CROW PASS

With a trailhead located conveniently in hometown Eagle River, Alaska, the Crow Pass Crossing, breathtaking from start to finish, will probably always be my favorite hike. This 26 mile hike takes you deep into the Chugach Mountains where you are encompased by mountains of jagged rock painted with fall colors. The half way point is the fording of Eagle River. Located directly below a glacier, the water is unbelievably cold and goes nearly waist deep.

Equinox Marathon, Sept 20th 2008

Grandmas house is the best possible place to be for pre-race carb loading- cinnamon rolls, pasta, pancakes, you name it, she'll make it. Here she is with Liam cheering, just when I needed her, at mile 21.5.


Not all marathons are created equal. Some are harder than others, and the Fairbanks Equinox Marathon is a beast. The race directors claim that it is rated the second hardest marathon in the U.S. I didn't know this when I signed up for it online. In fact I didn't know this until 4 days before the race, when I got into Fairbanks and was told by several people that I would be running up a mountain and tackling nearly 4,000 feet in total elevation gain.

My legs were dying by mile ten but the beautiful vista made everything enjoyable. The race was large with nearly 900 registrants. I finished 21st of 300 women overall and 8th in my age group (under age 30)out of 70.

Trail running to Symphony Lakes

JARED'S WEDDING

What cute grandmas!

Jared and Lacey's Wedding was a beatiful event. Lacey is a gem and we are all very happy to have her in the family and amazed that Jared actually found a hot, hunting woman. Lacey is very sweet and will be a great match for Jared.

I love this picture of Jake- what a stud.

Liam, Alaskan at heart

Liam enjoyed playing with his cusions and seemed to mimic them. From the girls he learned how to give kisses, use eating utensils, and say more animal sounds.


Helping Jared move into his new apartment

Danielle for Sarah Palin

I came to Alaska a week ago dubious of the Republican candidate John McCain and like many Americans, questioning whether small-town-girl Palin was a qualified VP candidate. While my views on McCain haven't shifted, since stepping off the plane in Alaska I have been bombarded by Palin lovers. Democrats, liberals, young and old, it's hard to find anyone here that doesn't approve of McCain's selection. I am amazed that any Republican governor can have a 80% approval rate during an election year when voters are becoming increasingly polarized. Alaskans are very willing to praise her for her efforts at fighting corruption in Alaska politics, stealing from Big Oil to give back to the state, selling the superfluous governor's jet on eBay. Next week each Alaskan will get a record breaking PFD check for $4,000, most of the money available in part by Sarah Palin’s robinhood-like stunt to steal profits back from Big Oil.
She's got my vote.

holiday

Well, it might be a little while before some more pictures get posted up here, since Liam and Dani are in picture-taking mode, rather than posting mode, while playing up in Alaska for a few weeks. But Grandma Leisa has provided some good ammo from her visit here last week on her blog (www.thedeerhollow.blogspot.com) She even has a link there to a video of Liam she posted on YouTube. Go Grandma!

I'm holding down the fort here, and will head up to AK in a few days. So far I'm performing my duty of lone-dude-at-the-house fairly well, which means eating large quantities of cereal in huge salad bowls, sneaking in some extra football games, and procrastinating any form of cleaning up after myself. Even though I'm getting lots of work done, I'm pretty bummed that I'm missing the Denali Highway caribou hunt this weekend...