On the River with the dogs

 

Lately I've been loving cross country skiing with the dogs on the Upper Buskin. We have been going every day, and it is supposed to stay cold and windy. So it looks like we will continue to cross country ski there every day for the foreseeable future (fingers crossed!) 

It is so beautiful skiing up into the canyon in the sunshine that I thought I'd try and capture the magic in a movie. So the day before yesterday I brought along a tripod, and set up the camera at various points along the way. I'd turn the camera on and then ski past it one way. Then I'd turn around and ski back to the camera. Then I'd turn it off and de assemble the tripod. Getting the tripod set up each time in the snow was  actually a bit time consuming.

Anyway, on the way up the river I only did this 3 times because I was in a hurry to get up into the canyon before the sunlight went away. It only shines down to the bottom of the canyon for a short while. So I got up to the waterfall and video'd it and then I started back down the canyon. Now the plan was to stop a lot and catch the scenery. I had a tough time with the first video set up on the way back but did not think much of it. 

I continued to stop and create short videos and it was a lot of work. I think I stopped an additional 5 times. Then when I got back to the car I checked to see how the videos came out - and there was nothing there after the waterfall! Somehow the camera had gotten turned off of video mode and each time I had stopped I just took 2 pictures - one when I started the 'video', and one when I 'turned it off'.  I was crushed!  All that work for nothing! But in its own way it is pretty funny too.

But I did have the initial 3 videos - so I was able to piece together something. Just not the masterpiece I was hoping to make (LOL). Anyway the video is on the bottom.

Patrick

Winter Sunlight

 

Two months ago when I was skiing on the Upper Buskin the sun never peaked up above the surrounding mountains and shone down into the river valley. We would leave the car and ski into one great big shadow.  Two months later and the sun is now high in the sky. It is now high enough that even when we get far up into the slot canyon it still manages to shine down to the canyon floor.

Recently  we have been getting a blast of arctic air. The 'gap' winds are blowing cold air through all the mountain passes on the Alaska Peninsula, and our high temperatures have been in the low teens. But despite the frigid temperature, up in the canyon and out of the wind, the sun is now strong enough to feel warm. 

Patrick

On the River again

 

Yesterday it was 12 degrees with light ocean effect snow and the wind was screaming. I thought about taking a nap and not even leaving the house. Then as I drove out the road my car was chasing and not keeping up with blowing snow on the road. Yikes! That means the wind is faster than my car. It was a nuclear whiteout of blowing snow at the golf course. So I decided to give the more protected Upper Buskin a try. And I am glad I did!

The dogs and I have not gone for a ski on the Upper Buskin in almost 2 months (click here for post). I was a little worried there would not be enough snow or that the river would not be frozen. But there was enough snow on the trail in to the river and the river itself was solidly frozen. There was not enough snow to cover the rocks on the riverbanks so I did not ski downriver. But upriver it was great and the dogs and I skied far up into the canyon.

Best of all it was not very windy. On the way back I started to think that maybe the wind had died down. But we got back to the car and it was still a nuclear whiteout at the golf course.

Patrick

Bright and Windy Day

 

Jibber Bowl Untracked

Yesterday was so bright I needed sunglasses. I guess it is that time of the year. It's far enough into the new year that these days the sunlight is no longer low and raking but bright and blinding - sunglasses needed type of sunlight. So today I'll put my sunglasses in the car for the summer.

Yesterday morning it was raining and snowing in town, and I could not wait to get off of work. It had rained an inch overnight and so I was expecting a foot of new snow on top of the 6 inches we got the day before. I was thinking epic - best skiing day of the year type snow. So after work I raced home and got the dogs, and then, as I drove to the pass, it cleared off and the sun came out. Perfect!

But then I saw the plumes of windblown snow coming off the tops of all the tall mountains. Uh oh - WIND. And then when I got to the pass I found that it had rained pretty high up the mountain and then froze before it snowed some more. So not the greatest ski conditions. Up high where the wind had blown off the snow there was breakable crust - ughhhh. But there were also seams of powder. 

But the conditions did not matter because it was bright and beautiful!

Patrick

Some decent snow

We finally got some decent snow! This winter, except for a late January/ early February warm snap, has been decently cold. But it has also been very dry and we have not gotten much snow. We have gotten some snow in town, but there has been very little snow on high. So yesterday I was pretty happy when we got 6 inches of new snow on the mountain. And then last night it got warm and rained an inch in town. But hopefully that added to the snow pack on high.

These are some photos with the doggies on yesterday's ski/walk. The snow actually let up while we were climbing up and a watery sun made an appearance. You could even see the occasional patch of blue. No wind and so the snow was not drifted or wind effected. Pretty good skiing! And we were able to ski to the road too!

Patrick
 

This one is from the end of January

Deer and Yard

 

Red alder catkin

All by myself I have continued to try and eat as much deer and elk meat as possible.  Without kids around each dish generally lasts about 3 meals. 

For steak and eggs I keep a deer backstrap in the fridge and cut off round steaks to quickly fry. In the picture below I also added home fries from my garden and poached eggs. I've been liking poached eggs lately because the whites are always perfect and not hard or rubbery. 

Further below is a pot roast I made a few days ago. I cooked the roast in the stew at 180 degrees for almost 24 hours. Then I dished it out on top of a 'Patrick Style' pasta Alfredo. I make my Alfredo with baby bell cheese, flour, garden garlic, milk, thyme and some grated manchego cheese.

Patrick

deer steak and poached eggs on hash browns

Red alder seed pod

deer pot roast on pasta