my muscles are barking...

 Blossom and i took a trail at Arctic Valley.  have wanted to just head straight up and so i did...that desire will doubtfully never return.  not impossible but pretty good pitch.  did fine.  not a lot of mileage but it is some work.  it was a good work out though. loved this of Blossom...we are up at the top and slowly making our way back down the other route.

 such a change in weather from yesterday.  these are mushroom shots from a rainy Campbell Airstrip trail walk.

 it actually was cloudy as i drove up arctic valley road, but cleared as i started up on my hike.

 it was a good work out and some sweat was spilled...the good part was when you are working out at that level your brain is only focused on the workout.  good to get my brain cleared.

 the WARIS stuff is great, i know i'm doing the right thing.  it is an added stress.  trying to manage it all and figure it out and sound like i am worthy of the honor of being an advocate of these great animals and this amazing place.

 fun to have my mushrooms back again.   not many on todays hike of course.  the rain prevented too much photography yesterday.

 got a few errands run and will wait and see if the stuff i did these past few days make it so that i can start kickstart and accept donations to our web page. right now it will take donations, but won't deposit them into our account...hopefully i have that fixed.

 Rio sat out todays walk.  no way that girl would have managed that hill.  she seemed fine to skip a walk today.  i have some leftover roast which really sweetens up the peanut butter filled bones she gets when i leave.

 that Ebola virus is really getting some steam.  over 600 dead, including some aid workers.  it's a big risk working in medicine some days, especially when you are traveling the globe doing aid work.  my heart goes out to those brave individuals who put their lives at risk to save others.  the one doctor from Texas sounded to be doing poorly but also seemed from reports to not regret the work he's done.  if he passes it will be a great loss to those he serves and the family he will leave behind. hoping he manages to survive.

 Ebola takes a very large percentage of those it infects and the scary thing is planes are coming and going to those regions. in this modern age a virus like this can travel fast.

 Alaska  is more at risk from diseases coming from Asia over Africa i'd guess, proximity.

 loving all my mushrooms...they get me all excited each year...and i don't even eat them.

 they just come in such a cool range of colours and styles. also, they change as they go through their short life cycle.

 you can see them i your yard in the morning looking one way and by mid day they look totally different.

 guess we had an awesome lavender sunset tonight..i missed it.  it was looking like it would be pretty cool.  the times change so sometimes you lose track of when the sunsets are happening.

 this is when the rain was coming down the hardest out there on the airstrip.  you can see Rio's coat is totally soaked..good thing it did keep the bulk of her dry.  this morning i did notice some nasty looking nasal discharge...hope she doesn't get sick from her walk in the woods.

 she is eating great today.

 blips of NPR today as i was driving around.  sounds like things are very bad for environmentalists in Brasil.  Pollution is rampant. should be lovely for the summer Olympics. they were supposed to have this bay cleared out a bit before then, but there is a big sailing event and it's not cleaned up at all.  those who do stand up for the environment find themselves at odds with the government and the oil industry, who work together.  always sad.

 they were also talking at some point about this type of anteater in China that is on the verge of extinction.  apparently, here if you are trying to impress someone you would serve them good wine, there it would be outrageous meat...anteater is the meat of late to be served.

 lots of folks out berry picking at Arctic valley.  they came just for that and were filling up their buckets.

 some still looked a bit green to me.

 hard to really see the pitch here...it was no easy climb though.

 you can see here that it totally drops off.

 we wandered around the top, rested and then headed back down.  Blossom would have preferred to rest more i think.

 cool harebell.

 great views from up there at the top though.

 these are the only mushrooms that i saw.

 our sitting rock, covered in lichens

 Blossom puts her paws down and refuses to walk on...it's rest time!!

 the trail back down

 more flowers and cool stuff.

 a bunch of harebells, usually don't see so many clumped together...it was pretty cool

 my business cares arrived in the mail today.  these pictures don't do them justice, but pretty cool i thought!!

 at least i can hand them out and feel like i look more professional.

 will eventually make some changes, but these are good for now and the other board members should be able to go on there and make themselves cards if they want.

 these are a few from out at Byron glacier  don't think i put the ones from the big camera in yet.

 always experimenting with black and white.

 these days off are flying past me.  soon i will be back at work.  i still have a full day tomorrow.  not sure where to go or what to do.  i should really wander a bit

 i had been craving the pool. i could feel myself swimming and the water and so it was time to get back in the pool tonight...felt great!!

 liked the sun on the snow here

 lots of my friends have been hitting Byron Glacier these past few weeks.

 i think one friend found salmonberries in Whittier..i'll need to head there and look for them...they are so good!! don't want to meet any hungry bears though..they love berries too

 i have babbled on again and have come to the last of my photos for the day. still behind but trying to mix old and new now. keeps it so exciting.  summers fly and you just see so much cool stuff!!

thankful for A... my new cards...they make me feel more legitimate.  B...conquering the big hill, didn't take that long either, but it's good to take a challenge and succeed at it C...my sitting times this summer.  i try and just chill in my swinging chair for at least 5-10 minutes every day it's nice out.  it is sweet.