Q is in town!!!

 Got to spend the day with a dear friend!!  He moved to the lower 48 too long ago but comes to visit on the rare occasion!!  My lucky day.

 Grabbed Miss Blossom and headed out to meet him for a rambling walk in less than perfect weather, but as is always the case in Alaska, beautiful!!

 In Q's honor I am attempting to use capital letters appropriately...as he said it bugs him that I never do.  Thankfully, he still comes and reads my blog despite my issues with capital letters.

 We met up at 11:30 and weren't back to the trailhead until nearly 6pm.  Lots of stopping to chat and enjoy the views.  We got some glimpses of blue skies.  They did seem more common on the last bit of our walk.

 Little peeks at the fall colours coming through...may I just say this proper capital letter thing is tough...old habits.

 I didn't bring a proper lunch, but did have snacks.  We worked on those briefly as we sat on the rocks in the rock field leading to the larger lakes.  As my knee is improving and I had no desire to set it back any I wasn't too keen on loads of rock hopping.  I also get nervous that Blossom will slip and break a leg way out there.

 The rain really started to come down once we were settled and eating our snacks.  That shortened our snack break a bit.

 Do believe I should guzzle some water before I head to bed.  Not sure I should let Blossom drink any as once again my office was flooded with urine this morning.  I slept in because of my lack of sleep due to a certain feline last night.

 Was up writing a note for the Qayassiq Walrus Commission and at 0100 I went downstairs and thought Blossom wanted outside for a minute.  I opened the door and Blossom didn't want out, but Miss Breezy Chatterbug darted between my legs and out the door.  My cats are supposed to be indoor only cats but she has been doing this darting out thing of late...so annoying!!

 Super annoying at 0100 when it is raining outside.  As I tried to get ready and go to bed I kept checking on the cat to see if she would come inside.  I preferred not to leave her out there in the rain.  At 3 am, I had to give up.  I needed sleep.

 When I went down this morning she was clawing at the insulation strips that seal the door up in inclement weather...less so now.  So another little home repair to add to my list.  Thank you Miss Breezy Chatterbug!! She seemed less than happy to be saturated and spent the rest of the day, no doubt, cleaning and fluffing her fur back up. No further attempts were made to escape today.

 Rio got the shaft today...so sorry Rio.  She really doesn't like the rain though so I doubt she was really too upset about chilling on the couch today.

 Got our bumper stickers ordered.  Hope those turn out well.  Speedy got the letter I wrote ready to print out.  Figure I'll mail that off with several pamphlets...hopefully it is something they can read out for their commission and hand out the pamphlets.  Not sure what else would be beneficial to include in the package.  Have a few phone calls to make this week so perhaps those will lead me to some more answers.

 The more I do, the more there is to do.

 Despite the rain it was some beautiful scenery out there.  The clouds would break and streaks of light would shine through.

 After walking all those miles we had both built up an appetite.  We stopped by my place for a quick freshen up and then headed off to Bears Tooth.  In this town...any tooth will do.  Always packed and always great food.

 So awesome to be able to spend the day with my good friend Q!!  Thanks for the day...it was fabulous!!

 Portraits with the dog.  She was her usual sweet dog self. The trails weren't overly crowded, rain and weekday, but we weren't the only ones out there.

 I still have a few WARIS things to do before I settle in for the night.

 Came home and took a few ibuprofen's and had a nice soak in the tub.  It's been quite some time since I did a nice tub soak.  Lovely!!

 These are the rocks....very cool and lichen covered.  Always love that.  I'm not as adept at boulder hopping as I once was. Q took a few tumbles in the rocks and may have a bruise or two. Nothing major.  We both discussed a need to re-dedicate ourselves to yoga for improved flexibility and balance.

 The little bridge over the creek.  You can walk on across the rock field or like we did , settle on a rock for a bit.

 I am quite happy with our hike for the day.  We did see a few bull moose in the distance and some little dudes squeaking at us.

 No bears or signs of bears noted.

 My friend backpacked out further one time years ago and saw a wolverine.  I have never seen one on my many miles of hiking/walking.  perhaps one day I'll get lucky.  They are quite elusive.

 Nice to be writing about stuff closer to when it happens.

 Was able to keep the camera out for sections of the walk today.  The rain would fall pretty steady when it did.  As long as I'm prepared for the weather it's not really a bother.  I actually enjoy rain.  It can be tough to get motivated initially, but once you are out there, it's fine.  Of course, it's nicer when you have someplace to come warm up in.  I could feel my feet were getting chilled on the drive home.

 The chill stopped as soon as I got home and got my wet socks off.

 A nice warm meal and the chill was fogotten.

 love this one of us...:-)

 These are with the powershot.  I could get that out more in the rain.  Was surprised that the battery lasted the entire time. Cold and damp weather is usually pretty good at killing a battery.

 Blossom quite enjoyed herself and is super tired tonight.  She's just not as young as she used to be...neither and I.

 Was actually quite happy with how well my knee did today.  No spasms.  I did wear the brace and I'm guessing that helped.

 Fall colours.

 Blue or purple pine cones...you decide.

 I thought my bear scare was bad last fall, did I mention a woman and her mother were camping at the family fish camp out of Kaktovik and a polar bear (nanuq) came pawing around their big canvas tent looking for fish.  They managed to scare the bear off somehow.  Obviously they kept their wits about them.  They also had a rifle on them.  To polar bears we are just another food option.  The concern is that encounters like these will increase as the sea ice melts and bears begin to spend more of their time on land.

 My muscles are barking. It's been too long since I've done a good hike like that.  It's a good barking.

 Blossom is sleeping peacefully and so is Rio...she gets exhausted just being a dog.  Not sure how dogs can sleep so many hours a day like she can.  Then again there are days I'd love to languish in bed without a care.  Those days just don't happen very often, unless one is sick.

 I prefer to be healthy than ill and stuck in bed.

 Mushroom action, not as many as on some trails, but a bit higher elevation so probably further along in the season.

 Always love catching the various stages of colour changes.  Up here you could return daily and see some dramatic changes.

 Briefly debated hitting the hanging valley trail, but it's been awhile since i went straight out the valley past the big rock

 Seemed it would be a bit less taxing on the knee, of course, I think i forgot to take into account the bouldering at the end.

 At the bridge.  There have been days when i had less time and so just have gone to the bridge and back.

 It's been awhile for that trek though, it's a bit of a drive up to this trailhead so generally if you go you want to make a day of it.

 Thinking I will retire soon for the night and get up early for prep for lunch tomorrow.  Not sure what will be discussed but it's good to put faces to the voices and  notes I think.  Good for them to see me as well.  That meet up with KT I recall something funny...which I often forget.  My email address has the word guns in it.  This confuses folks. It's a family nickname.  "Guns".  It's a name I have been called my whole life so I don't even flinch at it.  If people don't know that I think they wonder if I am here with a house full of guns and ammo.  I think it started out as "B B Guns" and evolved into "Guns".  I also get called "Snugs" which is guns backwards I'm told.  There are several versions to my nickname and I respond equally well to all.  When i was a teenager, my brothers took to calling me "Jugs" which I quickly and strongly objected to.  At this point I believe I fully accepted all other versions of my nickname if this one were to cease to be.

 I believe that was the end of "Jugs".

 I shall hobble over to my bed and relax.  Hopefully I will wake well rested, with all my pets in the house and no urine in my office. Really don't think that is too much to ask for

Thankful for: A visit with a friend...Love my friends!!  Beautiful rainy weather with blue sky breaks.  Slow progress in WARIS..no funding yet..looks like KT hit the brick wall, which is DVL.  It ain't over til it's over and I can be rather tenacious when I want to be.  How many times did I not capitalize properly?  Good Night!!