ICE PARTY. Tern Lake is located about 40 minutes from Seward, an hour plus from Kenai, and an hour and a half from Anchorage; it's on the road system, so not technically a back-country lake, but it still falls into the category of "remote" for sure. So what a surprise to show up last Sunday and find literally hundreds of people there! Why? Fabulous ice.
The temperatures up here just kicked down into the freezing zone, and word was out that ice on Tern measured more than 3 inches in multiple spots. There was no event, no social media invite... just good old-fashioned word of mouth and a clear crisp sunny day. Game on. I took the time to count and there were over 50 people that I ran into (or should I say skated into?) that day that I knew by name, many good friends. It felt like a huge impromptu party, but the dress code was pretty wonky and the thermostat was set super low. There were pick up hockey games, picnics with folding camp chairs and crates for tables, and lots and lots of skating.
Tern Lake
J and Indigo join the party!
HERE FISHY, FISHY, FISHY. Do you remember that Sesame Street skit? The one where Ernie and Bert are in a boat, and Ernie keeps trying to call for a fish to jump in? None do, until Bert, totally dubious and at the end of his wits, screams at the top of his lungs, "HEEEEEEERE FI-SHY FI-SHY FI-SHY!!!!" And a whale jumps in the boat. Ask and thou shalt receive, in dramatic fishy fashion.
So at one point, I noticed a dead fish suspended in the frigid water beneath the clear glassy ice. Others were noticing too; you could see pockets of people gathered in circles, staring down.
Nope, not a painting... a salmon! Guessing the color is decomposition and scale fungus. Beauty appears in the strangest places!
And then... J spotted a not dead fish. A very much alive fish! And you could skate above it, chasing it almost, as it flitted about, making a few last runs before likely succumbing to its friends' colorful demise. It was the strangest sensation, and one that made you laugh out loud with the wonder and whimsy of it. A few short video clips (might have to click to the actual blog site, not the emailed version, to watch) of what it looked like to us human types, feeling like we were flying above the aquatic underworld - enjoy:
SUPERLATIVES. For the best or for the worst, I always reflect on my life in terms of superlatives.
My favorite menu item at Chinooks this summer? Chef's 4 Hour Snow Crab Bisque. Rich, creamy, pink and so amazingly delicious that our family went there for dinner one night and each ordered a whole bowl for ourselves and nothing else. Brilliant.
Worst pizza topping (ever)? Black olives. If you like olives, no problemo, but if you don't, they are such a strong flavor that they overpower the whole damn thing and the subtle cheese blend, savory sausage, and fire roasted tomatoes are completely annihilated beyond all recognition. Sadness.
So clearly this makes it look like I only think about food... which may or may not be true (tee hee). But I can and do sometimes think about other things!
Best place I've gone "to the bathroom" in the back country? Sitting on a warm smooth rock below the high tide line on the Lost Coast Trail in California with the Charging Snails ladies in 2016. I'll spare you a more detailed description.
Most adventurous day hike? Tenaya Canyon descent from Tuolomne Meadows into Yosemite Valley with J and friends in 2002. From chucking our bags into the water below and jumping down to swim sections, to sliding down thousands of feet of granite on my butt and creating enough friction for my backpack bottom to smoke. Yes!
I could go on...
TOP 10. So it should come as no surprise that I often reflect on a given moment or day in terms of extremes, as in, could this be the hardest thing I've ever done? The most heartbroken I've ever been? The most alive I've ever felt? And if, just if, the answer is yes or near to it, then that event makes my ever changing Top 10 list for that category.
KAYAKERS COVE. Earlier this fall, I had a day that made the Top 10 Days list. The Top 10 Days list!!! That's crazy, right? I mean think about it... I've been alive for over fifteen thousand days. The odds of having a top 10 day is pretty slim... 1 in 1500. Okay, maybe a little better because about a thousand of those early days don't come to memory well enough to consider (although I have a feeling days spent being cuddled and nursed and stared at adoringly would rank pretty high). Regardless, having a Top 10 Day is something to celebrate, something to reflect on, something to plan and strive for more of.
In that spirit, here is how this day went:
6AM I wake up in a second story communal sleeping space at Kayakers Cove, a hostel across Resurrection Bay from Seward. I and 10 other women had water taxied across the day before, for a casual ladies-only friend retreat weekend. The plan is to enjoy each other, the place, and being off the grid for awhile.
I've been to Kayakers Cove a few times before, and the mountain ridge running behind the coastline has a few "notch" features that are accessible by scree field scrambling. A map hanging in the hostel features two arrows, pointing to these notches... one with a happy face (Climb this way! You'll be able to look over and see the ocean and glaciers on the other side of the ridge!) and one frowny face (Do NOT climb this way! You won't see shit and you'll likely die!). A friend and I decide to make a go up to the happy face notch first thing in the morning with a goal of being back in time to snag a bit of breakfast (eggs scrambled in bacon) and join the others for a sea kayaking venture.
9AM We make it to happy face notch! Cloud cover is low, the wind is cranking and it's super cold, but we feel absolutely exhilarated. We worked hard to get up there quickly, and feel super proud of both our bodies and spirits. A mountain goat joins us for a bit ("High on a hill was a lonely goat, lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo...") before we begin the scramble slide down.
Descending from Happy Face Notch
11:00AM Back at the hostel, breakfasted (they made us egg sammies!), and ready for the next adventure, I put on my dry suit and head down to the water. I brought our inflatable stand up paddle board and decide to pump it up and tootle about the cove until the others are ready to kayak.
12:00PM My tootle turns into a solo venture as I can't help but paddle "around one more corner" for about 100 corners' worth and end up a good mile or two away from the cove. Figuring my girl friends will kayak without me, I decide to settle into my independence. I stop at little rivulets cascading into the high tide from the terrain above. I talk to bald eagles twisting their stoic heads to watch me slide by. I stare down into the crystal clear water and watch sea stars, fish, crabs and even diving shore birds play below.
Above and below.
1PM Having stopped to sit on my board and snack on chocolate covered roasted coconut and fancy cheese with a Merlot rind (I definitely treat myself on these ladies weekends), I lean back and study the cliffs above the sea. It's all pillow basalt, a dark bubble-esque volcanic rock that gets its unique appearance from molten lava having billowed out through the Earth's crust into cold ocean water a gazillion (there goes my science credibility) years ago. And it strikes me that unlike a lot of the rock around our area of Alaska, this would be super stable and amazing to rock climb, with all the natural foot and hand holds of each bubble. And it's above water, so a hypothetical climber would have a very low stakes situation if they fell. Although it's cold water. But this hypothetical climber happens to be wearing a dry suit!!
2PM I have SUPed, climbed and cliff jumped from every place I can find on my way back to the cove. And I am beyond happy with myself. It's like inventing a new tri sport! A few times I had to pause up high, quite obvious in my bright orange dry suit, like a convicted felon inching along the outside of a building ledge, as a ferry or fishing charter motored by. Then, when the coast was literally clear, I would take the plunge, whooping and laughing the whole day down. A friend on shore captured this final leap:
4PM Everyone is back from their water adventures and we enjoy apps and bevs outside the hostel before dinner. Conversations range from motherhood to politics to jobs to love to dreams. There are tearful moments and belly clutching laughter moments and everything in between. Friendship.
A very special place.
8PM Our candle-lit potluck dinner is over and cleaned up, and everyone is gathered around the bonfire. One gal walks to the water's edge and comes hot footing it back up. "Bioluminescence!!" We all rush down, wine glasses in hand, and wade out into the water in our boots, straining to see the flashes of light. Our eyes adjust and it's not just flashes; the water has countless bright greenish beautifuls. I slug my wine and dip my empty cup into the water, anxious to get a closer look (science credibility coming back, eh?). They turn out to be baby sea jellies, pulsing their little bodies with delicate tentacles, with perfect dotted rings and crosses of light. We're in awe.
VOTE. So what does this have to do with voting, you ask? Well, if we look at the conditions that made this Top 10 Day possible, we find some interesting things.
This day did not require me to have an exceptionally large amount of money, but it took some. The cost of a bunk at Kayakers Cove, the round trip water taxi, snacks and food contributions, and the clothes and gear I wore. I'm estimating well under $100.
Really, this day required that I be fit and healthy and able to do physical things. It required that I have a loving, flexible, equality-minded partner who happily took care of the home front and our daughter while I was gone. It required that my group of lady friends also have healthy emotional backdrops that left them feeling empowered to take a weekend like this. And it required that the natural environment here in Alaska, both on land and at sea, be stable and teaming with biodiversity.
Economy, healthcare, women in U.S. society, climate change. Familiar topics, hmmm? And topics that we can drive in strong and healthy directions by electing leaders who are smart and courageous.
So in order for me, you, and everyone to continue adding days to our Top 10 list, we must vote for the people and things that will make those conditions possible. So dig deep into your very best days, and figure out the heart of what made them possible. Perhaps your answers will lie with acts of gross consumerism, power, exclusion, or burning lots of fossil fuels, but I doubt it. As different as we may seem sometimes, we humans are all nourished in similar ways; love, respect, community, nature... that's where I'll cast my vote.
P.S. If I still lived in Hood River County, Oregon, that vote would be for Chrissy Reitz! So proud of you, my friend.
