Home Again

I've been home a few days recovering and reuniting myself with my home. The trip across Alaska from Deadhorse to Palmer was fabulous. The road from Deadhorse through Atigun Pass was snow-covered but quite nice driving. Not to mention, absolutely gorgeous. The Brooks Range was sunlit behind the pipeline. As I got closer to the range, the mountains became more and more spectacular. I got to the Galbraith Lakes right at sunset. Atigun Pass was fabulous and I saw the moon rising from the summit looking to the south. I camped at Dietrich River on the south side of the pass and woke up to the fabulous view of the jagged mountain to the south.

Then of course there is the obligatory stop at the Arctic Circle crossing. Then the Yukon River where I found the lodge closed for the winter. Caught a good view of the pipeline after it crossed the river though. By Cantwell it was dark night again but the moon was peeking through the clouds. So now it is back to life as normal for a couple of weeks. I was having some fairly serious leg pain, suggestive of shin splints, so took about a week off my marathon training. But I plan to hike today and run again tomorrow. Next Wednesday I will be flying to California for the Nike Women's Marathon. Then a week visiting with Mom, then to South America for a 2 week trek in Patagonia in Argentina and Chile. Once I return from that trip in November, I will be hitting the marathon training hard again because the PF Chang's Marathon will be coming up in January. I will be running on the treadmill for the whole month of December because I will be back in Deadhorse that whole month.

Then, off to Phoenix to do my Team In Training event.