Hawaii

 

post by Corrine

What is it about Hawaii sunsets? 

I love ending my days in Hawaii by watching the sun set on the ocean. Eric doesn’t share my love. He prefers Alaskan sunrises and sunsets, which I agree are more beautiful, but I still like to take the time to watch the sunset while on the islands. It’s a contemplative end to the day. A time to slow down and reflect while watching that glowing orb disappear into the ocean. A way to mark the end of another day on this Earth. For whatever reason, it’s become a tradition. I try to watch the sunset most days while in Hawaii. 

We just got back from a week on the Big Island. We’ve been to Hawaii several times before. It’s relatively close – just a five-and-a-half-hour plane flight from Anchorage – and a great way to improve our winter mood and Vitamin D levels. Hawaii has lots of medical conferences, so I try to find one in late January to attend. That way I can learn something new while soaking up the sunshine, plus my airfare and our condo are paid for. 

A Conference is a Good Excuse for Sun

This year I once again attended the “Mayo Clinic Selected Topics in Internal Medicine” conference, which runs daily from 7 a.m. until noon with lectures every 30 minutes. The lectures are so good that I almost never miss one. And the schedule allows the afternoon and evening for play and exploring. But it’s also exhausting. I’m on the go from 5:30 a.m. to after sunset every day. I know, we could just spend an afternoon relaxing on the beach but neither Eric nor I can spend more than about half an hour doing that.

6 AM outdoor breakfast every morning at the conference. Medical conferences are at ritzy resorts but we stay at condos instead

I made the reservations months ago, but we weren’t positive we were going to go until about a week before the conference started. The omicron surge was spiking. I kept thinking that Mayo Clinic would change the conference to virtual-only, but they didn’t. Finally, Eric and I decided the trip was worth the risk. Covid rules in Hawaii are more stringent than Alaska, so we would probably be safer there than here. Plus, everybody attending the conference had to be vaccinated AND have a negative COVID test within 72 hours AND had to mask when indoors. So, we decided to take a chance and go. I’m glad we did. It was a nice break from Alaska.

Outdoor seating available at the conference.  I took advantage of this option

We’ve been to Hawaii several times and have already done many of the typical tourist things like snorkel tours and parasailing. This time we looked for new places to hike and bike. I brought my gravel bike and commuted the 10 miles round trip from our condo to the conference most days. The one day I didn’t ride my bike, I walked back along the shoreline and Eric met me halfway.

Meeting Eric on the rocky Fisherman's Trail on the way back from the conference

Biking the Big Island

Besides the daily commute, I did several other bike rides. My biggest bike adventure was riding from the ocean in Waikoloa up to the Mauna Kea visitor center (at 9200 feet elevation) and back down. While on Maui two years ago, I biked from the ocean up to the summit of Haleakala and back. Although the Mauna Kea visitor center is 800 feet lower, the ride felt much harder. The route is longer by about 10 miles, but it was more than that. The uphill seemed relentless, almost no shade on a fairly straight road with minimal change in scenery. It was a 47-mile uphill grind with the grade getting steeper the closer you got to the visitor center. I had to walk a few of the steeper pitches. Very mentally challenging. Eric had driven to the visitor center to do some hiking and be available for support if I needed it. Several times I texted him that I might turn around before the visitor center. But each time I decided to go a little further. I kept turning the pedals and finally made it after almost nine exhausting hours. I still had a bit of daylight left, so I decided to bomb back down. I made it back to our condo in just over two-and-a-half hours, only 10 minutes after the sunset. 

Grinding up one of the steeper climbs.  

I made it. 47 miles, 9200 feet elevation gain!  Now time to bomb back downhill.

I also did a 69-mile loop up toward Waimea, then across the highlands to the northern town of Hawi and then back on the Queen’s Highway to our condo. I had to go in the afternoon after my conference, so it was a hot grind the first 15 miles to the high point of 3500 feet, but then it was a fun descent (even with a heavy rain shower thrown in) and back along the ocean again. 

Climbing up into the higher cattle country

I did one more longer 44 mile bike ride from our condo to secluded Manini Beach, just south of the Captain Cook Monument.  Eric met me with take-out burritos, so we watched the sunset and ate dinner before heading back to our condo. The last day I ended up biking north after the conference, stopping at beaches along the way and going swimming when I got hot. For the week, I ended up biking over 280 miles!

Sunset at Manini Beach

Hiking the Big Island

Eric was nursing an injured calf, so he didn’t try anything epic. He couldn’t even run, but he could hike if he was careful. He spent most mornings working on a variety of writing and volunteer projects and went hiking in the afternoons. Beside the hike around the Mauna Kea visitor center, he also hiked partway up Mauna Loa, and did a forest hike on the Makuala O’oma Trail. 

Hiking toward the summit of Mauna Loa - Eric didn't have time to go all the way

 Makuala O’oma Trail

Besides the shoreline hike, we did several other hikes together. The first day we did a short hike to King Kamehameha’s birthplace and a heiau where ritual sacrifices took place. Hawaiian history is interesting and colorful, but it also has a lot of brutality. 

Walking around the walls of the heiau

We also did a wonderful hike on the Awini Trail, which starts at the Pololu Overlook. This hike had a little of everything including steep trails, secluded beaches, a stream crossing, bamboo forests and even ropes to help climb around a section that had been taken out by a landslide. Most people only go to the first overlook about 1.5 miles in, so after that we had the trail to ourselves. The trail goes on for 11 miles but we turned around after about 3 miles.

Climbing with ropes 

Secluded beach that would be perfect for camping

Stream crossing

The last day we drove to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, met up with Robin (a former Fairbanks doc who was at the conference with me) and her spouse Jess. We hiked to Maunaulu crater, a really cool hike I hadn’t done before. It had steam vents and lots of old lava fields. We had heard that you could see glowing lava at Kilauea Caldera at night, but Eric and I didn’t have time to stay until dark because we had to be back for our flight. 

Fun hike with Robin and Jess

Love all the different ways that lava flows. We walked up this to get to the crater rim

That's a big hole!

That was most of our trip. We also swam a little at some of the beaches near our condo and spent an hour renting a kayak and exploring one of the bays. (Eric also watched golfers from our condo lanai and wondered why it is so popular.) 

All in all, it was a great break from Fairbanks. I was able to learn some things at the conference along with having some adventures and seeing some new sights. 

And I got to see a lot of sunsets! 

Finding New in the Old - Looking Back at 2021

Well, 2021 felt kind of like the same old thing as the pandemic continued on. As in 2020 we stayed mostly close to home and we didn’t try any crazy new sports or hobbies or get any new jobs, yet we still found new places to explore and new things to experience. 

We did get in one trip Outside (to South Dakota and Montana), when it looked like the pandemic was slowing and we were both vaccinated, but then came the Delta surge (and, of course, Omicron). Mostly we continued to explore Alaska, including in our own area. 

New quilts  and new volunteer positions

All the quilts that Corrine made this year - they are not to scale

When not exploring, Corrine continues to work full-time as a family doc at the Tanana Valley Clinic, from which she plans to retire in 3 years. She also continues to quilt, and this year finished fourteen new quilts. Volunteering continues to take up much of Eric’s time, especially with the ski and cycle clubs (newly  appointed as treasurer for the cycle club), for trails (including through his newsletters) and for the neighborhood (he started a new neighborhood Facebook page this year). He does some editing and tries to get in some fiction writing when time allows. 

January – A new-to-us cabin

View from Wolf Run Cabin in the White Mountains

We were able to get out on 2 cabin trips in January - Cache Creek over New Year’s and a quick overnight to Wolf Run Cabin – one of 2 White Mountains National Recreation Area cabins where we hadn’t yet spent the night.  Weekend getaways help us to cope with the cold and dark of January.  (Though the truck didn’t start and had to be jumped at the trailhead at -20 F on the Cache Creek trip: Final diagnosis: the auto-start was draining the battery.)

February – Some winter snow races but nothing new

Corrine finishing the virtual Distance Series race

Eric and I both did the Distance series ski races this year, held virtually due to Covid. In late February, Corrine finished the 25-mile Chena River to Ridge race on skis.  Eric had planned to run that race, but he injured his calf earlier in the month. Fortunately, he could bike, but decided not to risk it in a race. 

March – We explore new trails in the Whites

Looking down on Caribou Bluff Cabin the White Mountains

To celebrate our birthdays, we did a multi-day, cabin-to-cabin biking tour in the White Mountains NRA. We lucked out with a glorious weather window. It was a bit chilly, but we had sunny skies and bomber trails. We finally got to bike some new-to-us trails, Fossil Gap and Windy Creek trails. We might have started a new spring tradition! 

April – New snow records - When will winter end? 

Eric enjoys sun and warmth at Moose Creek Cabin

It seemed like winter was never going to end this year.  More snow and cool temps. Fairbanks set records for the amount it snowed in April and for snowpack on the ground. Eric used our fish-scale skis for a late-month ski trip to the Moose Creek cabin in the Whites while Corrine headed to Denali for a long day bike ride as she ramped up training for summer races. 

May – New accomplishments for our kids

One of Montana's song covers

We celebrated as parents when Riley became an official published scientific author!  Here’s an article about the paper: https://phys.org/news/2021-05-physicists-aurora.html 

We can’t just pick one month to celebrate Montana as she continues to explore music, adding several more music videos to her YouTube channel, which she was able to personalize this fall by getting at least 100 subscribers: https://www.youtube.com/c/Aeyre

For us, May is challenging for getting out on trails. Either the snow is melting and/or the dirt is mud. Trails-geek Eric found ways to snow-bike (early in the day when the trails were still frozen) and using the fish-scale skis in the melting snow, including a 12-mile ski in the Whites in the rain! Later in the month he once again started leading the Tuesday Night Mountain Bike rides. And he and Corrine biked the Tanana River dike - a new place they had never biked before. Corrine did a last big training ride by biking the Dalton Highway to the Yukon River and back, another new adventure for her which included 140 miles with 15,000 feet of elevation. 

June – New routes as we prove we are never too old to do dumb things

At the beginning of the month Corrine attempted the Unbound Gravel XL – 350 miles in 36 hours, a new distance for her. She dropped out at 180 miles due to her stomach shutting down. She isn’t happy that she DNF’d – something she has rarely done.

Later, Corrine rode a new biking route that two friends created based on the old Sluice Box 100, a multi-sport race in the Fairbanks area. The new route is 125 miles with over 14,000 feet elevation gain. She finished in 18 hours. Meanwhile, Eric decided to hike what he calls the FarCHAR route. Connecting the trails/routes of Far Mountain, Chena Dome and Angel Rocks-to-Chena Hot Springs all in one go. It’s 75 miles, with about 19,000 feet of elevation gain (though Eric did a bonus 5 miles when he accidentally backtracked a ways). He finished in 49.5 hours with only a couple of short naps. Are we tough or stupid? A little bit of both, but nothing new about that. Once we get an idea in our heads, we usually have to see it through.

Also in June, Eric again ran the Fairbanks Cycle Club’s Bike Swap, this time in a new venue and during a pandemic (not a new experience he enjoyed). He also played at the Fairbanks Summer Folk Fest, trying to keep his old music skills from getting rusty.

And Corrine also did a quick overnight hike to Lee's cabin. for summer solstice.  She left after work and was back before lunch the next day. Not every adventure is over-the-top stupid!

And friends Jim and Chris Hall visited us while they were here for Jim's high school reunion.

July – New places to explore with lots of family fun thrown in

Sam and Riley hiking above Eielson Visitor Center

July was busy. Too many good things occurred to have just one photo!  Riley and his girlfriend Sam came to visit, and we had an amazing weekend in Denali National Park. Sam’s first trip there, and she got to see the mountain fully out, along with seeing bears and moose! Then, we headed Outside for 2 weeks. Corrine did the Trans South Dakota bikepacking race, a new race for her, while Eric visited college buddy Wayne (and wife Marian) and explored SD trails while being available to rescue Corrine just in case. (The temps during the race climbed above 100, but Corrine persevered by biking at night and finished the race!) Before the race, we explored new areas, including Devil’s Tower (Wyoming) and the Black Hills. 

Hiking off the Beartooth Highway with Teresa, Mark, and Taz

After the race we drove through Badlands National Park and Custer State Park before meeting up with Eric’s sister, Teresa, and her husband, Mark. We got lucky with the Montana wildfire smoke and had a great time camping and hiking along the Beartooth Highway and in the Custer-Gallatin National Forest, all areas and trails new to us.  

Before flying home, we met up with Montana (still living in Missoula) for an afternoon in Butte and even did a short hike to the Ringing Rocks, a very cool geologic formation. We headed home just as the Delta variant was surging across the country.

August – Back to work and the real world

WOW riders on a Wednesday night bike ride

We spent most of August catching up after our 2-week vacation, but Corrine did race in the inaugural Nenana-Rama – a new 100-mile road bike race to Nenana and back - and placed 2nd for women! She also continued to ride with the WOW (Women on Wheels) group where she is still able to keep up, barely. She also took 3rd place in the doctor category for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner Readers Choice Awards!

And Montana came for a short visit to see us and friends.

September – Lots of Micro-adventures, New Places

Fall along Eklutna Lake

September was filled with several small micro-adventures as we tried to get out as much as possible before winter. We did the Summer Trails Challenge in 36 hours over Labor Day weekend, which included a couple of new trails for us. Corrine explored more in the Nome Creek Valley by bike and foot. She also biked the new-to-her Tofty Road from Manly to the Yukon River (near Tanana). Due to Covid we had canceled a planned Grand Canyon float trip, and instead adventured south of the Alaska Range. We explored Talkeetna and nearby trails, then biked the Eklutna Lake Trail and hiked the Curry Ridge Trail out of Kesugi Ken Campground. Every trail was new to us!

October – Not much new as the seasons change

Corrine looks out at the White Mountains on a day fatbiking trip

A quieter month. Nothing new or too exciting, but we did get an early snowfall (at higher elevations) so we did several short skis and fat bikes along Old Murphy Dome Road and up in the White Mountains. Eric put together a new garage-in-a-box for our truck (finishing just before the second snowfall at the house) and continued to edit a book for a friend. Corrine continued to work long hours and spent her free time quilting.

November – Winter is definitely here - nothing new about that

Fat biking part of the Fairbanks-Circle Trail with friends

Winter hit with a vengeance in November: below zero Fahrenheit for most of the month. We continued to get out, just for short jaunts, but we cancelled 2 cabin trips due to cold and wind and marginal trail conditions. One was scheduled for Thanksgiving, so we hadn’t invited anyone over. Good thing! We ran out of water. (Like many in Fairbanks we have it delivered to a storage tank.) That was a new experience we don’t want to replicate. We got water on Friday and cooked our (locally raised) turkey then!

December – A year-end to remember - Epic weather and a new covid variant

We got out for 2 cabin trips in December, one for our anniversary and one for Christmas with Colorado ultra-endurance friends Jill and Beat, who usually come in December for winter training. They were just in time for our crazy year-end weather: back-to-back storms with a foot of snow followed by an inch of rain followed by another foot of snow and high winds followed by temperatures down to -35F. We’ve all had plenty of winter experience, but we were still a bit shell-shocked. Eric spent more time clearing snow in a week then he had most of the rest of the year! (When the storms ended, we hired a front-end loader to clean up the rest!) This type of weather is definitely new for Fairbanks. To add more fun, the Omicron variant ramped up, messing with airline schedules. Jill and Beat made it home, but not without scheduling drama.   

Out with the old, in with the new – again! 

The world seems to have gone a little crazy this past year. Weather and climate change, politics, and the pandemic. Yet we remain happy and healthy. We are thankful that we can get outdoors to enjoy what nature has to offer and still find new and fun places to explore in our own backyard. Who knows what 2022 will bring (at least two Covid-canceled trips so far!), but here’s to another year of adventure and exploration. No matter what, we’ll keep trying to find new places to explore and have new experiences. 

Christmas at Colorado Creek Cabin

 Post by Corrine 

This was not a trip for lots of lingering. 

We didn’t linger at the Mile 57 Elliott Highway trailhead when heading into Colorado Creek Cabin. It was more than 25 below (Fahrenheit)! We didn’t linger along the trail when we stopped for snacks or to scrape ice off our skis. Lingering at the cabin had to wait, as there wasn’t much usable firewood to start a fire. Heading out the next morning in darkness, wind, and snow didn’t encourage a lot of lingering either. 

Fortunately, once we collected enough firewood and got a fire started in the cabin -- and got four people’s iced-up clothing hanging to dry and gear stowed in some sort of semi-organized explosion – we were finally able to linger. Ahhh!!!

A Christmas Cabin Tradition

Jill and Beat again traveled to Fairbanks for a Christmas holiday with us. Ultra-endurance athletes who really enjoy winter races, they have completed the Iditarod Trail Invitational to McGrath and/or Nome several times. Jill has biked and walked while Beat prefers walking. They visit us over the holidays for some winter training. They live in Boulder, but Colorado has not seen much snow in December the past few years. Fairbanks is the perfect place to experience consistent snow and subzero temperatures. They have been visiting us for years (except for 2020 due to COVID) so it’s become a Christmas Tradition. We even hang Christmas stockings for them!

As part of the tradition, we try to accompany them on at least one cabin trip in the White Mountains National Recreation Area. This year I had a 3-day weekend for both Christmas and New Year’s. So, a month earlier, Beat and I planned out trips to Colorado Creek and Wolf Run cabins over Christmas and to Cache Creek Cabin (and maybe Richard’s) for New Year’s.

Pre-game: Weather Forecasts, Doctor’s Appointment, and – Oh Yeah -- Christmas 

The forecast was looking interesting. Cold temps but then warming and a possible snowstorm right around the time of our first cabin trip. As December 24 got closer, the forecast got more epic. Snow, up to a foot-and-a-half followed by freezing rain, starting the evening of the December 25. Yikes! We decided to just do an overnight to Colorado Creek Cabin, so we could get home before the mega-storm started. From trail reports, we predicted a soft trail, so Eric and I opted for skis instead of bikes. Jill and Beat would be walking while dragging sleds. 

Jill was still not sure how her back would do pulling a sled. In mid-October she had been hit by a truck while biking. Somehow, she got away without serious injuries, but she did have a stiff, sore back. She has been doing PT and stretching, which helped, but she was still pretty stiff. I had her see one of our osteopaths, who does manipulative medicine, and that seemed to help more. She ended up doing fine on our trip with just some soreness, but more from not having dragged a sled for a while rather than from her accident. 

We were able to squeeze in a bit of Christmas before we left. On the evening of December 23, we had a Zoom get-together with our kids, where we chatted and opened presents. Jill and Beat joined in, complete with Santa hats! Then it was finish packing and get to bed. 

Bumpy Drive, Chilly Start

We were out the door by 9 AM Christmas Eve morning. The Elliott Highway has a lot of uneven snowpack, so the slow, bumpy drive to the trailhead took about 90 minutes. We knew the start would be chilly, but the car thermometer had risen to a high of -9F on some parts of the drive. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. 

Eric spotted a gray owl on our ski in to the cabin

But the Mile 57 Elliott Highway Trailhead is in a low spot. It was -26F at the trailhead. We got going quickly, sort of. We had little glide at that temperature. (It took us 5 hours to go 14 miles.) Fortunately, temps warmed during the day and as we climbed to the cabin, where it was a balmy -10F. Dressed properly, we were comfortable while skiing, but we didn’t linger. The only time I got cold was when I had to scrape ice off my skis after going through some overflow. 

I have been to Colorado Creek Cabin three times, but this was my first time skiing the trail. It’s not a bad ski, but long sections aren’t that interesting. And cloudy skies meant we didn’t get the beautiful sunrises and sunsets we normally have this time of year. Eric listened to Jill's latest book, Into the North Wind, her epic tale of winning and breaking the women's record on her bike to Nome.  It made our adventure seem paltry by comparison but it helped the miles fly by.  I started listening on my ski out.  I would highly recommend listening to this audiobook.  It's a great adventure story. 

About three miles before the cabin, the trail has a long climb with some narrow, steep sections made even more challenging by the thick, choking alders along the sides. I finally took off my skis to walk a couple of the hills, trying to not get whipped in the face by all the bushes. Fortunately, those sections weren't too long, so we were soon skiing again. 

On Fire: Woodstove, Lantern, and Answering Riddles!

We got to the cabin before Jill and Beat, arriving just as darkness was descending. We were happy to arrive but not happy to find there was not enough wood to start a fire, just several very large rounds that needed splitting and not enough for the night. Eric donned his snowshoes and quickly brought back a load of dead, spindly trees. While I sawed those up and started the fire, Eric headed out for more wood. He made several trips, gathering more than we actually needed. The next people to the cabin will be very happy!

Finally, the cabin!

Sawing trees into lengths for the woodstove

Beat then Jill arrived about 30 minutes later, while Eric was still gathering wood. Jill helped haul some wood. Beat split some of the big firewood rounds and started the Coleman lantern with his propane canister, but after a few minutes, flames started coming out the side. He grabbed the lantern and threw it outside. Yikes! Luckily that was our only bit of excitement for the trip. 

We got the cabin toasty warm, hung our wet gear, melted snow, and then finally kicked back for the rest of the night. Beat shared his large bottle of Fireball whiskey (dragging a large sled is good for bringing all the comforts of home!) so we enjoyed that with hot chocolate before making our dinner of freeze-dried meals. Eric entertained us with a book of dumb jokes and riddles on his phone. Jill ended up being the queen of riddles. (What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite!) 

I think there's enough Fireball to share. . . maybe

Heading Out, Looking Ahead

The next morning was warmer (around zero F) but also snowing and blowing with over an inch of new snow on the ground. We headed out in dark and blowing snow, wanting to be off the roads before the forecasted storm (with freezing rain) descended. Fortunately, the warmer snow made for better glide for Eric and me, and the downhills were less scary with the new snow. Eric skied all the alder choked steep hills with minimal crashes. I, on the other hand, smartly took off my skis and walked the worst one. 

Snowy and windy in the morning

The ski out was uneventful, and we made it back to the car in an hour less time than skiing in. 

Herringbone up a short steep pitch

The roads were a bit worse with the new snow, but we made it back without any problems. As I’m writing this, we’ve had nine inches of snow and now it’s raining. I’m glad I don’t have to go anywhere today!

We have another trip planned to Cache Creek Cabin over New Year’s Eve. We’ll see what Mother Nature brings us. Hopefully, we will make that trip, too. It’s always fun doing cabin trips with friends. Even if they start lantern fires or tell really dumb jokes!