Tundra wandering

Joanna, Zippy and I left Monday for a "portable denning" trip. (Note: much the way a parent of a newborn starts to use baby talk, my vocabulary has taken on puppy overtones). We headed six hours north up to the Denali Highway and launched from a beautiful bluff named McClaren Summit.

We spent the next five days strolling over tundra covered with lakes and caribou. Glaciers spilled out of distant mountains, while nearby scree-filled peaks created a natural amphitheater. Sun and rain intermittently poured through fluffy, ominous, accentuated clouds - a playground straight from the divine.

(I accidentally uploaded photos in reverse order ... so the photos start with the end of the trip, and end with the beginning of the trip).

Taking it to the Max... on Max's Run

Today was another blow your socks right off your feet day... or a blow your boots right off your socks day... or a blow your skis right off your boots day... or a blow the snow right off your skis day... yeah, that's it! All sorts of snow definitely blew off our skis today!

Oh and did I mention the views! Maybe the new name of this blog outta be "Another spectacular day." There seems to have been a lot of those lately. And we're only in the beginning of February... the month of snow and sunshine! MY CHEEKS ACTUALLY GOT ROSEY TODAY! It's the first time I've skinned up in the sun all season. Haleluja to longer days, cold temperatures and light snow to boot!

Two weeks since the last snow fall and still plenty of fresh tracks to be had

Ben sunbathing on the peak

Look at those rosey cheeks

Weather inversion baby! It was warm up on top... a good 10 degrees!

I really like this photo! We skied right through the colds and into the cold temps below

Ben making some sweet turns in sweet snow!

Ben, watch out for the wall of clouds!

Sweet dreams and other things

This is what happens when you spend the evening (or should I say early morning) sending article queries to magazines, cover letters to travel guides and reading page after page in the forum at telemarktips.com... you enter a happy place where life feels at your finger tips, the world is a playground and anything is possible. The discouragement, the frustration, the petty annoyances of life melt like butter in a microwave or ice cream on my tongue... and it's just me and my computer and my writing and my happiness.

The signature of one of the guys on telemarktips.com is "at 32 degrees water turns to magic." I like it! It's true!

Last week I went out to Arctic Valley to go skiing with Jess, a girl I met on "The Alaska Ski Bunnies" google group. Even if I hadn't made a single turn the whole day, I'd of still had an incredible day... the views were that spectacular! It's was one of those "I can't believe I'm alive moments." As we drove up Arctic Valley Road we passed through a thick layer of clouds and then popped out onto the other side where the stars above were fading into the morning alpenglow. Below a sea of white clouds stretched as far as the eye could see.... beyond where Anchorage would be, beyond Cook Inlet, beyond... to where Denali and Foraker towered... snowy white masses against blue skies.

The moon set and we began laying in a skin track.

Later that day I went to work. The beautiful thing about living in Anchorage and working a 2 p.m. to 11 p.m. job is that I can literally go skiing before work... literally climb above the clouds and make turns back down... then earn some money in the afternoon.

While I'm on this telemark train... it's also worth sharing that I raced my very first ski race last Thurs. at Alyeska. A few friends and I formed a team for town league. We're the City Slickers. Basically this means we go telemarking every Thurs. night, run through the race course a few times on our way down and drink a beer or two in the bar afterwards while they announce results and give away door prizes. Good fun!!!!

Not telemark related, but snow related... the snow removal trucks came through our neighborhood last week. It's quite an operation. Having traveled the last couple of winters, I'd forgotten all about the snow piling, blowing and dumping that takes place. The photos tell it all....

Today when I was running I actually formed icicles on the peach fuzz on my cheeks! It was a crazy sight (I saw my reflection in my house window before stepping back inside and it just looked so cool... literally and figuratively). I've formed icicles on my eye lashing, braids and nose hairs before... but I think this is a first for cheek peach fuzz. Wowsers!

So with that, good night and good luck (as Mr. Murrow would say) from this frigid northern wonder land! Hopefully, I'll dream either about skiing or traveling tonight... that would be sweet dreams indeed.