Last week I had the opportunity to do a little camping tour of AK and took advantage of the moment! The first two days I spent in Seward (back again) with Paula hiking and sea kayaking. I had free kayak passes from a friend so we soaked in the drizzly, but beautiful adventure.
After that Paula headed back to Anchorage to work and I drove around the corner (few hours around the corner) down to Clam Gulch to spend some time with the Doners commercial fishing and soaking up time with their family. I posted some pics showing a glimpse of the process of commercial fishing.
On the drive back I stopped along the highway to watch the bore tide come in. All in all it was the perfect trip. Rain, sun, hiking, kayaking, fishing, time with friends, time alone driving, time soaking in the beauty of Alaska. If I could pick anywhere in the U.S. to live, it would be right here.
Monday, July 16, 2007
commercial fishing
Set Netting
Picking fish
Startin' a collection (Pink and Red Salmon)
Fish Toss, Heidi was our backboard for bad shots
Fish on Ice!
47 lb. King Salmon
Hikin' and Kayakin'
Waterfall on our kayak trip
Early morning sea kayak trip...BEAUTIFUL!
A little campfire worship time!
Bridge on our hike along the coast
Saturday, July 07, 2007
time to celebrate!
At the nail shop getting glamafied!
The group at IHOP
Yesterday was Amanda's 30th birthday so a group of us took her out to breakfast this morning at IHOP and then moved our way over to "Foxy Nails" to get her toes and hands manicured. It was fun to celebrate with her and a great way to start the weekend! Happy birthday Amanda!
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Independence Day
This year I spent the 4th of July with the Dougherty's in Seward watching the famous Mt. Marathon race! I've been to Seward but never during the 4th. It was quite an experience. I had a blast! It reminds me of a mini Alaska fair with vendors, blended food smells of deep fried everything, tons of people and lots of fireworks.
Emily, one of my youth girls, was going down to compete in the women's race for the 1st time. She's done the junior race (1/2 mountain) 3x prior but never the full thing. She said she was just doing it for fun with no real goal but guessed she'd finish around 1 hr. 45 min. Well, she pretty much obliterated her goal finishing in 1 hr. and 12 min.!! I was floored for her! She ended up finishing 36th overall out of 300+ women competetors! She was AMAZING!!! AND to top it all off she finished with NO cuts just a tiny little scratch on one leg. I am proud of her just for competing period. Way to go Em!
As a first time spectator of the oldest running race in U.S. history (it was the 80th anniversary) it was an eye opening experience. The women, even the top women, come up the road heading toward the mountain setting a good pace. The men on the other hand are complete animals! The top 2-3 guys lead with 150 or so close behind in an all out SPRINT!! Literally they head up the road to the chute in a full on sprint. The disgusting thing is that they pretty much keep it up the entire race. You can see a swarm of men moving rapidly up the mountain face. There are medics strategically placed for injuries. One of my friend's brothers, Darren Markwardt, came down in the first big wave of guys with a big bloody gash on his cheek and a bloody scratch across his chest. Die hards I tell you!
The beginning, by the way is one of a couple routes, climbing up tree roots and dirt or a rock wall face...your pick. Nice aye? I went out the night before with Emily to help her decide which route she wanted to take for the actual race. Ha! After 5 min. of climbing tree roots I told her I'd meet her later at the bottom b/c I wanted to be sure to get down on one piece. I added some pics below to document the event.
Emily, one of my youth girls, was going down to compete in the women's race for the 1st time. She's done the junior race (1/2 mountain) 3x prior but never the full thing. She said she was just doing it for fun with no real goal but guessed she'd finish around 1 hr. 45 min. Well, she pretty much obliterated her goal finishing in 1 hr. and 12 min.!! I was floored for her! She ended up finishing 36th overall out of 300+ women competetors! She was AMAZING!!! AND to top it all off she finished with NO cuts just a tiny little scratch on one leg. I am proud of her just for competing period. Way to go Em!
As a first time spectator of the oldest running race in U.S. history (it was the 80th anniversary) it was an eye opening experience. The women, even the top women, come up the road heading toward the mountain setting a good pace. The men on the other hand are complete animals! The top 2-3 guys lead with 150 or so close behind in an all out SPRINT!! Literally they head up the road to the chute in a full on sprint. The disgusting thing is that they pretty much keep it up the entire race. You can see a swarm of men moving rapidly up the mountain face. There are medics strategically placed for injuries. One of my friend's brothers, Darren Markwardt, came down in the first big wave of guys with a big bloody gash on his cheek and a bloody scratch across his chest. Die hards I tell you!
The beginning, by the way is one of a couple routes, climbing up tree roots and dirt or a rock wall face...your pick. Nice aye? I went out the night before with Emily to help her decide which route she wanted to take for the actual race. Ha! After 5 min. of climbing tree roots I told her I'd meet her later at the bottom b/c I wanted to be sure to get down on one piece. I added some pics below to document the event.
Mount Marathon
The race course
The race start
The pre-race pose :)
Emily just out of the rocky chute lookin' good, no scratches, no blood!
Emily heading back to the 4th Ave. finish line
Me and Em watching the men's race
Exit Glacier on the way out of town
Monday, July 02, 2007
MTA race
Me and Janeen pre-race. We ran in the MTA 5K race for technology this past Saturday. Once upon a time we were going to form a running team called "blogger joggers," Janeen's idea...techi! The team idea kind of dwindled when Janeen missed the Menard run and Jenny missed the MTA run and now Janeen is retiring for the summer. I still have hopes for future team blogger jogger races though!
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