A Health Update
I recently wrote about how I’ve been having some physical issues after a mystery illness in April and possible negative side-effects of medication. It’s left me feeling rather helpless for months, not able to engage in most of my regular activities at even remotely close to the levels I was only a short while ago. After months of seeing no signs of improvement, things are finally starting to feel a bit better.
I used to run 10k at least a couple of days a week. I had no problem hauling a large pack on long multi-day hikes. I climbed or bouldered regularly. Suddenly I found myself struggling to jog a mile, could barely walk on trails that I used to run on, and just about had to give up on climbing. I was in a constant state of fatigue and always out of breath.
Luckily, I’ve noticed some gains over the last month, coinciding with weaning off one of my medications. First, while on a day hike along the Angel Rocks to Chena Hot Springs Trail, I was able to hike continuously for about 3 miles uphill without getting winded or needing to stop to rest my legs. More recently, Cat and I managed a 13-mile hike out on the Gulkana Glacier, and I ran 5k for the first time since March. The running was a real milestone because until now, I’ve had a very solid 2-mile limit, like hitting a wall.
Wet Summer
If there’s ever been a summer to fall out of shape, this is it. It has been an almost miserably wet summer. The seasonal wetlands ponds that typically have started drying up by late summer are higher than they were in the spring.
As it turns out, all this rain isn’t great for our permafrost. A study recently published in Nature Publishing Group journal Climate and Atmospheric Science just this July found that the wetter summers in interior Alaska are causing significant degradation to the permafrost level. And in the five years of the study (2013-2017), we have had the number 1 and number 3 wettest summers in 91 years of records. Each cm of additional rain leads to approximately 0.7 cm of permafrost melt. As of August 11 of 2020, we were already at the 4th wettest year on record.
End of Summer
The Sandhill Cranes returned to Creamer’s Field last month. Every day we see them flying across the sky, practicing their formations. Soon they will turn south and leave Alaska. The weather in the coming weeks look like more rain and night-time temperatures falling into the 30’s F. It will be an interesting start to winter if this precipitation trend continues.
Gorgeous Scenery
The main reason I wanted to write this post was to share some of the scenery over the last month. Between the rain, the few days I managed to get out were actually quite beautiful. And my favorite part of August is not having to deal with the ridiculous amount of mosquitos that we have from May through July.
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I was worried while driving to Angel Rocks because I passed through two thunderstorms on the hour-long drive and one was pretty heavy with hail. I’ve been hailed on numerous times while on ridges in Chena River State Recreation Area and it is no fun. Well, a little fun.
Not a drop of rain fell while I hiked up to the top of the first ridge along the Angel Rocks to Chena Hot Springs Trail, a little over a mile past the top of the Angel Rocks loop. It turned out to be gorgeous, although I passed through some more storms on the way back home.
More photos from Angel Rocks: 2020-08-13
Angel Rocks Hiking Guide
We’ve had our dog for about a year now. He hasn’t hiked with us because he is not very well behaved on a leash and doesn’t get along with other dogs. Table Top Mountain Trail was a good introduction to hiking for him since it’s generally not very crowded, and only about 4 miles long. He absolutely loved it. It turns out he’s much better behaved when he’s not walking his usual routes. One instance we had to head off-trail to avoid another group with dogs.
More photos from Table Top: 2020-08-15
Table Top Mountain Trail Hiking Guide
More photos from Creamer’s Field: 2020-08-20
Creamer’s Field Info and Trail Maps
I wasn’t expecting to get very far on the Gulkana Glacier, but was pleasantly surprised to fairly easily make it about five miles up-glacier. With all my health issues I haven’t been able to spend much time in the mountains this year so it felt really good to get out here.
More photos from Gulkana Glacier: 2020-08-22
