Posts tagged #Outdoors

Those Summer Nights in Alaska

Sunset in Denali National Park, Alaska

21.76 Degrees North of Here

The Land of the Midnight Sun

    When I lived in Fairbanks, or Squarebanks as I used to refer to it sometimes, the winters were long, dark and cold. But the darkness and the cold was all forgotten come spring, and when summer arrived with the endless summer nights we never thought about winter again. I used to chase the sunsets and sunrises, but that became harder in the summertime of course. The sky has always amazed me, how it can change so quickly, and how incredible colorful it can be, that along with the backdrop of mountains is so powerful. I never want to live in a world without that feeling, that feeling I get when I stare into the wilderness in awe and think to myself how extremely lucky I am that I get to experience this, right here and right now. Can you imagine that there are people out there who do not appreciate these wild places? 

    Where do you enjoy a sunset the most?

Posted on July 2, 2017 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Alaska, The great wide open and tagged Midnight Sun Midnight Summer Adventures summer days Summer Adventures Alaska Life Outdoors North Mountains Spruce Black Spruce Deep Forest Wilderness 2017 Memories Summertime Life in Alaska.

Skiing in Denali National Park

 

Adventure Tuesday

Spring in Denali?

    A few weekends ago, when we made a short appearance in Alaska again, we took the opportunity to go skiing in Denali. We were so lucky when it comes to the weather. It felt like spring, snowmelt, 45 degrees and sunny, with some blue sky! Denali is tricky, she can create her own weather patterns, that is why so few people actually get to see her. But we did, and we have so many times in the past too, countless times.

 
 

Too warm to ski?

    The only downside to cross country skiing when its above 40 degree is that it is slightly too warm. But, we really really wanted to get out, and hiking was not an option since the snowpack was so deep. We decided to ski up this creek, towards the mountains. Sun was shining and the snowpack was thick, if you were trying to walk on the snow without skis you would sink through, well actually that tend to happen a bit with the skis too. We saw open water at some places but not a single animal, well, we did see some ptarmigan, but that was about it. We packed the snow down at our tunaround point and sat down for some lunch. I told W how lucky we were, lucky to be out here in the middle of Denali National Park. We glanced up the creek towards the mountains, and bot of us were thinking about the same thing. We wished we had a tent, more gear and time to actually get ut there and get somewhere. But we were pleased with the outing still. You take what you can get, right?

 
 

    Snow will stay on the ground until late April, early May, sometimes even later in Alaska. In Madison it's completely snow free now, and I walked around in shorts this past weekend. 

 
Posted on April 18, 2017 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Adventure Tuesday, Alaska, Denali and tagged 2017 Adventuring Adventurer denali Denali National Park Alaska Winter Adventures snow skiing Sun Mountains USA Outdoors Skiing Spring National Parks National Park Denali.

Hesitating Beauty

 

New Years Thoughts

    New Years Eve has approached, as it always does once a year. I don't really celebrate birthdays any longer, because I feel like it is yet another day in life, we are only one day older than the day before. Age is just a number, right? In some way I feel the same way about New Years Eve. I am a morning person so I am usually sound asleep once the new year hits. I do love celebrating New Years Eve though, because we eat good food, have nice drinks and so on, oh and dress up. Fireworks was something I was excited about when I was young, or actually I am not sure if I was that excited about them, or if it was mostly my parents who were, either way I don't really care about them either. Last year I celebrated new years alone in Fairbanks, and I was once again sound asleep when the new year hit. I did wake up around midnight though to go to the outhouse, and there was a beautiful aurora show going on.

 
 

Nature and rawness    

    What do I want out of 2017? I want more nature adventures. As you all probably know by now, nature has a special place in my heart. How could we ever live without it? I can't imagine living in a city like New York, nor do I usually have any interest in visiting places like that. Don't get me wrong, I love culture and exploring cities, but crowded places and me just doesn't work. I want more raw experiences, I want to feel that I am alive. I want to be cold, so I can appreciate the warmth. I want to get lost so I can appreciate being on the right path. I want to get wet in a rainstorm so I can appreciate staying dry. I want to bushwhack through the untouched forest so I can appreciate walking on a road from time to time.  They say, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, or that hardships build character. 

 
 

    What do you want out of 2017? 

 
Posted on December 31, 2016 by Ann Rumbleinthearctic and filed under Photography, Nature, The great wide open, Alaska and tagged Beauty Adventure Winter Adventures Alaska Wisconsin Yellowstone Wilderness Nature Outdoors New Year Aurora Aurora Borealis Norrsken Northern Lights Winter travels Alaska range Mountains pink mountains Summer Adventures 2016_2.