Ice Climbing and Northern Lights

Monday morning we got up before the sun did and headed to West Glacier trailhead. We met up with a couple guys from our ward to do some ice climbing on the glacier. Once we made it to the glacier the real adventure began as we put on crampons to trek across the glacier and find a good spot to climb. Chris was able to borrow a pair of ice climbing boots in his size with matching crampons, but I was too small to fit any of the men's gear. Instead I borrowed a pair of one-size-fits-all adjustable crampons that worked fairly well. They occasionally fell off my hiking boots, only making me realize how utterly useless my naked boots were against the slick glacier ice.

We both LOVED ice climbing! It was so fun to use the ice axes to get up a wall of ice.  The hardest part of the day was crossing the glacier to find a spot to climb - it's nerve wracking to trek around huge crevasses and bottomless moulins (like glacial storm-drains that flow to the terminus of the glacier) while holding an ice ax to self-arrest if you were to slip and fall (something I'm really good at even when there's not ice). All-in-all it was a fantastic day, and we are so grateful for the Tingey brothers for bringing us along on this adventure.

Tuesday morning was a different type of adventure as we spent the morning babysitting little Liesel - Ben and Camille's perfect baby girl. We had fun talking her on a walk, making her giggle, and just watching how cute she is. However, the best part was probably how Chris willingly volunteered to change her diaper!

On Wednesday there was a high chance of the Northern Lights coming out to dance, so we went on a late night hike up to the John Muir Cabin. Ben let Chris borrow his tripod and nice camera again (thanks Ben) and Lady Aurora did not disappoint. We've seen the northern lights several times now, but the show this evening put everything else to shame. Even though some of these pictures are out of focus, we figured they were all worth sharing just to give you a glimpse at how much the lights changed and danced throughout the night.

It started out pretty quiet....

 Then it grew stronger...

And before we knew it we had a fast-moving, color-changing light show that could rival any rock concert!

As it died down long ribbons of light pulsed across the starry night sky.

And before we knew it the show was over. The warm cabin called our numb toes and freezing noses in for a good night's rest. 

An Alaskan sunrise from the front porch (the only kind Chris will watch, because it's late enough he doesn't have to wake up early). 

All weekend I worked downtown for a conference ACSA (my downtown job) was putting on. Chris took advantage of me being gone on Saturday to have a "man date" with Ben and take more pictures.

Long exposure at Amalga Harbor

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

A Lovers' Week

Hey guys, I'm back! There's no particular reason why Chris took over the blog the last few weeks and although he's done a fabulous job at writing, I've decided to reclaim my position of lead author. So here it goes...

We finally had a chance to go on another camping trip. Our last camping trip was Christmas Eve, and we have both been itching like crazy to get out again. Since we've enjoyed the forest service cabins so much, and knowing there's nothing like them back in Utah, we decided to make the most of them while we are still here. As an early Valentine's date we hiked out to Windfall Lake Cabin and spent the night. We previously hiked this trail back in May (our first month here) and it was a rainy, wet, "adventure" of a night as we tried to find somewhere to pitch our tent. After seeing the cabin renters in the morning well rested and cheery, we promised ourselves that we'd come back and stay in the cabin for real.

Black and white Windfall Lake from the porch of the cabin.

Herbert River

We stayed warm and dry in the perfectly clean cabin. Chris boiled some water so we could have a hot meal, and we spent the night being cozy and reading through the cabin's sign-in book (basically a giant journal where everyone details the events of their trip). We slept in a little in the morning, and took a lot of time to enjoy the beautiful lakeside we were nestled in.

Late-night cabin entertainment from the entries of the logbook

We took advantage of the non-rainy days the rest of the week with morning runs and walks with friends.

On Saturday we met up with the Schlecters and walked the airport trail. Camille and I had fun chatting while Ben and Chris kept stopping to take photos. Chris has really enjoyed learning more about photography from Ben.

After church on Sunday we got together with the Lange's and explored Sandy Beach on Douglas Island. Fun fact - the beaches around Juneau and Douglas are all rocky, and there is only one sandy beach around here. The sand on this beach is the tailings from the Treadwell Mine. In the early 1900's the Treadwell Mine had a little city of it's own, but after a cave-in this part of Douglas Island turned into a bit of a ghost town. Now when you walk around there are only a few buildings left, and some of the mossy ruins look much more ancient.

Sunday evening we celebrated Valentines Day with a wonderful homemade fondue dinner. Here's the best part - Chris made it all by himself! I never knew he could cook something so fancy,  but once he started he had my full affection and confidence in his ability (that is you discount my one moment of concern when he asks from the kitchen "are cream of tartar and mustard powder the same thing?"). Dinner was divine and I am constantly reminded how lucky I am to have a husband who loves me so perfectly and thank my Heavenly Father everyday that I get to keep this perfect man as my own for time and all eternity.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Birthday with a Bang

This week has been perfect. Dani planned a man-cation for my birthday on Wednesday! She bought me a box of bullets and we went out shooting at the range, and after that we exhausted ourselves climbing at the gym. She surprised me by preparing breakfast, lunch and dinner with all my favorite foods - bacon, raspberries, havarti cheese, and marinated steak.

I also enjoyed receiving birthday cards and calls from the Roylances, Naomi, both grandparents, and texts from several other family members and friends. Best birthday ever.

Slow-motion captured the muzzle-flash from my handgun. Sweet!

Despite my advanced age, that is not a dad-pooch around my belly.
My under-shirt was just bunched up beneath my tshirt. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Best marinated steak I've ever had!

Dani totally made this day awesome. I sure am lucky to call her mine - she's my greatest blessing!

Photos from the Bay

On Saturday Dani and I went to Auke Bay with Ben to help him with a photo/video assignment for a friend. While we were out there he let me borrow his camera again to play with. There were a few bald eagles enjoying their high perches over the water, and they didn't seem to mind me playing the tourist.

The professional at work

Ben's assignment was to get footage of the bay and some grizzled fishermen/women for a video about halibut conservation in Southeast Alaska. While Dani and I aren't fishermen, we tried to look as grizzled as possible and seemed to pull it off. It was hard to keep a "devastated face," and Ben captured some pretty good bloopers. Check out the final trailer and the outtakes on his new website! He also posted on there some amazing long exposure photos taken that day and since. I hope someday to be as talented as he is!

Mendenhall Ice Caves

Dani and I needed our hiking fix this week, so we scrambled out to the glacier via West Glacier Trail on Wednesday. The route was pretty icy but our trekking poles were lifesavers. When we did this trail in May it was considerably warmer and although the ice was beautiful in the sun, the ice caves were smaller and we didn't feel like going too deep because of their unstable condition in the summer heat. The glacier is constantly changing and moving, so new ice structures form all the time. When we went out there this week we discovered that a small stream had burrowed a cavern into the glacier. The ceiling of ice was relatively thin, so the entire tunnel was illuminated by the sunlight above. While it's not wise to lounge around down there for extended periods of time, we were able to dart in and snap some pretty rad pictures.

Opening of the ice cave

Cirque formed by the glacier

Saturday morning my buddy Ben and I went back (we left at 4:30am so I could be back to work by 2). I've been wanting to learn more about photography, and Ben was kind enough to bring his equipment and let me borrow a camera to get some experience with something other than my camera phone. I learned a lot from him and we got some sweet photos! Most of the ones shown here are courtesy of the professional. This time we brought crampons, so before we went down into the cave we trekked around on top of the glacier as the sun rose. It was incredible!

Should I be on the cover of Nat Geo or what???

The blue tunnel seemed to stretch on forever

On Sunday we enjoyed dinner with our friends the Fields. It was great to be with them and spend some quality time with our furry buddy, Fynn. With our plane tickets purchased it's becoming more and more real that we won't live in Alaska forever, and Dani and I agree that the thing we'll miss the most is the friends we've made up here and our fantastic ward family.

Bad News and a Birthday

Well, Chris and I haven't been able to come up with a good way to put this, but here we go:

We're no longer hiking the Pacific Crest Trail this summer.

We've made this decision primarily because the Sierra Nevada mountains have gotten so much snow so far this year that we no longer have enough time to complete the trail in our window before returning to school late August. We're probably the only Americans who are lamenting that California is headed out of their multi-year drought - I mean why couldn't El Niño just wait one more year for us?! Not wanting to fail before we even started, we've decided not to section-hike by leaving the trail early and instead take the summer to move to a new city (to be determined in March when we hear back from nursing schools). We'll find jobs and continue to save up for our future. After all, we still have a lot of school ahead of us and tuition isn't cheap... and neither are kids (NOT a hint about being pregnant, remember, this is about the future).

We also realized that although thru-hiking the PCT has been a goal that we've looked forward to for the last year, we've looked forward to our dreams of school, a career, and being parents for our entire lives. While it's definitely not a one-or-the-other deal, forgoing the PCT this year will put us ahead for our "big life priorities." We haven't given up on our hike forever, but rather have come to a pivotal point where we've been able to admit to ourselves that although hiking it would be an incredible achievement, it doesn't do much to help us reach our eternal goals. For now the PCT will have to wait on the back-burner--still a dream--but taking second to the things that really matter. I think Dallin H. Oaks said it best when he said, "We should begin by recognizing the reality that just because something is good is not a sufficient reason for doing it. The number of good things we can do far exceeds the time available to accomplish them. Some things are better than good, and these are the things that should command priority attention in our lives."

Wednesday night we had a fun date night. Chris and I decided to go on a run together, and ended up running to the library. We meandered the library and both found some good books that we are excited to read. Nothing beats a free date of exercise and learning.

Chris got in a fight with the ice at the crosswalk

We also celebrated my birthday this week! I must be getting old because when Chris asked what I wanted the only thing I could think of was a bubble bath and time to relax. Working two jobs and 13+ hour days is starting to catch up with me, and I've definitely been feeling a lack of rest and well being lately. Luckily Chris pulled some strings and was able to grant my wish. Friday night we stayed in one of our favorite rooms at the B&B (what will we do when we move back to the lower 48 and no longer have a great connection for more than affordable get-away nights!) and you better believe I enjoyed every bit of that huge Jacuzzi tub and feather bed. On Saturday morning (my actual birthday) we met up with our friends Liz, Johnny, Camille, and Ben for breakfast. After breakfast we headed out to take some fun pictures. Liz and Ben both love photography and thought it would be a fun birthday gift to take pictures for me - they were right! I'm really not much of a model, but Chris makes me look good and it's fun to have some professional grade pictures together. Ben even designed a new top for our blog with one of the pictures he took and the lettering for "The Andrew Family" - we love it! Here's some fun pictures from my birthday for now, and more of our photo-shoot is to come as they finish editing the pictures.

Using the selfie-stick to capture the whole crew
L->R Liz, Chris, Me, Camille, Ben, Jonny

Ben set his camera up on the tripod and did some long exposure shots with the creek. They turned out pretty awesome!

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Living the Alaskan Dream

This week was surprisingly sunny--we almost had seven full days of clear skies! The last couple months have required adjusting to: while we get a limited 5-6 hours of daylight, most days it's extremely dim due to the clouds, fog, and angle of the sun. It's like someone just turned the fluorescent lights in the warehouse on but they still have to warm up. On the other hand this week it was energizing to have the sun out and not a cloud in sight.

You know you live in SE Alaska when a sunny day makes the front page...

We took this opportunity to get away from the city lights and watch for the auroras, and we weren't disappointed. After work one night the aurora forecast was a level 5, so we waited and watched near the Mendenhall Glacier. For hours all we could see were the stars and a faint green glow on the north horizon, but finally around 1:30am the lights began to dance. This wasn't our first time seeing Lady Aurora, but definitely the most spectacular! The green pillars seemed to flash and pulse, resemblant of neon lights in Las Vegas, except our message was "Viva La Juneau!"

Also this week while doing errands for work I spotted a coyote in a field hunting. I hurried to flip on my hazards and pull over, thinking it might be a wolf (one of my last "Alaskan Wildlife Bucketlist" creatures). While it was too small to be a wolf, it was neat to watch him hunt. He attracted the attention of other drivers and passers-by, and they all slowed down or stopped. You don't have to go out searching for wildlife in Alaska, the wildlife comes to you.

Alaskans Brake for Wildlife