Goldstream Valley Sunday

By Sunday morning, the skies had clouded up and a light snow fell. We were staying with friends, Brittany and Oliver (you might remember they visited us in August).

As our favorite Fairbanks running buddies, we quickly took to the trail with their husky, Yoti. After several minutes of dodging snow laden Black Spruce trees, we found ourselves on the well-used Goldstream Valley trail. The winter trail networks far outnumber the ones used in the summertime. During the summer, this trail is a mosquito and moose swamp.

Thankfully, Brittany is almost perfectly the same size as I am, so when she dumped out her box of running clothes and asked me to pick some, I was excited that I didn’t have to skip the run before I could buy warm things. It was -15F, so it would have taken about $200 to replace enough to be a comfortable run. Thanks, Brittany!!

As Matt and I chatted loudly through our thick facemasks, we remembered our own runs on this trail. When we first moved to Fairbanks, we often ran on these trails. In fact, it was then that we realized that this was the site of my first ever trail run.

Yoti the dog ran with the swift finesse of every sled dog. It was clear he was born to run. He led the way, trotting along on the trail, pausing only to look back at us with the “what is taking you so long?” look in his eyes. We pulled off the trail to let a dog team pass. I miss encounters like that, this place really is unique.

The trail moved into a stand of Black Spruce trees, twisted and gnarly in stature. Their appearance matches that of the rugged, weathered faces of the people here. Winter is hard, even the trees bow in empathy. With the lack of wind in this area, snow clings to every surface.

 

Even birch and alder branches have six inches of snow piled upon their thin limbs. It is a glorious winter wonderland and possibly my favorite thing about the winter landscape in Fairbanks.

That night, we picked up my suitcase at the airport. I danced around like an excited child on Christmas. It was really here!! Alaska Airlines also collected my receipts and cut me a check for the provisions I bought. This airline gets an A+ in my book!!!

We also attended the Banff Film Festival Tour. It was a series of about 10 films, varying in length from just a few minutes to almost an hour. The longest film was an expedition two Aussie men made on their trek to the South Pole and back. Through their intense suffering and breakdowns, Matt and I looked over at each other. The perfect thing to get fired up for our trek the next morning. No complaining about the cold until we get giant frostbite blisters on our faces, we agreed.