Freeezzzing

So we hit the record last Sunday, and not just any record, but the coldest temperature we have experienced -record! It was also the record for the coldest temperature for feeding the dogs, going to the outhouse and getting firewood. And the funniest thing is, putting on clothes to manage the cold weather takes way longer time than actually performing those activities. But then again, it's hard not to freeze your butt in -50 °C...

On the other hand, if you went too close to the walls, you might freeze your butt anyway...

We took Stella inside the cabin since she wasn't eating too well and was getting a bit skinny. Needless to say, she loved being outside! She just sniffed around, watched us doing fire or eating, or Julien doing some external battery adjustments (yes, inside hobbies). And you couldn't believe the sad expression in her face when it was time to go back to the dog yard. Yes, we spoiled one dog, guilty!

Although it's a long drive home after work, in cold weather you appreciate even more the fact that you live outside the city. Fairbanks is just one big emission bubble when temperature drops and cold air prevents all pollution from getting to the upper atmosphere. Not that is good there either, but the air quality is lousy in these conditions. The other phenomena is ice fog that occurs when temperature drops below 40 °C. And when you combine these things together, it is almost impossible to be outside and breath.

 You gotta stay warm while driving!

But still, it wouldn't be a full Alaskan experience without extreme weather conditions!

Oh and if someone is wondering what the heck happened to our pictures, it's because we bought a pocket camera as we are getting ready for the summer and the big hike. The quality is lousy, but sometimes it's just so much easier...

Coping with and enjoying the cold weather

There's only one way to describe last week: cold! We could use the word "freezing" but knowing it can and probably will get colder at some point, we save that term for later.

Our thermometer didn't rise much above -35 last week, and during the weekend we hit the record, -43 C degrees. It sounds a lot worse than it is, and with good equipment we were able to enjoy the whole weekend, specially outside! 

We started the first day of December with old buddies, suklaahippukakku (chocolatechipcake) and dog team notes. It reminded us of Nellim in Finland, so greetings to Christophe, Marie and Julia. And thank Piia's folks for the cake!

We went mushing, you can take a look at our post about our Escape dog team here. We also made a snowmachine trip to the nearest creek, Flat creek and enjoyed the beautiful winter ambiance.

On Sunday we went skiing through forest next to the property and along the Flat creek again. Piia was singing Christmas songs and the spruces around us looked like shiny Christmas trees with sun reflecting from the frosty branches with million colors. What a way to start December and Christmas season!




We both also have a Christmas calendar, Piia made Julien one with small secrets inside, and Piia was surprised to reveice a great one homemade by her friends from Finland. So we now know what we do the first thing in the morning!

Near -40 degrees causes some adjustment in the cabin and with the car. The propaine stove stops working at these temperatures, so the only way to cook is to use the wood stove. Which is fine since we have to burn it hot to keep the cabin warm anyway. Since we don't have electricity to warm the car at home, we run it at night before going to bed, then Julien covers it for the night, with blankets. That way we only have to run it for 20 minutes in the morning before going to work. Monday morning was challenging, since the car was totally frozen after the cold weekend. So housewarm generator was running three hours before Subaru decided she's warm enough to start. Luckily people here know what it is to life with the extreme cold, so being late from work because of car problems is a natural thing!

The equipment for starting a car in cold weather without electricity

 The equipment for keeping your cabin warm and yourself and the dogs fed