Some of my recent aventures

I got up very early on the 17th of September and left El Paso about 7:30. Further stops at Phoenix, Seattle and Anchorage ended with my final flight from there to Fairbanks. It was a long tiring trip but I was not totally wasted when I reached the baggage rack and there met my hostess.

Kyia Bouchard is one of those almost larger than life people in many ways. She is a valkyrie, six feet tall, lean and rawboned, with long and wild white hair--she has always been a white blonde and was very striking looking as a girl and young woman. She still is but more rugged now than glam. I never did get a good portrait type shot of her and apologize for that. She had texted me to "look for a tall, homeless looking blonde" which wasn't totally accurate but close enough. She does not have any false pride or stuffiness about her.

In her life she has done an amazing number of things--raced a yacht and crewed on larger vessels, trained horses to drive for show, managed a recording studio in New York and the last fifteen years or so, been much into sled dogs. When one lives in the Alaskan bush, you do not dress fancy, spend an hour each day putting your face on, or give much if any thought to your appearance. I did  not apologize for myself!! We went out and scrambled up into her shiny black F450 (I think that is the largest pickup Ford makes) diesel dually and headed out of town.

A few miles up some of the network of roads which mostly go up into the hills where many mushers reside, we came to a line of backed up traffic. This gradually unwound itself and turned out to be the result of a black standard poodle, scared and running wildly all over a couple of fairly busy roads full of weekend partying trucks. We chased her back and forth for close to an hour, witnessed her bumped but not badly hurt by another vehicle and finally got her trapped against someone's garage and got her in the truck. The person who had bumped her then finally insisted on taking her and went back down to town to have her checked by a vet. That was my near-midnight adventure and welcome to mushing alley and specifically Kyia's Slow Rush Kennel.

It has been in the current location for about two years and previously was near Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada for about a decade. Dawson City is a key point on the Yukon Quest course and near midway of that race where all mushers take a mandatory 36 hour layover for much needed R&R for both them and their teams.

My plunder and I were offloaded at the main Handler's Cabin, the dogs gave me a good full-throated howl and I met Josh Amey, the young man who had been Kyia's summer help. I crawled under a couple of comforters on the bunk in the base layer of my clothes and went out like a light.  Thus began my new Upper 49th visit. To be continued!!

The Alaskan monster truck

The main handler's cabin.