Scott Betterton's Living in Alaska Blog
Working and working out in Galena, Alaska
The first mushers have started to arrive in Galena for the 2022 Iditarod. I was able to get out last night as Dallas Seavey was heading in. They only stayed in the checkpoint for a few minutes before heading down the trail. I want to get this post out now and I plan to head… Continue reading 2022 Iditarod in Galena
Long flight home The weather in Arkansas was warm and sunny when I headed back to Galena. I graduated from crutches to a cane before I headed back so getting around was a little easier. I knew that Fairbanks was going to be a lot colder but I really didn’t want to wear heavy winter… Continue reading Back in Galena
The weather has really warmed up in the last week. It’s in the 30’s or 40’s at night but gets up to the mid-60’s during the day. For us that is really warm. Mosquito’s are out but still manageable right now, that will change. I’ve been doing most of my runs during the day. I… Continue reading Warm spring weather in Galena
I saw the first barge of the year as I was running home from work and had to stop and take a picture. Yesterday there was a significant amount of driftwood in the river and a fair amount of ice mixed in. The river seemed to be mostly clear of drift today but that normally… Continue reading First Barge of 2021
Shortly after my last post the ice on the river here at Galena moved far enough for the tripod to fall. I didn’t go near the river till Monday morning so I wasn’t aware of it until I was running in to work. I stopped long enough to take a couple of pictures with my… Continue reading Yukon River Breakup in Progress
Seems like I’m always heading out to hunt in the rain. The water was pretty choppy which made for an interesting ride. Thankfully I was able to hunt from a friends cabin this year. I’ve been to this cabin before and it sure beats living out of a small tent for a week. The weather… Continue reading Meat in the freezer
RIP Snowball 2009-2020 Starting off this post with sad news. Our dog Snowball had to be flown in to town due to being in severe distress and never got to come home. She developed a very serious medical condition and after consultation with the veterinarians in North Pole we had to make the best decision… Continue reading Spring Breakup and more
We have been pretty busy this fall with school. It hasn’t been too cold but it got down to around -30F during Christmas. It warmed up to around 0F today and should be above zero all next week. I took a trip to Arkansas for Thanksgiving and had a great time except for all the… Continue reading Christmas in Galena
We had a little bit of snow and a small amount of ice this morning. By noon the ice run was a little heavier. I spotted this boat on the way to the landing, he got it out just in time. The weather has been pretty warm lately, it gets up to around 40 during… Continue reading First ice run in Galena
A lot of people have been asking me if it really gets dark all winter up here. At this latitude we are never in darkness for 24 hours. True, we only get a few hours this time of year but we do get sunlight. Not so for communities farther north like Barrow and Wainwright. I… Continue reading Winter finally arrives
