Thrive Outside

One of the hardest parts of leaving Palmer is that I had so many opportunities to be outside.  However, a little gem that I didn't realize (born and raised in Alaska with COUNTLESS errands in Anchorage) how bike friendly it is.  There is the mountain bike trails and the multi-use paved trails.  Even some of the major roads have bike lanes. I am trying to train for the "Sea to Shining Sea" and I now consult this map before going out and driving around.  I think I am becoming a bike commuter first.  Someday, I will be a bike tourer.   ***Update*** I went out twice and didn't have ANY near death experiences.  I was able to bike 23 miles that were mostly flat.  But, little by little I feel a bit stronger.  When I see the sweeper trucks, I want to hug them and tell them how much I appreciate them.  Anchorage did put an amazing amount of gravel on the roads.  

Spurred on by the challenge of the 1000 mile bike across Alaska by Lael Adventure, I caught the burning desire to do this myself.  I have never biked more than 25 miles, but I have enjoyed riding with James on our tandem.  Life was full of challenges last year, as most of you know.  So, I am taking this opportunity to reconnect with James (I will be doing the Homer Portion on the tandem-life is better together).  I also need to bond with my new church family and I am excited to have two or more people join me on the Valdez portion. During the long route, I know that my appreciation and trust in God will grow.  I am looking to unplug and connect with Him through prayer. He is my guide and my shelter.  I LOVE PEOPLE.  I can't wait to see and encourage others all around the state.  The Plan:  Homer to Anchorage   237 miles  Tandem with James Anchorage to Palmer   56 miles Palmer to Glacier View   65 mile...

I get asked many questions about trail conditions.  I have explored many apps to help make the trail conditions more easily available.  However, the #1 place that I would recommend you exploring if you want to know is the Alaska Outdoor Reports.   It is super easy to put in your own report of the trail conditions.  The groomers for skiing use it exclusively.  It has little icons for skiing, hiking, kayaking, skating, and biking. Since I live in Palmer, I have bookmarked and make the Mat-Su ski club a simple app on my phone by following these simple instructions .  That makes it super easy to see the weather and the trail conditions in one click on an icon on my iphone. Happy winter exploring everyone!

Being unplugged is one of my favorite things about the outdoors, until this year.  I have two apps that I and so excited to share for all your adventures (hiking, biking, skiing, snowmaching, running, kayaking). 1st:  Gaia GPS.  It not only tracks your speed, time, altitude, distance, ascent, pace, it has a wonderful feature of moving time and stopped time.  I love knowing how long I actually was hiking minus the breaks.   It has a wonderful feature of downloading the Topo Maps of the area you are hiking (there are 6 versions that come free) so that you can have your phone (iphone or android) on airplane mode and still track everything!  So, you can save power.   Having any pictures as a waypoint makes it easy for people to see your route and follow it later, makes this summary of your route a fun way to share with others.  You can even add photos by uploading them if you want to after the hike on a computer.   Other hi...

After looking for the best trail guide, I decided to compile my own.  I found out that some trail guides just are wrong, some are sorta right, some just need updating with new information.  So, I created this guide with an interactive blog so that as trails emerge, we can add it.  Also, the best link with trail information is easily accessed. I didn't want to move the location of the original list with links, so now you can just click on the top to this page called  " Thrive Outside Trail Guide " and it will direct you to the links.  With the amazing help from Julie Miller, she was able to format (with her amazing design skills).  We worked together to assign difficulties based on elevation gain.  However, there is a limited amount of full color actual books for $4 each.  We handed them out at the Thrive Outside Workshop.   We are printing a few more for the upcoming MOPS Tuesday meeting, but if you want we can save you one if yo...