Winter Wonderland

We went up to Glen Alps today to play in the new snow that's been falling! Also, we bought cross-country touring boots last spring for a song, and wanted to try them out. Jim's are great; mine pinch my feet (why did I buy women's instead of men's??), so we didn't get all that far. Still, it was fun to get up there and see the mountains covered in snow, although they were a bit windswept. Then we came home, Jim changed the oil (thanks!), and went to see the new James Bond movie. O, Daniel Craig...

Quite neglected

..you are. My apologies! For the love of lists and the lack of time I'm feeling now, I thought I'd present a list of topics I'd like to post about (and hopefully will in the near future):
- my utterly fantastic and gorgeous new clutch, whose name is Bess (I didn't even make that up, that's the model name!);
- the joy I got out of receiving great birthday presents from The Roommate, all within the 2008 Birthday Budget, and how good it feels to have a birthday budget in general;
- (potential) work excitement;
- birthday weekend at the fox farm;
- general excitement regarding what is to be soon regarded as My Year of Culture: a membership to the Anch. Museum and season tickets (you-pick) to the Anch. Concert Association;
- All Things Loon Related;
- I'm sorry, did I mention the purse yet?
- Reading a book that my newly-93-year-old grandmother has enjoyed so much that she read twice (and which I could hardly get to the end of);
- Halibut fishing girls weekend!
- Taiko drumming
- The visit by the in laws;
- the anniversary;
- Luna's third birthday;
- Rowing on Trail Lake;
- Biking up Hatcher Pass;
- Head of the Kenai;
- MS 150 bike ride;
- observing Grandpa Bob's passing;
- energy audits;
- Montana, Omaha, North Carolina, San Fransisco, Italy, Deadhorse by motorcycle, Australia! (a.k.a. trips planned in the next 13 months)

I suppose that is all for now. Good pictures coming soon, and a fulfillment of a birthday resolution to blog more (here's at'cha, Captain Colossal)!

Love,
B's Knees

On Top of the World!

Here are some quick recent photos from our trip up to the top of Jumbo Mine in Kennicott - can you believe people used to mine copper out of these mountains, waaaaaaay up here??


Kelly, Jim, and Erika on the way to the top. This is right before we start climbing the talus slope.
The talus slope going up. Can you find Erika in this picture?
Erika at the top of the talus slope. There is still maybe 300 more vertical feet up before reaching the mine. The Jumbo Mine! It is, of course, collapsed. But you're looking at the bunkhouse and tram beginnings:
From the ridge above the mine, we looked down onto this spectacular rock glacier. That's the Kennecott and Root glaciers beyond (Kennecott is dark; Root is light):

All the parks in the world...

...and this jerk had to walk into mine.
Jessy and I went running yesterday at Bicentennial Park, which is full of bears and moose and runners and mountain bikers and horses and other people and animals generally recreating. It's well traveled, but still gets a good dose of car break-ins at the trailhead and such. Jessy and I noticed a dog, a Chow mix, hanging around the trailhead when we left for our run, but there were several other cars in the lot, and a number of people milling around, loading or unloading themselves and their gear from their vehicles. When we came back from our run, an hour later, the dog was still there, and there were considerably fewer vehicles: just my bike, Jessy's truck, a big van, and a Subaru. Jessy knows the guy with the van, he was out biking with his Airedale. The Subaru appeared vacant.

Anyhow, this dog was obviously hanging around, not very friendly, very skittish, and very skinny. No tags. No collar. And Chows are notorious for being biters. So we were hesitant to try to touch him. We decided to call animal control, since it looked quite likely that someone had come and dropped their unwanted pet off at the trailhead.

While Jessy was on hold with information, the guy with the van came back. We described the situation to him, and he agreed with our plan of action. He had some dog treats, and was trying to lure the Chow into his van, because none of us thought it would be a good idea to try and pick the dog up (strange dog, biting breed, etc). As the dog was almost getting into the van, this man appears, exclaiming "What, are you trying to steal my dog?" in a very accusatory tone. We all were surprised, explained the situation, and expressed our relief that the Chow had an owner. Apparently, this guy had been sleeping in his car and just let his uncollared, untagged, unidentified dog wander around while he slept. He even said that his dog had bitten people for less than what we were doing, so he was glad the dog didn't bite us. Um, yeah, me too! Why would you let your unidentified, uncollared, biting dog wander around while you sleep in your car at a trailhead?!?!?! Call me crazy, but you're the guy in the wrong, buddy!

He was so peeved and indignant that it just turned me right off. I thought of all sorts of nasty things to say to him as I rode home, but since I was too late, I thought I'd just write it in this post. Some people!!!

Elllllllllliottttttttt Highway

That's right, Elliott with two L's and two T's. One $700 car rental (go, Ford Taurus sedan!), one flat tire, $300 in gasoline, and about 6 pounds of dust got me from Fairbanks to Manley Hot Springs in July. That's bug season, apparently.

Zee Road (that's Minto Flats in the distance):














Manley Hot Springs Slough:


Manley Hot Springs!


Aaahhhh, a soak in the concrete retaining structure, anyone?

Attempted bear print

Well, use your imagination. It was a small bear, the print only about 7 inches in diameter. But fresh-freshy-fresh! Right near those fascinating splash cups...

Beware - nerdy plants ahoy!

some wonderful plants from my July trip to the Elliott Highway:



Splash cups! These plants are amazing. They are shaped like a tiny cup (maybe 1/2 cm in diameter) with their seeds (the red beans) resting unattached in the bottom of the cup. They wait for a raindrop or a water splash to enter the cup, which then scatters the seeds! Talk about evolution.



Lovely ferns...these are only about 8 inches high. Mini-Boston. Boston-lite?











The money shot - lying on my belly in a field of Eriophorum - aka cottongrass - while the bugs feasted!