Denali in the distance

I took this photo while driving home around midnight. Denali sprouts through the clouds, a couple hundred miles in the distance. Ahhh ... beautiful Alaska!

Equinox in Fairbanks

Last weekend I went to Fairbanks with my friend, Greg, for the Equinox Marathon. We did the relay. I ran the third and last leg of the race ... perfect because it was all down hill and I got to cross the finish line!

While the race was great - super fun and a beautiful course - perhaps the best part of the weekend was just having time to chill. We stayed with Greg's friends, John and Tina, who were fabulous hosts. We spent the weekend sitting in Tina's hot tub, making delicious food, talking about whatever and drinking coffee, tea, beer and wine (at separate times, of course). I came back more relaxed and calm than I've been in a while.

Also, it was a great time of year to make the six hour drive (each way) to and from Fairbanks. Reds, oranges and yellows blanketed the tundra, mountains and trees, while peaks were cloaked in white from the season's first snow. September is definitely one of my favorite months in Alaska.

Our team for the Equinox marathon: Lisa, Greg and me.
John and Tina (who we stayed with) and their third team member in the relay
Me crossing the finish line
We were driving along and noticed this reflection on a perfectly still pond

The Nenana River ... we walked down to it while taking a break from driving

Me and Xela

Greg and Xela Xela
Greg eating some blueberries we found Greg

Denali

Barrow and back

As part of the media, I got the opportunity to fly up to Barrow (the northern-most city in Alaska) with the Coastguard. We followed Alaska's northern coast to arrive at Barrow with the idea of getting a look at the ice in the Arctic Ocean.

In terms of getting a quality story, not a lot came out of the day. First, we (nearly 30 reporters and photogs) were in a C-130 (a cargo plane with very few windows), so at certain points you had to basically shove to get anywhere near a window. Second, Coastguard has only been in Barrow for a couple of weeks and at this point doesn't have specific answers about much of anything. And it sounds like things are pretty unorganized, at least right now.

(The Coastguard brought some personnel and equipment into the area to determine what it would take to fully patrol the Arctic Ocean. As ice recedes and the possibility of a northern passage becomes ever so slight, several northern nations are jockeying for position. Also, cruise ships have started to sail into the Arctic Ocean.)

We never got to go into the town of Barrow -- just stayed at the airport for the hour we were on the ground. So the highlight of the trip on a personal level was circling close to the peak of Denali on the way home. What an incredible, impressive mountain! We were so close, I felt like I could reach out and touch the top. Unfortunately my photos didn't come out super well. In large part due to the "paparazzi" around the sole larger window.