Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Early, Early Spring Toboggan Trip

I got back yesterday from a 4 day traverse of a portion of the tip of the Keweenaw, using the old winter canoe of the north, my toboggan. Brought along Gabe, Lynn's erstwhile hound for company (no one but the canine sort would go along with me!). Even Gabe was reluctant to go but he ended up sleeping warm in the heated tent. I ended up changing campsites rather than base camping and saw some great winter country in total solitude. The big lake was rimed with ice and the winds were creating big surf and turmoil. The snow was settled to about 3 foot deep with enough of a crust to make it great snowshoeing and easy to create a 1 trip "float" for the trailing toboggan. Thought I might detect the first stirrings of spring, but other than increased light it was not to be. Ended up walking out yesterday in the midst of a snowstorm.
When I got home there was a terrific racket of crows that were mobbing a snowy owl in the now peaceful falling snow. The owl flew off followed by 1/2 of the mob. The other 1/2 stayed behind and were just as noisy. As I watched, two from the big bunch plummeted out of a tall tree to the snow below, the others crowing loudly. With binoculars from 35 feet, I played naturalist voyeur as the two nibbled at each other playfully and performed coitus over and over; in the 4 minutes that I watched they were encouraged by others of their tribe that seemed as excited as the two performing the rites of spring. I guess I did get to see a bit of spring at the end of my trip, but back home!


Is it a smudge on the lense or a long tailed abominable snowman? No, it is a very large fisher that Gabe treed that then travelled from tree to tree at dusk on the coast fairly close to the Nature Conservancy "Club Superior". It was nip and tuck with light conditions and fast-moving fisher (as well as he went to ground once and I thought that he was going to tear into the dog) but I ended up getting one shot where at least he's silhouetted, moving from a deciduous tree to large white pine. The fisher moved through the trees in long soaring, death-defying dives that put any squirrel's movements to shame. On the ground he moved across the snow like a shadow; the heavy dog fell behind in the deep snow at every bound he took.




My canvas winter camping tent from Empire Canvas with titanium woodstove from 4 Dog Stove Co.

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Thursday, March 16, 2006

Yukon River and Eagle Bluff
Eagle Alaska


A balmy sunset at the boat landing in Eagle City.

Eagle Bluff from the porch of Charlie and Marlys House's Falcon Inn. To the left of the Bluff is where American Creek flows into the Yukon River.
A view of Eagle Bluff from my log house on the terrace above the boat landing. The Bluff dominates the town in all seasons, providing warmth from it's sun warmed thermal mass in the summer and character and solid presence in all seasons.

Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska



My friend Riley Morry on the way back to AKP after an Argo ride.

Riley and I traveled by plane to Fairbanks in December of 1976. After a night out on the town I met Riley at the airport and we went to Michigan for a big tour with my mother's car to the U P. Then Riley went on to New Mexico to spend time with his wife Betty and daughters . Betty was from San Juan Pueblo and would sometimes spend the holidays back at her home in New Mexico.

A Walk North of Anaktuvuk Pass, Alaska

Eleanor Lake, to the North of Anaktuvuk Pass is a short walk. The lake, when I lived in AKP, was a good place to get ice to melt in the winter when the village water well was frozen up. I remember one time, during a cold white-out, I was bringing two large ice-filled buckets on my dog sled back to my cabin. As I mushed through some hills over the hard pack, I realized that I had lost my depth perception when my sled was suddenly following the 5-dog team over the edge of a steep hill that looked in the whiteout as though it was more gently rolling tundra. The line of dogs, sled and myself were all rolled over and over as ice and axe were thrown from the open sled and my hands were wrenched from the sled handlebar. I watched the dog team and sled roll over to the bottom of the hill, with nary a tangle of gangline and tugs the dogs and sled went upright in unison and keep running toward the Contact Creek bridge . I picked up the axe and started to follow the sled tracks back to the village through the ice fog of tiny ice crystals. At the bridge some of the kids had stopped the team, the dogs tails lazily wagging as I walked up. I turned the dogs back to Eleanor Lake, buckets still to be filled - off for a second round of chopping ice for water to drink.
The community permafrost meat storage cellars were also here above Eleanor Lakehere (now flooded and not used with the electrification of the village and freezer use). I was awarded a section of the ice cellars by Village Chief Bob Ahgook after I took 2 caribou during my first year in AKP.
The cemetary is on a knoll above the lake. I spent some solitary time there last summer at the graves of friends there who passed on since the 1970's when I lived in AKP as the first high school teacher.

Tuesday, March 14, 2006

Spring 2005 on the Sturgeon River a mile before Chassell Bay.