Meet Feniks
/This is Feniks. She just arrived yesterday and is already making herself right at home stealing Jezzy's sticks and chewing on Stormy's tail.
It's Official-- 2015 Yukon Quest!
/Today, I joined 19 other teams in signing up for the 2015 Yukon Quest! Can't wait for the snow to fly!
Nick's Trip
/With Nick's Alaskan vacation drawing to a close, it was time for a trip into the wilds, rain or shine. So rain it was. A few days ago, Nick, Katy, Stormy, and Eider headed up to hike the Pinnell Mountain Trail, a 30-mile trail beginning at Eagle Summit and continuing in a horseshoe shape to Twelve Mile Summit on the Steese Highway outside of Fairbanks. Eagle Summit is the infamous mountain crossing on the Yukon Quest. It's known not only for it's steepness, but also the powerful winds and treeless tundra. The adjacent picture of the first shelter cabin is a fabulous example of the severity of the winds around Eagle Summit. Notice the roof laying far in the background.
Even with the occasional rain storm, Nick, Stormy, Katy, and Eider enjoyed their trip into the tundra. Overall, both humans and sled dogs are enjoying the summer!
Salmon Fishing
/One of Alaska's most amazing aspects is the wild salmon. Every year, the return of the salmon signals a feeding frenzy. Bears, eagles, gulls, and humans flock to the river banks to catch their fill of fish to last the winter. This weekend Cartel, friend Mariah, and I made the trek down to the Copper River to catch our winter supply. Beautiful scenery, endless light, plenty of red salmon…doesn't get much better! Cartel rather enjoyed herself too.
Jezzy Loves Birds
/Today I hung up our new poster of grouse and ptarmigan in Alaska. Jezzy, needless to say, was ecstatic. She sure loves her job!
Dog Yard Photos
/Below are pictures of the dogs enjoying their summer of relaxation. Lots of free runs, sunbathing, and romps in the play pen are the activities for the day. From left to right, top to bottom: Lefty, Drake, Belle, Eider, Coot, Fenton, Sally, Kindi, Sally (sunbathing), Rucu, Cartel, and Fez.
Meet Nick
/My older brother, Nick, is visiting Alaska for the summer and helping me take care of the kennel. After years of living on opposite sides of the US or globe, I've been so excited to spend a chunk of time with him. From racing around South America in a mototaxi to working in Ecuador at an upstart tea company called Runa to working with AmeriCorp on land conservation in Boston, Nick has been around the globe. This fall, he will be starting a graduate program at the Yale School of Forestry.
I've been lucky enough to have a stream of family this year from little brother Tom, to mother Katy, to older brother, Nick. Yeah for Team Olson!
Nick and the logs for the new cabin.
Runa and Morels
/This 4th of July, Nick and I had two EXCITING finds!
1st- Morels!
2nd- Runa Tea in Fairbanks!
Lucky for us, Runa Tea has all the energy kick we needed to trek around the burn and hunt for the morels. Joining us on the hunt were Jezzy, Stormy, Supai, Belle, Derby, and Cartel. Success!
Family Yard Day
/Today, Nick (older brother), Katy (mother), and I had a family yard day. It was Katy's last day, and Nick's first day, in Fairbanks, but rather than relaxing, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and cleaned and painted dog houses, spread gravel, and cleaned out sprouting trees. We had some canine helpers including Stormy, Jezzy, Cartel, Katy Canine, Amy and Sally. As you can see by Cartel in one of the last photos, they were very curious about the new paint.
