The last cabin...

For our final week in Alaska, Dani and I topped it off with a night at THE LAST FOREST SERVICE CABIN accessible by foot: the Dan Moller cabin on Douglas Island. We've talked about someday building our own backcountry abodes in Utah and donating them to the Forest Service when we're older and have the means, but for now, we've certainly enjoyed our "Rustic Cabins of Southeast Alaska" tour. This one is by far the best built and roomy-est cabin, in part because the Juneau Snowmobile Club goes up there every winter and has made some big improvements on it. A massive four-bed loft, second-story balcony, and an effective propane heater made it pretty comfy up there.

We had a light rain at sea level, but after hiking into the mountains we we amazed by how much snow was still on the ground!

In the bowl behind Dan Moller.

Our favorite part of the afternoon.

We could overlook the valley approach from the front porch. 

This weekend we also did a quick bike/hike to Salmon Creek Reservoir before work. We hiked the ridge loop around this lake last summer, so it was cool to see what it looked like up close. Despite the snow in the mountain-tops, it's starting to feel like spring in Alaska!

Everything feels like it's coming to life with the moss getting greener.

This week was the perfect end to our wonderful stay in Juneau. My dad informed me of an opening as a medical assistant at his doctor's office, so I'll be working there as a student intern this summer while we wait for nursing school to start in August. Dani got her job as a riverguide back, and although I'm extremely jealous that she'll be on the water nearly every day, I'm so glad that I'll have this valuable opportunity in the medical field, especially because I'll get to learn from such a talented physician.

We're looking forward to lots of sun in Moab, but we'll sure miss our rainforest home in Juneau. We've made some unforgettable friends here and this place will always hold a special place in our heart as our "year-long honeymoon."

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

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!

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

Cozy Christmas Cabin

We were so thankful that we got a couple days off work for Christmas!

Christmas Eve day we hiked out to Cowee Meadows cabin. The snow was absolutely gorgeous, and though it was pretty cold we still enjoyed the two-mile hike.

Bridget Cove behind us

Our Christmas tree for the evening

For dinner we packed out a shepherds dinner (an Andrew family tradition), and it sure tasted good in our candlelit cabin. We also kept up the tradition of reading the Christmas story from Luke 2.

Our time at the cabin was warm, simple, and fun. It was a rare clear night, and the full moon was spectacular. We especially loved how it reflected off the never-ending blanket of snow.

Our cabin in the moonlight

Chris warming up breakfast on the kerosene stove that heated the cabin.

The most spectacular part of our trip was the hike out. While hiking back towards the trailhead we came across three moose! Moose are rarely seen in Juneau, so this was a real surprise.

When we returned to our apartment we opened the only wrapped present under our tree (thanks to the snail mail in Alaska, haha). Although I'm not even sure it counts as a present considering how hard I worked to earn it! My older brother Josh gave me a challenge back in April where if I wrote 30 papers on different topics (mainly books and movies he listed) he would buy me an iPad mini. And I've gotta say, as much as I love my brother we sure have different tastes in books and movies so this this was no easy task. But I did it and he followed through on his end of the deal, so Christmas I unwrapped my new iPad! Thanks Josh! (And sorry Andrew siblings, but your oldest brother won't be in a position to give you sweet opportunities like this anytime soon.)

Unfortunately Christmas went a bit downhill after this. Chris didn't feel the greatest when he woke up, but kept thinking it would shake off. However, by late afternoon the not great feeling didn't go away but instead escalated into the chills and a high fever. We had to cancel our plans to go to dinner with our friends (who ever so graciously then came and dropped off dinner for us - we really do have the best friends!).

We spent the rest of the weekend and the beginning of this week with one of us sick, and then the other, and now - a whole week later - we're both in quarantine recovering from the flu and fighting off pink eye.

Remember to pray and remember to play, 

Mr . & Mrs. Sick-in-Bed-Andrew