A Favorite Hike - Flattop Mountain

Flattop Mountain is not only the most popular hike in the Anchorage area, but it's the most hike peak in the state.  That being said, if you go at the right time, you may not see another person...at least at the top.  It's a 3510ft. mountain southeast of downtown.  I hesitate to call it a peak, because it is literally flat on top.  The glacier sheered off the top a bajillion (that's ALOT) of years ago and the top of the mountain is literally a flat space the size of a football field.  We hiked it ALOT last spring and summer.  You can easily make it up and down the back valley after work and still have time to eat dinner.  Some people run up it...some crazy people.  Sometimes I go alone, sometimes 2 or more of us go up talking and letting the dogs exhaust themselves.  Just behind Flattop are Peaks 2,3 and 4.  Those are their names.  When we have extra time we'll take the ridge over to those peaks too.  In the winter all of these are popular destinations for back country skiing and snowboarding.  Next year...

Banks loves the Camelback!

Flattop Mt.

Early evening light.

Allie happy to be at the top!

Banks and Raven on an after work date.

Looking off the backside with Powerline Pass in the valley below.

Sage, Banks and Raven checking out the view off the backside.

Amy coming to get me to head to Peak 2 up the ridge behind her.

This was one of our first trips up last spring.  When we got to the top there was a crazy, unrestrained lab pup that took a liking to several of the ladies in our group...if you know what I mean.

Flattop & Peak 2: Part I

Part II

All Things Furry

Anyone who knows me, knows that I don't have dogs...I have rather hairy, 4-legged children.  2 of them.  Shy is turned 12 this year.  This girl has seen it all and travelled alot of places.  She's come a long way from living in a cardboard box on a Louisiana farm as the runt of the liter.  She's grumpy, loyal, grumpy, hungry, grumpy, sweet, grumpy, protective, grumpy, cuddly and LOVING ALASKA.  I was pretty sure that she would somehow boycott the move, but surprisingly she LOVES it up here. Even in spite of the occasional bitter cold.  I'm proud to say that she has 3 pairs of booties and a small collections of sweaters (including a hoodie and even a jumpsuit) that she wears on winter dog park outings.  Initially she seemed degraded by her "outfits" but when she sees the sweater come off the hook, she lights up. Due to her age she doesn't have to wear a backpack or pull anything but watching her run the trails and playing with other dogs at the dog park, we are thinking that moving up here has lengthened her life by at least a good 3-5 years!

Shy loving life at University Lake Dog Park.  We think she looks quite dignified with her pink sweater (with the collar popped of course) and her booties!

The old girl enjoying her giant summer bone.  She mostly laid by it and growled to keep Banks off of it.

Banks, Banks, Banks.  I got Banks at 8 weeks old and fell in love with him immediately.  This boy is my heart...my forever best bud.  He, of course, is thriving up here.  He loves his "pack" to the ends of the earth.  Myself and my close friends, Kristin, Amy and my roommate Torrey, are his family along with their pups.  Raven (Kristin's black husky-hound girl) is most definitely his favorite.  They are best friends, and we're pretty sure that they are in love.  Sage (Amy's yellow lab girl) is his playmate and Allie (Torrey's Bernese Mountain girl) is his adopted sister.  We like to joke that he has alot of b*****s.  He's a smart, independent boy, but he doesn't respond to anger or anything in a mean tone.  He'll dig his feet in, do it his way and literally talk back if you raise your voice. He does great in harness and instinctively digs in to pull like a champ. We started skijoring our first winter here, but I'm looking forward to getting a light, kickboggen type sled and 1-2 more dogs and slowly start dog sledding for real.

Banks on top of Bird Ridge last spring.

Spring hike up Bird Ridge with his Aunt Torrey and Allie.

There is 1 bromance that he has cultivated...with a Jack Russell named...wait for it...Jack.  They don't see each other often, but when they do, it's a full on love fest.  Check it out:

A favorite after work or Sunday afternoon activity is the dog park.  We either take them to the airport dog park or University Lake.  Unlike dog parks in the Midwest, these aren't simply fenced in fields.  They are acres of wooded land with hills, streams, trees, lakes and many moose.  It's a nice change of pace from walks around the neighborhood.  It not only gets them socialization with other dogs, but you ALMOST feel like you're really in Alaska and not in Anchorage. :)

1 of My Favorite Things

In my continued "catch-up blogging" I wanted to share one of my favorite things. Since coming up here I have witnessed some truly AMAZING sunrises and sunsets.  It seems the winter ones are the best.  I don't know if it's the snow or the cold or a combination of the 2 that makes them so rad.  Regardless...they are RAD and I reserve that word for stuff that really knocks me out.  So here are just a few of my favorites over the last year. Enjoy!

Recent sunrise from Alaska Native Medical Center parking lot.  I drive east to work every morning, which means I drive right into the sunrise.  As long as the mountains aren't socked in I usually have a pretty great show.  I'll start missing this probably within the next month as the sunrise gets earlier and earlier.  This is ~7-730am.

Moonrise in mid-December 2011.  This is b/n 3:30-4:00pm.

Sunrise from the orthopedic floor of the hospital in eaerly December.  Likely after 9:30am.  Facing southeast.

Lake Hood sunset - November

Lake Hood on a different day at sunet.

Stopped me in my tracks coming out of Wal-Mart.  This is impressive as I am generally RUNNING out of Wal-Mart.

July sunset off Pt. Woronzof - July 2011

Something New

This weekend I did something totally new.  We packed up and went winter camping.  I love camping and backpacking in the summer, so this just seemed like the next natural progression.  Those in attendance included myself, Banks and Allie.  We decided to leave Shy at home, with the temperatures hovering around 0-10 at night I didn't think she'd do well.  So...she got a spa weekend at the kennel instead. Kristin and Travis came along with Bank's girlfriend, Raven.  We contemplated skiing in, but settling on snowshoes with Banks pulling one sled of gear and Travis pulling in the other sled...with some firewood in it. We headed down to Turnagain Pass, dumped out in the parking lot and got everybody all hooked up.  This was Bank's first time pulling anything other than me, and I have to say that he KILLED IT!  We could have carried pretty much everything, but part of me wanted to see if Banks would be interested in really pulling, and he was.  Travis, on the other hand, was not crazy about pulling a sled while having his pack on his back too.  I headed out first on snowshoes cutting a trail for Banks who was following with Allie and Kristin behind him and his sled.  Raven was frolicking in the deep snow and Trav was bringing up the rear.  We picked a spot near the trees to protect us from wind and stamped out an area for our camp.  Allie, Banks and myself were in my 2-season tent (genius, I know, but didn't have time to buy a new tent beforehand) and Travis, Kris and Raven piled in the other tent.  We brought in a garbage can lid to build our fire on, so Travis went to work on that and in no time at all we had a blaze going.  Dinner was delicious Mountain House freeze dried meals.  And I seriously mean delicious...beef stroganoff is the deal!  The dogs chowed down and Banks curled up next to my chair...one tired pup.  It was a perfectly clear night and we were able to see every star in the sky, the constellations as well as a couple planets.  No Northern Lights show though.  Bummer...hopefully next time.  After some rum spiced cider (best idea ever) we turned in.  I wouldn't say that I was necessarily comfortable, but I did sleep.  At one point I was shivering and Banks got up and came and laid across me.  At home he doesn't cuddle during the night because he's too hot...so I'm sure that he knew that I was cold.  I love that dog.  Not only is he the best, but thankfully he is also a 4 legged portable heater!
     Overall it was a great experience and I can't wait to do it again.  My goal is to get out with the pups on a multiday sled/snowshoe winter backpack.  Ideally to some hot springs!
This is the blurry video of Banks and Travis.  I left the GoPro at home (was too excited packing up to go, I guess) so this is done with an iPhone.

Part of camp.  And yes, that IS a box of wine.

Banks taking a much deserved cool off.

Allie had to carry all the dog food and fish.  Not sure if she had much fun, we think she would have been ready to head to the car at a moment's notice.

Cook Inlet the morning after we snowshoed out.

Worst Blogger Ever

     I am officially the worst blogger ever.  It's true.  The worst, nearly 1 year since my last post. :)  Facebook is just too easy sometimes, but it can also limit the volume of information and those of you that know me can attest tat I generally have alot to say.  So my "1/4-of-the-year-is-over-resolution" is to update this weekly. Even if just to throw out a brief note.  I've got alot to

     As you can imagine, alot has happened over the course of a year.  At the hospital we made the transition to electronic medicl records in October and with the exception of a few bumps and bruises everyone has survived.  However, we seem to use more paper now that we ever did before.  I've seen alot of really interesting patients at work and just got news today from Dr. Clawson, our hand surgeon, that I'm headed to Bethel and Metlakatla sometime in the next 6-8 weeks for field clinics.  Bethel is about 350 miles west of Anchorage on the Kuskokwim River and it's the hub for te 56 villages inthe Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.  So as you can imagine, it's an impressively large and cosmopolitan metropolis.  A whopping 7000 folks live there...and it's "dry."  And I don't mean that theres no plumbing.  It's one of several alcohol free communitie in the state (theoretically...).  They are known for hosting the Kuskokwim 300.  It's a middle distance dogsled race that is held in January. They also have a Native dance festival every March.  Many of the residents do live in dry cabins/homes meaning they don't have running water.  Alot of our patients bath in steam houses and at communty washeterias.  For this reason, Bethel is also known for one other thing:
http://www.anthc.org/cs/dehe/envhlth/ehcoordination/mrsa-in-alaska.cfm
     Metlekatla is a much smaller village, about 1500 people. It's at the very southern tip of te Southeast panhandle of the state.  You can't see Russia from here, but you can see Canada. You can get there via the Alaska Marine Ferry which is neat, but pricey and time consuming so we fly in on a teeny little plane.  Since living here I've gotten quite used to small aircraft...anything from a 3-4 seater up.  My preferred way to fly is actually floatplane.  I think it's pretty smooth, but I digress.  The Alaska Natives from this area of the state are from the Tlinget, Haida and Tsimshian tribes.  When we go to these smaller towns and villages, patients from the surrounding villages come in to get their medical care.  It can save them a more costly and time consuming trip to Anchorage if we can help the non-surgically.  I'm pretty psyched to get out into some of the villages and see the different ways of life. 

     The longer that I live here, the less impressed I am with certain aspects of "civilization."  I can definately see the allure to packing up, throwing the pups in the truck and heading "out."  There's something to be said for being self sufficient and making do with "less" than we think we need.  If there's one thing that I can take away from Alaska as a whole, it's utilitarianism.  If it needs to be done, Alaskans do it and if they don't know how, they figure it out.  Kind of awesome.

     More catching up later...thanks for reading!