when i first woke up it was snowing out so i fed the dogs, grabbed the paper and crawled back in bed. when next i woke, it looked lovely out, at least in certain directions. i hemmed and hawed though quite frankly what is hemming and hawing mean anyway. despite my initial confusion as to where to hike i ended up out in kincaid. a summer loop i like to take is out from the jodphur trailhead, that entrance is off from the main kincaid park entrance. it's not as well used. it actually looked like i was the first walker out there since the last snow as when i got deep in my loop it was me, dog prints and ski tracks...and then this? was a very large man out there walking barefoot or could it be the mysterious sasquatch? of course, the other possibility was bear, and by the size of that foot, i'm thinking grizzley. personally, i'd rather run into sasquatch. as far as i know, there are no known sasquatch attacks. did have my can of bear spray, though it's last years spray, or the years before and no doubt expired. may still be good for a bear scare. there is only about 8 seconds of spray in there. long enough to ride a bull and for it to count. probably doesn't feel like much time if a bear is charging you. yes, i was out there alone and nobody knew where i was. i know, i do everything wrong...and yet i still live. the gods must have some reason for keeping me here still.
these first pictures are from later in the day. after we did the loop i went for a drive out turnigan arm. i had thought of hiking out there, but it's always the first place we see bears...haha. anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful day out there. my the time i got to girdwood it was starting to look a bit tenuous weather wise so i turned back home. still it made for a nice day. great to be feeling like getting out further and exploring.
these first two were at potters marsh. love clouds! they did look awesome. not too much bird activity out there yet. soon the birds will all return.
was a bit jealous of some of the bigger hikes some friends have done of late. really though,probably not the best hikes for my dogs yet and i really do like taking the dogs out there with me. no doubt rio would have to be left at home for those bigger hikes and blossom would get sore jumping in/out of deep snow. it was quite the workout out on those trails as it was. the snow was pretty slushy and there are lots of nice hills to climb.
when the tide is out in the turnigan the mud appears. the ice that is left behind from the tide change look like blocks on the mud. kinda cool looking sometimes.
the south side of the inlet still is loaded with snow. the side i was driving on had much less...this get some major hours of sunshine, which is why it dries out quicker and the bears show up sooner.
the mud and ice can make some cool artisitic sculptures. someone mentioned that she liked my turnigan picture despite the fact that she had initially thought, oh more turnigan arm pictures. no offense meant and none taken, but i always find it a fun challenge to return to the same places over and over and yet find the new sights or see it in a new way. the beauty is ever changing and ever evolving. all you must do is have a keen eye and find it.
there is a nice slab of ice left behind on the mud. wandering out on the mud is not encouraged, though it occasionally happens. nobody has died out there recently, but a few have required rescue. the mud is thick and acts like quicksand. the tides change rapidly and drastically so just not a good idea overall.
bought a topo map program at rei, it's made by national geographic. got the first cd loaded on and there is another one to go. haven't figured out how to load it yet. the directions say this, but the computer didn't follow the directions very well. hope i can get it to work. somedays i really wish i was more of a natural on these computers. i know i'm better than many though. some are still struggling at work and i feel like overall i'm getting the hang of it.
loved the sky in this shot below. it is funny how much character clouds add to a photo. when it is just blue skies and no clouds the pictures all come out flat.
didn't see any beluga's out there today.
the mountains are just beautiful though.
stopped in girdwood for an icy. love those things. i know they are no doubt terrible for me, but they taste great.
the tracks always make for a great photo. i really need to take a day and take the rail trip from anchorage to seward. it's supposed to be beautiful. one of those things the tourists always do and the locals never seem to.
was busy cleaning out my little chest of drawers on the stairway. it's just a handy place to stash things like gloves, hats, dog leashes and work stuff, but of course, it gets all crammed with stuff. you end up buying hats and gloves and mittens and then don't use all of them. over the years they collect up. embarrassing to have so many hats and pairs of gloves...so i went through and will donate a bunch.time for some serious spring cleaning. really must get these two rooms emptied out so i can paint, do the floors and reorganize them both. would be nice to have a real guest room again.
had to stop and get rid of rio's bag of poop so i snapped this picture at the lake on dimond blvd. no trash cans at this kincaid parking lot, so i carry the poop bag under the wind sheild wipers til i get here. the lakes are starting to thaw. i will have to keep blossom away from all local lakes til the thaw is complete. dogs really don't get the thaw thing and will walk out there. worry she'll get trapped and drown. better to just not risk it.
the rest of these are from our hike in kincaid. in the summer this gets to taking about an hour. took much longer today. gotta get in shape for more hills, but mostly it was the various hills out there.
there are lots of big ole trees. love the trunks.
a few trees have been decorated for the year. saw new bulbs have been added to this one tree that is always decorated. can't believe all these bulbs didn't fall off with that last windstorm. i think the winds were stronger at my end of town though.
tried to get a few pictures of rio and i reflected in the bulbs.
did see one lone skier out there. you can see his tracks going up the hill. i figure it was pretty hard to walk on so must be even harder to ski up this thing. guess the slush gives you something to dig into so better than ice. the trail is hit and miss with lots of slushy spots. as you can see. there aren't human footprints out here at this end of the trail....i was surprised to see those barefoot prints. they were a good 10 inches at least in length. one big guy or one big bear i guess.
blossom and rio seemed to enjoy being on a trail that they hadn't been on for some time....all the great smells!
just a beautiful day...i always find it fills me up to be out walking with the dogs. not many people are as lucky as i am to have the health and trails that i have access to. i did get back too late to hit the pool. will try for a pool day tomorrow.
not sure how that skier got around this little mess. these puddles on the trail will worsen over the next few weeks. my feet got wet on this one and my boots go up mid calve at least. blossom was chill with it. she loves wading.
managed to get a few things done around the house. almost was hoping the weather would be crappy so i'd have no excuse to spend hours outside. i'd rather enjoy the day outside and live with a messy house than spend all those beautiful days inside cleaning. at the end of the day, who cares really. there is no reward for dying with the cleanest house. of course, it would be embarrassing for them to have to use a forklift to get the crap out after i die as well. no plans on dying anytime soon, just saying. best to keep up on the crap, but not spend every waking moment immersed in chores.
the trails were groomed all winter and used by local skiers....the packing down of the snow means it will melt slower than the fluffy snow off trail.
you can see much of the snow off trail is gone.
in short order all this brown will turn green, then brown again and then the snow comes again.
blossom cools off.
just enjoying the trees and blue skies.
the kitten is curled up with rio. she still seems to prefer the dogs to pogi. i have seen them interact and play more though so time will tell. no hissing at least anymore.
the movie i watched last night was pretty lame. i have that documentary "babies" coming next. i'm excited to check that out. have heard it's great.
dogs aren't allowed out here all winter. it's a cross country skiers paradise. the snow is crappy enough now that i figure it's safe again. should bake for tomorrow's walk. i did work on cleaning the melted handle off the over. doubt i got it all, but i just don't want the toxic fumes to get into my baking. may have to attempt to bake something for myself before i attempt to bake something i serve to others. have a good night.
when i first woke up it was snowing out so i fed the dogs, grabbed the paper and crawled back in bed. when next i woke, it looked lovely out, at least in certain directions. i hemmed and hawed though quite frankly what is hemming and hawing mean anyway. despite my initial confusion as to where to hike i ended up out in kincaid. a summer loop i like to take is out from the jodphur trailhead, that entrance is off from the main kincaid park entrance. it's not as well used. it actually looked like i was the first walker out there since the last snow as when i got deep in my loop it was me, dog prints and ski tracks...and then this? was a very large man out there walking barefoot or could it be the mysterious sasquatch? of course, the other possibility was bear, and by the size of that foot, i'm thinking grizzley. personally, i'd rather run into sasquatch. as far as i know, there are no known sasquatch attacks. did have my can of bear spray, though it's last years spray, or the years before and no doubt expired. may still be good for a bear scare. there is only about 8 seconds of spray in there. long enough to ride a bull and for it to count. probably doesn't feel like much time if a bear is charging you. yes, i was out there alone and nobody knew where i was. i know, i do everything wrong...and yet i still live. the gods must have some reason for keeping me here still. 
these first pictures are from later in the day. after we did the loop i went for a drive out turnigan arm. i had thought of hiking out there, but it's always the first place we see bears...haha. anyway, it turned out to be a beautiful day out there. my the time i got to girdwood it was starting to look a bit tenuous weather wise so i turned back home. still it made for a nice day. great to be feeling like getting out further and exploring. 
these first two were at potters marsh. love clouds! they did look awesome. not too much bird activity out there yet. soon the birds will all return. 
was a bit jealous of some of the bigger hikes some friends have done of late. really though,probably not the best hikes for my dogs yet and i really do like taking the dogs out there with me. no doubt rio would have to be left at home for those bigger hikes and blossom would get sore jumping in/out of deep snow. it was quite the workout out on those trails as it was. the snow was pretty slushy and there are lots of nice hills to climb. 
when the tide is out in the turnigan the mud appears. the ice that is left behind from the tide change look like blocks on the mud. kinda cool looking sometimes. 
the south side of the inlet still is loaded with snow. the side i was driving on had much less...this get some major hours of sunshine, which is why it dries out quicker and the bears show up sooner. 
the mud and ice can make some cool artisitic sculptures. someone mentioned that she liked my turnigan picture despite the fact that she had initially thought, oh more turnigan arm pictures. no offense meant and none taken, but i always find it a fun challenge to return to the same places over and over and yet find the new sights or see it in a new way. the beauty is ever changing and ever evolving. all you must do is have a keen eye and find it. 
there is a nice slab of ice left behind on the mud. wandering out on the mud is not encouraged, though it occasionally happens. nobody has died out there recently, but a few have required rescue. the mud is thick and acts like quicksand. the tides change rapidly and drastically so just not a good idea overall. 
bought a topo map program at rei, it's made by national geographic. got the first cd loaded on and there is another one to go. haven't figured out how to load it yet. the directions say this, but the computer didn't follow the directions very well. hope i can get it to work. somedays i really wish i was more of a natural on these computers. i know i'm better than many though. some are still struggling at work and i feel like overall i'm getting the hang of it. 
loved the sky in this shot below. it is funny how much character clouds add to a photo. when it is just blue skies and no clouds the pictures all come out flat. 
didn't see any beluga's out there today. 
the mountains are just beautiful though. 
stopped in girdwood for an icy. love those things. i know they are no doubt terrible for me, but they taste great. 
the tracks always make for a great photo. i really need to take a day and take the rail trip from anchorage to seward. it's supposed to be beautiful. one of those things the tourists always do and the locals never seem to. 
was busy cleaning out my little chest of drawers on the stairway. it's just a handy place to stash things like gloves, hats, dog leashes and work stuff, but of course, it gets all crammed with stuff. you end up buying hats and gloves and mittens and then don't use all of them. over the years they collect up. embarrassing to have so many hats and pairs of gloves...so i went through and will donate a bunch.time for some serious spring cleaning. really must get these two rooms emptied out so i can paint, do the floors and reorganize them both. would be nice to have a real guest room again. 
had to stop and get rid of rio's bag of poop so i snapped this picture at the lake on dimond blvd. no trash cans at this kincaid parking lot, so i carry the poop bag under the wind sheild wipers til i get here. the lakes are starting to thaw. i will have to keep blossom away from all local lakes til the thaw is complete. dogs really don't get the thaw thing and will walk out there. worry she'll get trapped and drown. better to just not risk it. 
the rest of these are from our hike in kincaid. in the summer this gets to taking about an hour. took much longer today. gotta get in shape for more hills, but mostly it was the various hills out there. 
there are lots of big ole trees. love the trunks. 
a few trees have been decorated for the year. saw new bulbs have been added to this one tree that is always decorated. can't believe all these bulbs didn't fall off with that last windstorm. i think the winds were stronger at my end of town though. 
tried to get a few pictures of rio and i reflected in the bulbs. 
did see one lone skier out there. you can see his tracks going up the hill. i figure it was pretty hard to walk on so must be even harder to ski up this thing. guess the slush gives you something to dig into so better than ice. the trail is hit and miss with lots of slushy spots. as you can see. there aren't human footprints out here at this end of the trail....i was surprised to see those barefoot prints. they were a good 10 inches at least in length. one big guy or one big bear i guess. 
blossom and rio seemed to enjoy being on a trail that they hadn't been on for some time....all the great smells! 
just a beautiful day...i always find it fills me up to be out walking with the dogs. not many people are as lucky as i am to have the health and trails that i have access to. i did get back too late to hit the pool. will try for a pool day tomorrow. 
not sure how that skier got around this little mess. these puddles on the trail will worsen over the next few weeks. my feet got wet on this one and my boots go up mid calve at least. blossom was chill with it. she loves wading. 
managed to get a few things done around the house. almost was hoping the weather would be crappy so i'd have no excuse to spend hours outside. i'd rather enjoy the day outside and live with a messy house than spend all those beautiful days inside cleaning. at the end of the day, who cares really. there is no reward for dying with the cleanest house. of course, it would be embarrassing for them to have to use a forklift to get the crap out after i die as well. no plans on dying anytime soon, just saying. best to keep up on the crap, but not spend every waking moment immersed in chores. 
the trails were groomed all winter and used by local skiers....the packing down of the snow means it will melt slower than the fluffy snow off trail. 
you can see much of the snow off trail is gone. 
in short order all this brown will turn green, then brown again and then the snow comes again. 
blossom cools off. 
just enjoying the trees and blue skies. 
the kitten is curled up with rio. she still seems to prefer the dogs to pogi. i have seen them interact and play more though so time will tell. no hissing at least anymore. 
the movie i watched last night was pretty lame. i have that documentary "babies" coming next. i'm excited to check that out. have heard it's great. 
dogs aren't allowed out here all winter. it's a cross country skiers paradise. the snow is crappy enough now that i figure it's safe again. should bake for tomorrow's walk. i did work on cleaning the melted handle off the over. doubt i got it all, but i just don't want the toxic fumes to get into my baking. may have to attempt to bake something for myself before i attempt to bake something i serve to others. have a good night.
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