September Denali Trip, Part 3

So by the time we got halfway to Kantishna, we were giddy. It was just an incredibly beautiful trip!

In our giddiness, I suggested that Frank go out on this little hill that appeared to have a trail, so that we could get a picture. He had to scree down the hill we were on to get there, but he found a way:

Here's Frank on the hill:



And to give some perspective:

What a guy!

Then we continued along towards the big mountains and the end of the road:





Then, we saw yet another group of cars parked by the side of the road...and this time, for a bear! The bear was frolicking out in the tundra, a wee bit out of sight for my camera:

September Denali Trip, Part 2

So we just passed the sheep at the pass. Once we passed the sheep, the scenery once again changed to browns and reds:



Then, at another stream, we found another group of cars pulled up at the side of the road. This one was for a bear and three cubs way down on the stream...see if you can see them:


I couldn't see them at all -- but the lady with the binoculars promised me they were there!



Waiting for bears, Frank and Galileo take time for a picture:

We also got a few hints of the big mountains to come.





Keep in mind, we hadn't even seen the big mountains yet!


That's it for today, tomorrow, watch for Frank to climb a mountain!

September Denali Trip, Part 1

Because of some incredible generosity at work, Frank and I found ourselves driving the 240 miles to Denali N.P. on Thursday in order to participate in the road lottery. For those of you who don't know, by winning the road lottery, you can drive your own car all the way down the park road -- stopping wherever you want, whenever you want.

If you are ever going to Denali, I can vouch for the fact that fall is beautiful, as you can see from the photos below. Not to take anything away from either place, but Denali's fall colors are like a saturated Hatcher Pass -- the greens are almost too green, the reds are almost magenta, and the birches of course are a bright yellow color. When you add this mix to the beautiful blue/white/grey colors of the big mountains, you have a combination that just cannot be beat anywhere in the world.

So it was a bit of a blessing, really, that we drove a lot of the way to Denali under cover of darkness -- that way, we were not distracted by the colors on each side of the road! I, as the self-appointed safety engineer had more time to worry about gas and catastrophe (Were there enough gas stations between here and Denali? Yes.), and Galileo had more time to pant and look unhappy to be stuck in the car for so long. Frank's eagle eyes quickly caught two huge female moose that crossed the road, but that was the only real excitement of the trip up there.

We stayed at the Grande Denali Lodge, which is the infamous lodge that overlooks the valley. The rooms were quite nice, although you definitely were paying for the view, which was spectacular. As we found out through our days there, since this was the last weekend most businesses stayed open, many things were closed and the restaurants were running out of things. However, both restaurants we tried (and even the gas station's sandwiches!) were quite good, even with a limited menu.

The next day, we got up around 5:45am to get our road permit and get on the road. I do believe we were the first ones there as usual! After getting the permit, we got some quick sandwiches at the gas station in town, then started on the road...



This is the first shot I took, probably only about 2 miles into the trip. As you can see, the colors were spectacular!



As if that weren't enough, some of the valley was covered in beautiful yellow plants...


Then there were some unbelievably beautiful mountains that were unreal:





Mind you, this is all the scenery that you can see still on the road. This rock formation was at the stop where only those with road permits could conintue...


At the checkpoint, we were once again reminded of all the rules about the road by a very friendly park ranger. Then, of course, more road...










One of the most interesting things to me about Denali was the continuous change in landscape and vegetation. Soon we were in fields of gold...




..and then back into a valley with different colors than the others.


Soon we stopped at the Telanika River rest stop, which was full of tourists in big buses:


...but we were able to slip right by the tour buses and get back on the road quickly!


Soon the landscape changed again, and we were in a place that somehow reminded me of New Mexico:



Then, we turned a corner and saw a slew of cars stopped by the side of the road. We stopped too, and looked out to see dall sheep impossibly close!






More Tomorrow!

I'm almost through with my Denali pictures...more to come!

McHugh Creek Trail

Last weekend, Frank, Galileo and I took some time out to hike on our beautiful Sunday. This time, we chose Table Rock out of McHugh Creek (along the Seward Highway) particularly because it would be easy enough for someone who ran 12 miles the day before to do :). It was a bit confusing at first -- the map we had was not very good, and there were definitely a few places where trees had fallen over the trail. Luckily, some hikers more knowledgeable than us came up behind so that we could follow them to the table. It was a significant hike up the hill, and a bit of a scramble at the end, but the views of the arm from there were spectacular!

Next up: Denali National Park on Friday!!!

Fall on the Seward Highway

Frank and Galileo made it!

Trees on the rock

This tree looks like it was eaten by spruce beetles

Turnagain arm from table rock

Galileo and Frank take a break looking out over the arm 1000 ft. beloe

Another Christmas card shot...

Weird Fungi

Another "finding this year's christmas card" shot

Pretty hillside picture

Back into the forest...

There were lots of rosehips on the trail

Keillor vs. MNspeak.com

Apparently, Garrison Keillor has no sense of humor in real life, and issued a cease and desist order for "Prairie Ho Companion" tshirts.

Scotland pictures are up!

Frank's Scotland pictures are up on shutterfly.

Running Report

So a running report is in order. As many of you know, I'm training for the Las Vegas Marathon on December fourth, and following the FIRST plan created by Furman University that was described in the Runner's World August issue.

This was week number 4. This week, I did the speed workout on the Treadmill (3x1600), a tempo run of 3 miles, and a trail race as well as a long run of 10 miles. This week, I felt pretty drained -- my change of diet to lots of veggies, protein, and less carbs has really taken a toll on my running enthusiasm. In fact, the 10 miler I ran yesterday from Kincaid Chalet to the Point (perhaps because it was the distance from Pluto to Uranus) felt like an 18 miler to me. But I completed it, although I walked significantly the last mile, which is all steep uphill. The good news is, the running can only get better from here, and the ten pounds I've lost on this diet will be ten pounds less that I will have to lug around 26.2 miles in December!

Next week is week #5, which will all take place in the next four days due to the fact that we were given driving tickets to Denali on Friday, which will take up a significant part of Thu/Fri/Sat. So I have four days, and three workouts to complete -- 10x400m speed workout, 5 miles tempo, and 14 miles long run -- plus how can I miss the punishment and torment that is the Tuesday night race series, this week at Chugiak High School?

I figure, it won't be too long before I'm forced to become a treadmill slave for many runs due to snowy weather, so I might as well get out there now and enjoy it!

P.S. Frank brought back pictures of Scotland from his trip -- I will try to get those posted on Shutterfly collections today sometime!

Results are up!

Hey, results are up from the Tuesday night race series! Yours truly is 45th out of 69 in the rankings -- not too bad for a slowpoke!

Cannonball Run, Part II

Get this -- the police are going to pay for a cannonball doorstop for the guy whose cannonball they destroyed just a few days ago!

Report from Foamy the Squirrel.

Along with Matt's dancing below, here's another amusing update from Foamy the Squirrel, my new favorite news anchor. WARNING: The report includes some significant, and somewhat unnecessary foul language not suitable for many situations. But it is funny...and true!

Racing on a rainy day

The
adn.com | sports : Tuesday Night Race Series, aka "World Series of Mud", started last night at Kincaid park. Results are not up yet, but don't hold your breath for a top-ten finish from me :).

As soon as they started describing the course (I don't have any clue, so telling me that we'll be following this or that loop is irrelevant), it started to drizzle. Right about where we started "running" up the 750m hill of mud along the airport chain link fence, it started to rain significantly. By the archery range, it started to POUR (see this picture of the record-setting rainfall). Somehow along the way, the people I was following and I got lost and wound up, I believe, running along the munchkin course and running about a 1/2 mile longer than everyone else.

Although it was miserable, it was fun in the sense that it's always an accomplishment to run a race like that and finish!

NOTE: I'll post the results when they come up in the next few days.

Where the Hell is Matt?

This guy films himself dancing all over the world! Please check it out, it's worth it. Thanks Amy!

Cannonball Run?

An Anchorage man found a cannonball on his property in Cordova a year ago. After having it rolling in his truck bed for nearly a year, he decides it should be checked out. So, he and a friend pack the cannonball onto the state ferry, and head to Anchorage to figure it out.

Once in Anchorage, he tried first to get his friend in the TSA to put it through one of the security machines. When his buddy would not agree to it, he asked his friend at a medical office to try, but they decided that it would not work. His friend at the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives pointed him to the police department, which subsequently blew up the cannonball. Now the owner is not very happy, and wants the police to buy him another cannonball so he can use it as a doorstop.

Hmm...

Hurricane Relief

Clearly, everyone is writing, reading, watching, and thinking about New Orleans -- including me. I don't have anything extra to say that hasn't been said, but can recommend some good links to those who do have something to contribute:

--ADN.com describes How Alaska is helping in the effort.

--Anne has an excellent post on a prevalent hindsight discussion I've heard up here too: did the people who stayed in NOLA deserve what was coming to them? Bill Quigley (search for bleak report on the page), is there and comes to a similar conclusion as Anne.

--Lastly, Instapundit has an extensive running list of charities recommended by other bloggers, as well as stories of people doing good work that you won't see anywhere else. FEMA also has a list of recommended charities.