Sea Kayaking in the Prince William Sound

Sorry folks no pics today. Such is life when you spend two days in a sea kayak in the pouring rain and blowing winds. Dave and I guided two clients on a trip around Blackstone Bay. This was the first experience I would have spending significant time out on the water in a sea kayak. I was extremely excited and ready to assist Dave in anyway I could. Alas, the trip was in fact the trip from hell. It began well enough; Dave and I were totally dialed. Food bags packed, gear checked and personal gear ready to go, or so we thought. After we arrived in Whittier, at the kayak center, Dave realized that we had in fact forgotten the food bags. Tina, taking it very well, scooped up Dave and made an emergency shop at the local grocery store. No skin off our backs...

Thinking that we had narrowly averted a disaster, we finished loading gear and were ready to go. As mentioned before, we were in the middle of what felt like an epic monsoon and due to windy conditions, we had to take our water taxi to our original pickup point. We were essentially running the route backwards. Having been dropped off, we scurried into the water. Unfortunately our clients were little sissies and suffered from soar wrists after a mere hour of paddling. So much for seeing glaciers calving. It only gets better, our Coleman stove broke and we had to resort to an MSR stove ( not nearly large enough). By noon the next day, Sam gave Dave and me authority to get them out by any means possible. Money was no object. As mentioned before, these men did not have nerves of steel. Wet layers and cold did not seem to compute it there was no immediate reward. Thank goodness we found a boat to taxi us back, and as a thank you, the clients bought us a huge dinner and pitchers in Girdwood.

I am happy to be warm and dry and back at the glacier. According to Don, I am very close to being checked off and will be able to lead my own treks. I am excited, feeling healthy, and beginning to make plans for after the season. Patagonia anyone?

My First Exposure Trip

I posted this because I know you want to see my sweet moves.

So, this is where I have been for the last few days. I went with a lead guide named Dave, who is really chill, another intern, and clients to Eagle River. This is a view looking out of the campsite. In the morning, the clouds were moving in and rolling over the Chugach Mountains. As you can see, we're really high.

Here we are! Lauren is on the left, I am in the middle and Dave is on the right. As I walked out of the tent, this kettle lake was in right there.

The majority of the last day, we spent a lot of time trekking on hillsides this steep, a 45 degree angleish. A great challenge, but today my knees hurt.

I think this is so cool. As we approached the high point of our trek, around 4600 feet, the clouds were rolling in and we couldn't see more than a few feet in front of us.

Working on an Alaskan Glacier

I am learning a lot of technical skills here at MICA. Along with becoming comfortable with walking in crampons, I am slowly gaining confidence in my ice climbing abilities. In fact, I have become so comfortable that I am learning how to belay my fellow interns and eventually clients. It is important for me to maintain a tight rope and a sharp eye on the climber. In case they should fall, I have a good grip and am able to support them safely with this technique. In good spirits, Amanda puts her life in my hands and allows me to man the rope, allowing her to have a great climb on Solo Wall.

The highlight of our treks on the glacier is the Ice Falls. Glaciers are essentially rivers; they are just frozen. If this glacier was a flowing river, this feature would appear as a waterfall. Instead, it is ice curving in a way that produces large crevasses, sometimes up to 100 feet deep. Since we are bad ass Alaskan Guides, we decided to climb up to the top of this ice fall. I had to overcome some uncertainties with my crampons as I ascended a steep ice wall with no ropes, but it was worth it.

Behold! The glory that is my sleeping space! Floor rug and all!

As I exit my tent every morning, this is the view. A peak from the Chugach Mountain range is in the background.

This is the dirt path that leads down to my tent in Tent Village. There are several dirt paths like this that lead to other tents. Moose also use these trails.

The guide hut is where we hang out during the day if there are no chores to do and there are no trips out on the glacier. Pictured is Joe.

Minus Tent Village, this is the operation. The yurt, gear hut and guide hut is where we sort out the details. If you focus on the background you'll notice a large white object. Yes, that is the Matanuska Glacier, where all the magic happens.

First Day Off!!

Well, Gooday mates! Today was my first day off here at Mile 102 Glen Highway; aka MICA Guides. All six of us had the day off and it allowed us all to spend some good old fashioned time together. We got the opportunity to take the "Burb" (suburban) into Palmer. Palmer is about and hour away and has the closest grocery store. We all stocked up on food for the next week and did our laundry. It took all day...Then we stopped down at King's River (KR), where Tina and Don have a beautiful cabin (40 miles from camp). It is also where Exposure guests often stay. I jumped into the Subi (Subaru), the only stick shift vehicle, and took the wheel! About 10 miles away from base, being in idle due to road work, the engine overheated and coolant leaked everywhere causing the engine to smoke. Naturally, I freaked out and pulled to the side of the road. But Phil came to my rescue and made a temporary fix to get it back.

Some Photos of the first few days

This is a moulin. It is the most dangerous feature we encounter on the glacier. It means windmill in french. Water flows into it and erodes a hole that goes down to the bottom of the glacier and eventually flows out at the "terminal face".

Here are some photos of the glacier. This includes some of the scenery that I will see every day with clients.

Here is the crew of assistant guides for this season. There are a few other lead guides and Exposure Guides, but this the group of amateurs! From left to right: Lauren, Amanda, Me, Joe, Phil and Steve. All are extremely nice and very fun.

The First Couple of Days

The last few days have been a complete mind trip. I am living near Palmer, Alaska near the Matanuska Glacier and training to be a glacier guide. I sleep in my tent every night and my site overlooks the Chugach mountain range and the terminal face of the glacier. It is sunny 22 hours a day here, which took some getting used too. But like many things, it is becoming a familiar sight. All of my time, and the other five assistant guides, is taken up by training, training, training! I trek on the glacier every day and will be ice climbing for the first time today.

I have already been scheduled to assist on a three day backpacking trip near the Talkeetna Mountain range which is near the area. But that is all for now because I need to go eat breakfast...Pics to come soon!