Balto’s genome

Lapparadish

On top of BayesComp 2023 being rich and exciting, spending a week above the Arctic circle, by about 68⁰ North was most pleasurable. If we did not really see Northern Lights/auroras, as the above was taken by one of us with a long exposure shot on a particularly cold evening, rather than the diaphanous veils we could hardly perceive, cold and snow and associated activities were delivered without reservation!On the day we left, due to a late flight departure. we had an exhilarating 10k ride with three teams of Alaskan huskies, over a frozen river, following a musher. The strength of these dogs was amazing, esp. since they were not fully delivering, being able to reach 25km/hour in races over massive distances. On top, our guide delivered another and more realistic version of the story of Balto, whose musher was Finnish, and which we had watched many times with our kids (although we missed his statue in Central Park!)And I X country skied every early morning instead of running, over groomed trails and in all weathers, with a minimum (manageable) -24⁰ one morn. As a near neophyte in the game, I eventually developed a hip inflammation but the joy of going through the woods prior to sunrise and spotting the occasional Arctic hare was worth the 15 hours of it. Despite hard frozen glasses the coldest morns. By comparison, the afternoon break when I tried downhill skiing was less exciting even though the very dry snow there was enjoyable.Cold dry weather also re-awoke a nose bleed proclivity that I had forgotten since Arizona. Again, no big deal. And the conference dinner took place in a Sammi restaurant that proved quite the exception to my skip-the-conference-dinner rule with its reindeer and salmon dishes!