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Backwoods Trail, Dogpatch
Fairbanks, Alaska 99701
January 15, 1971
Dear QZ,
I took pity on the post office and missed Christmas again this year, but getting
out my yearly greetings this late has one advantage: I've heard from all of you, and
can respond to your comments (provided I can find the time)
If any of you are suffering from a shortage of snow, Fairbanks is willing to
share its bountiful supply with you. As I write, we have about 35 inches on the ground,
and have seen 117 inches of snowfall since September. We should break all records by
spring. Tho I was gone through most of our big storms, I did get in on some of the
snow removal activities, mostly shoveling off our numerous and expansive roofs. Now
it's cold and clear, about -40 downtown, and -20 here in Dogpatch. The unseasonable
heavy snowfall has brought the moose to lower altitudes early, ruining large stretJx
of our ski trail system with huge, gaping moose footsteps.
1970 was my year to travel. Ginny Wood returned from her trip to Nepal before
Christmas last winter, and my trip for the winter was a three-week cross country ski
touring jaunt to Norway. Fourteen of us left Anchorage on SAS to fly over the Pore
to Copenhagen, Oslo and Bergen on Feb. 27, returning to Anchorage on March '0th. In
the interim, we visited Bergen, took the railroad up to the mountain ski center at
Finze for a week of trail skiing there, then on to Geilo for a week, winding up in the
)slo area, staying at a lodge 17 kilometers by ski trail out of town, from which point
we skied in to watch the Holmenkogln cross country races and the famous ski jumping.
The trip was very informal and relaxed, and it was fun to get acquainted with the Nor-
wegian trails and ski lodges first hand. We were a bit too early to join in the hut
,o hut ski touring trips, but we could enjoy the fine system of trails and refreshment
stugas. Shopping for outdoor gear and lovely Norwegian handcraft items in Geilo and
Oslo kept us busy when we weren't out skiing; broke, too.
In May, I flew back to vshington, D.C. to attend the meeting of the Council
of the Wilderness Society, of which I am a member. Flew the non-stop Pan American
flight direct from Fairbanks to New York City - only six hours, and what a fascina-
ting panorama of country you do fly over. Spent almost a week at Coolfont, in West
Virginia and in Washington, D.C., then returned to Fairbanks via Seattle.
This would seem enough gallivanting for one year, but in mid-August, I received
a tape letter from Phil Holland, former Camp Denali staff member, and now a Peace Corps
Volunteer in India, in which he invited me to join him in October and November for
some trekking in Nepal. I had been anxious to get over into that fabulous country
ever since Ginny came back with her pictures and tales of adventure, so I replied
"OK!" Ginny agreed to keep things going on the home front while I was away, and on
October 16, I left Fairbanks, again on Pan American, but this time my destination was
Tokyo. 612 hours of flying and I was in-Tokyo; an overnight there, then a flight vfa
Hong Kong to Bangkok; one night there and next day by noon - Kathmandu! Phil had gotter
in the day before, and had hotel space for us, and information on how and where to
get our visa extensions, trekking permits, and porters.
WJithin a, couple of days we were off with our cheerful porter, Kansa, hiking due
north of Kathmandu into the Helambu region, destination the monastery town of 'T ke
Gyang, a Sherpa village. -e got well broken in on this trip, acquired the usual com-
plaints which plague the neophyte tackling Nepal's up and down trails; "sahib's knee
from too much downhill, and a good case of dirrhea from eating the highly-seasoned
native food. We recovered from both ailments, and were in good shape when we returned
to Kathmandu.
Our second trek began with a flight from Kathmandu to Jiri, where we began our
trip up to Everest Base Camp. We were lucky we couldn't fly into Lukla airstrip to
begin this trek, because by starting several day's walking from Lukla, and at a lower .
altitude, we became acclimated gradually to the heights, and had no problem with alti-
tude sickness even when we camped at Gorek Shep, which is 17,100 feet, or climbed to
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