Swimming on the Iditarod Trail

Most of the snow melted today so I put on my trail shoes, called for the dog and headed out to Nash Road, to run on the Iditarod Trail to Bear Lake and back. The trail is through spruce (or douglas fur; I can never tell the difference) forests and weaves in and out along the creek for the first mile or so. It's very quiet and peaceful, though sometimes 4-wheelers whiz past.

Today, we had the trail to ourselves. It drizzled the first mile but then cleared up. The footing was tricky in places: Snow and then icy patches, followed by clear patches and wet areas.

Here's where I fell into a HUGE puddle that came up past my ankles. It was that deep.

I also had a bit of an argument with a devil's club branch. I'm sorry to say that it got the best of me.

The rest of the run was wet, with another HUGE puddle closer to the Bear Lake end of the trail.

By the time I got back to the trailhead, my shoes, tights and windbreaker were soaking and splattered with mud. The checkout woman at the Safeway wasn't too pleased to see me when I stopped off to buy hot salsa on the way home. Have no idea why, but having cold feet caused me to crave hot salsa.

A big cheer to Anchorage running group buddy Teresa, who is running the New York Marathon: You gooooo girl!


Finished "The Body is Water" and cried in the bathroom--it's that good. Now I'm reading a collection of short stories by southern writer Lee Smith.

Trying to get up the nerve to submit to poetry chapbook contests. Poetry is scary. I can write a short story in a few months, sometimes a few weeks, but one good poem can take years.