Old Woman Scouting Trip

[jnasset]

I took a ride out to Old Woman cabin on Sunday to get a look at the southern exposure. The BSSD SBT was hoping to do a video at the cabin of the Iditarod mushers coming through. The first picture shows the SSW exposure. The other shots are of the inside and outside of the cabin. The only way to find out if uplink is possible is to haul the gear up and try it out!! I think we will make a run with the gear on Wednesday.

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[SuldalsXpressen]

Excellent, Jay! Will this be a live feed 24/7 or just for a while? Sound?

Eskil

[Moose]

Wow. That's Old Woman's Cabin? It's lovely. I expected an older, less sturdy structure.

[SuldalsXpressen]

Wow. That's Old Woman's Cabin? It's lovely. I expected an older, less sturdy structure.

Exactly what I thought - but I guess it has been fixed several times during the years...

Eskil

[MarinOhio]

This site is getting impressive! Videos. Great pictures. I'm starting to think Cabela's did us a favor.

[fladogfan]

This site is getting impressive! Videos. Great pictures. I'm starting to think Cabela's did us a favor.

Me too Marion. As much as I loved Cabela's and thought they had spoiled us rotten, their shutdown has brought us to this site. John and all the people connected with putting this site online are amazing. All these new bells and whistles! Thank you very much!
fdf

[eluciq_kennels]

That is the new old woman cabin...there is another old woman cabin not far from the new site towards Kaltag...and that cabin is where people leave things for the old woman. Apparently many folks have seen the "Old Woman" when passing through and the thought is if you leave something in the ramshackled cabin, then the old woman will leave you alone. WE mushed to Old Woman (new cabin) and stayed 3 nights with our boys...then did a day trip to Tripod cabin which passes the "old" Old Woman Cabin...our boys' packed a zip-loc filled with various items they wanted to share: a stick of gum, fruit snack, granola bar and a picture they drew(they were only 3 years old at the time). The following year we mushed again up that direction and the items were gone...so to this day we feel good about giving something to the "Old Woman"...

Just had to share...btw...if you ever get an opportunity to stay in the "new" Old Woman Cabin, then go for it...it is absolutely beautiful and oh so quiet! But beware of the outhouse...YIKES

Tiffany

[Johncn]

Hey,

John Nasset....nice pictures from your trip yesterday! Weather was awesome. How long did it take? Any info on the trail conditions? Maybe you could take Emwcee's poem up when you go back on Wendnesday and snap a photo? That would great.

This cabin is a BLM structure on the historic "portage" between the Bering Sea and the Yukon. There used to be an OLD Old Woman Cabin, and the BLM built this one nearby. The SBT kids are planning to do some segments on the stories about the Old Woman, and the history of the area.

Here is segment of the Iditarod National Historical Trail's land use map of showing the Portage area between Kaltag on the Yukon, and Unalakleet on the Bering Sea coast:

They have a great general map that shows the various other trails and their intersections, and a large, beautifully detailed map as a full size PDF that is suitable for framing!

Here is a Google Earth view showing the new BLM Old Woman Cabin, and the original structure's location:

And a pretty neat website that layers Don Bowers old trail descriptions of each segment with Google Earth mapping data:

WikiMapia
http://wikimapia.org/6555652/Old_Old_Woman_Cabin_Iditarod_Trail

Hope this helps folks get a better idea of this segment of the trail.

Regards,

Johncn

[tanglefoot]

wow! thought the cabin would be bigger somehow

[emwcee]

Thanks for posting. It really helps us picture the place.