Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Weekend in Tok

Matanuska Glacier

Fresh snow on the higher mountains

Tok is up near the Canadian border and 6.5 hours of driving northeast from Anchorage. It was a beautiful drive; fall has already come to Tok. The trees were yellow and orange, the tundra was beautiful reds and purple - I took a few pics from the moving vehicle but they just never capture the true majestic size of the mountains or the colors.
We went to Tok to visit my sister and her son who live there. She is building a frame cabin and does not have running water or indoor plumbing yet although she is working on those as soon as the money is available. Till then, she hauls water and uses an outhouse. She does have electricity so she has lights and a woodstove so she has heat.
Sweetie and I slept in our tent. I had a cot and pads under my sleeping bag so slept quite comfortably. It got cold though; we had a little propane heater that was turned on right before bed and early in the morning to take the nip out of the air before getting dressed. It was down to mid-thirties I'd guess.She has a pitbull named Whisper who was a little dog aggressive and was protecting her own territory. We never had any real fights but these two did the stiff-legged walk with hackles raised a few times. You would think Roxy would just back off since she's a lot smaller, but no, she had to be a butt-head. Whisper got along fine with Taz.
It was caribou hunting season, moose season opens on the 8th. My sister and her friend Jeff had been hunting the day we got there and came home with a caribou. Jeff took it to his place to butcher - we went over later to visit. The dogs were very interested in checking out the hide and other parts and pieces. They live almost entirely on wild game that they shoot, so they were both glad to have at least one caribou in the freezer and are hopeful of getting a moose soon. I didn't see any caribou but apparently they cross the road all the time since these signs were posted in several places.Leaving Tok

5 comments:

marianne said...

What a nice environment! To live so close to nature I wonder if I could do that......
But it looked to a very nice visit to me.

Hope you are doing fine dear

A Lady's Life said...

thats so much fun.Is the home an all season one?
You are so lucky to have such beautiful surroundings.

Kellie said...

AAAH! Autumn in AK and it wasn't raining.. Glad your sister is doing well. Looks like a nice place she is building.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

What a beautiful area. I bet the dogs kept you all entertained. Does your sister & friend sell the hides of their caribou? Do they do something with them?

Cris, Artist in Oregon said...

Now that is roughing it. :)Beautiful area. Glad the dogs got along.