We rented cabins and drove up early to make it to the first event of the Wilderness Woman Contest. Apparently, the Bachelor Auction was conceived as a ploy to draw women to the town, and the contest arose later as a way to ensure the women were suitable for Talkeetna's valuable bachelors. Lemme tell you, the ploy works, and the women are MORE than suitable.
The first heat of the contest had about 40 entrants--the task was to carry two empty buckets down a stretch of the snowy main street of town, and carry them back to the starting line full, spilling as little as possible. The buckets were huge, and must have weighed at least 15 pounds each.
Wilderness Woman Contest: Round 1, the water carry
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
(We had to take a warm up and hotcake break at the Roadhouse halfway through.) Only four women moved on to the next two rounds, which were complicated obstacle courses, Alaska-style. In addition to the four contestants, there was a correspondent from Jay Leno who ran both the final courses, cameras in tow. Watch for it this week on Leno! I hope it airs, should be hilarious, and maybe I'll be on TV!
While we waited for the obstacle courses to be set up, we wandered out to the riverbed and had a stunning view of Denali. We've been really lucky with our Denali views this year!! Some people apparently go years without seeing it--it's often socked in with clouds.
Selfportrait with Denali
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
The first course required the contestants to make a sandwich and open a beer, serve said refreshments to a bachelor watching football on TV, load wood into a snow machine, drive it around the block, and unload the wood.
Beer and sandwich handoff to bachelor watching TV
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
The second course required the contestants to catch a fish and stuff it into a backpack, put on old-school snowshoes and shuffle away with the backpack in tow, shoot three "ptarmigans" (balloons) with a bebe gun, then engage in a complicated undertaking with a moose--the ladies had to take off the snowshoes, crawl through a tent, see a moose and "get scared," crawl back through a tent, climb up a tree (ladder) to escape the moose, then "dispatch" the moose (shoot him with a paintball gun).
Wilderness Woman about to see a scary moose
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
After the contest, we warmed up in the cabin for a couple of hours, then had a drink or two in one of the (few) bars in town, the Fairview. There was a bear skin on the ceiling and an amusing list of rules on the wall--I like "leave your firearms with the bartender."
Then it was time for the main event--the bachelor auction. The men among us had to remain behind--only women allowed at the auction. A log cabin room at the local VFW was packed to the brim with women, and about 50 local bachelors were auctioned off one by one. Some promised their ladies flightseeing trips or snowshoeing adventures, but all any lady was guaranteed was a drink and a dance at the ball following the auction. Some gentleman sang songs, demonstrated their musical talents, or showed off their physiques, but some let their charm and personality carry the day. Before leaving, we had taken up a collection to see if we could get ourselves a bachelor or two, and we succeeded!!
That's right, I bought a bachelor at the Talkeetna Bachelor Auction.
My bachelor's name is Dan and he was extremely awesome, and in fact bought me TWO beers at the ball. Ain't I a lucky gal? It really was fun. Oh yeah--my bachelor is an heir to a gold mine. Score!! :)
Dance with my bachelor
Originally uploaded by t-dawg.
After the ball, most of the partiers dragged themselves over to the Roadhouse for a midnight breakfast. Delicious but debilitating. Biscuits and gravy, eggs, toast, bacon, and hot cocoa in the middle of the night? Hmm.
So chalk up another once-in-a-lifetime-experience for me this year. I love Alaska.
1 comment:
ok alaska may have just surpassed puerto rico!!!
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