sunset of Denali

As the sun was setting, I was thinking about how lucky my family was to have this view of Mount McKinley from our kitchen window.  No matter long, hard, or frustrating the work day was, blogging from my kitchen table with a beautiful backdrop put my day in perspective.   I will provide you with a little insight of my weekend.  I spent the entire weekend working on frozen lines in a school to ensure that kids can have running water come Monday.  I understand the importance and need of my day job.  So regardless of the amount of hours spent at work, at the end of the day, I know that I can come home to a loving family and the knowledge that the great outdoors await for me.  My wife once gave me a wall hanging that said 'I work to live and live to hunt.'  Sometimes I need these signs of reminders of what life if all about.  The sun setting over Denali is another sign.  As I head to bed, I hope that you day tomorrow is filled with life and you get the most out of you day.

Jaydyn's First Dog Run

At the conclusion of Cantwell's Spring Rhondy 2012, the kids finished up their activities with a sled dog race.  The local vet as well as another mushing family supplied the dogs and sled.  The three criteria: kids under the age of 12, show up, and hold on.  When my wife prepped her at home for the day's activities, Jaydyn was excited to hear that she could participate in a real dog race.  Running her two golden retrievers on a kick sled as she is a passenger is just an exercise drill in Jaydyn's mind.  Finally, she can be a dog musher, like Iditarod racer and Cantwell local, Mike Santos.   When it was Jaydyn's turn, the 3 year old personality and stubborn Butte girl came out in her, and she told the race timer she wasn't going.  That was that, she then was content being a spectator.  After about ten kids and when it was her idea, she decided that she was going to go tell the timer herself that she wanted to run.  She ran the dog about one quarter down the active air landing strip where the snowmachine was waiting to turn her around.  As she was getting closer to the finish line, her mom could hear her giggling and saying, "mush, mush.  Woah, good dog." 

 Now to the hard part for Jaydyn and myself, selling the idea to her mom of having a dog team of our own.  

Thirty-three have finished Iditarod XL

Thirty-three have finished Iditarod XL

Mike Santos Iditarod Musher

Iditarod is starting to show signs of sleep deprivation on the mushers. However, in this house hold of Iditarod fans it is starting to cause some serious sleep deprivation also. This normally would not be a problem other than the fact that a 3 year old little girl is one of the fans. Every night when we get home from work and Jaydyn wakes from her nightly commute nap we get on www.iditarod.com and check to see where mike is on the trail. It is also fun to see what little Iditarod drama has unfolded on the trail. The dogs are amazing to watch, the mushers are some of the most focused and committed people I have ever met. Jaydyn enjoys watching the dogs in the videos. I secretly hope she asks her mom for her own sled dog team someday.  

Chris Romine official track inspector.

I love Alaska this time of year. There is so many things going on that you just can't keep up with all of it or do everything that it has to offer. This is a wonderful problem to have, especially when photography has turned into a passion of mine. I love shooting photos of people engaged in outdoor activities. It is the best feeling in the world when someone looks at a photo of themselves participating in activities like mushing, snowmobiling, or skiing and they just light up with a smile on their faces. 



I really am going to post here more often than my last blog attempt. I will try and keep my stories short and focus on showing quality wildlife, outdoor, and outdoor activity photography. So, please check out my posts often.  

Skidoo and Denali National Park

So, thank you Alaska and the people of Alaska for being such great subjects for my camera and my passion.

Jaydyn at the Wolf's Den Kennel