Hello Boys and Girls,

If you were here in Alaska right now, you would hear humans discussing “termination dust.” You might ask, “What is termination dust anyway?” The dictionary tells us that termination means, “the end, close or conclusion,” of something. Dust is defined as 1) “earth or other matter in fine, dry particles,” 2) “a cloud of finely powdered earth or other matter,” or 3) “any finely powdered substance,” such as sawdust or flour.

Click on images for a larger picture:

Early Alaskan gold miners combined these two words, “termination” and “dust” to form a term to describe the first dusting of snow in the mountains. Summer is “terminated” and winter is on its way. When the miners saw “termination dust,” they knew that their mining was almost over for the year and they needed to start packing up and get out of the mountains before they got trapped by heavy snows.

Termination dust is the light dusting of snow that first appears on the tops of the mountains. Sled dogs love to see the dust because it tells them that it won’t be long until they will be going on great trips with their human into the Alaskan wilderness.

Termination dust gives Alaskans notice that they need to put away yard furniture, winterize the car by changing the oil and think about putting the winter studded tires on their vehicles. It is a time to have home furnaces cleaned and checked out; check out the skis, ice skates snow machines and other winter “toys.” For mushers, it is a time to get down to some serious training schedules and to check and repair equipment. The dogs do their part by singing every night to the great dog in the sky to send a whole lot of snow soon.

As the next few weeks pass, the dust will become solid snow and “walk” (advance lower and lower) down the mountains until it reaches the lands below. I can hardly wait!

Next time I am going to give you a picture tour of Hatcher Pass near Wasilla. We get into this new snow there. What fun!

Lots of Tail Wags,

Zuma