I must be in Alaska ...

because I'm running like a mad woman (70 miles in the last four days) and I've already felt two pretty sizable earthquakes.

Photos coming just as soon as I slow down long enough to post them, but in the meantime, here's a teaser ... some panoramics from last night's run from Ptarmigan up Blacktail in Chugiak.

Glaciers and Fossils and Bears, Oh My!

I arrived to Anchorage on a Thursday night, and by Friday Kim, Bernadette and I were headed to McCarthy, an old mining town right in the throes of one of the most spectacular places in Alaska, Wrangell St. Elias National Park.

Kim has a friend who lives year round in McCarthy. Conveniently, John is a pilot. He also owns a B&B and the town's tire repair shop. After making the 6 hour drive to Chitina, John saved us a long 90 miles of dirt road to McCarthy by meeting us with his plane.

In the following two days, we flew above the spectacular glaciers and jagged peaks surrounding McCarthy, landing on both a glacier and high mountain bluff. From the high mountain bluff we hiked a little ways to a place filled with petrified wood, snails, leaves, etc. The fossils were everywhere, and AMAZING!

On our last morning, before we flew, then drove out, I woke up at 6 a.m. to go for a 17-mile run along the edges of a glacier. The photo above was taken at my turnaround spot. What a spectacular way to end a spectacular weekend!

(Note: I didn't actually see any bears - although I saw plenty of signs of them - but I did see a really cute porcupine lumbering down the trail, while out for my early morning run. I followed him for a bit, and then when I realized we were going nowhere fast, I politely asked him to move, which sent him into a fluster - he scurried up the narrowest, most rubbery tree around).

(Second note: Any of the photos can be looked at larger by double clicking on them)

Bernadette and Kim

The Matanuska Glacier, which we passed on our drive out to McCarthy

On the road toward Chitina

John coming in for a landing to pick us up and take us to McCarthy

Bernadette and Kim in front of John's plane

Taking off over the Copper River

View on our way into McCarthy

Flying over a glacier as we near McCarthy

John piloting the plane

Coming in for a landing

John's house in McCarthy

A piece of ice just hanging out in the river

Bernadette checking out a wicked cool rock

Bernadette and a cute horse

John helps Kim out of the plane after we land on a bluff - 5,000 feet above the river valley - huge cliffs dropped down on all sides

Look for the parked plane in the lower left corner

Bernadette checks out a fossil of a giant snail

Petrified wood

Lots of little snail fossils

One amazing discovery after another

And so well preserved too

John applies duct tape to the wing of the plane before takeoff - I didn't dare ask why

Kim is all grins

One last view out from the plane before we take off to fly around glaciers

Just spectacular

As I was photographing the glaciers from the plane John asked me if I wanted to open the door to get better images. "Umm ... yeah!" I stammered. He reached over, undid a latch, and pop - the plane door swung open up toward the wing, leaving nothing but air between me and the glaciers oozing, crushing, squeezing and spilling below. What a rush!

So many mountains just begging to be explored

Stairway Icefall

More of Stairway Icefall

Circling back toward McCarthy

Me near where we landed on a the glacier

One of many cool views as we hiked around on the glacier

At 11 p.m. the sky almost had the feel of nighttime

Arriving back at the plane after walking around on the glacier

BUT before takeoff John needed to check a couple of wires that appeared to come loose

The glacier's great texture as seen from the air

This is my Cathedral

Soft evening sun cascaded over the nearly deserted town; low-hanging gray clouds diffused its glow, as if to agree with me: "Yes, so familiar, but distant too." The sites passed by reminiscently. An intersection near where I used to work. The mortgage company where I applied for a loan when I almost bought a house. The construction project I wrote about for the newspaper. Such mundane memories that grabbed time, twisted and folded it, until yesterday blurred with eons, leaving tomorrow upside down.

Alaska's succulent smell brought me back to the present - high mountain tundra mingling with arctic sea breeze, mediated by budding woodlands. I breathed in deeply, allowing the vastness to pulse through me and wash over me. Ever since I moved to Alaska in 2003 my favorite part of returning home was smelling the state with fresh nostrils, appreciating its utter contrast from crowded cities and dry, dusty roads.

On the flight from Denver to Anchorage the pilot nearly made me jump out of my seat when he announced over the intercom: "To your right you'll see Jackson Hole and the Tetons." I pressed my nose hard against the scratched window. Below I spied Jenny Lake - the destination for Karen's and my bike-ski excursion in April. My eye traced the long straight road leading from Jenny Lake to Jackson. Every inch of my being felt like I was peering at home.

I always thought Alaska would be home. I'd referred to it as base camp, and more than once spoke about my love affair with this rugged northern state. What, in six short months, evoked such a change of heart?

The day after I arrived to Alaska I climbed with a couple of friends up Mount Baldy - Eagle River's iconic mountain. My feet have plodded up its steep, slick sides so many times that I know its every groove, rock and alder. As we approached the summit, I caught a glimpse of Eagle River Valley spilling out - frothy and green - to the east. Behind us the Knik Arm shimmered under the sweet sun and my favorite blueberry field seemed to be just a stone's throw away. "Now THIS is home," I thought.

The mountains - whether the Tetons, the Andes or the Chugach - will always be my cathedral, my sanctuary, my playground, my home.

June Flurries

Just a few days before I left Jackson, to head for Alaska, Martha and I took a nice leisurely hike to Goodwin Lake. Despite the calendar date that read roughly mid-June, it snowed on us while we ate lunch by the lake, and the hike up was not without post holing. Still, we had a great time, and Zippy and Riley loved it.

Medias Naranjas

My little brother Brad just got engaged! Congrats to him and his wonderful fiance Meg. They truly are "medias naranjas!" (This is a Spanish phrase meaning "orange halves." The English equivalent would be "other half" or something akin to "two peas in a pod.") Since Brad and Meg already seemed to be a happily married couple from the very first time I met Meg and saw the two of them interact, I have not a doubt in my mind that their lives will be rich and full, and they'll be better people because of each other. Brad, you make a big sis proud!

Front Seat Feud

The last two weeks I was in Jackson (before heading to Alaska) I took care of Miss Riley ... Zippy's good friend, and also partner in feud. Every day was a constant battle for the supreme position of riding "co-captain."

The following photos were taken over the course of several days ...

Sometimes Zippy ended up with the privileged upfront seat; other times Riley asserted her authority as queen bee. Regardless, the back-and-forth jostling before the two finally resigned themselves to that day's seating arrangement resulted in some pretty hilarious - and new - ways for a pup to ride in a car.