Quartz Creek Trail Rocks!

You can take that as "Quartz Creek Trail, ROCKS!" or "Quartz Creek Trail Rocks!", because either way works.

But this trail, in all honesty, is not for the faint of heart.

This ATV/backpacking/biking trail is not your afternoon leisurely stroll through the woods on a bike. Though it's a short 14+ mile distance, it's a taxing ride through the heart of the White Mountains, and tricky on the way out from fatigue. The entire mileage you are in full-fledged concentration, constantly finding the route of least resistance, wondering if your tire can clear that big rock. Amazingly, your tires can, and will with enough momentum! It's not the concentration as much as the fatigue in your upper body which is bound to set in, from CONTINUAL jolting of rocks. If one had a full suspension mountain bike, I feel like things would be a lot easier, but so it goes. If I would have remembered my cycling gloves, that would have even been better. But a great trail - the first 0.8 mile is an uphill with loose rocks - it's rideable if you like hills, but for me, it saved a lot of energy and just went as fast pushing my bike up. Once up that hill, the elevation change is easy going with some fun but technical decents, not to mention some fabulous views.Though the trail is merely an ATV trail, and never does go to singletrack, it has the same feel as singletrack in the sense of obstacle-avoidance, in that there is none in many places! I enjoyed the rocks, despite the fatigue, because it was a challenge.There was some water on the trail, but not a whole lot, and nothing deep like I read about before going on this trail. The creeks were welcome during our ride in order to cool off!


As you can see, our weather was just incredible. 80 degrees and sun shining brightly! Hooray for summer! This was potentially our last true day of summer weather in the Interior. I wouldn't be surprised if we hit the mid to upper 70s a couple more times, but I doubt it will get into the mid 80s again.

Someone turn off the heat! Not the sun.. I enjoy the sun! But it's a little too hot out for working this hard!
I was totally pumped for the downhill at the end. Here Celine comes down with her expression about the downhill.. it was kind of sketchy with all of the loose rocks, but we made it out of our 16 mile rocky ride unscatched. No branches in the legs or even falls.. guess we weren't going fast enough?!!

Maybe it's a good goal to do the full potential 35 mile ride.. maybe I'll save that for next year!

Map o' route.

Oh and beware of bears if you go up here. There was a big grizz spotted on July 30th around 10pm.. we were yelling and singing the entire ride and avoided such encounters. Lots of yummy berries alongside the trail for such furry creatures (and humans) to eat.

Post thesis defense shenanigans

Well I did it - I've added another two letters to the end of my name! (those academic M.S. ones!) The time since I arrived back in AK and hit the ground sprinting in a 4 week race all blends together in my memory, and now here I am, trying to figure out what is next. I finally got over my post-Vortex2 depression a couple weeks ago, so have been able to kick back and enjoy Fairbanks again. The really good thing is, that I have some time to blow before having to either commit to taking a job here or making a move. So, I'm going to just bide my time and have fun during my favorite non-snowy months! I have a week til I am completely off the hook with academia, but then - my true playtime begins.

But, to start it all off right, some friends and I went booze cruising to celebrate my defense, visiting the classy local establishments alongside the Chena River.
I had some pressure on me for this float, being the weather girl and all, because it hasn't stopped raining all week. But I was convinced the weather gods would work with me and sure enough they did, and all attendees had a fun time on the rain-less float!
I am almost positive that I didn't paddle our canoe more than 30 strokes the entire night, good thing I had Brian manuevering us around. I am normally better about contributing to a boating adventure, but Friday I was distracted by seeing friends rather than my cubicle wall and computer.On Saturday, Goldstream Sports and the Fairbanks Cycle Club threw together a 12-hour fundraiser event on the Ester Dome singletrack. I went up there to make a quick appearance and ride a couple of laps, and ended up riding more. Lorien, below, dressed up as a bird for the race. I laughed when I realized it was him because I heard someone say my name and was talking to me and I didn't even recognize him at the time, and thought it was another cycling friend.
Tyson and Joel coming down the course. I think most people just tooted around and didn't really "race" but some of these guys did. If I was in better health and shape, I would have been all over racing this event.. but it just wasn't feasible this year. It was a blast though and I hope they put it on again next year!

Davya helped out in recording our laps. Thanks Davya!

Celine, Jim, and I. That's the only time you will see a Penn State and Ohio State jersey together. :-) Go Nittany Lions!!

Ester Dome Singletrack

"It's only about a foot high" - famous last words. I would like to say that I think that jump was higher than a foot! Amazingly, had just enough speed to clear without flipping. Not exactly what I'd call good form by any means, but cleared, nonetheless. This is one of a few jumps on the brand new Ester Dome Singletrack. I'm pumped that Fairbanks finally has a trail with some obstacles other than roots. Rumor has it the trail crew is wanting to host a 12-hour race in a couple of weeks to raise money for the rest of the trail building. Hopefully something official will be announced sooner rather than later.
Finishing up my thesis post-summer project has been ridiculously difficult. The only thing I can do to concentrate is to block out the last two months temporarily. Hanging on with a tiny bit of exercise a day to stay sane, endless hours of thesising, and eating crappy processed food that doesn't take any preparation time. This will be all over in a couple weeks and then I'll do something interesting for you to read about.. maybe figure out what my next step is in another month!

The 4th of July in Eagle, AK

Spent the 4th of July in a very patriotic small town on the mighty Yukon River. Not a full week later, the Taylor Highway would be completely shut down for most of the remainder of summer due to continual heavy rains, and Eagle would be no longer accessible by vehicle until DOT got the road back into stable shape.Eagle saw their bout of flooding last spring, which wiped out most of the shoreline buildings.

Below is the remains a year later, with signs of rebuilding.

Sent friends off on their week long float trip to Circle. It was fun to be a part of their journey!

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.

Biking at 9,000 feet

After hauling my bike about 5300 miles, I finally got the chance to use it. ;)
I knew this was a potentially dangerous situation, as I got a bit altitude sick in April when I was hiking in Boulder. But, people have been taunting me with stories of Colorado trails for about 7 years now and there was no way I wasn't going to go check them out.

Felix took me out to Golden Gate Canyon State Park in the foothills of the Rockies on Saturday afternoon for an easy ride. I hadn't been on my bike for two months, and barely got to exercise for the last two months except hauling my suitcase up and down motel stairwells and an occasional run.Felix and his buddy Lou checking out the trail map.

I had a throbbing head from the trailhead onward up to 9,000 feet, but wasn't willing to say anything because it felt good to be back on the bike, let alone back on dirt and rocks and not bundled up in winter gear. I was able to figure out where my threshold was when my head was REALLY pounding.. we were almost at the top by that point. ;)Our easy ride turned into 3.5 hours... but that was bound to happen! My lungs were happy to roll down along the fast pavement on the way back to the car.