Another weekend in Anchorage then the week of finals at UAA!

Brian has his last photography class tomorrow (and I don't care what he says, he is going for an A!), and then it's finals week -- he has a final critique of his portfolio, and I have grades to finish up.  The next two months, less than 2 months now, will go quickly as we prepare ourselves to go east for 5 weeks!  Saturday was a catch up day, not the least of which was cleaning the house . . . then a walk downtown, colder than we thought, really biting wind, so not as far as we had intended.  We stopped at Simon & Seaforts, one of our favorite late afternoon/early evening appetizer/wine kind of place that looks out over the water.  What a great afternoon, and then a walk back, settling in for the evening.  A part of me wanted to go see Silver Linings Playbook at the Bearstooth Theatre, but it was showing at 10:15, and we were nearly asleep by then.

We didn't get started as early as we would have liked this morning, but we did finally get out for another hike this afternoon.  We hiked someplace we've never gone, in the same general area along Turnagain Arm, but a trail that starts straight up from the road - pant, pant!  Much heavy breathing on my part, a surprisingly dry trail for about the first 20-30 minutes and then ice and snow that gradually deepened to probably 2 feet or more.  There was a narrow trail that had been tamped down enough with post-holing on the side if you got off-sides! 

Another beautiful afternoon and a steep enough hike that I had enough for the 2 hours that we had to spend -- we met several people on the way down that didn't seem inclined to go that far.  Another couple commented from their perch recovering from the first really steep 1/2 hour that you got to see how much weight you gained over the winter!  You'd think it would get easier! 

Brian has been working on Kakwik getting it ready for motoring on Prince William Sound, and he and Carl did a lot of work on it this winter.  It's just about ready for putting out the shrimp pots, and the lure of fresh shrimp any day now is so tempting!  We can't wait! 

Brian's sister Janet and her husband Fred are coming up to see us just after Memorial Day, and before they leave, I'll be going to a conference in Denver.  By the time I get back on June 8, we'll have less than 2 weeks before we're leaving for New York!  And, we're both flying to Santa Monica to see my daughter Jessica and my sister Christine (in Ojai) for Mother's Day weekend. 

It's light til nearly 10:30 pm now, and it's light when I get up, so we're entering that time when I don't see it dark unless I wake up really, really early!  It's pretty different to head into this time when it's light all of the time . . . and the bears are waking up -- it's official, there have been several sightings now.  We saw a park services guy today who said he saw a black bear at Rainbow, close to where we've been hiking the last two weekends, and our friends had a black bear at their house.  Grizzlies have been sighted too, but not close by that we've heard yet.  Graduation this next weekend will cut down on our hiking time . . . at least mine! 

Back into Hiking!

Two weekends of hiking . . . time goes so fast!  Last weekend we were determined to get out, and Saturday we did a familiar hike from Potter's Creek to McHugh Creek, about 6.6 miles round trip.  A bit uphill for the first 20 minutes or so and then up and down the rest of the way.  It was a combination of mud, snow and ice, and we used katoolahs part of the way. 

It was warm and sunny enough that we both unzipped the leg bottoms and went to shorts!  Only about 45 degrees but we've had amazingly sunny weather!  This hiking spot runs along Turnagain Arm, so you're looking out over Cook Inlet -- the hiking trail runs right along the inlet, so lots of great views!  It took us about 4 hours to do the whole thing, so we weren't hurrying along! 

 

The next day, Sunday, we went into the mountains from Prospect Heights and hiked toward Wolverine Mt., even though we knew that we didn't have time to go very far.  This day was a bit more overcast, but the sun came out part of the time - it was windier, and a little colder.  We just went out an hour and a half and then back, about 2 hours and 20 minutes altogether.  I love being back in the mountains where you're surrounded, wherever you look!  As we're coming down, you can see the city of Anchorage laid out below and Cook Inlet on the far side.  Then it's home and getting ready for the last week of classes at UAA! 

 



Mid-April in Anchorage

What to do on a gorgeous weekend in Anchorage?  Blue skies, 36 degrees, still snowy, but spring definitely in the air.  We threw classical skis and skating skis in the car, 4 sets of poles and took off.  Brian skied on Portage Lake over to the Portage Glacier last week, and I wanted to go there, but when we got down there it was a bit windy.  We decided to go to Girdwood and ski instead.  My neck has been bothering me again after getting rear-ended a couple of months ago, so the skate skiing was over in just a little under an hour.

We'd brought hiking boots and katoolahs too, uncertain what any conditions were going to be, so we stopped at McHugh trailhead on the Seward Highway and hiked for just under 2 hours up toward McHugh Peak.  The trail wasn't too bad, and once more, we were sharing it with . . . a moose!  

We're just about ready now to give up skiing and start hiking!  I'm always a little leery on this trail at this time of year because it's known for bear traffic, and they are waking up SOMETIME around now -- no sign of them today though, thankfully!  There was a convenient limb for stopping and having a snack on the way -- we'll have to try for the top again another day!  We were up here one day last fall, quite a bit further up, and as we started down and looked back, we could see a grizzly bear and two cubs with her.  

Sunday wrap up - back to work tomorrow.  It's 8:15 and broad daylight . . . light til about 10:00 pm now and starting to get light at 6 am -- probably not 16 hours of daylight officially yet, but it sure looks like it to me!  I have to get up earlier to have it be dark . . . and I like getting up when it's dark - it's harder for me to have it light all of the time. 

An Early Spring Snowstorm

Lots of snow, probably at least 6 inches the first Saturday in April -- not welcomed by many, but we were just as happy to take another ski - the last one?  You never know! It snowed furiously all day, and weather advisories were to stay off the roads, so we hunkered down and went out for a late ski on the lit trails a little after 8:00 pm.  Actually we didn't need the lit trails til the very end, since it was light til about 9:30!  The light jumps by about 6 minutes a day now, and if you go to bed early, like we usually do, very soon we won't even see the dark!

A beautiful night, trails deserted, breaking trail a little bit, not groomed, but snow had finally stopped and the company on the trail was a moose!

Sunday we went up to UAA on the college trails and skied, another beautiful day.  All I see on Facebook are postings complaining about the snow, but we're not quite ready to let go of it.  It's been a beautiful end to winter (at least we think it's in the process of ending!)  

March Snow - Ski as much as you can!

Make the most of March by skiing as much as you can!  We've been to several places to make the most of winter -- we skied at night when we could on the trails by our house, skied on Basher Rd. a couple of times on the Campbell Creek trails - those trails are always groomed and in great shape. Two weeks ago we did a car drop off to do a point to point ski with Mary and Lance, our landlords, for a nice 2 hour day that we thought might be the last time (we were wrong!)

Things got a bit sticky for Brian and me with our waxables - it was one of those temperature days where it was almost easier for no-waxers -- but we stopped and scraped them off and managed to get glide, just no kick or control for the second half! 

It snowed most of the time we were skiing and was just another one of those (sigh!) drop dead gorgeous days!    Brian's taking a photography class, so you don't see him much in the pictures anymore - he's behind the camera! This was just one of the quick trip days, but a very enjoyable day. 

Two weeks ago we did the drop off one car and skied from point to point.  Brian pointed out that even after 3 years here, we managed to ski new groomed trails only about 15 minutes from our house -- so many groomed trails, so little time! 

Tour de Anchorage

Scott and Tara, his girlfriend, were here to visit around the 1st of March for Fur Rondy and the Tour dtooe Anchorage.  Scott and Brian skate-skied the 25k, and Tara did it on classical skis.  We had a great time with them on their visit, and Brian took them hiking, we went to the Iditarod start, and they went to Whittier to see Kakwik, our Sundowner tug.  They were only here for a few days, but we did everything that we could fit in!  Unfortunately, they ran into some travel problems going back, so it wasn't a stellar finish, but it was a stellar trip! 

As you can see, there was hardware involved.  Tara, who had just learned to ski this winter, won 3rd place in her age group!  The Iditarod ceremonial start runs right down 5th Ave., and then out on the trails.  We went to the start and then over to friends to watch the dog teams come through.  It was a hazy fog downtown at the start but bright sunshine out on the trail.

Brian said it was an "Oh My God" week, and we surely did love to have Scott and Tara visiting.  Janet and Fred are coming next at the end of May.  If you're reading this, when are YOU coming to visit.  How can you stand NOT living here?!