Gina and Tony came out for a 4 day weekend visit at the beginning of October.  We had an awesome time hiking, biking, shopping and eating.  Here's the gang on one of our favorite hikes at Charleston, Bristlecone Loop.

Beautifully weathered bristlecone pine stump.

Aspen leaves.

Fall doesn't last long in Alaska.

After Gina and Tony's visit I went back up to Anchorage to teach a rope access course.  One day after work I drove an hour to a beautiful spot a co-worker had recommended called Eklutna Lake.

I arrived late in the day so I had to hustle up the Twin Peaks trail to catch a view of the lake.  I lucked out and got to a clearing just as the sun was setting over the mountains.  

I couldn't get a shot of it with my cellphone but there was even a bright red float plane flying over the lake.  The blue tinge comes from glacial silt feeding the lake.

After the course in Anchorage I came home for two days and was reminded that the desert is not too shabby either.

After my two days off I turned right around, back to the North Slope for a two week hitch.

This isn't the best shot but here is Denali, the highest peak in North America.

Alluvial fans and an encroaching grid.  Humans love right angles.

An early morning flight back to Vegas afforded amazing contrast of the desert topography.

Upper right hand corner is the gypsum mine, but I love the hills in the lower half of the picture.

Back on the Grid.  It looks like a circuit board from the air. 

These last photos are from First Creek.  One of our favorite (read: convenient) stomping grounds.  This tree has held on through a lot of flash floods.

A classic desert color combination.

You have to look for it but fall happens in the desert, too!

This is a Baja California Tree Frog.  I assume he was pretty cold because he let me get awfully close with the cell phone! 

A little bouldering with Tom, Sandra and Oscar. 

The requisite sunset shot.  This was last night, hiking out from First Creek.