July 10, 2016

Swift Campout with The Bikery

July 10, 2016

40 strangers, self selected to pedal together, set up camp for one night, and not have their lives taped. This is the true story of the Swift Campout with The Bikery.

Alright, that was a little bit of an overly dramatic introduction to what was a very low drama trip, but what can I say? The Real World is taping it's 32nd season less than a mile from my house, so it's been on my mind a bit lately.

All joking aside, The Bikery, an all-volunteer run bike kitchen that I volunteer at as their Outreach and Communications lead had a roaringly successful first bike camping trip with 40 people joining us! The idea to host a bike camping trip started last fall with the leadership team, as we're all avid bike campers, but none of us have ever camped together before. A huge part of our organization's goal is to lead by example and teach others, so leading a camping trip is right in line with what we love to do.

Lucky for us, our friends at Swift Industries organize a worldwide bicycle camp out over solstice weekend, so we jumped on that effort as a perfect time to do the Bikery trip.

I got super lucky and was able to book the group site at Scenic Beach State Park. This site holds up to 40 people and the park is an 18 mile ride from the ferry- just about perfect for all skill levels! The group site at Scenic Beach is pretty secluded from the rest of the park, with its own shelter, pit toilet, and lots of tent space, tree space (perfect for hammocks!), and beach access. Seriously, it couldn't have been more perfect for our group.

To tell the truth, leading up to the trip, I was super nervous about leading the ride. 40 people, riding fully loaded bikes, many of whom I don't know, riding on fairly busy roads- this trip was ripe for potential issues. I'm also not the fastest rider by any stretch of the imagination- especially on my touring bike. "Leading" the ride would be a generous term (and in fact, I ended up being one of the last ones to show up to the camp site as I stopped to help a rider with a flat tire.)

To lessen the chance of something going wrong, I tried to imagine everything that could go wrong, and took the following precautions:

Sent out the route beforehand so if folks came late, fell behind, etc., they knew where to go
Had other Bikery leads spaced throughout the ride as sweepers to ensure people weren't falling off the back of the ride
Had everybody do a pre-ride safety check on their bike (air, quick release, brakes, bolts, etc.)
Re-grouped periodically and announced any upcoming turns

This seemed to work pretty well and the only mechanical issues we had the entire trip was one issue with a rack before we even left the shop, some disc brake replacement at camp and a tire blowout. Hooray for being prepared!

The trip itself was magical. We arrived at camp by 4pm, which gave us nearly six hours of daylight to explore, play games, and ride bikes. Four of our crew set up camp, put their kits back on and went back out to find gravel. They ended up on top of Green Mountain, the highest point in Kitsap County. Most of the rest of the camp out explored the beach, napped in hammocks, and even joined in on a large game of Capture the Flag. I can't tell you the last time I saw a group of 20 twenty and thirty-somethings running around playing Capture the Flag, but it was pretty amazing.

At one point, a truck pulled up the group site with 3 boxes of firewood and 6 homemade, warm pie. Apparently, one of our group had stopped by Sharon "The Pie Lady" on his way in and arranged for a drop off of pie and firewood. Lucky us!

As the afternoon turned into evening, the group gathered in the shelter and an array of stoves, cutting boards, and even a wok appeared from bike bags. I have no idea where Amanda stored that wok on her bicycle, but more power to her!

No camping trip is complete without s'mores and oh boy, did we have s'mores. Central Co-Op donated $50 for us to buy snacks and with that we bought a ton of chocolate and graham crackers. One of our campers also happened to find a treasure trove of chocolate in a local dumpster. So.Much.Chocolate.

Sunday morning we woke up to bright sunshine and enjoyed lots of coffee, thanks to Stumptown (another of the #swiftcampout sponsors.) Lots of people rolled out of camp pretty early to catch the early ferry to make it back in time for Seattle Pride. For the rest of us, we took it slow, packing up camp in the sunshine and savoring those morning camp vibes.

Rolling back towards the Bremerton Ferry, I had lots of time to think about the trip and how thankful I was to get to share my love for bike camping with so many people. We went from being 40 strangers to fast friends, all from a shared interest in bicycles and the outdoors. For many of those who joined us, it was their first time ever camping via bicycle. By providing a supported environment, we hopefully opened the door for these people to continue to explore and camp via bike.

I remember when I first sold my car, the idea of going camping again seemed so daunting. How would I ever do it? Now, the thought of car camping seems really daunting- reservations, paying parking fees, waiting in ferry lines...so many things to think about! On a bicycle, there's so much freedom that you just don't get in a car. Yes, it takes longer and you have to fuel up a lot more often (but it's WAY tastier fuel!), but in my opinion, the reward when you make it to the campsite on your own power is so much sweeter.

Marley Blonsky

July 5, 2016

Bike Camping

Olympic Adventure Route with Komorebi Cycling Team

Marley Blonsky

July 5, 2016

Bike Camping

I was a summer camp kid, attending the same camp every year from 1st grade until 10th grade (except for those two awful years in 3rd & 4th grade, but we don’t talk about that.) The two weeks I spent every summer, year after year at Camp El Tesoro in Granbury, Texas without a doubt shaped me into the woman I am today.

During those long, hot summers under the Texas sun, I learned the ins and outs of communal living, joys of simple fun, and to enjoy the crackle of logs on a campfire that my hands helped build. At summer camp, I also built my confidence, strength, and personality. All of the superficial insecurities that were hammered into me throughout the school year, either through mainstream media, locker room talk, or gossip disappeared at camp.

My older sister Mindy and I, first day of camp, early 1990's

At camp it didn’t matter what brands you wore- functionality was all the rage. Even into our teenage years, we played with vigor; challenging ourselves on the ropes course, wrapping our arms around each other to sing silly songs after dinner, and shaving our legs together on the cabin porch under the hot sun.

Despite the magic that I knew camp held, I was always apprehensive before leaving…

Would I get along with the girls in my cabin? Would they be nice? Would they like me?Would I be the fattest girl in my cabin? What if they all know each other and I’m the only one who doesn’t know everybody? What if I start my period during camp?

Even though I’m now 15 years older and wiser, these same fears and apprehensions came rushing back to me when I received an invite to join Komorebi Cycling Team on a 3 day bike packing adventure in the Olympic National Park last month. I’ve been a longtime fan of Komorebi, an Oregon based group of women who go on really rad bikepacking adventures. I can’t even remember how I found them, but I started following their Instagram and trip journals last year.

When Jocelyn contacted me to join as a guest rider for their trip, I jumped at the opportunity, pushing aside the anxiety, fear, and self-doubt. So, two weeks ago, I, along with 3 other guest riders, joined 4 women of Komorebi for what was for me, my most challenging bike adventure to date.

Jocelyn, Me, Meghan, Kim, Jude, Anna, Kristin, and Caitlin (l to r) (Photo courtesy of Anna Brones)

Three days of bike riding, 73 miles, 7300’ of elevation gain, 5 miles of backpacking, hot springs, and a whole lot of fun. Here’s a recap of the trip.

Route and Planning

The plan for the trip was 4 days together, 3 days of riding, and 3 nights under the stars. Roughly outlined as follows:

1st night- Thursday: Group rendezvous at Seal Rock Campground. Most of the women were driving up from Portland, while two of us were driving from Seattle/Tacoma area, so Seal Rock Campground, along Highway 101 was a good middle spot to start from on Thursday night.

Friday: Drive up to the start of the Olympic Adventure Route and park our cars at the Park & Ride at the junction of Hwy 112 and Hwy 101, just next to Laird’s Corner Market. (On Google Maps, this is marked as Wagner’s Grocery, but the sign says Laird’s.) They were INCREDIBLY friendly to us- helping fill up water bottles, use the restroom, and just overall happy to have us.

Packing bikes is both a science and an art I'd come to find out.

Portland apparently has an awesome shop called The Mountain Shop where you can rent all sorts of gear that you need to bikepack, including super rad bikes and the full Revelate bike bag setups. Two of the other guest riders rented Salsa bikes from this shop, and nearly every other woman rented a Sweetroll Handlebar bag for their rig. I stuck with my classic basket and bag, figuring I’d be fine for the mileage we had planned (spoiler alert: it was a poor choice.)

Friday’s mileage was planned to be 31 miles, nearly all off road on the Olympic Adventure Route, with planned camping at Fairholme campground.

Saturday: Day 2’s route had me all excited as we were heading to an area I’d been itching to ride for a while. 30 miles of road riding into the Olympic National Park Elwha River Valley and up to the Olympic Hot Springs. A flood last winter washed out part of the road, leaving the last 8 miles of climbing car free. The plan was to hide our bikes at the end of the road and walk the last 2.5 miles into the back country to access the Olympic Hot Springs and campground.

Sunday: In seemingly perfect planning, day3 would be our easiest, starting with a 2.5 mile walk back to the bikes and then an easy 12 mile road ride back to the car.

Food & Gear: With 8 women bikepacking for 3 days, it was really important to ensure that we didn’t all take a stove, tent, and water purifier. A little coordination was in order to cut down on duplicated necessities. With a few quick emails, gear was split.

Food for bikepacking is seriously one of my biggest hangups, and I often end up eating freeze dried meals, as I’m just frankly not very creative when it comes to camp cooking. Lucky for us, Anna Brones joined us on this trip, who coordinated and cooked all of the food for all of us on this trip. Anna is an author, chef, photographer, gardener, and biking wonder-woman- she’s a true renaissance woman who just published her 2nd book- Hello Bicycle.

I’m seriously spoiled for all bike trips from here on out and can’t wait to try some of the recipes Anna prepped for us, as they honestly seemed pretty easy. We dined on hearty oatmeal each morning with dried fruit, homemade pesto and chickpea sandwiches on homemade bread, pad thai, and red lentil stew. I don’t even eat this good when I’m at home! She also made snack bags for each of us with homemade energy balls, but I unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy these as I forgot to tell her about my allergies to almonds, but according to everybody else, they were awesome.

This was my first time actually bike packing, and I tried out some new-to-me gear. I borrowed a Revelate Terrapin bag from a friend, with an Outdoor Research dry bag as a saddle bag. I’ve also recently invested in a Straggle-Check Frame bag, custom made for my size bike. It’s really cute- totally fits like a glove. And as I already alluded to, kept my Wald basket on the front of my bike and my go-to Revelate Mountain Feedbag.

The rest of my gear list:

REI Passage 1 (1 person tent)

REI Joule Sleeping Bag

Klymit Static V Sleeping Pad

Merino Wool Top & Bottom

Puffy jacket

Merino Wool Jersey

Flannel shirt

1 pair riding bibs

2 t-shirts

2 pairs light wool socks (for riding)

1 pair thick wool socks (sleeping)

2 pair underwear (sleeping)

3 gel packs

4 Clif bars

1 bag dried mangos

1 flask whisky

1 spare tube, 1 patch kit, sewing kit, multitool, frame pump

Head lamp & spare batteries

Katadyne 6L Gravity filter (I brought it for the group to use while in the wilderness at the hot springs)

Toiletries

Eating stuff (bowl, mug, spork), pocket knife

Here's my ready-to-go bike. You can see I moved the water bottle cages to the front fork and mounted them with electrical tape. 3 weeks later, they're still there. A+

The Actual Ride & Weekend Experience

The actual bike riding on the Olympic Adventure Route kicked my ass. I thought I knew what single track meant and what it was like to ride it. I had no idea.

Kim getting rad (photo courtesy of Anna Brones)

The trail is beautifully maintained, 24 miles of stunning single track without any technical elements, unrideable roots or rocks, or sections that require dismounting. BUT, on my bike, with the weight in the front with my current level of skill and fitness, I struggled. I *think* if I would’ve been on a proper mountain bike, the ride would’ve been easier, but I still would’ve struggled. There was quite a bit of climbing and descending, and more than once, I found myself wishing for the same setup of the rest of the women on the trip, especially flat bars.

I owe a huge depth of gratitude to the women of Komorebi , and other guest riders- Jude, Anna, and Meghan for their graciousness, patience, and encouragement as I struggled through the ODT. I was by far the slowest rider, but they patiently waited for me, allowing me to gain skills as the day went on, offering tips to make things easier (seriously- thanks Jude for letting some air out of my tires! Why didn’t we do that earlier?!), and laughing with me as fell 5 times. Thankfully, none of the falls were serious, but I’m still nursing some bruises almost two weeks later. Who knew that blackberry brambles make a good, yet scratchy, cushion for crashing?

I've also never been THIS dirty. Our plan to ride to Fairholme got scratched as the allure of the closer Log Cabin Lodge along Lake Crescent stole our attention. They also happened to have free hot showers, beer on tap, and open camp sites. Did I mention we stayed there?

Saturday and Sunday’s rides were all on paved (or forest service gravel) roads, so it was much easier to keep up with the group through these sections. The ride into the Olympic National Park and Elwah River Valley were much less noteworthy than Friday’s Olympic Adventure Route, if only for less crashes, but nonetheless just as beautiful.

After the parking lot, the road is closed to cars, thanks to a flood this past winter. It’s an 8 mile ride to the Olympic Hot Springs Trailhead, all uphill. With an average grade of 4%, the climb was pretty easy and we took it slow, savoring the outlook at the Elwah Dam and stopping for a baby deer in the road. Fairly quickly, we reached the parking lot where we converted our bikepacking gear into backpacking gear, stashed our bikes in the woods, and began the 2.5 mile hike to the hot springs.

Bikepacking gear doubles as backpacking gear pretty easily it turns out

The hike up to the hot springs is also quite easy, although it is also uphill. At this point, it had been pouring rain for the previous 2 hours, so we were all thoroughly soaked to the bones, hoping that our dry bags were keeping our tents and sleeping bags dry, and eagerly anticipating the hot springs at the end of the trail. When we reached the camp ground, we quickly set up, and were shortly off to the promise of hot water another quarter mile down the trail.

Sure enough, just down the trail, a series of 6 or 7 hot springs awaited us. It’s just as magical as you can imagine. We quickly stripped down and hopped in, eager to relieve our sore muscles in the hot water. It was pure bliss.

This was only my second time in a hot spring, and the first in a totally unregulated, natural one. At one point, I found myself in disbelief – was I really soaking in a hot spring with 7 other, totally badass, bike riding women, drinking wine? This was awesome.

We finally got hungry and headed back to camp for another delicious dinner made by Anna. Quickly thereafter most of us went to sleep, as without a fire to warm us up, we were wet and cold. Even though I was exhausted, sleep didn’t come easily that night as I was freezing, but luckily, the sun rose early and warmed things up. We ventured back to the hot springs again after breakfast for one more dip.

The final bike ride down from the hot springs was one of the best descents I’ve ever had in my life. Not worrying about cars is phenomenal! I have no idea what speed I reached, but I’m sure it was fast. I would seriously climb that hill again just to fly back down it!

Reflections on the trip

Now that I’ve been home for almost two weeks and have had some time to think and heal my body, I’m filled with gratitude to Jocelyn, Kim, Kristin, and Caitlin from Komorebi for allowing me to join them on this trip. I’m also hugely thankful to Jude, Meghan, and Anna for joining me as guest riders. Having your presence helped me feel less like the “new girl” and like were in this together. Your willingness to be vulnerable, authentic, and show your true selves all weekend was inspiring.

The difference of riding with all women, as opposed to a mixed gender group is hard to explain. Small things, like checking in with each other throughout the day to make sure we were all doing ok, both physically and emotionally. I’ve NEVER experienced that with mixed-gender groups. Open and honest chats about our bodies, challenges with our partners, and drinking wine in the bathroom together as we waited for a blessed hot shower is something that doesn’t always happen.

Over fireside conversations we made a conscious decision as a group to stop apologizing and to practice gratitude. This seemingly small act influenced so many conversations throughout the weekend, as instead of saying “Sorry I’m slow” when I reached the group who was waiting for me, I would instead say “Thanks for waiting for me!”

Even though these women live in Portland (and Anna near Tacoma), I feel like I gained 7 new friends in a whirlwind of a weekend. I’m super excited to know them and can’t wait to hopefully see them next time I’m in Portland!

Marley Blonsky

June 13, 2016

I Hate That I Have to Write This

Marley Blonsky

June 13, 2016

I've found myself coming out more than ever over the past day. It shouldn't matter anymore that I'm a queer woman, but it does. The first place I felt safe to dance, flirt, and kiss who I wanted was in a gay club, packed to the brims with smiling, happy people. Now that I primarily date men, many of my current acquaintances don't know this part of my identity, but it's still there.

The year was 2008, but it could've easily been me. I used to spend every weekend in the clubs, and organized many large scale LGBT gatherings. My heart aches for Orlando. I can't even begin to imagine 50 of my friends gone.

Their blood is on all of our hands. Please-contact your legislator. This needs to stop.

Marley Blonsky

June 12, 2016

Alaska Trip Report

Marley Blonsky

June 12, 2016

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds.

-Edward Abbey

I bought my ticket to Alaska less than a month before my trip on a total whim. Gabriel Amadeus, one of the guys behind Limberlost posted on Facebook a heads up that flights on JetBlue were insanely cheap from Portland to Anchorage. Another friend chimed in that flights to Seattle were also stupid cheap. Seizing the opportunity with a hefty dose of spontaneity and a bit of stupidity I impulsively bought a round trip ticket for $150.

Original plans included bringing my bicycle and exploring the Anchorage area by bike, but that plan quickly dissolved after realizing just how little land I’d be able to cover in the short time I was planning to stay. I instead booked a cheap rental car, borrowed a backpack from a coworker and was off!

Back in the day, I used to be meticulous about vacation logistics planning. I would have the schedule for each day nailed down, as close to the hour as possible, researching in advance everything I could about my destination.

Whether it’s laziness, a desire for the unexpected, or just a change in personality, for this trip the only things I really secured in advance for this trip was a rental car, lodging for my first night, and a rough outline of a few things I wanted to see. Other than that, I asked Facebook for advice, threw caution to the wind, and set out for the adventure of a lifetime.

Night 0

My flight left Seattle at 8:45pm and arrived in Alaska at 11:30pm. Because it’s pretty close to the summer solstice, the sun was just going down as we landed.

My lodging for Friday night was the Alaska Backpackers Inn, a highly ranked hostel near downtown Anchorage. Clean, fine, and uneventful, I ended up with a private room even though I booked a shared room because they didn’t save enough space for the number of women who had arrived. Their mistake was my win! A fitful night of sleep later (hostels are loud!), I woke up early and hit the road to drive the Kenai Peninsula.

Day 1

Nearly everybody recommended that I skip my intended camping spot at Eklutna Lake and instead head down the Kenai Peninsula toward Seward. Heeding their advice, I made a quick stop at REI for stove fuel and bear spray and was on the road.

Within the first 10 miles of the drive, I knew I had made the right decision. Steep, jagged peaks loomed on both sides of me, dark blue water on my right, and clear, open road ahead of me. I turned up the stereo to TacoCat and drove on. My plan for the day included hiking, driving, and doing whatever cool shit I came across.

Whoever built the Seward Highway clearly recognized the jaw dropping scenery of the drive, with purposeful parking areas every few miles, marked stopping areas for scenic views, and stunning views every direction you look. The drive from Anchorage to Seward along Turnagain Arm has been named an All-American Road by the US Government and a Drive of a Lifetime by National Geographic. Seriously a cool drive.

For the first 20 miles of the drive, I couldn’t get enough of it. I stopped at every chance I got, even making #coffeeoutside at one stop and savoring it in the sunshine for an extended break from driving. This is what I came to Alaska for!

Probably my best view ever for Coffee Outside

About 45 minutes outside of Anchorage I stopped for my first hike, Winner Creek. I’m admittedly not much of a hiker, much preferring to bike when possible. I had researched this specific hike, googling “Easy hikes in Alaska”- because I’m seriously that much of a non-hiker. I’d read that it was supposedly family-friendly, pretty easy, and well worth the 6 miles because of a unique hand tram across a canyon 3 miles in. Seemed easy enough, right?

Sure enough this hike was VERY family friendly, with tons of 3 year olds, grandmas, and dogs hiking this gorgeous, easily accessible trail that was actually part of the Iditarod race! Meandering in and out of the woods, through mountain valleys, and across streams this trail actually made me appreciate hiking a bit more.

I had lots of time to think, make up songs to the bear bell jangling off my backpack, and take photos. The hand tram at the end was just as cool as I imagined, I only wish I had been there on a less crowded day to be able to spend more time on it and not have 15 people lined up behind me to cross the river.

Also, it turns out 6 miles of hiking is pretty far- by the end I was super crazy hungry. One granola bar is not enough for that long! Thankfully, I had some weird S’mores flavored oreos in the car to hold me over until lunch.

Now, forgive me for a moment while I digress, but some of my favorite interactions and people have been people I’ve met while traveling. I intentionally went on this trip by myself because I believe that you make yourself more open to others and experiences when you’re vulnerable. It was with this mindset that I stopped to pick up two hitchhikers 30 miles outside of Seward.

I’m a pretty savvy traveler and have a good head on my shoulders. If something didn’t feel right or unsafe, I wouldn’t have done it. But seeing the broad smiles that Andrejs and Jens had on the side of the road while waiting for a ride gave me a good feeling, so I pulled over and offered a ride to Seward. They are backpacking through Alaska for the summer and were hoping for a ride to Seward to camp overnight.

As they climbed in the car, we immediately hit it off as fellow travelers do, sharing stories and the S’mores oreos that I had in the car. As hungry as I was earlier after my hike, they were equally so now and were grateful for the sugar rush.

We drove together into Seward, making a plan for where I should drop them off, and said goodbye over beers at Seward Brewing Company. I then drove them to their trailhead, turning down their offer to camp and hike with them. While I sincerely appreciated their easy going nature and European inquisitiveness about American culture, I came on this trip to spend time alone. So I turned it down and said goodbye as they hiked away.

Hitch hikers I picked up along the way to Seward

It was now my turn to find my campsite for the night, as it had been a long day and I was tired by this point. I pointed the car north on the Seward Highway and quickly found the turn for Kenai Fjords National Park and Exit Glacier. As I drove into the park, I saw a number of people pulled off the road for dispersed parking in the National Forest area. I knew the campground I was going to only had 12 no-reservation, free tent sites, so coming back for wild camping might need to happen.

Shortly into the entrance to the National Park, I found the campground. The setup for the walk-in only camping was the coolest thing. Because it’s deep in bear country and they take bear safety very seriously, there is a central area for cooking and eating, and a big closet for food storage for everybody. This creates a communal aspect to the campground for sharing stories and getting to know your fellow campers. It was a really unique setup and proved to be really helpful.

I entered the campground, did a quick loop through the site and to my dismay, realized that all the sites were full. I made the decision to cook dinner at the campground and then head back out into the national forest area to camp. Lucky for me, there were a number of other campers also preparing their dinners, and as we got to talking, one of them offered to share their tent site with me. I gratefully accepted, finished my dinner, and set up camp in the shadow of Exit Glacier.

Day 2

Sunday started early as I wanted to get to hike Exit Glacier before the crowds and hit up a few towns on my drive back to Anchorage before my flight back at midnight. I quickly packed up my tent, ate a quick breakfast back at the communal area with the company of my fellow campers, and was shortly on the trail to Exit Glacier.

There are two main trails at Exit Glacier - the "moderately strenuous" (according to the National Park Service) 2 mile Glacier View Trail, and the super, crazy, ridiculously hard 8-10 hour round trip trek to the Harding Ice Field. We've already discussed that I'm not a hiker, so as cool as the Harding Ice Field sounded, I was not prepared to go trekking through ice and snow for a full day. I was down for a 2 mile hike to the toe of a glacier though.

The ranger stopped me as I started down the trail to confirm that I had bear spray, as I was a solo hiker. He also advised me to sing, talk to myself, or otherwise make noise so I didn't scare any bears. In preparing for my trip, I had read all of this advice, but hearing it from a Park Ranger as I was heading in to the woods made it all the more real. Ok, Marley, here we go.

As I hiked, I tried singing all sorts of songs, from Beyonce to Taylor Swift, but I kept coming back to a song from my summer camp days. I had a counselor who would lead the entire camp in a super silly song - "Going on a Squeegie Hunt." It went something like this (each line is repeated in an echo format):

Going on a squeegie hunt

I'm not afraid!

What's that up ahead?

A Mountain!

Can't go over it

Can't go under it.

Gotta climb up it.

This song worked perfectly as a I hiked, as I got super silly with it, and changed it from Squeegie to Bear Hunt. The further I went, the sillier it got. In my song, we encountered a stream (we swam through it), a ranger (talked back to him), a downed tree (sawed through it), and a tourist (walk past them.) Thankfully, while singing my silly song, I only passed one group of people, and they just smiled at me as they knew exactly what I was doing. When your life is potentially on the line, nobody cares how dumb you might sound.

After a not strenuous hike at all, the woods opened to the most stunning view. Exit Glacier on my right, river valley below it, and mountains all around. I literally stopped and just looked around for five minutes, soaking in the view. The first photo on this post is from that moment.

I walked closer to the glacier, noticing every little ways a sign with a date on it. Eventually there was this sign:

Since the last Ice Age, Exit Glacier has been retreating. The pace of retreat was pretty slow, until recently, however, when it has rapidly sped up. Until just a few years ago, visitors to the glacier used to be able to go to the toe of the glacier and touch it. Now, it's actively receding so much that it's unsafe for people to get that close. It was astonishing to see the dramatic changes in such a short amount of time.

Day 2 continued with driving back up the Seward Highway, with a few stops in Hope and Whittier.

Hope is a teeny, tiny little town of 200-ish people, with not much more than a history museum, cafe, and campground. I got an excellent tour of the history museum from a local 7th grader who works there as her summer job. She was VERY excited to tell me about the mining history of the town and that there was a new kid joining their grade this year. It was actually really cool. Lunch at the cafe was great- I ate with some local cyclists who were out on a day ride. We chatted all things biking and it made me jealous I couldn't hop on a bike and join them for the rest of their ride.

On the recommendation of a Facebook friend, I also made a stop in Whittier for a bit. I'm glad I did, as Whittier is a place that I'll probably never go again in my life, but I'm glad I went. To access it, you have to drive through a one lane, 2.5 mile long tunnel through a mountain. The $13 toll is well-worth the unique experience, as the tunnel is shared between cars and trains, so beneath the road there are rail tracks.

After you emerge from the darkness of the tunnel, you're greeted by the super cute, weird town of Whittier. It's mainly a fishing town, with some military history. Nearly all of the 214 residents live in ONE BUILDING. I didn't hang out in Whittier long, as honestly, there wasn't much to do. I walked the docks, chatted with some fishermen, ate some smoked salmon that they gave me, and then drove back. Weird place.

Honestly, at this point in the trip, I was tired and dirty. I hadn't showered since Friday morning and it had been in the high 70s all weekend. Busting out the Dr. Bronner's soap, I pulled into a campground, quickly washed my hair and face and immediately felt way better. I got a funny look from a passing family, but eh, whatever.

Wanting to get the most bang for my buck, I headed back into Anchorage to see what trouble I could get into there. I quickly found Midnight Sun Brewing Company, had a taster flight and dinner, and then went for one final hike.

My final hike was at Chugach State Park, my original intended destination for the trip. I drove to the Eagle River Nature Center, about 15 minutes north of Anchorage for this hike. Travel weary and ready to get on the plane, I milled about the nature center, taking photos and not wandering too far from the path. I eventually sat down at a picnic table and read a book for an hour, until about 10:30pm. I tell you what, that midnight sun really is special. I think if I lived in Alaska I'd never sleep in the summer.

Finally, after what felt like the longest weekend ever, I made my way back to the airport, turned in the rental car, and found the gate. Almost exactly 48 hours later, 434 miles driven, and one tank of gas later, I was headed home.

Until next time, Alaska, thank you.