Sunday, August 12, 2012

beautiful day up at arctic valley!!

still not feeling 100%, but then i think it's mostly in my head. i felt tired doing this fairly easy hike today, but it was warm out, and i was overdressed. coming down was easy, breezy. i don't like walking uphill, never have! arctic valley is a short up that gets you to a beautiful view.
walked blossom and rio up the block this morning to get rio out for a stretch and then blossom and i headed out. rio really is moving slower and slower. she doesn't like the summer heat!
lots of ground squirrels out there, always. hard to locate them. easy to hear them, but they blend in. luckily blossom never spotted one..she'd chase it down for sure. she did drop her tennis ball down a hole. i had to retrieve it. i was a bit nervous i'd piss off one of these guys and come out of the hole with one on my hand. just the tennis ball though.
blossom found her own ways to cool off. luckily, there is a pond at the parking lot at the end of the stream. she got cleaned off before we headed back.
i have tried to wear some knee high support hose on that one calf...i think that didn't help much today, as far as feeling hot. i had to stop and shed clothes. that had to go.
watched boudia get his gold in diving this evening. such a happy day for diving. usa relay team also did great getting silver behind bolt's crew.
always a bit sad that people seem so sad to "only" get a silver or bronze. i think though most of them get what they have accomplished once they step away from the moment. just a lot of pressure on athletes to win. it is great to get gold i'm sure though, but one can't scoff at second and third. just being named to any olympic team is an incredible honor and achievement, well maybe not the rhythmic gymnastics team as the us only sent one person.
one dirty dog!
went for my swim today. there was a kid in the next lane with her dad. he was telling me, as she swam, that she had been inspired by the olympic swimming events and has decided she wants to go to the olympics in 2020. apparently she will only be 14 for the rio olympics so she'll have to wait. i'm sure many kids across the globe who have tuned in are going to be taking lessons in whatever events excited them.
my earring went flying when i took off my goggles. it was my emerald studs. i was bummed and couldn't find it anywhere. held onto the back part as somehow it would be lonely for it's partner and for sure help me find the stud. turned out it landed in my hair so luckily i found it!
not sure what these birds are...ptarmigan? still with white feathers? saw one bird on the ground, then blossom spotted it and took off, then the whole group of them flew off.
blossom enjoys the mud bath.
there were tons of flowers out there. i had suspected i'd hit the peak after i was up there a while back and it was running late on spring.
the wildflowers are so amazing!
a few bald eagle sightings. no moose, no bear today.
was supposed to be cleaning the house today, but didn't get much done. it's kinda like the old days with homework. i tend to put unpleasant tasks off until the last minute. then i'm in a rush. only one more day of olympics to keep me distracted. monday i will have to buckle down and get some crap done.
did purchase one of those cool fire pit things. have wanted to put in a space in the back to set one up. will test it out at the party, depending on how many come and how the weather is. this means i have to doing some digging up in the yard to put some sort of mini patio.
i just went to the saddle. you can then hike either way up from there. i was good for the day. wanted to do some errands and swim.
blossom was happy to chill at the saddle and chase her tennis ball around. i just sat and enjoyed the day. it just cleared up more and more as the day went on. there is supposed to be meteor showers tonight. just looked out and it's clouded up a bit.
the valleys on the other side of the saddle were a bit clouded up. the valleys are in eagle river. one valley goes up to the eagle river nature center and the closer valley goes out to eagle lake and symphony lakes.
watching some "big bang" as i write. i had to get my big bang fix for the week.
was up a bit late as i went to nbc online olympics and watched team snychronized swimming. i'd never really watched it and on that site you can watch any and all events that you want. sure is a change from my childhood days. it's a crazy "sport", synch swimming. overall a bit odd, like rhythmic gymnastics but some of the other nations really get into it so that is cool i guess. they swim alot and i don't know how they remember all those moves. the leaps and throws are kinda wild as nobody can touch the bottom of the pool through the whole thing so they have to creat a table of humans and then toss their team member up from there.
think i have my fix for the next 4 years. may have to check out the pentathalon. that is a crazy event. swim, run, shoot, horse, and fencing...did i get them all? may have to check that out on nbc web page too.
arctic valley is a ski area when the snow is there. not big, but it's been around for a bit. it was originally built for the military personelle and their families i think. it's funny i had kinda noticed the various buildings as you look back from the saddle, but there are quite a few buildings back that way so more roads. it's all on military land. the ski place is now run by a group of volunteers?
popular berry picking in the fall. obviously, they are starting to turn up...too early up this way by what a few people told me on the trail. we are heading towards fall though.
i am not gifted in downhill skiing so i have not taking advantage of any of the down hill ski areas around here. there is always talk of putting one in up hatchers pass way. so far more people don't want it than do.
the rest are just leftovers from yesterday. this guy is sure good looking!
you can see the velvet on the underside of his antlers getting ready to shed. they shed in fall and then the rut occurs, then eventually the antlers fall off and next year it starts all over again. always amazing that they grow this rack each year.
must take alot of grazing to get the nutrients required to create a rack of such size.
more black and whites from the beach. should have taken some black and whites today...oh well. i was focused on the uphill part and heat more than my photography apparently.
just realized we have 3 pay days in this month...yeah! how nice when that corresponds to my car insurance payment. such a bother!
loved this one below..simple.
still thinking of options for tomorrow. should turn off olympics and clean house...but that ain't gonna happen!
blossom awaits next ball toss. the dogs have very simple needs. they are very easy to please. humans can be more complicated for me at least. relationships of any sort seem to baffle me at times. interesting, but baffling.
happy dog...seems simple enough to me! she was happy today as well. rio was happy on the couch. that trail would have been too hot and hard for her.
dog prints...so cute!
loving having access to a sandy beach again. just great to walk along the shore. still don't know why i took so long to discover the coast in anchorage!


now that is a beach!!
the water is pretty silty and muddy, did see a few people wading a bit at the shore. they do recommend you stay out of the mud as it's easy to get sucked and stuck.
from the trail coming onto the beach area.
one sandhill crane chills in the grassy bits. he didn't stick around with us out there though.
to the end of another entry.

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