The Cabin Fever Lives On

When Chris and I originally switched to five days of work a week instead of six back in June we agreed with management that it would be temporary so we could have extra time to adventure, and then would switch back to six days a week in October. However, all of management went to a conference in Hawaii for a week so they forgot to confirm this with the woman who had been working Wednesdays for us. We were planning on working Wednesday up until Tuesday night when we learned we would have the day off! Of course we didn't complain too much (yah you caught us, we didn't complain at all) and jumped on the opportunity to explore more of this beautiful land we are blessed to live in.

We had so much fun on our cabin outing last week that we decided we wanted to spend the night in yet another forest service cabin. This time we hiked out to Peterson Lake Cabin. The trail was pretty easy in comparison to what we're used to, so we had a lot of fun just hiking and laughing together. 

Boardwalk follows the old horse-tram track through the muskeg to the Peterson mill.

All the beautiful boardwalk trails in Juneau are aesthetically appealing, and seem like a blessing when you don't have to walk on the muskeg (that's the formal name for the bog-like meadows of water, decomposing vegetation, and moss--but I call it Sponge Ground. Every time you step you sink and your shoe fills with water!). However, when it rains these boardwalks are SLICK! Chris and I have both taken quite a few spills on our many hikes, the difference between us is when he slips I always ask if he's ok and offer him a hand up, and when I slip he laughs and makes sure to document it for all of you...

...Yah, that was a faceplant.

Anyways, the last half mile of the trail follows the edge of a pristine lake and we quickly got goosebumps of excitement as we knew we were nearing our destination. When we arrived at our cabin we were blown away with the stillness and peace of this perfect destination. 

We tossed our packs aside and headed straight to the dock where there was a metal rowboat we could play in. I was so happy to be rowing a boat again I didn't know if I wanted to laugh or cry. Chris was likewise affected by the exuberance of holding oars and feeling the pull of the water against them. We've missed the river SO MUCH - SOOOOO MUCH! Though we weren't spoiled with rapids and it wasn't a raft, we still loved the opportunity to row around the beautiful lake together. And let's be honest, we were on a secluded lake in one of the prettiest places on earth alone, it was super romantic. 

To top off our perfect evening, after we had dinner we noticed the northern lights were once again out. How I wish you could all see them! The Auroras dancing across the sky are the most awe-inspiring thing either of us have ever seen. Unfortunately we still don't have a picture for you at this time, so you'll just have to settle for a picture of Chris making a fire in the wood burning stove in our cabin. (P.S. there were no critters or zombies in this cabin - it really was a perfect night!)

On Saturday we biked to the church building to help clean it. It's our ward's month to keep it clean, and we are grateful for the opportunity we have to serve. As we were cleaning a bathroom a sister from the ward popped her head in to tell us we sounded like we were having way too much fun spending our Saturday morning cleaning - I guess life is just as fun as you make it!

This week I also got an offer for a part time job, which I accepted. I will be working in an office downtown a few days a week while Chris is doing his schoolwork. This job came out of the blue, and happened really fast (I'm starting Monday!), but we both feel as if it's been an answer to prayers.

Well it's a long letter this week, props if you made it all the way to the end! Love you all!

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Thunder Mountain

Chris and I had a real treat this week when our managers found out with only 24 hour notice that an inspector was coming to the Bed and Breakfast. One of the rooms had a bathroom fan that broke a few days prior, and they didn't have time to fix it before the inspection. Our boss was worried that if the inspector went in that room and saw the broken fan it would reflect negatively on the property so he called Chris up and asked if we would be willing to spend a night in the room and check out late the next day to make sure the room was occupied during the time in which the inspection would take place. Of course spending a free night in a quaint B&B room with a large featherbed and jacuzzi tub and huge hot breakfast made to order is quite the favor to be asked of young married couple, but he's the one who pays us so we obliged and took one for team.

Our large adventure this week was hiking up Thunder Mountain and having a great camp-out on top. As we were hiking up through the layers of the mountain we were seeing continual reminders that fall is upon us. There are plants that are browning and clearly dying, and others that make the mountain seem covered in flames with the bright yellow, orange, and red leaves. The highlight of the trip was probably all the mountain goats we saw, both during the evening and the next morning. For those of you who don't know Chris is part mountain goat and has been told ever since he was 12 years old that his ability to get around on mountains eerily nonhuman. (If you don't believe me, go hike a mountain with him, you'll see what I mean soon enough.) His favorite animal has always been mountain goats, but this is the first time he's ever seen them up close out in the wild. Needless to say no kid was ever more excited to see Santa than Chris was to see these furry friends. We also saw a ton of bear tracks, but to tell you the truth I wasn't too bummed when we never saw the culprit, this wasn't the kind of place where I would want an encounter.

The trail was only a little more than 2 miles to the top of the mountain, and it ascended almost completely through the rainforest until the last couple hundred feet to the peak. When we reached the top just before dusk (we started late in the day after Chris did homework), we were rewarded with a view of the setting sun over the city in the valley, and the towering snowy mountain peaks behind us.

There were signs of goats aplenty on the way up.

At the top overlooking Douglas Island and the channel.

You can't tell from the picture, but it was biting cold out by this time.
Here's Chris cooking me a hot dinner while I stay huddled in the warm tent.
I sure love him.

Chris saw this one from a distance and crept up on her.

"These goats and I were both surprised when I almost ran into them." -Chris

"It's never a bad day waking up to this. Beautiful wife in the beautiful mountains." -Chris

At the summit! 2900 ft.

Handstands at the top. It's a thing.

Just a little one.

Contemplating the Heintzleman ridge... do we have time before work?

Already seeing snow on the mountains.

Chris is still stoked about the mountain goats.

We had a neat opportunity on Saturday when Chris had a friend who contacted him about a chance to help some elders in the MTC. As a part of their training, some missionaries are starting to Skype members living in the areas they are called to in order to ask questions, but also to practice giving a lesson. Chris and I were both able to sign up as volunteers and Skype with two sets of missionaries. It was fun to see the excitement in these young men's eyes as they are preparing to go forth with the work of the Lord. It made us think of both Joseph and Hannah who are out serving, and reminded us how thankful we are to already have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Skype lesson with the elders.

Speaking of bear encounters, a coworker gave us a can of bear spray a few weeks back when he moved back down to Idaho to go to school. Though we've never had a need to use it (before or after receiving it), it does give us a peace of mind we didn't know we were missing while out exploring in the wilderness. And speaking of a peace of mind - Grandpa Andrew this is specifically for you! - Chris and I also bit the bullet and bought a personal locator beacon from ACR. This GPS-enabled beacon has only one function: S.O.S. Extend the antenna, press the help button for 1 second, and your location is transmitted to a satellite (same ones used by the US government and military) and then to the nearest search and rescue facility within three minutes. The unit continues to send a signal and blink a strobe light for over 24 hours. Grandpa Andrew carries one of these in his airplane, and after speaking with him we realized he was right when he pointed out that although these small devices are pricey, the worth of our lives is far greater than anything we could spend on a PLB. Though we hope we never have to use it, we recognize that our lifestyle puts us in many situations often where if something went wrong, this device could be the difference between life and death. Anyways, we hope this is the best couple-hundred-dollars we carry around with us that we'll never actually use. And now you all know that we're getting soft and are starting to think more about consequences in life, and though it's not slowing us down any, it is keeping us more safe in all those "what-if" scenarios. 

Our healthy eating is going well - we are keeping each other accountable and that is huge. One night I had a dream about doughnuts. Chris and I were walking down the road and every single building was a different doughnut shop: Dunkin' Doughnuts, Krispy Kreme, Johnny O's, Daylight Doughnuts, Breeze In. etc, So obviously when I woke up that's the only thing I wanted, though I'm sure I would have settled for a cupcake if Chris would have compromised, however he kept me going strong and I overcame that sneaking temptation - #husbandpoints.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Bear Redemption

First things first, Chris finally got his redemption of capturing pictures of a bear in the wild! Our weekly glacier went from wonderful to amazing when we saw a beautiful cinnamon-colored black bear that the locals have named Nicki walking around. We were able to watch her for about 45 minutes as she walked around, caught a salmon and ate it for dinner, and then finally scampered off deeper into the woods.

Nicki hunting in Steep Creek

My favorite view of the night.

We used Wednesday to get in a large-mile day of hiking. The Treadwell Ditch Trail on Douglas Island isn't very well maintained once you get a few miles out, but it was a good trail to just knock out miles. It's a level path that follows an old ditch that was used as a flume for a mine back in the day. It's nicknamed "Juneau's Best Training Trail" because of it's length and little elevation change. We hiked 22 miles in one day, and that doesn't even include the walk to the trailhead from the bus stop! It was nice to be able to set up our tent that night, and we have to admit how much we've missed camping. On Thursday we only had about 5 miles back to our bus stop, and though we could feel the miles we put in the day prior, we also couldn't stop our minds from dreaming of the PCT. We know it's going to be hard - but we also think we can do it. And we are excited for the opportunity to try. 

Devil's Club - don't touch!

I look great in candid pictures - I just wanted to drink, but Chris wanted a photo at our turn-around-spot for the day.

Our route - Chris thinks you guys like looking at maps.

On Saturday, we went on a day date to downtown. We decided it was time to splurge a little and buy ourselves a locally-caught-fresh king crab's leg meal. And it was delicious! It was fun cracking open the shell and finding the fresh meat inside. This life by the ocean is pretty fun.

Can you imagine the size of this crab?!

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

Observation Peak

It's a good thing Chris is normally focused on school, because when he isn't we almost get too ambitious with our adventures. This week was full of trails, mountains, and sore legs.

Monday morning we had the chance to bike out to Herbert Glacier. This was a beautiful wooded trail and was just hilly enough to make biking fun. We enjoyed getting splattered by some mud, and loved seeing the glacier at the end of the trail. (Chris's edit: we wanted to see some wildlife, but Dani screamed so loud down the hills we only saw a porcupine. Haha!) (Dani's edit on Chris's edit: everybody knows things are more fun when you scream - this is taught in Roller Coasters 101 and applies to many other facets of life as well.)

Herbert Glacier

On Tuesday we went to Glacier Gardens - the local botanical gardens. We were taken on a short golf cart ride through the woods, and saw some really beautiful flowers. The owners put a lot of work into the planting and care of their plants, and we couldn't help but think how much Grandma and Grandpa Andrew would love to see this place. Their specialty is finding fallen hemlock trees and putting them upside-down in the earth with their roots splayed out in the air, so they can plant flowers on top. Pretty neat.

Wednesday was our big adventure of the week. It was forecasted to be a perfectly sunny day, so we planned a big loop on some mountain ridges near Juneau. We started with the Blackerby Ridge, summited Cairn Peak, descended and summited Observation Peak, descended again and traversed the Salmon Ridge, and then joined the Granite Creek Basin trail at the top of the Mount Juneau Ridge and hiked into town. We fell in love with hiking ridgelines on this trail -- it was awesome to hike in the rainforest, ascend through the alpine, scramble to the top of two peaks, and be able to see endless mountains and glaciers in every direction. We couldn't have asked for better weather either. These are the same mountains that most times we can't see the tops of through the clouds for days on end. It was 16 miles, over 9,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, and coming down Observation Peak was the scariest descent I've ever experienced in my life. This trail was beautiful but it was not for the faint of heart.

Started at the north trailhead, up Blackerby ridge, west up Cairn and Observation, south across the Salmon ridge,
zig-zagged on the Mt. Juneau ridge, and then dropped down into Granite Creek Basin.

Hiking into the alpine

Cairn Peak is on the far left, and Observation is just to it's right.

Cairn Peak overlooking Douglas Island, the channel, and beyond.

Lemon Creek Glacier between Cairn and Observation Peak.

At the top of the world! Elevation 4610 ft

Mountains as far as the eye can see.

The descent from Observation - this facial expression says it all, this was NOT our favorite part

Granite Creek Basin

Huckleberries

Thursday and Friday we stayed home and cuddled, not because Blackerby Ridge took it out of us (this is a half truth), but because the harsh rains and winds definitely necessitated such activities.

On Saturday Chris had the opportunity to go fishing with the rescheduled Elder's Quorum trip. The bishop's boat was leaving early enough in the morning that Chris would get back in time for work. He had a great time on the water, and though he didn't get lucky enough to catch a halibut he did catch some Coho salmon.

Sunday evening we had our friends Ben and Camille over for dinner. We cooked up the fish that Chris had caught the day prior and it was great just talking to them! They are surely friends cut from the same mold as us, and we love getting together with them because of all we have in common.

Since it was the fifth Sunday this month we had the opportunity to go to a combined adult class instead of sitting with our nine year olds during Sharing Time this week. The counselors in the bishopric gave an amazing lesson on the importance of marriage and family, and highlighted the relationship that a husband and wife have. I am so grateful to have a husband who loves our Heavenly Father and me completely. The sealing powers of the temple are real. But so is the adversity of life. I know that when we stay rooted in the Gospel of Christ that we can overcome all challenges. We can love deeper and we can be the light that we all want to see in the world. I know that when a family prioritizes church attendance, personal and family scripture study and prayer, and Family Home Evening they will be blessed.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. Andrew

The Best Part of this Post is the Announcement at the End

I don't have much of an intro this week, so let's just jump into the good stuff....

After work one night (remember we get off at 10pm) we decided it would be fun to do a spontaneous backpacking trip. We asked our friend Ben, a Juneau local, a good place to go and he told us Windfall Lake. This was about a 4.2 mile hike one way, not bad, so we decided to do it. Here are the highlights and the not so highlights of that adventure:

We saw a porcupine climb up a tree! Yah, who knew that porcupines are huge and climb trees?!

We never found a flat place to put up our tent, so at 2:30 in the morning after hiking a little over 5 miles - taking every possible branch in the trail and bushwhacking off the trail hoping to see that "just around the corner" perfect camp spot - we finally admitted defeat and settled for a less than desirable tent location on uneven, hard, bug covered ground. I wouldn't say we cursed Ben's name, but we sure had a lot of "what was he thinking telling us to come here?" moments.

All was forgiven in the morning when we saw the lake in the light. Wow! It was gorgeous, and we had a great morning playing on it. The forest service had canoes for public use, and we spent some time paddling out on the water (it felt SO GOOD TO BE ON THE WATER!). There was also a really nice forest service cabin that you can rent out for $30 a night. The family that stayed there through the night left early in the morning so we had the whole place to ourselves. We definitely want to come back to this lake, as we wanted to spend the whole day there but had to turn back to get to work by 2.

Also this week we did the West Glacier trail - hands down our favorite trail we've done so far. This 7 mile round trip trail takes you up to the Mendenhall Glacier, and from there you can take your time exploring all around this enormous, beautiful piece of ice. There were ice caves, and glacier arches, and waterfalls, and just about everything you could imagine in an Alaskan dream.

Best tasting water you'll ever have.

The weather has been surprisingly warm the last couple of weeks so we decided to go for a swim on Saturday before work. We went out to Auke Lake and played around. Chris had fun using the rope swing, and I started to hate mosquitoes even more than normal as I realized my wet body seemed to be their favorite thing in the forest. Cool fact: Auke Lake looks black because of the tannin from the spruce trees - these are the same chemical compounds found in coffee, tea, and wine. But don't worry, we kept our mouths closed so we're still good on the Word of Wisdom.

On Sunday we taught Primary for the first time. We found out that we were actually just going to be subbing for the Valiant 10 class for 2 weeks and then were going to be permanent teachers of the Valiant 9 class. The teacher of Valiant 10 has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and the primary presidency assumed she would want to be released. She has asked to stay in her calling, so we will sub for her while she is in treatment, and then will take over the other class once she comes back.

Sunday evening we were invited to dinner with another young couple from the ward - Brooke and Garrison. They have the sweetest 14 month year old daughter, and it was so great getting to know all of them better. Brooke cooked halibut to make it a true Alaskan affair. They moved to Juneau the same week we did, so like us, they are new to the area and trying to make friends. After dinner we took a walk by the ocean where we ran into the bishop's family! It was a lot of fun and we look forward to doing more together.

Here's the best part of this post, which is this announcement at the end.........

Next spring, from April to August 2016,

we are going to thru-hike all 2,650 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail! 

Now, for anyone thinking that sounds a little crazy, or a tad bit dumb we want to redirect your questions and concerns to Aunt Susan. After much badgering, uncontrollable pressure, and refusal to take no for an answer, she has forced us into making this decision. Don't believe us? Here's the picture proof:

Our planning is well under the way and you will continue to receive updates as we prepare for this epic adventure. You will also notice changes to our blog as we give it a makeover to include a new page specific to the PCT.

Remember to pray and remember to play,

Mr. & Mrs. We-Make-Crazy-Decisions-Together Andrew