Wrapping Up an Eventful Day

The day started out a bit dicey, with the blizzard in our faces as we drove to work. Anchorage received 6" to 16", depending on location, but the wind was the big factor. It took what was otherwise an ordinary snowfall and caused two-foot drifts across freshly plowed roads, white-out conditions, and avalanches.

Isn't Spring fun?

On the bright side, Girdwood residents can now get out, if needed. The avalanches north & south of that community have been cleared, and the highway (the only highway) from Anchorage to the Kenai Peninsula is open again.

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Iditarod update: four top mushers busted out of Nikolai late Tuesday afternoon and headed for McGrath, one of the biggest towns along the Iditarod Trail.

Four-time champion Jeff King led a four-musher breakout at 3:08 p.m. Within a half-hour, last year's runner-up Sebastian Schnuelle of Whitehorse, Kuskokwim 300 winner John Baker of Kotzebue and 2004 champion Mitch Seavey of Sterling had given chase.

The article notes that "in recent years, the winner of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has come from among the frontrunners into Nikolai, the village at the far end of the Farewell Burn. This year, the group was more a herd than a pack. By 3:06 p.m. Tuesday, 21 mushers were parked in Nikolai. Most had made the 80-mile run from Rohn in under 11 hours." (click on the link, above, for the whole article).

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One sad note: Talkeetna bush pilot Clifford Hudson has passed away, at 84. He was recognized by the Air Force for his part in a 1954 rescue of six airmen who parachuted out of a stricken plane. He also ran Hudson Air Service out of Talkeetna for years.

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In other news, [t]he Alaska Department of Fish and Game says it is looking into the death of a person possibly killed in a wolf attack Monday in Chignik Lake.

And finally, there's this: a lady has created a podcast regarding her parents' memories of the 1964 Alaska earthquake, which measured 9.2 on the Moment scale - the third most powerful 'quake ever recorded. You can find the 'cast here.