Full moon, friends and freedom

Tonight was so awesome! I went with Ed, Karen and Kim ... three of my very favorite people ... to run the Bear Mountain Loop. With the full moon, crystal clear air and brisk 20 degree temperature, it was a PERFECT night to be out! Often we didn't even need our headlamp. From the top of Bear Mountain we could see from Anchorage to Wasilla, and beyond to the silhouette of the Talkeetnas.

Coming down there's a straight 1,000 foot drop off the mountainside, which funnels into a luge-type trail ... the trail grade, banking corners and overarching trees make it the perfect place to let loose ... and let loose I did. My feet thudded as fast as my heart as I caressed the hard packed snow, my headlamp casting just enough light to give me a few seconds warning of oncoming branches and rocks.

I told Ed, Karen and Kim that they must have orchestrated the evening to such perfection so that I would remember it vividly, and come back to Alaska before too long ...