Hiking Penguin Ridge with Sherrie
Sherrie and I headed out from Bird, up Penguin Peak, and along the ridge to Girdwood, schwacking through alders and mosquitos until we found California Creek and Crow Creek Rd. It was a beautiful sunny June day – perfect for ridge walking and scoping the mountains!




(photos: Sherrie Soltis)

Bird Ridge Overlook with Gretchen
Gretchen and I headed out for some mountain wandering and found ourselves walking back to the Bird Ridge Overlook, before dropping down to some amazing lakes and hiking out to the Indian Valley Trail. We ran into Dave and Annie on their way back from an overnighter and they gave us the secret alder-free way back, which was also amazingly beautiful! Only bummer is that I rolled my ankle super badly 4 miles from the trailhead, which made for some slow and painful walking . . . thank goodness for cold creeks along the way!!!





Packrafting Eagle River
Shortly after Callie moved to town, I told Hugh I’d hike over Crow Pass to his house, as long as dinner would be waiting . . . originally Callie was going to join me, but with the insanity of the recent move, she opted to go as far as Crow Pass. Thankfully, Sherrie heeded the rally call and off we went, seeing if it truly was possible to chat the entire trip without stopping . . . I think we came pretty close! I had never been beyond Crow Pass and was glad to see a new corner of the world. It was Sherrie’s first time in a packraft, and she killed it like always! Midway down the river, we found a pack which turned out to belong to Larry Dowling, the SF guy who drowned while crossing. We decided to pack it out, and were eventually able to get ahold of his family to return the personal items. All-in-all, a great day with an adventurous twist, and burritos waiting in Eagle River, as promised!




Mountain Biking Winner Creek with Doug
AKA “The quality of life ride” because it’s right outside the front door . . . I ran into Doug on the trail, which was a welcome surprise on a another amazing Alaska day!

Rafting the Gulkana
I headed out with a few coworkers from town for 3 days rafting the Gulkana . . . we had one day of sunshine as we crossed Paxon Lake, and then typical Alaska rain for the following days. We saw a bunch of moose hunters, and one moose, but that’s about all . . . We had a few a few pyromaniacs which enusred good evening bonfires, and tons of good food!