Dinner and a Show

The nearby town of Fox, Alaska consists of a gas station, a bar, a restaurant/brewery, a truck weighing station and a public water source. I like to call it the Fox Watering Hole. I had just returned from Fox with eight 5 gallon jugs of water and a some takeout from the brewery, because I didn't feel like cooking. I backed in the car, and proceeded to enter my house as usual. After I put the key in the door I noticed Apollo was on high alert.
I turned behind me to see a young moose chomping away at some willow bushes in my front yard. "Young" by no means equates to small. This guy was probably 3 or 4 years old and maybe 7 feet tall at the shoulder. Apollo was only about 10 feet from him. The moose didn't like this very much, but he stood his ground. I called Apollo back, and, interestingly enough, the moose didn't mind my yelling to the dog and continued right on chomping.
So there I found myself in a lawn chair on the porch, beer and burger in hand, dog sitting diligently at the edge of the stairs, and a moose meandering in the brush not more than 20 feet away. Dinner and a show, Alaska style.

P.S. Note the sunrise/sunset time in the little box to the right ---->
The darkness has just about left entirely.

First backpack

Spring is certainly upon us, so last weekend was time for the first backpack of the season. Even though it snowed yesterday, it was 60F today and I sit here with light significantly on the horizon at 11p. The extra light was very nice for hiking out, we didn't have to leave until late afternoon and were able to be 6 miles in with camp set before dark. This was Apollo's first backpack, and he did great. He even went face to face with a moose. (Neither one was harmed)

Oliver and Brittany heading up.

Good work on the tarp, Oliver. Instead of taking refuge in the tents when snow came, we had a fire and a dry spot to cook dinner.

The view in the morning. Add a hot cup of french press, and its hard to beat.

Snow-melt water, though, not always so pleasant.

On guard, and alert. Believe it or not, that sign behind him was the only thing that freaked him out the whole trip.

Happy dog. His backpack broke after 5 minutes, but I have since got him a better one. He can pack his own food!

Back in the cabin.