Fourth Weekend 2009

Upon my return to Alaska, early on July 3rd, I repacked and dashed off to celebrate Barry's 70th birthday party at the Johnson cabin on the penninsula. We hiked up Gilpatrick's Mountain and had the pleasure of sharing drinks at Birthday Point with four other British 70 year olds. Who knew there were so many in the area! The fellows are all scout masters in the same area where Barry was once a scout, and came over from the UK to celebrate their 70th birthdays with the trip of a lifetime. The weather was glorious, and we ended our hike with an extremely chilly dip in the creek along the highway.


The view from the trail up Gilpatrick's Mountain


Sam, Sally and Ryan starting down from the summit


All five 70 year old "Badgers"

That evening, Dad and I drove to Seward, where we enjoyed the fireworks at midnight prior to turning in for the evening. The next morning I hiked to the halfway point for the women's race with Tamra, Ryan and Sally. As the racers whizzed by on their way down a real race was developing between Holly and Cedar. We had to piece together the drama unfolding below us through a series of radio reports and phone calls to determine that Cedar had cruised to victory, and Holly had to make a pit stop in the ER-- conveniently located at the base of the mountain.


4th of July fireworks in Seward


Holly and Cedar blazing up Mt. Marathon


Kristy hot-footing it down

We carried on to the top, where the sun was shining and it felt so wonderful to relax in the grass and enjoy the sweeping views of Resurrection Bay below us. After resting a bit, we scrambled down to the base of the cliff and whipped through a few of Ryan's GRE vocabulary words, while waiting for the men's race to begin. Again, we were in the dark regarding the conclusion of the men's race, as from the top of the cliff Brent held a seemingly insurmountable lead. Even those who saw Brent fly by at the bottom of the cliff had no idea that he would only moments later collapse into unconsciousness for four hours. I have to say I am simultaneously impressed and appalled at Brent's amazing ability to push his body to near death in less than 45 minutes!


Ryan and Sally atop Mt. Marathon


An intense Brent makes his way up the mountain

After the races wrapped up, Jenna, Kristy, Tamra, Dad and I set sail. We enjoyed a light sail upwind towards Thumb Cove. We ravenously consumed pizza and beer on our trip, and were amazingly treated to a delicious dessert of rhubarb crust and ice cream-- always a treat to have the DeYong's on board. After anchoring up, we went ashore and played with fireworks, that Tamra had imported (presumably illegally) from France.


Enjoying tasty treats on our sail out to Thumb Cove


Sparklers!

The morning brought a very stiff breeze and a lively sail back into Seward. We cleaned up, ate burritos and drove back in to Anchorage. What a weekend!