11 may 15 2 months in a post

This may be the longest that I haven't updated the blog in the last 5 years that I've been doing it. I keep wanting to simplify my life but saying 'no' can be a problem for me. It's been a busy 2 months with existing responsibilities, new obligations, and some fun. I'll focus on the fun to catch up on the transition from late winter to spring. I start with Bhikkhu because he is fun and the last two weeks have been busy with vet visits to make him healthy, too.

The end of March featured the glorious weather that we come to expect of that month. We took advantage of warm temperatures and soft snow to explore some trails that we normally bike in the winter.

Taking a bone from a scruffy white dog is not like taking candy from a baby... Paul found this for Bhikkhu during a spring ski at the end of March in Talkeetna.

On Aprils Fools Day we skied out to friends' cabin at Dalteli Lake with three other couples. Roger snowmachined our stuff in and left us a message in the snow at one of the intersections. We stayed for two nights, skiing to another lake on the full day, to visit other Talkeetna friends.

Alaska Airlines treated passengers to a fantastic view of Denali in early April. I was on my way back from a small conference at Chena Hot Springs, east of Fairbanks. The springs are nice but the best part may have been the fresh salads, including tomatoes and basil, that they grow in the greenhouse. The Ice Palace is also a trippy (and cold) experience. If you haven't been to Chena in the past decade, it's worth a trip.

By late April, the daffodils on the south side of the house were beginning to bloom. The snow was slower to leave the rest of the yard. In fact, there's still a small patch on the north side under a birch tree.

May has been beautiful, too. Here is sunset around 10:00 on May 2nd. It barely gets dark at night now.

Last weekend we went to Talkeetna for our annual episode of voyeurism of mating birds. We didn't set any personal records at Birdathon, but we had fun hiking and biking.

I can't promise anything, but I do hope to get better about updating the blog. We've got a new computer which has made photo uploading and editing a little faster.

highlights 2010

Over dinner on New Year's Eve, we remembered some of the fun and travels of 2010. Again, we are grateful for the good fortune that continues in our lives: good friends, great family, stable jobs, good health, and being with each other.

Here are some of the highlights of each month of 2010:

January: Good skiing when the snow was fresh and great mountain biking on packed trails in the local parks. Never a dull moment in Anchor-town.

February: An active trip of hiking, biking, and snorkeling with good friends in Hawaii.

March: We skied out to Dalteli, a small lake in the Alaska Range foothills with a group of friends.

April: A warm sun made spring skiing solar powered and brought a smile to everyone's face. Even the ptarmigan got friendly.

May: With the return of the green came more biking and hiking, and gardening. This little footpath became a regular route on evening walks in Bicentennial Park.

June: When we weren't on the boat in Prince William Sound, we rode the singletrack trails in Bicentennial Park.

July: We spent most weekends and an entire week on the sailboat in Prince William Sound. One of the highlights of our time in the Sound were hikes through bogs with abundant shooting stars.

August: A silver-lining of the wet summer were the mushrooms. We spent many evenings harvesting boletes in the parks. This red bolete dramatically and quickly exhibited a change in coloration to blue when cut, which signifies a poisonous bolete.

September: The annual backcountry bike trip with the Alaska Dirt Divas to the Serenity Cabin near Eklutna Lake in Chugach State Park. Blue skies, stunning fall colors, and fun friends.

October: Mountain biking with the Alaska Dirt Divas on the White Rim Trail, in Canyonlands National Park, Utah - an adventure with good friends

November: Spending Thanksgiving with my mom, step-dad, brother, and sister-in-law in central New York. My brother and I wandered the farm's woodlands, just the two of us, and appreciated the big trees.
December: Santa found us in Talkeetna, bringing us more than we deserved and helping to remind us how blessed we are with friends, family, and a happy pack.

A post about the highlights of the year begs a mention of the sadnesses of our year as we lost family, friends, and acquaintances who have touched our lives and hearts. In August a plane carrying three young maintenance workers from Katmai National Park disappeared in bad weather on the coast. Paul knew one of the young men and they worked with some of our friends at Katmai. In September Sandy Kogl, a good friend of good friends in Talkeetna, died after a gracious struggle with ALS. In October Paul's aunt Norine succumbed to a rare form of lung cancer caused by her exposure to asbestos as an infant. We saw Norine each Christmas that we spent with Paul's parents and we traveled to Italy twice with Norine. Norine and Sandy were both just 68.

27 mar 2010 dalteli

My Alaska* is brilliant blue skies, snowy mountains, and good friends. We were blessed with all that plus great food and good skiing last weekend. Our friends Pam and Roger invited a houseful of people to their cabin on Dalteli Lake. Paul and I hadn't been there in several years and were excited to be in the shadow of Denali again. The cabin, which Roger built and lived in for 5 years, is on the southern boundary of Denali State Park, five miles off the Parks Highway. On Friday we met them at a parking area and loaded our gear onto the sled of their snow machine. Pam hauled the gear to the cabin while the rest of us skied in.

The terrain is mostly flat so the skiing is easy. Pam even set a ski track with a special sled that one of their neighbors made. Despite the ease, it took us almost two hours to ski in because we stopped so often to enjoy the sun and photograph the beautiful day.

On Saturday, Roger led us on a tour north to the Tokositna River valley. We circled back along the giant muskeg on the north end of Swan Lake. The skiing was a little more difficult than the day before, and the weather not as sunny, but our slow speed was more due to totally enjoying the day than rough going. The cabin is on a plateau so the most challenging skiing was getting down the steep, crusty hillside. Some took their skis off to get off the plateau, and we all walked back up near the end of the outing.

I've posted a few more photos on my Picasa gallery.

*Another Alaskan, she-who-must-not-be-named, is going to host a TV show about Alaska. I won't be watching to see what she chooses to highlight, but I suspect that it will be similar to the episode that my friend Rose envisions. Only not so funny and sadly, too real. The gist of the story that Rose relays is true - the state shot collared wolves that the National Park Service was studying, after they had promised they wouldn't.