A Fat Tire Bike Weekend in Hope, Alaska

Okay, once you have a fat tire bike, you have to use it!  But if you're nearly 65, it seems like a better time to learn to mountain bike would have been, say, 50 years ago?  There's a learning curve, it seems to me, about bumping over roots and rocks and hurtling down a trail that threatens to hurl you off on either side!  I'm out to inspect all of my bruises tonight!

Friday night was the warm up cruise again, on the new bike which we had just picked up the night before - a great deal and a decision to go with one chain ring, which presents less of a challenge to my brain when it's preoccupied with all of those decisions at once --- downshift? pick a path? try not to fall off when I hit that rock? get off and walk instead? Our Friday night ride, which I've done a few times now, is deceptive, as it's easy and fun! Unlike Saturday and Sunday turned out to be!

This is my new bike taking a rest on the trail.
I felt sorry for it, so I let it stop for a while. (I was dead!)

Saturday we headed down the Seward Highway in our Chinook to camp overnight in Hope, but we stopped first at the Johnson's Pass Trail - we checked that out hiking in the late spring, early summer, and even though we passed through two huge piles of snow from avalanches, it looked like a fun trail. It is striking, but what was most striking to me was how hard it was!  Lots of roots, very narrow trail, and scary for a beginner, which I would consider myself - Brian loved it!  I was way too occupied with surviving to take pictures here!

Then we headed over to Hope to the Resurrection Pass Trail, where we were on Memorial Day Weekend earlier this year.




We've loved camping in our 1977 Chinook - decorated very 80s style, lots of avacado green - but SO comfortable for two people - as long as you like each other!  We threw food together in the morning - one of the things that I like about camping is having great food with us.

We camped under a half moon with a great view out our window -- as long as you don't mind that it's fall, the leaves are down, and towards the end of evening, it has a cold look to it.  And it WAS cold overnight!

And we checked out the sunrise from our other window before we got out of the only warm spot in the camper - in bed!  




All in all, a beautiful day, even if taxing for me.  I'm off to inspect my bruises and turn in early!  Another week of work before we're off to play again . . . though Brian rides several times a week early evening, I'm usually tied up til too late.

Eklutna Lake on Fat Tire Bikes!

The weekends go fast, and they are going even faster through October . . . but we wanted to take some time for me to try out a fat tire bike and see if we could ride together on the many trails available in and around Anchorage.  We rented one Saturday night and tried it out first on the Campbell Creek trails and then on Sunday for a longer (2 1/2 hour) ride along Eklutna Lake.

I've never been a mountain biker, so it's taking some getting used to, but this was a very mild dirt trail with not as many ruts, and some very beautiful scenery to keep us company!  We've camped here before with out 19' Chinook, but we just came up for the day this time.

One of the things we like to do is when we finish, make tea or coffee right in the camper and relax before we drive home!






Brian bought his fat tire bike last year and enjoyed it especially through the winter when there wasn't enough snow to ski on.  He says it's actually easier to bike in the winter on the trails, as the snow is a softer ride than the roots and rocks!

We rented mine for the day and it looks like the decision is YES!  We ended up buying one that we found on Craigs List that was a small enough frame for me.

We wanted to get as far as Serenity Falls, but we ran out of time, and the trail becomes less interesting after you reach the end of Eklutna Lake. It's definitely fall, but still beautiful!

Road Trip! Denali National Park!

We were given a "road lottery" ticket for DNP that someone else won - a last minute invitation on a Saturday afternoon that had to be used on Monday, 9/19.  And we jumped!  We drove up Sunday afternoon and stayed at a tiny park created by the Healy Lions Club on Lake Otto just north of the park. We ended up in the park and ready to start at 8:30 am, and we drove 66 miles into the park -- it was beyond stunning, and the pictures won't do it justice, but we'll post some of them here.

It took us about 3 hours to drive the 66 miles into the Eileson Visitor Center, and we took a hike up the mountain opposite -- quite a bit of snow on the ground and an unbelievable view.  3 hours in and 3 hours out, but we didn't see even one animal!!  It was a trip not to be missed though for the stunning scenery - even for someone used to living here!

Meeting our First Two Grandchildren!

Our first granddaughter was born on May 4th to Colleen Manley and Ivana Indruh, our daughter and daughter-in-law.  Torunn is a beautiful little girl, and we've enjoyed getting almost daily pictures of her.  We visited them first, flying into Boston and driving up to Maine.

I was working on two different baby blankets before I left because our son Scott and his wife Tarah were ALSO expecting a child at the end of July.  It looked from pictures as though Torunn already had a lot of knitted blankets, so I knitted this one for Kora, who was born July 30.

Brian got to see Koralie the day before he left, soon after she was born, and to hold her, but I had already left to go to a training weekend in San Francisco on my way back to Anchorage.

More good reasons for visits back east!  We love getting pictures and are surely thinking about everything that we're missing!

July in Upstate New York

What we love about July is visiting our friends and family in Maine and upstate NY AND sailing on Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River.  We have our 32' Allied Seawind, Petrel, in Henderson Bay, and we managed 9 days again this year.  We started with a day of barely moving, anchored at 10 am and doing nothing more the rest of the day than reading and jumping in the water when we got too warm!  Then on to Kingston, Ontario and around the east end of Wolfe Island back to the American side of the St. Lawrence and back up to Cape Vincent.

One of the things we look forward to is what's become an annual dinner from some former sailing partners.  Jack Reale with his partner, Judy and John and Donna O'Hara.  We had a wonderful dinner at a tucked away place on Lake Ontario and look forward to seeing them every year.

Looking at the pictures, it's no wonder we like going back - and we always want more time to sail!

Catching Up-Where Have We Been?

Looking at my blog and seeing I haven't posted since April was a little shocking!  What have I been doing?  A trip out east again during the month of July, then back to Anchorage the first of August to get in some hiking, fishing, picking blueberries!  My sister Christine and her husband Michael visited us the first full week in August, and even with way more rain than usual, we managed to have a good time.  We weren't able to go out on Kakwik, but we went to the Matanuska Glacier and hiked and stayed at Sheep Mountain Lodge.

It was great to have visitors and especially to see my sister! And I've wanted to go to the glacier ever since we moved to Alaska. We've especially been enjoying our little Chinook camper!  And, we hope Michael and Christine come back to visit soon.

Towards the end of August, right before Labor Day weekend, we had a chance to go out on a halibut charter again - and we came home with 22 lbs. of halibut filets.  Took the charter out of Ninilchik and had a beautiful spot overnight with our Chinook camper before going out at 7:30 am!

Winter's Ending, Spring's Beginning!

Breakup is SO early this year . . . and we keep hiking!  Easter Weekend we went with Lance along Turnagain Arm, thinking it's south face would mean no snow and no mud!  And it was in pretty good shape, from McHugh toward Rabbit Lake.  We only had 4 hours so didn't make it to the end.  We saw 3 moose along the way, and it snowed part way through - it was a very windy day!

Judy and Lance at the top of Near Point 

We took a ride up to Wasilla for the Home Show because a tiny home that Brian worked on was on display.  Another one that he did a lot of work on was in Alaska Magazine this month with a big display about tiny homes.

And then went to Ptarmigan Peak on the way home - not enough time to climb to the top, but a really nice hike, nonetheless.  We needed Katoolahs here -- lots of stretches of snow and ice. This is the second time that we've gone partway with not enough time, so next time . . . going for the summit!!

Lots to do in the month of April, but the days are getting warmer and lighter all of the time.  Brian's getting the camper fixed up now so we'll be ready for our first trip of the year, and shrimping season starts in just a few days!

A little bit of winter in Fairbanks!

Mid-March we went to Fairbanks for the Arctic Science Summit Week - and for a little skiing!  Finally! It was gorgeous, in the mid to high teens, and sunny, with just a little bit of snow each day.  We never left the university trails, it was so good, and the best conditions over the last two years.

As we always do on these "spring break" trips to Fairbanks - this is our 3rd time - we went to the ice sculptures, first during the day and then back at night under the lights - they are more spectacular then!  This was the warmest year that we've gone - last year we took one picture, as neither of us wanted to take our hands out of gloves and mittens in the below zero weather!

It felt SO good to be cold again, like winter is supposed to be!  Before we left, we made a quick trip to REI, HooDoo Brewery for a "flight" tasting, hung out at Gulliver's Bookshop for a latte and leisure read while we waited for time to go to the airport. It's a quick flight home to Anchorage from Fairbanks.

Whoops! What happened to the last 4 months!

I had no idea that we hadn't added to our blog since the beginning of January!  Well, you know what we've been doing - hiking!  The weather here continued too mild through the winter to do anything else, and we were both busier than usual working.

Judy was one of judges for the Clark Middle School Junior Leader Fellows Public Speaking Contest 

Brian has been working on a tiny home for 2 1/2 months after completing work on 3 others, so he may just legitimately be a "tiny home expert" now!!

January - new Fat Tire Bike for Brian!  If there's not enough snow to ski, the snow bikes are having a heyday!  Many, many snow bikes here in Anchorage.

February - still no snow for skiing.  Winter hiking at South Fork Eagle River and Near Point trail.

And we could have been ice-skating - it looked like everyone else was mid-winter at Westchester Lagoon!

Still lamenting the lack of snow but doing the best we can under the circumstances!  :-)

A New Year in Anchorage

It's been a quiet Christmas but very enjoyable!  Brian's birthday is right before Christmas (Dec. 22), so Wednesday, the 23rd, we left in the afternoon and went up to Hatcher's Pass to stay in a bed and breakfast there for two nights.  A truly tiny cabin!!  But very cozy, lots of breakfast items in the refrigerator and a double hot plate and microwave - we managed a couple of very delicious meals!

We skied the day we got there, on Christmas Eve, and after checking out on Christmas Day, we skied again before heading home.  There was a beautiful full moon the first night, but it clouded over after that.  The snow was great, though, and I'm just sorry that we didn't get some more skiing in -- it was starting to rain pretty quickly after that and has been unseasonably warm even when it wasn't raining!  We stopped in to the Hatcher's Pass Lodge up at the top of the mountain, which we'd never done and had soup and/or hot toddies after skiing each day.  We skied mostly at Archangel Road.

It's been quiet since then . . . another jigsaw puzzle, a movie - Bridge of Spies - excellent - and a New Year's Eve celebration, as we do every year at Carl Robert's & Diane Schwenker's.  Note that the "Eiffel Tower" in the center of this picture is a gingerbread creation - and fantastic.  Diane had a very large and impressive writeup in the local newspaper this year about her yearly gingerbread "houses" - unique every year.

Diane has the most exquisite table on New Year's Eve that anyone could hope for!  We look forward to the food, the company, and the fireworks every year!  The winter season is the season for fireworks here, since it is light most of the night in July!

And it's almost over.  A highlight for the season was Brian's bike ride one night this week when he shared the trail with a fox. . . the fox was curious and playful and cooperated with Brian getting a very good picture in the circle of light from his headlamp.

And then, since there is no skiing currently, way too warm, we're finding new places (or old ski trail favorites) to walk on each day.  Praying for snow but all in all, a great start to the year!

Happy New Year to all of our friends and family.  To all of you who are not here in Anchorage with you, we miss you terribly and think of you and speak of you often!