Lost Lake Cabin (Dale Clemens Cabin)

Ron, the dogs, and I spent our extended Veterans' Day weekend at the Lost Lake/Dale Clemens Cabin. The trailhead is about 5 miles north of my favorite-so-far Alaskan city, Seward. We got off to a late start on Friday, which was my fault. The weekend destination was a surprise to Ron, so he didn't realize how long it would take to get to wherever it was I was taking him. We arrived at the trailhead at about 5 o'clock. November in Alaska is unforgiving - it was getting dark quickly! We started our short hike (about 2.5 miles) up the mountain towards the cabin with enough light to see the snow-covered trail. But about halfway up we both donned our headlamps. And then the trail disappeared. Whoops. We just kept going up and up and somehow stumbled almost directly into the cabin! In case you're ever in the same predicament, look for this:


The weather was spectacular. We hiked up a ways to get a better view of Resurrection Bay and Seward. Check out the views!!


A post-hike nap:

Meese!!

Allow me to introduce you to Meese nos. 81 and 82. This photo was taken right around the corner from my house this morning as I was on my way to the voting booth. By the way, you can double click the photo to bring up a larger version.

The eagle has landed...

How many people get to look out their office window to see a bald eagle perched on top of a tree? This guy is massive - when he flew away the few of us watching him stood there with our mouths open in awe. You wouldn't want to see this guy swooping down toward you!

Halloween Hullabaloo

Last Tuesday Jen and I decided to host a Halloween party at my house on Friday. With only 4 days notice Wrigley started to panic over his costume selection. He went through a gypsy phase, but once he realized that he actually resembled an old lady without teeth, he opted for the ever-popular male ballerina in a tu-tu.















Honestly, Wrigs often stands like a ballerina with his two front paws, so when I saw the skirt while shopping for my costume I couldn't pass it up. Once I put the skirt on Wrigley he seemed a little concerned that he'd be ridiculed by the other dogs (see the furrowed brow?), i.e. Dakota. Dakota had a cool vampire costume and would NEVER wear a tu-tu.






But, as you can see, Wrigley finally became comfortable in his costume and even took a liking to his new skirt and put on a little dancing show by the end of the night.

80 Meese + snow = Winter in Alaska

I took Wrigley for a run yesterday along the Chester Creek Trail. About 10 minutes into his run and my being pulled along behind him we rounded a corner and BAM! there was a bull moose (no. 80) blocking our path! He'd already lost the rack off his right side (so I didn't feel like I could tell him he has a nice rack, something I've been waiting to do for a long time), but still looked intimidating! Wrigley didn't notice Bullwinkle right away, but as soon as he did he clearly didn't know what to make of him. This was his first moose sighting - he's got a lot of catching up to do! Wrigs half growled and barked, and then started to pull on the leash as though he was going to show this moose who's boss, but then he decided he'd better sniff the leaves and behave like a dog instead. Eventually Bullwinkle moved out of our way and we were able to continue our little trot. Then today Wrigley experienced another first: snow. He seems to dig the snow and likes slipping around on icy patches while chasing a tennis ball. Wonder what tomorrow will bring...

Alaska State Fair

Ron, Val, Brent and I went to the Alaska State Fair while it was still "summer"... just got some pics. In addition to a 1,019 lb pumpkin, there was this prize winning 4.7 lb carrot and 73.4 lb cabbage...that's farmer Brent there with the cabbage. Looks like he's gearing up for next year's competition. :)

And what's a state fair without a little ferris wheel action? Here Ron and I are enjoying a few spins of the wheel after we stopped by the demolition derby, "rat race" betting table, a crazy hippie selling things you can apparently buy at any hardware store for 1/3 of the cost, and Hobo Jim's performance at the Sluice Box (no yodeling, bummer). I wish I'd taken some photos of the backdrop to the fair. Palmer, the host city, is surrounded by jagged mountains. Needless to say, the setting was MUCH more impressive than the Illinois State Fair in Springfield (sorry Mom and Dad).

By the way, the moose count is up to 78 - I've seen 7 "meese" in the last week in my neighborhood! Bet they're looking for that cabbage...

Ready to Hit the Trail Again

After some good sleep, Wrigs was ready to go again the next morning. Here he is annoying the heck out of Siku, who was already unhappy because he wasn't into carrying his own pack. You can see Wrigley's slow growing hair on his back leg (the surgery leg) in the bottom photo. I'm just a touch biased, but isn't he cute?!

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Here is Ron with the yellow dogs after our trip to the Cabin. Think they're zonked?!

Resurrection Trail/Fox Creek Cabin

So here we are at the Fox Creek Cabin. As in we, I mean Ron, Tom, Jen, Siku, Lady Lou, Dakota, Wrigley, and myself (WHEW!). These photos were taken after a grueling mountain bike ride from the Hope side of Resurrection Trail about 12 miles to the Fox Creek Cabin. The ride wouldn't have been so tough had we not had to slog through thick mud. B.L.E.C.K. I wish I'd taken a picture of my bike, that's it on the left on the first pic, because it was oozing with mud, grass, and chunks of who knows what. Also, I should clarify that the ride was tough only for yours truly. Tom and Jen, along with Tom's dogs, hiked into the cabin. Ron, Dakota and Wrigley made the trip look like a leisurely stroll down a paved bike path. Don't let my smile fool you. So that left moi all alone in the deep mud, also deep in bear country. I was lucky to make it through a muddy section without being either kicked off my bike (proper pedals and shoes are ordered and on their way, yipee!) or burying my back tire in enough mud that I had to get off the bike and wade through the rest of the section. Needless to say, I was getting frustrated, very frustrated. Thank goodness no one was around to witness it...let's just say that I almost broke into the stash of Crown I was carrying in my backpack. But, as my third grade teacher used to say, I turned my frown upside down, glanced around at the breathtaking scenery (maybe not the best idea since my breath was already taken for most of the ride), and finally made my way to the cabin.

Best Fish Ever

No pics this time, but I did want to fill you in on those yummy sockeyes pictured below. My parents came to visit soon after I caught those babies and we had some for dinner at a BBQ party the night they arrived in Anchorage. My mom, who is an excellent cook, said they were the "best fish she's ever had"! How about that?! Then we went halibut fishing out of Ninilchik and ALL limited out. Gotta love freezers full of fish (and berries from your backyard). I have some pics of a mountain bike/cabin trip I took a couple of weekends ago with Ron, Tom, and Jen (plus four dogs!!) - I'll get those posted soon. It was Wrigley's first non-surgery related adventure, and he kicked my a** up the mountain.

Fish on...finally!!

Two nights ago I drove down to the Kenai Peninsula with some friends to go fishing for sockeye salmon (aka "reds"). I've been fishing a countless number of times this summer and have so far hooked into a 70 lb King salmon (it's teeth sawed through my line - ewwww - and it got away with my lure), a silver (my knot failed and it got away with my lure, you see a theme here), several pounds of various river vegetation, and a rock. In other words, I had yet to land a fish! So I wasn't exactly confident in my ability to catch anything...other than a plant or rock. But my luck changed! I managed to "limit out," which means I caught as many fish as the Alaska Department of Fish and Game allows!! I landed three reds, which are somewhere on this stringer (must be the biggest three you can see - actually, the one on the far right end is the last one I caught). I even bonked them on the head, slit their gills to bleed them, and filleted them! I'll let you know how they taste... By the way, no making fun of my waders.

First Entry

Rather than send out a massive email to 50+ people, I thought I'd better get with the program and create my own blog/website. Now you guys can check in on me at your leisure (or never!), and I'll be able to post photos (as AOL wasn't making photo-posting easy). Hope you enjoy the site! Speaking of photos, here's Wrigley! These aren't his best shots (he's actually MUCH cuter when you can see his face), but at least you get the idea. We have his 2 week post-op check-up tomorrow morning! Hope he hasn't hurt his leg - keep your fingers crossed!

I woke up a little after 5 am this morning to an earthquake. Alaska experiences earthquakes on a daily basis, but this is the first one I've actually felt. It was a 4.8 and the fault line is about 10 miles from here. Yikes! You can check out some pretty cool earthquake info (and see how many are in Alaska each day!) here: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/