Sam and Erica's Wedding

In September, Sam and Erica got married!  They had a fantastic ceremony, and I am stoked to have Erica as my sister-in-law!

The ceremony was outdoors, and the weather was perfect.  I was the designated dog-handling bridesmaid, and we almost had a close call where Porter saw a duck in the lake...but one of Sam's generous and prepared friends literally threw us a bone for him to gnaw on.

I wish I had more pictures, but alas, I wasn't very good about having the camera.  The professional photos can be found here: http://kenwrightphotos.com/2010/ericasam/slideshow/index.html

Hooray!

It was only a few years ago that it was theirs :)

The family + cousins from Seattle, Chicago, and New Jersey!

Even Uncle Hari came out for the event.  He and dad did their PhDs together at CSU back in the day!

I can clean myself up and be presentable when I want to :)

Ladies 

Erica comes from a family of farmers.  The centerpieces were comprised of wheat from her family's farm!

It's official!

A beautiful wedding overall.  I'm so sad that I'm no longer a 30 min drive away from them...I miss them so much!

The Famed Mt. Marathon

Seward is the home to the country's 2nd oldest foot race...and it happens to be a beast.  3022 ft elevation gain in ~1.5 miles, and that includes the flat pavement leading up to the mountain.  Shiway is crazy enough to have started the commitment of doing the race every year...you get in via lottery, and once you do, you are guaranteed entry the following year.  However, you have to do it 10 years in a row to gain entry "immunity"--if you skip a year, then you start over in the lottery pool.  So, Shiway had 2 years down, and 8 to go. :)

I'm going to pull stats from Shiway's blog to give a general idea...the trail averages a 38-degree pitch, is unmaintained and, at some places, unmarked (which results in multiple, ever-changing ways up), and the average pace of a racer 2 mph up the mountain, and 12 mph down.  Lots of people venture it with taped ankles and shoes, gardening gloves for scaling rock and tree root walls, and fly down the broken shale slopes with enormous leaps.

Shiway's detailed diagram:

You're probably gathering by now that Shiway convinced me to do the race route with her.  While I wasn't going for anything near the record time (~40 min, I took ~4 hours), it was still a challenge and quite an adventure.  Unlike any hike I've done before!

At the beginning of the "roots" trail.  Beate joined us, and led the way!

This would be part of the "climbing on rocks next to exposure" section.

Hanging on for dear life at the halfway marker!  They're not kidding about the steep pitch.

Me and Shiway, with Seward and Resurrection Bay in the background.

After getting through the jungle and roots of the first half, the rest of the way is composed of shale.

The fog settled in for the second half, but it made for really cool views at the top.  We were literally in clouds at the summit!

Victorious at the summit!  

We spent a really long time taking goofy pictures at the summit.  A really long time.  The German (?) family who followed us to the top started to give their distance quickly.

At the top, the ridge continued into the fog.  It gave an eerie and mystical feeling.

The way down was FUN!  Not that the way up wasn't...but...I'd rather be sliding down the shale than sweating up the jungle with the mosquitoes.  :)

Alaska Backlog - Sea Life Center

I'm not entirely sure how I went the entire month without finishing up my last thoughts on Alaska, but I suppose late is better than never.  Summer is almost over!

During our time in Seward, Shiway took me to the Alaska Sea Life Center...her old stomping grounds, and Dave's, too.  We had a behind-the-scenes tour, visiting her old colleagues and animal pals!  Her friend Pam showed me their remote monitoring site for stellar sea lions, and we also had a chance to check out the birdies.

The puffins act like dogs...they sure do love human company.

The highlight was probably checking out the mammals!  The seals were adorable.

Hike @ Tonsina

Shiway and I went to Seward and Anchorage for the weekend to do some exploring and the like.

First up was a day hike at Tonsina Creek in Seward with Beate and her dog, Daisy.  We took along Ann's dog, Nellie, too!

The way there is through some thick trees, and finally when getting to the water, everything opens up.

This is what it looks like from where we came...

...and the view we had ahead...

Some spawning chum salmon in the water:

Part of the way, the rainforest comes out in full bloom:

Shiway, Beate, and Daisy...and Nellie being a bit shy. :)

Sockeye Salmon Fishing

We made the 6-hour journey to Chitina, AK to fish for Sockeye Salmon at the confluence of the Copper and Chitina Rivers.

The drive out there was long, but very pretty.  With 20+ hours of light, you're able to enjoy the view for the entire way.

Fishing for reds is done by dipnetting.  The nets are huge, and extended into the water using 6-12' poles. Shi's friend Mandy accompanied us, and here she is with Dave and the dipnet for perspective.

Since I am not a resident of Alaska, it was not legal for me to handle the fish or assist in the fishing in any way.  I spent the day perched on my ledge, reading, watching, and enjoying the views.  It was funny to think about how in two months, I had gone from one shoreside lounge to another...but in very different climates and capacities.

Success!

Shiway with part of her loot:

I learned how to properly fillet a fish.  It's harder than I thought...but there's delicious payoff.

A batch is in the smoker, and the rest are making their way to the vacuum sealer and freezer.  Already dug into a fish for dinner, and can't wait for the smoker to be done tomorrow!

Blueberry Picking

Part of the fun of being in Alaska is harvesting your own food.  Shi and Dave are usually kind enough to share their bounty every year when they visit in December.  This includes salmon, halibut, berries, and the occasional large, four-legged animal.

Today, we went blueberry picking.  It was exhausting but fun and rewarding work!  The land was soggy and full of mud, puddles, and round-topped grass clumps called tussocks, which made it extremely difficult to navigate and balance.

Dave has a good eye for berries...and so does Emma.  In the higher grasses, you could see just her tail, bobbing up and down as she happily gobbled down berries.

Here she is, snarfing down a decent batch.   She pretty much plows through the fields with her mouth open, filtering out the berries, feeding like a whale.

Our final harvest for the day.  Emma is staring longingly, hoping that by some off chance, we are harvesting just for her.

We can all attribute the craze of tucking-in-your-pants-into-your-boots to Xtra Tuffs and Alaskan residents.  :)

Fairbanks, AK

I have arrived safely and soundly in Fairbanks, AK to visit Shiway and Dave.  My plan is to be here for two weeks, seeing the sights and enjoying the company.

Shi and Dave have moved since I last saw them for their wedding three years ago, from Seward to Fairbanks.  Their house is fun and cute, although they choose different four-lettered words to describe it.

As always, Emma is excited to have another person to pay attention to her.  

We have been walking around different trails here, enjoying the nice weather.  Boulder was reaching triple digits when I left, and Fairbanks is a nice change of pace, staying shy of 70 deg.

The World Eskimo Indian Olympics (WEIO) is in town for the weekend, so we went to go check it out. We had hopes of viewing the seal-skinning contest, but they were short on supplies...so we saw the men's two-foot high kick, women's blanket toss, and the regalia contest. 

Berry picking is on the agenda for today!