Wolverine Peak

Just out for another ass kicking in preparation for nap time for night shift, it works!

 

 

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A Legitimate Day of Vacation

It was wonderful at Bridgette's house we would all sleep till we were ready to get up. It was another grey day when we left the house to walk out to the glacier and Nugget Falls, but by the time we were leaving the sucker holes were spreading.

The Mendenhall Glacier

 

Its wonderful to be on the ocean, the salty air and sounds are infinitely appealing.

Point Louisa

 

Auke Harbor

 

Tide pooling is one of my favorite things to do, probably because I don't get to do it very often. I probably "petted" at least 50 sea anemones, and maybe 5 sea urchins, and one mini eel.

Tide Pooling

 

It turned out to be a beautiful sunny day. So wonderful, we ended it with Bridgette teaching a yoga class and then a walk on the beach as the moon rose...it was amazing.

Looking at the Mendenhall

While I was in Juneau I was fortunate to be able to stay with my wonderful friend Bridgette, her boyfriend George and their dog Otis over on Douglas Island. Bridgette and I go back a few years to when we used to work on the "mighty Mendenhall" glacier together. Many interesting times up there together. We decided to walk out to the West glacier trail together and check on the conditions and changes that had happpened since I have been gone.

The fungus was out of control. I have never seen so many types of mushrooms before.

Mushrooms

 

The blue of a glacial ice is unique and one of my favorite colors.

Glacier in zoom

 

The trail was steeper and more slippery than I remembered it being, but beautiful, fun and engaging.

Bridgette coming up

 

If you look really close the picture below has 3 helicopters and a small tent on the far left of the picure below the ice fall. The next picture is that tent on zoom.

The Mendenhall Glacier

 

The Lower Site for Temsco Helicopters

 

Bridgette going back Down

 

Even though it wasn't sunny it was still a very nice walk through the woods. The glacier has melted at least 500 feet off the rocks since 4 years ago. It was shocking to see how much rounder the ice has become.



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Juneau is Definitely a Rain Forest

Juneau welcomed me with monsoon rain and clouds that almost touched the water. The perfect irony being the only car Rent a Wreck had was a black mustang convertible. If I was a god I would definitely be laughing.

View from the Porch

 

Luckily I used to live in Juneau and the rain was only a small deterrent to going certain places. Perseverance trail gains a leisurely 800 feet over 3.5 miles while following a small river through the rain forest, its beyond lovely, even in the rain.

Waterfall

 

Me in the Green

 

Beautiful Trees

 

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Glacier Creek, Girdwood

I was so thankful that Caitlyn was motivated and energetic about getting out on an otherwise blahish grey day...plus I was so tired from not sleeping enough and doing the weird transition out of night shift. I am the most non night owl out there.

Glacier creek starts off fast and splashy, I got a face full of cold glacier water and was all of a sudden in a totally more awake state of consciousness.

Caitlyn at the Beginning of Glacier Creek

 

Its impossible for me to take pics and float simultaneously. I tried but most of them had a huge water droplet over the boater...oh well. Fabulous evening out, glacier creek is made for packrafts!

Me at the End

 

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Wolverine Peak

If I didn't feel so desperate to sleep in the afternoon I never would have woken up at 8 and then went up Wolverine Peak. But it was a fine end to a week off and an effective way to make me sleepy in the middle of the day.

 

It was great to get a birds eye view of Long Lake and East Tanaina peak since I was just there. I really want to start at the Dome trail and do the whole ridge then take the pass over to the Williwaw valley....lots of long day potential link ups back there.

 

 

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Knoya Peak

I told Erin that I was up for anything and that I would be psyched if she picked something out....even though I have been up Knoya before, its been at least 10 years...It also offered really good views down into the Snowhawk valley a place I have never been and want to go.

Erin at the Top of Knoya

 

There have been a lot of grey days lately, but it always seems a bit more pretty on top of a cool mountain.

Looking out Toward Anchorage

 

Erin and I

 

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S. Suicide Peak

I am in love with the summer. The vibrant smells and color of plants that are alive just makes me happy. I breathe it in as much as I can. Even though it has been a grey summer, winter is way more black and white, and cold....already dreading it.

Flower Field up Falls Creek

 

Caitlyn is an old school Alaskan who just relocated to Anchorage after a school size stint in Colorado. She is one motivated individual, S. Suicide peak was a before work jaunt...I had the day off.

Caitlyn and I

 

The sun came out a couple times and it felt like such a reward to be up there. A very pretty night.

Heading Back Down the Ridge

 

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A Day by Myself

 

 

 

 

Long Lake is a Long Way

I finally connected with Tanya after a month and a half of busy schedules and she said she was looking for some good exercise. I'm always looking to get out for a long day with like minded people so we hatched a plan.

I've done a lot of repeat hikes/peaks in the front range and was looking for something different. I decided that E. Tanaina or Koktoya peak were reasonable objectives, and that we could decide which looked more appealing once we were back there. So we went up Near point and then dropped into the Long Lake valley.

Valley Heading to Long Lake

 

I knew it was going to be a relatively long way back there, but it still took me by surprise how long this valley was. Finally we saw long lake and E. Tanaina peak looked pretty appealing. So up we went.

Tanya with Long Lake

 

This was one of those peaks that have many false summits. I think Tanya was ready to back hand me if I said one more time, "I can see the top", so I stayed out of striking distance : )

Traversing the Long Ridge of E. Tanaina Peak

 

The view from the top was beautiful. I love looking over into other valleys and seeing how close things are in the mountains. I'm inspired to do the whole ridgeline, and then hop over the pass to Williwa lake.

Looking Out to the Alaska Range

 

Instead of coming back out Near point we did a loop and came out the Dome trail. Long fulfilling day out! Big thanks to Rick and Suresh for meeting Tanya and I at the trail head for a ride, and for bringing a cold delicious beer! Your the best!



Note to self: The left side of the valley has better game trails, and suck up the elevation gain to get to the ridge on the Dome side, don't side hill.

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Flat Top Super Highway

I love the huge well maintained trail that goes up Flat top, spending time sidehilling, sliding on scree ect, really makes me enjoy relatively even terrain. Plus for a small amount of uphill the views are rewarding.

 

I seem to be catching a lot of hurricane force winds out in the mountains lately.

 

Wolverine Peak

George Anne decided to come with me for my morning pre work trip up Wolverine...she planned on going straight from our hike to work...

 

It was cloudy but hot, couldn't see anything from the top, but that's kind of the theme of this summer.

 

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