Going Solo

Back in February, Patrick was gone a few weekends for various expeditions, so I decided to get brave and have a couple of my own. Plenty of my friends have been on solo hikes, but I had not yet done any outdoor trek alone so I decided it was time to give it a shot! As my family knows, I am completely navigational-challenged so I first chose a hike Patrick and I had been to twice. Remember last spring the photos of all the orange hillsides covered in poppies? It was a little early for the bloom, but I knew I'd be comfortable venturing there, at Hite Cove.

'Signage' (aka a giant metal pipe) pointing out some of the mining equipment ruins.

 

 I felt lucky spotting this pretty, lone succulent adorning a rock face lining one side of the trail. I was tempted to pluck it to accompany the ones I have at home, but decided it would be better to leave for other passer-bys with sharp eyes to enjoy.

The flowers weren't out, but some berries were. They provided a lovely contrast against the green/brown atmosphere.

 

Sometimes it's easy to get tunnel vision on the trail, but I tried to take a moment every now and then to look at the dynamic skyline around me.

I was struck by how vivid green this section of stream and bordering moss were.

Made it to the mining camp without a problem (Patrick and I had a tough time finding it the first time.) Time for a photo to commemorate my first solo hike. I realized later that I think I had this same outfit on in the picture with Patrick here. :)

Felt like I was the lady walking up the stairway to Heaven. Kinda hard to capture in the photo, but the sunlight was casting this awesome aura being filtered through the branches and dully reflecting from the stone trail.

 

Lichen is like...

....nature's graffiti!

After my hike, I hit up Prospector Brewery in Mariposa, where I had the amazing limited time Vanilla Bean Porter to toast my success. Poor Patrick- I talked up the beer for two days straight until we went back there together. The keg had blown that morning. We hope they make it again next year, so he can get a taste and I can get more!

A couple weeks later I felt empowered after my first experience to strike out solo again. There is a path that follows the road to Yosemite National Park, just on the other side of the Merced River that I thought would be a another fail-safe route to follow w/o danger of getting lost, and I had a pretty good idea of where the parking lot and access to the trailhead were. I had the right parking lot but it turns out I missed the trailhead and followed a road up and around the backside of the hill (instead of along the river/highway side). I passed a few different groups of dirt bikers and ATVs, but it was miles by the time I ran into other pedestrians. I thought I should have reached the turn-around point by then, so I asked the hikers if I was close. Luckily, the man and woman seemed to be regular visitors and told me that I was close to a junction, and depending on which way I went, the trail could keep on going all the way to Tahoe! But since I told him I didn't plan on going there that day, he recommended veering to the right, up a short steep hill and a little further, for a peek into YNP with a view of El Capitan. It was a nice late-lunch spot, but I felt so exposed that it left me with a vulnerable feeling and I was on my return hike shortly thereafter. (El Cap is where that hill in the foreground overlaps with the hill in the background- near the white spot.)

I had some beautiful intakes of sky on my way back, but I should've brought sunblock! This hike gave me my first layer of "sunkiss" for the season.

A lot of the hike wasn't like this area in the photos. It followed 10-20' rock walls that harbored deep terraces above them, and rock perches or dugouts where I could just imagine a mountain lion having a fabulous vantage point. I think it was mostly my imagination getting the better of me, rather than there being any real threat (although there are warning signs posted in the Park, which I wasn't far from), since I ended up on a trail I didn't quite mean to be on and signs of other people were scarce most of the time. It kept me from enjoying this hike quite as much as the first one, and because of the slight anxiety, I took almost no breaks so I was pretty beat by the end of the 10 miles! Even so, it was nice to get outdoors, and I was rather proud of myself for making the venture, which might not be so bold for others but was for me!

The "Since-Christmas Status-Quo"

Christmas was a little different this year, as our Scotland family flew over to the States (we haven't had all 5 together here for Christmas before!) and some job scheduling factors pushed my immediate family's "Christmas" a week later (no problem at all though!). My mom had a medical procedure that kept her from being able to travel to the larger family party, so we stayed in town with her, and our flight schedule unfortunately caused us to miss (by less than a day) the family gathering on my Dad's side for my Grandpa's memorial service. All this, combined with having to mooch rides and borrow vehicles, meant of course we didn't see as many people, nor for as long as we'd have liked, but we did value the time we were able to spend in Michigan, and will try again (but probably fail terribly all the same! lol- it's pretty much an impossible assignment) to make the most we can of our next visit. :)

Patrick with the two youngest nephews: Isaac (furthest left) and John.

I suppose the slightly unusual Christmas might have been an omen for a year that seems to have started off feeling differently than the last one ended. You'd think it'd pick up the everyday routine same as before, but for some reason it's like a dial was turned to a higher notch. For me,work just seemed to grow even more stressful and hard to stay caught up with; Patrick's job has put him in the path of some out-of-the-norm and frustrating situations ("Jimmy and the snow chains" is a good one for a campfire sometime if you think to ask); and like much of the nation we fell ill at one point too.

To my inconvenience, and later my amusement: I reached for a tissue at my bedside during the middle of the night and it was kind of wet which surprised me. In the morning I realized the last tissue I pulled had another outstretched from the box still attached to it. It landed in my water glass and proceeded to soak it all up until the rest of the tissues and the box itself were soaked.

Patrick has had to travel out of town and away from home in higher frequency the last month or so (including some weekends), which can be exhausting and expensive for him, a little lonely at times for me (and nobody to split the chores with!), we miss each other a little more, and it does mix up our dynamic a little bit. At least he's been in hotels more this winter field season, which means we get reception to talk at the end of the night.

Certainly we don't want to seem like we're whining- we know we have it WAY good compared to the majority of the world- we're just reporting how things have been lately, which honestly is a little less ideal than our personal, previous status-quo. But, we've managed to squeeze in some fun too. I've been exercising 4 days a week after work (2 days on campus in a HR-sponsored workout class; 2 days with some coworkers in a conference room doing circuit training) which has helped me burn off some stress before going home, and has helped me grow closer with a few of the women at work. Patrick has been able to put the skis he purchased from our AK pals to use during some of his trips, and joined some guys from church on a snowshoe trip (future blog post in the works). And here are a few other cheering items:

My Aunt was eager to see the outcome of some knitting materials she gave me at Christmas, so I set to work on the scarf. Many of my attempts to progress beyond knitting washcloths have not turned out too successfully, so this was a rather encouraging project!

Patrick's coworker Phil had a mini "pre-bachelor" party for friends that couldn't accompany him to Denver for the actual bash. The bride-to-be, Vanessa, invited me to go hang out with her while the guys went on an overnight trip to Santa Rosa. So we carpooled to Davis- where Phil & Vanessa live- the first weekend in February. I was very envious of their Farmers Market which had a drool-over collection of food trucks and bakery wares, in addition to the fresh produce.

The poor boys exchanged some of their plans for disc golf and a few breweries to wait in line for 7 hours at Russian River, where one of the currently best-rated beers in the world was having a limited release. Very daunting for sure, but it was a bonding experience! Meanwhile, I experienced some of Davis, via a rarely-enjoyed greasy giant burger, a walk though the UCD campus arboretum (where I just happened to meet someone from Kalamazoo), and an entertaining performance put on in part by Vanessa's sister's dance company.

From the arboretum walk: quite a group of cacti with "red skin potatoes, as I call them.

Patrick and I got President's Day off, and his coworker lent me her skis/boots, so we went to Badger Pass at Yosemite National Park for the afternoon. It was my first time in about 8 years by my estimate (and I can count on one hand the number of times I've gone in my life), so I was a little wobbly at first and acquired a sore hip from falling a few times, but I think I caught on ok and had fun overall, considering!

Spring yields Merced's most pleasant temperature and fauna of the year, by my vote, so we've been enjoying 70 degree days, honey-sweetened air, and gorgeous greenery and flowers while it lasts (soon enough we'll be cursing 105 degree days). Our first real indulgence in the season was a couple weekends ago. We worked in the garden and relaxed at the end of the day with grilled veggies & pineapple, and a warming campfire.

 

I bought this wood bookcase at Goodwill for $20 with the intent to refinish it..... 10 months ago! It needed some structural reinforcing first though, so Patrick said it's finally time and went to work. To my immense luck, he has even spared me hours of sanding work on a volunteer basis! Hopefully we'll have added this to our living room before the 1-year mark. :)

So there's an update on the last few months. We'll provide a more in-depth look at the more interesting parts soon. I know it's not a replacement for direct contact (sorry- we usually get home at 7pm or later and delve into cooking supper, which places Michiganders nearly in bed; and weekends are riddled with travel/errands or reserved for catching up with parents), but we hope you can still feel somewhat connected via the pictures and stories!

Preserving the image of The Albin Clan in 2012

Clearly we need to catch you all up on our on-goings, but this posting is actually more for the purpose of sharing some photos. For Christmas, Patrick and I did some hurried coordination a few days before our flight to Michigan to arrange for a professional family photo session as a gift to my parents. The last portrait we had together was during my freshman year of college for my parents' church directory, so it seemed high time to get an updated version that included our beloved family dog while she's still with us, Patrick since he's been an official member of the group for a while now, and the 10 years' worth of wrinkles and rounded hips we've acquired. So before the stroke of midnight on New Years' Eve, we were able to capture the Albin family exactly as it was at the end of 2012. Here are some favorites, taken just outside the Veterans' Home in Grand Rapids. (To explain the final photo, we took a few snapshots indoors while warming up later, but the hypothermia was worth it as we much preferred the outdoor ones.)

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Thanksgiving in Juneau

Since our good pals Pat & Jackie moved to Alaska about 2.5 years ago, we've had it on our list of places to visit. The perfect opportunity came up as we achieved a level of frequent flier miles that enabled us to both purchase round trip tickets for a grand total of $10 each, and realized all 4 of us would have days off during Thanksgiving week. By using just a few vacation days, we were able to spend a whole week up in Juneau.

 

We nearly missed our flight. Since our miles were through American but the flight was on Alaskan, we had troubles checking in online and at a kiosk. The line to the counter was a mile long at the airport, held up as an English-challenged family headed to Bangkok coordinated their travel and per-person payment for a cart-full of chair-sized luggage. Since we had no checked luggage, I decided to take my chance on a much shorter line for people who already paid for baggage and just needed to drop it off. The clerk nearly skipped over me, but after some speaking up she listened to my plea and got us taken care of in about 2 minutes. Our flight was way into boarding, but we made it! And the rest of the journey to our destination (first view shown above!) was smooth.

Jackie welcomed us to the area immediately by taking us to the Alaskan Brewery taproom where they serve up to 6 free tastings per person. We followed that up with lounging, appetizers, and a waterside view in the Hangar by the Wharf until Pat met up with us. The remainder of the weekend was spent very comfortably at Pat & Jackie's cozy cabin, where we took a dip in the wood-fired hot tub, watched the Packers game, and were treated to 5-star cooking.

Pat & Jackie had to work the first part of the week, but let us borrow a car to go explore. Our first activity (and we were accompanied by Barley, their black lab) was supposed to be a hike up Perseverance Trail, but we accidentally took a wrong fork and ended up going through a charming bit of rainforest and a slippery bank to some mining ruins where we're pretty sure a hobo was taking refuge. We found the proper trailhead after backtracking, and while we didn't have time to complete the whole path before dusk hit, we got far enough to seem some beautiful scenery.

The wind was so severe at one point (it made it hard to breath), that we nearly turned around. But true to the name of the trail, we persevered a bit further knowing there would be a view of some falls up ahead.

Patrick was planning to buy a pair of skis from Pat, so our lovely hosts took a half day off on Tuesday so he could test them out. The slope where Pat does ski patrol (Eagle Crest) wasn't open yet, so we had to hike up the 1400 ft hill since the lifts weren't in operation. I snowshoed up alongside them- we all got a good workout!

 

And the view at the top was an acceptable reward for our efforts!

 

We made it just in time to see sunset over Admiralty Island.

 

We loved the gradation of colors on the opposite side of the sky, after we turned around to come back to ski (or jog, in my case- it was fun!) down the slope. Patrick needs some practice (we are ski novices), but he clearly enjoyed himself since he's asked me a few times since, "When are we going again???" :)

Wednesday morning we took it a little easier, by visiting the Mendenhall Glacier. Magnificent, and the ice is so blue! 

Perks of winter: it was so nice to avoid the crowds of tourists that must be there in the summer (we had the place almost completely to ourselves) and we also had the chance to walk past the end of the path on part of the frozen marsh/lake for a closer look.  

The video quality will probably be greatly diminished on this blog, but if you click on it, you might be able to get a slight idea of my perspective of the falls adjacent to the glacier.

That afternoon, Pat & Jackie left work early again, as they had reserved Windfall Cabin for us to stay overnight in. We had a 3-mile fairly flat trek through a gorgeous snow-scape to get there. 

The perspective from one of the bridges we crossed. It was nice being in a true winter scene since I don't experience that much anymore.

 

As we neared the cabin, we noticed we were following the frozen footprints of a bear. They look just like the cartoon drawings of a bear print. :)

 

Our lodging for the night! We stayed warm with a wood-fueled stove and entertained ourselves reading and writing in the guest log book between tricks of playing cards.

After a breakfast incident involving Hollandaise sauce going everywhere (hehe) we had to hit the trail again pretty promptly because it was Thanksgiving!

Pat & Jackie's friends, Bri & Glen, hosted us, where we had dinner and a sleepover in style. Turkey cooked on the smoker, cute cranberry tarts, and stuffing made from scratch were a few of the menu items, and we all had a lot of fun playing active games on the Kinect.

The rest of our time followed suite with a relaxing agenda. The Public Market (a giant 3-day craft fair where people from the region come to sell their wares) was going on so we visited that twice, the Pats brewed a jalapeno ale, we hit the bowling lanes, and dined out on a delicious wood-fired pizza.

Juneau threw us a fitting goodbye by delaying our take off a couple hours since the incoming plane couldn't land in the wind and had to temporarily go to the next nearest airport. But it wasn't too much of an inconvenience, and certainly not enough to spoil our memories of a fabulous visit with great friends!