February, Leaving So Soon?

Just another beautiful day in the neighborhood!

With everything from cabin projects to skiing at an abandoned gold mine, this past month has been a blast!

Taking full advantage of the beautiful weather, weekly fresh snows, and the endless places to explore, February has been absolutely gorgeous and has given us good reason to love and appreciate these cold winter months as much as we do the mild summer ones. We made two different day-trips up to the Talkeetna Mountains to play around in the Hatcher Pass state recreation area. The first trip we went snowboarding at the new local ski hill. They only have one chair lift at this point and this is the first season they have been open, but it was a great place to ride on some groomed runs and take it easy (which beginners like me tend to do). Besides, neither of us had been snowboarding in a few years since we have been so busy with everything else, so it was the perfect size hill for us to get back into the groove. Although when I got my board out of storage, I noticed it had some rust spots along the edges which was a foretelling of my skills later that day!

A couple of weekends later, we went back up to the same area in Hatcher Pass, but to the end of the road. This is where the Independence Gold Mine used to operate in the 1930s and 40s. Many of the old buildings are still standing. As a family, we cross country skied on a trail up and around the buildings, basking in the warm sunshine and the awesome scenery the entire way. It makes me fall in love with my home over and over again. The vastness of Alaska seems endless and here, your limits are only defined by your skill and bravery.

Some of the old Independence Mine processing buildings nestled in the mountains.

Check out this quick video Pete put together of us skiing at Independence Mine. I think the video only partly captures the incredible surroundings.

Log railing made using only a chainsaw and sander!

Meanwhile, back on the homestead, things have been rolling right along. The wood stove has been warm for months now and we still enjoy a couple loaves of fresh bread each week. We got the floorboards for the loft all finished up and tacked down, added a big rug and dug out our favorite floor lamp from storage – it’s so cozy now! Pete has almost got the log railing finished and it fits the cabin theme perfectly. We love to sit up there at the end of the day and watch a movie or play with our Little One on the floor.

We’ve also been using any of the spare time we find lying around to make plans and lists for this summer. It was not the most efficient use of time last summer to begin a project only to spend half a day scratching our heads trying to decide what to do and how. With so many different projects to get done this summer, it will be very handy to have thought through each one at least once and to have a rough list of steps involved and materials needed. This will also help with scheduling the projects – last summer there were a couple things we set aside a couple days for, but ended up spending a couple weeks on. Aside from planning for projects, and designing our house, and maintaining an up-to-date list of adventures to go on, we also hope to begin designing and crafting products for the Wild North Design Co store as soon as our workshop thaws!

The golden glow of sunrise behind the Chugach Range.

The days are getting noticeably longer and we love it! We have usable light outside from 7am to 7pm. In another month or two the temperatures will follow suit and the ground will thaw. Then, we’ll probably complain about the mud for a month while we wait for the yard to dry up. In Alaska, this is called ‘the breakup’ or mud season. Currently, the temperatures are still quite variable. Earlier this month, we had a beautiful 30ºF afternoon followed by -10º the next day.

Every day the sun gets a little higher in the sky.

Marvin standing next to the fence which keeps out everything but him.

We have seen many moose this month. I think they, too, are enjoying the gentle winter. On Valentine’s Day, Marvin, our neighborhood moose, showed us how easily he can walk over our 6 foot tall garden fence. He must have spotted some grass poking through the snow in there, because he just stepped over the fence with his front legs, pushed the wire down with his belly and walked on in. No animals had been in there all winter so I’m sure it was a great meal for him. Although, we are definitely thinking we should beef up the fence a bit more – and maybe make it a couple feet higher! There’s no telling what a hungry moose might do to get at our delicious garden next summer.

That’s about it for this month. Thanks for reading, everyone!

The dogs hot on the trail of something new every 10 seconds.