A little of 2009

Winter Treasure Hunting

Aaron and I figured there was kill in the valley since we'd glassed a bear and some wolves earlier in the year in the general vicinity. Poor guy didn't make the winter.

March Hike

Aaron and I are getting cabin fever! We headed out for a day hike and were blessed with fabulous weather. It was cold, but hiking and the heat radiating off the snow was enough to loose the shirt for awhile. We put on close to eleven miles.

Lunch at the top of the mountain, just off the peak to avoid the winds.  

The descent down.

April Exploring

Spring is on the way....we had to get into the hills to do a little exploring. Put in about nine miles and found there is still plenty of snow in some places, but the open slopes were pretty melted out. 

Just a little ash plume from Mt Redoubt

Treasures

The blue skies are still hang around, and the temperatures are slowly increasing. Decided to go explore some new country today.

We uncovered some treasures.

Happy malamutes!

Kodi never lets us down. He dog this little squirt out of the snow! Probably the smallest antler we've found.

Kodi , the old man, is still doing good though! Nine & a half and still hanging on the long hikes! He loves this stuff!  Acts like an old man around the house, but get him in the hills and he's ready to go!

Spring Campout

After a day of about eleven miles the dogs are pooped and it's time for delicious Mountain House dinners and hot cocoa.

The snow is still deep, but the dry patches are getting larger by the day.  The dogs love what snow is left; Tundra depends on it to cool her black little body down. 

I know I've said it before, and I'll say it again....I love our tent! The Hilleberg Nallo 2 GT.  Just the right size for the four of us if one dog sleeps in the vestibule.

The end of a successful trip. A few moose antlers and lots of great memories!

Trip to Cabin May 2009

Decided to go north to the cabin. The caribou cows were abundant along the road.  Should be dropping their little antlers soon!

Enjoying the peace and quiet at the cabin while making dinner.  We were happy to see the cabin in good shape.  Apparently this spring, a bad wind storm came through and blew our neighbors outhouse over and toppled a number of our trees.

Headed out from the cabin for an overnighter in the hills; unfortunately we made it in and then it started snowing. Built ourselves a rock wall to sit behind for dinner.  Snowed from 6pm until we finally left at 7am in blowing snow out of the north.  The conditions would have been perfect for some exploring. Maybe in a few weeks.

Back at the cabin after hiking out in the snowstorm with 8+ inches of new snow.  Nice to be warm and out of the wind. 

LUCKY AARON

What a week we've had.  The weather has been too nice to stay inside. 

We were walking together along a tight creek bottom when Aaron, who was in front of me, saw this.  The ultimate find.

Looked like this dall sheep was victim to an avalanche this winter.  He's heavy and broomed on one side. 

Second Trip to Cabin May 2009

We decided to go back into the area that we were snowed out of a few weeks before.  When we got the area we weren't too pleased to see a significant amount of snow remaining.  We went in anyway...figuring the high country would have snow, but the valley might not. 

There was a lot of snow in the high country. In spots knee deep, but for the most part maybe around 8 or 10 inches. It was wet snow since the temp was hovering around 60 that day. 

The usual malamute shots!
 

Old man Kodi still holding his own. The hike was 10+ miles with significant elevation gain...Old guy is slowing down though lately.  Sometimes he's just like a puppy, but more often than not now he's slowing down.  I love him so much!

We decided to take a break before we headed back to the truck.  We didn't find any treasures, but the pictures and memories are treasure enough. 

Tundra took advantage of the break. She was out like a light, soon after Kodi joined her for a snooze.  Tired mals are happy mals.

May 21, 2009

Another afternoon spent exploring the mountains.  We found a new trail and decided to see what was at the top! The high country in Alaska is fabulous! The views cannot be matched and they seem to go on forever.

The day was mixed with clouds and blue skies. 

We spotted two cow moose on opposite sides of the valley with newly born calves. We stayed far far away as not to stress them out! The calves are just too adorable this time year! Hopefully they will avoid any hungry bears!!!

We were enjoying the time spent high in sheep country. They are awesome creatures that get to live in awesome country.  We saw three rams on our hike, but they were too far to take pictures.

Taking a break at the back of the valley with the dogs.

Tundra thinks pictures are for the birds...she'd much rather be investigating smells on the tundra!

This avalanche chute when on for ever. It would have been an awesome sledding hill!

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