# General > General Chat >  Alaska 2015

## 1stimestar

Yes I have a lot of fun with these threads.  I love sharing Alaska.  Thanks for indulging me and participating.

Alaska 2014

Alaska 2013

Of course I am starting off the party with a Yukon Quest video.  The Quest is our 1000 mile international dog sled race.  I work at one of the remote checkpoints (Mile 101).  

Race starts in 30 days in Whitehorse,  Yukon Territories, Canada and ends here in Fairbanks, AK, USA 9 days to two weeks later depending on if you are front of the pack or back of the pack.  





It is currently -21F.  Sunrise is 10:45am and sunset is 15:10 for a length of day of 4:25.  Now that we have passed Solstice, our daylight is returning.  Yay.

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## 1stimestar

The World's Very First REAL-TIME Northern Lights Captured in 4K Ultra High Definition by my friend Ronn Murray.  Ok, we're not friends in person, just on Facebook.  I know who he is as do all aurora photographers around here but he probably has no idea who I am hahhaha.  But he is doing amazing things this year.

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## hunter63

I glad you decided to start another edition....always great pic's and vids......from some one that's doing it.



Cleared up today, down here in Louisiana, had been raining and cold (for here) 30 and 40's.......
Lot's of mud.
Louisiana snow man.....
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Looking to head back to Wisconsin tomorrow.....where the temp are below zero.

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## 1stimestar

Hahha that's hilarious!  Going up to the place huh?  How long will you be up there?

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## hunter63

No, heading back to Kenosha....home..."The Place" is kinda shut down till March...although we have been know to head over for  week or two in the winter.

We have been down here in Louisiana since before Christmas....so time to head back.
Trying to avoid snow and ice storms.

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## WolfVanZandt

Grrrrreat videos. We have plenty of snow here but I don't think Onyx would pull a sled.

I've always wanted to see the aurora but, as many times as it's threatened to appear here and wipe out all our electronics, it keeps renigging.

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## 1stimestar

> No, heading back to Kenosha....home..."The Place" is kinda shut down till March...although we have been know to head over for  week or two in the winter.
> 
> We have been down here in Louisiana since before Christmas....so time to head back.
> Trying to avoid snow and ice storms.


Oh yea, I'm getting my places mixed up lol.

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## hunter63

Yeah, I move around some.....
Was gonna snow bird down here, but isn't really all that warm....LOL

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## 1stimestar

Just found this video browsing around youtube.  Unlike the other "dry cabin" video I have posted before, I actually don't know any of these people lol.

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## Western Mountain Man

Awe inspiring vids. Makes me want to go.  :Yes:

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## wilderness medic

Now I want a husky. And to go on a trip to Alaska. That would require either a long time boarding her or a frozen dog.  :Frown:

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## MrFixIt

Thanks for starting the new edition star, I always look forward to your posts.

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## Pennsylvania Mike

Thank you for posting those pictures about Alaska, the Aurora Borealis video is fantastic, never seen one just in pictures.    Looking at the other videos brought me back in time when I had Lobo, someone abandoned him and I found him outside by my house on a snowy December, the vet said he was about 2 years old when we found him, we had him for 15 more and died of old age house, he was a great dog.

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## Solar Geek

1stimestar WOW THANKS!!! I have never seen the Aurora Borealis so this was excellent. 

Love your posts.
I am in Central WI and it has been almost as cold for a full week as near you. Highs are 0F or below; wind chills are non-stop at -25F to -40F. Even for us hardened WI people, this is cold. They warn you 10 minutes at these wind chills = frostbite so I can't even go hiking. 

Keep posting!

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## 1stimestar

A glimpse of life in Barrow.

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## Pennsylvania Mike

Real nice video about life in Alaska, thanks 1 stimestar.   I figured that food would be expensive in Alaska, but not that expensive, that is an eye opener of me.

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## 1stimestar

Taken with my cell phone about 3 this afternoon, over the Tanana River. 

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## crashdive123

Great pics as always.


What's all that white stuff?

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## Rick

Dandruff. She does live in God's country ya know.

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## 1stimestar

Yea, the newest shipment of Head and Shoulders got stuck in the ice on the barge.

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## crashdive123

Ice on the barge?  How about that.  I've heard of ice in the drink or ice in the cooler, but barge?

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## 1stimestar

> Yea, the newest shipment of Head and Shoulders got stuck in the ice on the barge.


Hahha yea that really wasn't worded very well was it?  Ahhh another example of posting when I should be sleeping.

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## 1stimestar

I love my crew and am starting to get excited for the start of the race.  This year it starts in Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, Canada on Feb. 7.  I'm going out to Mile 101 (our checkpoint) on Thurs. 2/12 as we expect mushers to start arriving by early Sunday morning.  But we will start to get race officials, vets, media, and handlers before the mushers show up.  






> A short essay from the Checkpoint Manager:
> 
> Yesterday we had our second Checkpoint meeting.
> You know, .... when things simply click between crew members, you have to lean back and try to stop talking, a challenge I have rarely succeeded in.
> There was Chris, brought in by Mike Bowman. Mike is now Mile 101 Checkpoint Manager whenever I am not available. His title used to be 'dog lot manager' (a title that should exist at every checkpoint), which pretty much takes care of everything except communication or cooking. Honestly, ... what is more important than the dog lot ? Mike is still a bit hesitant about race judges and rule interpretations in the absence of judges, but he has worked the race at 101 for over 8 years now.
> Chris is his neighbor; a sturdy, tall bright eyed and calm Alaskan guy who simply looks like he knows s...t. I liked his dress code. Warm, clean and worn. That tells a lot about a person living in Fairbanks, Alaska.
> -
> Before I continue the story, I would like to thank race manager Alex Olesen and his second in command Ryan for coming to our checkpoint meeting. They listened patiently to our necessary requests and gave us good input.
> Alex is still one of the best organized YQ race managers I ever worked with over the last 20 years and I easily give him an A+ for checkpoint meeting attendance.
> ...

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## dkr

Another race that doesn't get into the news is the Iron Dog race.  If you like snow machines and going really fast - this is your race.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4c9DCKcUao

This year, with the poor snow conditions, race organizers for both the Iron Dog and the IDITAROD  haven't announced the route that will be used.  I suspect both will start in Fairbanks.  Could be an interesting year.

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## 1stimestar

I would love for the Iditarod to start in Fairbanks again.  After the no snow fiasco of last year, they are sure to do something different if this year also has so little snow.

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## 1stimestar

So, a neighbors dog got lose out here.  It's been missing for a couple of weeks with local sightings here and there in the area.  She would go walk the trails and power lines, set out a live trap, followed up on any sightings.  You know, actively searching.  We have a community Facebook page for our little area outside of Fairbanks.  Then the a couple of days ago she got a call from a trapper saying he found the dog's collar with her number on it and that the dog had been taken by wolves.  She was a bit suspicious that the dog had got caught in a trap as that happens around here to lose dogs pretty regularly (unfortunately).  So she went to check out the area herself.  "Thank you all for your condolences. The trapper was legit, happened on the other side of the Parks from us. I checked it out for myself and there were wolf tracks everywhere. They took Zoomer down 3 times over half a mile before it was done and he took some chunks of wolf fur out of them. At 13 years old. Zoomer was truly an incredible animal."  Normally the only time we have problems with wolves are in low snow years, like this one.  This is because the low amount of snow allows the prey to get away more often.  At least they aren't taking dogs off their chain like was happening a few years ago with one pack.  But yea, this is why we don't allow our dog to run free.  Life in Alaska.

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## dkr

> So, a neighbors dog got lose out here.  It's been missing for a couple of weeks with local sightings here and there in the area.  She would go walk the trails and power lines, set out a live trap, followed up on any sightings.  You know, actively searching.  We have a community Facebook page for our little area outside of Fairbanks.  Then the a couple of days ago she got a call from a trapper saying he found the dog's collar with her number on it and that the dog had been taken by wolves.  She was a bit suspicious that the dog had got caught in a trap as that happens around here to lose dogs pretty regularly (unfortunately).  So she went to check out the area herself.  "Thank you all for your condolences. The trapper was legit, happened on the other side of the Parks from us. I checked it out for myself and there were wolf tracks everywhere. They took Zoomer down 3 times over half a mile before it was done and he took some chunks of wolf fur out of them. At 13 years old. Zoomer was truly an incredible animal."  Normally the only time we have problems with wolves are in low snow years, like this one.  This is because the low amount of snow allows the prey to get away more often.  At least they aren't taking dogs off their chain like was happening a few years ago with one pack.  But yea, this is why we don't allow our dog to run free.  Life in Alaska.



And folks wonder why I carry when walking around.  We have an active wolf pack on the edge of town/JBER - just North of the base.

Had a woman attacked this summer in the open area on the border with Eagle River.  And the d*** fish and fur toads refuse to do anything.  I guess it will take a couple of school kids getting killed...then they _might_ do something.  Pets have been getting killed in larger numbers every year.

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## 1stimestar

Yea I think I posted about it in the last year's Alaska thread.

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## 1stimestar

Our remote villages do not have police.  Some of them have VPSO (Village Public Safety Officers) which is like a police light.  Anyways, a lot of villages don't even have one of those.  Exile is the way many villages handle problematic people.  They put them on a plane to Anchorage then put them on the list to not be allowed to fly back.  Looks like some people in Huslia just got da boot.  




> Huslia school placed on lockdown as residents exiled
> POSTED: 07:45 AM AKST Jan 21, 2015 
> 
> Share on pinterest_share Share on email Share on print More Sharing Services
> 
> Austin Baird / KTUU-TV
> FAIRBANKS -
> 
> Alaska State Troopers say the school in the village of Huslia was placed in lockdown this week as local residents were exiled from the community.
> ...



http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/huslia...xiled/30839876

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## 1stimestar

I'm Georganne. 

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> Some information about Mile 101 ...
>  Checkpoint Mile 101 is a conglomerate of old cabins which are often used in the summer as a goldmining camp. The cabins are owned by gold miner Steve Olson, who has quite a few claims up there but lets us use the cabins during the winter as a checkpoint. Thank you, Steve. We would have no clue where to go if you wouldn't let us stay in that windy part of the country !
>  By the way, all cabins are heated with wood.
> 
>  Here are some explanations of how the checkpoint works.
>  =======
>  For visitors, handlers and media:
> 
>  Arriving at '101' and the cook shack:
> ...

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## Rick

If they'd straighten out the route it would be a lot shorter....just sayin'.

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## 1stimestar

Har har.



My friend is the one that pushes the button so to speak to set these rockets off.  He was our communications manager out at the checkpoint for years but then we had to get some one else for the full race as he couldn't stay.  He had to take off to play with rockets and such.  Darn.  






> Published on Jan 27, 2015
> 
> 
> On January 26th just after midnight the University of Alaska, Fairbanks launched 4 sounding rockets to study the interaction of solar winds and Earth’s atmosphere. Using different gasses they were able to make a glowing cloud of sorts that would allow them to study this interaction with imagery. Learn more here. http://www.nasa.gov/content/m-tex-and...
> 
> The temperature at the time of this video was around -43ºF 
> 
> This was filmed with a Sony a7S and a Atomos Shogun. 
> The fluid head tripod wasn't very fluid at these temps, thus some of the camera shake. 
> ...

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## Rick

That's crazy. I'll bet he had a lot of fun doing it. Ron takes some amazing vids.

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## Grizz123

these Alaska threads are killing me, I gotta get out of the city!!!!!

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## 1stimestar

Spent a great Sat. night having dinner with friends, listening to violining friends and basically enjoying a nice place.  Moose stew, caribou ribs, home made yeast rolls. 

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## 1stimestar



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## 1stimestar

I woke up early this morning because I was cold.  I was afraid that I had run out of heating fuel in the night so got up to check it out.  Nope, my little Toyo stove was still plugging away, it was just really cold out.  Whew.  Time to hang a blanket over the door!

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## Rick

Okay. Let's set the record straight on this. That is not a cold wave. A cold wave is, oh ... say 17 F. If your thermometer reads -44F that's a "colder than Billy he!!" wave. That's a "if I ever get out of this alive I'm not coming back" wave. Maybe even a "God never intended for a man to have to endure this and I have not intentions of ever doing it again so I'm moving to South America" wave. It is most definately a "sorry, honey. Gotta pee but I am not getting out from under the covers" wave.

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## 1stimestar

Lol we got spoiled with our "warm" temps so far this winter.  




> Yukon Quest mushers head down frigid trail
> 
>     Story
>     Comments
>     Image (1)
> 
> Print
>     Create a hardcopy of this page 
> Font Size:
> ...


http://www.newsminer.com/mushing/yuk...A0G2A.facebook


Follow it live with the live race tracker.  http://yukonquest.com/race-central/c.../live-tracking

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## 1stimestar

So I went and done some shopping for my friends that live on the Yukon River.  You know, the ones I go visit every summer?  Turns out they just got filmed for one of the Alaska reality shows too lol.  I sware, half the people I know are on tv.  Be watching in April....

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## 1stimestar

That is actually two orders, going out on two different planes on two different dates.

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## 1stimestar

The timeline of waking the checkpoint.  (I'm Georganne.) 




> As of tonight, Checkpoint Mile 101 has been opened up by assistant checkpoint manager Mike Bowman. If anybody needs help or a cup of coffee on the Steese Highway between 12 Mile Summit and Eagle Summit, please feel free to stop by.
> At this point the weather is good and no problems are anticipated. For emergencies (but only for that) we are for now connected to the outside world by Sat-Phone.
> 
> Our checkpoint time table is as follows:
> 
> 02/8: Delivery of straw and food drop bags for mushers, cabin repairs and set up.
> 
> 02/11: Our communication manager Nathan Brisboise will arrive and open the communication cabin. He will stay until the last musher leaves.
> 
> ...

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## 1stimestar

And so it begins.

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## 1stimestar

My German Checkpoint Manager...




> A checkpoint manager's perspective on the race:
> I think, that the first thing to mention is the fact that I am not a musher, but I do have a bit of an idea about the race. I am running a drogdrop/checkpoint for 20 years and with a good crew to back me up, I also did video coverage of the whole trail for 10 years until 2013. When the race started in Whitehorse, I jumped ahead from Circle to Mile 101 and stayed there to be with my crew. When the race started in Fairbanks I usually started with the crew and then jumped again forward towards Circle once all mushers had passed. There is a lot you learn while watching and talking to mushers in their hours of glory or moments of defeat, sitting down with race vets and judges. Listening, watching, learning.
> So this year I will comment on the 2015 race as I see it,... not being a musher.
> My perspective will by no means reflect the opinion of the Yukon Quest organization or of our awesome crew.
> Take it all with a grain of salt: smile emoticon
> 
> So far I'm not surprised about the race. It is going as well as it is supposed to go. There will be the usual hype and the media. They will have to suck all kinds of predictions and stories out of their keyboards. That's what they get paid for. That is what we as spectators want and what we expect.
> Two things I know....
> First of all:
> ...

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## crashdive123

Pretty cool, but then again....some might consider -36F downright cold.

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## 1stimestar

Ugh, I am leaving on Thursday to go up to the checkpoint where I will have very little time to practice.  After I get back, I only have a matter of days before I do my second performance on Street Jelly (online busking community).  A bunch of us fiddle players get together and take it over for the whole day.  So I have been practicing pretty heavily.  

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Then this morning, I noticed this.  I've only been playing for 3 years and about 4 months. 

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Blarg!  Guess I am going to learn how to replace a finger board.  There is only one "luthier" in town and he is backed up for months as it is only his hobby.  But I'm just going to have to keep playing it like it is and hope for the best for now.

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## 1stimestar

Well 4 mushers have scratched so far.  It's really not that unusual as normally only a third of the field finishes.  It's not called The Toughest Race on Earth for nothing.  




> There are still unconquered lands.
> 
> I saw a bumper sticker not long ago that said 'Alaskans For Global Warming.' I had to laugh. I think there are 22 mushers somewhere in the Canadian Yukon who would gladly support that cause right now.
> 
> The dwindling ‪#‎yukonquest‬ field has largely checked through Pelly Crossing, and is now making the 201 mile trek to Dawson City. Temperatures are reported to be in the -50 range.
> 
> We don't count wind chill up here. At -45 (the lowest windchill charts go) even the 10 mph wind speed created by a dog team drops the effective temp to 72 below. Anyone who's ever traveled the Yukon knows there is a near constant wind.
> 
> I say somewhere in the Yukon because we don't really know where the mushers are. They are carrying little GPS trackers, but there are places on this planet where GPS doesn't work. Where satellite phones say 'no signal.' Where you remember that no matter how many machines we put into space, how smart we can make a computer, or how many warplanes we can stack on a boat, humans are still not in control. We are very, very, very, small.
> ...


https://www.facebook.com/seaveysididaride?fref=nf

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## 1stimestar

You can listen to this here: http://fm.kuac.org/post/mushers-navi...on-quest-trail

Lance is already missing one finger.  Fingers are turning black and he is still mushing...




> KUAC
>     On Air
>     Talk of Alaska
>     10:00 AM - 11:00 AM
> 
> Yukon Quest
> 4:34 am
> Tue February 10, 2015
> Mushers navigate highs and lows along the Yukon Quest trail
> ...

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## 1stimestar

Brent Sass, my favorite, is first into Dawson, the halfway point.  If he finish the whole race, he'll get about $3000 worth of gold.  He's ran it many times but last year he came the closest to winning.  Things were looking great for him possibly winning, when he fell asleep on the back of his sled, on the river and knocked himself silly putting himself out of the race.

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## Williepete

I just don't see how the dogs or humans can stand a race like this.  I can not see how the human body can get used to that kind of weather.  I do enjoy your posting about the race and all your other posts about Alaska.  My DW and I did the inside passage cruise several years ago and had a number of land tours and enjoyed everything up there.

Bill

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## 1stimestar

They all have coats, even the dogs.  Also, only northern breed dogs are allowed.  So they have the double coat, soft downy undercoat and long protective hairs to layer over the tops.  The dogs also wear booties to protect their feet from ice and snowballs that build up in between their toes.  During breaks, the mushers will go check all his dogs' feet (as well as other things like wrists and shoulders for soreness).  The dogs that train up here are better able to deal with the cold temperatures and fare better then say, dogs that train down on the Kenai or other places south where it is warmer.  Also, dogs are very good at transforming fat into calories/heat.  That's why they are fed fat in every meal during a race.

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## Rick

What sled dogs do in the off season.....

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## 1stimestar

It's 11:30 pm and everyone is asleep. The wood stoves are banked for the night. The coffee pot is set up to go for the early morning departure of the trail breakers. The sound of the generator is providing a restful hum in the background and there is a soft snore coming from the back room. The northern lights are doing a little bit of dancing outside. We expect our first musher tomorrow morning sometime and are ready.


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> Well, the checkpoint is set up, the crew is ready and there is nothing much to do but being trouble on facebook, ... as you might have already noticed. smile emoticon
> But there is still a story to be told that all the media following the race misses by 24 hours. When the media arrives at a checkpoint to get photos and videos from every angle and word from the first musher to arrive, a part of the story has already left.
> That's the never told story of the trail breakers, men and women who break the 1000 Mile (1600 km) trail for the mushers who run this race.
> When you hear about jumble ice and a bad trail, they eventually get mentioned. If the trail is good and not too hard for the dogs (that might lead to wrist injuries), and not too soft (that might lead to shoulder injuries), those boys and girls are hardly ever mentioned.
> If the trail is bad and things go wrong, they most often get blamed and finally get the media attention they deserve...., the wrong way.
> This year, we have two experienced trail breakers stationed at 101 and when I asked them, it turned out that they had broken the Yukon Quest trail between TwoRivers and Central for four years. "Or was it five years ?", one asked the other. They didn't remember and they didn't care either.
> Trailbreakers don't get paid. If anything, they get reimbursed for fuel, but damage to their machines is not included.
> To break trail, you need a good snow machine. That costs roughly $10.000 . Breaking trail will wear down your machine much before it's time.
> Then there is the matter of the deep Yukon River. The river always has some open water. Whatever ice holds a snow machine used to break trail, will also hold a musher and his or her four footed friends. But finding and staking such a river trail is a mixture of art and daring.
> ...


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## Rick

I don't know much about dog mushin' but if the back of that van is any indication you don't have nearly enough beer.

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## 1stimestar

Lol there is more up in the front of the load.  Those are just ones I threw in last minute.

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## DOGMAN

Great thread.  Lots of cool vids and info!  A big congrats to Brent Sass for pulling off the win this Year in the Quest. I wonder if he can pull off an Iditarod win as well?  Can't wait to find out

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## crashdive123

Nice to see you back DOGMAN - don't be such a stranger.

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## 1stimestar

I know, we were all so very excited for Brent's win, especially after knocking himself out last year.  I just got back yesterday afternoon.  After napping around today, then the finish banquet tonight, I'll probably be recovered enough to post videos and pictures.  Nice to see you back Dogman!

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## DOGMAN

Glad to have some time to check in and catch up!

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## 1stimestar

Here is an opportunity for an adventurer.  Where is Payne!?  These are my friends that I go visit every year and I can certainly vouch for them.




> BUSH ALASKA EXPEDITIONS needs a dog handler NOW through the end of May...permanent position available also for the right person...hard-core "off-the-grid".....incredible dogs....message us if interested..web-site
> https://bushalaskaexpeditions.com

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## hunter63

> Glad to have some time to check in and catch up!


Good to see you check in.........

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## 1stimestar

Welcome to Checkpoint Mile 101, so named due to its location of 101 miles up the Steese Highway.

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The inside of the cook shack.
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The crew.
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Putting up the sign, getting set up.
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Drop bags.  These are bags that the mushers send on ahead to be waiting for them at each checkpoint.  They contain dog and people food, batteries for head lamps, runner plastics, dog booties, clean socks, dry glove liners, etc.
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Trail breakers taking a break.  Trail breakers create and mark the trail.  We also always have trail breakers assigned to us to help rescue mushers in case of emergencies.  

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It's hard work and hard on the snow machines too.
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This is our location on the elevation map, right between Eagle Summit and Rosebud Summit, the two gnarliest summits on the race.  
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We had a couple of nights with active lights.
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Lance Mackey, taking a nap in the sun with his dogs. 
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The beard brigade.  We had such an awesome crew this year.  
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My newest volunteer patch, the yellow one, on the back of my fiddle case.
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Working..
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Outgoing trail. 
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Bacon is a staple at 101.  



Anyways, that's just a bit.

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## crashdive123

Awesome pics.......and bacon!

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## WolfVanZandt

Woof! I want one of those!

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## Rick

I would hate to see any of the participants including volunteers succumb to bad food. It would just be terrible. Therefore, I am volunteering to be the official food taste tester next year. I'll even be the official camera person.

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## hunter63

Wow, Awesome pic's.......makes a person feel they are there......Thanks!

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## 1stimestar

Super cute video made of what it's like to live in Fairbanks.  It's so spot on!

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## crashdive123

Kind of like a cool vid.

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## hunter63

....."new construction is a relative term".......LOL....Outstanding.......

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## 1stimestar

I think that construction thing has a lot to do with our extremely high property taxes as well as no building codes needed outside of the city limits.

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## hunter63

Had a neighbor that had a building permit and 1/2 done house for years....figuring he couldn't be charged for a "House" that wasn't "done".
That was the first thought I had, after that line and picture of the plywood/tar paper in the vid....LOL

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## 1stimestar

Yep, exactly.  You should see the insides though lol.

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## 1stimestar

We lose a few people a year but haven't ever lost two in one day from separate incidences of hypothermia.  And it was only -25 which is not really cold for us.  It's just been such a mild winter in general, I think people forgot it could turn colder at any time.  




> FAIRBANKS—Two men died of suspected exposure in two separate areas of Fairbanks on Friday.
> 
> The first death was reported at 10:22 a.m. by a person who saw someone lying down west of the sidewalk that runs along Farmers Loop, between Taku Drive and Alumni Drive at the University of Alaska Fairbanks campus. 
> 
> UAF police and Alaska State Troopers responded and found the body of Evan B. Charles, 30, of Emmonak. UAF police suspect Charles may have died of exposure and was not the victim of foul play, according to UAF spokeswoman Marmian Grimes.  
> 
> The second death was reported shortly before 5 p.m. when Fairbanks police received word that a man's body had been found on the bike path east of the Steese Highway, according to Sgt. Gary Yamamoto. 
> 
> The man was identified, but police are waiting to notify his next of kin before releasing his name, Yamamoto said. It appears the man froze to death and that foul play is not suspected, he said.
> ...


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_...e383680fc.html

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## 1stimestar

Eh, big magnetic storm coming...blah, blah, blah, all day Facebook burning up with updates, aurora notifications, and aurora hunting plans, etc.  I get out there and it shuts down.  I stay out an hour and a half and come back home.  Sit down at computer, download my photos to have a look at them.  My focus is off.  My ISO was too high making it "noisy".  Check the aurora cam and danged if it isn't blowing up again.  Boo, I'm going to bed!  

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## crashdive123

Beautiful pics regardless of your self critique.

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## Rick

Gorgeous pics. You could always bottle that and sell it to the cheechakos. You'd make a fortune.

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## randyt

awesome thread...  back when I was a young fella some folks offered to pay my way to fairbanks. They have moved there and my buddy their son was going down a bad path. They figured I would calm his butt down, he probably would have took me down that path with him. LOL.

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## 1stimestar

> awesome thread...  back when I was a young fella some folks offered to pay my way to fairbanks. They have moved there and my buddy their son was going down a bad path. They figured I would calm his butt down, he probably would have took me down that path with him. LOL.


Well you certainly would have fit right in lol.  But yea, it's easy to go down "the wrong path" here with the months of cold and dark.

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## 1stimestar

So the Iditarod, our other, more well known, 1000 mile dog sled race is going on, just finishing.  Aliy Zirkle is a local favorite here in Fairbanks.  She is also the only female winner of the Yukon Quest (Toughest Race on Earth), the 1000 mile dog sled race I work with.  Anyways, she is one tough broad.  

You can see the video of the interview here:  http://www.adn.com/article/20150320/...rkle-mortified




> Post-Iditarod arm-wrestling match leaves fan with broken bone and musher Zirkle mortified 
> 
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> 
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> 
> 
> NOME -- There was a sickening pop, followed by an eerie silence as the crowd inside Breakers Bar realized what theyd witnessed: Aliy Zirkle had just broken some woman's arm. 
> 
> ...

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## hunter63

WOW, where else but Alaska.....

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## 1stimestar

Lance.  That's my boy right there.

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Lance Mackey rescues Scott Janssen&#x27;s dog team by @mysuitcaseofmemories, on Flickr




> Web Extra: Scott Janssen says Lance Mackey rescued his dog team outside of Koyuk





> Web Extra: Scott Janssen says Lance Mackey rescued his dog team outside of Koyuk
> By KTVA CBS 11 News 1:07 PM March 21, 2015
> 189
> 
> Iditarod 2015 musher Scott Janssen scratched just outside of the Koyuk checkpoint. Janssen said his team lost the trail, and they spent more than 12 hours stranded on the ice in the worst blizzard he’s ever seen.
> 
> A search-and-rescue team found him hypothermic, with a sleeping bag draped over him and his 11 dogs.
> 
> “I couldn’t move,” he said. “My left arm was frozen to my body.”
> ...


The video here of Scott telling the story is really worth watching.  
http://www.ktva.com/iditarod-2015-mu...-of-koyuk-653/

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## randyt

"let's go find dad" awesome story with a good ending.

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## pete lynch

+1 for Lance Mackey and a kid named Dan!

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## hunter63

Great story........now I gotta go find a tissue.........

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## 1stimestar

Sooo after almost two years, my daughter passed up to level 2 in her roller derby.  This means she will now be playing in full contact bouts.  Gulp.  Don't know if mamma is ready for that...

My little bad a**.  

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## randyt

kids grow up fast, first it's t-ball and then the world series LOL.

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## crashdive123

Congrats to you both.

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## kyratshooter

A girl with her own theme song, you can't beat that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwhxXjdMPd8

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## 1stimestar

Lol Kyrat.  I've not seen that one.  I'm going to share it with the roller girlz.  Thanks.

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## 1stimestar

I think I may have shared this here a few years ago but recently came across it and thought I'd share it again.  It's a story a friend wrote about me taking her for a dog sled ride.  

She's a good writer and an excellent photographer if you want to look around her photography site.
http://susanstevenson.com/blog/2010/...ing-adventure/

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## 1stimestar

So 3 and a half years ago when Justin died, I was totally broke. Getting three last minute plane tickets out of Alaska is terribly expensive. Being in Oklahoma, where he was in the hospital and then died, being off work and down there for a month took more then I had.  It took a long time to recover from that just financially.  Anyways, he didn't have a head stone until recently.  His mother saved up and bought it.  I am in a much better place financially now but she did not want help in buying it.  She wanted it to be just between her and her son.  I respected that even though she is on social security and lives very frugally.  So she bought it, but was unable to get out of the house to even see it.  So my brother in law went and took a picture of it with his phone to show her.  Unfortunately, I guess it's a life line phone so can not send pictures.  I asked the family down there for someone to PLEASE take a picture and send it to us.  No one could be bothered (mother in law is disabled and can't just go do it herself).  So I looked up the cemetery online and was going to email them and ask if any of them could send us a picture when I found a group called Grave Walkers of Oklahoma.  They mostly are for looking up the graves of people to help with ancestral research.  I sent a message to them with a photo request and one of them got right to it.  I am very thankful to the young woman.  I don't know, long story, rambling post to say here it is.  It's a bit weird to say, "I like it".  But I do. 

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## Rick

Not rambling at all. It's all about feelings. I like the stone and if it were mine I'd certainly be happy with it. It gives him some perpetuity beyond the good memories you and your children share. 100 years from now those who pass by will not know the stories, the good times or the bad but they will know who he is.

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## hunter63

It never ceases to amaze me the kindness of people and lengths they will go for others.
Just reading this very personnel story confirms that again. 
Tnanks for posting......

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## crashdive123

Not rambling at all G.  It is a fine tribute that will last.

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## madmax

Jeez.  I was born in '58. Thanks for sharing.  I'll try to treat loved ones better.  Never know.

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## 1stimestar

> Jeez.  I was born in '58. Thanks for sharing.  I'll try to treat loved ones better.  Never know.


You really don't ever know.  That is why it is so important to stop putting off things that you want to do to a distant "some day".  There will never be enough time, money, energy, etc. to do all the good things we want to do.  That is why it is so important to just start doing them now as best you can with what you have.  Live life before it's gone.

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## Rick

One of life's rules is that our family always says, "I love you" and a hug when someone leaves. Boys, men, girls, it doesn't matter. I've very lucky to be able to say the very last thing my father and I and the very last thing my mother and I said to each other was I love you.

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## crashdive123

Yep - when I walk out the door every day, the last thing I say is I love you.  If no words are ever heard from me again, I want those to be the last words she hears.

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## Batch

> Yep - when I walk out the door every day, the last thing I say is I love you.  If no words are ever heard from me again, I want those to be the last words she hears.



I had just finished the last round of golf I would ever play with my Dad's Uncle Walter. He was in his 80's and would whoop yer arse on the course with nothing but his 7 wood and a putter. LOL

I asked him what were his regrets? He said he wished he had come home and hugged his wife and asked how her day was. 

My family is also in the habit of hugging and kissing and saying I love you. Cause tomorrow is not promised to any of us.

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## hayshaker

batch your so spot on these days i take nothing for granite. since my wife took sick a few years back
i treasure every moment with her. she,s in a wheel chair now yet i still find a wat to do the things we used to do.
sure there are ajustments to make you just do what you have to. we still camp out back weather permitting for her.
we do powwows and rendevouexs she really enjoys all the excitement i can see it her eyes and when she laughs.
shes my whole world.

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## 1stimestar

Ironic that this popped up in my news feed today.  Best obituary ever.  Written by his daughters.




> Obituaries
> Obituary  March 25
> 
> Donald Alexander Malcolm Jr.
> 
> Captain Donald Alexander Malcolm Jr., 60, died Feb. 28, 2015, nestled in the bosom of his family, while smoking, drinking whiskey and telling lies. He died from complications resulting from being stubborn, refusing to go to the doctor, and raising hell for six decades. Stomach cancer also played a minor role in his demise. 
> 
> Don cherished family above all else, and was a beloved husband, father and grandfather. He met his future wife, Maureen (Moe) Belisle Malcolm, after months at sea, crab fishing. He found her in his bed and decided to keep her. Their daughter Melissa was born early six months later. They decided to have a boy a couple years later, and ended up with another daughter, Megan. He taught his girls how to hold their liquor, filet a fish and change a tire. He took pride in his daughters, but his greatest joy in life was the birth of his grandson Marley, a child to whom he could impart all of his wisdom that his daughters ignored.
> 
> ...


http://homertribune.com/2015/03/obituary-march-25/

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## Rick

Most excellent.

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## Williepete

Really the neatest Obit I have ever seen.  I'll bet he's having a blast up there. 

Bill

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## Batch

If you got to have an obituary, that ain't a bad one to have. 

I hope we all have a lot of good years left to give our loved ones some more stuff to write about us.

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## hunter63

That was a great find....and does kinda put thing into perspective.....

Always liked this one.....

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...de+the+jukebox

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## 1stimestar

So, Susan is in town.  I can't say why other then snowmachines don't fly and Suzie don't bounce.  While she is here, I got her out and took her to my daughter's roller derby practice.  Not too many showed up as Sat. practice is voluntary.  They had a blast though.  

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----------


## 1stimestar

Pretty cool short video about the Gates of the Arctic.

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## Seniorman

I enjoyed the video you posted.  Thanks for posting it.


S.M.

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## crashdive123

Great vid.  Looks like an incredible place.

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## 1stimestar

Alaska doesn't have a lottery.  What we do have though, is the Nenana Ice Classic.  Every year a tripod is placed on the frozen river and a cable is strung to the clock tower on shore.  Tickets are sold for $2.50 each.  When the ice goes out enough to trip the clock, we have a winner.  Actually it is most often several winners.  Anyways, I think it's going out today.  The tripod is leaning.  Here is a webcam showing it.  You have to refresh for the new picture every 5 minutes.

http://www.borealisbroadband.net/vid-nenanamega.htm

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## Rick

It must have tripped the server. Looks like it's offline. Darn the luck. I was getting ready to my money in.

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## 1stimestar

Everyone is checking on it today.  It's back up.  http://www.borealisbroadband.net/vid-nenanamega.htm

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## 1stimestar

It moved quite a bit last night but not much at all day.  Of course today it is just 40.  Yesterday and the day before we got up into the 50s.

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## Rick

I would like to park my vehicle directly below those ropes.

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## 1stimestar

Now it's just taunting us!  

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http://www.nenanaakiceclassic.com/

----------


## 1stimestar

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## 1stimestar

And now, just because I am one proud mamma and you all are my buddies, I'll share this.  Today was my daughter's first actual, real scrimmage.  Her team won.  Here's a picture of her during the bout after she fell on someone's skate wheel on her shin.  Ouch.  But she put an ice pack on it for a few minutes and got back out there.  She's 13.  She's so cool.  

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## 1stimestar

So I THINK that next Thursday is the day you might really want to watch Life Below Zero...just saying.

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## 1stimestar

> A very Alaskan prom night: Girl shoots grizzly before dance, family says
> 
> 
> By Chris Klint, Senior Digital Producer, cklint@ktuu.com 
> 
> Published On: Apr 27 2015 12:33:31 PM AKDT 
> 
> Updated On: Apr 27 2015 01:41:41 PM AKDT 
> 
> ...


http://m.ktuu.com/news/a-very-alaska...night/32598140

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## hunter63

Now that a date to remember.....Hey?
You go girl.

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## crashdive123

I'll bet her Dad didn't need to have "the talk" with her date.

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## hunter63

Girls that can shoot and throw tomahawks....can take care of them selves. ....LOL

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## 1stimestar

Ok bath and blow out, pedicure, teeth cleaned, ears clean, LET'S GO HOME!  

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## hunter63

Good looking girl, getting big....

Bella doesn't like scarves....poor girl had wrestled her to the ground to get it on....she pulled and pulled till it came off....took her a week but chewed it up

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## 1stimestar

They put it on her.  I just took it off her, gave it to her, and she shook it and shook it then walked away.

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## 1stimestar

Finally May in Fairbanks!  
https://youtu.be/niqYffEtP70

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## 1stimestar

One of my girl friends called me yesterday to let me know she found an owl's nest so we met after I got off work and took some pictures.  We are having an early spring.  I don't think we normally have babies this big yet.  

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----------


## hunter63

> One of my girl friends called me yesterday to let me know she found an owl's nest so we met after I got off work and took some pictures.  We are having an early spring.  I don't think we normally have babies this big yet.  
> 
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pic's........up now

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## 1stimestar

Thanks.  Crazy board.

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## Rick

Are you lookin' at me? Are you lookin' at me? Well I'm the only one here. Awesome pics, kiddo. Healthy looking little guy.

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## 1stimestar

Ugh, spring time in Alaska, where the bodies start appearing out of thawing rivers and snowbanks.  




> FAIRBANKS - The body found at 38 Mile Chena Hot Springs Road on May 2 by a group of boaters has been identified as a man from Wisconsin who has been missing since last fall.


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_...3ca481e42.html




> ANCHORAGE, Alaska  A body believed to be that of an Akiak woman missing since December on an all-terrain vehicle trip has been recovered from the Kuskokwim River.
> 
> Alaska State Troopers say the body found Sunday may be the remains of 27-year-old Sally Stone.


http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska...fc5c9864e.html




> FAIRBANKS - Alaska State Troopers are investigating the death of a Nenana woman whose body was found outside in Fairbanks on Sunday.
> 
> Troopers received a report of a body in the woods in Fairbanks, according to a news release posted Sunday night.


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_...a7123749e.html

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## 1stimestar

What to do when it finally reaches 65 in Alaska?  Well you find a way to let that fresh air in without the dog getting out!  Yay spring!

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## Grizz123

ahhh, let the dog out to play

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## Rick

but, but, but, he'll play with the grizzlies.

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## 1stimestar

Oh if I let her out, she'll just want back in in a few minutes, then she'll want out, then she'll want in....

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## LowKey

Your dog took the Cat Classes, eh?
I have a cat that took the Dog Classes. He is such a dog.

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## 1stimestar

Ok, she's all shined up for tomorrow's recital.  Hope I don't mess up.

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----------


## crashdive123

Good luck!!!

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## Rick

Ditto! Break a leg.

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## 1stimestar

Just one of the extra chores you have living in a dry or damp cabin, cleaning the jugs. Jugs and caps get a regular cleaning with a mild bleach water.

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----------


## crashdive123

The same holds true regardless of home style.  I store a lot of water and go through the same cleaning procedures.

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## 1stimestar

Yep yep.  

Since we had only about 3 days of spring and then jumped right into what is turning into a record breaking summer, we spent today doing some spring cleaning.  I just brought home my porch flowers from work, where I keep them all winter.  Last week I scored a nice little window unit. Only used last summer (record breaking wet and cool summer) for $80.  Since most of us don't bother with A/C because we don't get that hot that often, there's not a lot of used ones floating around.  New ones cost about $300.  I had to watch a youtube video to find out how to put it in my side sliding window but got her done lol.  

Then we threw some hot dogs and corn on the grill and have jello/cool whip, cottage cheese for dessert. Yummy.  I don't go camping on this weekend as it would be too crowded for my taste.  

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----------


## crashdive123

Most excellent!

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## Rick

There are definitely times when that air conditioner is just the bees knees. We went straight from furnace to air conditioner here in the last week. Crazy weather. Those dogs and corn look pretty darn good!

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## 1stimestar

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----------


## 1stimestar

Heimo and Edna Korth are going to be in a show.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...23d_story.html

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## hunter63

> Heimo and Edna Korth are going to be in a show.
> 
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...23d_story.html


He was the guy that inspired my epiphany on a spare shelter........saw it on an older program.
Has a tent set up, in case the cabin burns down....where you gonna go?....otherwise?

Your grill is green,... but looks like the same grill we used last night on the porch of "The Place".....while it was raining.......LOL

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## 1stimestar

Some recent pictures from the Land of the Midnight Sun.

My cat hunting in my "back yard".
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After 10 years, I finally had to break down and get a new family tent. 
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1:30 am.

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Next weekend, Chickenstock!  Cluck, cluck!

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## hunter63

Y'all are easily entertained.....LOL

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## 1stimestar

Eh that's just the daytime entertainment.  The "real" bands only come out at night hahaha.

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## 1stimestar

So I broke down and bought a SPOT.  I'm not worried about my safety on the Yukon River but Olivia is.  Last time she went canoeing with a friend and her dad, they ended up rescuing a family who had capsized and it was very scary for her since there were a couple of very little kids and an infant in the river.  So now, you can follow me on my adventures.  I'm going to test it out on my trip to Chickenstock this weekend.  




> I have a SPOT device. SPOT devices use satellite technology to allow people to share communicate and share GPS coordinates from virtually anywhere in the world. Click the link to locate my SPOT. Learn more about the SPOT product family at FindMeSPOT.com!
> 
> Just follow this link to see my location updates:
> https://share.findmespot.com/shared/...Zc3VtDxYfXHp3h
> The password is: Castirongirl
> If the link doesn't work, try copying and pasting it to your browser's address bar.
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Georganne

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## crashdive123

Cool - looking forward to your review of it and wish that it had a video (from what I've heard of Chickenstock).

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## 1stimestar

Chickendance.
https://youtu.be/iJhWIPKiIDs

General hijinx.

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## 1stimestar

My fiddling friend Rachel and the Dry Cabin String Band.



Some of us even dance in the rain.
https://youtu.be/s4R2DIh4C0A

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## 1stimestar

Not my video but much better then any of mine plus, you can see ME dancing.  You know, there in the crowd hahaha.  But it has a good shot of my daughter, ponytail, blue shirt.  And yes, the MC is wearing an egg costume and underwear...at least he is wearing underwear hahahha.  
https://youtu.be/w35EM2WvdmA

Downtown Chicken, Alaska. https://youtu.be/NEN_uXfqxrI

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## 1stimestar

This one isn't mine either but I do make a sassy appearance (I have long red hair).  They had told all the kids to come up to the front and  wait for a surprise.  They waited and waited so one of the musicians got up and started an improv rap.  I was pretty impressed with his perseverance.  Keep watching as right at the end, there is another surprise.
https://youtu.be/6na3aSqoQ2g

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## Rick

Whewy. There for a minute I thought it was going to be the infamous WKRP Turkey drop.

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## 1stimestar

Hahahha I had forgotten about that one.

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## 1stimestar

Happy Summer Solstice! (tomorrow)

This is 1:30 in the morning.  All the wild land fires we are having to the south are giving us some beautiful sunsets.  Luckily we got a tiny bit of rain early this morning so hopefully WE don't burn up.  


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----------


## hunter63

Looks like a few people were under the "aflunce of inkahall"

Good times......

----------


## 1stimestar

Lol I was driving home from the Great Alaskan Foodstock.  

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----------


## 1stimestar

Took a friend and her son out on the Tanana River today.  This is a braided river with a lot of channels.  So it should have been around 7 miles from point A to point B.  But we got in this little side channel and I could see ahead that there was a sharp bend overhung with a tree.  My friend was not as good at steering and draw strokes ect and is pretty hard of hearing so I called to pull over before we got swept under the tree.  From there we walked out to the road and had her daughter pick us up.  It was pretty handy because it was in an area just off our flood control dike and used by a lot of 4 wheelers so I was able to drive back there in my high clearance Toyota and pick up the canoe.  Anyways, we almost made it the whole way.  Beautiful day regardless.  

Channel entrance.  See, I wanted to go in that middle channel..

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See that tree laying over the water?  I could see us getting swept under that!

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Picnic break.  
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----------


## crashdive123

I've had a few run ins with sweepers...no fun...Madmax talked me through.  Glad the river wasn't flowing any harder than it was....might still be there.

Looks like you had a great day.

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## Batch

> Took a friend and her son out on the Tanana River today.  This is a braided river with a lot of channels.  So it should have been around 7 miles from point A to point B.  But we got in this little side channel and I could see ahead that there was a sharp bend overhung with a tree.  My friend was not as good at steering and draw strokes ect and is pretty hard of hearing so I called to pull over before we got swept under the tree.  From there we walked out to the road and had her daughter pick us up.  It was pretty handy because it was in an area just off our flood control dike and used by a lot of 4 wheelers so I was able to drive back there in my high clearance Toyota and pick up the canoe.  Anyways, we almost made it the whole way.  Beautiful day regardless.  
> 
> Channel entrance.  See, I wanted to go in that middle channel...
> 
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> 
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> 
> See that tree laying over the water?  I could see us getting swept under that!
> ...


Sounds like a good day. Clearance Toyota would be the same as a lifted Toyota?

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## 1stimestar

> Sounds like a good day. Clearance Toyota would be the same as a lifted Toyota?


The Rust Princess.  Toyota 4 Runner with no running boards, very high clearance.

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## 1stimestar

Happy Solstice!  

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----------


## tundrabadger

About what latitude are you at there?

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## 1stimestar

64.85. A bit north of Fairbanks.

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## 1stimestar

So there are thousands and thousands of acres on fire up here right now.  It started down in the southern portion of the state in the community of Willow and burned up a whole bunch of people's homes and kennels.  That area is the main dog musher capital of the state!  Now we had over 100 fires start over the weekend due to lightening strikes and the smoke is rolling in.  I have friends up north of me.  They are off grid homesteaders with 3 little kids and a bunch of animals.  He is away at work, has a rotating 2 weeks on/2 weeks off schedule.  She contacted me on Facebook and asked if I could call in about the fires as she only has a VOIP phone.  She says they are about 4 miles away from her.  Asked if she should evacuate?  What the hell?  Get out of there!  Since I was the second call the coordination center had for that area, they put a plane in the air to check it out and will call me back.  How surreal.  Smoke is terribly thick here but we are safe.  http://fire.ak.blm.gov/

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## 1stimestar

Whole dammed state is on fire!

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## 1stimestar

Smoke returns to the Fairbanks Area
JUNE 22, 2015	BY ALASKAJOINTINFORMATIONCENTER  COMMENTS OFF ON SMOKE RETURNS TO THE FAIRBANKS AREA

Residents in and around the Fairbanks area are certainly no strangers to smoke in the summertime. After over 100 new fires over the weekend, Fairbanks woke up this Monday morning to a familiar smell in the air and hazy view out their windows.

There are currently several large fires burning outside Fairbanks in every direction. That means that no matter which way the winds blow, they are going to continue bringing smoke for the foreseeable future. Most of the smoke today is due to the Blair Fire burning near Blair Lakes, over forty miles south of town.

There is also a fire burning off the Little Chena River (north of Chena Hot Springs Road), over 30 miles northeast of Fairbanks. Smoke from this Anaconda Creek Fire is not currently affecting Fairbanks, but is heading north.

For more information about smoke conditions across the state, please visit

http://dec.alaska.gov/air/smokemain.htm.

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## 1stimestar

> Alaska News
> Wildfires prompt evacuation alerts in Western and Interior Alaska
> Tegan Hanlon
> June 22, 2015
> Share on emailEmailPrintText Size-A+A
> Wildfires prompted an evacuation notice for a six-mile stretch of the Elliot Highway in Interior Alaska on Monday evening, while the village of Nulato in Western Alaska remained under a recommended-evacuation alert because of smoke from a nearby wildfire, according to the Alaska Interagency Coordination Center.
> 
> The Baker fire and, to the northeast, the North Fork fire were nearly four miles from the Elliot Highway and northeast of Manley Hot Springs. The sizes of the fires Monday were not immediately known; the last estimates of the fires on Sunday put the Baker fire at 5 acres and the North Fork fire at 20 acres, according to the coordination center in Fairbanks. 
> 
> ...


http://www.adn.com/article/20150622/...nterior-alaska

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## crashdive123

As of yesterday morning we had 47 wildfires in and around Jacksonville.  Last night, just north of town the afternoon thunderstorms hit and produced about 40,000 lightning strikes in a little over an hour.  They were estimating about 8 lightning strikes a second.  I'll bet a few new fires were started.

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## Rick

Wildfires....on the list!

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## hunter63

Fire in general, with flood, and tornado....are my top three.......Bug Out reasons if threatened.

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## crashdive123

For those that live remotely in Alaska or anyplace else for that matter must have wildfires near the top of their list.  I think that would be one of my biggest concerns.

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## 1stimestar

> As of yesterday morning we had 47 wildfires in and around Jacksonville.  Last night, just north of town the afternoon thunderstorms hit and produced about 40,000 lightning strikes in a little over an hour.  They were estimating about 8 lightning strikes a second.  I'll bet a few new fires were started.


Whew yea, that's a lot of lightening!

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## 1stimestar

Yep, wildfire is my top bug out scenario.  It's not too risky here as I live close to town in a cabin patch.  Since there are more then one home here, it's more likely to be given resources for protection if one gets close.  But as I am looking to buy farther out, more remote and fewer neighbors, it is something that I have to keep in mind.  




> FAIRBANKS  Forty-seven new wildfires were sparked around Alaska on Sunday, pushing the solstice weekend total to 152. 
> Interior Alaska received a large portion of Sundays new fires  leading to burned structures, evacuations, a thick haze and air-quality advisories. An estimated 25 fires are active within 100 miles of Fairbanks.

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## 1stimestar

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## hunter63

Big Dot........

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## crashdive123

There's always Barrow.

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## 1stimestar

No kidding.  Today I woke up nauseous and with a head ache from all the smoke.  I RARELY get headaches.  So I went to work for a little while to make sure all was good but left early, went home and got my kids and took them to the movies.  The theater is air conditioned so has filters.  An hour and half or so of smoke free air did wonders!  So yea, anyone ever bug out to the movie theater? lol

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## Batch

We get large fires periodically and many wild fires every year. While the predominant wind usually spares us most of the smoke. From time to time we do get burnt sawgrass hulls all over our trucks and smoke in the air.

I like big fires. They renew and we had a great time camping during the closure of Bear Island during the Jarhead Fire of 2011. The wildlife viewing was off the chain.

Now, we have had the Mud Lake Fire burning since May 9th of this year. When it reached 40,000 acres after burning most of May, they renamed it the Mud Lake Complex Fires and split it into smaller fires. 

http://www.winknews.com/2015/05/28/l...s-from-naples/

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## 1stimestar

> We get large fires periodically and many wild fires every year. While the predominant wind usually spares us most of the smoke. From time to time we do get burnt sawgrass hulls all over our trucks and smoke in the air.
> 
> I like big fires. They renew and we had a great time camping during the closure of Bear Island during the Jarhead Fire of 2011. The wildlife viewing was off the chain.
> 
> Now, we have had the Mud Lake Fire burning since May 9th of this year. When it reached 40,000 acres after burning most of May, they renamed it the Mud Lake Complex Fires and split it into smaller fires. 
> 
> http://www.winknews.com/2015/05/28/l...s-from-naples/


That's a pretty big fire for that area.  Our problem is the black spruce which is most populous tree in the interior.  It's the hottest burning tree in the world.  It's like gasoline.





> Alaska will pass the 1-million mark in acres burned today. We're at 921,716.4 acres as of this morning, which is an increase of almost 300,000 acres - 297,220 acres to be exact - from yesterday.
> 
> At this point, we're ahead of the acreage burned in 2004, which ranks #1 on the list of record fire seasons in Alaska. In 2004, the there were a total of 701 fires that burned 6,590,140 acres.
> 
> As of Friday morning, we are already up to 594 fires and 921,716.4 acres burned and both those numbers are expected to go up.
> 
> To put things in perspective, there were 216 fires that burned 1,153,258 acres in June of 2004. That compares to 381 fires and 912,940.4 acres this June and we have five burn days left in the month. At this rate, we may hit the 2-million acre mark before June is over. 
> 
> Here are today's official numbers from the Alaska Interagency Center Coordination Center in Fairbanks, along with a photo that Division of Forestry technican Trevor Kaufmann from the Kenai Area office took during response to the Card Street Fire on the Kenai Peninsula.
> ...

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## 1stimestar

Saw that coming.




> It is hard to compare fire seasons for many reasons, but we have been reviewing 2004, the largest fire season on record in which 6.59 million acres burned. Much like this season, 2004 took off with a major lightning event. Already, this June has surpassed June 2004 for the number of fire starts and acreage burned:
> June 2004 - 216 fires burned 1,153,258 acres 
> So far, this June - 391 fires have burned 1,181,061 acres
> In 2004, the majority of the large fires were located in the Interior. This year there are multiple fires scattered throughout Alaska, most of them between the Brooks and Alaska ranges. It is unusual to have this concentration of starts, making it critical to prevent new human-caused fires.
> Alaska's lightning season generally spans from June through July. That said, we can't predict the future. Timely rains could shorten the fire season at any time. Thanks to all the firefighters out there who are working hard.


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## 1stimestar

3:30 am.  

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## crashdive123

Beautiful view.

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## 1stimestar

Ohhh some excitement on the Yukon Quest home front.  My checkpoint manager has resigned.  Last year he said he was going to, but there were doubts he actually would.  I already have my call in this morning to see how I apply.  Wish me luck!

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## crashdive123

Good luck.  That really sounds (and looks) like a fun event to work.

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## hunter63

Wishing you well.....
Great pic's BTW.....

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## 1stimestar

It's not perfect (because I will seemingly never be able to play perfectly while being recorded), it's a fun tune.  
Harvest Home.  Hornpipes are generally cheesy little Irish tunes played to be danced to.  

https://youtu.be/-ipSijbZHCc

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## crashdive123

Well done!

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## MrFixIt

*Does a little jig in the office*

Thanks for sharing!

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## hunter63

Hey very cool.......
Neighbor across the street plays the bagpipes.....the melody is familiar.
Thanks for the treat.

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## 1stimestar

> Hey very cool.......
> Neighbor across the street plays the bagpipes.....the melody is familiar.
> Thanks for the treat.


Yep, I mostly play Celtic music with a few old around the camp fire stand byes.

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## 1stimestar

Food staging has begun!  No, this is not all the food. I just wanted to show you the bear resistant food barrel that the food goes in. The food does not come into camp with us, only what we are cooking that night. Then all the food and cooking supplies goes back down to the river or somewhere away from camp.


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## crashdive123

Have a fun trip.

Have you heard anything back yet on the checkpoint manager gig yet, or still way too early?

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## 1stimestar

No, they don't make that decision until Sept.  It's killing me!

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## 1stimestar

Ok this should be a public sharing page for my location.  There's nothing on there yet.  http://share.findmespot.com/shared/f...HZVtNEKoH0YgK8

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## Williepete

I just saw a report several days ago that there's something like 4.7 million acres burning up there.  That is a whole lot of burn.

Bill

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## crashdive123

I would imagine that for those that live a remote lifestyle that wildfires are one of the biggest threats they face.

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## 1stimestar

Here's some of our pictures and videos.  I only got my good camera out once because of the river silt that got in everything.  I didn't want it in my good camera too.  One of the two bears we saw is about minute 23.  We saw the second on our way home.  Strangly enough, both black bears.  I have only ever seen grizzlies up here and have only seen black bears in the southern part of the state.  Anyways, we had a fantastic time even though some of it was terrifying (choppy water, sand bars, log jams blocking the channel)!

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## Rick

To use a well worn word....awesome! Both you ladies have my respect for having done a grand adventure few would dare and even fewer complete. Somewhere, there is a black bear posting on BearBook about the canoeists he encountered along the river.

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## sjj

Glad you both made it back safely.

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## crashdive123

Awesome trip.  Thanks for taking us along.  Glad to see the knife is getting a lot of use.

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## sjj

Where the mosquitoes of any concern?

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## 1stimestar

Not too bad.  That was one of the reasons we camped on gravel bars, very few mosquitoes.  Now if we went up into the brush, they would have swarmed us for sure.  Another reason we chose Aug. as they are dying out by then.  It was 29 degrees the night we got back.

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## hunter63

Well what do you know.....a canoe trip with a sound track, like the toons...Little Eagles, little Janis Joplin...sounds like Beatles.....? ...LOL

And a Crashblade for spread cheese?....OMG....

Great vid, thanks for the ride-along.....

PS aw...gotta spread the rep around.

Someone hit this trip post?

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## crashdive123

I gotta spread the love too.

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## 1stimestar

We had everything from The Doors to Ella Fitzgerald!  And yes, Crashblades do it all!

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## randyt

got it!!!!!!

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## 1stimestar

So yea, just got a new toy.  Charging the batteries right now!  

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## crashdive123

Cool.  Be careful that your neighbors don't shoot it down.....there seems to be more and more of that going on.

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## 1stimestar

So, in my continuing efforts to not become a fat old lady, this is happening...  I'm determined to give it the winter at least.

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## crashdive123

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## 1stimestar

A different kind of bear video.  So you know, when you go into Denali, you can only go in one of their busses, no POVs.  

https://youtu.be/4sEazfbKwf8

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## hunter63

Just remember the difference between young and old ...id recovery time...LOL
Good on you...

So now you can knock DD down...legally? LOL

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## randyt

they say what don't kill ya makes ya stronger, may be true but it also makes it hard get out of bed sometimes.

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## 1stimestar

My daughter's first day back, new season.  Blue helmet but not the lightest blue one.  We are both so excited as just at the end of last season she moved up to the level that gets to play in actual bouts.  

https://youtu.be/8guSlo91R3U

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## crashdive123

Sooooo - now she gets to pound somebody?

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## 1stimestar

Yup.  She's already good at it as she handily controls her brother who is over 6' already.


So...do you see it?
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## hunter63

OMG...Snow?....

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## Rick

That right there ain't right. It's August for pity sake.

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## crashdive123

We have plenty of snow in August.  Of course, it usually involves the DEA and characters of ill repute.

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## Rick

I was watching some boat recovery show and they had to go into the mangrove swamps, eddies, coves, whatever, to recover a boat. The guy said he hated to go in there because if you pick the wrong one you'd often run into drug dealers. Sure enough, floating against the shore line was a large package covered in packing tape. "See?" he said. I'd have been looking at the help wanted ads post haste. They may have tossed it out for the show but still....

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## Batch

Square groupers and smuggler's paradise.

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## 1stimestar

This happened today, 120 miles south of me.  

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## crashdive123

Hmmmmm.  What's all that white stuff?

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## 1stimestar

Some of my pictures of DENALI.

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## DSJohnson

Okay 1st I tried to give you some reputation but it was denied on account I must have done that recently or something.  Amazing pictures!  Thank you and thank you so much for all the stuff you post and contribute here!

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## hunter63

> Okay 1st I tried to give you some reputation but it was denied on account I must have done that recently or something.  Amazing pictures!  Thank you and thank you so much for all the stuff you post and contribute here!


I hear ya...same here....some one what to rep that post?

Fantastic pic's.....

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## Grizzlyette Adams

I repped that post f'sure.

Thanks for the wonderful eye candies. You certainly have a gift for photographic artistry.

If I was actually *there,* with those mountians before me, I would probably forget to breathe...it IS that breathtaking! I just cannot imagine what it would be like...

One more for my bucket list.

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## 1stimestar

Thanks.  It is breathtaking even after seeing it regularly for almost 12 years.  I'll never get tired of it.

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## crashdive123

Great pictures.  I too must spread the rep love.

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## MrFixIt

This thread (and the other ones you've posted) never fail to deliver.
I appreciate you taking the time to update and share the photos with us.

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## Rick

Those are truly fantastic pics. You have a great eye. However, and I'll bet you agree with this, no picture can ever accurately convey the true beauty and majesty of that mountain. Pictures just don't convey the sense of scale. It is so big and so awe inspiring that you almost want to cry. I've only been two places that I felt that way, Denali National Park and the Grand Canyon. Pictures just can't capture the true scale of either one. I'm almost envious of those that have stood at it's peak...almost.

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## 1stimestar

Hit the nail on the head Rick.  How do you explain the feelings you feel when noticing the mountains in front of it are big mountains?  How do explain understanding how it makes its own weather due to sheer massiveness?  You just can't.

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## 1stimestar

They're baaaaccckkk!  

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Big Dipper.
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## Grizzlyette Adams

That is so beautiful! I couldn't stand it anymore and searched YouTube to see what something like this looks like in real-time...and I just want to weep because it is so awe-inspiring.

Alaska is calling me...resistance is futile. Meanwhile, I will live vicariously through your camera lens, gal!




.

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## 1stimestar

> That is so beautiful! I couldn't stand it anymore and searched YouTube to see what something like this looks like in real-time...and I just want to weep because it is so awe-inspiring.
> 
> Alaska is calling me...resistance is futile. Meanwhile, I will live vicariously through your camera lens, gal!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .


Well come on up!  Here is where you can find the best real time videos of the northern lights.  You have to have a special (very expensive) camera to take video of them.  That is why you will mostly see time lapse.  But technology is advancing so that now some people other then NASA can afford them. 


http://www.ronnmurrayphoto.com/Aurora-Videos


And this bit just tickled me pink.  No new signs needed because we don't, and haven't been, calling it McKinley. 
http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska...dcaaffb9f.html




> It may be a headache for map makers and Ohio politicians, but not for [Alaska] DOT roads crews. After doing an inventory of road signs in the state, officials from the agency determined they didnt have a single sign reading Mount McKinley.

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## 1stimestar

My husband died 4 years ago today.  Normally I reserve this day for moping and doing things with my kids.  But first thing this morning I got the call that I have been chosen as the Checkpoint Manager for Mile 101, the checkpoint I work at for the Yukon Quest.  I'm going up there tonight or tomorrow morning to get some work done.  We need to brush it out so we have room to park the dog teams.  I like spending the night up there.  Really, the news couldn't have come at a better time, well maybe not 8 am on a Sat. morning, but I'm good.  

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## Rick

This is both a remembering you and congratulations day. I'm glad you got the manager's slot. I know you were wanting that so congrats.

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## Solar Geek

Anniversaries of this type are so hard but also important to remember where we came from so we can look forward to where we're going. Took almost 10 years from when our son died for me to really have perspective. Hugs to you  and congrats on the new job !!!!!

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## hunter63

Congrats there Star.....thing happen for a reason....good time to get the news.

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## Batch

Congrats on the managers position!

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## crashdive123

Getting the notification today will help bring fond memories to this anniversary.  We know you'll do great as the check point manager.

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## Williepete

Hey there Gal, congra's on the new job, seems that will be a lot of responsibly, but I bet you wil not have a problem handling it.
I've had eleven years plus and still think of her most every day.  I'm having trouble keeping my mouth shut in front of my 'new' wife.  I don't think you can ever really forget all the memories that you have stored up.

Hugs on your special day.

Bill

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## Grizzlyette Adams

Recently I lost my best friend, my mother. A friend's words comforted me so much, I would like to share them with Star, Williepete, Solar Geek and others out there who may have lost loved ones...

One day pain will not be the first thing you feel. Rather, you will smile to remember all you shared and loved together, and the pain will recede to a gentler ache. No one can take their place, but we are fortunate to have traveled a time along their road. As time goes on you will smile more and more each day and will enjoy the comfort of those sweet memories.

There is an old saying, "Love is how you stay alive even after you're gone."  In that case, our loved ones are very much alive in our hearts!

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## Grizzlyette Adams

Star, congrats on your managerial upgrade!! (HowsZAT for good timing?!?)  



Thanks sooo much for these links. The Ron Murray one... is. just. too. awesome. for. words. Without a doubt, the very best aurora vids I've seen. They have a permanent place in my files, f'sure.




> Well come on up!  Here is where you can find the best real time videos of the northern lights.  You have to have a special (very expensive) camera to take video of them.  That is why you will mostly see time lapse.  But technology is advancing so that now some people other then NASA can afford them. 
> 
> 
> http://www.ronnmurrayphoto.com/Aurora-Videos
> 
> 
> And this bit just tickled me pink.  No new signs needed because we don't, and haven't been, calling it McKinley. 
> http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska...dcaaffb9f.html

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## Rick

Good stuff, GA. The Chinese have a saying, "No man is truly dead until he is no longer remembered".

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## 1stimestar

> ANCHORAGE -  
> UPDATE Sept. 14: A Funny River man is in serious condition Monday after being mauled by a bear, Sunday afternoon, according to hospital officials.
> 
> 
> 
> Cpt. Terry Bookey of the Central Emergency Services told Channel 2 News that 62-year-old Danny High was mauled near mile 10.5 of Funny River Road. "The guy had his phone with him and called in his own attack," Bookey said. 
> 
> High was transported to Seattle for treatment of his 'major injuries,' Sunday according to Alaska State Trooper spokeswoman Megan Peters. 
> 
> ...


http://www.ktuu.com/news/news/man-62...woods/35257930

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## crashdive123

I don't want to make light of what happened, but with his last name and the location of the attack.........

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## 1stimestar

Heh, good catch.

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## Rick

Oh, man. That 911 call must have went on forever. 

911: "911 what's your emergency?"
High: "I was attacked by a bear."
911: "Okay sir, what's your name?"
High: "High"
911: "Hello, but we need your name."
High: "High"
911: "Hello again, what's your name?"

Who's on first?

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## crashdive123

> Oh, man. That 911 call must have went on forever. 
> 
> 911: "911 what's your emergency?"
> High: "I was attacked by a bear."
> 911: "Okay sir, what's your name?"
> High: "High"
> 911: "Hello, but we need your name."
> High: "High"
> 911: "Hello again, what's your name?"
> ...


911:  OK - never mind the name - where are you?
High:  Joker Road.
911:  Sir, there is nothing funny about calling 911.

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## 1stimestar

It's kind of awesome when half the people you know have their pilot's license.  I mean really, every one and their brother up here has one.  The downside is that we have more plane crashes per capita then anywhere else in the US.  




> Fishing lodge's floatplane crashes in Alaska; 3 dead, 7 hurt
> 
> Posted: Tuesday, September 15, 2015 10:40 am | Updated: 5:33 pm, Tue Sep 15, 2015.
> Associated Press |
> ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A floatplane carrying fishing guides and clients crashed Tuesday near a scenic lake in rural southwest Alaska, killing three of the out-of-state clients and injuring all seven other people on board, some critically, authorities said.
> The plane was taking off to head to a remote fishing spot in a river when it went down outside the tiny town of liamna, 175 miles southwest of Anchorage, National Transportation Safety Board Alaska Chief Clint Johnson said.
> The aircraft - a De Havilland DHC-3 Turbine Otter on floats - belonged to an liamna fishing lodge. It ended up in some trees near Eastwind Lake, a mile north of town.
> Alaska State Troopers identified the dead as Tony W. Degroot, 80, of Hanford, California; James P. Fletcher, 70, of Clovis, California; and James Specter, 69, of Shavertown, Pennsylvania. Their bodies were recovered and were being sent for an autopsy by the state medical examiner's office, troopers said.
> The three were staying as clients at the Rainbow King Lodge, which owned the plane, Johnson said. Calls to the business went unanswered.
> ...


http://www.newsminer.com/news/alaska...3fa3fa35c.html

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## hunter63

Well, I suppose when you have to fly 240 miles for a pizza delivery bound to be problems........

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## 1stimestar

We were under a winter advisory and are expecting 2-5" of snow.  School put out that they would be watching the weather and roads to see if they needed to cancel.  So then the idjits called at 5:30 this morning to let us know there would be school.  Well duhhh.  It's snow.  This is Alaska!  I live on call so have to answer my phone.  Don't call me at 5:30 in the morning for bull**** news.  

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## Rick

> It's kind of awesome when half the people you know have their pilot's license.




I saw an article that said Alaska had more licensed pilots than any state in the Union. It also said Alaska had more unlicensed pilots than any state in the Union.

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## 1stimestar

> I saw an article that said Alaska had more licensed pilots than any state in the Union. It also said Alaska had more unlicensed pilots than any state in the Union. [/COLOR]


Yep yep.  And apparently we have ghosts as well.

So several times this last week, I keep finding this drawer left open. There's just some magazines in the drawer and I keep wondering who is getting in there and then leaving the drawer open. It's just an old desk that we have houseplants sitting on.  I mean, I have closed it probably 7 or 8 times this week so it was starting to annoy me. Today I'm in my office to the right. I go out into the community area and there it is open again. I go check the cameras to see who in heck it was as I didn't notice anyone digging around in that area...que theme from Twilight Zone. 

https://youtu.be/zgRZxKEGxjM

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## 1stimestar

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## Faiaoga

Did a truck with a load of laundry detergent crash and spill its cargo on the road?  
or is that white coral sand from the local beaches?
or did a Morton salt delivery truck spill over? :Devil:

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## 1stimestar

We got 6-9" in 12 hours.  Pretty good huh?

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## Rick

It's September. That right there ain't right.

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## LowKey

Please keep that white stuff up there this year!
Alaska is a good place for it.
Not downtown Boston.

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## Williepete

Hey, I enjoyed that ghost pix.  My wife has a large bedroom across the end of the house on the second floor.  Her two sons have had experiences in that room consisting of a black figure sitting on their chest while they were laying on the floor.  When we go on our trips my oldest daughter takes care of our 'kids', a cat and dog.  One time she came with her Grand daughter who was some were about 4 or 5 maybe and came up stairs and came down and told Mama to be quiet as there were three people sleeping in our bed. Her boy friend came in one time and came down visible shaken and would not go back up.  Now me I don't disbelieve but I've never had any experice with any thing. 

Bill

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## Williepete

We had a blizzard here in 1978 when I was on the FD.  we got several inchs an hour.  The entrance ramp to East bound Interstate was closed from Wed night until some time late Sat evening. They had to get a dozer to clear it.  When my brother's road was final opened by a hugh front end loader from a rock quarry there was something like ten to twelve foot high bank on each side of the road.  Such fun romaning around in a GNC six by. 

Bill





> We got 6-9" in 12 hours.  Pretty good huh?
> 
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## 1stimestar

> Hey, I enjoyed that ghost pix.  My wife has a large bedroom across the end of the house on the second floor.  Her two sons have had experiences in that room consisting of a black figure sitting on their chest while they were laying on the floor.  When we go on our trips my oldest daughter takes care of our 'kids', a cat and dog.  One time she came with her Grand daughter who was some were about 4 or 5 maybe and came up stairs and came down and told Mama to be quiet as there were three people sleeping in our bed. Her boy friend came in one time and came down visible shaken and would not go back up.  Now me I don't disbelieve but I've never had any experice with any thing. 
> 
> Bill


That's quite interesting especially that the adult saw something to shake him up.  Did he ever say what it was?  

This place had a violent murder and one other death.  It consists of 8 small apartments and a couple of offices and a community room area.  All under security, previously to keep others safe, now to keep the women who live here safe.  Now it is similar to a safe house through our local domestic violence shelter, for women with disabilities.  Before we got it though I believed it housed the criminally insane like this guy.  He killed the worker there by stabbing her and slitting her throat.  Then we had one client die by choking on a piece of steak during the middle of the night while she was self medicating....




> HOME > STATE  Syndicate content
> CommentShare on print Share on email More Sharing Services Share on twitter Share on facebook
> Follow This Article
> 
> Fairbanks man who pleaded guilty to killing mental health worker gets at least 20 years in prison
> Posted: April 26, 2011 - 8:26pm
> THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> FAIRBANKS  A Fairbanks man with a history of mental illness who pleaded guilty to stabbing and killing a mental health worker has been sentenced to at least 20 years in prison.
> 
> ...


I was talking with one of my Case Managers about this and she said that I should look and see what is in the drawer, that it might be something I need to see, since this drawer has been opened several times when I am there and she has never seen it opened.  It's just an old desk under the window that we put house plants on.

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## hunter63

That was just creepy.......LOL

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## 1stimestar

And in other news, here comes more snow!  I say bring it on.




> Winter storm watch issued for heavy snowfall in Interior Alaska
> 
> Posted: Monday, September 28, 2015 8:05 am | Updated: 8:07 am, Mon Sep 28, 2015.
> Staff Report
> FAIRBANKS - A winter storm watch has been issued for Fairbanks and Interior Alaska starting tonight.
> Six to 10 inches of snow could fall over the Interior before the storm ends late Tuesday night, according to the National Weather Service.

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## 1stimestar

Here comes another 6-12".  It's really wet and heavy, unlike our normal dry, light and fluffy snow.

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## 1stimestar

Ugh, school was cancelled today.  21,000 without power this morning.  Eh, it's a bit early, but people should know it's coming.  

In other Alaskan related news, I'm not sure what this woman is doing "out there" by herself!  You may not be able to listen to it all (I couldn't) because she is just too stupid and her voice too annoying.  







> Video: Woman thanks Alaska bear for not eating kayak; bear promptly eats kayak
> Sean Doogan
> September 30, 2015
> 
> 
> 
> A woman on a 107-mile kayak journey from Ketchikan to Petersburg said she had to hitch a ride to Wrangell on a sailboat after a bear ate her kayak near a public-use cabin in Southeast Alaska.
> 
> Mary Maley posted a video of the encounter to YouTube late Tuesday. In the post, Maley claims she was outside a U.S. Forest Service cabin in Berg Bay, 22 miles southeast of Wrangell, when the bear approached.
> ...


http://www.adn.com/article/20150930/...tly-eats-kayak

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## Grizzlyette Adams

Dang...that woman fussing at the bear! I could bear-ly stand it. The only way I could even finish watching it was to turn the sound off! What an embarrassment to womankind.

Something tells me she will eventually remove herself from the gene pool by sheer stupidity (hopefully before she reproduces). I was amazed that the bear didn't charge her (pepper spray or not)! She sounded like a bleating wounded rabbit on steroids.

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## Grizzlyette Adams

The  comments on the YouTube channel are killing me... Here is a sampling:





> -- this lady has the most annoying voice i've ever heard in my life please mace yourself
> 
> -- if anyone was wondering, she said "bear" 32 times.
> 
> Holy sh*t that voice is annoying.
> 
> --  Bear please eat that woman.
> 
> -- She said "Bear youre breaking my kayak! Why are you breaking my Kayak? What did I do to you? Why are you breaking my Kayak? Please stop bear? Why are you doing that? Its the end of september, why are you here? Youre supposed to be asleep. Bear, bear, bear, stop that. Bear, bear stop that. BEARRR, bear stop that, bear stop that, please stop that bear, bear please stop that, please stop breaking my things. Bear! Please stop breaking my things, its not even food, it doesnt even taste good, its just plastic! Bear please stop, please stop bear." This ****ing girl is high off something. Shes talking to a bear for a solid 2 1/2 minutes.
> ...


There were many more that were unfit to reprint here...wow this woman provoked 474 people to comment mostly along these lines.

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## TXyakr

That video of bear tearing at the kayak seat was funny. Guess silly woman will not be eating food in her yak any more... making seat smell delicious. Actually just human sweat and farts smells very good to bears and raccoons. Once a friend left his helmet strapped to his kayak over night and a raccoon took it, he never found it. But did not waste can of spray or scream hysterically about it, we just joke about a raccoon wearing the helmet whenever on that river. Perhaps that lady will carry a loud firearm next trip...

Edit: I gave up discouraging people from putting flavorings in their water bottles and eating snacks while paddling a long time ago. Some people never learn. Swam across the river to get a man's bag of pistachios the other day that fell out of his pocket at a gravel bar rest stop. He said "Thanks for for saving my nuts." Everyone laughed. Your PDF and water bottle smell like food guess what? Critters big and small are going to go after them, possibly with you attached to them. 

Local news had this man on who was hunting moose in Alaska and startled a mother brown bear and cubs...

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Bea...329860061.html

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## TXyakr

> We were under a winter advisory and are expecting 2-5" of snow.  School put out that they would be watching the weather and roads to see if they needed to cancel.  So then the idjits called at 5:30 this morning to let us know there would be school.  Well duhhh.  It's snow.  This is Alaska!  I live on call so have to answer my phone.  Don't call me at 5:30 in the morning for bull**** news.


Ask them politely to post it on some social media page like Facebook or Twitter or both. Our school district finally made it policy to post all by 7am and NOT rely on local news, but also sends out text messages which you could block I guess. Unlike most districts they never delay start of school day and rarely cancel school. Even people in very poor countries with no electricity or indoor plumbing have mobile phones, if a voice call fails Text Message should get through and can be automated by a 15 year old kid in the Philippines, i.e. not complicated.

My youngest daughter insisted that I take her to dance practice very early one Saturday when it had rained about 5-7 inches over night and the water was about 10-12 inches deep on some roads I needed to drive on. I turned around and went home, was driving a small car. Then Drill Team coach postponed the practice AFTER it was scheduled to start. Ticked me off. Probably why she teaches dance not something that pays better...

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## hunter63

OMG...and to think she may actually vote....?
I vote... bear... as well.

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## kyratshooter

The bear might not speak English but I could tell exactly what it was thinking;

"You shot me with that pepper spray for nothing and I am going to ruin your day too!"

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## 1stimestar

> Ask them politely to post it on some social media page like Facebook or Twitter or both. Our school district finally made it policy to post all by 7am and NOT rely on local news, but also sends out text messages which you could block I guess. Unlike most districts they never delay start of school day and rarely cancel school. Even people in very poor countries with no electricity or indoor plumbing have mobile phones, if a voice call fails Text Message should get through and can be automated by a 15 year old kid in the Philippines, i.e. not complicated.
> 
> My youngest daughter insisted that I take her to dance practice very early one Saturday when it had rained about 5-7 inches over night and the water was about 10-12 inches deep on some roads I needed to drive on. I turned around and went home, was driving a small car. Then Drill Team coach postponed the practice AFTER it was scheduled to start. Ticked me off. Probably why she teaches dance not something that pays better...


They do post it online and on the news as well.  But you still get a robocall. We ended up getting about 18" here at my house.

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## crashdive123

I checked.......our snow gauge still reads zero.

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## Rick

Have studies actually be performed to determine that bears like people farts? Amazing. If true, I'm probably in a lot of trouble.

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## 1stimestar

Anything that smells, they are interested in.  Good smell, bad smell, they love them equally!  

And in other news, I got my *** kicked tonight lol.  OW!  Buy stock in Ibuprofen.


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## TXyakr

Y'all need to invite Mike Rowe from "Somebody's Gotta Do It" to join you in your adventures with your friends up there in Alaska. Funny that y'all pay extra to heat up a building for roller derby while here in Texas folks pay extra to freeze water to play hockey on ice. I like skating as fast as possible on Adult only ice times typically at noon, minimal sweat due to low temp and no tiny kids jumping out of the doors that I need to dodge.

Feral hogs eat cow and human feces, I have seen it. Farts smell like feces obviously so it attracts them. Bears are attracted to anything that smells, and have very sensitive scent glands. They may eat human and cow feces if very hungry because these two don't have efficient digestive systems.

Some kayak and canoe seats have very absorbent fabrics and foam while others are just molded plastic or cane seat for canoe which is what I prefer. If you have a seat that absorbs smells on a canoe, kayak, ATV it is not a good idea to leave it and your PFD etc. out in bear/hog country unless you want some fun video to post on youtube. With sit-on-top kayaks I don't even use a seat back support, just use my back muscles which have become strong from years of paddling every weekend, low support of white water kayak seating, or no back support of a cane seat on a canoe does not bother me either. When I take groups out the adult from ages mid 20's to 60's often complain about lower back support. Wow! we live in a lazy boy recliner culture. Even Speaker of the House John Boehner said he does yoga, try it out for yourself or something like it, swing an ax around or something. Stand up working desk not a chair, pointless to let atrophy ruin you.

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## Rick

> I got my *** kicked tonight




Need I explain the result of the equation.....age+skates+concrete X speed? There is a very similar equation .....fun/pain. There is a direct correlation in both sometimes referred to as cause and effect.

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## 1stimestar

Yea but it was fun, or will be fun once I get back in practice!  And as my birthday is fast approaching, this is in line with my quest to not become a fat, old lady.  I was the oldest one there...

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## 1stimestar

My daughter's first public bout is coming up.  She's in the Juniors that skate before the adults.  Turns out they have to divide into two teams and play themselves as the other team in the next town over aren't even up to doing any contact yet!  Sheesh, these girls have been knocking each other down for months!

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## hunter63

Very cool......

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## crashdive123

It'll be nice when they can beat up on somebody else.

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## 1stimestar

> Search continues for Fairbanks man missing from hunting camp
> 
> 
> Fairbanks man missing
> Dalton Hanson, 23, of Fairbanks reportedly walked away from a hunting camp near Livengood, Alaska, on Sept. 10, 2015, and has not been heard from since.
> Posted: Thursday, September 17, 2015 4:16 pm | Updated: 3:48 pm, Mon Sep 28, 2015.
> 
> By Dorothy Chomicz, dchomicz@newsminer.com
> FAIRBANKSThe search continues for Dalton Hanson, the 23-year-old Fairbanks man who walked away from a hunting camp near Livengood last week.
> ...


http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_...d0fa03cc1.html




> Occasionally I've tried to explain to friends that the cold can quickly put you in a serious position, or that the lack of GSM coverage kinda isolates you. And more often than not, I get a nod and a blank stare. I fail to relate the sense of spaces so vast that the land can swallow you whole, and it will never even know the difference. The feeling that the elements, if they misbehave ever so slightly, can make you fear for your very life. And especially the realization that whatever unforseen event might occur, you have to be able to deal with it yourself, because the chance that anyone will show up in time to help you, is infinitely small. Maybe this feeling cannot be conveyed, but must be experienced first hand? Summed up, I think it's a feeling akin to that of both impending doom and intense freedom.~Hedge

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## WalkingTree

Just saw that bear/kayak video, and...oh...my...god...every single thing about that is SO irritating and retarded. Holy freaking bear.

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## crashdive123

You said freaking bear.......pretty close to dancing bear.

In honor of Sarge and one of his favorite trolls from days gone by.

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## 1stimestar

> Just saw that bear/kayak video, and...oh...my...god...every single thing about that is SO irritating and retarded. Holy freaking bear.


Oh I know!  I couldn't even listen to the whole thing.  I had to turn the volume off.

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## Rick

Looks like you will be enjoying some extra special Auroras for a bit. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3391757.html

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## LowKey

Rick that link is a 2013 article?

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## Rick

Ugh. Didn't look at the date. Coronal holes are a common occurrence. I had read about the current one and then grabbed an article. Here's the current one. 

http://www.cnet.com/news/what-happen...ns-on-the-sun/

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## crashdive123

> Ugh. Didn't look at the date. *Coronal holes* are a common occurrence. I had read about the current one and then grabbed an article. Here's the current one. 
> 
> http://www.cnet.com/news/what-happen...ns-on-the-sun/


Hey!  This is a PG-13 forum.   :Innocent:

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## WalkingTree

We *are* getting a sizable asteroid on Halloween though. To pass only as far as our moon is from us. Is that as good as auroras? With that distance, I sure hope nothing happens from now to then to change it's trajectory any.

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## 1stimestar

> We *are* getting a sizable asteroid on Halloween though. To pass only as far as our moon is from us. Is that as good as auroras? With that distance, I sure hope nothing happens from now to then to change it's trajectory any.


I know, I hope to see it!  It's exciting but as good as auroras?  Hmmmm.  


How about this one for the books.  Guy must have been driving with his lights off to not see it!




> Truck crashes after hitting a seal in the road on remote Alaska island
> Megan Edge
> October 21, 2015
> Share on emailEmailPrintText Size-A+A
> 
> File photo of a northern fur seal bull on St. Paul Island.
> Rolf Ream / National Marine Mammal Laboratory
> After Fred Parnells truck suddenly became airborne as he drove to work along the main road on St. Paul Island last week, he said it felt like he had hit a brick wall. Hed actually struck a northern fur seal.
> 
> ...


http://www.adn.com/article/20151021/...-alaska-island

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## hunter63

Hitting any animal is like hitting a big bag of sand.
Even hitting a 20 pound turkey is like that bag of sand coming through your windshield at 60 MPH.

Guy was lucky........but it does sound funny...."I hit a seal".....

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## Faiaoga

> Hitting any animal is like hitting a big bag of sand.
> Even hitting a 20 pound turkey is like that bag of sand coming through your windshield at 60 MPH.
> 
> Guy was lucky........but it does sound funny...."I hit a seal".....


I have been told that hitting a SEAL is a very bad idea:
1, The SEAL will probably hit you back
2. All the other SEALS will come after you

I hope I have not offended any US Navy veterans, but the obvious bad joke was too much to resist. :W00t:

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## hunter63

Left that pitch high in the zone.....Nice swing.......LOL

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## 1stimestar

Ohhh lookie what I just found!  I've heard about this video for years but have never been able to find it.  Just last month it was posted to Youtube.  This was filmed in 2002, the year before I got here.  My friend Wayne Hall and his freight dogs are in it at the end as he won the Red Lantern and apparently, the Spirit of the North awards.  Wayne and Scarlett are the ones I go visit every year up near Eagle on the Yukon River.  I also handled for him the last time he ran the Quest in 2009.  So cool because I didn't know he was in this movie. 

Freight dogs are bigger then normal Quest race dogs which are bred to be smaller and faster.  Wayne's dogs are full time working sled dogs who live in the bush and now a days most of them spend the summer on a glacier giving tourists rides.  

https://youtu.be/Ej8PQUszQ8g

PS, I don't know why my videos wont embed any more and just show links.

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## 1stimestar

I remember when this happened.  I was still in the planning stages of trying to move up here. One year and one month later, I arrived and started preparing for earth quakes.  




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> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
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> 
> Guests can not see images in the messages. Please register in the forum.
> 
> This week marks the 13th anniversary of the Denali Fault Earthquake. The 7.9-magnitude quake struck on Nov. 3, 2002. 
> ...


https://www.facebook.com/AlaskaDOTPF/?fref=photo

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## hunter63

Now tell us again... "Why"..... you want to live there.....Bhohahahaha

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## Faiaoga

Neat and cool.  I have experienced many shakes and quakes when living in the Pacific islands but nothing like that,  Perhaps we can exchange: I will trade you three typhoons for  a major Alaska highway-buckling earthquake.   :Scared:   I would throw in a volcano as well - but I think you already have plenty of those :Oops:

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## 1stimestar

> Now tell us again... "Why"..... you want to live there.....Bhohahahaha


Heh, you asked.  

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----------


## 1stimestar

Oh and might I also add...

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## crashdive123

Nothing like a little shine while enjoying the view.

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## hunter63

LOL....Yeah, well there is that..........

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## Rick

You call those bumpy roads earthquakes? Around here we call them potholes. They crop up every spring. It's part of the state's ongoing driver safety program. If your reflexes aren't good enough they automatically eliminate your vehicle from being on the road thereby ensuring the safety of all the other drivers. Genius. Pure genius.

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## Grizz123

I spent the last month traveling from Talkeetna to Homer, enjoying life, looking for work and or a business to buy or start up. The only thing that panned out was enjoying life!! Permanent move to come very soon, with or without a source of income...

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## 1stimestar

> I spent the last month traveling from Talkeetna to Homer, enjoying life, looking for work and or a business to buy or start up. The only thing that panned out was enjoying life!! Permanent move to come very soon, with or without a source of income...


Oh that's some gorgeous country down there.  Yea income is kind of a must for most.  Let me know if I can help.  Good luck.

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## Grizz123

> Oh that's some gorgeous country down there.  Yea income is kind of a must for most.  Let me know if I can help.  Good luck.


Adding 6 zero's to my bank account would be a big help  :Big Grin: 

It is beautiful country, I can't wait to get back!!! 

Both Kenai/Soldotna and Eagle River interest me, do you have contacts in those areas?

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## 1stimestar

Sorry no, other then some Facebook friends.  I tend to stay away from the southern part of the state as much as possible, though I am going down to Hope, Whittier, Girdwood, and Homer this coming summer, maybe with a stop in Talkeetna to do some zip lining on the way home.  Send me your bank account numbers though and I'll get right to adding those zeros for you.  Lol.

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## madmantrapper

Thanks for the beautiful pictures and videos.

I had an opportunity to run a three hundred mile trapline in Alaska about fifteen years ago. An associate was unable to run his line because of a health issue. Between work and family I could not work it out. Now I am pretty much retired and have the time but not the stamina. The entire line was done on snowmobile, would have been a tough 60 days.

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## 1stimestar

> Thanks for the beautiful pictures and videos.
> 
> I had an opportunity to run a three hundred mile trapline in Alaska about fifteen years ago. An associate was unable to run his line because of a health issue. Between work and family I could not work it out. Now I am pretty much retired and have the time but not the stamina. The entire line was done on snowmobile, would have been a tough 60 days.


Thank you.  Wow, 300 miles of trapline!  Where was that?  Yea that's a lot of distance on a snow machine.  So are you from up here and how did you get to Maryland?

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## madmantrapper

No never been to Alaska. Offer was made through a trapping forum. I believe it was near McGrath.

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## 1stimestar

Ah ok.  Yea trap lines are bought and sold here, not mostly with money.  To get an area that is not already being trapped, you have to go pretty far out.

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## hunter63

Offer was made on a trappers forum?.....15 years ago?
That's kinda a big job to just say.....Hey, wanna come and run my trap line?

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## madmantrapper

> Offer was made on a trappers forum?.....15 years ago?
> That's kinda a big job to just say.....Hey, wanna come and run my trap line?


Yea you are not kidding. The guy was dead serious. I can't remember the circumstances exactly, but he was desperate. I think the guy that helped him out was from Illinois or Wisconsin.

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## hunter63

> Yea you are not kidding. The guy was dead serious. I can't remember the circumstances exactly, but he was desperate. I think the guy that helped him out was from Illinois or Wisconsin.


That would have been a job offer huh?....WOW

No experience necessary, just stay out in the bush, trap and skin wild animals, dodge bears and wolves....expect to be gone and by your self for 6 months.

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## 1stimestar

My daughter and I got to skate together today.  It was so much fun.  She's in the competitive group.  I am not, yet.  So we don't get to skate together.  But today her coaches had an open skate so that any skater could come and work on what ever skill they wanted to.  Ok ok, note to self, take out mouth guard before picture, stand up straight.  

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## 1stimestar

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I'll be playing again in the Streetjelly Fiddle Fest again this year if you guys want to tune in.  I'm still pretty new in comparison to other fiddlers but I have fun. I play mostly Celtic tunes with a bit of American Folk.  I'm playing at 6:00 pm Alaska Standard time which is -9 GMT.

http://streetjelly.com/

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## crashdive123

Very cool.

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## 1stimestar

Ok, NOW I'm ready for winter!

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## hayshaker

i hear bush people in alaska use moose as draft horses yeah that's the ticket.

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## 1stimestar

Got a bit of snow.  Spent an hour shoveling off my deck and steps!  

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## 1stimestar

Didn't get home until 4:00 this morning but it was worth it.

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## crashdive123

Awesomeness!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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## hunter63

Wow, those are awesome......Don't they just kinda keep ya up at night?

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## 1stimestar

> Wow, those are awesome......Don't they just kinda keep ya up at night?


They did last night!   I didn't get home till a bit after 4.  They don't come out every night and some nights when they do come out, it is too over cast to see them.  A group of us get together occasionally and rent the Two River community center.  We all bring snacks and pie to share.  Two Rivers is a dog mushing community about 30 miles outside of Fairbanks with about 200 people.  It's not really even a village.  But it gives us a place to go inside to warm up with wide open skies and far enough away from the city lights to be able to see the auroras really well.

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## Pennsylvania Mike

That is beautiful!

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## 1stimestar

Happy Holidays to our friends near & far!

This is our FIFTH year of the internet controlled Christmas lights. Thats something to be merry about!

In 2010, we connected our Christmas tree lights to
the internet and encouraged visitors from around the world to turn
them on and off.

As it was quite annoying to have the lights blink ALL THE TIME inside
the house (really it annoyed our dog), so the internet controlled lights moved outside in 2011.  In both 2012 and 2013 we added more lights, which brought media coverage, and then a lot of visitors from every continent around the world.

We moved into a new house in January of 2014 and welcomed our son in
July.  A busy year to say the least, but the lights were installed and
operational a week before Christmas.

This year there are MORE lights.....a total of 4096 different possible
combinations. Plus an unlimited number of simultaneous users, too.

Post this to facebook, twitter, forward this email, write it in your
Christmas card, battle your Aunt Lisa in Pennsylvania by turning everything
on and off- again and again.

Enjoy the Christmas lights, and send us an email about whats going on in your lives! Wed love to hear from you. 

http://christmasinfairbanks.com

with cheer!
Rebecca-Ellen & Kenny
(some of you may get this twice,  we apologize in advance)

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## crashdive123

Well, that's interesting.

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## Rick

I'd be okay with it as long as it wasn't the TV or the bathroom light. Either of those would get annoying pretty quick. The garage door opener wouldn't work. Period.

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## crashdive123

They're probably getting annoyed at me.  I keep coming back and changing the lights, but always leave them on when done.

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## Highlonesome

Very awesome pics, thanks

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## 5th

Like my lawn, I'm green with envy.      Kinda erie for me down here with no snow in December...the 4am light show n' your deck have me a tad jealous.

How'd the fiddlin' go?

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## 1stimestar

Sad night tonight.  Just got news about my friend Mark's passing today from a heart attack.  He was also an ultra marathon runner so I just don't get it.  Death makes no sense sometimes as I know too well.  He was only 53, same as my husband when he died.  That is entirely too young.  Mark produced the videos for the Yukon Quest.  Here is one of my favorite ones.

https://youtu.be/vTh9n-cto2s

Don't wait to do the things you want to do.  Mark lived an adventurous life.  He didn't wait...

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## crashdive123

So sorry for your loss.

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## hunter63

Sorry to hear of your loss as well....
The "Don't wait" advice is a good reminder for all of us.

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## 1stimestar

Happy Solstice! 
Sunrise 11:02 AM. Sunset 2:39 PM AKST.

https://youtu.be/MXxRcXHI_tI

https://youtu.be/Olbo4Am4U44

https://youtu.be/Dz1JuxZZQV4

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## crashdive123

I guess everybody is preparing for the looooooooooong days now.

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## Rick

There is something really, really wrong with daylight at midnight.

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## 1stimestar

> I guess everybody is preparing for the looooooooooong days now.


Lol oh yea.  But right now, and close to Solstice, we only gain a few seconds a day.  But the closer to Summer Solstice we get, the more time we gain a day.  At the end there, we will be gaining over 7 minutes of daylight per day. By March I really start to notice a difference.

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## LowKey

I haven't figured out, if the days now start getting longer, why February is the longest coldest darkest month of the year. Sure glad it's only 28/29 days long.

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## hunter63

I always like February....when I work for a salary worked out that I made more money per hour.....
At least that what I told my self in those loooong, cooold daaaaark days......To get by......LOL

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## 1stimestar

February is so dark and cold in order to make March the glorious month that it is!  March is my favorite month.  Still enough snow to run dogs, still enough dark to see auroras, yet the light is returning so the days are longer.  Temperatures are normally mild (by comparison).  

Got to skate with my daughter's team last night.  Those girls are so much fun.  I only rarely get to skate with them.  

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## 1stimestar

Happy 12th Alaskan Anniversary to me and my kids.  I moved up here with my then 2 year old daughter and 5 year old son and what I could pack in my car.  What a long strange trip it's been...

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## hunter63

We are glad you have included us in parts of that journey.......to be able to hear and see those thing that brought you there in the first place.
Here's a big Thank you!....

Merry Christmas and Happy New year.

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## crashdive123

Happy anniversary, and thanks for letting us tag along.  Merry Christmas.

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## 1stimestar

Thanks guys.

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## hunter63

You are planning on a "Alaska 2016"....Right?

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## 1stimestar

Lol yep.  I have so much fun with these threads.

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