I Spent a Night-and-a-Half Away from my Son.

My husband and I survived Kesugi Ridge, Denali State Park. About 20 miles, close to 5,000 feet in elevation gain, 35-50 pound packs in a day and half. There was wind, sun, but no rain. It was challenging and cold and windy, but it was gorgeous. We didn't see any other campers. It was amazing. I have bruises on my clavicles and hip fronts to prove it. I took 2 naps today and can barely go down the stairs without yelping in pain. It was our first backpacking trip together. It was the first time we left our son overnight. We missed him (and Harley even) terribly, but it was worth it.  

Little Coal Creek trail ascends through dense spruce and crosses a beaver dam.

Ferns, blueberry bushes, and other greenery crowd the path.

Before you know it, you've ascended 2,500 feet and are on Kesugi Ridge.

Yes, there was snow . . .

  and large rocks to hop.  I felt like I needed a granola bar after each section of 

these pesky rocks, because I burned so many calories trying to balance.

But, after each climb, there was a spectacular valley.

Beef stroganoff, coffee, hot chocolate, tea, 

a good night's sleep for some

but not for all (pesky sunlight I hate you)

And Mount McKinley was still there in there morning.  

By the way, it is visible along almost this entire trail.

Day 2:  These blueberry bushes sure have roots a lot crazier

than the ones on my berry farm growing up in Minnesota.

If you look closely, you can see the trail along the ridge.  This section was a bit hairy.

It was grizzly country too.  I was thankful we brought a gun.

We like to call this "Hidden Valley."

Checking the GPS

This is about where I thought Ermine Hill Trail should break off.

Pumping/filtering water for the 4th and last time

Nervous and tired, but it's just so pretty

4 hours later:  Finally, here is where the trail splits!  Thank Goodness!  I'm pointing to the trail to Byer's Lake.  We went right instead.  We finished at 9 p.m.  It took us 20 minutes to get picked up as hitchhikers, because tourists are jerks (thank goodness for German-Alaskans).  I actually cried toward the end of those 20 minutes because I didn't want to walk another 8 miles (with pack) along the Parks Highway to our car.  We made it home by 2 a.m.  I love to hike, but hate to camp on a Thermarest, especially in sunlight.  My own bed felt really nice, if only for 3 hours until the baby woke me :)  Grandpa (babysitter) had left at 5 a.m., once he realized we had come home early!  He later reported that the baby asked for us, but stayed busy and happy regardless of our absence.  

Thank You for the Rain.

Thank you for the rain, but it's too bad it has to rain the weekend we planned to get wood.  It's Summer Solstice too.  In town, there's a midnight sun run, a sun festival, a baseball game, but no sun.  I have been there and done that so I decided to stay home for the weekend and rest up from a busy week and for a busy month to come.  It's a good year to break tradition, because everything is rained out anyway!  In fact, even the solstice concert, Puddle of Mudd, got some rain last night.  My husband and his little brother kept their smiles though.  It did clear up by the time Mudd hit the stage.  We were doing really well today.  I got the great-grandma to babysit my son, my husband rented the wood splitter, we were at the site.  We had about half of the first tree split and thrown into the back of the truck, when we had the biggest downpour of the year.  Dang.  My husband went back for one load, while I stayed indoors with the boy and made a lasagna.  Then, we traded jobs.  I unloaded two truckloads in the rain and my husband cleaned the kitchen.  Sometimes I cannot stand to do another dish and sometimes my husband cannot stand to move another chunk of wood.  

Summer Solstice is Here!

When March rolls around in Fairbanks, there's still snow on the ground and it is not uncommon to see -40F.  But, you have to start using your blackout shades, thick window blankets, or aluminum foil if you want to sleep at night.  In May, June, and July, though, it's pretty tough for a rookie to tell the difference between 10:15 a.m. and 10:15 p.m., except that 10:15 p.m. is usually warmer.  As the day progresses, the air and ground seem to absorb more and more energy from the sun, making it warmer and warmer and warmer until "Bam" the sun sets after midnight. 

The sun affects you in ways I cannot describe.  At about 10:30, when it is time for bed, you feel like you could conquer the world.  Splitting wood, mowing lawn, weed-wacking seem appealing. But, you don't want to upset the neighbors with all of the noise, so you stay inside.  At about 1:00 a.m., you still cannot sleep, so you decide to take a stroll through the front yard.  You are surprised to see that your neighbor is doing the same.  You chat about the lawns and the weather.  Small children play outside until at least 11:00p.m. during the week.  Non-shift-working adults weed their gardens, go for runs, grocery shop, you-name-it until wee hours of the night.  The city of Fairbanks never sleeps.  

The Whole Family Hiked to Wickersham Dome.

Wow! What an amazing family hike we had today! We hiked 6.5 miles roundtrip in the White Mountains with the baby and the pug. The hike was up down up down up down.  It started out a gorgeous day filled with blue skies, distant mountain views, green tundra, and wildflowers. But just as we reached Wickersham Dome, the wind blew hard.  We quickly put on the rain gear, ate a bagel, and headed back.  On the last down up down, we were bombarded by horizontal rain. It was an adventure to say the least!

I Ate Two Hotdogs for Breakfast.

I am feeling really lazy today. So, instead of eating some of the healthy organic fruits and veggies we have on hand or Cheerios or a protein shake or oatmeal or eggs, I ate two hotdogs for breakfast. My husband's family jokes about how I'll do anything to eat a hotdog, but this is only because they see me mostly at family BBQs, which is the only time I usually eat them. But, I have been craving hotdogs lately at all times of day, BBQ or not. Yesterday, for our play-date in the park (see my son and his friend below), I brought my backpacking stove and boiled everyone a hotdog, just because I needed make one for myself.

Happy 27th Birthday, Daddy!

In honor of my husband's birthday, we took a family hike. Originally, we planned to camp at Cripple Creek, but the mosquitoes have recently become horrendous at our place so we decided that going out into the woods for two days was a bad idea. Instead, we drove an hour up Chena Hot Springs Road and hiked up the first few miles of Chena Dome Trail. Despite the rainy day and the bugs, it was a great hike.

Daddy finally got to sport his new bear gun. My son had fun "whapping" daddy in the head with a stick. Harley never tired;  he pulled me, on his leash, uphill 2 miles and downhill 2 miles. At the top, our toddler, cuter than ever, signed "more food" when we took out the picnic supplies. Everyone was thirsty. After complaining the whole trip about having to ride in the pack instead of running around on his own two feet, the poor baby finally fell asleep when we were almost to the car. All four of us spent the afternoon napping.

Six Plus Two Equals Eight.

Today is our first wedding anniversary. My husband says he cannot believe it's been a year already. I can. I feel like we've been together forever (in a good way), but really we've only known each other for four years now.  

We kind of eloped, but it was planned. We knew as soon as one of us stopped working for the oil refinery that we would marry. Current refinery policy prevents marriage in the workplace, unless it is grandfathered. When I started working there in 2004, six marriages existed out of a crew of under 100. By the time I quit in 2008, all six of the couples had moved to jobs at other companies. So, we made the moola to build the house and have a baby. Then, we married. Actually, this worked out very well. Building a house was quite the test. We passed! And we tied the knot north of Fairbanks in the mountains on 06-02-08.

We had the most fabulous evening tonight: a perfect dinner followed by a stroll by the river with caffeinated beverages and fudge. This was made possible by my kind sister-in-law, who came to watch over our sleeping baby while working on stuff for law school. To top it off, someone had called and covered our dinner. Thanks, sneaky "mom," whichever one of you three it was!  Three hours away from the baby and the house together was wonderful.  I hope we can do this more often.  Twice a year just isn't enough.

We Finally Have Our Trees!

Our house is built on an old road. This subdivision, in which our house is located, is only a few years old. When we started to build, there were very few houses here, but now almost every lot has been filled with homes. Anyway, when they broke the large parcel into lots, they abandoned the old road and created a new one. Consequently, the old road runs straight through three of our lots. We, us and the neighbors to the right and the neighbors to the left, built our houses on this road, and so there are not any trees blocking the lots at the point where the houses sit. It's bothered us since we built and even more so since the house on the left was built last year. I mean, who wants to see their neighbor's house?

Wood piles create privacy fences, but we wanted something more permanent. My husband's dad and step-mom purchased two birch trees for us as a very belated wedding / housewarming gift, and we also purchased some type of cherry trees ourselves.

My husband looked pretty sexy planting them. He had to use a pick axe to get through the compacted soil and roots in the old road. On top of that, the nursery instructed us to dig the holes the wrong size! It required a lot of manual labor, a lot of time, and more money than we had planned. But, they look pretty nice. We plan to plant some inexpensive little trees also, just in case these ones do not make it. Conditions are harsh and moose are plentiful.