Sharry Miller

Chasing Winter

This weekend officially ushered in Spring, and with temperatures in the 40s and low 50s, Valdez was primed to play along. What did the Miller family do? Headed north. After two days of finally getting to ride my bicycle, I kept saying, “It’s just wrong to leave this fabulous weather and go chasing winter.” Thane and his snowmobiling buddies had no sympathy for me. They were set on heading to Summit (the one on the... Read more →

Rescues

Monday morning dawned clear and sunny for the first time after a week of rain and ice. It looked to be a perfect day to mount a helicopter rescue. I guess there's no place to start but the beginning. On Sunday, January 12, my dear hubby Thane was caught in an avalanche. I haven't mentioned this adventure before now because Thane asked me not to. I think he was hoping to keep it quiet, but... Read more →

The Wind and I

The irony hit me like a slap in the face: I was riding my bike on the highway shoulder while four snowmobiles zipped by on the bike path. It must be "spring" in Alaska. The bike path near my house. It was finally sunny and I couldn't stand being indoors any longer. I figured I could dress for 34 degrees (I certainly have many times before), but I was a little concerned about the wind.... Read more →

Sno-Go Frustration

Watching Thane and his buddy Mike ride their Skidoo snowmobiles is like watching expert ballroom dancers sweep across the floor. They dance across the snow, swooping up and down hills, carving across steep slopes with an ease that belies the fact that they are in total control of 500-pound machines with 160 horses under the cowling. There is a joy to their movements that can only come with hundreds, thousands of hours of practice. I,... Read more →

Published!

It's not technically my first time, but in many ways it is. Several years ago, I wrote a letter to the editor of the Anchorage Daily News about the Exxon Valdez settlement issue. At the time, Exxon had requested the courts to dismiss the $5 billion they owed to fishermen and others, and I wrote a letter against it. Apparently it was a good letter, because the editor of Outdoor America, the magazine of the... Read more →

Fielding Lake Adventure

The journey from the highway was only two miles. Since we were hauling our gear to the public use cabin at Fielding Lake with our snowmachines, we weren’t going to travel fast. I decided to forgo my helmet, but in deference to the -15 F temperature, I pulled a balaclava on under my hat. Within moments after I started driving my Skidoo, my eyes were watering and the tears were freezing to my cheeks. My... Read more →

Warm in Tok

Given that temperatures in Dawson continued to be -20 to -30 degrees, Thane was justifiably worried about getting the 800 I'd been riding started so we could get home. Personally, I knew there was nothing I could do about it, so I just kept Thane company as he fretted. On Saturday afternoon (-20 or so) when we went out to start the machines to get gas, many riders were out in the cold figuring out... Read more →

Dawson City

Thane and I woke up way too early Friday morning, so we wandered downstairs to the Jack London restaurant in search of coffee and breakfast. Afterwards we changed into our swim suits (happily we'd thought at the last minute to bring them along) and indulged in a hot tub soak. Given that it was still about -30 outside, it was wonderful to get good and warm! I honestly have no idea what Thane did then... Read more →

Finish or Freeze

Out of morbid curiosity, I checked the weather on my Android as soon as I got out of bed in our Spartan little hotel room on Thursday morning. Forty-two degrees below zero. As near as it was to the point where the Fahrenheit and Celsius scales converge, specifying either was superfluous. It was beyond cold on the day we were to ride from Tok, Alaska to Dawson City, Yukon on our snowmachines, nearly 200 miles.... Read more →