The 4400 mile haul

This last leg of the trip put me over 25,000 miles in a little over two months - approximately the circumference of the earth! I was lucky to spend the last 2800 with one of my best friends.

We found a lot of beautiful lakes

Slept by the Kootenay River

Watched some mountain goats along the Icefields Parkway

Stopped by Lake Louise

Made a run to the Athabascan Glacier in a rainstorm

Enjoyed the clear air thereafter

Saw Athabasca Falls in the summer, versus April

Took a "scenic" route, as if the drive as a whole wasn't enough

Met cyclists Houston and Sue from Missoula after a fox chased them down the road

Got rid of a few blood-sucking mosquitoes

Followed some honeymooners on their trip of a lifetime

Soaked in an empty Liard Hot Springs 3 meter deep pool

Wandered about Watson Lake's "sign post"

Lounged on the best free car camping spot

Noted the last night of darkness for awhile

Watched the Lemond-start of the 24 Hours of Light bike race

Drank up the sunshine while it lasted

Tucked our tent away in the trees for one last night

And sent one last SPOT from the driveway! Home at last.

Aurora Lit Tolovana Hot Springs

High today: 36 F (FAI)
Low today: 14 F (FAI)

We're going on an adventure!!! To Tolovana Hot Springs!!!

Holy cow! My body feels like I just ran a marathon, but I didn't expect anything less for the weekend since I haven't carried a pack since May and picked a not-necessarily-easy hike to start back up. Nine of us hiked out 11 miles on a sheet of ice and dirt to Tolovana Hot Springs where winter is trying to stay... to enjoy good company, hot spring tubs, and the simplicities of life in a cabin. (ok, there was a radio, an OVEN and range top, and even a guitar in our cabin...) Friday night we didn't get to the cabins until 1am. The hike was very tricky in the dark being that it was in fact a sheet of ice. Moreso, I kept slowing down to turn off my headlamp and look at the crystal clear sky. What was even better is that what was just stars evolved into a faint green aurora straight ahead. It got brighter at one point too which made me hike reallly slowly. haha. Having a day to relax those muscles and enjoy fun friends was a good buffer before hiking the 11 miles back out.

Above is my buddy, Kristen. We have known each other for 3 years now after meeting when we both worked as summer interns in Anchorage! This was our first adventure together since... well, I think the first summer I was here, really!Josh, Melissa and Kristen hanging out in their cabin.Here's everybody except Shake who was taking the photo!

Later that night, we made the mistake of letting Joel take care of the fire. All of a sudden it was as hot as the hot springs in our cabin with the door open!!! I could not believe it.

Water, anyone? If we get giardia we are all going down together....Luckily by morning the cabin cooled down a little bit.Ashlee and Joel brought a smorgasbord of deliciousness for breakfast! Of course that meant we had to do the dishes. :-PWe had the log cabin.. it was a pretty fun place up on the hill.

Andy, Katie and Ashlee enjoying a morning soak before hitting the trail.Time to hit the trail again! Too bad we can't stay longer.Picture below is Joel's but it is my fav of everyone's hiking photos.Our way out seemed icier than coming in, but I was glad to be able to see more than 20 feet ahead!
The scenery was pretty awesome despite the lack of snow. It was very refreshing to just get out, and I am still breathing in a good high from the trip. It was very satisfying to know that I am pretty much back to normal and can do physical activity again. Time to live it up! Joel above on the ridgeline and Ashlee and Katie below coming down the trail.

The last mile or so of the trail was beautiful. There was hoar frost all over the trees and it actually looked like it should look this time of year! Big thanks to everyone who made the weekend! It was a blast and can't wait to do it again.

Time to get down to the lower 48.... so excited to see everyone. Are those wedding bells I hear????

(some photos are courtesy of Kristen and Andy and Joel/Ashlee!)

Hutlinana Hot Springs

High today (in Fairbanks): 13
Low today (in Fairbanks): -24Headed northwest of Fairbanks about 150 miles to Hutlinana Hot Springs for my first overnight ski trip and winter camping! I was quite excited about this because I've been wanting to go to a "natural" hot spring for a long time. Chena Hot Springs just doesn't do it for me.. it's way too built up. Back when I was talking about moving to Wyoming or somewhere out west I always imagined a hot spring at the bottom of a waterfall.. still haven't made it swimming or soaking under any waterfalls, but I'll keep my vision.

Below Steffen and Sumy are ready to break some trail. It seemed as if we were the first skiers of the season.
It snowed fairly heavily during our ski into the hot springs. We encountered some winds but they could have been much worse. The winds overnight covered up most of our tracks on the way out the next day.
Steffen totally tricked us out by telling us that the halfway point was when we were 3/4 of the way there. (he really thought we were only halfway.. i love it when that happens) That was pretty sweet because mentally I was ready for another 4 or 5 miles haha.. then a mile or two later you think, "we're here already??" We were able to get to the hot springs and set up the tents before all light faded.
In the middle of the night we had both howling winds and moments where everything was completely still. When it was really windy my tent's vent would flap in the wind and I swore that there was a moose circling my tent or some sort of creature.. but no footprints in the morning. I could feel the temperatures plummeting as the morning came, and awoke to a crystal clear morning. Dang, yo! If it was going to be clear I would have hoped for it being clear the night before so we'd have a chance of some fabulous aurora watching. But at the same time I was thankful that it wasn't brutally cold. It was hard enough to get out of the toasty sleeping bag!
I wish I had more pictures but my camera collected a lot of condensation on the lens and most of my pictures turned out blurry from the 110 degree difference in the hot springs and the ambient air. Note to self, wipe off lens when taking pictures in the hot springs.. I will post some of the actual springs when I get a hold of Steffen and Sumy's pictures. The morning was spectacular.. a little bit windy at times but otherwise everything was so peaceful.

We headed back into the twillight, not seeing the sun come above the horizon.
Below Steffen got a picture of me trying to avoid the overflow. It didn't work...We had to stop a few times to get the ice off of our skis from the overflow sections since it froze instantaneously.

Back on the road again into the fading twilight... another great trip with fantastic people...

Chena Hot Springs Bike Classic

High today: 56
Low today: 49

Went on my first "road ride" ever today. Well, I guess second, because the first was "Pedal Pittsburgh" when I was 10 years old or so. But that was a long time ago. Debbie decided to do the CHSBC with me last minute (or maybe she had been planning for awhile but didn't tell me til the night before? :-) ) so I had an extra shove to wake up early in the pouring rain to do this ride. Without her coming over for breakfast, I would have said screw it and curled into a ball in my nice dry bed and stayed there for 4 more hours. The rain was actually refreshing except for the cold feet part, where we just reminded ourselves, "HOT SPRINGS! HOT SPRINGS!" to stay motivated, as the hot springs was the end point of the ride.

(Thanks Debbie for the pics!)

I'm really glad I decided to do this ride, as I was able to make some 20/30-something cycling friends and FINALLY found another female mountain biker in Fairbanks who raced competitively at one point. Finally.. where have you people been?! Why has it taken me so long to find you?? Here I was beginning to believe that younger mountain bikers did not exist in Fairbanks.