Spring 2024 Winter in the Bush Update

It took me forever to catch my breath since we got back and take the time to write about our winter experience in the bush. Life is so busy with two young kids and life happening all around us. I know there are people looking forward to an update and I also enjoy how these blog entries have turned into a written memory and history for our family. I just looked back in the archives the other day to see a picture of Sidney playing in a galvanized bath tub as a baby looking as cute as can be and nearly making me cry from the nostalgia. Life is so beautiful and tragic at the same time.

It was a very good season for us. We stayed healthy in mind and body, the kids learned, grew and thrived and we were together loving each other and life. All the things that really matter and count.

In September, Tyler guided a moose hunt for Charlie and when he finished we were all set to get all of us – the dogs and our outfit – out to the woods for the winter. We decided to use the boat for freighting everything this year. It was always our intention with the purchase of the boat that it would help us become independent getting out to the trapline should we ever need to do so without relying on supplementary loads by bush plane. It turned out to be our year to try it out. We did it in two boat loads. Tyler took the first load up with five dogs and his Uncle Bob in tow. Cindy Lewis drove with them to Circle so she could drive our truck back to town for me to fill up with the second load.

At the end of the summer, we bought another small jon boat for keeping out in the bush and Tyler’s brother, Dustin and longtime childhood neighbor, Scott drove the little skiff upriver on a harrowing adventure, which is their own story to tell. They made and right away the little boat proved to be a handy tool to have on the river. When Tyler and Bob got up to the trap line he and the men unloaded the first load of supplies and Tyler headed back downriver to meet the kids and I on the Yukon River bank in Circle.

It was mixed reviews for the kids. Sidney was upset we were boating and Blaze looked forward to the promise of an adventure of boating and camping. Sidney would have preferred to fly because it’s quick and she was in a hurry to get up north to visit with waiting family. She really loves her Uncle Dusty and old Uncle Bob. I have been watching Tyler leave on these boat trips since Sidney was born with jealousy of the experience and the sights I was missing out on, so I looked forward to laying my eyes on all of the country along the way that had played in my imagination for so long.

Packing up to go on a long boat ride was a little different than a quick airplane ride. I needed to bring along all the fuel in the back of the pickup for the second boat trip upriver. 250 miles of river travel one way is no joke and it takes substantial fuel. I loaded ten, 15 gallon drums into the back of the pickup to start off the load. 15 gallons drums of gas weigh about 90 pounds and are just about my personal limitation to heavy lifting. As a mother of two I’m proud to say I never wet myself. The boat motor will burn about 80 gallons getting to camp, and whatever is left over is for getting the boat back out, or for use in the snowmachine, generator or chainsaw overwinter.

Other than fuel I also had some of our winter supplies and gear, as well as our camping outfit – a couple extra sleeping pads and bags for me and the kids, as well as a cooler of food to keep us all fed. Late September is cold in Alaska. You can guarantee overnight frost and a heavy brisk wind pounding you on  the river, on top of the already 20mph wind from the speed of the boat. For those that don’t already know our boat is an open skiff, no cabin to hide in from the wind or rain or snow. Over the years Tyler’s let me know that the boat trip’s are interesting but you guaranteed to freeze your hinder off. I can handle some cold, but I didn’t want the kids to have a negative experience because they were cold. I know how to keep them warm at -40, so I assumed I could figure out how to keep them toasty in the boat. I had them dressed for winter with lots of layers and their fur hats and we settled them down into a cozy little nest on the floor of the boat faced away from the wind.

The morning I left Fairbanks in the truck headed to Circle to meet Tyler was a lot more relaxed than trying to be on time for a flight out to the bush. It didn’t matter if I ran a little behind and Tyler ended up waiting for me a bit. I felt good and ready to go when I locked the door behind me and we headed out to the loaded pickup truck. I had a coffee in hand and snacks on the dashboard for the kids. I didn’t need to speed and we took care making the trek over the mountain pass to Circle. It had been a long time since I’d made the drive and I’d almost forgotten how treacherous it is driving through the White Mountains. There was already a blanket of snow at the highest part of the pass. On the drive we saw two moose, one of them a large bull, a beaver crossing the road, and lots of grouse.

Tyler was just stepping off the boat when we pulled up to the launch. Nearly perfect timing. While we started dressing for the long boat ride and unpacking the truck into the boat we got lucky and ran into some of our friends. Charlie landed with his airplane on floats to drop off a client and one of his guides who is a good friend of ours named Heith. Then in a few more moments our friend Emma Lewis drove up to drive Heith back to Fairbanks. It was nice to see a few last minute familiar faces before heading out to the bush for the winter where we go for months on end without seeing friends.

All bundled up and looking forward to finally seeing the river country in its entirety, we waved goodbye to our friends onshore and they watched us head down the Yukon as a family for the first time. We made good time the first day and camped at the mouth of the Porcupine our first night. The kids were happy to help set up the tent and we built a fire from driftwood and roasted marshmallows. The next morning we woke up groggy and cold and packed up camp for another day of travel. When we got to the mouth of the Dogfish river I had tears running down my face for the pure joy of seeing it this way for the first time. A piece of country that has so much meaning to me. It was gorgeous, being surrounded by the fall colors, the yellow leaves of poplar and willow, as we skipped along atop the clear, rocky bottomed river.

The second day ended by nearly making it to the cabin, but darkness forced us to stop and camp a second time. We started to set up the tent right as real darkness fell. After we got the sleeping arrangements settled, Tyler ran back down to the boat to grab the cooler. A bear came sneaking into camp in the dark wanting to harm Tyler as he approached the boat. We were fortunate in having two of our dogs with us and they quickly stepped into action, holding off the stubborn and strangely aggressive bear. Tyler ran back to us at the tent and got his rifle and then ran back down near the dogs prepared to defend all of us but it was very dark and an uncertain shot could be dangerous. The bear continued to pace and stomp as the dogs barked and growled and stood their ground and we yelled at it to go away. Finally Tyler fired a warning shot and the bear stopped a moment and shuddered. Then, finally, it shat itself and ran away. I have to admit it wasn’t very satisfying knowing that the bear was still out there in the darkness somewhere. We had the dogs though, and our rifle and a pistol with us in the tent. I’ve never been so afraid. The darkness made it the worst. We had been complacent and almost had to pay for it. I should have had a gun on me at all times. I’ll never travel like that in the woods with the kids and not have a gun on my person. It was a terrible lesson. Children have so much trust in their parents. Standing there next to the tent in the darkness Sidney only said, ”Momma, I’m getting a little scared. ”. Mostly the kids were mad at us because we told them it had gotten too late to make a fire to roast marshmallows. We decided if that was their biggest concern they must not have been too traumatized. Thank goodness can’t always understand the real danger faced in some situations.

Around 2am that same night a pack of wolves arrived. It seemed as though all of the predators in our country were showing up to welcome us home. Remind us we live in wild country, their country. The whole pack of wolves howled for two hours nearby. I was wide eyed and stressed out about it after the unusual bear encounter. In the morning we examined the tracks of the bear preceding the encounter and learned that it had crossed the river towards us then waited in the willows nearby watching us set up the tent, waiting for an opportunity, when Tyler branched off away from us and headed alone towards the boat, it slipped through a stand of willows and made a deliberate stalk to intercept him while he was alone. It was completely premeditated and without the dogs to warn Tyler he very well may have been mauled before he knew what was going on. It was very windy, hard to hear, and very dark too.

The next morning we were happy to get up bright and early and get onto the home stretch of river. It only took a couple more hours for us to get home and the kids were thrilled to be greeted by the men, Uncle Dusty, Uncle Bob and Scott. We got to have a nice little visit with them for a couple of days before they needed to head home. Bob is getting older and helped us out by watching the kids at the cabin while we hauled in loads of our gear from the river bank to the cabin. Bob taught the kids to play golf, a card game, and it stuck. Our kids were card-playing fools for months after that. Go fish, Crazy eights, Old Maid, Golf and Uno were played quit often this winter in our cabin. Thanks to Uncle Bob, 4 year old Blaze became a whiz at his colors and numbers.

Once we were all settled in life finally slowed down a bit and we really enjoyed our relaxed fall hunting. People still ask a lot about how the salmon run is for us and so just as a reminder, we aren’t allowed to put a net in for salmon anymore because of the drastically declining salmon numbers on the Yukon river and all of its tributaries. I started a nice routine for homeschool with the kids and we had some nice long walks and enjoyed some hunting, looking for caribou and shooting grouse in the willows.

Many evenings we would have a piece of homemade cake after dinner and  a family game of cards.

Homeschooling in the bush is an ideal situation. There just isn’t a lot of distractions and learning becomes a main attraction and the activity becomes a really attractive pastime for the kids. They get special time with me and all of my attention. The teacher even kisses their sweet little cheeks from time to time. I wasn’t sure how Blaze would cooperate doing preschool activities with me because he can be kind of stubborn but with Sidney as his sole influence he thrived and committed himself to learning. By the end of the season he could read phonetic words. Sidney’s reading bloomed and reading became one of her favorite pastimes. Every evening after about January she would work on reading big chapter books out loud to us as we did our after dinner chores or I sewed.

We had a really special Christmas this year. Normally we don’t get any visitors all winter long but this year our friend Dan told us he was going to land in front of our place, right before Christmas, if we would mark a runway out for him. On winter solstice, he came and landed on our strip loaded with some special gifts for us from him and his sister Susan. The kids were really shy and excited to have someone come by after not seeing anyone for three months. It was a very special day for us. That evening we munched on fresh fruit from town and ogled all of our beautifully wrapped gifts. It was a day to remember, thanks to Dan and Susan.

Christmas is a fun day for us and it’s so nice to have a few fresh new toys and such for the kids. They have so much fun and it gets their imaginations going and playtime comes easy for several weeks thereafter. Anything novel, even something as simple as a cardboard box or shiny wrapping paper, around the cabin is like catnip for trapline kids.

 

 

 

Now that we’ve been back to town for a few weeks I miss all those wonderful months we had as a family taking life a little slower out in the bush and never getting sick once. Seems like one of us has had a cold ever since we got back to town! I just feel altogether grateful we get to have such meaningful family time together. Our family was healthy and happy all winter. Tyler was successful and somehow managed to get through the entire season with no notable injuries to himself or one of the dogs. We have such a nice dog team right now, strong, fast, effective and well-behaved. The dogs are really good with the kids. This winter the kids took it upon themselves to start cleaning the dog yard. Everyday the kids go around patting all the dogs and keeping their spots nice and clean. It’s good for everyone. I got lots of sewing done. We also did what we hope to be our new annual muskrat trapping trip in February. I plan on telling the story of how that trip went on my next post.

Sorry for that little hiccup when my post made it to everyone’s email but they couldn’t access the rest of the story. It happened because it was accidentally published before I was finished writing. It’s taken me a while to get this post out because I’ve been busy helping Tyler build an addition onto the town house so the kids will each have a bedroom of their own.  I’ve also been typing up the cookbook I’ve been planning for years. I really hope to get it nailed down completely by the end of the summer, but that’s probably pretty optimistic. I just wish I could have more time in this life!! 24 hours a day is just not enough. Why do humans need to sleep so much anyway? I made mostly hats last winter. I can’t keep all of the products in stock online because I won’t have time to do much new sewing with the cookbook taking priority. I am aware that there are emails from the winter of people requesting things (mostly knitters needing pom’s) and I will get to you! It will just take a little extra patience with me this summer. It never hurts to send me an email as a reminder if you’re after something special either. We’ve done well with our beaver trapping the last few years and next winter I am thinking of sewing up lots of beaver mitts. We’ve had a number of people request beaver fur from us over the years and with the recent good trapping we finally have a surplus of really nice, professionally tanned beaver pelts we’d like to offer for sale. Alaska beaver are as good as it gets, just really nice thick lush fur. Alaska beaver are known for their attractive reddish hue. Beaver skins are great for decorating, putting on top of a coffee table or night stand or throwing over the couch or even on top your pillow to sleep with on a chilly night. You can check them out over in our store. https://alaskaseldens.com/product-category/tanned-fur-pelts/

As always, thanks to everybody who reads and enjoys our stories. We’re super grateful for your support and all the kindness and encouragement people continue to share with us. Have a good Spring everybody!