Cal & Rachel Litwiller's Adventures

Wednesday, February 7, 2018: Fairbanks

Rachel’s entry: Jean and Bob have lots of books on Alaska. They pulled out at least a dozen books for me to read! A few caught my attention. Last night I began scanning and reading. This morning I began reading over my breakfast and coffee. I really did not have any specific place to visit today, but I could have gone to the mall. However, I decided to stay home, do some laundry, and read some of these wonderful books! I read and read, stopping only for a short nap. By 6:00 I was to be at the Mexican restaurant Gallo for dinner with Jean and 4 of her friends. We had delightful conversation and delicious Mexican meal. We returned home, where I continued to read some more. Life for those who traveled across the US in covered wagons was not easy, but those who came to Alaska also had the short growing season, darkness and extreme cold as enemies.

Cal’s Entry: Eagle and the Dog Race

Wilbur and I were up by 7:00. I went into the house to take a shower. The shower was very refreshing. After cleaning up we had a breakfast of oatmeal. Very tasteful! It is -42 F outside, so we are staying inside a little while longer!!

Before we left the house, Cal did the quick chemistry experiment outside. He threw a cup of hot water into the air to watch it freeze before it hits the ground. Wilbur videoed Cal doing this. It was really neat to see this happen! The temperature needs to be -40 degrees or colder for this experiment to work.

By 10:00 we decided to venture to the check point to see what is happening. When we arrived, there were 9 teams resting in the former school yard. There are only 2 teams that have not yet arrived in Eagle.

Dog Yard - 9 Teams

Sun Rise - 9:30 am

We walked down town to the store/restaurant/hotel that is located along the river. After warming up inside, we walked back to the check point. One of the teams was starting to get ready to head on down the trail. You can tell when a musher is getting his team ready to leave. The musher begins to put the booties on the dog’s feet. After the dogs have their booties on, the musher begins to finalize the collect of everything. The last thing is when the musher puts on their parka, then you know they are ready to leave.

There are volunteer handlers who help get the team out on the road. This can take two people because there are up to 14 dogs on a team and they are spread out a good distance. The team stops at the school house, where the official checker is located. The musher signs the papers, certifying that they are leaving, so the official leaving time is recorded.

Musher Gear Drying

Computer checking on the Mushers Location

Dropped Dogs waiting to be taken out

When the team gets to the intersection, which is about 50 yards down the trail, they have to turn to their left and head up the road that leaves town. Cal was at the intersection waiting for the next musher to arrive, when all at once he realized that there was a dog team beside him, heading toward town, which was the opposite direction they were to be going, to leave town. I told the musher they were going in the wrong direction. The musher asked me to guide the lead dogs around and head them in the correct direction. When I grabbed the tie between the two lead dogs, I realized the strength of these dogs. By the time I was able to lead them in the right direction, several of the other dogs had gotten tangled in the line so much so that the musher had to come and get things straight before heading on down the trail. That is the closest I came to any of the dogs. The race officials try to keep observers away from the dogs. You have to have a “Race Official” tag, to get close to the dogs.

Checking the Dogs

Musher Checking his Dog

Rubbing the Dog Down

Cal returned to the cabin for an afternoon nap before we went to the school again for dinner. After dinner we sat around and talked for a while before Cal and Wilbur went to the cabin for the night.

We have been having a problem getting the wood for the stove off the wrong stack and end up trying to burn wood that is not dry. Around 11:30 the fire was not doing well, and I tried to get it going better only to discover that we had wet wood. After getting what we know is dry wood the fire was much better for the rest of the night.