Limits

Jeff and I ventured out on another backpacking excursion on Saturday afternoon. We ignored the weather warnings, and decided to hike the four and a half miles to Reed Lakes. I already had the "not so up for backpacking again, but went anyway to make my love happy" feeling, when we heard a big rumble of thunder about a mile into our hike. We hardly ever hear thunder up here in Alaska (this was only my third time ever hearing it up here). I was suddenly giddy from the roaring thunder, but my spirits were soon crushed by the immediately down pour. I looked at Jeff and told him I didn't want to hike anymore. He encouraged me to push through, and said it would be an adventure. I said OK, and kept on truckin'.

We got soaked pretty quickly, and I started to worry about our back packs. Only our clothes were in dry bags, and we didn't have rain covers for our packs. I looked at soaking-wet Oscar and wondered how we would sleep comfortably with him in our tents with us.

We stumbled over wet rocks and slippery mud, and were very grateful for our brand new trekking poles. I started to gain a little confidence when BAM!! I slipped on the mud and fell all the way to ground. I was shocked, and immediately started crying. I was officially miserable. I declared that I wanted to go back, and Jeff didn't argue this time. We started back down the hill when BAM!!! down I went again. Then BAM!! down Jeff went. We decided to take some of the trip back on our bums. Yep, we chose to just slide down the hill, careful not to slide all the way down.

I was disappointed that I didn't want to finish, and camp in the wet mud. I kept apologizing to Jeff, but he said that he was proud of me for knowing my limits. I guess I don't like hiking in the pouring rain and mud. Who knew?

Oscar, on the other hand, could have hiked for ten more miles in the stuff. That dog loves being wet.

Daily Outfit

Jacket-Marmot

Pants-Healy Hanson

Shoes-Mud covered

Poles-Leki 

Socks-soaked wool

Spirit-crushed

Oscar-at a tourist trap in Hope, Alaska

I just couldn't resist...

xo

Alli

New Bikes and a Happy Birthday

Jeff and I finally bought ourselves some bikes. Anchorage is equipped with loads of bike trails and green ways. I have been desperate to take advantage of these trails, and tooling around on a bicycle is the way to do it.

Coasting along the coastal trail is a great way to spend an evening. The sun shines well into the middle of the night this time of year, so we frequently find little spots along the trail to stop and enjoy the view.



I owe my new found love of biking to my bicycle-obsessed sister, Rachel (I am only calling her "bicycle-obsessed", because I can just hear her saying, "I am not bicycle-obsessed!!"). It is her birthday today, and I love and miss her so much. If she were here, I just know she would love biking along the beautiful coastal trail.

Happy Birthday, Rachel!

xo

Alli

Prison

Yeah. I went to prison. Once. It was pretty nice actually...

Check out all the pictures here.

I "had" to go to prison for work. Meaning, my boss couldn't go-so I got to go check it out on his behalf. I was so pumped to go, as I had never been to prison before :). I, and some other legislative staffers (including Jeff) got an exclusive tour of Goose Creek Correctional Center, and our tour guide was the Commissioner of Corrections himself. It was pretty interesting. The facility will be, in a way, run by the inmates. They will cook, clean, and contribute to the overall maintenance of the property-that way they can stay busy. Nobody likes an idle prisoner...

xo

Alli

Rabbit Lake

Backpacking. Ugh. It's tough to want to put on a million pound pack and hike up a mountain. Call me a spoil sport, but the thought of it is no fun. But what's weird, is that once I get going up the trail, I'm nothing but happy. I feel like I can hike for days and days, and I'm always so proud that I did it. Why don't I ever feel that way after watching Season 7 of "Friends" for the fiftieth time?

I was a tad nervous when we started our hike, because we had to start on the complete other side of the trail. There were clear, big, red warning signs for bears, so I was a bit of Nervous Nelly.

Jeff looked at me, and said "Come on, honey" again. He had the bear spray in his hands, and he was rearing to head up the mountain. We went over the proper procedure when encountering a bear. About an hour into our hike, he suddenly told me to think of everything he told me about bear encounters-and just do the opposite. Yep, that's right. He told me the wrong thing to do, but luckily he told me the proper procedure, eventually. Good thing we didn't see any bears.

Once we arrived at Rabbit Lake, we hunkered down and sipped some hot lemony tea. Because it was very windy and very cold. Oscar didn't mind.

It was pretty windy, because there were no trees. We were way above tree line, and very exposed. No place to hide, except the tent.

We cuddled inside for a little body heat. Once again, Oscar didn't mind.

The next day, at the very end of our hike back, we saw a moose! A bull-moose! Yes, this is the best picture I could get of him. I was very nervous. But he didn't spit or hiss, so I guess we were safe. He just stared at us. And we stared right back. Then we slowly backed up and got in the car.

You can see all our photos here, pre-picnik.

xo

Alli

4th

I am having a heck of time adjusting to summertime life in Anchorage. It's a little strange working at a desk job in the summer. I am so used to the Red Onion and all my beautiful friends in Skagway. I knew I'd probably get all mushy for Skagway when July 4th hit, but I'm happy that Jeff and I stepped out to enjoy the festivities in Anchorage.

Click here for more photos of the parade. 

Working on some more pictures and projects. Blogging in the summer is weird. I'm constantly inspired, but I need to put all that inspiration into action. More coming soon!

xo

Alli