Trip to Umqumiut

I got home from work absolutely exhausted today. I let Katja out and them we laid on the couch where I tried to get a quick power nap. Katja had other plans however. It only took about 90 seconds before she was at my face licking and nudging me awake. I rose and put on my light rain gear and running shoes and we headed to the beach. I didn't think of bringing my camera, because I wasn't aware of the adventure that I was about to embark on. I'll try to get some pictures some other time. Upon arriving at the beach, I noticed that the tide was really out. Normally, I can only run up the coast around a couple of points (about 1 1/2 miles) because the high water, but today I decided to see how far I could go. I was filled with excitement as I rounded the farthest point I had been to since. I skipped over the rock strewn sections of beach and around the rockweed until I found smoother beach and headed to the next point. Eventually, I rounded a point and saw small buildings in the distance. Again, I was filled with new energy despite the almost constant head wind that I was bucking the whole way.
The beach leading to Umkumiut, the small fish camp just south of Toksook, was almost stone free. We continued to pushed the wind, but it didn’t bother me. I almost decided to turn around once I was in sight of the village, but my sense of adventure urged for onward. As I ran along the village, I passed fish drying racks, small smoke houses, and slightly larger houses. Only a couple houses, out of the 15 total, had heaters or electricity. We made it to the other end of the village and stood up on some boulders to celebrate our arrival.
Before we turned back, I decided to find a nice skipping rock to bounce of the breaking waves that hit the coast. Katja had wandered out in the smaller waves and got a little taste of salt water. As I skipped my rock, Katja followed it out into deeper water. Pretty soon after that, she took a five foot breaker right on top of the head, which I’m sure surprised the shit out of her. I just about fell over laughing as she bounded out of the water seemingly on her hind legs trying to get her head as high as possible. After we recovered, we let the strong wind push us back to Toksook. With the tide coming in, I had to pick it up and the tail wind helped a lot. I still had to play spider man a couple of times and race some small breakers into the high spots on the cliffs. Katja just splashed through the shin deep water with out regard.
We eventually made it back to the house, worn out but wearing smiles. Once again, I am thankful to have a companion to get me off my ass and outside exercising. As we ran the smooth section of beach from Umqumiut, Katja found a burst of energy and started running circles, literally circles around me. It was fun watching her race in circles and then turn and scream down the beach at full tilt. By the end of the run, we were side by side and sometimes Katja was trailing me, which means she had a good workout. It was the perfect way to end the day.