Midnight Sun Weekend!

The last week has been full  of fun for Mike and me.  We have attended several Goldpanner baseball games in the evening and went on some great walks.  Our biggest hike was 14 miles to Lee's Cabin in the White Mountains.  The hike takes us through beautiful territory with great views of the mountains ranges to the north and the south.  Swarms of mosquitoes greeted us with bites and itches through the full 7 hours of our hike.  

This weekend was full of activities celebrating the Summer Solstice.  Mike and I participated in a couple of the events.  On Saturday night, we walked the Midnight Sun Run, a 10k that begins at 10:00 p.m.  Unfortunately, we were a little slower this year.  We were only able to walk a 17 minute mile, which means that we finished in 1 hour and 45 minutes.  This is almost 15 minutes slower than last year.  I guess we better get into shape for next year's run!  Of course, one of the features of the Midnight Sun Run was the costumes.  I've included some of pictures of the best costumes.

After getting home at 2:00 a.m. from the run, Mike and I slept in on Sunday morning and nursed our sore feet.  However, by 1:00 p.m., we found our way to downtown Fairbanks to enjoy the Midnight Sun Festival which ran from Noon to Midnight.  We enjoyed food and shopping from the many street vendors.  However, after 3 hours of wandering the streets of Fairbanks, we were tired from the heat (90 degrees) and called it a day.

The Midnight Sun Weekend is such a happy time celebrating the longest day of the year.  However, as I wrap up this blog, I write with great sadness that we begin losing daylight today.  While it begins slowly, it will spiral out of control until December 21st when we will have a measly 2 hours of daylight.  Okay, let's not think about that until at least October.

Bye for now!

Lee's Cabin 14 Mile Hike

Backpacks are loaded (even with bear spray) and ready to go!

Our first stop was 4 miles into the hike for a water and snack break.

The view from our first stop.

Arctic Lupine

Keep those feet moving, we have 10 more miles to go!

Dwarf Dogwood

Halfway through the hike with only 7 more miles to go.

Wild baby blueberries.  I think I know where I'll be picking this summer!

Midnight Sun Run

Saturday, June 22nd

10:30 p.m. to 11:45 p.m.

10k or 6.2 miles

At the beginning, Mike and I were all smiles!

Anyone need to go to the bathroom?  If so, it's going to be a long wait!

Midnight Sun Costumes

Dutch Harbor Alaskan Crab Fishing Boat

Jolly Rogers Pirates look quite menacing!

 That is some deranged moose!

Cheese heads!

The Race

With over 3,900 people in the race, 

it took a while to actually get to the starting line.

Feeling good at mile 1.  Tired, achy feet at the end.

Midnight Sun Festival

Sunday, June 23rd

Noon to Midnight

Creepy creatures roamed around the Midnight Sun Festival.

This thing scared me as I was buying a t-shirt.

I actually hit him in the arm and told him to leave me alone.

Then, I played nice and let him have his picture taken with me.

With the temperature hitting 90, Mike and I headed to the car for a little

air conditioning before going home for the day.