Fieldtrip to Fairbanks

Thanks to one single almond resulting in a broken tooth while on patrol in Iraq last summer, I earned myself several all expense paid trips to Fairbanks, and a visit to the only Army Oral Surgeon in Alaska.

Fairbanks, about 400-450 miles north of Anchorage, depending on which of the two highways you take.
Nestled on the Chena River, just north east of its confluence with the Tanana River.
The infamous Alaska Pipeline, running over 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to Valdez on the Prince William Sound.
We stopped by the Creamers Field, a Waterfowl Bird Refuge on the north side of town.

On the way back we drove by the Matanuska Glacier.

Saturday Paddle; First Tour of the PrinceWilliam Sound-Whittier, AK

This weekend Gretchen and I went out for our capstone event of the Intro to Sea Kayaking class we've been taking through the Alaska Kayak Academy.

We paddled about 6 miles around the Passage Canal, of the Prince William Sound, launching our boats from the small town of Whittier, nestled in the Kenai Mountains of the Chugach Range, about 7 miles on the other side of a tunnel from Portage.
The best part of the class was paddling a variety of boats, using an assortment of paddles, really giving us a taste for the technique and equipment of this sport.
During our 7 hour paddle, we saw Bald Eagles, flocks of thousands of Sea Gulls, Sea Otter, Porcupine, even a Black Bear.

It was a great day, and now we're graduates, ready to take on expeditionary sea kayaking around the Alaska waterways.

Gold Nugget Triathalon

Swim 500 Meters.
Bike 10 miles.
Run 4.1 miles.

The Start of "Peak" Season

Tyler posing with the Rabbit Creek Valley behind him, revealing Ptmargin Peak, North Suicide Peak, and the tip of South Suicide Peaks.
One of the many false summits on the way to Mc Hugh Peak.
Jasper taking a break.
Jack basking in the spring sunlight!
Summit shot, atop McHugh Peak, about 4300 feet.
Looking south from McHugh Peak across the Turnagain Arm, and into the Kenai Peninsula.

Brigade Ball Photographs

Day Hike With The Hintz's

Pink Cheeks Seward Triathalon

The first "tri" of the season; the Pink Cheeks. Due to the nature of the season, this one begins with a run, then bike, finishing with a swim, rather then vice versa. Adding it all up was a 5km run, 10km bike, and 900m swim!

After a week of sunny temperatures in the 50's, spring in Alaska surprised us with up to 18 inch's of snow in Eagle River, and about 4-6 inch's in Seward, where the race was held.

Earn Your Turns

Why must we be a slave to the traffic light, insisting on stop and go, craving the intoxicating fumes stemming from an exhaust pipe while listening to over played top 40 on the FM radio, wondering how many tv dinners are left in the freezer and how many times did my dog piss on the floor while i was away slaving from 9-5, and for what, suburbia, prime time television and satellite television beaming at me from all directions to my plasma LCD flat screen projected viewing station, only to be kind and rewind, waking up the next day to do it all over again.

No. Never.

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So, on a different note, we went back country skiing today, it was my second time ever, and Gretchen's first. Promptly at 4:32pm we loaded up the station wagon, tossed the pups in the car, and drove up yonder to the South Fork Access of the Chugach Mountains off Hiland Drive. A recent weekend snowstorm left a nice dusting of champagne powder atop old crusty snow, less then ideal conditions, but we don't care, it just felt good to strap boards on your feet and head up the mountain, on a school night....

Enjoy.

Gull Rock (the otherside of Turnagain Arm)

Gull Rock, as seen in the photo below, is on the southside of the Turnagain Arm. Roughly 20 south of Anchorage "as the eagle flies" but over 70 miles by way of the Seward and Hope Highways.We parked at the Hope Porcupine Campground in the Chugach National Forest and hiked 5.1 miles to the campground site atop Gull Rock.The weather was in the 30's during the day, and droped into the teens overnight, with sporadic snowshowers the entire time. Gull Rock, being a very exposed site, was very windswept.

We were joined by our good friends Ryan & Ashleigh Hintz, with their dog Denali.

High Tide brought an eerie crashing sound from below, we looked over the cliff to see huge blocks of ice, some larger then a minivan, being pushed in with the tides to this cove.