Thrive Outside

Last January, some wonderful friends invited me at the last minute to stay at Byers Lake Cabin.  It is just a few hours north of Wasilla and boast a wonderful get-a-way.  The cabins are simple, rustic, and warm.  We had a great time cooking and enjoying the starry night and ample classic skiing. A little video we recorded at the top of the ridge The next day, we ventured to our little treasure place called Kesugi Ken one of the newest campgrounds in the state.  We were THRILLED to find out that they actually groomed the loop trails near the Hunter and Denali Cabins.  However, we went up! We followed the Curry Ridge Trail that I have previously done in the summer, and enjoyed the skijoring with Willow the Great Dane.  The views were spectacular. Denali was out is PERFECT glory! We did come across some wind at the top of the ridge.  I also had a terrible time coming down because I used just regular classic skis and some backcountry skis would of done better on the decent.

Okay, I was hoping to write you about the last journey of my 1000 miles around Alaska with the trip I was DYING to do.  It was the same route as the Fireweed race from Sheep Mt. Lodge to Valdez, AK.  However, my husband couldn't take this time off, so I had recruited four friends to bike with me.  Just before the ride about a week prior, I got the notification that 3 backed out because of circumstances beyond their control. Dang. But, I still had one to bike with me.  However, two days before we were to start he came down with the FLU. Oh no.  I had my support staff willing to drive down, but I was going to need to bike by myself.  I wasn't afraid, but with the weather looking awful (99.9% chance of rain).  I knew my spirits would not enjoy the wet ride alone. So, I called it off. I enjoyed a WONDERFUL week of rest and fun with my children and Hannah my eldest also had some unexpected time off of work.  I am so glad I stayed.  It continued to rain for about 3 weeks

Waking up in a proper campground with an actual outhouse, was a dream.  We got in super late (1 am) because of the road closure and construction.  It was a short night.  We ate breakfast in a REAL RESTAURANT in Cold Foot.  I loved all the history of how the Gold Rush went all the way up to the interior of Alaska.  I knew it went to Fairbanks, Nome, Juneau, and of course Palmer.  But, the gold rush drew people who were "late" and finding it a bit crowed in the Fairbanks area, miners would take barges up the river to the interior in search of gold. One story I read the river froze early, and some walked back but others just survived the winter sharing what they had off the barge until they were able to retreat in the spring. Feeling like we could conquer the world, we left our luggage (panniers)  with our gracious support car and Uppa (James' Dad who searched for us and was willing to drive over 600 miles to help us since we flew to Prudhoe and needed a ride back).  We he

Throughout the night, we were startled by the sounds of a massive truck using their jack breaks.  We had no idea how loud they actually could be.  Thankfully, we were able to fall right back to sleep.  I guess that is the disadvantage of camping near the road at the bottom of the hill. The sun was gone but so was the mass of mosquitos on our tent.  The slight breeze kept them off and it only had a normal amount.  We packed up in a cloud and started our journey.   The low clouds made it so we had no idea what was 7 feet ahead of us, but our legs knew.  It was a CLIMB.  As we are continuing to slog up the hill, we hear the sound of (thump, thump, thump) like a helicopter.  Knowing that the sounds of the trucks sometimes have that similar sound, we both were like that must be a truck but it sounds like a helicopter.  Well, it took just a few minutes to confirm, it was a LOW flying helicopter.  It was hovering about 10 feet above the tundra-flying low because of the blackout clouds

We awoke to that irritating high pitched hum-mosquitos clung to the tent.  At one point during the night, we assumed it was raining but it was only the constant thumping of the mosquito landing on the tent.  Who knew these beasts that weigh so little can recreate a rain storm on our tent fly? I felt sick inside.  James being so encouraging, helped me to get going.  And to my surprise, it was great.  The weather was perfect and only when we stopped did we encounter the swarm of bugs. The view changed slightly and we pulled off for a few minutes to take a photo. We heard there was a place to get second breakfast at Happy Valley (even showers).  However, dreaming of the refueling activity, we were disappointed to see a mostly abandoned area.  A kind gentleman let us refill our water bottles and allowed us to set up the tent to enjoy a lunch break.  It was now HOT!  We fell asleep quickly under the shade of the tent, but woke up when the sun crept over the tent and heated everythin

It takes time to pack for a journey like this.  We realized that since James was going to be carrying a weapon, we needed a locked hard-shell case for it.  Scrambling, we were able to purchase one at Walmart late that evening. I had spent the past six days on an Adventure Tour, whereas James spent the past two nights in Seward with the young adults backpacking. Since we both just finished a long stretch of work, we ended up packing until about midnight the night before the flight. Our son, happily drove us to the airlines. Alaska Airlines is amazing with luggage and allows our bikes as one of the free bags! When the clerk was going over the locked case, he showed us we needed two locks.  The gun was totally accessible.  However, for a mear $10, we purchased another lock, and we were good to go.  Except...NO HELMETS.  We quickly grabbed the phone to call Max, but he called us and told us he was returning to the airport with our helmets.  Thankfully, we live 10 minutes from the airp

After a great night of sleep, we were ready for the last day. We took advantage of a little stop for hot lunch.  Wow, I never knew how much of an appitate I can have biking. just fueling up (actually with popsicles)   Met an interested person with a horse helmet riding solo.  You never know what you will see on the highway.  We had 10 seconds of cloud coverage for the day. So hot. We also ran into a gaggle of brand new Jeeps riding as a safari.  They were taking our pictures.  So funny.  They created a huge mound of dust. Since it was the 4th of July, we did experience more traffic going by.  I loved to put a gummy energy block in my mouth or a date to give me a shot of sugar to power up the hills. We were told that we would end with some miles of payment at the end, but we were disappointed with that.  As there were only three miles instead of eight.  Urgh. But, those last miles on payment were a dream.  The road didn't have potholes, but it was j