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

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