We've had several fun weekend adventures with friends in and around south-central Alaska. One such trip was a bike-packing trip to a cabin on the Kenai Peninsula. The trail was a ton of fun and we had excellent weather.
We had a nice couple of nights at Hatcher's Pass to celebrate our 5th (!) wedding anniversary.
Nate had a couple field work stints up near the village of Bettles in north-central Alaska, just on the south side of the Brook's Range. The first trip, they drove from Fairbanks, so Nate was able to stop at the Arctic Circle! This selfie (taken at about 11pm) was really hard to take because of the density of mosquitoes!
On the second trip, they flew, which allowed some great views of the mighty Yukon River.
We spent another weekend in Hope, and did a short bike ride on the Resurrection Pass trail. Being August, it was pretty darn muddy!
Jennah and her friend Amber have been doing some stand-up-paddleboarding around the area as well. Some might call them crazy for going when its well below freezing. These photos are from warmer days.
We've also been getting out around Anchorage quite a bit as well. These photos are from along Turnagain Arm.
And here is Sanuk at the summit of "The Ramp" on a hike/run with Nate.
We also have been doing a bunch of fat biking / trail running both at Kincaid Park in Anchorage, and up in the Matanuska Valley in the town of Palmer.
But all this running really tuckers out little Sanuk!
We've got a good group of friends that enjoy getting out in the cold on bikes and skis as well. Here we are Global Fat Bike Day in Anchorage.
We also are becoming a bit more Alaskan with each year. This year Nate had some success salmon fishing and we picked several gallons of wild blueberries from the Chugach mountains just outside of town.
We would ride our bikes to the patch (which hopefully explains the helmet).
Sanuk even learned to pick blueberries too, but she ate every one she picked!
In September, we spent a weekend in Portland, Oregon. Jennah spent the days in a pilates instructor class, while Nate explored the city.
Over Thanksgiving we had a really nice trip home to Buena Vista. It was great to spend some time with family, meet up with friends, and enjoy the sunshine!
We had an excellent Thanksgiving meal all together at Nate's Grandma's home.
While we don't have much snow in Anchorage right now, we do have enough to do some nordic skiing. Nate has his quiver of skis ready to go for what we hope will be a fun and snowy winter!
And finally, a photo from Nate's ski today up on Hatcher Pass (where there is plenty of snow). This shot was taken at noon! The sun went directly from a sunrise to a sunset! Merry Christmas everyone, and Happy New Year!
