Day 6, July 4th, Living in Girdwood, AK

I got another GREAT night of sleep last night. Seriously. The perpetual sunlight holds no power over my sleep cycle anymore. I am kicking its butt.

Operation Drop It Like It’s Hot Update: Tess continues to have problems sticking to her morning routine. This morning her efforts were thwarted by a blue tarp. That’s right, she was in mid-squat when a blue tarp rattled in the wind and startled her. Blue tarps are pretty common up here. People use them to cover up all kinds of stuff. But Tess doesn’t know that yet. Luckily Operation DILIH was a success later on in the afternoon when we were on our hike, so no one needs to worry too much about Tess’s health!

Wildlife Sightings:
Bald Eagles: 2
Para-surfers: 2 (These guys were cool; they were surfing the tides on our way home from our hike)

Our Big Adventure for the Day:
Instead of fighting over a camping spot with the hordes of 4th of July campers this weekend, Tess and I opted for a long day hike instead. We tackled the Johnson Pass Trail on the Kenai Peninsula at about 11am. I applied plenty of sunscreen and mosquito repellent, hooked the bear bell on Tess’s collar and away we went. In total, we hiked about 10 miles in about 4 hours (2hrs out and 2hrs back). The hike was a gradual uphill through forests and marshes, with lovely views of neighboring mountains and a couple of bridge crossings over some larger sections of the river. (The trail follows the river all the way up the pass). Every corner I turned (after yelling “Hey Bear”) held another perfectly frame shot. Tess wanted to give up on the picture taking and just get back to smelling all the new scents, but I made her focus for a couple of truly breathtaking views.

Since the Johnson Pass Trail is one of the longer trails that is close to Anchorage it is fairly popular with mountain bikers and backpackers. I didn’t mind the 10-15 people that I ran into on the trail. The bikers were all courteous and gave plenty of warning with their bear bells ringing from 40 yards away, and the hikers were all cordial and in control of their dogs. I will say this though, seeing all those mountain bikers made me wish I had brought my bike. Next time!

I don’t mention the Alaskan flowers very often on this blog, because I tend to enjoy the vibrant colors produced by a whole field of them, rather than analyzing one lone flower. But, I will say this, the flowers are quite beautiful. There are purple-red stalks of flowers (which I think are called fireweeds), and big white puffs of flowers with leaves that look like rhubarb plants. There are also little purple, blue, and white flowers speckled throughout the forest. Despite all of those flowers, I have to say that my favorite flower is the red columbine. If you’ve ever tried to grow a columbine from seed it will make you appreciate the wild ones that much more. This hike had hundreds of red columbines lining the trail. They are so pretty with their clover-like leaves and their spiky red flowers with yellow centers. They look like little fairy crowns.

Tess seemed to enjoy the hike as much as I did. She was bounding around in the brush along the trail, nose to the ground, with her tail wagging constantly. She also sampled just about every type of poop that she could find (before I could stop her). She’s a scat magnet. She found some horse, bear, and moose poop. It was gross and interesting all at once. Tess was mildly afraid of the two bridges that we had to cross on the hike, but she had no problem whatsoever with the small creeks that we had to walk through. At the beginning of the hike she would just wade through the creeks and drink some water. However, by the end of the hike, after 4 hours in the sun, and with a cloud of black flies surrounding her (she looked like Pig Pen from the Charlie Brown cartoons) she started using the streams as a fly-deterrent and a cooling bathtub all in one. She’d jump straight into the water, regardless of whether it was muddy or clear and try to submerge as much of her body in it as possible (despite the fact that most of the streams were 2-4 inches deep). She’d emerge from the creek a few moments later with water streaming out of her big ol’ hound dog jowls and give me a look that said, “Where are we headed next Mom?” She is frickin adorable.

The bugs were a little intense during the last 30 minutes of the hike, but they seem to make up for their annoying presence by being slower than the bugs in the Lower 48. So yes, I don’t like the fact that they were buzzing around my face, but there was something satisfying about being able to successfully swat so many of them.

After the hike, Tess and I hopped in the truck and drove back to Girdwood. We were tired, but we were satisfied!

Observations Post-Hike:
I have a couple of blisters. It will be fine, but apparently my body is still adjusting to my more “active” lifestyle. My take: a couple of blisters are a small price to pay for feeling alive.

Tess is sleeping like a baby. Actually, maybe she’s more like a passed out drunk. Yup. She’s definitely a passed out happy puppy.

When I got home, I had the urge for two things, a shower and some food. So, after showering I opened up a celebratory cider, a can of steak and potatoes soup, and a can of mushrooms. Why? Because I am apparently turning into a complete and total dude living in this 70’s bachelor pad. This is me shaking my head, at myself.

Operation Fit Enough to Do Whatever I Want:
Here’s the honest truth you guys: I know I am fairly cute, but my weight has fluctuated significantly over the years. You just have to look at the pictures over the years to see it. I was fit during crew, and then I gained some weight when I stopped rowing. Then I lost it again in a concerted effort, and then I gained it back after I stopped landscaping 10hrs a day, got a computer job, and started eating crap. I know how to lose it, but willpower has been lacking over the past couple of years. I also hate that I’ve become a little obsessed with the scale setting my overall mood for the day. So, when I came on this trip, I decided I would change my mindset regarding weight. I am going to stop measuring myself by numbers, but instead by my smile in the mirror every morning. I didn’t pack the scale, or the tape measure. I decided that I would just eat relatively healthy and do the activities that I want to do. If some weight comes off while I am up here, that is great. If I stay the exact same size but I can climb more mountains and feel confident in my strength again, then I will be happy. So, I’ve stopped obsessively logging calories in some black book that I have to tear every 4th page out of when I break down and eat crap and I’ve just started moving more and eating a *little* better. Oh, and I check my smile in the mirror at the beginning and end of every day. As long as it is still there, then I am happy. Then I am winning.

Here’s the only kicker: I don’t really want to *gain* weight. So, imagine my surprise, when after a 4 hour hike today, I came home, put on my favorite Popeye shirt and it was tight? WTF. This did not make me happy. I sat there. Looked at the cider in my hand, cursed it for a second, and then told myself, “Whatever, you had a great hike; who cares if you didn’t lose 50 lbs on it.” It wasn’t until I was folding laundry later on in the night that I realized I wasn’t wearing my normal, large Popeye shirt, I was wearing my backup, medium Popeye shirt (yes I have two)! Wahoo! No need to worry after all! Now I can keep acting all Zen about my approach to fitness.

Lesson Learned: I could do almost all of this stuff in Boulder. Admittedly the views wouldn’t be quite as vast, and the wildlife wouldn’t be quite so impressive, but I could hike and fish and run and have adventures like this in Boulder if I wanted to. I’ve thought about that a lot this week: why don’t I do this stuff in Boulder anymore? I think it’s because in Boulder I have become a bit complacent. I let day to day life get in the way, instead of prioritizing and making this kind of thing my day to day life. Don’t get me wrong, I love my life in Boulder. I love my friends, heck I even kind of like my job. What I mean is I don’t prioritize having “adventures” in Boulder like I do here. In the end, I think it comes down to the fact that I know that the clock is ticking on my time here. I know that on September 15th, or possibly July 31st, I have to come back. So everyday, instead of just rambling through it, I make myself do something special, something memorable. It’s kind of silly that I have to do something like this every few years to remind me of that fact, but now that I am once again aware of the difference between my life here and my life in Colorado, I am going to do my best to keep that same mindset when I return to my life in the Lower 48. I want to live my life in a manner where everyday is memorable, maybe not earth-shaking, but memorable.