Poke

My yearly sacrifice for the good of mankind.
Lucky me. TB test anyone?

Cold Weather Nikon

I have had a few visits to this blog from people googling about cameras and cold weather. While I can't speak much about other cameras I can say lots about the Nikon D40. I purchased my D40 last fall and have had ZERO problems with it in the cold weather. I am very pleased with it's cold weather performance.

I use it in ALL weather, and when I say cold I don't mean 20F cold, I mean
-20F and colder cold. I only have one battery for this camera, and so far that is all I have needed. There are times when I go out in the country for several hours in temps well below zero and shoot at least 200 photos. I have never had any problems with the cold affecting the battery. As a matter of fact I have found that the Nikon D40 has exceptional battery life in all conditions. Using the built in flash does use the battery up faster, but it still has the best battery life of any camera I have ever owned (although I admit I have only ever owned 4 other digital cameras).

The Nikon 18-200mm VR lens also holds up well in the cold. At first it made me nervous to try and use it at -25F with blowing snow conditions but it has performed flawlessly.....even after dropping the thing on the floor in Juneau. I nearly had a heart attack. The fall broke the lens cap, step up ring and uv filter but the lens itself was unscathed.

A received a couple very useful cold weather photography tips from Seth Kantner. When shooting photos when it is snowing, you should allow your camera to become as cold as the air outside before you take it out of the case. That way the camera is cold and the snow will bounce right off the camera and the lens. If your camera is warm the snow will hit the camera and melt and cause water droplets on your lens that show up in your photos and can also get the camera wet and cause problems when it refreezes. The second piece of advice was, after returning home and going inside, allow the camera to return to room temp before removing it from the case. this avoids the camera becoming covered with condensation and possibly causing water damage. If I need the pics off the camera in a hurry I will quickly open the case and plug in the camera and turn it on and then zip the case back up before the condensation has a chance to form.

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

Survivorman

I wanted to spend some time fishing while the weather was cool and there is no overflow on the ice, so we are spending the weekend at camp. Gotta love sattelite internet. We figured tomorrow we would fish, but today we needed to get wood.



While we were out getting wood Uyaana decided he would make a "den" out of the branches.



He said it was for any homelss animals that might need it.



He was quite the dedicated shelter builder.


I think he has been watching too much Survivorman. If he tries to drink water squeezed outta bear poop I'm gonna have to draw the line.



I like taking pictures of him when he doesn't know it. That's the advantage of a telephoto lens....no whining and no goofy faces.



Is it just me or is that a handsome boy??

Photohunt Saturday- Unique/Funny Signs

Check out other photohunters at http://tnchick.com/

Spring Freeze

Ahhhh Spring. Even though it happens every year it always seems like a miracle. A very wet slushy miracle. My office is located on Lake Street. And it was truly taking after it's name.



The sucker truck took two loads of water out of the lake puddle, but it was filling up almost as fast as they sucked it out.

Our springy weather has now taken a hiatus. I definitely got spoiled on nearly a week of above freezing temperatures. Everything was melting, there was water all over, kids were running around in shorts and then WAMMO......suddenly it's 15 degrees. That in itself wouldn't be all that bad except that things that are soaking wet generally don't like to be frozen. The van at work is frozen solid the last place it was parked. The wheels won't turn no matter how much you gun the gas. My 4 wheeler's speedometer is frozen at zero and the red reverse light flashes as I drive down the road FOREWARD.

The 10 inches of slush in the road had frozen into deep ruts. The puddles are half frozen and break up when driven through. When you drive through this mess the vehicle bucks around like a deranged rodeo bull.......and if your not careful, you get stuck.



Meet Frank. Frank came to help us replace the washer and drier in the group home at work. He works for the housing department. This is the 2nd day in a row that Frank got stuck in our driveway. He's stuck completely across the road. First everybody tried to push him out but the back tires were stuck in a frozen rut. Then Steve got the brilliant idea that he was going to try and pull Frank out with the Explorer.....well that didn't work either. So along came that forklift.



A little push from the forks...



...was pretty much all it took.


So that's all the excitement going on here. I hope to get some fishing in this weekend and some photos as well.

Viking Farewell

Those of you who have been reading for a while will remember Aussie......



....and Bianca....AKA "The Girls". They spent the winter as dog handlers for Ed Iten. Those are some tough girls, mushing dogs, chopping wood, checking net. They made quite the impression on the locals.



With the mushing season done, this past tuesday The Girls headed back home to Norway. While they were hear they made a lot of friends. I am glad I had a chance to meet them. They promise they will be back again in a couple years to experience an arctic summer.

Wordless (almost) Wednesday- Ground Storm

taken 2/29/08

Puddlesucker

This is water.



This is what happens when snow starts to melt. Hallelujah!!



This beauty I call the Puddlesucker.



These guys ride around all day sucking up puddles before they take over and drown us all. Actually this is the honeybucket sucker doing double duty. You know your an Alaskan if you know that a honeybucket has nothing to do with bees.

Take a Little Trip

So I am now back in Kotzebue. It's nice to be back. I was getting tired of the city. While in Anchorage I took a drive to Palmer....just because I could. This is the first time I have been there.



It is a very pretty trip. This is a pic of the Knik River bridge with the mountains in the background. That metal structure is actually the old bridge. The new one was built right beside it.



The mountains were beautiful.



And the willows were starting to get fuzzy.



It's nice to see the pussywillows again. We don't have any here in Kotzebue yet. Maybe in a few weeks. It's warming up.

BALDWIN PENINSULA AND SELAWIK VALLEY-
INCLUDING...KOTZEBUE...SELAWIK...NOORVIK
449 PM ADT SAT APR 19 2008
.TONIGHT...PERIODS OF LIGHT SNOW...POSSIBLY MIXED WITH RAIN IN
THE EVENING. SNOW ACCUMULATION TO 1 INCH. LOWS AROUND 30. EAST
WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.SUNDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. A CHANCE OF SNOW AND RAIN IN THE
MORNING. HIGHS AROUND 35. EAST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH.
.SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS AROUND 25. EAST WINDS 15 TO
25 MPH.
.MONDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS AROUND 35. EAST WINDS 10 TO 25 MPH.
.MONDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN AND SNOW IN
THE EVENING. LOWS AROUND 25. SOUTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
.TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS NEAR 35.
.TUESDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR 25.
.WEDNESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS NEAR 35.
.WEDNESDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR 20.
.THURSDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY. HIGHS NEAR 35.
.THURSDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOWS NEAR 20.

Signs of Spring

Pine Grosbeaks taken 4-13-08

Wordless (almost) Wednesday

Trip to Camp

Here are some pics from out trip to Ed's camp. Aussie and Bianca needed to bring umpteen bags of dogfood to Ed's while the trail was still good. Unfortunately they had been having issues with their snowmachines and were basically reduced to dog power. Nothing wrong with dog power, but it certainly would take a lot of dog team trips back and forth to camp 25 miles each way to bring all the dog food across. So, much to the girl's relief we volunteered to help. So on Sturday we had three sled loads. Each sled had twelve 40 lb bags of commercial dogfood. Bianca drove on of the snowmachines and Aussie had a 16 dog team. In the dog sled Aussie had four 40lb bags of dog food and my 80lb son.




We had good trail the whole way. Kaija took turns running and riding on the snowmachine.




Halfway through the trip we took a break at the mouth of the Little Noatak River to cool the machines down. We were pulling big loads and my snogo was starting to smell hot.




Bianca wanted me to take a picture of her had Kaija with the sunset in the background (by the way that sunset was at around 10:30pm) but Kaija wouldn't hold still.




We got to Ed's dropped out sleds and headed back to Kobuk Lake to go pick up Uyaana because I figured he would probably be cold.




Aussie had him in the sled bag wrapped in a down jacket because he had grown really cold. They were basically mushing into a head wind the whole way.




By the time we got back to Ed's camp he was shivering so I plunked him in fron of the fire to defrost.

Shaking Hands and Kissing Babies

With all the business of the dog races I neglected to mention our visiting dignitary. Anchorage Mayor, Mark Begich (D), was here last week to win friends and influence people during a trip to "explore" whether or not he will be running for Senator against the Perpetual incumbent, Ted Stevens(R).




84 year old Ted Steven has been in the U.S. Senate since well before I was born. He has become infamous for his "Series of Tubes" speech, The Garavina Island and Knik Arm Bridges to Nowhere, and a federal investigation into a remodeling job on his house. The guy has brought us lots of pork but he's getting a bit old and I fear he may not be as sharp as he once was.

Well that is enough discussion about politics for me.

Pics From This Weekend Coming Soon

We spent the weekend at Ed Iten's place helping Aussie and Bianca haul dog food, get wood and check nets. I took a lot of photos but my internet it wicked slow tonight and I'm just not getting anywhere trying to upload the photos to photobucket. I will give it another try tomorrow and post some pics before I leave for Anchorage in the afternoon. I'll be back in Kotzebue on the 19th but I will try to post some things while I am gone.

Tracey's Kobuk 440 370

***My friend, Tracey Schaeffer, sent out this email describing her experiences during the Kobuk 440. She graciously gave me permission to repost it here*****

We took off in about 30 degrees with blowing snow from the east (right in our faces) which eventually became mixed rain and snow. Had a fast trip to Noorvik, which was a busy stop, lots of dog teams and people, lots of wringing out of soaking clothes. It was a bit stressful for my dogs and I ended up having a dog fight which fortunately wasn’t too serious. Took off for Selawik. The dogs ran really well, I couldn’t see a darn thing because the snow was thick and heavy and I was constantly wiping snow off my goggles and my head lamp so I could at least see some of my dogs. Got to Selawik and took care of the dogs, wrung out my clothes and tried to sleep a bit.

Next I took off for Ambler, a long stretch, 90 miles with one shelter cabin in the middle. The trail was wet, heavy and had been churned up by all the dog teams and snow machines that been in front of me. My dogs got more and more tired, but I was traveling with another musher, so I was cheering them on, kicking and running when I could. Finally, they just got tuckered out so we took a long rest and the other musher went on. After a long sleep they started to perk up and eat. We continued on the slow trail, resting when they needed and eating more and more. Finally the trail improved and we started moving better. We were winding through the trees and feeling good when we came upon a creek, full of water, slush and ice. Of course, the dogs (being far more intelligent beings than us) refused to go through. So, in I went, dragging the dogs a couple at a time across the water, which was up to my knees. Getting the sled out of the slush on the other side was tough, but eventually it came out, running a dog over in the process. My leaders that had fought in Noorvik decided that was a good time to fight again, so I had to break that up. We make it through that creek and the next one (I knew there were two). I change frozen dog booties and move along the trail…everyone was pretty perked up by this time! We then came to a small lake which, of course, was covered with water and slush. Got through that then I started noticing a lack of trail markers….hmmmm. I was seriously wondering if I had taken a wrong turn because it had snowed so much I had very little trail to follow. So I continued on and finally a snow machine came up and let me know that I was
9 miles outside of Ambler!!

In Ambler, I clomped around with frozen snowpants and boots (like everyone else), took care of the dogs, got a beautiful beaver cap for being the last musher into Ambler, and took a blissful two hour nap while all my gear flopped around in the drier of the bunk house we get to stay in. When I awoke I went out to feed the dogs and noticed that all the mushers coming back from the next stretch of trail ( a loop that leads back to
Ambler) were SOAKED again. Groan. I ate and took care of the dogs and was getting ready to head out when I got great news from the last musher to come in…. all the water was freezing. I was able to glide over the trail and see very clearly where everyone else had to plow through a couple of feet of overflow. Made it to Shungnak where I got a very cool neckwarmer for being the last musher in (sometimes it pays to be last). Headed to Kobuk where I got a really warm and wonderful reception, a great meal and headed back to Shungnak. My leaders were getting tired and confused, so it was a lot of stopping and going, but we finally made it to Shungnak ( much to the relief of the very tired checker!) and then to Ambler.

In Ambler, I see Ozzie and Bianca, two Norwegian girls that are working for one of my neighbors, the Itens. They are having leader problems and tired dogs, too and want to scratch. We decide to travel together, since we know by now we won’t make it to the finish line in time to be an actual finisher for the race. We travel though beautiful country on an amazing day (about 2 degrees, sunny and no wind) and get to the shelter cabin half way between Ambler and Kiana, where we overnighted, enjoying ourselves. We wake up in the morning to 20 below temperatures and head to Kiana. A snow machine met us about an hour after we took off with coffee and juice.
About 10 miles outside of Kiana Chuck pulls up and we visit with him and let him know we think we should fly home out of Kiana; my mom is only here for a few more days and the Itens are heading to Hawaii, so we all need to get home. Besides, we say, we are actually running the Kobuk 370, the Least Great Race. When we arrive in Kiana, Chuck had set up the charters and we had time to eat and get on the planes. We flew into Kotz where a friend was waiting with dog boxes to pick us up.

So while I didn’t finish, I did exactly what I wanted to do…I learned a lot about my dogs and dog care and myself. I also got to spend time with great people and their dogs, where as I spend a great deal of time alone with my dogs. So I’m happy, I’m proud of my yearlings that did a ton of growing up in the last few days and I’m very thankful for all the great help and support along the trail.

I can’t wait until next year!!!!

Tracey

***If you would like to learn more about Tracey and her family you may visit them at Iviq Adventures

You Have Got to be Kidding Me!!!!!

*cough* *cough* *gag* *sputter*

Sports Illustrated has decided that Lance Mackey is the second toughest athlete in the world. Second to who?

Tiger Freaking Woods!!!

WTF!?!?!?



Needless to say Alaskans are spitting nails. Even some in the golf world are stumped. Tim McDonald of Travel Golf stated in his blog "I used to live in Alaska. I covered the Iditarod, usually from a warm, dry place. Still, I ventured outside long enough to know that to drive a team of sled dogs 1,100 miles over some of the most hostile terrain on the planet and in weather that would kill aliens from Pluto requires a little more toughness than playing 72 holes of golf over four days."



Oh this definately looks more strenuous than mushing two one thousand mile races in one month. To quote one commenter on the Anchorage Daily News website....."Woods isn’t even tough enough to wear Mackey’s underwear."

Kobuk 440 Start Pics

**If you are looking for Kobuk 440 results, finish photos, and photos from the Mushers banquet they can be found a couple of posts down**

I have had a few requests for pics from the start of the 440. Unfortunately I was in Anchorage during the start and was not able to photograph it. I was able to find someone who did take photos and she was nice enought to let me post them here (thanks Wendy). So here's what I have........