Fuzzy Neighbors

Things have been quiet in the Fuzzy Neighbors department for a while. But lately I have been gone a lot, and maybe they have forgotten I’m there. Also the fish are running, so it could be that. Fresh bear poo on the trail last week, then this week…

Bear Track

Big Fuzzy Neighbor left this track about 50 feet from my front door. When Elf took the photo, indications were that BFN had only vacated the track a few moments earlier.

Always nice to have a reminder not to take one’s surroundings for granted!

April Fools?

April is famous for it’s unreliability. As Robert Frost puts it:

You know how it is with an April day?
When the sun is out and the wind is still,?
You’re one month on in the middle of May.?
But if you so much as dare to speak,?
A cloud comes over the sunlit arch,?
A wind comes off a frozen peak,?
And you’re two months back in the middle of March.

Dog Sledding in Talkeetna Alaska

North through the swamp. Photo by Kaija Klauder

Except I would have to say it’s more like we are back in February. Below zero at night, cool and windy during the day – but downright hot anyplace that is sunlit and sheltered.

My daughter Kaija and I took a short trip with the dogs for a couple days last week, doing some exploring in a big loop to the north and east. The dogs love going new places almost as much as I do. We had near perfect trail conditions, even in the afternoon. Everything was frozen up and white, all the stream crossings where uneventful – until we got to the last part of our loop. I was puzzled about the lack of new tracks on the trail, which is normally well used. Nobody had been on it for a week or more from the looks of it. It didn’t take long to find out why!

Well that explains it.

Well that explains it.

There is a maze of sloughs and beaver ponds back off the river. The trail takes advantage of all these ponds to keep out of the brush. The whole thing is bordered on its northern edge by a nice south-facing bluff – the perfect solar collector. The ponds along the bluff were wide open. Beautiful crystal clear water. Often it’s hard to decide where to camp for the night, and I am famously picky about campsites, but sometimes the decision is made for you. ?That’s it, we camp here. I had hoped to camp further west, with a Denali view. Instead we had a beautiful ?evening ?watching the light on our immediate surroundings.

Evening light on a beaver pond near Talkeetna Alaska

Springtime light is just delicious! About 8pm.

 The trail leading west would have to wait til next fall, while we went home another way, leaving it to the moose.

The trail leading west would have to wait til next fall, while we went home another way, leaving it to the moose, whose tracks can be seen at left.

Spring travel is full of surprises and contrasts. Fast icy trail in the morning can give way to posthole hell by noon. Sunscreen and shirtsleeves in the afternoon, then waking up next morning to a frosty zero or ten below.

Frosty dog sled bed.

You’ve heard of a sleigh bed?

Good dogs, good trails, beautiful scenery, great company. 🙂

 

 

Dog of the Day: Ajax

Ajax, lead sled dog, Talkeetna, Alaska

Ajax, best-dressed lead dog.

Even though Ajax is always spotless (unless you count the eyebrows), his name actually does not refer to the cleaning product, but to the mythological greek warrior. Ajax, also known as Action A. Jackson, usually runs lead, and always wears his impeccable tuxedo.