Still standing after all these years

I know, I know, the porch broke. Materials, not craft. Explanation coming.

Anchorage has had nearly a record snowfall this year. Not the kind of snow where I used to live, but significant nonetheless. A lot of snow in Anchorage also means a lot of snow at the East Pole. It took a huge snowload several years ago, according to figures by a fellow at the National Weather Service there could have been 37 tons on the roof. I doubt it was that much but it was a lot. That load moved some things but caused no real damage. Still I hadn't been there since last June so I thought I would make a quick run in and check on things. There was an ulterior motive that made it necessary but more about that later too.

The trail was a surprise. Apparently there is some work being done on the power line we go under about five miles in. Bulldozers have been over the trail recently and it looked like a four-lane highway, smooth and wide, and fast.

I was tearing along on a pace for less than half an hour to the cabin, a trip that usually takes 40 minutes to an hour. Once took three hours. Tearing along until I came upon three people stopped in the trail. I was about to wave and pass them when I saw the moose. When the snow is deep like it is, moose get on a hard packed trail and they don't want to get off it. This moose was standing perpendicular to the trail apparently staring off into the woods. But a moose's eyes are on the sides of its head so most likely it was staring straight at us, ears back, hair on the back straight up. The people said it had sort of bluff charged them once already so they were just waiting.

Also a consideration was this winter has been hard on them and they are in a weakened condition this time of year and I don't like the idea of adding to their stress. We shouted a couple of times but all it did was walk a few steps, then stop and assume the same pose. I tried firing my .44 once; that got its attention but it didn't move so we gave up on that. Then it walked off down the trail. I followed gingerly but not too closely. Pretty soon it stopped and began nibbling some twigs. Then I had an idea. We had always stopped with the snowmachines in a line one behind the other, giving the moose a view of only one which probably didn't look all that threatening.

That was when the wide trail came in handy. I suggested we bring all three next to each other and see what happens, a wider more imposing presence. We all stood up on the machines when we had moved into position. The moose took one look at that and took off trotting away from us. I was glad it was trotting and not running, not too stressed. We followed at a good distance, just enough to keep it in sight on the winding trail, being careful about blind curves and hill crests. I was in the lead when I saw the moose step off the trail and trot into the deep snow. Quickly I hit the throttle and raced past it and the others did too. The last I saw it, the moose was standing about 30 feet off the trail nibbling on some branches, so I am guessing it got away without too much stress.

That was the most eventful part of the trip. I was at the cabin10 minutes later or at least on the property. With the deep snow there was no way I was going to make it up the hill. I put on snowshoes and that was easy going given the compacted nature of the snow. Made it up without exhausting myself, happy at first just to see it still standing. Then I saw the porch. It shouldn't have broken and the fact that the whole thing didn't collapse made me think something different was going on. Sure enough, upon close examination, there was a vertical row of three large knots right where it broke, so it was a weak piece of wood and I can fix that. Might try to put a glue-laminate beam in there next summer.

The rest of the cabin was fine, the door swung open easily and all the windows slid open meaning there was no crunching pressure reaching them from above.. I shoveled some of the snow off the porch right over the break and let it go at that. I wanted to go up and shovel the roof ridge but the energy wasn't there. If you just break the tension at the ridge the rest of the snow tends to slide off sooner.

Then I found what I came for, what the trip was really all about. I have always resisted brand loyalty, but one brand sneaked in. Years ago I discovered absolutely nothing handles a headache like Excedrin. When I found out about the dose of caffeine in it, I understood why a couple in the morning always made me feel a little more mellow and more like tackling the day. Admittedly it became what I am sure is an addiction, but I seem to suffer no ill effects though I am aware of what they could be. At any rate it has been a habit for years. Then a couple of months ago came the recall. I had a pretty good supply so I wasn't too worried, but they are not back in stores yet, the company's web site says late spring or early summer and my stash slowly emptied until a couple of days ago I discovered I only had a few left with no hope of finding a substitute. That's when I remembered the huge bottle at the East Pole. I wasn't sure how much was there but figured it was worth the trip. What I found was a bottle of 250 capsules that was just about full. That much will last me between three and four months. Woo Hoo. Life is good. But, I wonder how many Excedrin addicts would drive 160 miles then take a snowmachine another 20 miles into the Alaska wilderness just to find a few pills. Probably more than you might think, given the number of posts on the Facebook page.

I did get to spend time outdoors on a sunny March day, make sure all was right at the East Pole and pretty much just be in the woods for a while. I even took a picture of my friend's cabin because she was worried about it.

One problem. I got a flash of what it might be like living there again and it looked pretty darned good. More to come on that.