was excited about the rain...

 i'm strange that way.  too much sun drains me.  these are back to flowers from Denali.  will just switch back and forth.  the flowers are too pretty so skip.  forget me nots of course.

 headed to Eagle River Nature Center for a walk and just as Blossom and I arrived and were setting out, the sun showed up.  can't say i was angry at the sun.  just that i had been totally expecting and prepared to be rained on.  clouds are always welcome though.

 walked just past the furthest Yurt they have out there and then turned back.  kept Blossom on leash, especially at the rivers edge as it was really fast.  the sign said the crossing for the crow pass traverse was waist deep.  ran into a pair that had just done the traverse and that was what they reported.  they had crossed it the night before.

 crossing the river in the morning is the best plan of action from what i hear.  the river level can increase as the day wears on and the glacier melts on a hot day. they were not aware of this and seemed to have come through unscathed.  i have never done the full crossing.  river crossings make me nervous and more so with a dog along.  one more thing to concern myself with.

 haven't done the big long hikes i have been hoping for this summer.  it's been 6 miles or less so far.  Rio hasn't felt well these past few days.  didn't eat yesterday morning and now her colitis seems to be kicking in. she just doesn't tolerate it as well as she did before surgery.  came home and had to do a bit of a clean up...so leaving her for long stretches will probably have to wait a bit.

 she wedged herself under my bed yesterday...a bit of effort to extricate the poor girl.  at this point i find myself wondering if this is it, each time she feels ill.  she is eating today and hopefully tomorrow will be more normal.

 i am feeling fat and unattractive today...was it those selfies i took?  i really need to do a pamper day. i rarely pamper myself, my hair could use a cut and i could use some new, well fitting and more stylish clothes...no matter what i'm doing i look like i should be on a trail somewhere.  others do style and fashion so much better than i  do.

 did get a few things accomplished today, which was good.  yesterday Blossom and i did finally escape for a walk, but not nearly as long as i would have liked.  walking is therapy for me....so i really need to find a way to get those miles in and Rio will have to cope with being alone more.  she just doesn't have the strength anymore to put in many miles.  she was terribly wobbly just around the house yesterday

 did get out in the yard yesterday and used the time at home and the sunshine to do some work out there...so not a total waste of a day i think.

 summers too are tough sometimes as everyone goes different directions and i tend to be walking alone more. it's good for me to mix with the other humans on my days off of work.  i think this has been impacted by Rio as well.  just not sure what she will be up for, i think we are getting a routine where i can leave her a bit more easily.  i just feed her a meal.  of course, for the most part...if i want to walk with another person i have to initiate it...

 not the best for ones ego when you are always the inviter and rarely the invitee.  i have come to understand that in this big world of ours there are many who wait for an invite or there are many who have people and don't need invites...they already have people.  i don't have people...or person i guess.  these are the times when you wish you did...it's that old grass is greener thing.

 our class group and our van below.

 i think this twirly flower is one of my favorites..it's like a party!!

 they showed a picture of a moose in town that had "sleigh hoof".  strange looking to see this picture.  the moose has some sort of deficiency and so it's hooves grow faster than they wear down so they have long hooves.

 Rio is snoring away downstairs.  i can't hear her gut grumbling from across the house, not that i have a huge house, but it was super loud yesterday all day...that has to hurt!!

 looks like it's been raining a bit.  :-)  we need rain.

 back to work tomorrow night.  didn't get much fun stuff in this week...will have to plan better and force myself to wake up earlier next week.  Chicken and beyond...!!

 Rio is covered for my trip to Barrow, just need to get Blossom and the cats looked after...it's getting close. i really need to get that done!!

 apparently, some guy put a firecracker of some sort on his head on the 4th and lit it. there had to have been alcohol involved with that brilliant plan...it killed him.  you aren't supposed to call people stupid anymore...it's not politically correct, but if that is the story and it's true...that guy is an idiot!!

 can't really defend that thinking.  just like that "there are no stupid questions"...there really are stupid questions but people who are set up to answer questions must answer all respectfully despite some questions being asked that perhaps could have been avoided.  like a question that had already been asked and answered and yet the person wasn't listening...or questions where the asker really should have taken a moment to think through their questions rather than just blurting it out.

 wonder if my skull ever totally fused...i really have deep sutures. or did i just take a few too many bats to the head growing up?  maybe i should just look up how to donate my hair and then chop it off.  did i injure my elbow and not notice...these are my silly questions of the day.

 different stages of "bloom" for the same flower.

 more tiny white flowers

 and a green flower...

 lots of flowers out today...mostly monkshood, larkspur, wild geraniums and cow parsnip..did pretty good at the id's on the trail today...though i was with nobody that i could impress with my flower identification skills.  haha.

 will have to hit Costco for another dog bed pretty soon..i fear the downstairs bed will now become the outdoor bed...the rotation has begun.

 hare bells....as opposed to hairballs...a totally different thing.  not flowery at all.  Pogi is big on hairballs...

 my friend has a beautiful picture of this but with a big mountain in there called Denali...

 we stopped Eilson visitors center.  i totally spelled that wrong...anyway.  they have a center there with a store.  lots of art which i suspect has been done by various artists in residence.

 this rather intricate and impressive quilt was on display.  i have very limited quilting skills...more due to lack of patience than anything else.  lack of patience prevents me from a great deal of crafts and craft like skills...knitting, crochet, painting....

 with photography, it's pretty easy to snap pictures and if you screw up it's easy to delete as well.

 i can appreciate the skills of others though.

 i think the big mountain would be on display out this big picture window on a different day as well.  will have to return and try to get lucky another day.

 story on this was that this pair of bulls was found dead with their antlers locked.  clearly there had been a brawl..to the death.  kind of eerie really.  once they were locked in battle and unable to extricate themselves from this, they had to wait to starve to death.  seems like all sorts of lessons could be learned from this struggle.

 be kind to your enemy?  anger can kill you?  fight to the death may mean both parties die....

 quite impressive whatever story you gleam from it.

the weather turned a bit while we were on our ride.  back at camp though, it looked like it hadn't rained at all.

 another place i debating going to today was hanging valley.  was just going to be too much time with Rio not feeling well.  perhaps i'll hit it after my dentist appointment next week.  i can do a little roadie the first part of the week and then hit that trail tuesday.

 Denali Highway excitement was apparently a couple who were found dead.  there was thoughts that there was going to be a gun battle.  my friend was driving that direction and saw all sorts of emergency vehicles headed down that road.  in the end, they didn't need all the firepower.  unclear what the rest of that story will be.

 a body was found washed up in Juneau, but there was an employee who i guess jumped off the ship.  for all the unsuccessful suicide attempts, those who really wish to die, seem to be the most successful.  always sad.  so much crap is temporary.

 a few more of my favorite flowers...not seeing the name in my book. will have to look in my general flowers of AK book.  this book is just denali

 a florida hiker fell to his death in Juneau and another hiker had to be rescued from flat top...that is how summer in AK goes. many visit but a few will not return home and then many will return with injuries.

 trip of a lifetime though.  worth the risk i guess.  the same is true at any vacation spot across the world.  hopefully, none of us require treatment at the Barrow Hospital when we are there.

 storms sent most to all of the walrus packing on Round Island this week.  did enjoy some fox visits to the web cam.  they are pretty fun

 here they are sneaking up on the last walrus on the beach the other night.

 these walrus hung in there until a few big waves started to get them as the tide came in.

 i slipped over to Brooks to check it out as well.  a few big bears hanging in the falls.  one night when i was at work doing a 1:1.  i looked in on the falls...no bears seen but the fish were going crazy trying to get up those falls.  enjoyed watching just the fish for a time.

 pretty location.  i have yet to go here.  i think i'd like to hit Halo Bay first though, a bit less crowded i think.  spendy though.

 here is the big wave i caught..you can see some tusks on the left of the screen.  the next day...no walrus. they have returned now.

 they have been pretty agitated all day...many tusks flying at each other. cracks me up.  they have plenty of beach to lay down on and yet they cram together and crawl over each other and endure the wrath of the others as they make their way up the beach through the maze of tusks.  silly walrus.  below 3 fox wander all over the empty beach..no doubt looking for eggs and bird chicks..

to the end of another day. grateful for:  A.  sunshine that wasn't expected.  B.  that Rios gut seems to be settling down, fingers crossed anyway.  C.  the walks i do take...really does bring me peace.