Krista's Visit

Krista came up to visit from Friday the 26th of October until Sunday the 28th. She flew in Friday afternoon. I greeted her with hot chocolate. Friday started off overcast and rainy, but once again the Anchorage weather decided to treat a visiting guest to suddenly clear skies.
We spent Friday afternoon and early evening walking out to Westchester Lagoon and along the Coastal Trail. My earlier claims that it's impossible to go out and about in this town without running into someone were proved to be true when we saw Kate and Jeff out for a run. After the sun went down we were treated to a full moon lit walk back with downtown Anchorage's lights reflected in the lagoon.

After dinner at the Bear Tooth Grill we met up with some of my friends at Mad Myrna's to watch a local production of Saucy Jack and the Space Vixens. It was awkwardly horrible but very entertaining (in parts). After the show ended Krista was understandably exhausted after a long day of flying so we skipped the dancing and headed home.

Saturday we slept in and then drove out to Eagle River to go for a hike. It was a partly cloudy day and the local hillsides were barren as the leaves had finally all fallen. The hike up the Eagle River from the nature center was still and peaceful. We saw a loan salmon still hanging out in the spawning area. We also spotted a Downy Woodpecker, a Spruce Grouse, and a juvenile Bald Eagle.

Back in Anchorage we met up with Lila, Mike and Kaity for a dinner at the house. We cooked chicken, a bunch of veggies and enjoyed some quality wine. Hard to think of a better evening. We finished it off watching MASH (the movie - go watch it if you haven't because it is fantastic).

Sunday we had breakfast at Snow City Cafe and walked around downtown. I showed Krista my office and we poked around until it was time to take her to the airport. Krista's visit went way too quickly. A weekend was just not enough.

PICTURES:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/KristaSVisit

Excuse me, there's a moose in your yard

Last weekend a moose and her two calves moved into the woods across the street. They spend their time wandering around, munching on leaves and staring at joggers. The Chester Creek trail runs right across the street and the woods on either side of it provide a nice resting place for the moose family.

We've spotted these moose the last few days as they cross from one side of the creek to the other.

Hillel and I spent some time taking pictures of them. They really don't care that people are around. They are quite habituated.

My dad suggested that the mother moose seek out human areas because there are fewer bears around.

Last night they were in our neighbor's backyard. One of the calves munched on some leaves on the tree while the mother stood around. Then the two calves started playing with a tent the neighbors had set up. They took turns nudging and watching it spring back up. Then they wandered off.

Trial

We watched the jury return their verdict today in the, so called, "Stripper Trial". Mechele Linehan was found guilty of first-degree murder. The prosecution's theory was that she conspired with one fiance to kill another fiance for the life-insurance money while she was out of town with another ex-fiance. Yes, this woman was involved with a lot of men.

For the full back story, read this article from the Anchorage Daily News:
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/crime/stripper/story/9398965p-9312346c.html

It was very affecting to watch her family's reaction to the announcement. As much as this trial has been an utter media-spectacle (if you read the article above, you know the whole story will end up as, at the least, a TV movie), when you are in the same room as these people it is impossible to escape the fact that these are real people. No matter how this trial could have come out, all of these individuals' lives have been irrevocably changed. And it was impossible to not be moved by her husband's physical reaction to the announcement of the verdict. He was literally shaking.

I am very curious what went on in the jury room when they were deliberating. The prosecution's case was entirely circumstantial. This murder was over ten years ago. So it must have been a convincing barrage of evidence that the state put down in order to convince these people that this woman was guilty of murder beyond a reasonable doubt. Yes, she was manipulative and, by most measures, a "bad" person, but that's different from committing murder. Hopefully the jury was correct and she has received justice. The alternative is too depressing to contemplate.

Powerline Pass

Two weekends ago Callie and I found ourselves with little to do on Saturday. Lila and Hillel were out at Eagle River on a hike. So we headed to Chugach State Park to go for a hike. The first real snow in the Chugach had come, so the roadsides on the way up were covered in white.

The road up to the parking lot for Flattop was iced over. Cars were parked along the sides. We were following a group of cars up when the lead car started to spin its tires. The whole line had to stop and that was it. Once we stopped we couldn't get moving uphill again so Callie and I retreated and parked a bit down the hill.

We hiked up to the parking lot, past skiers trying out their new purchases, kids playing on a rail set up on a driveway and a truck that had skidded a bit off the road.

The snow was deep enough around the upper parking lot for cross country and skate skiers to be out and about. The weather was gorgeous. We hiked a bit of the ways into the valley. People were out with their dogs enjoying the sun and snow. It was beautiful to see everything covered in a blanket of white, shining in the sun.

Unfortunately we were a bit paranoid due to the old-man-in-Scooby-doo-style warning we got from a motorist that our car would be towed. So we went back to the car earlier than we would have liked. It was still there.

So we walked over to where the kids had been snowboarding and used frisbees as sleds. They sort of worked, but mostly I ended up with snow down my pants.

http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/PowerlinePass

Flattop Mountain in Chugach State Park

Last Saturday, Lila, Hillel and I went to Flattop Mountain in Chugach State Park. When you visit Anchorage, everyone tells you that one of the hikes you have to do is Flattop. It's an easy drive, just on the Eastern side of South Anchorage. You head up into the hills past the swells' huge homes to a well-maintained dirt road out to Powerline Pass. The trail is pretty easy up until you get to the base of the actual hill that is called flattop.

The weather was temperamental. At moments we had view all the way out across the Anchorage bowl, past downtown and out to the Alaska Range. Then ten minutes later a cloud would blow through and we couldn't see more than two-hundred yards.

The path started in a small scrub forest with weather gnarled trees. Then we were out on an exposed slope with berry patches all around. Finally we headed up some very well constructed steps to the saddle below flattop.

From there the snow started and we had to carefully pick our way up carefully. We took our time and followed the route up. The view was pretty spectacular.

Up top, it was surprisingly still. Everyone had told us that it was always windy on the summit, but we had a nice calm day. We scarfed some sandwiches and enjoyed the view. After exploring a bit, we carefully descended. As soon as we made it back down to the last saddle, where the good path started, it began to snow in earnest. It was amazing. Us California folks tried to catch snowflakes in our mouthes. It snowed so hard for a bit that we could actually hear the snow fall.

On the way back down we spotted a moose and her calf out in the valley.

Back in town we spent the evening getting ready for our friend Justin's birthday party. He threw a superhero party where you had to come up with your own superhero and power. I went as "Mr. Patriot". My power was a 'decontextualizer ray' that could instantly turn every issue into black and white and us/them. Callie was "Beergoggula" - you can guess her power. Lila was "The Translatrix" and had a bunch of phrases translated into other languages taped all over her. It was a fun party. I think our house won for best set of costumes (not that it was a competition or anything).


PICTURES:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/Flattop

Exit Glacier and Seward

The Saturday that my parents visited we drove South on the Kenai Peninsula to Exit Glacier and Seward. The drive south was rainy but beautiful. Turnagain pass had a fine layer of snow on the ground. The clouds around the mountains were quite dramatic. Our weather luck held, and it began to clear just as we got to Exit Glacier.

We made the hike out to the foot of the glacier. The NPS has done a nice job of setting up the path with markers showing how far out the glacier came in years past. Its really striking how far it has retreated in the last century. (As I write this, three moose just walked by out on the street in front of our house.) The glacier itself is now a short walk across the flood plain with braided streams coming out from the ice.

The surrounding hills were covered in yellow birch and alder with the evergreens standing out starkly dark green.

Seward itself is a small town on Resurrection Bay. The bay itself is ringed with snow-capped peaks. We ate at a Greek restaurant and then braved the wind to wander the cute downtown. We escaped indoors at the Sea Life Center. The Center was paid for with money from the Exxon Valdez settlement. It's really quite nice, not as large as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but still very well done. They had a baby walrus that was new, a nice display on spawning salmon, sea lions, and a nice aviary.

We then made the drive back to Anchorage and had dinner at the Moose's Tooth. My dad and I continued our scholarly survey of local brews (his term) and we all shared a pizza. My parents turned in after that.

That night I met up with Lila and Monica at Blues Central to hear the Whipsaws play. They started off with a set of pretty standard rock. Their second set was their best, a collection of alt-country tunes with a guest fiddle player. Lea showed up at that point and we sat through another set of americana rock before dancing to their last set.

Sunday morning my parents and I had breakfast downtown (unfortunately Snow City was too busy, so we had to eat elsewhere). Then we went to Costco and bought a tv for our house here. Thanks parents!!!

The sun came out again, so we went for a walk around Westchester Lagoon. Once again we ran into two other clerks (Lara and Kate) while out and around. It was nice to be able to show my parents just how small Anchorage already feels.

After that I took my parents to New Sagaya to score some sandwiches for their flight. It was sad to see them leave. Having parents visit when you move to a new town is a wonderful feeling. They really made me feel more at home here. I'm glad they had such a fun time and can't wait to have them back again.

PICTURES: http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/ExitGlacierAndSeward

Parent's visit - Eagle River and Downtown Anchorage

My parents came up to visit last weekend and we had a wonderful time. Having them visit made Anchorage feel more like home.

They came in on Thursday around mid-day and we spent that afternoon looking around Anchorage and going out to dinner. The next morning I showed them my office, introduced them to the judge and turned them loose in downtown Anchorage. They had a great breakfast and spent some time at the museum. I took off work after lunch and we headed for Eagle River, a town north of Anchorage in a gorgeous valley that winds back into the Chugach.

Once again the weather rewarded us. It was clouded over in Anchorage and all the way to Eagle River. The river valley was bunched with clouds that gave us glimpses of the peaks around us. It was still beautiful with all the leaves turning bright yellow. Once we got to the Nature Center it was starting to clear. Patches of blue began to appear and we set off on the trail up the valley.

One portion of the trail system was closed because of bear activity. The trail worked its way down to the plain. The river was dammed in places by beavers and we watched salmon spawn below us. The female would turn sideways and shake to clear a spot in the river bed and then a male would dart into the spot.

The weather continued to clear and the color from the leaves shone. It was a well-documented hike. I snapped pictures while my mom used a video-camera and kept up a running commentary on what we were seeing.

At the end of our hike we were commenting how we hadn't seen any real wildlife when a bull-moose walked right out of the woods towards us. My parents headed up the trail a bit and I stopped to snap a few pictures while the moose munched on some leaves. Then we headed on.

We stopped again to look at the view from the nature center. A family hiked up and we chatted about the moose we'd just spotted. Then we started talking about where we were all from (they were from Florida) and it came out that the woman in the group had just gotten married to a guy that was in my class in high school: Mike Chicas. Small world. They just moved up here because Mike is in the Coast Guard.

We then headed back to Anchorage. The first Friday of each month the galleries around downtown have food and open their doors. So we joined a pretty large group that was wandering from gallery to gallery. My dad took the chance to go get a quick trim - my mom thought he was getting too shaggy.

We didn't have quite enough time to hit every spot because we were meeting my housemates for dinner at 6:30. Dinner was at the Marx Brothers Cafe, a truly fantastic restaurant on 3rd. We went through a few bottles of wine and enjoyed our dinners. Callie, Lila and my parents talked about traveling and all the fun places everyone has been to. It was a great dinner with family and friends. The best kind.

After dropping my parents off at the apartment they were renting (www.downtowngueshouse.com), I met up with some friends who were out having sushi. The group then went out for drinks at a bar downtown and we danced for a while. Unfortunately I couldn't stay out too long as I had to pick up my parents at 8 so we could start our trip to Seward.

PICTURES:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/EagleRiver

Tuesday Night Runs

Anchorage is a seriously active town. It seems as if everyone in town is into getting outside. Although someone I met at a potluck told me there is a strong stay at home and play video games contingent. They just don't seem to roll in the same circle as the outdoorsy folks.

Anyhow, one of my favorite activities that shows how active this town can be is the Tuesday Night Races. http://www.muni.org/parks/tuesday.cfm

The Municipality puts on these races every week from early September through the end of October. They are fun runs with two divisions that you can choose from. The Farm League does about a 5k and the Lightning League is usually around 10k. There's also a Munchkin League for the kiddies.

The runs take place at a different location each week, usually on a trail system. There are a number of parks around Anchorage with lighted trail systems that get used for cross-country skiing during the winter.

Two weeks ago we went to our first TNR. It was at a high school up near Elmendorf AFB and I had a great time on the 5k. That's such a fun distance. Although it was the first time I'd run in really cold weather in a while and my chest hurt from the cold air. After the run about 15 of us went for Mexican food at Taco King. Very passable.

This last week I ran the 10k (9.3k) with Jeff Kim. We were trying to decide which distance to go right up until the split. We went long and it was worth it. Although the trails are hillier than I am used to running. Davis is not good training for actual trail runs. I have flat and straight down, though.

The best part of this run was the finish. We were at a trail system in South Anchorage right by the Chugach. We made the last turn towards the finish and came out of the trees. We were facing East and saw the mountains lit up by the setting sun. The flanks of the mountains had turned yellow and red with the changing season and the low sun lit up the mountain with the snow above a brilliant white. With the finish line in sight, it was a beautiful view.

Hopefully I'll be able to make it the rest of the runs in this series.

Catching Up... Byron Glacier

My parents visited this last weekend. It was fantastic to see them. We had a great time together. I'll slowly get the last week blogged, but for now I need to catch up from last weekend and this last week -- things have been busy.

BYRON GLACIER

After a saturday night out on the town, I slept in. I lucked out and got up just in time to jump in the car with Mike and Lila. We drove down to Byron Glacier, which is along the road to Whittier. It takes about 45 minutes to drive out there. The Glacier is just West of Portage Glacier and is a very easy hike in.

We arrived at our trailhead and immediately recognized Callie's car. She'd gone out that morning to learn some ice-climbing skills with Ryan. So we continued our tradition of driving long distances to end up at trails where our friends were already at.

The trail in was well worn and wide. Very friendly to casual hikers. We reached the first of the ice in a short time and spotted Ryan and Callie climbing. They were on the other side of the stream, and none of us had on waterproof boots so we just waved from the opposite shore. Then Mike, Lila and I continued over the first moraine, which was a jumble of large, slick black rocks with moss growing anywhere it could. Fantastic.

We were able to get up close to an outlier from the main glacier and touch the ice. It was covered on top with jet-black rock and then was shockingly white below with streaks of blue. The surrounding valley was covered in clouds that gave us glimpses of the peaks above.

The main glacier hung further back up in the valley. With it beckoning in the background, it was very tempting to keep walking further up the valley to see what each successive ridge hid. Unfortunately the day threatened rain and we all wanted to get back to town. It truly is amazing to live in a city where we can drive 45 minutes (or less!) and be out in a wilderness with glaciers, moose, bears and all the accoutrements.

PICTURES:
http://picasaweb.google.com/jack.r.mckenna/ByronGlacier

Next posts: Tuesday Night Runs, Koots! and the Anchorage bar scene, Parent's visiting, culinary reviews, Eagle River, Seward... I need to get to work.

Anybody Want To Get Married?

One of the duties that no one told us about when we signed up for this job was that we would perform civil marriages. Yes, that's right, my job includes putting on a black robe and hitching people. In 1999, by order of then Presiding Judge Elaine Andrews of the Third Judicial District, all law clerks in the district were appointed marriage commissioners. The upshot of that is that I have the legal power (after all forms are signed in triplicate, mailed to Nome, shipped back by moose, and smoked with Alderwood) to officiate marriages up here.

So if any of you good readers want to get married in the next year and want to do the ceremony in a spiffy new courtroom (or anywhere in Alaska for that matter), then head on up and your's truly tie that knot for you. Sean and Darcy, how about it?