Life below zero

Bonnie and me at the Knik 200 Start

Just before leaving

Teams lined up for the start of the race

Mike asks me if I'd like to help him harness dogs

The dog yard these days

The past week or so has been brutally cold for us in the Anchorage area.  Granted, folks in Fairbanks deal with temperatures much worse than this (as they are currently doing!) but for Pete's sake, we don't live in Fairbanks!  Currently my thermometer here at the house is reading -17.5 F.  The dogs are all snuggled into the straw in their houses and not too many folks are outside doing things today.  Bonnie and I were exceptions.

This morning we went to the Knik 200 sled dog race in Knik, which is just across the Knik arm of the inlet from us.  It takes about 45 minutes to get over there even though as the crow flies, surely it's only a few miles from where I live.  The temperature at the Knik was a balmy -25 F.  Folks were bundled to the hilt and I saw more fur on people than I've seen in a while.  Fur is a wonderful, wonderful thing!  Mike Suprenant was running the race and of course, like we always do, Bonnie and I got roped into helping him get ready and get to the starting chute :)  We never can be just spectators, I swear!   But anyway, we got Mike safely out of there and spent the rest of the time taking photos of random mushers.  Jake Berkowitz, Allen Moore, and Karin Hendrickson were among those that we knew.

Well, here are a few pictures of life below zero.  Enjoy!