YEA ME!!!

 way over my 10,000 steps/day goal and i have just finished my 3 trips/week to gym x6 weeks goal.  so i am happily and proudly tooting my own horn!! don't think there are any dramatic changes in my appearance.  in the past my face tends to lose weight before the rest of me and my arse and saddlebags hang on to the bitter end.  goal is really just to tone up

 these two photos here are on the Monday walk this week.  N bivouac is always fun as there are so many different routes you can take.

 yesterday i headed out to Gold Mint trail in Hatchers Pass.  all this ice was making me a bit nuts...needed to get to some real snow.  will have to repeat this and do a few more hikes out there my next stretch off.  not the usual amount of snow here either, but as you can see there is snow

 enjoyed the crunch of snow under my feet as i walked.

 the trail looks pretty clear back for several miles

 Blossom and i just went a total of 4 miles so out just past the beaver pond and back

 saw hardly anyone post the parking lot until we were almost back again.  so relaxing and peaceful out there.  you walk near the creek so you can hear the water under the ice moving.

 hard to see the Beaver pond.  i was thinking originally of heading up higher but i knew, like here, the shade would be on me so i'll have to wake up and get moving earlier to catch the sun for some photo ops at the mine perhaps.

 Blossom got some frisbee time in so she was happy.

 did some loops at the Campbell Airstrip trails today.  ran into a walker that i've met out there before.  she asked about Rio...had to give her the sad news.  she said she felt our dogs stay with us after they pass.  was kind of funny this morning i found myself expecting Rio to ram open the bathroom door as she always did.  if she is still with me and that door flies open one of these days i may have a heart attack though.  i do like the idea of that big sweet pup watching over us here.  Blossom is a good guard dog but Rio was the muscle.  it was comforting to be living with a 120 pound dog...i always called her the enforcer.

 if you looked in the window and saw this happy looking face you probably wouldn't think twice about invading...but Rio.  she was sweet, but i'm guessing most folks wouldn't want to test out her temperment if they just saw her from a distance.  people sometimes crossed to the other side of the street to avoid her.  especially people with small dogs

 of course, those small dogs were more likely to attack rio than the other way around.

 once you got off the trail out there, the snow was a bit deeper...so it gave Blossom some trials.  she is more sore these days.  don't like to see her getting older.  hate that these dogs live such short lives...it's not fair.

 asked a friend if she wanted to join me out here yesterday.  she had errands to run and went skating instead...her arm is broken now.  she texted me that she should have joined me out here along with a picture of her broken arm....she had been tempted, but had decided to get some stuff done.  hope it doesn't impact her kayaking this summer.

 i recall another time i had planned on joining a friend for a bit overnight hike in Ketchikan.  the weather had turned so i ended up joining another friend out at a remote cabin.  when i returned there was a message that she had fallen down like 60+feet.  fractures to pelvis,hands and face.

 apparently we've had over 1000 aftershocks since our 7.1 quake...i haven't felt any of them.  mostly of them are under 3's though.

 Taiwan had a quake smaller than ours but much more damage. much more densely populated and it sounds like super poor quality construction on the one apartment complex where most of the deaths occurred.

 doesn't sound like there is much left in Syria.  what a mess.  the folks who have stayed behind are in poor shape from all reports.  death by starvation and/or from either side of the battle.  occasionally some sad report will find it's way to the outside.  i'm sure there will be some horrible stories shared if this all ever ends over there.

 that entire region is a mess...it's been a mess for decades but it's really hitting peak levels of madness.  not sure how it will ever rebound after all that has happened.  there are some evil folks sharing this earth with us.  makes it hard to be optimistic.

 drove back via the Old Glenn for a bit of a different scene.

 turned out to be a pretty good idea i think.

 i guess some feminists were berating young voters for supporting Sanders and not Clinton.  i'm all for folks voting, but i don't think you vote purely because a person is your same sex or your same color.  know a bit about them, what they stand for...i recall this one vet i worked with years ago commenting that she votes for every woman on the ballot no matter what.  that seems counter intuitive...i am also annoyed by some women i have known who basically get a list from their husbands of who to vote for in the election.

 many women fought hard to bring the vote to women.  don't waste it.

 lovely sunset on the drive home.

 we were talking about candidates money spent.  the T man has used his own money but in actuality he may actually make more money as people have donated and he has sold items related to his campaign.  money from his various corporations moved about...basically...it's business as usual and who knows really...with that much money it would be tough to trace the movement of it all.

 like many, it sickens me all the money that is spent on all of these elections.  it's insane.  the good that could come from that money and instead it's all going to buy elections....on all sides.  there are some problems in our nations government.  it's easy to see why the frustration levels are so high and why these off from the normal candidates are doing so well.

 we have a new speaker for our event on the 24th.  Joel Garlich-Miller.  he is a walrus biologist.  need to get more information on him so i can introduce him that night.  i'd also like to make direct contact with him.  so a last minute change kind of.  no event goes off without a hitch.  hopefully, this will all work out fine.  who knows...he may turn out to be  entertaining.  i do have everything for our little gift bags.  we will have a drawing for these gift bags and put pamphlets on the chairs, probably with our older stickers.

 so strange to be running this group.  you just never know where life will take you.

 so the rest of these are from todays walk.

 a bunch of trees in these one area have all these marks on them.  always makes me curious.  hyperactive wood pecker perhaps?

 took a few side trails out there today as well.

 Blossom took a few opportunities to get into the icy water.  she loves it.  then she gets out and rolls in the snow.

 Polar bears live on 1 healthy ring seal per 10 days...lots of resting in between.  several were equipped with "fitbit" type apparatus to track their activities.  70% of day was resting.  that sounds ok...another 15% walking around on the ice...the rest was grooming, swimming, eating and interacting with other bears...etc.  that is the life of a polar bear i guess.  hope they do this sort of study with walrus one day.  it is amazing the new stuff they can find out now with new research abilities.

 after my walk i cruised up the road to catch a bit of the sunset.  i debated heading over to Pt Woronzof, but the last time i went those statues are a bit creepy and creeped me out for a few hours after...now add to that a double homicide that occurred in that same place, amongst the creepy statues.  those poor folks.  family and friends of the homicide victims went down there and covered the bloodied areas with brightly colored-graffiti covered rocks.

 i opted to not make the drive over there.  took a brief nap before heading to the gym.

 at some point i noticed work had called.  i was at the gym when i noticed a friends text about work.  probably had it all figured out by then.  i left the gym after 9 i think

 pretty sunset.  just snapped these from the car on the road.  too lazy to get out and walk out Basher trails.

 always love the light through the trees, especially in winter.

 well, nearing the end of another exciting entry.

 i am tired.  you'd think all this extra exercise time would improve my sleeping...but according to my fit bit i am a pretty restless sleeper.  do make the 8 hours on my days off, but am up a few times.  not sure how that all works.  the fit bit came with minimal instructions and the web site isn't really all that informative either.  you just figure the thing out.  i'm sure there is still stuff i have no clue about when it comes to this fit bit toy of mine.

grateful for: A.  health...may health return to my friend and my sister in law...all the best with her surgery today.  B.  that good feeling after exercising.  C.  being humbled from time to time.  keeps you in check which is always good.