While in Alaska

Winding Down

// August 13th, 2009 // 2009: The Workplace

Coldfoot has mostly been quiet as of late. I hate to bore you with such nonevents but I figured I’d give you an update to let you all know I’m still alive and kicking. I made it through my bout with food poisoning after 4 days without eating. I knew that I’d eventually be alright but I still had the thought in the back of my head that if I became ill to the point that a doctor was necessary, I was a 5 hour drive from any type of hospital.

The coldness has already set in. I awoke to a temperature of 27 degrees Fahrenheit in the tent the other day. I imagine that it will only get colder from here. My sleeping bag is rated at 20 degrees so as long as it doesn’t sink below that, I have no worries! For the Coldfoot veterans, they are unphased by these temperatures. I am no stranger to cold weather either being from Maine but for it to be this cold in August, that I am unfamiliar with. The Alaskans reading this are probably laughing that I even consider this cold as they experience well below zero throughout the winter.

I was reading the Fairbanks Daily News Miner the other day and on the front page, I saw a man who I had met at the Anderson Bluegrass Festival. At this point of my stay in Alaska, I am not surprised at such a coincidence. It’s the only state I know of where you can recognize someone you met in a span of hundreds of miles. Anyways, this gentleman, Brent Sass (sic?) frequents Coldfoot and recognized George at the festival. We chatted with him for a bit and enjoyed the company of the puppy sled dog he had with him. The article he was featured in discussed his participation in the 2009 Quest Sled Dog Race. It named him as one of the contenders along with Lance Mackey, of course. Mackey’s father essentially founded Coldfoot. Tyler, a bus driver for Princess Cruise tours also mentioned that he saw us at the festival. Small small world.

Dall sheep hunting season started this week. It’s evident as droves of hunters have made Coldfoot their headquarters for all necessary material things. A hunting guide, Dan Wetzel leads a group of hunters into a camp on the North Slope. Wetzel originally did birding tours throughout this area but as the economy suffers, he switched up his occupation a bit. He also originally brought hunters through the Arctic on horseback but canned the idea as hauling horses was an expensive process. On this particular tour, he brought along Mark, one of our guides (the marathon man) to help pack camp for them. I am not a hunter myself but it’s intriguing how much these hunters pay to bag their one Dall sheep that they are allowed. I imagine that it’s mostly the experience that accompanies the hunt that they are paying for. Long story short, Wetzel is quite the guy. He is always around camp socializing and preparing for his trips. In fact, the other day he borrowed a pair of wool socks from me. It’s quite the operation they are running. It’s my understanding that Dall sheep are very tasty eating. That’s one animal that I have yet to sample here!

Eleven days from today, I’ll be departing Coldfoot for Fairbanks where I’ll be flying out at 1AM on the 25th of August. I have so few days remaining here but I am confident that I have seen all of the sites that I wanted to see. From now on, it’ll just be smooth sailing. Although it’s been surprisingly busy here. Last week, we had our biggest day of the entire season. It was our only full day of full occupancy, all 81 rooms. I plan to make my final trip into Fairbanks (other than my departure) on Wednesday evening. I think this will be a solo trip and for only a single night.
That’s about it for now! Will keep you updated per usual.