sent out a few texts and got a few takers for a walk out windy to rainbow and back. turned out to be a beautiful day out there. sun felt great and amy and gail were awesome company as well!
there were loads of folks out enjoying todays sunshine and over 50 degree weather. i think the whole city needed this sun day after the day of snow we had. these were some paddle boarders out by portage cut off. there were also loads of folks out there with dip nets. i believe the hooligan must be running. not a fish for me, they are like sardines from what i understand. oily buggers...way to fishy for me, but loved by many!
also stopped to watch this pair of swans along the road. after the walk i drove to portage lake and back home to anchorage. it was too nice a day to just come home after walking.
before i took blossom to windy i took blossom and rio to the bog by my house so rio would be happy and walked. there was that moose in there and it looked a bit nervous. i just cruised past without taking pictures...i figured she was getting ready to drop a baby. i passed a guy a few minutes later and he said she already had a baby calf with her. i was cruising past her with the dogs pretty fast and she was behind trees so i didn't see the baby.
last year i got chased by a mama moose who had just calved so i was not going to risk having a repeat of that. those moose are super sized and they look even bigger when they are charging at you down a trail. some guys further up the trail had waved me on, letting me believe the path was safe. i had only taken a few steps when she came at me. i was able to drag both dogs behind a tree...she circled us though as i kept moving around the tree. they kick forward so you are taught to get a big tree behind you and the moose.
baby moose are getting delivered around town now it seems. it's that time of year. amy said she'd had a pregger moose in her yard but that the moose had moved on in recent days. another co-worker who lives nearby texted her pictures of a mama with two baby moose. those babies are so cute...not many ugly babies in any species though i guess.
i kept blossom on a leash. we did see one bear scat and these trails are notorious for having the early season bears. also these turnigan trails can have steep drop offs and i don't want to risk tossing her tennis ball off a cliff with her following. she's funny in that if she was off leash she would be bugging me for a toy, but if she is on leash she seems more content to just walk. summers she's just on leash more often. bears and boggy water that stinks and who wants a dog to be more stinky than the regular lakes can make her. besides she was all brushed out and pretty today. she did manage to lay down in every small water fall we passed. they were more of trickling streams than real waterfalls i guess.
we did take a few opportunities to take photo's of ourselves out there. blossom was not always cooperative in this.
lots of signs of spring. this seems to always be the first part of the area that goes green and there were buds everywhere that are waiting for the right moment.
seasons, other than winter, are super short around here which means they explode and you can follow them around in the various parts of the state or city. often i don't take these trails in summer as they get overgrown and with the bears there just isn't anywhere to go and you can't see them due to all the growth.
lots of great little views of turnigan arm along this part of the trail.
last year we did windy to mchugh, you can take this trail for miles. i am feeling that great feeling of a workout so i'm hoping i can drop a few pounds hiking this summer. have been lazy about the pool this weekend...i know i've been so terrible lately. i took a nap instead and woke up later than i expected.
it's nice to be building up a list of people who are willing to walk with me. i think this has been a real perk of texting. i can put out the call to various people and see who is available. i still walk alone at times, but i think sometimes that is just by choice. not sure where to go tomorrow. thinking about hitting the beach. could also attempt spencer loop this week too. maybe tuesday. it could be muddy, but where isn't it muddy this time of year. actually not too bad up on windy today.
the first picture from today wasn't taken by me . we were attempting some timed shots when these three girls came along. they said they could take our pictures for us. we said we'd take their picture afterwards. gail handed me a camera and i remember thinking it was strange that these girls had the same little camera as me and i took a photo with the camera while gail took a few photo's with their phones. after the picture taking was done i went to hand them back their camera only to find out it was actually my camera and i had taken pictures of these people i'd never met on my camera. so blond!! omg, we all laughed as i guess they were all wondering why i was taking pictures of them with my camera. not sure gail and amy know what a ditz i can be...they do now i guess! haha.
blue skies and trees not yet green...but soon!!
blossom shows off more greenery!
after my nap i started reading a book i'd started. i may finish it up tonight. my batteries were starting to get lowish...the ipad battery does't last as long as the kindle one. probably since my kindle just does books. will have to charge up the kindle for the trip this next weekend. i think i still have a few books on there that i haven't read yet.
it was so nice seeing green again after months of white. also the rocks are exposed and the lichen colours are also fun to see. we have so many different types of lichen. i bought like a coffee table book about lichens...it's amazing the variety that exists out there. not as easy to identify as flowers and i don't think they have those easy cute names like flowers either.
this was one of our attempts at multiple shots...we changes positions between. the top one came out the best though i must say.
a train went by while we were up there. this one wasn't a passenger train though i did see one of those later i think i must have been on the road. have seen actual tourists on the trains and buses this past week...i sure sign that the winter is over.
i know i'm blessed to live in a place that so many wish to visit! people around the world make their way here. the hospital will get its share of tourists whose vacations take a turn for the worse. there was one in the icu already this week off a cruise ship. i'm sure that would be scary to be in another country and have a major medical issue occur. so stressful. we got that tons in the 6 years i lived in ketchikan. that was a large part of our clients. tourists. i'd hear some condemn them for coming to alaska when they knew they were less than well to begin, but i guess i was always of the thinking at least they got to get to the dream vacation even if they never left it.
i always ask patients was this the begining of the trip or near the end. i'm always hopeful they got to get their glimpse of denali or of a glacier calving or a moose or bear, whatever their dream was before they came to the hospital.
we just did a small section of the trail..there are some awesome trails up in these parts. so many i've never been on.
there was this flat rock. i asked blossom to "table". she did. i was impressed as that was one of the commands from her agility classes and i haven't even said this command for years and still she knew what it meant and obeyed. such a good girl!! had to treat her and take pictures!!
then i sat down beside her. i think she liked that flat rock.
the rest are from portage or the portage area.
the lake is melting fast. pancake ice near the entrance of portage river coming off the lake.
further back, near the glacier which you can't see. it has receeded tons in the years i've been here. will be interesting to go to holgate cabin and see how far back those glaciers have receeded. i'll have pictures from 10 years ago to compare it to.
pretty shallow water in these parts, this is guys out after those hooligan.
these were a lake closer to the turn off to portage lake/glacier and whittier.
back to portage lake.
this is the river coming off portage lake...i think it's portage river. fun to see it at different times of year. that glacier water colour is always so beautiful!
i think this is closer to the visitors center at portage.
well, it is again midnight and i should head to bed and hope i can read more from my book. love a good read. good night.
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