Weekend in Denali

Two friends and I headed down to Denali for the weekend. The valley is well into Fall--it had already had its first frost a week prior, and its trees were more obviously turning. The weather is generally harsher there, but this weekend we got lucky and left rain and dense fog in Fairbanks, to find patchy sun and gentle drizzles in Denali. However, the constant wind was still there, tossing us about on our hike, and buffeting and snapping the walls of my tent all night long.

One of my friends confessed that she had driven by this steep trail that goes straight up to a ridgeline multiple times and had often been curious about it, so up we went.

It was a heck of a climb:




With a view of increasing beauty behind us every time we glanced back:








Autumn posing with her namesake Fall colors:


A pause for breath:


Me and my goober:


Queen Autumn surveying her domain:


The much-talked-about Healy Clean Coal plant caught the sunlight very beautifully:


They were pooped at the end of the day!






Homemade cinnamon buns for breakfast! Yum!


The girls were pretty popped the next morning after another walk:

Fall gives her first grazing kisses...

... leaving a touch of yellow on each birch tree:









The aspens look anemic beside the glorious birch:


Most of the fireweed has already bloomed to the top, which means 2 weeks until the first frost:


Some has even gone to seed:

More Late Summer Photos

How to use a large quantity of miscellaneous veggies

Slice them up, sprinkle with minced garlic, lemon, and olive oil, and roast:


Not bad over pasta with a generous grating of your hard cheese of choice (mine is pecorino):


Sam, her mama, and another friend came over to join the veggie consumption feast. I hadn't seen Sam in a while, and she was anxious to remind the members of my household that she still LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES us. Even Linden was overwhelmed. Sam followed me around and lashed her tongue here and there attempting to kiss whatever she could catch with it. My huskies hid in a corner:


Here is the sunset last night as I was seeing them off. It was around 10 p.m.


And here is one of those bits of yellow I was telling you about. Fall will be here soon.

The first whispers of fall

The fireweed blooms are approaching the tops as their bottoms go to seed and float away, a few aspens are just starting to turn one or two of their boughs golden, and that light! That sky! That amazing Northern blue sky! Those chunky shafts of golden sun, streaming down through those trees that are even now preparing for their winter slumber...


My younger friends are taking their physics comprehensive exams this week, and sandhill cranes are circling overhead, staging their migration. I remember them doing this as I sat for my own comps, and these two things will always be linked in my mind, as will rainbows and fractal broccoli. All signs of late summer.

Miss Millie B. Doofus, Supreme Ruler of the People's Independent Republic of Bunnistan, sez: "Thanks for the willow, proletariat!"


I forgot my camera at the office yesterday, so you don't get a photo of my CSA pickup this week. I know! How can you live now? But I got a purple cabbage, a sweet pepper, two reasonably-sized zucchinis, a fractal broccoli, two fennel bulbs, a bunch of leek, a bag of sweet peas in the pods, a bunch of mature beets with greens, and some other stuff I don't recall right now.

White Mountains Visit

Can you ever have too many blueberries? We spent the weekend in the White Mountains pushing that limit.

There are lovely, well-maintained cabins every 7-15 miles, perfect hiking distances. I love BLM! We stayed at Lee's Cabin:


The interior:


Look at all the food we brought! And that's just two people's!


The lofts. This wee cabin sleeps 7! Whenever I stay in public use cabins, I browse through the log books' recent entries to check for bear activity, etc. And every time, I see at least several entries from people I know!


It was grey and drizzly the whole weekend. Here is the normally spectacular view across the valley:


And here is the muddy, but still tolerable, trail we'd just come in on:


Linden looking in:


Another self portrait fail:


The BLM cabins have nice pot-belly wood stoves for heat:


The girls are impatient to get going while I snap photos of the cabin in the morning:


But eventually they give up and settle down, haha:


Blueberries! Yay!


The view to Wickersham Dome was obstructed by fog and clouds:


Three types of berries! Blueberries, cranberries, and crowberries! The cranberries will be ripe soon!


I couldn't help but snatch berries throughout the walk back:


We saw fresh bear sign on the trail that morning, so we made lots of noise!