13 November 2007

the "other" White Mountains!

Last week, Justine, Cory, Nathan, Michael, Michelle and I headed up north to the White Mountains of interior Alaska - very different from the Whites of New Hampshire I grew up with!

The night before I ran out to the store and purchased materials to construct a homemade pulk - a sled for Kaya to pull with my gear in it! I managed to come up with a remarkably work-able setup!! She was great, and pulled hard the entire 7 miles in and out, towing both a Paris sled with all of my stuff and me on skis behind that.


Here's Nathan and Michael (who forgot his ski boots and so ran the trail out - Nathan ran the next day -- these guys are rockstars!!)


We stayed at Lee's Cabin, one of the great little cabins maintained by the BLM up here. It was a wonderful night of **great** food (thanks to Michael, who created a fabulous dinner that morning which we only had to heat up), games leading to mad scientists and Jesus in a chicken basket, and a veritable sauna while we tried to sleep.










The next morning we awoke to an incredible sunrise, and leisurely got our things together for the ski out. Michael set up a line and hooked Yugi (one of the other dogs who was along) up for Yugi's first skijoring attempt - what a dog! He had a difficult time at first leaving the giant log he had enjoyed playing fetch with, but once he got going it was a great success!

Thanks to everyone for such a wonderful couple of days! Let's do it again, yeah?!

05 November 2007

my favorite season has arrived!!

hay nieve!!!


winter has arrived! yeah!!!
it snowed awhile ago, and though i don't have too many photos to share as of yet, i wanted to at least put up a little preview of my favorite season. kaya and i have been skijoring (for those of you unfamiliar it involves her in a harness, attached to me on skis!) and it is so.much.fun.!!!!

my thesis is coming along, my new cabin is wonderful! life has been a little up and down, but always always a learning process. it's been a great and interesting (and always so quick) transition season between fall and spring, but it don't fool around up here ... when winter arrives she arrives. no days of spring thaw from now until april/may...

you won't hear any complaints from me!!!



here's kaya at our new home...her spots, both inside and outside.