Alaska Hiking: Bird Ridge

One of my favorite "classic" hikes close to Anchorage, Bird Ridge is a great lung and leg burner that makes for a quick after-work workout in the summer.

It's a very "short" hike distance-wise, but fairly steep the whole way. Bird Ridge offers pretty impressive views after only 15-20 minutes of climbing. The panorama on top is amazing, and there's a group that consistently summit every Sunday during the winter to keep the trail in good shape.

Total miles (round trip): 5
Elevation gain: ~3,500 feet
My round trip time: ~1.5 hours

This year I ran the race (June) for the first time - ouch! The race itself is only up, no downhill portion, but it's definitely a brutal hour or so challenge.  I wasn't in the best mountain running shape, having just come off a month-long road trip/living out of my car. Hopefully next year will be faster! ;)

More trail information can be found at this link:
http://aktrailhead.com/birdridge/birdridge.shtml

Happy hiking/mountain running!

A few favorite shots from a training run in June 2014:

final photo: the race 2014, courtesy of Todd List Photography

Alaska the Beautiful

Home Sweet Home...

When I moved back up here less than two months ago, I made my traditional summer bucket list. My 2014 list just seems to keep growing despite the fact that I am out exploring something new most days of the week! That's the beauty of Alaska :) No place I'd rather be!

Summer 2014

Instagram (@AlaskanAmber) shots from my last two months of "re-discovering" my hometown. Most of these spots are within 3 hours of Anchorage! More thorough re-caps of my favorite trails/trips to come...

From Left to Right:
row 1- Bird Ridge; sunset from Snow Goose deck in Anchorage; stand-up-paddling at Taku Lake; black bears somewhere on the Alcan; Kesugi Ridge in Denali State Park; Rabbit Lake
row 2- bear-ready at Powerline Pass; Kesugi Ridge in Denali State Park; stand-up-paddling at Jewel Lake; near the summit of O'Malley Peak; small un-named lake off the Parks Highway; Falls Creek Trail 
row 3- Beluga Point; Kinkaid trail system near Little Campbell Lake; stand-up-paddling at Eklutna Lake; old Irish Proverb; Hidden Lake; midnight sun from Anchorage hillside neighborhood 
row 4- stand-up-paddling at Eklutna Lake; Exit Glacier; emergency shelter on Harding Icefield Trail; Kesugi Ridge in Denali State Park; Roadhouse Cafe in Talkeetna; Ship Lake/Avalanche Mountain 
row 5- atop the Ramp summit; Harding Icefield Trail; Kesugi Ridge in Denali State Park; stand-up-paddling at Mirror Lake; Alyeska Tram in Girdwood; stand-up-paddling at Eklutna Lake

Free photo collage: www.photovisi.com

Here's my summer 2014 AK trail running bucket list 

Race courses:
Bird Ridge (race 2014)
Xterra Hammerman (race- triathlon 2014)
Lazy Mountain/Matanuska Peak (race 2014)
Kesugi Ridge (race in 2015)
Lost Lake trail (race in 2015)
Crow Pass (race in 2015)
Pioneer Peak (race in 2015)

Just for fun:
Harding Icefield Trail
Hidden Lake
Williwaw Lakes
Rabbit Lake
Falls Creek trail
Indian to Powerline Pass
Twin Peaks
Resurrection Pass
Arctic Valley (Rendezvous, Gordon-Lyon, etc)
Hatcher's Pass - Government Peak

The Challenge: 
12 peaks near Anchorage Over 5,000 feet: Williwaw, Temptation, East/West Tanaina, The Ramp, Tikishla, O'Malley, Koktoya, Hidden, North Suicide, Avalanche, South Suicide
(Yeah. Need to work on that one. Next year the challenge is to do them all in one day!)

Bolded= check. (What's on yours?)

Insta-love

3 things that I love: travel adventures, collages, and photos. What's that - there's an app for that?!

I've been slightly addicted to Instagram lately, I'm the first to admit it. But it's a bit embarassing to confess that the 13-year-old teenager that's still left in me irrefutably shares the love of painstakingly piecing together tiny images to form collages that nobody will look at. At least this time it's not Hanson and JTT plastered all over my bedroom wall...

Can you guess where each one is from? I took these pics between February-April of 2014.
I used this free collage app: Photovisi (http://www.photovisi.com/)

If you're an Instagram user with some travel shots I'd love to follow! Comment your username below this post!

Thanks for reading!

Love,
@AlaskanAmber
#30tirement #traveladdict

Locations (from left to right)
1st row: Syndey Opera House - Australia; Manly Beach - Australia; Melbourne - Australia; Lake Blanche Trail - Utah; Apollo Bay - Australia; Torquay - Australia
2nd row: Farm country road, North Island - New Zealand; Tongariro Crossing - New Zealand; rice terraces of Tegalalang - near Ubud, Indonesia; Lembongan Island - Indonesia; Mt. Ngaurahoe, North Island - New Zealand; Millcreek Canyon - Salt Lake City, Utah  
3rd row: Manta ray in Manta Cove, Nusa Penida, Indonesia; Sunset in Canggu - Indonesia; Balangan Beach - Bali, Indonesia; San Francisco, California; Waikoto River, North Island - New Zealand; Gili Trawangan - Indonesia 
4th row: sand dunes somewhere along the Oregon Coast; golden Buddha at Wat Saket - Bangkok, Thailand; Boat at Lombok, Indonesia; Gunung Kawi, Indonesia; stand up paddleboarding in Tofino, Vancouver Island, British Colombia - Canada; Surfboard in Morrinsville, North Island - New Zealand
5th row: Old Man break in Canggu - Indonesia; horse tranportation on Gili Trawangan island - Indonesia; Summit of Batur volcano - Indonesia; Purification temple Pura Tirta Empul- Indonesia; airport sushi in Tokyo, Japan; Wat Pho reclining Buddha in Bangkok - Thailand

30tirement recap

Part I: Australia, New Zealand, Asia

Well, it's been a whirlwind past 6 months! I'm finally through a sample of the (10,500) photos from the Australia/New Zealand/Asia trip, but have plenty more recaps to come for the rest of my adventures :-) 30Tirement was everything I dreamed of, and more. I really could not have asked for a better little adventure in between jobs. From December-June, I never spent more than two weeks in one place. Period. I met so many people along the way who were on 1 or 2 year trips like mine, and I have to admit I was greedily envious that I didnt take more time. Towards the end I got a little sick of living out of my duct-taped old backpack - having to check for bed bugs every night - not being able to pick up my phone and call someone - getting attacked by dogs while running - but as a whole, I had the time of my life!

[Salt Lake City-Florida-Salt Lake City-Colombia: quit job]-Salt Lake City-Australia-New Zealand-Indonesia-Thailand-Japan-Seattle-Salt Lake City...

and then...

Part II: "The Long Way Home"

.... Salt Lake City-Anchorage-Salt Lake City-Boston-Vermont-Montreal-Salt Lake City-Reno-Yosemite-San Francisco-Redwoods-Oregon Coast-Portland-Seattle-Bellingham-Vancouver-Vancouver Island/Tofino-up the Alcan to Anchorage!

Home has never tasted so good. I immediately dove right in, soaking up the amazing mountains on foot or bike, cruising across lakes on a paddleboard or swimming (in a wetsuit), savoring family and friends and favorite culinary spots. Literally one day after arriving to Anchorage, I had a job in an outpatient clinic lined up for the summer. I was thrown back into the working, type A, westernized world just like that. It's nice to be earning some paychecks and I've definitely missed working with patients, but I still sort of feel like I'm on a vacation or here temporarily. I have to keep reminding myself that I now live here - that I have a place to call home again!

I've decided that embracing the concept of 30tirement is going to extend further as I turn 31 next month (though it just doesn't have the same ring to it). Moving forward, no matter what my career situation, I plan to embed this free spirit into my lifestyle. I will never again be the M-F 40-60 hour workweek slave. It ultimately derailed me from the true joy in my profession and affected the rest of my life in numerous negative ways. From here on out, I am determined to design my own lifestyle based around concepts that are important to me and my biggest passions. I'm still trying to figure out what that looks like as far as career and income go, but I'm so grateful for this 6 month window into the "bigger picture" on a global scale which has allowed me to get back to what I really love, and what's really important in life. If you're unhappy with what you're doing, why do it?

Good news is, while I may be broke, I've racked up a ton of skymiles for more adventures! And, before starting a new job in September, I'll be heading down to Peru for the entire month of August!
Over time I'll gradually post pictures from Part II of the trip, and my latest adventures in home sweet home, Alaska. Thanks for reading!

Wat Pho - Bangkok

April 2014

Sawadee from Bangkok!

Hordes of tourists are attracted to Wat Pho in Bangkok every day - and it's easy to see why. This Buddhist temple in Bangkok is the home of a 160-foot long reclining Buddha, and it's also the birthplace of traditional Thai massage. While the reclining Buddha is quite impressive, I was almost more intrigued by the rest of the ornate architecture and design embedded into beautiful Buddhist relics, gardens, halls and shrines within Wat Pho's tall walls. We spent hours wandering this place and the buildings literally sparkled from the suns reflection (see photos below). We had lunch at the nearby market and opted to do this site instead of the (more expensive) Grand Palace which is a few blocks away. For what it's worth, a friend who did both sites in one day said that he liked Wat Pho better because you could actually explore/go inside all the areas in the complex.

Wikipedia does a great job of summarizing this place and all of the symbolism and history behind the little details around the grounds - such as the 14 Chinese statues guarding entryways. Wish I had read that before going, ha.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wat_Pho

 

 

Golden Mount Palace - Bangkok

April 2014

Golden Mount Palace ("Wat Saket") sits atop a man-made hill in Bangkok. 300 steps lead up to a spectacular viewpoint. Wat Saket houses an impressive golden buddha relic and is an annual sacred pilgrimage site in November. A local recommended a stop here on the way to Wat Pho and I was glad we did. Just be ready to sweat buckets going up those stairs in Thailands humidity!

Do's and Donts 

Do:

-ring the bells all the way up the stairs!

-stop and pay respect on the rooftop

-explore the beautiful grounds

Don't:

-listen to the nearby tuk tuk drivers who insist that it is closed for the day (ie- "why dont you let me show you the highlight of Bangkok instead") 

-need special attire or privilege to enter (entrance fee is a mere 20 baht per person- less than one USD)

Layover in Bangkok?

April 2014

Bangkok was a 3 day stop on my way home (originally supposed to be a few weeks in Thailand... long story short, I opted to surf a little longer in Indonesia instead). I wasn't honestly that excited about the stop because 1) I was still recovering from the rabies vaccine side effects (see last post), 2) Bangkok had some violence and riots in the prior several months and 3) I'm not a huge city person.

That being said, I was pleasantly surprised by this gigantic city and managed to fit a good "taste" in. 

My highlights of Bangkok: (in no particular order)

1) Chatuchak Sunday market. One of the largest markets in the world. 5,000+ stalls and amazing bargains. I got lost in here (semi-intentionally) for a full day!

2) Thai food on the street. Big steaming plate of pad thai for 30 baht (about a buck!)

3) A quick stroll down Khao San Road at night - probably my least favorite activity, mainly just a bunch of tourists partying, but I did watch a bunch of friends eat scorpions and cockroaches from street vendors.

4) Exploring the "Venice of the East" via river boat taxis. Much more enjoyable than the tuk tuks!

5) Golden mount - Wat Saket. (pictures coming in next blog post..)

6) Reclining Buddha at Wat Pho. (pictures coming in next blog post..)

7) Massage. Hour foot massage for 4 dollars? Yes please!

8) A "track workout" at some random University. I was training for a marathon and there was a plaza that was about 400m around. I got up at the crack of dawn to run there - in order to beat the heat, and the traffic. The local men had the same idea and their wives/girlfriends would sit in the middle and watch us all run laps. And shout "go girl" and "good job" every time I ran by. Ha.

I stayed at Bodega Bangkok, a sweet little spot run by three brothers that turned out to be a great place to make friends to explore the city with!

So if you're planning a trip here, before you run off to Chiang Mai or the islands/beaches, consider spending a few days in Thailands capital.