Tag Archives: Adventure

Super Cub + Skiing = Alaskan Afternoon

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We had a warm winter with very little snow and an unfrozen lake. This amounts to feeling a bit confined to our one mile runway community. April has brought us a few weeks of  sunshine and everyone has been drinking it up. A friend flew his wife and several friends up to Holy Mountain, behind Port Alsworth for an afternoon ski adventure. It was pure bliss.

Flying into the bowl Anna skiing on holy mountain Can you spot the super cub?

You can see the super cub and below is Port Alsworth on Lake Clark. Awesome view with the lake reflecting the mountains!

Climbing the Mountain

We duck walked up and up the bowl, shooting for this small shrub. We created a lovely chevron pattern (so in these days) and got our thighs burning! But when we reached the shrub, it had fresh buds promising spring.

Skiing around the bowl

Heidi, Autumn and I climbed high, then skied around the bowl. Made me wish I had downhill skis on to swish down the slopes.

Anna & HeidiHoly Mountain Ski Group

It was a fantastic way to get my first spring sun tan and the trip made my spring!

Holy Mountian Group Jump

Rafting the Tanalian River

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When the movie theater in town closed down because it didn’t have enough business, we had to get creative. Bahh… I guess the next best thing is to hike to Tanalian Falls and pack raft out to Lake Clark. Yawn.

It was a celebration of adventure friends back for the summer. Five brave souls ready to tame the raging river. Okay it’s not that raging, but has some good rapids. Though it was a sunny day out, the water is fed from the winter run-off, and snow still clings to the mountain peaks just above the falls. So I wore a dry suit, full with a zipper in case of a visit to the “ladies powder room.”

Strategically, I forgot to pack the pumps. Wink wink. So we tested our lung strength and came out victorious. I only passed out like twice. Two of us had done it before and the rest were first time adventuerers.

I used an Alpacka raft, which was sweet for maneuvering down the rapids. It was so easy with a slight stroke to spin all the way around and get a good view of my fellow kayakers behind me. We enjoyed the river, whooping it up along the way, soaking up the sun and adrenaline.

For all the work it is to hike up, inflate, adjust and float, I wish it was at least another hour long, but we enjoyed what it was worth! Another successful float and great way to spend an afternoon in Alaska.

Little Lake Clark

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Words can hardly describe this past weekend and pictures will be a poor second. Little Lake Clark is one of my favorite spots in the area. We lived fully last weekend, squeezing as much as we could out of the summer. It was full of amazing weather, fantastic company and epic adventures…rappelling, waterfalls, climbing, bocce ball, roasted corn, grayling on a fly rod, hiking, worship service, boating, cliff jumping and soaking up the breathtaking scenery.


Five Fingers Running

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I have five toes on each foot.  My mom made sure when I was born.  And those toes have gotten me far in life. I mean really, who stops to appreciate your toes.

I have a new appreciation of my toes and my whole foot since I began running in my hot pink Vibram FiveFingers.  It began in 2004 when I decided to run the Seattle Half Marathon and then kept running and several months later did the Mercer Island Half Marathon, cutting 20 minutes off of my time. Woo! But after each race I was adamant I would never. NEVER. ever. run a full marathon. Obnoxiously adamant. I mean who does that?! 26 miles. Eeehhh. I had just experienced 2 hours of running, and I would only be half way done if I did a full 26 miles of pavement pounding.  Misery. Pain. Boring.

That’s a lot of time to just think. 26 miles of thoughts.

Never fails that what ever I say I won’t do…I end up doing.
Determined?
Enjoys a challenge?
I’m pretty sure people have said that about me before…

So I registered for the San Diego Rock n’ Roll Marathon in 2005 and bought a plane ticket before I would back out.  After one run with a friend who said she’d do it with me, I was on my own. Quitter. I could tell you about the endless long runs alone through Seattle’s streets, planning my route around the Starbucks or McDonalds for an urgent bathroom break, or the time I fell flat on my face outside of a restaurant patio seating….but I’ll save those.

Fast forward to this winter when I read the book “Born to Run,” by Christopher McDougall and a light bulb in my brain turned on.  My feet were not made to be stuffed inside a man-made shoe! I have muscles on my feet I never knew about! I tore my meniscus during the marathon. Major bum-er. It was from not enough cross training and lots of boring pavement pounding. I haven’t done more than 10 miles since then.

My hot pink feet have been tramping through the tundra and racing down the runway recently.  I’ve been amazed at how natural it feels and how my feet muscles really are sore at the end of the run.  I’m enjoying running again and having a goal to reach. I’m training for the Big Wild Life Run Half Marathon in Anchorage on August 19th! Yes, I’ll be running it in my Vibram FiveFingers. I will sneak it in just before I turn the big 30. So hold me accountable!

A bucket list goal is to do a full marathon in another country.  Who knows…maybe I’ll keep running and do that this fall! Anyone want to join me?

Mountain Mama’s Ski Trek Video

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There we were….

On top of the world…. or at least a glacier.  I’ve relived the first glorious day of our ski trek in my head over and over wanting to be back up there and explore more of the glacier basin.

Our ski trek was a fabulous success and held a great sense of accomplishment.  Overall, it was 30 miles in three days…from glacier top to my front door. Literally.  It’s hard to capture the beauty of our first day and landing on the glacier.  We wanted to just stay there and enjoy the powder and sunshine!  The whole corse held diverse terrain and varied weather but best of all we had a blast. I also got a nice sunglasses tan. Score. The Lord blessed us with complete safety the entire trip, too!

A highlight was the air drop of Mooses Tooth Pizza and fresh fruit toward the end of the second day.  It came as a big morale booster, as we’d had a challenging day of navigating through woods and only a partially snow covered river bed.  Thank you Lyle!

Instead of a long, dry narrative of our adventure… I offer you this video… Enjoy!

I can’t wait until next year and a chance to tackle another trip.  Hopefully longer and in another part of this glorious land I now call home.

Until next year!