Mist Hiking

In our short time in Alaska, we have experienced a lot of mist. In the spring, summer, fall and even winter, mist is a regular occurence. So today, we awoke to mist and we decided to try and hike above it. Our objective was the Williwaw Lakes.

The mist made for some very large droplets of dew.

Pine cones and the dew.

Even on spiderwebs.

As billed, the mist stayed with us through the hike. Here Jes disappears into the mist.

The wind would blow through occasionally giving us glimpses of the surroundings. The clearings were very quick, sometimes not even long enough to take a picture. 

We arrived at the valley leading down to Williwaw Lakes after about 2 hours of hiking. I got everything looking just the way I wanted when 'Interuptting Jes' made an appearance. 

She has ruined many a good photo, lucky for her she's very cute and one can't stay mad at her for long. 

The Williwaw Lakes are visible way down below. 

Cheers, 

The Alaska State Fair

There are all kinds of things going on at the Alaska State Fair this year. Collective Soul opened the Fair this Friday and Boyz II Men will close it down. Local craftsfolk are selling their wares and there's more fried food than you can imagine. It's a big Fair and a good time. Jes and I are our friends Linsday and Eric journeyed up to Palmer to check it out on Friday.

Carnival rides.

We checked out the livestock barn, here's Jes with a Holstein cow.

Baby burro!

Ram behind bars.

The Fair is famous for the monster vegetables and it did not disappoint. This pumpkins weighed in at 902 lbs. 

Giant cabbage.

And last, perhaps one of the more entertaining events at the Fair, a betting game on what hole a terrified mouse would go into. The pictures below illustrate the bedlam that surrounded this event.

The mouse is beneath the giant stuff mouse...

... and the stuffed mouse is lifted and the mouse must choose which hole to enter on the giant spinning, colored wheel. Note the kid in the background yelling instructions at the mouse. 

All in all, a good time was had. 

Cheers. 

Walking about...

A couple days ago we took a walk around our neighborhood with Jenna, Alyssa, and her dog Orso. Nothing particularly unique about it except for very menacing storm clouds.

Taking a stroll into the gaping maw of the storm.

Neat tree.

On Tuesday, our friend Bridget from Denver came up. She was in town for work but had time for a hike and some dinner. We hiked up Flattop in some great weather.

Walking in from the base.

A view from the saddle.

Taking in the sun at the summit.

Bridget on the summit proper. 

It's been good weather for the past week or so, a great way to finish up the summer and move into fall.

Cheers, 

Lost Lakes

A friend at work asked if Jes and I would be willing to fill in for her as a volunteer for the Lost Lakes Trail Run. We hiked in on Friday evening and were treated to another great sunset and moonrise.

We woke up to more great weather...

Lost Lake was unbelievably calm which made for some great reflections...

Our job as volunteers was to hand out water and Gatorade to the runners. The aid station was 7.5 miles up the trail, about midway for the racers. We were joined by Mary, Tom and his son and friend, a good group to hang out all day with. We did not have to hike in the water by the by, a pilot float planed in to Lost Lake and dropped the water earlier in the week, we just needed to take it from lakeside to trailside. 

Setting up the aid station. 

The race is split up into walkers and runners. The walkers start first which is pretty cool because they end up finishing with the runners and everyone gets to party together in Seward. Here a walker makes her way through the mist.

Everyone came through the aid station, we cleaned up and then started packing. The above photo demonstrates what I think is the best way to get dirt out of your tent. 

Cool bridge on the hike out.

Great backpacking.

Some more Lost Lakes.

Sweet!

Cheers, 

The Sun is back!

The glowing orb in the sky has reappeared and we took full advantage. I split from work early and heading down south to climb a bit.

Tommy putting up a route.

Slab-tastic!

After the climbing, I headed home and Jes, Kyle, and I bike down to the Rock Beach to take in the sunset.

Jes moments before she found 'sea glass.'

Just great.

The sun ended a long day with a flourish.

Cheers,

Stanley Benjamin Franklin Spuhler-Popiel... sitting for his portrait

We were blessed with some sunshine so like sensible people, we took a bunch of pictures of our cat.

Stanley with half-finish plate of enchiladas

Pensive Stanely

Tail.

Thank you for your patronage (this post is dedicated to Carrie Schloss and David Ulevitch)

Berry Pickin'

Yesterday, Jes, Kevin, Michelle and I headed northeast of town to find some blueberries. This was our firs time berry hunting so we weren't quite sure how to go about it. We had heard that because of the rainy summer, the berries would be in fine form.

Nice boardwalk at the beginning of the hike.

After talking with a very helpful hiker who had a backpack full of blueberries, we took a trail off into a valley. 

Kevin got a good picture of Jes and I.

The fireweed is getting close, ahhhh.

After some searching by all parties, the blueberries were found and were indeed in fine form. All told we gathered a grocery bag of them. Jes proudly holding a bit of the bounty.

And just to keep the status of our rainy summer up, it rained on the way out. 

Cheers, 

Lynx Lake

Jes made the savvy call of reserving a public use cabin on Lynx Lake. The plan was to head out right after work on Thursday and canoe trail our way to the cabin. The plan worked to perfection.

We got great weather for paddling and portaging out to the cabin. There were a couple mishaps, my steering, the portage handle breaking, and the looming darkness, but all were handled with grace. 

Breakfast time with Izzy and the moose.

We woke up to grey skies and a bit of rain, here's the view from our dock.

It did eventually clear up and we set out to canoe around Lynx Lake. Jes wanted to bring the fishing poles to see if we could catch something. We brought one pole and after a bit of meandering and the lure just floating in the water, we caught something. Turns out it was a pike and no one in our group knew the first thing about what to do with a fish you've caught. After a bit of discussion, we figured it out, we pulled in the pike, gave it last rites, and sent it to fish heaven. 

We got a fire going, cooked the fish, and surprisingly, it wasn't that bad. 

We spent the rest of night hanging out, drinking box wine and enjoying the weather.

Good times were had. We don't have any pictures from the canoe/portage out but again, we had great weather. A great trip and a great way to finish up Izzy's stay with us. 

Cheers.