She's a modern trailblazer

Maureen McCombs has a favorite place in the trail where the sunlight filters through the pale new leaves of tall aspens and the dirt path swoops down a hill. In all directions, all she can see are trees and moss and plants poking their way out of the ground.

"It's just lovely," she said with a smile. Her affection for this place is emphasized by the fact that she actually stopped in the trail. She was not walking briskly. She wasn't picking up garbage or marking the trail. For one rare moment she was still.

And then she was off again, following her two black labs down the path and around the next bend.

For the past 20 years, these trees and trails in the Bumpus Recreational Complex have been her backyard. The elementary physical education teacher lives just a mile away, and she has walked, run, mushed, skied and ridden a horse here. And for the past few years she has worked on marking and improving a more than 1-mile trail for nonmotorized use that follows the perimeter of about 80 acres owned by the city of Wasilla.

McCombs estimates she has put more than 100 hours into the project -- "pleasurable ones," she emphasizes -- and she admits there is still a lot of work to be done to get the trail into shape for horse riders, runners and walkers. But with the help of dozens of volunteers and local groups such as the Mat-Su Trails Council, the Drivin' Me Buggy Society and others, her vision is becoming a reality.

McCombs sees the trail as a place where the young and the old, those on horse and those on foot, can find a quiet place in the trees. The trail circles Bumpus sports fields and the city's newest well, and there are a few homes visible along the route. For the most part, however, it is secluded.

"I have had some really wonderful moments here," she said, describing encounters with moose and eagles.

As she talks about the Bumpus trail, McCombs bubbles with enthusiasm. But it soon becomes apparent that enthusiasm is her way. She's seems just as delighted with her work as a PE teacher at Tanaina Elementary, where each day she runs, skips and plays sports with children.

A friend recently told her all this activity is keeping her young, and the 50-year-old woman hopes that is true. But she says she doesn't take her health for granted, and she tries to live in the moment, appreciating everything she has.

When asked how she has time for all she does, she said she has no children of her own and "no man to fit her schedule around." Even still, her schedule is full. She has a calendar full of meetings -- she serves on Wasilla's Parks and Recreation Commission, the Mat-Su Trails Council and the Drivin' Me Buggy Society. And if she's not at a meeting, teaching PE, riding her horse or hiking with her dogs, she might also be found quilting, reading, studying maps or traveling abroad. She's traveled to Ireland and Scotland, and this summer is planning a trip to Tuscany, Italy.

Inevitably, though, she comes back to Alaska. McCombs says she first began dreaming about living here when she was 16 years old, growing up near Chicago. She has always enjoyed geography and remembers first learning about Palmer and Wasilla.

"There's this valley up there, and it's got farms and mountains and all this wildlife," McCombs recalls telling people.

In the mid-1980s, she moved here with her then-husband and found that the Valley lived up to all her expectations and continues to do so. Walking along the Bumpus trail, she looked around and said, "The nature, and the wildlife, and the trails … It's just beautiful."

The Bumpus trail can be accessed off Mystery Avenue in Wasilla. The trailhead is located near the city's pump house, across the street from the main ball fields. Anyone wanting to learn more about the trail or assist in its development can call McCombs at 376-4391.