Jeff and I taking time out to go sledding and enjoy the snow while it lasts.

Although we had a snowstorm yesterday, this is Spring and things are warming up in the daytime getting into the 40’s every day. We have been experimenting with keeping stored food in a root cellar that Jeff dug out a few years ago. It’s in the floor of the cabin. We found that it will keep food from freezing in the winter when it’s bitter cold outside. However, by trail and error we found out that in the Spring when the water table rises the root cellar fills with water and becomes a well instead. That wasn’t something we expected. So we have learned to get everything out before the Spring melt.

This is Spring in Alaska. As if we haven’t had enough snow already this year, it started snowing last night and isn’t supposed to let up till 4pm today. It looks and feels like winter again. Got my bunny boots out which are the best winter boots around. Going to have to deal with snow a little while longer.

One of the necessities out in the wilderness is clean water. Living by a river there is a lot of water but even though people in the old days used to use it for bathing and for drinking I prefer not to. Some people out in the bush have dug wells but we don’t have one. However, many years ago while Jeff was walking along the beach on the other side of the river he heard water running and realized he had found a natural spring. He dug it out and put a pipe in it and water has been running out of it now for a decade. The other day when we went to get some water there was not a drop coming out. I was worried for a minute. It was buried in snow but Jeff dug it out and found that the pipe had broken loose at the connection and he was just the person to repair it. He had it hooked back up and running again in no time. I’m so glad to continue to have fresh spring water

After getting the trees from the woods we still have to chop it up for the wood stove. Jeff uses the chainsaw to cut it into more manageable pieces and then uses an axe to split them into pieces that will fit in the woodstove. He’s also an expert at making kindling which we keep around to help start the fires. I attempt to help cut kindling but it’s going to take more practice to get as good as Jeff. He makes it look easy.

Jeff tries to get his wood for the year in the winter before the snow melts. It’s easier to haul on snow in winter. He found a huge tree across the frozen river that had been blown down but wasn’t rotten yet so he drove over and cut it up and brought it home. He piled it up and will have to cut it up later into smaller logs that fit in the woodstove.

Trails out on the river are maintained by a number of people and groups like the Lower Susitna Drainage Association. They use single markers to mark the trails. But if you see two markers in a cross it means danger. In these pictures you can see why it’s a good idea to avoid any areas marked with an X. You wouldn’t want to fall in a hole like this.

The river is melting and much more water is showing along the trails. It won’t be too long before the river breaks up and we’ll have to get our boats out.

Pulled out 2 burbot from our fishing holes in the ice.

Decided to try and catch some burbot out of the frozen river. Jeff was just barely able to cut some holes in the ice with the auger as the ice is about as deep as the auger is long but he got through and set a pole up in each hole.