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Mount Marathon Bushwhack

Sarah · June 20, 2011 ·

Sometimes, we need a break from doggy things. The last several days off Travis and I have had off together all we’ve had time for was kennel chores: scooping, feeding, leveling the dog lot, draining the freezer, fixing chains, cleaning out the truck, organizing the gear shed…not to mention trying to get this website up and running! Needless to say between real work and dog work, we’ve stayed busy. So, when a good sunny day came along and our friends had some time off, we decided to go on a hike. But not just any hike — that would be far too easy. We embarked on a bushwhack.

We thought, stupidly, that it would be easier. To our credit, it probably was both easier and quicker than taking the hiking trails though we probably ended up with more scrapes and Devil’s Club’s stings doing it our way. Still, we had a good time. We set off from the local water tower up a partially beat in path. We gained elevation remarkably quickly. We just went up, up, up. Hiking like that felt good — though I’d been on two shorter hikes the day before (once to Boy Scout Lake, the other to Tonsina Bridge) so I was a little tired. Still, I had no trouble keeping up with the boys. There’s something about strenuous exercise and wading through tall grass that makes you feel as if there’s lightening in your blood.

The narrow path we started off on quickly ended. Bear scat was a common “trail” marker and we’d heard rumors of brown bear in the area. We kept joking with one another, pretending there were bears up ahead. All I could think of was Peter and the Wolf. I sure hoped we didn’t run into Mama Grizz. I’m sure she would have been less than thrilled and it would have made our outing more adventurous than we intended. Lucky for us, she stayed clear. It probably had something to do with the fact that we weren’t exactly quiet as we stomped and plodded our way through the thicket. But For all our work, we were rewarded phenomenal views of Seward and Resurrection bay. It was the first real time Travis and I had gotten to go out and have fun without the dogs in a long while and, in some ways, the peace and quiet was nice. Still, there’s nothing I enjoy more than hitting the trial with a couple dogs in tow on a nice long hike. Especially sled dogs. I’m convinced that free running your dogs is the single best thing you can do for training.

In the end, we had to run down the mountain and then walk/run a mile or so back to our cars in order to be on time for a birthday dinner. All-in-all, I’d say it was one of the best days off in awhile. I’d give it a ten out of ten. Anyways, now I’m tired so I’m going to go to bed…

Boy Scout Lake

Sarah · June 19, 2011 ·

Archie, Chena, and I went for a get away hike out to Boy Scout Lake. Although it’s not much of a hike, it was nice getting outside for awhile.

While out on the trail, we rounded a corner and ran smack dab into a ptarmigan and her chicks. The dogs went nuts. Archie took off at a full sprint for the mother and the chicks scattered like pinata confetti into the woods.

After, there was nothing but silence. I stood in the trail dogless. I called for both Chena and Archie and eventually heard the jangling of collars and tags — but only Chena came back. I continued to call for the yellow hound dog, but there was nothing to be heard in woods even the birds had gone quiet.

Chena and I began walking back toward the lake but had no luck. I’d come out to the lake to escape my problems and it seemed all I’d done was create a brand new set of them. I couldn’t believe that Archie would run away, yet I knew he loved chasing animals. Whenever he saw rabbits or squirrels, he automatically bolted in their direction. I’d even seem him stalk ravens in the backyard.

When I had almost walked back to the lake, Archie charged up the hill with a huge grin on his face. “Don’t worry mom!” He seemed to be saying. Well, thanks. Why couldn’t you just stay put? Still, it was hard to be angry now that he was back with me. There was no sign of the ptarmigan…

Rookie Mistakes

Sarah · June 15, 2011 ·

It all started because the freezer somehow got unplugged and everything in it rotted. It ended with a tube of toothpaste, some hilarious facial expressions, and a 50 gallon drum filled part way with fish guts. There was one thing we knew we had to work on during our time off: the freezer. The dog lot needed attention but the dog food freezer had started leaking and the smell was anything but pleasant.

We ventured over to the freezer after hemming and hawing about it all day. “I really don’t think we want to deal with this,” was the general consensus but what we wanted to do and what we needed to do were two completely different things. In the end, we wandered over to the freezer and cautiously pulled open the lid.

Instant gagging.

The freezer itself was filled with bloody water right up to the brim. The only exposed contents were part of a Red Paw dog food bag which had more fish in it. We sat and stared at it. How the heck were we going to deal with this? The freezer had been unplugged for a week a week and was full of nasty bloody fish water, not to mention rotting fish.

What to do, what to do. We couldn’t very well lift the freezer. It was far too heavy and, despite being unplugged for quite some time, the contents (fish) were still a completely solid block of ice. There was no getting that thing out. We sat around for awhile before we had the brilliant (or was it?) idea of siphoning the drained water out.

The only problem was this was definitely not water. A reddish brown color, the liquid stunk of decaying fish and rotting seaweed. It smelt like something a dog would roll in, not something it was supposed to eat. Still, the job needed to get done.

Travis was the less than enthusiastic “volunteer” for the job. We found a short stretch of hose and he got it going, getting some of the putrid water in his mouth. He started gagging and nearly vomited. I ran inside for the toothpaste and he promptly emptied half of the tube into his mouth.

That was when we realized that the siphoning had stopped. The fish guts had stopped draining. Travis looked like he was going to kill someone. But he sucked it up (quite literally) and got the thing going again. We were careful about how we held the hoses as the water got drained into an empty 55 gallon drum.

I sat there gagging at the smell trying to hold the tubes in place when we realized the hose had stopped. Susie then came on by and, on her very first try, got the whole thing going again. Then she nearly lost her lunch.

By the time we had drained the water we had exposed several dead fish at the bottom of the freezer — enough to turn anyone’s stomach. But we just took it all in stride. After we were done, we loaded the barrel in the truck and dumped the water out on the edge of town away from any people.

We’ve plugged the freezer back in. Hopefully, we can fill it up with a few new fish for the winter.

Spring Training

Sarah · April 15, 2011 ·

We decided to take the pups on a spring training run. The snow was softening up and we were out simply to enjoy the lovely sunshine and our dogs company. We started up a small hill (we swear, it looked bigger in person)… and this video ensued.