Muffy Davis first visited Alaska as a teenaged alpine skier from Sun Valley, Idaho, racing in the Junior Olympics on Mount Alyeska, and she vividly recalls the gorgeous view from atop the mountain in Girdwood.
She remembers heavy snowfall forced cancellation of the downhill, but afforded the chance to free-ski virgin powder. Alaska, she said, struck her as beautiful beyond belief, and a place she easily imagined returning.
Three decades later, Davis is finally back, this time as a decorated athlete competing in The Alaska Challenge, which bills itself as "The Longest And Toughest Handcycle Race In The World.''
Davis, 42, was a three-time gold medalist in handcycling at the 2012 London Paralympics, where she added to the four medals (three silver, one bronze) she won in skiing at the 1998 and 2002 Paralympic Winter Games.
She originally was entered to race The Alaska Challenge in 2013, but she was nominated for an ESPY award and the ceremony conflicted with the race. So Davis, who plans to retire from high-profile racing after this 28th edition of The Alaska Challenge, pushed her race entry two years forward and this week finally returned to the state that awed her as a kid and will now apparently bookend her elite athletic career.
"There's no good excuse why it took so long,'' she said Tuesday after wrapping up the first two stages of the race. "Alaska's gonna pull my career together.
"This is kind of a bucket list thing.''
And the opening day of the seven-day, eight-stage race quickly delivered Davis another Alaska memory she savors.
As Davis neared Kincaid Park, the finish area of Tuesday morning's first stage, a 9.8-mile time trial that started at Lake Hood, she glimpsed a flash of black to her left. When she looked in the small rearview mirror attached to her sunglasses, she saw a small black bear cross the trail behind her.
"Like he was waiting for me,'' Davis said. "I was told bears have the right of way, but I guess he was a polite one.''
The wildlife sighting was a thrill, Davis said, as the heart monitor attached to her handcycle, a Top End Force RX, confirmed.
"My heart rate went from 150 to 165 like that,'' Davis said, snapping her fingers.
Davis, who was paralyzed from the chest down in a skiing accident in the late 1980s, has traveled the world competing in adapted skiing and handcycling.
She is one of two women competing in The Alaska Challenge, and after two stages leads the women and sits seventh overall in the field of 10.
Davis, who lives in Salt Lake City, was in good humor in Stage 2, an afternoon criterium at Cuddy Family Park in which she momentarily took the lead after the ceremonial start.
"I don't want to be out front,'' Davis mock-whined.
Race leader Kenny Herroitt of Scotland zipped past her about one-third of the way through the 45-minute event on the oval.
"Quit showing off,'' Davis said with a laugh.
She also used part of the stage to offer advice to first-time handcycling racer Andrew Kurka of Palmer as she drafted behind the rookie.
"I told you not to let anyone grab your wheel, and look what I'm doing,'' Davis said.
"That's alright, Muffy,'' Kurka responded. "You're helping me.''
Davis said she raced conservatively in the criterium because the start-stop-start action of handcycling on an oval -- most racers don't pedal on the turns but let momentum swing them through to the straightaways -- wears on her left elbow, surgically repaired a year ago.
After The Alaska Challenge wraps Monday with a punishing 18.8-mile climb from Palmer to Hatcher Pass, Davis' Alaska adventure won't be over.
Her husband, Jeff Burley, their 6-year-old daughter Elle and Davis' father, Dennis Davis, are flying here for a nine-day family vacation. They plan to visit Denali Park, Portage Valley and Seward.
At this point, Davis said, she wants to concentrate on family and perhaps coaching. She doesn't intend to try to qualify for the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil -- at this point.
"I reserve the right to change my mind,'' Davis said.
Reach Doyle Woody at dwoody@alaskadispatch.com and follow him on Twitter at @JaromirBlagr