Hutlinana hot springs

we went to hutlinana this weekend - definitely one of the better kept secrets of fairbanks. a bit of a drive from fairbanks but an easy ski in to a totally undeveloped natural hot springs. we camped out just one night there, it was pretty cold (super windy) so we spent most of the time in this little pool of hot water - it was really wonderful!

nick made a super yummy castillene pasta dish over the open fire.
trish on the ski in. 

spring in the white mtns

absolute best thing about living in Fairbanks - is having the white mountains so close in the spring. the trails are great for skate skiing, there's an awesome cabin network, and once you get a few miles out you're just lost in this immense landscape. just spent 3 days out there, a few days just me and nobel (stac's dog) and then my friend Kristen met me for last night. Kristen was staying out for another 3 nights, meeting up with her hubby Ned, and going out to a cabin 30 miles in (and she's 5 months pregnant - super impressive!) here's a few pics, but it's hard to take good pictures out there, the views are just too much for my little camera. just got back today, showered and got a beer, and now heading out on another ski trip to Hutlinana hot springs with my friends nick and trish tomorrow. loving this unemployment thing (but can somebody please send money??)
and just got some more good news - the first chapter of my thesis will be published in the journal The Condor in August! Finally!!
early morning fog in the valleys.


Eleazar's cabin, stayed there the second night. great northern lights that night. you can see the trail going a long ways out - i skied this trail 20 miles out to borealis cabin the first night. 

ski to nenana

martin and i skied the river from fairbanks to nenana on saturday. i'm not sure the exact mileage, if you drive the road it's 55 miles, i think it's a bit less direct to take the river. it took us 7 hours, a long ass day even if it was a totally gorgeous day. i was loving it the first few hours - haven't felt this happy in a long time - skiing in a tank top and feeling strong. but then the legs got tired, the headwind picked up, and i started to think we had gotten off on a wrong slough and must be in Canada by now! but we made it... martin was extremely patient with my whining, our friend tawna meet us there with food (thanks!!), and i guess it didn't hurt too bad cause now i'm leaving again tomorrow on another ski trip. spending a few days in the white mountains just north of fairbanks. it's my absolute favorite time of year here, for obvious reasons....

 

CHS bachlorette ski

We had a great bachlorette party for rebecca this weekend at chena hot springs - a great ski, drinks in the swanky ice hotel, a soak in the hot springs, a treasure hunt, good aurora.... it was a really fabulous weekend...
rebecca and audrey
stac killer 360 views from the top
go trish!

rebecca's bachlorette party

having an iced martini in the ice hotel
stac in the bear bed, (it only cost $800/night to stay here!!) rebecca is now well equiped for marriage! the treasure hunt... 

more utah photos...

dianne reading the writing on the wall

the ruins at monarch cave, on comb ridge. 

Colorado

great trip to colorado, now nice to be home. here's a few of my favorite photos. not much snow in durango so we went and spent a few days in the desert near bluff, utah. i really really love this sandstone country..
desert varnish artwork...
joe on the edge of comb ridge.
 

Bierstadt Mtn

Kath- here's how i celebrated your bday for you, i hiked my first 14er (in winter)!! Audrey and i drove up Guanella pass from Boulder after the conference, did this hike, then went and stayed with a friend in Frisco. The hike was only 6 miles round trip but the altitude kicked my butt (not surprising i guess since the highest thing around fairbanks is probably ~ 800 ft), so it was one of the hardest hikes i've ever done. but the views were worth it...
 

GO MARTIN!!!

My friend Martin is leaving Saturday on a ridiculously long ultra ultramarathon ski race - 350 miles!! He and Ned (Kristen's husband) are 2 of only 3 skiers this year, the rest are bikers or runners. We'll be tracking his progress here: http://sleepmonsters.com/racereport.php?race_id=2458. GOOD LUCK!! 

Seward

Just back from a quick trip to Seward and Anchorage for work and a quick visit with friends there. Didn't take many photos only because I was lazy - feels like I've been there a million times now, but it really was gorgeous this weekend. Here's one from the drive, the road to Seward has been closed several times this winter due to avalanches so I was lucky to get through. I'm off to Colorado for 2 weeks this weekend, kindof enjoying this 'unemployed' lifestyle... 

juneau

just back from a great week in juneau. i went for a conference, but since it was my first time in juneau i skipped out on a lot of the meetings to get out and see some of the area. the weather was typical juneau fashion - 6 days of sideways rain/sleet/snow, and 1 day of sun. despite the rain, it was hard to not fall in love with this charming little town.... stacia and tim in front of mendenhall glacier.

 

Caroline and I did one nice hike up into the snow, and got this view of downtown juneau. 

this photo is taken from douglass island, looking back towards juneau. 

this is all part of the tongass national forest. i really love the forests in southeast, huge trees (mainly sitka spruce and hemlock) but there's not much understory so it's really open and mossy underneath. 

 

stacia walking the beach... (note the cool earrings i made for her for christmas) 

it's really official now...

look what showed up in the mail yesterday.... it was very anticlimatic. fortunately stac and laura took me out to coffee to celebrate, otherwise it wasn't very exciting. not sure what to do with this - i'd rather have a job offer right now!