Hey Guys and Gals,
I am sorry that I have not posted in a while. Here is a small update.

I went mountaineering with work here in Alaska. I am not going to say too much about it. Only to say that we summitted a mountain and it was awesome! If you want to know more details, give me a call.

The next day after working I took a flight to Seattle. I went to Seattle, San Fran and Yosemite in the past two weeks. I am literally typing at my hostel in Seattle. Seattle has been great. I got to check out Ballard, Fremont, Pike's Place, Capitol Hill, and TONS of coffee shops. I heart Seattle for its coffee. They have the best latte's I have ever had. There are so many coffee shops to choose from! I literally went to a street in Ballard and there were four coffee shops in a row to choose from. There were also more across the street. I went to the first Starbucks for coffee and they made the worst latte out of them all. The small coffee shops beat Starbucks by a land slide. I will stop talking about coffee…  I also went up The Space Needle...but the highlight of Seattle still was the coffee.... :-)

San Fran was great. I got to meet one of my brothers out there and I loved seeing my brother! I miss my family a ton. My brother and I checked out so many different areas of San Fran. We checked out The Ferry Building, Castro, North Beach, Nob Hill, Tenderloin, Fisherman's Wharf, Mission District, Civic Center, Chinatown, the Bridge... so much walking! It was fantastic! We could eat all we wanted because we walking everywhere. San Fran is known for its hills. If you want good food in San Fran, stick to North Beach. North Beach is the Italian district of San Fran. They have great pasta and pastries.

Yosemite was amazing! I stayed with a friend who lived and worked in the park. The rock formations in the park were so amazing. I just wanted to climb them so bad! The trees were breathtaking. I loved gazing at their beauty. The waterfalls were also amazing. There was of course Yosemite Falls, but there were also hidden waterfalls all over the rock formations. When I arrived in Yosemite, it was snowing and raining a lot. Since it had been so wet, the waterfalls were flowing super fast and loud.

I head back to Wrangell tomorrow. If all goes well, I go out on course next week. I am psyched!  I am trying to catch up with everyone before I head out, so call me.

Take Care!  

This past weekend I went on a small adventure into the backcountry of Wrangell. One of my friends asked my roommate and me if we wanted to hike to a cabin Friday. It was already two in the afternoon, so we decided to take on the adventure even though it was late in the day. We packed as quickly as possible and left for our little adventure with a few other guides. We got a driver who had 4 wheel drive to get us as far as he could on the mountain. We also had a second car parked so that we would have a ride off the mountain. We began the hike with snowshoes on and it was awesome! I had never gone snowshoeing before and it was a blast. We hiked about three miles uphill to the cabin. It was challenging, but fantastic all at the same time! It was snowing during the hike, which made the hike even more beautiful.

The log cabin was so beautiful!!!! It had an amazing stove that warmed the entire, two floor cabin up. The cabin already had fire wood so we stayed nice and toasty while in the cabin. After arriving, the rest of the evening was dedicated to good food and hanging with good people.
When we awoke the next morning, we could not have asked for more beautiful weather. The skies reminded me of Santa Fe skies. The skies were deep, deep blue. We went off exploring to a ridge that was near our cabin and saw beautiful views of Etolin Island and the surrounding area. It was awesome!
After our little adventure on the ridge, we headed back to cabin to clean up. We hiked back down to the car and the views hiking down were amazing too! We saw everything from snow capped mountains to beautiful, open waters. Enjoy the pictures of our little adventure.

Hey Again,


Just finished my two weeks of theoretical training with Alaska Crossings, which is awesome! I loved what we were learning, but sitting and listening fourty hours a week can be exhausting. This week coming up I will be doing a three day flat water canoeing course, which will be awesome. I am looking forward to working on my awesome paddling skills. I have been out canoeing a couple of times while in Wrangell to work on my strokes and so far it has been fun.  I bought one straight shaft paddle and Crossings gave each new guide an Ottertail paddle which I need to sand and varnish. After the flat water canoeing course, I will have Thursday off to prep for the seven day ocean trip. I am totally looking forward to the ocean trip. The trip will be pretty cold and wet, but it will be nice exploring different islands in and around Alaska. I will also be looking forward to putting to use those classroom teachings into the field.

Have a beautiful day!

PS: 
Please send mail to:
Cat Anthony
PO Box 1004
Wrangell, AK 99929

Shrimp




White Salmon



Crab



Clams...



I thought I would list all of the amazing seafood I have had so far living here. The seafood here is to die for! The locals here have so much seafood that they will give it away easily. For example, a friend of mine received pounds of cooked shrimp from a local just because she had extras. The idea of giving is a simply a normal occurrence here in Wrangell.

Overall, life has been good since I have been here. I am building a nice, solid community here with both the locals and the other guides. I just finished my first week of training and it was great! I am learning a lot and will continue to be learning for a long time, which is awesome! I will be doing another week of lecture training and then a three day canoeing course. Finally, I will be doing a seven day ocean trip.

All right that is a quick update. Hope to hear from you guys soon too.


Cat

Oh Santa Fe, how I miss thee....

On Friday, I will be heading to Ouray, CO with a group of people to do some awesome ice climbing. I have never done it, but I am way psyched. It will be cold, but I hear there are some nice hot springs there too.
Cat

PS.  I am thinking about buying some cowboy boots while I am here.  Might as well while I am in cowboy country.

Alaska....

I was offered a job on Friday to work at a company called Alaska Crossings in Wrangell, AK and I accepted it.  I will be doing wilderness therapy on 49 day expeditions.  I will be doing backpacking, canoeing, and mountaineering, which will be awesome.  I am way psyched and feel this is going to be a great learning experience for me.  Staff training begins Feb. 1st so that means I will be in Richmond for most of Jan.  Check out the website for more info.

PS.  My birthday is tomorrow.  :-)

I came to Santa Fe in September for an internship and it has been an awesome experience.  I have been able to work with many unique populations, traveled throughout New Mexico, and met some awesome people.  I have loved the ocean blue skys, the mountains, the food, the unique cultures, and the laid back atmosphere of the Southwest.  I am sorry to say that even though I have loved Santa Fe and my job, I am going to be leaving Santa Fe in a little over a week.  There is not enough programming for me to stay and work at the mountain center after my internship.  My co-workers and my supervisors all want me to stay, and they have been trying to figure out a way for my to stay.  As of right now though, there it not a place for me.  I am overall very thankful for my experience in Santa Fe.  I feel that I have grown both personally an professtionally.

After Santa Fe, I am going to drive up to Larmie, WY to visit my friend Rachel.  Rachel and I worked together at Peak Experiences Climbing Center and she is now working up there at Solid Rock Outdoor Ministry.  After we spend a few days together, we will be going to Ouray, CO to try out some ice climbing.  I am interested to see how I do or if I even enjoy it.  I have never done it, so it should be an experience.  After that, I will be driving home and probably stopping in Denver after Ouray.  After I drive home, I will spend Christmas with my family and eat a bunch of Lebanese food.  After Christmas on December 28th, I will be flying to St. Louis, Missouri to attend a conference.

After all of that traveling, I will be around Richmond.  I will be working at Peak Experiences Climbing Center until I find another job elsewhere.  I will keep you posted on exactly where and what I will be doing.  I have been applying to different places and have been getting some call backs, which is an awesome blessing in this economy. 

Thanks for reading my blog.... 

Here is a little surprise update.  I got two of my wisdom teeth out yesterday.  I started to feel pain in my left mouth, ear, and lymph nodes last Mon or Tues.  I was hoping that it would go away, but the pain got worse.  I finally decided that I needed to see a dentist in Santa Fe, instead of waiting until I was back in Richmond.  I went yesterday and they wanted to take out all four wisdom teeth.  Since I am by myself in Santa Fe, I decided to just get the two wisdom teeth that were bothering me out (My parents also really wanted me to just get two teeth extracted instead of four).  I am at home this week recovering from the surgery and from the infection that had occurred in my mouth.

I am very thankful that the company I am working for allowed me to take off until Sat.  I have been entertaining my time with sleep and watching television, specifically Top Chef, The Office, and documentaries.  It has been hard staying home since the weather has been beautiful here, but it is all good.

Furthermore, I will be home in about two weeks (Wed-Mon during Thanksgiving).  I am looking forward to seeing my friends and family.

That is my update. 

Enjoy.

Here are a few pictures of the snow that fell a week ago.  Even though it snowed a week or so ago, today's weather was in the high 60's. 

My goal was to try to write in this blog once a week, but it seems like I am little more sporadic with my posts. Oh well…

I went for another hike yesterday. I did the Aspen Vista hike again (pictures from last time below), but this time the trees were bare with little to no yellow leaves. No pictures this time of the hike, because sometimes I just want to focus on the task at hand.

The hike was a different type of beauty than before. The trees looked old and sleek.  The mountains looked like someone carved them from a stone block because of the greyish, polished feel of them. While on the hike yesterday, I was reminded of a nature metaphor that I mentioned to clients during a hike at work.  I told the clients that the changing of leaves reminded me of the cycle of dealing with problems or issues in ones own life. I told clients that Fall is when you begin to realize you have a problem and then you begin to deal with the problem. After dealing with the problem, the problem can sometimes go away or die, like the leaves and plants dying in the Winter.  Then the leaves grow back and life is good for awhile (Spring, Summer). Then sooner or later though problems arise and you have to deal with new issues ( the cycle of seasons).  I told this metaphor to clients who have addiction issues in their lives. Some of these clients are truly trying to better their lives, while others continue the cycle of bad choices. Just thought I would share that.  Hope it makes sense…  Tell me if it does not and I will try to reword it.

Well hello again,

This past weekend I worked a weekend trip where we took clients climbing and rappeling.  We were about 15 miles from the border of AZ, which was awesome.  I love that I get to travel as part of my job.  Furthermore, I learned about a climbing area that I would like to go back to and climb (without clients).  I hear you can climb there in the winters, which makes me very happy. 

On Monday I was off from work so I went climbing at an area called White Rocks.  We went to an area of White Rocks called The Overlook and it was awesome.  I had a great time climbing at this area because the rock was very gritty and the view from where we were climbing was beautiful.  You could see the Rio Grande and the surrounding mountain ranges.  I kept glanceing back into the the mountains when I was not climbing because it was so picturesque. 

Then on Tuesday, I went for a five mile hike on the Chasmia Trail, which is very close to where I work and live.  It was a nice single, track trail.  As I was walking, I was not sure what the names of some of the wildflowers and trees were.  Since I did not know what plants were there, I ordered a book on Southwest plants so that I can bring it along on some of my adventures.  Many of the trees and aspens are changing colors here already.  In Virginia we got all colors of Fall, but here you mostly get yellow and a hint of orange.  It is beautiful to see the trees and the mountains changing colors.  Furthermore, there are also some wildflowers that blooming all over the place.  It is awesome!

After I hiked, I went to the local climbing gym and coached climbing.  I am volunteering at the local climbing gym because I enjoy coaching climbing and also because I get a free membership,  It is only a couple hours a week and I am already enjoying it. 

There is a new series that I think everyone in the world should be watching.  It is on PBS and it is about the National Parks.  The series is called, "National Parks, America's Best Idea."  The series is about the history of the parks and about the park's beautiful landscapes.  As I am watching it, the scenery sometimes takes my breath away.  Throughout the series, they have taken a lot of quotes from the naturalist John Muir.  I had heard about him before, but after learning about him in the series, I have ordered a couple of his books because he writes about nature in a spiritual manner, which is a way that I see nature too.  Everyday they are putting new episodes on the website.  You can watch it on PBS at home too.  Check it out!

PBS NATIONAL PARKS LINK

I thought I would update you guys on more of how my life is going.  Overall, Santa Fe has been treating me well.  I am starting to learn the layout of the city, but I still have to whip out my GPS here and there because I am not sure how to get from point A to B.  I probably get lost because I keep staring at the huge and beautiful Sandia Mountains that surround Santa Fe.  Last week, I was surprised to see snow on the tops of some of the mountains when I was driving to work.  I was told from some of the locals that the snow was much earlier than normal, but it was still a beautiful sight to see. 

I have been spending my time working, baking and hiking.  Just a few moments ago I baked a loaf of beer bread which I just ate a slice and it was delicious.  Furthermore, on Friday I made granola bars topped with almonds which were awesome!!!  Baking is fun and the breads taste so much better than store bought.  Last week I made two whole wheat loafs that I have been using for my sandwiches.  Who knew that I would be enjoying baking so much? 

When I am not baking, I have been hiking.  As you have seen through facebook and the blog, have posted some pictures from my adventures.  Today I went on a four mile hike and it was beautiful.  The leaves are just beginning to change and was so awesome to take in the colors and the smells of the forest!  I thought when I moved to New Mexico that I would miss Virginia's change of color, but I have learned from the locals that the leaves change color here too.  In the next couple of weeks, I am going to do the Aspen Vista hike again because I hear that is one of the best hikes for seeing the Fall colors.  Tomorrow after work I am going to do another 4ish mile hike that is close to work, but we will see what happens.

When I am not baking or hiking, I am working.  I have been really enjoying the work that I have been doing.  I have been doing a lot of training and learning more about the mountain center.  I have also been trying to showcase my skills to the mountain center so that I can lead more programming for them.  So far, I have done programming for many different types populations and I have done many different activities including: rock climbing, team building, climbing tower, and other high adventure elements.  I have learned much already and I am feel very blessed to have this opportunity in Santa Fe.  I am way happy to be doing this internship because I feel that it will help me grow both personally and professionally.    

That is pretty much my life right now...baking, working, hiking.  Well, I forgot to mention that I have been doing a lot of reading.  It is nice to be out of school, because I actually get to read for fun!

Enjoy the update!  More to come later.

Comments are working now... Yay...

I posted two albums on facebook of my past couple of days.  One album is from a hike I did on Saturday.   I did a hike in Santa Fe called the Aspen Vista hike.  I found the hike while driving around the mountains, so I decided to try it.  The sign said that it was only a 5.6 mile hike and the trail was a big fire road, so I knew that if I wanted to turn around I could.  I brought with me my essentials, food, water, and rain gear so I knew that I would be OK (even though I was wearing jeans and a cotton t-shirt).  The entire hike was uphill, but  I just kept going and going uphill finally making it to the top to Tesuque Peak.  The hike itself was awesome!!  The views were amazing and you gained in elevation 2200 feet.  (You began the hike at 10,000 feet).  I believe I actually had elevation sickness at the beginning the hike.  I have been overall trying to get use to the elevation change since Santa Fe is at 7000 feet above sea level, but this was even higher.  As the hike progressed, I noticed how tired I was and I noticed how much more time it took me than expected.  I headed back down the hike and looked at the sign again to see exactly how many miles I did again.... the sign still said 5.6 miles.  I was wondering why I was so tired and why it took me so long to do the hike.  I felt out of shape for how tired I was.  I drove home exhausted and hungry and researched the hike online.  I found out that I actually hiked a 12 mile hike so that made me feel better.  I am sore today and I am so happy that I pushed myself to get to the top.  I took a bunch of photos, but the photos do not look as good as the real thing. 

Here ya go...