 |
posted: February 28th, 2018 |
Go To Page:
|
This page begins with January 30th and a visit to the University of Alaska - Fairbanks (UAF) West Ridge overlook. Next, is the Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse of January 31st. There are a couple of miscellaneous photos after that and then we jump to the start of the Yukon Quest International Dogsled Race on February 3rd. After that, in Rows 13 and 14, we jump ahead 12 days to our friend finishing the Yukon Quest. Click on any thumbnail to begin.
|
| Begin January 30th |
On January 30th we were in town when the sun rose and everything was very ethereal in appearance, so we drove up to the University of Alaska (UAF) West Ridge to see more of it. By the time we got there, the really cool lighting was finished, but these two shots looking out over the Tanana Valley kind of give you an idea. In the second photo, the tall building near the center is the control tower of Fairbanks International Airport.
|
 Jan30_1_UAF WestRidgeRC |
 Jan30_2_UAF WestRidgeRC |
Still at the UAF West Ridge. The first shot is zoomed in and looks across the west side of Fairbanks - look at all of the chimneys! By the way, the temperature was about -15° at the time these shots were taken. The second shot in this row looks more or less at Chena Ridge.
|
 Jan30_3_UAF WestRidgeRC |
 Jan30_5_UAF WestRidgeRC |
| End January 30th, Begin January 31st |
Of course you heard about, and maybe watched, the Super Blue Blood Moon Total Eclipse on January 31st. We got up at 3:45 AM to go out and watch/photograph it. All of these photos were taken by Kazuya. He used a shutter speed of 0.5 - 1.0 second. I used shutter speeds of about 10 - 12 seconds and you'd be surprised how much the moon moves in 10 seconds, every one of my shots were garbage due to blurriness. Oh, we used tripods, so that was not the reason for the blurriness of my shots, it was the shutter speed.
|
 Jan31st_001 _MoonEclipseRC |
 Jan31st_018 _MoonEclipseRC |
 Jan31st_047 _MoonEclipseRC |
Here are the two final shots of the Super Blue Blood Moon Total Eclipse on January 31st. Again, both taken by Kazuya.
|
 Jan31st_051 _MoonEclipseRC |
 Jan31st_057 _MoonEclipseRC |
Do you eat Kale? Do you enjoy Kale? Have you ever made Kale Chips? We had never eaten Kale before coming to Alaska and buying it at Farmer's Market after asking the farmer what to do with it and her suggesting chips. Dang, they are delicious. We also serve it cooked as a part of a salad and we also use it in soups and stews. We grew some in our garden this past summer and at the end of the season we dried it and crumbled the dry leaves up and we use those crumbled leaves in most everything, we even put it on grilled cheese sandwiches.
|
 Jan31st_059 _KaleChipsRC |
 Jan31st_062 _KaleChipsRC |
| End January 31st, Begin February 1st and 3rd |
This photo was taken from an overlook at the junction of the Steese Highway and Hagelbarger Avenue, north of Fairbanks about 6 miles or so.
|
 Feb1st_001_ FromSteeseHWYRC |
Now it's February 3rd and it's start day for the Yukon Quest International Dogsled Race, a race from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. They refer to it as a 1,000 mile race, but this year it was 922.8 miles I believe. Of course the actual distance is a bit different every year due to certain mountain passes being too dangerous, certain rivers not being frozen and whatever else. We were invited to the house of one of the musher's parents to see him pass by and holler encouragement. The house was about 1 mile from the start, but it was at the point where the racers had to stop and then restart because the sleds were carrying passengers who had entered a raffle to ride along for the first mile. Of course there was an entry fee to participate in the raffle. The first photo shows Bib #2 passing by. This person did not finish the race. The second and third photos show the scenery at this point.
|
 Feb3rd_004_ YukonQuestRC |
 Feb3rd_005_ YukonQuestRC |
 Feb3rd_007_ YukonQuestRC |
The three photos in this row were taken looking back at the "restart" point. The third photo in this row is very weird due to the smoke from a warming fire drifting by. It nearly looks like a double-exposure, but it's not.
|
 Feb3_08_Yukon QuestStartRC |
 Feb3rd_058_ YukonQuestRC |
 Feb3rd_073_ YukonQuestRC |
The first photo in this row shows Kazuya kneeling in the snow taking photos. He's warm as toast in this -15° to -20° weather, thanks to his Canada Goose Expedition Parka and his Baffin Boots. Some of our friends were insufficiently dressed, got cold and had to go in the house to warm up, but not Kazuya and I. We were dressed for the weather. The second photo shows all of the people who were gathered on the Chena River ice at the house we were at. All of these people were cheering on Alex Buetow, Bib #24. We refer to him as a friend, despite the fact that we have never even actually met him. We met his parents and cheered him on as he went past and I continued to cheer him on through Facebook. In the third photo, that's Alex passing by his home and being cheered on by all of his friends and acquaintances, including us.
|
 Feb3_21_Yukon QuestStartRC |
 Feb3rd_091_ YukonQuestRC |
 Feb3rd_152_ YukonQuestRC |
These three photos all show Alex Buetow just after he passed by his home and is continuing onward. Oh, by the way, the racers were staggered, there were 3 minutes between starts.
|
 Feb3_26_Yukon QuestStartRC |
 Feb3rd_157_ YukonQuestRC |
 Feb3_27_Yukon QuestStartRC |
Here are three more shots, all showing Alex Buetow.
|
 Feb3_28_Yukon QuestStartRC |
 Feb3rd_161_ YukonQuestRC |
 Feb3_29_Yukon QuestStartRC |
These two photos also show only Alex Buetow as he continues onward.
|
 Feb3_30_Yukon QuestStartRC |
 Feb3_31_Yukon QuestStartRC |
| End February 3rd, Begin Alex Buetow Finishes Yukon Quest |
Here are two photos from the Yukon Quest Facebook pages which show our friend, Alex Buetow finishing the Yukon Quest International Dogsled Race. The first shot shows him crossing the finish line in 8th position, some 12 days and 8 hours or so after starting it. You've got to understand that Alex was a rookie this year, it's saying a lot to even begin this amazing race, to say nothing of a rookie finishing it. The second shot is a posed shot with his lead dogs about 1 minute after finishing the race.
|
 Alex Finishes2RC |
 Alex Finishes1RC |
In this first photo Alex Buetow is being interviewed after finishing the Yukon Quest International Dogsled Race in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada. The second image shows the names and places of the 13 racers who finished the race. There were 11 teams which scratched for various reasons and two teams which withdrew for various reasons.
|
 Alex Finishes3RC |
 YukonQuest FinishersRC |
| End Yukon Quest, End Page 1 |
| Thanks so much for taking the time to look at this page. Now, please go on to Page 2 for the continuation of this month's adventures. |
Go To Page:
|
 (will open in new window) |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Link to Amazon.com (new window).
We get 2% of whatever you spend if you go to Amazon from this link!! Please shop on Amazon from here.
| If you would like to donate to our hiking & traveling fund or show your appreciation for our efforts you can donate through PayPal. A single donation will entitle you to request a single full-sized photo IN THE DONATION MONTH - which you may then use as a desktop wallpaper or whatever. The copyright will be retained by us and the photo will be inconspicuously marked with the copyright symbol (©), year and photographer's name. (Donation probably not tax deductible.) |