miles before the finish line. I once again attempted to meet a musher, Martin Apayauq Reitan, at the finish line, and once again I was about 5 minutes too late. I really wanted to be there for Reitan because he was our tour guide for our polar bear tour at the end of August. I remember him talking about how excited he was to participate in the Yukon Quest. It was a cool little connection to one of the mushers. Even though we didn't see the team cross the finish line, we were able to pet the dogs and talk to Reitan. Jessie Holmes, the Rookie of the Year for the 2018 Iditarod and one of the stars on the tv show "Life Below Zero" was there to cheer Reitan on - Reitan was named Rookie of the Year for this year's Yukon Quest. To be honest, I had no idea who Holmes was so I didn't get any pictures with him. A friend told me who he was, but I still had to google him when I got home. I think this means I am officially no longer one of the cool kids.

You can see Jessie Holmes in the green jacket behind me.  

On Thursday, I attempted to catch a musher at the finish line again. I was tracking 2 mushers coming in within 10 minutes or so of each other so I figured if I missed one I would most likely get to see the other one. I finally timed it right and saw both mushers cross the finish line. Andrew Pace came in first, followed by Rob Cooke.

Andrew Pace pulls into the finish

Rob Cooke coming up to the finish line.

After Pace and Cook crossed the finish line, I was unable to watch the rest of the teams come in (I had to get back to real life at some point). They all made it to the finish line by 11pm Thursday night. As you can see, it takes days for all the competitors to finish. I am absolutely devastated that this is my last year to watch the Yukon Quest in person. It has become on of my favourite things about Alaska. What an amazing experience!

Anchorage trip

Last weekend I went to Anchorage. A friend was getting a big promotion at work and I went down to celebrate with him and his family (because this is a public blog, I won't post any pictures of the promotion ceremony, as the pictures would show his name, and where he worked. That seems like too much personal information to put on a public blog post). It was great to be there to share in a such important event with some wonderful people. It was also great to be in civilization again! Long time readers will be shocked to read that I spent 4 days in Anchorage and didn't step foot in Target. I was just too busy having fun with great friends. On one of the days we headed to the Wildlife Conservation Center. This is hands down my favourite place to visit in Anchorage. If you ever find yourself in Anchorage, make sure you visit this place. You won't regret it!

Because it is winter, we thought that the bears would be hibernating. The bear cub and the black bears were sleeping in their dens, but much to our surprise, the brown bears were out and about. A worker told us that the bears will sleep through most of the winter, but that they will wake up for a couple days here and there. We got lucky and caught them on a day they were awake and out playing. One bear had some fun playing with a chunk of ice.

We even spotted a couple of wild eagles in the trees above the wolf enclosure! It doesn't matter how many times I see an eagle, I still get excited. It never gets old.