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Hi all! I figured it was time for my random once every month or so posting binge check in. Spring in Alaska has finally arrived. I can't bring myself to call it Summer yet since we've only had one day that has reached 70 so far and it hasn't gotten out of the 50's for several in a row this past week. It was amazing to go in to work one morning to everything still brown, dead and dormant and come back out to everything budded and green after only a couple of hours due to the first rain in well ov…

Out of the whole, entire, giant state of Alaska, their article says the best one is a tourist hot spot in Anchorage? Don't get me wrong, Flat Top is everything they said and more with the gorgeous views of the Anchorage bowl, Turnagain Arm, etc below but it's not on my top ten list. Granted, I haven't been up here for very long and if I lived here the rest of my life would probably still not be able to cover even most of the state or be considered anything near and authority but still, my opinio…

Two of my recent favorites.appalachiantrailcafe.net/index…7f402bf9c72518867bf6f27a1appalachiantrailcafe.net/index…7f402bf9c72518867bf6f27a1

Now that all the cows are having babies, I'm seeing moose everywhere. This guy is Bruce the Moose lives in my neighborhood and can be found dining on his breakfast and/or just taking a quick soak in the pond across from my house most mornings.

50's and sunny yesterday. 36 and snowing today. I wonder if all the newly out of hibernation bears are thinking they should have waited.

I'm just going for no nest at all. I have zero kids. My husband is as married to his job as he is to me at the moment (sometimes more so), so oddly, having no kids really doesn't free up as much time for activities as it probably normally would. My father and father-in-law both had mid-life babies and will probably never be empty nesters. My youngest sister is 16 years younger than me and my youngest brother is 20 years younger. My husband's youngest brother is 30 years younger than he is. We ju…

It's 44 and mostly sunny today. Sunrise was at 6:30AM and sunset will be at approximately 9:30PM. Yay for blackout curtains!

I should have worded that first sentence better. Took my bike out last weekend for the first time since moving to Alaska. I didn't move here last weekend.

For serious question. I've never lived in grizzly country before now. While I know there are the random, not so nice black bears, I've never considered carrying bear spray anywhere on the East Coast or really the PNW. However, I now have neighbors of the furry black and brown variety both in the woods on trails and in my actual neighborhood. With that said, I know next to nothing about bear spray other than what I am capable of researching on the interwebs. I would prefer personal recommendation…

Took my bike out for the first time since moving to Alaska, last weekend. My husband and I did a quick six mile loop around our area on base. The next day a black bear sow and her two cubs took up residence (or likely came out of their nearby den) on the best part of the ride. Bummer.

Ha! I just went back and read through everything I missed on here the last few weeks. Whew! So, no hiking going on but I've been treated to several really great northern light shows and the ceremonial start of the Iditarod. It's bucket list kind of stuff and those dogs looked contagiously happy. Eventually, I will spend the money to get a tripod so my night time pics turn out better. The one attached was a quick shot standing in the doorway of my back door, so the light pollution diminishes the …

I was a Project Coordinator for a Business Solutions Corporation for a decade and then they decided they no longer needed my services. So, currently I sit around surfing the internet while my husband is a defender of freedom....or something like that. I figure since I was the sole breadwinner for a few years and the primary one for several thereafter, I'll just consider it an extended, unpaid vacation. Eventually, I will become a productive member of society again.

Quote from Rasty: “Quote from Ewok11: “Quote from hikerboy: “Quote from Ewok11: “This image from the US National Weather Service Alaska dated 16 Feb pretty much sums up the majority of the winter in Anchorage so far. The official start of the Iditarod got moved 300 miles north from Willow to Fairbanks this year due to the low and melting snow levels. Looks like it's either going to be a very early breakup or there's going to be two this year. What a weird welcome to Alaska winters.” stop braggin…

Quote from hikerboy: “Quote from Ewok11: “This image from the US National Weather Service Alaska dated 16 Feb pretty much sums up the majority of the winter in Anchorage so far. The official start of the Iditarod got moved 300 miles north from Willow to Fairbanks this year due to the low and melting snow levels. Looks like it's either going to be a very early breakup or there's going to be two this year. What a weird welcome to Alaska winters.” stop bragging!” Well, where would the fun be in tha…

This image from the US National Weather Service Alaska dated 16 Feb pretty much sums up the majority of the winter in Anchorage so far. The official start of the Iditarod got moved 300 miles north from Willow to Fairbanks this year due to the low and melting snow levels. Looks like it's either going to be a very early breakup or there's going to be two this year. What a weird welcome to Alaska winters.

It's currently -3F and fair according to my latest temperature check. I hope everyone enjoys their snow. It's been an unusually dry winter here so far and until the past few days, unusually warm as well with day time temps in the 30's and 40's. We got some snow to make up for the deficit but I think there's probably only about a foot out there total, counting what was already on the ground, frozen and what fell over the weekend.

I didn't realize I had been absent from here for so long. Alaska is finally feeling like Alaska. I think our high today is supposed to be something like 5 degrees. There is finally more than a few inches of snow on the ground (though still not enough). I've only been out on a couple of really short, local, day hikes in the area. The first one was to a frozen waterfall. The second one was a three mile loop at a nature center that was completely frozen. I got to experience my first walk with gripp…

1) I keep seeing that bear video everywhere. 2) Danny M is a crazy man and surely gives his parents nightmares. 3) I'm now in the land of moon tires. I've never seen so many fat tires on so many bikes in one place. My husband and I have discussed the virtues of the moon tires and the studded tires, so that I don't fall on my face quite as often as I'm prone to doing. There's this really awesome bike trail here that doubles as a cross country ski trail in the winter and kind of curves in and arou…

Quote from Trillium: “Quote from Ewok11: “ She did not come right out and say it but it was leading up to a declaration about Alaska being an island. ” There are islands in Alaska. The Aleutian Islands. My Dad was stationed on Adak during WWII. .” There are the Aleutians and the islands of the Southeast coast but that chick was alluding to the whole state being one big island.

Sound advice from all of you. There might very well be times when mountaineering boots would be required for actual mountain/glacier/ice terrain. I just don't want those to be my only winter boots. Right now, I'm just trucking around in my Gortex Merrells and they seem to be suitable with the few inches of snow on the ground here in the valley with gaiters if we're going off trail for any reason. I haven't had a chance to really study what the terrain is like outside of the valley, other than th…