First snow!

Yesssssssssssss! We had our first snow! (the first flurries were on the 22nd - just one day after average.) Not going to lie, I was a little torn about whether or not to want snow yet. On one side I was thinking about all the non-snow activities I might still be able to squeeze in once my knee recovers enough to play again, but on the other end, deep down inside, I was ok with the snow. I think that is a good sign to still get great joy out of the sight of the beautiful fluffy stuff whether in small flurries or in a horrendous snowstorm. Because hey, wherever you are living, you chose to live there. Why not rejoice in what you're given? I have never been around so many snow lovers and it makes it all the better.

Some flowers sport a couple of inches of snow in Delta.

Feels like summer never happened!

My friend Jenny gave me this plant on Easter of this past year and it finally produced a flower and opened on the first day of snow!

The only visitor we had was one of the flying kind...

Chucking bike frames

A couple of weeks ago we had a "frame throwing contest" at Adam's bday party. A frame you say - a picture frame?? Nope.. old, rusty bike frames that are no longer usable. What a flashback to undergrad days! Haha. Thanks to Brandy for the photos!

I won 1st place in the women's division thanks to good luck and unknown frame throwing skills.. yesssssss! Adam and I show off our awards.

And why such a flashback to undergrad?? Oh, you know.. mini-bike races.. and misc other things... here is a buddy from undergrad, Rich, jumping into very cold water on a 35 degree day at a race in Massachusetts circa '06.. I remember this one so vividly! We got him to go in twice! And yes, that's me giggling like a goof in the background..

Keep Pushin'

Bike mileage: 18

13 mph...14 mph...15 mph...14 mph... ok, it looked like I was going to crawl along at 14 mph comfortably on flat road. On a road bike on flat road that is a pretty poor pace, but what mattered was that I was spinning, and my legs needed to adjust to what seemed so unnatural.

3 months and 1 day since I have been able to bike on real ground without having any pain. But on this day, 20 days after surgery, I did it and did it well. Today I was very hesitant to go on the LOL ride today after having a slightly "down" morning with the knee. But it seems that pain while walking around is not translating over to pain while biking. So on this, my first bike ride more than 5 miles in over 3 months, I was able to bike the full 18 miles of the LOL ride without a flinch of knee pain. Nothing was catching in there.. nothing hurt. It was then that I decided the knee surgery really was a success because I am able to do what makes me thrive. About a third of the way through the ride I was able to pick up the pace a couple of mphs, but nothing like I was able to do comfortably back in June. I'm not really used to going slow.. not even when commuting... I like to feel the wind in my face. It's more of a game to me than anything seeing how fast I can go down a hill. But today I was not worried about bringing in the rear because I was focused on not pushing too hard and enjoying the aroma of the falling leaves and what color is still left in the hills... not to mention being extremely thankful that I could bike and not hurt. The things we take for granted! Ballaine Hill gave me hell getting up it, but it didn't hurt. Slow and steady was the game. My butt hurt halfway through the ride for the first time in many many years. My muscles were asking me what the heck I was doing to them. But it all felt very good. I let 'er rip down Ballaine Hill and got to a max speed of 39 mph before thinking about the cracked helmet from June's bad bike crash (pre-injury) sitting in my house.. which prompted me to give the brakes a little bit of love.

Celine came along too and we respectively represented our alma maters.. whose teams are football enemies. :) Goooooooo Nittany Lions!
I spent the first half of the ride talking with Lindy, and we found we had a ton of similiarities. She wrote a very nice write up on her blog. The next two photos I've stolen from her. :)

The LOLs, Ladies of Leisure, are a group of women who ride every Thurs in town and are what their name suggests. Though, I think they are 5 times faster than they were in early June when I last rode with them! The best part about them other than their love of cycling is that their rides are focused around what food people bring for the end of the ride. :) Glad we have our priorities straight!

It's good to be back before the snow flies!

The smell of autumn

Autumn has come and is about to go! One windy night and the leaves will be all gone. We got some rain yesterday that wiped a lot of the leaves down, but there are still a few hanging on. The smell of dying plants and high bush cranberries is rather pungent this time of year, sending one into a sense of euphoria.. errr at least to someone who likes this time of year! Breathe in it, suckers! It won't be here for long. Soon it will be skis and fat tired bikes. Not such a bad thing...
Steve, Cameron and I took on the Upper Chena yesterday and barely made it back to shore before dark. The Upper Chena is much calmer than the Chatanika but still pretty and had a few sweepers and small waves. We got caught in two rain showers in the 18 mile float, but honestly being caught in a rain shower means I was getting out, and that is always a good thing. Despite the lack of sunshine we still had a nice time enjoying the fall colors and laughing about the stuff we could have used that was accidentally left in the car.
Winter is looming.. at work I checked out the weather models and our first chance for snow is either the 22nd or 23rd. Did I mention how much I love snow?!

I spy something silver in the trees! Could it be the Silver Bullet???? :)

Bike some, ice knee well, repeat!

Chillin' on the Chatanika

Hoooooray! After feeling very down for a lot of this weekend because of perfect weather (70 and sunny, doesn't get better than that.) and inability to enjoy it fully AND knowing that last year on this weekend I had the most scenic bike trip ever, Erica and Steve invited me on a float trip up on the Chatanika. I was totally pumped about this, because I have been fighting with a semi-handicapped-ness in the sense that I am able to get around just fine and walk, but not for very long - so mentally I am in a go-go-go mood but my legs are like - "what the crap are you trying to do?! I still have stitches in me! You should be sitting down and wasting time away watching movies!" So, a less than 3 hour float on a new river was just up my ally. I sat there and barked orders at my paddling chauffeurs and provided commentary... and Twizzlers.

Colors are at their peak right now. But the good news is I get another (east coast!) autumn in October..... mmm speckled trees! Remembering that makes me not feel so bad about missing a few of my favorite weeks of the year here.

Erica was our guide. She used to be a canoeing guide down in Georgia so I trusted her with my life to not knock us in the water. So I guess this was a bit risky of a trip for me because it would blow chunks to have fallen out caught up in a sweeper without full swimming capabilities, but it was a risk I was very willing to take for this last beautiful weekend of the year. Everything worked out. But it sure was an exciting float trip. There were a lot of sweepers, tight turns, fast-moving water, and small rapids. A lot of stories didn't get finished because Erica and Steve would get distracted by more-intense-than-usual manuevers.

Cam tried so hard to nap on the trip but it was a bit too bumpy for him to pass out.. though it looks like he is below.

Thumbs up for floating something more exciting than the usual! I could get into this.

We made contact with a few trees... err.. maybe 4 or 5 total.. there were 3 in a row that we could not avoid. I was able to get my sunglasses on, sweatshirt hood up, and get down to canoe level but Cam shows some damage below from the sweeper contact. He was such a trooper!

I took a ton of pictures with Steve's fancy camera so once I get them from him I'll post more of the colors. In the meantime, my camera is at a near-death state.. moreso now because it got some water damage. It decided to turn on today (by itself), and let me grab these photos, so maybe it needs another day to dry out. Maybe it's just going to malfunction from now on. Meh, now's not the time to buy a new one so hopefully it will make it through another few months! This blog would suck without pictures!

Walk. Don't Run.

I got the nicest package in the mail today from some friends back in PA. The best part about it is that there were grilled stickies from The Diner in State College in it! Yummmmm. You know I am attracted to free food. In undergrad I was able to find a free lunch or dinner several times a week. Not so much here at the small university. Anyway.. too bad the package couldn't be retrieved on the 29th when it actually got here. Good thing is, the stickies are still absolutely delicious. :) Lots of other bum-around things in the package too!I've been taken care of really well by the friends I've been staying with. Anna has not only graciously invited me into her home (with running water!) but has been cooking for me as well. Here is one of my earlier meals when I was not able to keep much food down. The zucchini came out of my "garden". :) I can't tell you how miserable recovery would have been at the cabin for many reasons. I will spare you those details.
Here is a picture of Celine, Ashlee, Joel and Celine's parents visiting from the midwest, the day before surgery. Joel and Celine have been popping in and out of the place I'm stayinsg at. It has been nice getting random visitors.

Susitna registration is open!

Registration for the Susitna 100 and Lil' Su 50k is open.

....who's with me?!!!!!!!!!!!
(p.s. let's ignore the fact that I'm still using a crutch. It's 5 months away!)

Surgery Success!

Surgery went well today. It was a very easy process and I remember nothing! Last I remember was that the anesthesiologist said "this might sting a little going into the iv", and BOOM, out like a light! He said before I passed out that I would sleep for 10 mins or so and then likely be conscious. Nope! Completely passed out for the entire process and woke up as they were putting an ACE bandage on. I blame that on the exhaustion I went into the procedure with. It was a great nap! I was hoping to watch them, and see the little scope gadgets and tools, but my sleeping abilities hindered that from happening. I look forward to my doc appt tomorrow to hear if I really was passed out the entire time or just don't remember anything. Right now I am feeling really good other than not being able to keep any food down and a few minor side effects from meds. When I got out of the hospital I was ready to crutch a few laps around the building..... but someone said that wasn't a good idea... ha ha. :) I can't feel anything right now because the local anesthetic has most of my leg numbed up. Here's hoping that everything that was bothering me is now fixed for a happy knee and many more crazy miles. Thanks to everyone who has helped out thus far.. I'm not at home for a few days so if you want to provide entertainment, call the cell. :)

Here's to realistic visions of bike trips..... and maybe the Equinox next summer. I'm hoping to be back on the bike by the Equinox marathon in 3 weeks so I can ride around and harass everyone who is running to run faster. Just you wait. ;)

Free Water at the Fox Spring

I had to share this picture from Carlene because it made me giggle..... after our trip to Grapefruit Rocks a couple of weeks ago, we made sure to have our water jugs in the car to get some free water on the way home at the Fox Spring. I hear it's the best water around. Water is water to me..... though, campus water is pretty nasty (like most campuses, I think.) People always ask about this "dry cabin" thing and where we get our water. Here's a visual for you!

Back to hiking

Last weekend before I go on crutches and recovery so it was time to push the limits a little bit. Weird thing is, hiking doesn't bother me very much except for the steeper downhill stuff. I can power up uphills like there's nothing wrong. What a change. ;) You know what this means though, I might be forced to get good at running uphills.. a skill I have never possessed and never been too motivated to work on. Something good comes out of everything, right? ;) Although I've done this hike from Angel Rocks to CHS many times already and really wanted to run it earlier this year, it was still a very pleasant hike and perfect weather. And the company was good. Steffen is leaving soon to move to England - huge bummer! I've known that for awhile, though. Two women from Davis, CA who were working up on the slope with Steffen - Mary and Kat - joined us on the hike (err actually, it was their idea). They were LOADS of fun and had a lot of good stories. Mary reminded me of one of my old roommates. We ended up staying at the hot springs and bar until pretty late. There was some extremely good people watching at the hot springs.. ha! I will never cease to be amused by that activity.

Kat, Steffen and Mary up on the ridgeline.the awkward 'we don't know each other that well' group shotAnd on a happy note, I am sore. I love being sore. A feeling of accomplishment maybe?

Shooting the Breeze at Gelvin's Cabin on the Charley River

As the summer seemed to be closing in on a very uneventful note (as far as travels go), something miraculous happened and I was invited on two (and potentially three) trips non-work related basically within a week to new places. And you know that I could not say no to any of them.I got to go out to Yukon-Charley NP for a week out seriously in the middle of nowhere for 8 days. I stayed at/near Gelvin's cabin working as Ben's assistant/bear guard (ha!). We were supposed to see a bunch of hunters, because last year at this time there were 40 people who flew into there.. but NO ONE and I mean, NO ONE flew in until the 8th day, the day I was leaving. So much for seeing people. But because there was literally 8 days of free time (other than cutting wood), I got a ton of relax time which was apparently very much needed, as I went from totally unmotivated before the trip to totally re-motivated and feeling revitalized after. It was time to read a couple of books and just gather thoughts and sleep and rest an extensive amount. I think that personal time is something that gets neglected for a lot of people...... or maybe it's just me, I don't know. But being forced to stay in a general area and only having access via foot through tussocks galore and through big trees may have been just what I needed after a slightly unplanned summer in AK.

I shot my first living animal.. a grouse that we cooked up for dinner. Something about cooking food that you yourself caught was satisfying. No processing.. just clean, gut out, and cook. I made Ben do all the dirty work though. Shooting I can do (thanks to growing up with rubber band guns?), but this time I decided to let someone else do the not-so-fun part.

If you click on the map you can see where we were at Gelvin's. We hiked up to the rapids one night and up to the old B-24 plane crash site another day.And this is the airstrip looking north.. what an airstrip huh?We saw probably 20 or so caribou during the week.. these two were outside the cabin window.Boredom and a need to feel useful prompted me to build this stand for sawing wood.All the days mesh together but I think on day 4 we decided to hike over to some rapids downstream. The hiking was not easy.. it was very rare to have solid ground. It was mostly tussock walking.Looking north down on the Charley River.

Ben suggested skirting the river for the hike back thinking it would be easier. It wasn't! The tussocks were easier to walk on than this sketchy talus.. at least for me. I guess it's debatable depending who you are.OROk, the tussocks were not always THIS bad. If they were, I might take the talus. ;)

After inspecting the sand for bear prints and only finding caribou and wolf prints, I decided to set up the tent alongside the river.

A couple of days later we hiked up to a crash site from winter solstice 1944 of a B-24 where 5 men died and one survived. Going up to the B-24 and seeing shards of airplane pieces scattered among the tundra was a humbling experience. Here is a news article about the airplane crash. Here is also a much easier to read magazine article about the crash. The man who survived wandered for 86 days in the wilderness, stopping at trappers' cabins along the way until he got to safety. What is more amazing is that the man who survived got out of the plane in -60 degree temperatures, and was not even wearing a pair of gloves or mittens.

I felt a little intrusive taking a picture with the airplane but did anyway figuring I might not make it back to this piece of history.5 small flags honor those who died in the crash.40 degree rain and wind helped to make a decision to go back to the cabin after the airplane visit rather than continuing on up the mountain.

Back to the toilet...
Back to the water...And back to flawless land...Here is a short clip of some caribou trying to figure out what we were. It felt like we were in the middle of 15 of them.

If you would like to experience the landing and taking off of a super cub, here's your chance!