After a few hours’ nap, I got up to soak in the hot springs one last time. On my way, I peeked at the thermometer stuck to the outside of the building, which held constant at its lowest possible reading, -20 ºF. That was poor planning on their part, no? It gets to -60 ºF and below out here. Regardless, the walk from the changing rooms to the lake was particularly icy, and when I say icy, I’m referring to when my hair became frosty and firm in a matter of seconds. Once I was in the water, I noticed that some little “ice feathers” had formed on the rocks overnight. Curious.
Morning at Chena Hot Springs
Ice Feathers
My drive from Chena to Fairbanks was filled with visions of sourdough pancakes and two eggs, over easy, with fresh cracked pepper and a dash of salt. Imagine my sadness when I pulled into the parking lot for the Sourdough Café to find that it had been destroyed in a fire a couple of weeks ago. I settled for some tasty pad thai from Lemongrass Thai Restaurant before meeting up with my dog mushing school instructor, John Hoegberg. After he took the dogs out of their pens (it was a bit like clowns coming out of a tiny car as one dog after another emerged from the back of the truck), we hitched them to the side of the truck in preparation for the ride. One dog, Spotty, was so excited he just kept barking and leaping around. He calmed right down, though, when you gave him a scratch behind the ears.
John and the Dogs
Dog mushing isn’t as hard as you think it would be, yet it is also harder than you think it would be. Basically, you stick your ice hook in the ground, tie a secondary rope to something stable, stretch out the gangline, harness the dogs, connect them to the gangline starting from the front and working your way back, stand on your brake, pull the rope loose, pull the ice hook loose, slowly ease off your brake and onto your drag, and then ease off the drag as you move to the runners. Although the dogs generally poop while running, some like to stop and squat, which can cause a crash, so be ready to step on your brake and secure your ice hook in the ground so you can untangle everybody. But be careful, because sometimes the team is so excited to get going that they could rip the ice hook out of the ground and take off without you, so be ready to grab the sled and jump aboard at any moment. Speaking of which, be careful of the side you get off of, because the ice hook may come around and grab you by the leg. “Gee” means go right and “Haw” means go left. Got it?
John started out by letting me ride in the basket while he mushed for a while, then had me take over the 10-dog team for the remainder of the 9-mile journey down the frozen Tanana River. We then split into two sleds, him with eight dogs and me with six, and headed out for the same route. I only biffed it once when I was going around a turn. Fortunately, my team was following his, and I was able to get back on the sled before the teams took off again. As the end of my solo trip grew closer, Apple, one of the new dogs, kept looking back at me as if to say, “Time to stop!” But she stayed on and Spotty did a great job as one of my lead dogs. And even though I smelled like dog at the end, I’m so glad I was able to take part in this unique adventure.
John started out by letting me ride in the basket while he mushed for a while, then had me take over the 10-dog team for the remainder of the 9-mile journey down the frozen Tanana River. We then split into two sleds, him with eight dogs and me with six, and headed out for the same route. I only biffed it once when I was going around a turn. Fortunately, my team was following his, and I was able to get back on the sled before the teams took off again. As the end of my solo trip grew closer, Apple, one of the new dogs, kept looking back at me as if to say, “Time to stop!” But she stayed on and Spotty did a great job as one of my lead dogs. And even though I smelled like dog at the end, I’m so glad I was able to take part in this unique adventure.
Leader of the Pack
My Team Is Ready To Go
On the Tanana
After helping John get the teams dismantled and everything put back into the truck, I drove up to Grand View Bed & Breakfast to settle in for my last night in Alaska. My lunch at Lemongrass was so spectacular that I decided to return for round two, which took the form of panang curry with chicken and a chaser of Hot Licks Alaskan Blueberry ice cream. On my way back up the driveway to Grand View, I got stuck in the driveway and had to ask the owners for help. Unfortunately, my stuck car got their truck stuck. It’s all part of the joys of Alaskan living, I suppose.
Grand View Bed & Breakfast
The Grand View from My Room
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