All's quiet on the northern front

Things up here in Alaska are pretty quiet these days, although while the rest of the state is counting down the days until Sarah Palin leaves office, I'm counting the days until my little sister shows up (admittedly, mostly because this is easier, as I currently only have to count to 2). Unfortunately, our glorious summer weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse, but it should be a fun visit regardless of whether it clears up before the weekend. Plus, it could be a valuable chance for us to teach her the lesson about "if you're not going to go outside just because the weather's no good, you probably shouldn't be in Alaska." And sis, if you read this and get worried, give Gareth a call and ask him how his lesson in shitty Wyoming weather went. Or maybe I'll just tell you: awesome.

While the rest of the world was all abuzz about Sarah Palin quitting as governor, I spent the fourth of July hiking just to the east of Denali National Park. The weather was great, and although it was too hazy for good views the last two days, the first day was spectacular, and up here you just can't complain about 76 degrees and sunshine.

You can complain about bugs, though. This may have been the buggiest trip that I've ever been on, and I took this picture at a moment when I thought the bugs weren't that bad. There were times when stopping was unthinkable.

Here's the view over my tent with Ermine lake in the midground and the foothills of the Alaska Range in the background. This one goes down as one of my all-time favorite campsites.

Here's what the terrain looked like for much of the hike. We were up on a high (~2500 feet) broad ridge, with a few scattered trees, but mostly just wide open.

I think I said something about views, right? They were awesome.

I wish this picture were better. Hopefully if you click on it it will enlarge.

This is from our hike up to the top of the ridge. It was really steep, but the rest breaks came with nice views.

gift fish

I went upstairs to give the rent to the landlords and Jim was like "want a fish?" Clearly, I answered in the affirmative.

Fun fact: Jim placed 12th in the World Beard and Moustache Championships in May.