July 25, 2015 - Trail of Blue Ice

We enjoyed the sunshine on the hour-long drive down to Portage. When we got about a mile away from the Begich Boggs Visitor Center, it got cloudy, windy and cold. That's the way the weather always is there - unless it's raining. Between the mountain pass and the glaciers, there is a micro-climate there that is fed by the cold blue glaciers in the area.

We started out from the Visitor Center and picked up the Trail of Blue Ice at the other end of the parking lot. It is an improved trail and it's very pleasant once you get away from the cold wind coming off the lake. That happens in less then five minutes. :) In fact, after a few more minutes I was quite comfortable in shorts and a t-shirt.

The trail beckons

A mossy rock

Our walk was fairly uneventful.  There were two club members who encountered a bear on the trail, but we didn't see any wildlife at all, so we had to make do with observing the local flora.

Fireweed

 
The nagoonberries were ripe, and we stopped to sample some with some other club members. They are similar to raspberries, but "seedier."

We did manage to see some of the "blue ice" despite the clouds. The ice in glaciers looks blue because it is compressed to the point where it is very dense and all of the light waves in the spectrum except for the blue frequency are absorbed.

You can just see a blue glacier on the left, peeping out from under the cloudy mountain top. You had to be there.

It is very calming to be able to spend time in a wild, beautiful environment with very few people around.

When we got back to the Visitors' Center, we used our Golden Age Passport to get into the exhibits and the movie. I accidentally sat on a giant ice worm. I thought it was couch. Yes, ice worms are a real thing, and they sometimes have some on display, swimming around in a bucket of ice water.

Me and my new best friend

A typical Alaskan mosquito

Walk Route: B+

Walk Instructions: B+ 

I like instructions that give the distances at each landmark.

March 24, 2015 - Santa Fe, NM

Santa Fe is small but very interesting. You may want to allow a lot of time for this walk because there is so much to see. You might also want some extra time because the altitude is 7,000 feet.

There must be a strict building code here. There are only a couple of buildings that are more than two stories tall. Almost everything is in the Pueblo Revival style - public buildings, commercial buildings and residences.

The Inn at Loretto - an example of Pueblo Revival

Kate and I started out by crossing the Old Santa Fe Trail. At one time, Route 66 followed this trail, but in the 1930's Route 66 was realigned to bypass Santa Fe.

We soon arrived at the State Capitol building. It is built in New Mexico Territorial style - an adaptation of Greek Revival and Pueblo adobe. 

The Roundhouse

The Capitol building is nicknamed "the Roundhouse" and resembles a Zia sun symbol when seen from above.

The Zia Sun Symbol on the state flag

There is a wonderful art collection inside the Capitol, and many pieces of public art can be seen on the Capitol grounds as well as here and there throughout downtown. Many are by emerging artists.

This abstract piece reminded me of red hot chili peppers

"When Friends Meet"

The Santa Fe Plaza, a National Historical Landmark, now serves as the focus for art, jewelry, music, and especially Native American culture.
There are lots of art galleries, jewelry shops, cafes, and high-end stores in this area. The turquoise and silver Navajo jewelry is everywhere and it is stunning.

There are many reminders of New Mexico's Native American heritage, but there are also reminders of it's Wild West history. Both Kit Carson and Billy the Kid are commemorated in Santa Fe.

We detoured about half a block to visit the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. It is well worth the extra time. Be sure to see the short documentary about her life.

O'Keefe's work often featured flowers or southwestern landscapes, or both

We also made a stop at the Museum of Indian Women in the Arts, where we learned about the work of Pablita Velarde and her daughter and granddaughter.

Pablita's work was colorful and showed Native American themes

St. Francis Cathedral is a Romanesque Revival structure that can be seen from many parts of downtown. The keystone in the arch above the main entrance contains a triangle with the Tetragrammaton in Hebrew carved in it. An "old story" suggests that this was Fr. Lamy's way of thanking various local Jewish merchants for their financial contributions towards the building of the cathedral.

In front of the cathedral is a statue of Kateri Tekakwitha, the first North American Indian to be canonized. (She was from New York state, not the Southwest.)

Saint Kateri

San Miguel Chapel, the oldest church in the US

Between museums and shopping and lunch we only had time for the 5k, but I feel like I got a very good introduction to Santa Fe.
I agree with the saying about New Mexico: It's not actually new and it's not actually Mexico. (But it is actually worth seeing.)

Route:  A-

Route Instructions: C+
The directions were confusing in a few places. You couldn't use the map to clarify where you were because the street names often did not appear on the map. There is so much of interest along the route. It would be most appreciated if the instructions provided a little more narrative about historical landmarks.