My second day in Anchorage I went to the other side of Chugach State Park, to a lake called Eklutna. This glacier-fed lake supplies the drinking water to the city, but it's far from civilized. The peaceful, scenic lake has a campground and also an outfitter called Life Adventures. The owner, Dan, took me on his "Paddle-Pedal" tour, and by the end, even the Ironman in me was worn out. First, we did a brisk kayak paddle from one end of the lake to the other - which is 8 miles. Then, we had a snack after we beached our boats and jumped on mountain bikes for 16 miles of rocky, rolly lakeshore. We even hiked another mile or so up to a 250-foot cascading waterfall. So I guess I did a mountain-man triathlon yesterday.

I got some amazing photos that I'm hoping to be able to sell to travel magazines and local tourism. Check 'em out...