If we had to list your favorite places based on where you spend the most time,
Your growth edge would top the list.
Out, walking headfirst into the things that scare you most.
Becoming who you must become to realize your longings.
Leaning into whatever’s calling you
With all you’ve got.
You’ve never done anything else
And if you’ve dabbled in another way, you soon tired of the boredom,
Stagnation, the feeling of dying on the vine.

No, you’re made for the arena.
For the fire.
Where you feel at home because you burn so hard inside for all of it.
For experience. Dreams. Adventure. Novelty. Transcendence.
For expansion. Assemblage. Life.
Wild spaces reflect the wild in you and soothe your lust for life
By meeting it, welcoming it, absorbing it.

And this growth edge that you so rarely leave
Always comes with growing pains
Struggle. Resistance. Fear. Discomfort.

But remember, comfort can never be the goal.
And it is anathema to being here.
Comfort, in excess, is stagnation.

But don’t let me stop you from designing it in.
Ask for help.
Seek grace in the struggle.
Ease in hard things.

But do not ask it to be easy.
Do not ask it to be comfortable.

These are not the games we’re playing.

You know it in your mind.
Please remember it in your bones.

Rise. Grow. Evolve.
Feel the pain of it.
The friction tells you you’re in motion.

In motion, pulled by longings, to a destiny we can only imagine

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Ostensibly, it was not adventurous since it’s a place you can drive a car to . . .  That said, interacting with Alaska, and in a Super Cub, is never NOT adventurous!  Also, everything is an adventure to me.  Plus, this is my website so I get to write about whatever moves me. And this experience moved me.

Seward Mobile Saunas was interested in figuring out wheel plane-accessed spots along water where they could set their sauna for some fly-in rejuvenation. I explored the area and determined that Resurrection River had a number of workable options, but would have to be figured out on the day-of because the location of other vehicles and tents is always changing. On the day-of my friend Cassie joined me and off we went to sauna on the river

Landing itself was really interesting because of the number of vehicles, fire rings, tents, and other obstacles along the river. Objects in motion! I felt like a number of times as I went to line up, a car would have moved to where I wanted to be – definitely an added complication!  As it was, I found a decent spot and taxied over to where they had the sauna set up, which was actually in an area that turned out to be the ideal landing spot.  We ultimately dismantled the few rock fire rings and moved the sauna out of the ideal runway, ultimately finding/preparing a perfect 600 ft strip with a great lineup and clear exit. So in the future, the spot can be more easily utilized because of the prep they can do on the ground and the way we figured out to position the sauna so you can literally taxi up to it. Seriously cool.

Red line is the landing area . . . paced off at a solid 600.’  The river is only about calf deep, so landing on the “island” across the stream likely would have worked too, and avoided car-based complications . . .

The experience of the sauna itself was heavenly. Perched right along the edge of the river, it felt like wilderness and was so stunning. With a cold plunge set up at the river’s edge, a lovely sunny deck to chill on, a warming room to change in, and a luxuriously hot sauna with a huge window… It’s hard to find words for how pleasant the combination is. Sitting in the sauna, we had a spectacular “eagle TV“ show across the river and a great mountain view. The sauna itself is really big as well which is great for a larger group, and really lovely for a group of three like we were.  And we gazed from the plunge toward the Harding Icefield, which made me laugh at so many memories that direction . . .

So many memories in that direction Across the spectrum of adventure!

A mesmerizing view to bake in

I had reached out to my friend Heather, who lives in Seward, to join us and she did! I didn’t give her much information, all I said was to come to Resurrection and meet us to go in the sauna, and I had to laugh because she figured that there would be something far more adventurous and was prepared to cross the river, go for a hike, and a sundry of other ambitious undertakings. I suppose I have somewhat of a reputation for hard things! But the reality is there very little effort involved in this sauna experience!  And it was so rejuvenating

We easily spent five hours between the sauna, plunge, and sitting on the deck. We had lovely conversation, especially because none of us had seen each other in a while, and the three of us had never even hung out collectively! It was such a special evening of being with two women I’ve known a long time, and who know each other by virtue of the Girdwood community, sharing something so cool and unique as this sauna experience along the river. It’s actually really difficult to put into words this experience, which is odd for somebody like me who loves words.

The sauna was so hot that this glacial cold plunge actually felt refreshing!

It would’ve been lovely to camp, and the company will even set up sleeping arrangements in the warming area, though we just did it as a day trip and that was lovely too. The flight home in the late summer light with calmer air than we’d found in the afternoon was really beautiful and the perfect cap, such an indulgent evening.

For days afterwards, the whole experience just felt surreal. I really love what these guys are up to with these mobile saunas, and there’s something really special about what they’ve built. Again, it’s funny to be someone who loves words like I do, and feel so wholeheartedly lacking in finding the ones that can do justice to this experience.

Ciao Seward!

Does summer light ever get old?!?

10/10 recommend

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At a minimum, moose hunting is good for viewing morning sunlight and contemplating life

Fun to apply my river skills to rowing a big raft!

One of the best lights shows I’ve ever seen!

The Mosquito Fork (Cowden) dredge

Scenes along the South Fork

What’s better than reconnecting with people you haven’t seen in years, in the middle of nowhere?!?! Alaska is so big and small all at once

GOLD!

North Fork scenes

It wasn’t all flatwater, but that’s where the best reflections were!!!! I was smitten with how beautiful it was.

Looking back at “The Falls” rapid . . . not a huge deal, could be sportier at higher water.

And then the Fortymile Bridge appeared and the float was over . . . Bittersweet.  I definitely could have continued onto Eagle, but this wasn’t the trip for it . . . plus, we were out of the gourmet food!

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Unpredictability is a flow trigger that works by driving dopamine and norepinephrine into the system.

—————————————————————————————————-

Does the stress of unpredictability, not knowing what’s next, and wanting to be in control start to feel overwhelming sometimes?  I’m guessing if you made it through 2020 and 2021, unpredictability might even feel like the “new normal,” and likely exhausting. 

But what if unpredictability is actually a flow trigger and you could reframe the thing that’s exhausting you into one that energizes?  

When we don’t know what will happen next, we pay more attention to the next and are driven into the “deep now,” our present experience.  Also, because anything can happen, our brains release a huge amount of dopamine into the system, heightening attention and pattern recognition to help deal with the unknown since our survival could be at stake (speaking evolutionarily).  

As we know, dopamine is also quite pleasurable, which is part of what can rich environments and the unpredictability of them, so rewarding.  

So, why does uncertainty so often feel like stress?  Well, dopamine release is generally accompanied by norepinephrine, a neuromodulator involved in the “fight-or-flight” response – our classic stress response.  So, uncertainty can often feel stressful and unpleasant (despite the dopamine), UNLESS we train our brains to interpret it differently.  

Here’s the thing: anxiety and excitement both have the same “footprint” in our brains – norepinephrine.  As we know, changing state from anxiety to calm is challenging – this is because it requires flushing chemicals and replacing them with new ones.  Changing from a state of nervous system arousal (i.e. anxiety) to another aroused state (i.e. excitement) is far, far easier because it’s the EXACT SAME CHEMICALS.  

The neuromodulators in our brains are general, and the top-down control of our prefrontal cortex allows us to add subjective interpretation.  What does this mean for us with uncertainty?  Reframe it as excitement.  

But, how?  Well, maybe too simple for complex minds: 

1) feel the sensation in your body – where is it, how does it manifest — connect to it.  

2) Say (out loud if you can) 3 times: “I am excited, I am excited, I am excited!” 

3) Feel it again in your body.  Has it changed?  Has it moved?

4) Say it again 3 times: “I am excited, I am excited, I am excited!”

So, use that dopamine that comes with uncertainty, teach your brain to understand the norepinephrine as excitement, and use them both to drop into flow.  As it turns out, in any flow state, these are the first 2 chemicals to show up, so you’re well on your way with just this one trigger of uncertainty.  

Sound like a lot?  Play with it and see how it works in your body!  Or, if you’d like to have an authentic conversation about your relationship with uncertainty, let’s hop on a call.  I’d be happy to dive deep with you!  

I use this flow trigger a lot in travel.  Some travelers love a plan – they need to know where they’ll eat, stay, visit, etc. for a trip.  That’s not me!  I love to see how a country unfolds, leave space to discover cool things I’d never find via internet, and be guided by the vibe/feel of the experience – using the unpredictability of it all to drive a flowy travel experience.  

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Flying through Lima, I tried something new this time. Instead of taking the first available flight to Cusco, I booked a hotel at the Wyndham airport, with the idea that I’d get a solid seven hours of sleep. As it was, my flight was super delayed out of Dallas and I didn’t get the experience I was hoping for with the sleep! But, having that booking made sure I didn’t miss my connecting flight, which has its own benefits!  In the turn of events, I actually got travel insurance for this trip, trying out World Nomads.  It will be interesting to see if they cover my hotel!

And now, I’m enjoying a Peruvian Asian fusion meal – sushi, fancy cocktails, and these lovely fried rice extravaganza‘s.  Peru is known for its food, and I figured I would start with something foodie and delicious!

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Getting there: Located across Kachemak Bay from Homer, the trail is accessed by either plane or boat . . . I flew in, and the runway in Jakolof (4Z9) is long and in good shape, and has lots of space to pull to the side as well as fire rings and great camping options.

Once a road, and now a 4wheel trail, the ride from Jakolof Bay to Red Mountain is actually pretty fun and the trail is transport to a super rad area that can be explored more deeply once you’re there!    

The first 5.5 miles are in the woods and pretty overgrown – it’s screaming for someone to go up it with a pair of loppers to clear some alders back!  That said, it rides well and the surface is good, so that’s enough!  There are multiple sections where it’s washed out, but 4 wheelers have ridden a new trail in where necessary, and there’s some really narrow singletrack for those with the gusto to ride it with the exposure!  

This was late September growth . . . mid-summer might be rough!

This is narrower than it looks, and a bit unnerving to ride over the somewhat overhang, and also fun! There’s also a ride-around so this section can be avoided!

The old road is pretty washed out, but you don’t have to get your feet wet to cross!

Once the trail meets the Windy Creek, there’s also wash out sections with massive downed trees, also with 4-wheeler ride arounds that totally work!  They’re a little muddier than the “main” road, but not too bad.  

Wheeler trails offer ride-arounds of the washed out parts – a little muddy, but it works!!

At about 5.5 miles, the trail enters more alpine and the views of Red Mountain open up . . .at about 7.5 miles you reach a bridge over Windy Creek and a lovely valley with incredible views in every direction.  There’s many great camping options here, and a huge metal fire ring to augment any camping adventure!  It would be totally worthy to bike a camp up here and stay awhile to explore the upper valley.  

Trail opens up for the first views of the upper valley

And it keeps getting better!

FIre pit says it all . . . Red Mountain!

Cross the bridge and access the upper trail to the mine . . . it gets overgrown but if you get through that part, the access to the upper valley is good.

The color of the water didn’t get old . . .

The upper trail is just to the looker’s left of the shaded peak . . . the mine is up there too! Super cool valley

Such a rad place!

The trail then continues through some super thick alder, before switching back left and climbing steadily to the mine.  This section was snowed in when I rode in late September, but would be a worthy ride in mid-summer for sure!  Except for the alder section which I’d probably carry my bike uphill to avoid, honestly!  

I didn’t go explore up higher on account of the snow, but you can see the switchbacks up to the mine and pass! Worth a return trip for sure!

The ride down was super fun – the tech sections rode well and it was all pretty fast.  Even in late September I needed gloves to ease the hand-smashing of the alders!  

I rode a Specialized Turbo Levo SL e-bike for this trail – my first time ever riding one!  It was a perfect trail for it, in my opinion!  I made the 1200’ climb up over 7.5 miles in just over an hour, stopping plenty to take pictures!  And the way down was a super fun 30 minutes!  I loved having the power to make the flatter sections more fun, and the bike road super well through the tech!  I’m totally sold on battery-powered to add fun and speed things up!  As it was, I was worried about leaving the plane without a great tie-down, the bears in the area that could be feasting on my bushwheels, and the shorter days and impending cold!  So, I was happy to do the whole recon ride in 2 hours, including time spent lounging in the sun in the beautiful valley surrounded by red mountains  

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I rode from Ptarmigan Creek to Vagt Lake Trailhead (about 1.3 miles beyond Vagt Lake) and back and it would also be a great ride from Vagt Lake Trailhead to Ptarmigan Creek and back . . . perhaps better!  About 12 miles total riding, it took me about 2.5 hours (including the ride out Vagt Lake) and was a bit faster from Vagt to Ptarmigan than Ptarmigan to Vagt.

Staring at Vagt Lake: Trailhead is on the east side of the Seward Highway at mile 25.4 just south of Trail River bridge. Park outside of the railroad gate.  Trail starts near lakeshore.

Starting at Ptarmigan Creek: At Mile 23, Seward Highway, and turn east into Ptarmigan Creek Campground. Begins at the south end of the campground.

The best map of the trail is this one posted at a trail junction, with the INHT connector drawn in with Sharpie! It does give a good idea of the whole network, and supporting detail can be found at the Vagt and Ptarmigan NFS Recreational Opportunity Guides.

Ptarmigan Creek TH to Vagt Lake TH

The trail starts out from the campground and is wide and smooth.  There’s a junction to Falls Creek about ¾ mile in – turn left!  The trail has some moderate growth initially and then transitions to lovely open forest riding.  Some sort of punchy sections in the climb, it crosses a 4 wheel trail at about 1.9 miles (go straight) and then winds pretty gradually to the bridge across Falls Creek (about 2.8 miles in).  Constructed in summer 2021, it’s a pretty amazing bridge and the ticket to making this ride connect!  From the bridge, there’s 3 steep switchbacks that I was off the bike for, and then it’s about another 0.4 miles mostly up to the Crown Point ORV (4 wheel) trail.  Cross this trail and begin the descent to Vagt Lake.  At the junction, turn left to descend the final 1.3 miles to Trail Lake and the Seward Highway.  Never 100% up or down, the trail essentially climbs from Ptarmigan Creek to hte Crown Point ORV trail and essentially descends from there.  The descent to Vagt Lake and the Seward Highway are steep-ish at times with switchbacks, but it all rides well.  It’s definitely the more challenging downhill (and the more challenging uphill on the return!). 

Well built and super clear of brush! This is what Southcentral Alaska dreams are made of

After the Falls Creek ORV crossing, the trail continues to gradually wind up through the forest.

It’s a push up the switchbacks after the Falls Creek bridge! (photo: Chris Jung)

The Vagt Lake side of trail is a bit more greasy! Still fun tho

Vagt Lake TH to Ptarmigan Creek TH

The Vagt Lake trail starts with a mellow pedal along Trail Lake and then starts climbing!  The uphill is steep at times and I walked a bit of it as the trail ascends a creek.  The dirt is also greasier on this side (vs the Ptarmigan Creek side) so a bit harder to grip if it’s been raining recently!  A right at the lake itself (junction to INHT under construction – see below) and the climb continues with varying degrees of steepness – I walked another switchback, but it otherwise is pedal-able (for me).  Cross the Crown Point ORV, and descend to the Falls Creek bridge – the 3 switchbacks to teh bridge ride just fine!  A short uphill off the bridge and your reward is a wonderfully flowy and beautiful section of riding through the forest.  To me, this was the most fun part of the whole trail (and by this logic, worth an out/back to the bridge if you’re short on time or energy!).  Mostly downhill, there are a few short climbs too.  Right at the intersection with Ptarmigan Creek takes you to the trailhead along a very improved section of trail that still rides fun   

Climbing out of Trail Lake and the parking area, the trail is super lovely and mellow

The photo is a bit deceiving, but this section climbing along the creek was pretty steep and greasy – a push for me!

Lots of up and down . . .

With fun and flowy sections too!

Crossing Crown Point ORV – one more greasy section (it rides!) before transitioning back into the thicker forest canopy!

And then it’s a fun and flowy section on great dirt (drier under the forest canopy if it’s raining!), with great sight lines and no sharp turns that come and surprise you!

Ride Options 

1.  When I arrived at the Vagt Lake trail junction of the INHT with the trail to the Seward Highway, I took a ride out the new trail along Vagt Lake.  Currently being constructed (so far about 0.5 mi constructed), this section will continue to Grant Creek, and the ultimate construction of a bridge over Grant Creek will connect the INHT much closer to its destination at the Johnson Pass TH.  With the 4 bridges ultimately installed on Turnagain Pass INHT, that will bring connectivity from Moose Pass to Turnagain Arm!  I’m super thrilled with the continued progress on this amazing asset for Southcentral Alaska!
   

   Some of the prettiest riding, I’m super excited for this section to be complete!

    

   

Riding along Vagt Lake back toward the Seward Highway junction (photo: Chris Jung)

Currently the trail ends at the blue dot at the NW corner of Vagt Lake, and it will continue on to Grant Creek.

2.     Crown Point ORV – you can ride/push up this trail as far as you’d like to go!  It ultimately climbs like 3200’ well into the mountains.  Alternatively you can go up a bit for a view, or go down this trail and make a loop back to Vagt Lake TH.

Overlooking Trail Lake from the Crown Point trail (photo: Chris Jung)

3.   Falls Creek Rd – another 4 wheel trail, you can go up this one about 0.5 miles to a singletrack that will connect with the Ptarmigan Lake trail . . . ride it to the lake and come out Ptarmigan Creek all the way as an alternate ride to do with this section of trail!  The Ptarmigan Lake descent via Ptarmigan Creek rides super well and is similar to the Primrose descent in character, though a bit more tech than Primrose.  I definitely recommend it for those looking for a fun challenge!

Overall, mountain biking the 6 miles (12 miles round trip) of Iditarod National Historic Trail (INHT) between Ptarmigan Creek and Vagt Lake is a super worthy mountain bike ride!  At about 2.5 hours of riding, there’s a decent amount of variety and some nice views.  It’s not ever technical or overly challenging (except for a few sections of the climb), but a great ride to add to your list of Kenai Rides!

For more info on southcentral Alaska riding, check out www.AlaskaMTB.com!

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Steep and loose, with rad Bonanza Mine ruins in the background!

Still steep and loose, still rad

Transitioning out of the choss and it feels good!

A brief respite in descent!

A little less steep, and much less loose . . . the views don’t disappoint!

The smile of having made it through the most tech section intact! The top of the ride is beyond the horizon on the left green ridge . . . beautiful alpine and rad riding that would be worthy even without the history. Add the ruins and history and it becomes straight mind blowing.

Riding through the old lift tower from the trolly system used to transport ore down the mountainside from the mine . . . one more steep singletrack section and it’s on to fast and fun double track to Kennecott!

The final steep singletrack – this part was super fun!

And on to the doubletrack ride to Kennecott – still over 1000′ to go! Fast and fun, waterbars to catch air on, and amazing views continue!

While a long push/carry, mountain biking Bonanza Mine above Kennecott is an unforgettable and worthy experience!  For us, it was a 30 min pedal up the road to Kennecott from McCarthy, about 2 hours to the top of the doubletrack, 1 hour to the mine ruins for a total of 3.5 hours climbing.  We spent about 2 hours up top exploring, taking in views, hiking to the ridge, and chilling out – totally worthy and not a place I’d ever want to hurry through!  The descent to McCarthy was about an hour in total – the upper section is a bit slow, we took some rests and more pictures, and the pedal from Kennecott is downhill but not that fast!  Overall, a 7.5 hour adventure . . . such a fun day!

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After a very windy and long drive up the backside, the trail started in grassy animal trails – kind of choose-your-own adventure, but definitely a trail to follow.  After a bit, it popped out onto the ridge for a series of freeride drops – no trail, lots of features, ride what looked fun!  These super fun ‘bumps’ were connected by short climbs or at times traverse sections that rode more like a pump track than anything.  It’s as if they were made for bikes!  This style of terrain goes on for awhile and is super fun riding!

At one point, my buddy exclaimed that we should have used this place as a warm-up, at which point I reminded him not to underestimate Peru . . . and I was right!  After about 6500′ of super fun (though still plenty taxing) terrain, the last 1500′ are steep, loose, rocky technical riding that definitely was a challenge!  Tech riding like this is always difficult, and especially after a long day of riding in the sun!  All’s well that ends well, and we made it through just fine . . .

The closest town to the ride is Chincha, where we stayed the night before after riding Olleros.  I recommend staying local the night before as it’s a very very long day trip from Lima – as it was, the day was long by starting in Chincha and returning to Lima.

Apparently this trail was ‘discovered’ by some 70-year-old guys who likes bikes and likes exploring – what a find!  It’s so random and rad, but I have no idea how anyone would ever think to ride here!  That said, I highly highly highly recommend you do!  So unreal and fun.

This is, however, one of the most exposed rides we did . . . almost all the trails have a road that intersects them so the truck is avialble if needed.  Chavin does not – it’s truly remote for a long time and an injury here would be something to contend with for sure.

Peruvian version of game trails . . .

It started off so tame . . .

These traverse sections were so fun to ride!

The views didn’t suck! Big country . . .

Riding big ridgelines is so cool!

Of course the spicy section comes at the end when your legs are already spent!

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Ride 1 – Santa Maria

This ride was 100% Peru – steep, loose, narrow.  Winding through the trees, this ride had a lot of momentum management and driving with the handlebars!!!  I kind of loved it, in part because it was different than the other type of tech riding we’d done.  My partner was less stoked on it.  But variety is the spice of life!!!!

Here we go . . . cool to see city views from the start!

This is a fairly typical section, though the photo doesn’t do justice to the steepness, looseness, or narrowness! It was spicy

After riding in the sacred valley for a week, with only highways paved, it was funny to drop out into a neighborhood!

Ride 2 – Huanacaure

Our second ride was a much bigger and longer one . . . it started with a hike-a-bike up to ruins, at which point a trail magically emerged!  While we were there, the trail was under major construction so was in transition from Peru tech to ‘Inca Trail’ highway – apparently it’s being constructed to help develop trekking tourism.

That said, once we got below the constructed (and active construction), the trail transitioned back to the Peru tech we’d become accustomed to!  The unimproved sections were super fun to ride, complete with a super steep descent literally into town.

We hiked to the high point and the ride descended off the backside

Ruins under repair to support the trekking route also being constructed. Super cool way to start the ride!

Vestiges of trail construction/improvement – never seen it done like this outside Peru!

The ‘Inca Trail’ highway section

Back to tech!

Final steep section into town

Overall, we finished this section of the trip on a high note, and enjoyed some celebratory beers and town time exploring Cusco!  Riding with Peru Biking did not disappoint!

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