Trail of the Wolf

 Sometimes you just gotta decide it's spring, even when the environment hasn't fully committed yet.  It's April 21st.  For the 3rd or 4th time this year, I am declaring spring!  Maybe this time it will stick.  My neighbor and I committed to starting spring and summer walks this past Tuesday.  When Tuesday after work came and a trail was discussed, I said we needed to do a reintroduction to hiking for me after the long winter (aka the sidewalk...fortunately the views are even beautiful on the sidewalk).  I figured the trail, being shaded would be snowy, muddy, cold, and slick.  But 5 days later, Sunday, trails would obviously be melted right?  Yeah, no.  But it wasn't slick or muddy at least.  Just slushy.

Still, it was glorious to just get out there again.  So easy walk #2 of the year...Eagle River Nature Center.  

                    

This is a must for anyone visiting.  You get this view in about half a mile from the paved parking lot on a wide, sloping trail that is pretty easy for folks of all levels to accomplish.  One summer I was walking with friends out this way, and at the starting point an elderly man with a walking stick stood looking longingly at the path as his children and grandchildren started out.  I could tell he wanted to go, but perhaps thought better of it.  So I stopped to ask if he was going to go down the trail, and let him know that it was wide, gently sloping, and easy to navigate (rocks and twigs visible and easy to avoid), and he could walk with us if he wanted.  He literally jumped (or skipped) at the opportunity.  I would guess he was mid 70's, and probably more capable than me.  They were on vacation from India.  He had lots of good stories to tell, and was excellent company down the trail.  I was glad to give him the 'trail condition' so that he got to enjoy the hike (and was secretly happy that by coming with us I was able to guide him down the most scenic of the branching paths).  So for anyone reading this coming to Alaska looking for a short wide trail with a great payoff, and just a bit of a hill, this is the one for you.

We stopped to buy the annual pass, which also give trail conditions, and today's notice was this.  Mostly slushy and a tad wolfy.

                    

I don't think I have ever seen a wolf warning sign up in the area before.  I mean, I know they are in the area.  Some nights I hear them down on the winter, especially in winter.  Part of the magical reason I love it up here.  But of course I have never actually seen them.

After about 30 mins, I was looking at the slush ahead of me.  Having met a few dogs on the way, I didn't really think much about it...but then I realized these are awfully big tracks for a dog.

Not enough toes to be a bear.  Truly huge pawprint.  We watched a few huskies go by and checked their tracks...and declared even the biggest dogs on the trail had tiny feet no where near this size.

And so we followed the trail of the wolf to where the forest opened up and the river ran.  (OK, to be fair the wolf was walking on the trail, so the trail of the wolf was just the trail, but it sounds better that way)

This section of the trail is called Rapids Camp.  I come here often, it's one of my favorite spots.  But I admit it's usually summer, so this is the first pic I have taken with all the snow still on the riverbank.  It's abour 5km roundtrip from the parking lot to get to this spot.  Wonderful spot for a picnic.

On the way back, I caught a little motion by a tree and played Peek-a-boo-Ptarmigan.

        

                            

He did pose for one good view of his tailfeather.  He's obviously a bird model.  He had a very beautiful feather pattern.

It was interesting to me on the way back down the trail,,,despite passing 4 to 5 other groups, we were treated to some new wolf tracks...heading the same way as us again.  Guessing they were enjoying the trail run today as much as we were.

Glacial Highs

It's taken me about a billion years to post these, but it was a pretty cool day so figure I should just get it done.  I had a friend visiting from Florida over Christmas one year, what a way to get motivated to do snowy tourist things.  This was on his bucket list...see a glacier.  So it was off to the local small airport at Palmer to hop a flight to the Knik Glacier (and yes, in Alaska we pronounce the K, and the n, so it's K-ah-nik.  It is actually pretty cool to see by air.  We got a nice low aerial over pillars of ice.

The crevasses were pretty deep.  I think I was surprised at how many miles of glaciers there were, and how vast it actually was.

A nice "frozen river of ice" pic backing up against the mountain.

I am always amazed at the beauty of the blue of glacial ice.

Apparently the weight of the glacier makes it so compact, so this shade of blue from the refractive light index is part of its distinctive beauty.

Obviouslyu I am a bit obsessed with this color.

Of course, the even crazier shades of deep blue in the ice shelves was equally captivating.

Somewhere around here is when I started thinking of all the plane crash movies where people have to hike out....and realized there was no way out of the crevasse maze.  We were just a few miles from civilization, but seemed like a world away.

Close up.

Yup.  That would be a long impossible walk home.

So this was really interesting.  I will confess how long I have failed to post.  These pics are taken in December of 2018.  Some of you might remember we had a little earthquake up here November 2018.  November 30th, 8:29 am to be precise...yeah it was that kind of memorable.  I was just logging onto a computer call, and when the painting started flying off the walls and folks started yelling, we actually ran outside from the office cubbies in the building attached to work....waited for the world to start shaking, then ran into the hospital.  Ceiling tiles were downed, there was a haze that I wasn't sure was drywall dust or smoke, but it set off fire detectors all the same.  The doors clean fell off the Emergency Department, and then the tsunami sirens went off.  Anyway...it was a big one.  When I got home 18 hrs later, the kind cat sitters had been by to right the furniture, sweep up the kitchen, because all glass in the cupboards on one wall flew out and shattered.  7.1 it registered formally.  We had aftershocks that were a 5 for months.  Anyway....if you look carefully, you can see part of the ice shelf of the glacier collapsed.  Pilot said it was down after the quake.

Here's another shot of it.

Guess I am not sure if the strongest force is the earthquake or the glacier.  It's amazing that it took a section down....but in the scope of the glacier such a small part of it.

And with that it was heading home.

Bye glacier!

One of the little black dots is a moose.  I can't pick it out now either lol 

Definately an afternoon worth the trip!

 

15 and Million Years Ago

I took this picture when you were 15.  Which was 15 years ago.  It was both yesterday and a million years ago in my mind.  You are about 2 seconds away from a goofy laugh and moving from this funny face to the next thing.  I thought we'd be doing things like this forever at the time.  You were always, and will always be, so beautiful.

 

I took a walk today.  It felt like walking through another lifetime.  I drove by the my old school where you spent your last day playing volleyball.  I walked through the old house, and down the stairs you walked down that last morning.  I touched the wall where the phone used to be...where you stood when we talked on the phone that last day.  The phone was gone but I could hear your voice so clearly all the same.

I drove by the playground where you girls stopped to take pictures.  And I left a little heart at the spot yours stopped.  I said a little prayer and left a few more tears.

As I walked through your world again, I couldn't help but notice how much less vibrant it seems without your light and color.  I felt like I was walking through a tattered memory more than a place.

And in your room, your old shoes, a hint of your personality...I remember shopping with you for these, and getting the sales guy to find the green laces.  I miss you.  I wish today you were walking with me, and anywhere else.

I wish your goodbye wasn't so soon.  Love can last a lifetime.  And so can grief it seems.  But at least there is love.  And you were so very, very loved.

Love you Jaycena...today, always, and forever.

Thirty One

 Thirty One.  My newest pictures are almost as old as you ever were.  It can be hard not to get stuck in grieving for all you did not get to be, to do, to see.  But on your birthday I focus extra hard on the gift that you were.

Every once in a while, I still find a new treasure.  Like this photograph my brother had.  I could almost feel the summer sun in the prairie sky, smell the lilacs that would bloom on those trees, hear the din of family behind the photographer in that busy country house, and hear the giggle that would be characteristic of Jaycena.  And of course, she was already loving horses.  It takes me back to a feeling where anything was possible, time was slow and meandering, summers went on forever, and always came back around.  Be it innocence, or naivety, it was wonderful, and there she is in the center of it.

Thank you Jaycena, for the gifts of your laughter that echo through time.  For the hugs that can hold a soul for a lifetime, heaven knows we need that now.  For your genuine spirit.  For being compassionate, earnest, kind, funny, and deep -- from the moment I saw you were already these things, and you stayed true to them throughout your short life.  It's a special kind of person who animals intrinsically trust.  Whether it was a bug, a frog, a bird, or some other critter, they sought you out and trusted your touch.  We were truly blessed to have you in our lives...to hold your hand, to hug you back and to wipe away the tears when that big heart felt too much.  We literally delighted in every little thing you did...you had a way of making just a random moment a special one.

I wish I were taking a new picture of you today, teasing you about getting older, or something equally mundane and ordinary.  Or maybe it would just be a text, because you were off a trip somewhere fabulous, like Spain.  Oh how I wish that was the story we had to tell.

Happy 31st birthday in heaven beautiful.  Thank you for sharing light a with us that will shine for our whole lives.  I am often sure I see your hand in the magic of random moments, and I thank you for that gift as well.

Thoughts and Prayers

Over the past few years social media has demonized the phrase thoughts and prayers in the quest for action for a cause.  I cringe every time I see someone slam thoughts and prayers.  Because I love the thoughts and prayers sent over the years on behalf of Jaycena, Brooke, and Laramie.  Sometimes, thoughts and prayers are the only honest, raw, and real things that can be offered.  I think I speak for many of us who live with lifelong grief when I say we are grateful for every thought and prayer for us, and the angels we have lost.

Today marks 14 years since we lost these beautiful girls.  I wondered what I could write today...is there something profound and unsaid in my soul after all of these years? Or that the cold, bare truth is simply that it is still awful, ugly, and painful.  That it will always be an awful, ugly, and painful contrast to the wonderful, beautiful, joyous times we were gifted with them.

Perhaps the beauty of thoughts and prayers, is that they are lighter than truth.  And thus they are carried on the updrafts of hope, and at light speed by a text, ping, call from the solid foundations of friends and family and supporters, across miles and time zones.  And your own thoughts and prayers can lift you up as well.

Obviously I think of Jaycena often.  I wonder what she would make of something, where she would be today, what she would be doing at that moment.  I lean heavily into memories, hearing so clearly her voice or laugh. 

And I also still have prayers.  That she can hear me.  That she knows how much we love and miss her.  

And every now and then, something happens that makes me think of course she can, and of course she knows.  Like listening to my brother talk and hearing that little voice in exactly that tone of hers chime in in my mind with a wisecrack right where she would.  I have to also admit I had a sly smile when I was picking pictures today.  I had already gone to the store and looked at all the flowers, and these silly sunflowers were just the ones that spoke to me.  Then I perused some of her old facebook page photos back at the house and came across the one of her holding the sunflowers...it's not one I remember noticing before, but I like to think I had help finding just the right thing again today.

In our memories, they are vibrant, laughing, talking.  I can see, hear, and remember the feel of things in those memories.  Memories are thoughts too...and in a way, they are prayers within themselves.  Thoughts, prayers, and memories are golden.  So I thank you for sharing yours with us.

Jaycena, I often seek out beauty and experience with you in mind.  I stop especially to look at flowers and birds and wonder what angle you would photograph, what things you would find randomly amusing or amusingly random.  I often imagine you next to me, praying that you get to share the views and solitude.  And because of all that you have etched in my heart and mind, surely in some way I can say that you are.  Love you and miss you so very, very much...today, always, and forever xo

 

Snowy Shenanigans

So in addition to dogsledding, there are some other ways to cut up nice powdery trails through the woods.  For this adventure, we headed to Girdwood and joined a snowmobile tour...machines, helmets provided (think they had extra warm gloves and jackets for the tourists who might not be packing snowpants and jackets).  We took an off shoot road, which I think was an old mining road, out into the boonies.  And the powder out there was AMAZING!

Again, there are plenty of different tours in different locations, but this is the one we grabbed.  They had another one that goes out on a lake around some glacial...bergs?  It looked pretty cool too, but t was not being offered on this particular day.

Looks like sitting on top of the clouds...but nope, thats all fluffy white stuff.  Guess it's a snowmobiler's heaven.

The first pass we were led down the trail, and given a bit of an idea of what the bigger loop looked like...where there were some wide open spaces to cut into the powder, where the slopes were, dips and hills, and those blissful straight stretches for going all out on the throttle later.

It was the second part I enjoyed....lettting the group get a head and then going faster that I would have been able to in the line :)  It had been years since I last rode a snowmachine, but, it came back quickly and it was just as much fun as I remembered.

After about an hour we parked the machines and stopped at a musher's cabin....they had a smoker going making hot dogs and hot cocoa, and some marshmallows handy for toasting at the open fire waiting for us.

Is there ever a time when a bonfire happens and it isn't a great day?  No, I didn't think so either.

Just another great way to spend a day in Alaska.

 

It's An Alaskan Thing

What to do in winter in Alaska?  Well, there are more options than one might think.  I did get a winter house guest over Christmas a couple of years ago, which forced myself and a coworker to get out there and explore some of what Alaska winter tourism has to offer.

Some places offer horseback riding...on beaches, in forests, jungles, and mountains.  In Alaska, we have dogsled tours.  There are many dog sled tours one can join in Alaska (both winter and summer), so for our week of home tourism, we picked one that wasn't too long of a drive, and one that was run by a family long engrained as mushers in the Iditarod race.  Alaska Sled Dog Tours, near Talkeetna, run by Dallas Seavey, who I believe won the Iditarod 5 times -- his father and grandfather also quite legendary in the dog sled community.

It was, of course, a wildly snowy day as we set out in daybreak.  The roads were bad enough that my coworker took an uber for the 13 mile drive to my house, but for some crazy reason everyone still felt very confident about the nearly 2 hour drive in a blizzard with me at the helm of my Grand Prix (fortunately equipped with some pretty expensive and awesome Nokian studded tires).  I am not going to lie...it was a white knuckle drive, and my two fearless passengers actually kept their eyes closed a good chunk of the way.  But as we finally got close to the destination, the roads cleared a bit.  We got off the main trail on the way to the kennels, and, after all of that, we went to turn down a long lane and saw a major snow drift, probably 3 feet deep, running across the entire road.   In true prairier farm girl style, I did the only logical thing once we sighted it.  I pinned it.  We ploughed through, coming out slightly sideways, dragging and spewing snow and we launched out/over the other side...but we didn't get stuck and were able to get through the last few miles to our destination.  For this moment of brilliance, I would for the remainder of the house guests visit, and forever more, be referred to as Grand Prix.

We got there a little before sunrise...a beautiful expanse of snow, sky, a few moose in sight, and a lot of chatter of sled dogs.  They ushered our little group over to an area to meet our teams for the day.  This dude looked at us as if to say "you coming with me?"

Followed by, then why are we still standing here?

I am not sure what the dogsled equivalent of "Saddle up" is...I imagine it's harness up, or hitch up.  But all the same they got everybody in their spots and leads and gave us a quick lesson on mushing...the main thing being how to apply a little foot brake, which is basically a metal claw on the back on the sled that you can lean on to dig into the snow.  Sled dogs can 9-10 miles per hour.  On this day, we did a little 5 mile loop, and went about 6 miles per hour (giving us time for a short stop to switch up mushers).  So yes, we all got a turn to mush.

While the Iditarod became a race after the famous 1925 serum run where diptheria antitoxin was delivered by dogsled over 1000 miles in a winter diptheria outbreak as there was no other way to get supplies, the Iditarod trail predates that, and dogsled teams as a way of transport go back hundreds of years in the Alaska Native culture.  Genetic studies show that many lineages of todays sled dogs include malamute, husky, german shepherd, and even wolf.  In general, these are high energy dogs with a good thick undercoat of fur.  Most mushers have little booties for their feet if it's a long run.  There is no enticement for the dogs to run...yes, they train to run together, to be a team, but, mostly they run because that's that's just what they do most days.  Many an Iditarod musher has had their dream dashed because the dogs just said, no, we are not running today, and no coaxing in the world was changing that (thinking of the year Nic Petit was set to be the clear winner, but when his dogs got to an area they didn't like, they just hunkered down in the snow and said "nope".  He waited it out another day, maybe two, then took them all into a nearby cabin where they cozied up by the fire and called it the end of their race.)

We got to have a little taste of both of these things.  Once we got ready, the dogs were eager to go, the footbrake was no match for their enthusiasm.  But once you got the hang of it, it was such a beautiful, serene, peaceful ride.  Just the sound of the sled blades cutting into the snow, and the chatter between the dogs.  It was honestly one of those times that you just stop and think how lucky you are to be right where you are at that moment.

At the halfway point, we stopped at this little cabin for a sip of hot chocolate.

Prophet, was ever so excited to get moving again, and seemed to be urging us to hurry up.

"Come ooooooooonnnnnn", he seemed to be saying.  And so we did.

Back on the trail we went, smoothly, happily, all going according to plan.  Until Grandpa Seavey and his team were sighted cutting up some snowbanks off the mail train in the distance.  This is where we got to see the dogs doing what the dogs wanted to do.  Attempts at steering, braking, talking, coaxing, and pleading were all unsuccessful and Prophet and his buddies decided to go join Grandpa, bounding through dog deep snow, us in town, until we finally, truly, got stuck for the day.  Fortunately our chaperone musher was near by and came to the front on the team and led us out on foot back to the trail, where, excitement over, and Grandpa Seavey long gone, they happily sped off down the trail back taking us back to the kennels.

Back at the kennels, we got offered a chance to snuggle some puppies.  We sooooo took them up on that.  After that we headed to Talkeetna, home of Mayor Stubbs (of a previous blog called "The Disputed Political Career of Stubbs the Cat"), in quest of lunch.  Talkeetna is a quirky little town, for sure.  I have to admit the irony of this sign announcing downtown Talkeetna cracked me up a bit.

I honestly don't remember where it was that we stopped for lunch.  I am sure it had Brewery in the title, so going to surmise it was The Denali Brewery Company.  And in all it's Alaska quirkiness, I noted that it had this poster hanging in the bathroom.

Another great Alaska Adventure complete!