Summer shower...

We can add another state!

 

A partial map of our journey.

I need to get a map like this for the Canadian Provinces, too!

Heading Home

Well, we're actually exiting, but you get the idea! We didn't see this sign going north because we took the Cassier, so we're posing with it now. Here we are at Mile 1 of The Alaska Highway in Dawson Creek, British Columbia!

Cinnamon Bear

A cinnamon bear is a color of black bear. I didn't know about this subspecies until we saw them. They're a beautiful variation. You can really see the difference in color between Mama black bear and her cubs! 

 

Of course we did!

Hi! Errr...bonjour!!

We don't get starstruck very often, but we did today. We saw Remy Coste training his dogs! 

Instead of a Dunks on every corner, there are li'l coffee shacks. Each has a different theme based on their location. We went to as many as possible. Needless to say, this was our favorite! 

Longest Day

They ran through the entirety of the summer solstice; no need for headlamps! It was an incredible adventure. Ed finished in 2nd place. He's thrilled. It was so hard. It was well worth all the effort to get here and do this! 

Denali 135

Today Ed's running his dream race, the Denali 135 Ultra. The course consists of the length of The Denali Highway, 130 miles from Paxson to Cantwell. This is why we've come up to Alaska. He's fit, healthy, rested, and ready. My job as crew is to stay with him with the camper, providing anything he might need. We have to be self-sufficient because this is very little help available. We should be all set. He'll tell me how far ahead he wants me to drive, and then I'll wait for him. And repeat until we finish. It's going to be challenging! 

We spotted another mushing landmark!

Rest day today.

Sitting here listening to the babbling brook at our campsite...

Wild Camping

Slow start today. I really don't want to leave here. 

Thompson Pass

Alaska

Moose Pass Summer Solstice Festival

Exit Glacier

Sounds like our kind of place!

I said, "No."

Channeling

Quintessential Alaskan Cabin

Musk Ox Farm

We met Kale!

Mile 7 Rest Stop on The Denali Highway

Bittersweet

Today would've been mom's birthday. Today is also the day a new family starts their lives in the very special home that she and Dad made for us.

The timing is ironic - it was supposed to happen yesterday, but the closing documents didn't make it back to Maine from Alaska fast enough. Somehow, this feels better, though. Like a gift. Happy birthday, Mom. We did what you needed us to do, and I think we did it right. 

They wrote us a beautiful letter. They are going to be just as happy there as we were. Welcome home!

Running Reindeer Ranch

LARS & friends!

Beer & Puppies

"Beer & Puppies," read the advertisement. Are you kidding me? Where do we sign up?! I think that's the fastest I've ever typed in a credit card number; please just take my money!

Ayiyi

For various reasons, I've given up alcohol. The worst part is that Ed & I love visiting breweries. I can still go and eat the food, though, so we decided to try Silver Gulch Brewing & Bottling Co. in Fox, Alaska. We can highly recommend their food, and Ed really enjoyed his beer. 

I was so excited to see that they had something non-alcoholic for me! But, the waitress brought it to me in a sippy cup. 🤦‍♀️ I thought Ed was gonna fall off his chair laughing! I can also highly recommend the root beer. It was delish. I'll just make sure that I request a big girl glass next time! 😂

Alaska Endurance 24-hour Trail Run

 

I've mentioned many times how running is a solitary sport. It's just you. But occasionally, you work with others, and they help you crush your goals. That's what happened yesterday. Ed spent the early hours of the race chasing his competition. Nothing makes you better than having good competition! But then, as the hours counted down and the miles started adding up, everyone began to realize what they might be witnessing. Could he do it? Could he really push that hard? What would it take? It took a lot. It took everything he had. 

The format of this race was: you had 24 hours(or 6 or 12, depending on which race you signed up for) to complete as many 6 mile loops of the trail as you could. Once you ran out of time to do another loop, you were asked to switch to a half-mile loop. You could then do as many of those as your body could take or until you ran out of time. Each time you ran or walked back through camp, the timer handed you a popsicle stick. Those were counted after you finished in order to get your final distance. It was so inspiring to watch people limping through those final short loops until they just couldn't anymore, in order to reach their own personal goals.

There were so many people there at the end, ringing cowbells, blowing horns, yelling, and also walking or running alongside their runner to support them. It was awesome to watch! There were groups of kids everywhere, even running laps by themselves! Making tired people smile, giving them high-fives. You could see this was perking up people who were beyond exhausted and in so much pain to go just a bit further. It was wicked inspiring! 

When they realized Ed was not only trying to win it, but also was close to breaking the course record? I overheard so many people talking about it. They were there for it and wanted to do whatever they could to help. I've never seen him cheered on so much. It bolstered him to keep pushing and then push just a li'l bit more! All those track workouts paid off so that he could sprint that last lap and come in under the wire! It was so exciting and so loud in camp!

In the end he ran 17 6-mile loops and 15 half-mile loops of the trail. He won the race and broke the course record with 109.5 miles completed!