Spring Break 2014

Our Spring Break was pretty unpredictable.  We wanted to go to Valdez but it was supposed to snow 8-12 inches for 8 days straight.  So we decided to do a backpacking trip up Arch Angel Valley in Hatchers Pass.   

Blue sky!

Lucy wearing her new Doggles.  She's not a big fan of them but at least she isn't going snow blind.

Digging a pit for the tent.

I think we're ready for Denali! jk

Once the sun dropped below the mountains it got cold real quick.

We ate a hot dinner and jumped in our tent.

Frozen smiles the next morning.

Trying to thaw our frozen boots with hot coffee to the insides.

Mountains across the valley.

Lucy loves the tent.  She was chilly and squeezed into Kristen's sleeping bag for most of the night. 

Snowboarding the spine.

Diva.

The boys attempting to ski.  haha

So graceful, and so handsome at the same time.

We decided to take the teardrop down to Turnagain Pass.  Lucy requires a blanket and chair.  Quite a princess. 

Snow fire!

Curled up in Grandma's sweater in the Teardrop. 

Crossing a bridge up to Manitoba Mountain. 

Manitoba is further south on the kenai and gets much different, usually drier snow than the turnagain arm.

We decided to ski the low angle wide open country for a day while the 5 feet of new snow in turnagain pass settled.

Skinning up corn-biscuit the day after the storm.

After assessing the snowpack, the storm had come in with 3 feet of cold snow, warmed up and left a 6 inch warm compactable layer on that, then left cold with 8 or so inches of soft dry powder on top. So that if you step off your skis you sink to your hip. Perfect for surfing snow but dangerous at steeper inclines. We love the backcountry so much we want to live another day doing it! We've had only one or two degrees of separation from multiple people who have died this year in avalanches and it's always on our mind. So we cut our ascent short and enjoyed the snow.

Kristen is tall!

This captures the argument for snowboarding over skiing. It's snow surfing!  

Okay skiing looks fun too.

The sun is surging back north, 12 hours and gaining.

More of Alaska's endless remote wilderness.

Back home in the backyard at Hatcher's pass. We've been to hatcher's probably 70-100 times since we moved here…and there are still bowls and valleys we have not explored right off the road. We've met many people who have spent a lifetime exploring this place and never see it all.

Kristen and Jay wandering through our recent discovery, pinnacle bowl.

Spring makes the winter worth it!

of course Jay hit that

Until next time :)

Iditarod 2014!!

Nate and I explored a new bowl up in Hatchers Pass.  Sadly, the snow wasn't in the best condition so we did some scouting for future trips. 

The mine

Blue sky!

Hot coffee at the top is the best!

We decided to take up paragliding. JK, this guy did jump off of the summit while we were cross country skiing in Hatchers.  He must be a beginner because the landing was not graceful. 

Kristen took her friend Jessica cross country skiing up Arch-Angel Valley.

They almost had to start the Iditarod in Fairbanks because the snow conditions have been so poor this year.   That's only happened a couple of times since the beginning of the Iditarod.   Luckily, they decided to keep the start in Willow.  A few days after the start several of the mushers had dropped out because of the trail.  Anchorage Daily News had a picture of the sleds crossing dirt and rocks. 

happy dogs

Jay's 1st Iditarod.  He got many high-fives haha

Love her pink Kuspuk!  And her dogs have pink booties to match!  I've managed to get a picture of her every year.  We had a blast, especially because the weather was so warm!

'Damvalance'

It's been a weird January.  The temperatures rose above freezing and about 90% of the snow has melted.  It feels like it's "break-up" time but everyone is trying to remind ourselves that we have 4 more months of Alaskan winter left.  Watching the lower 48 deal with the cold has been a bit humorous.  Schools are closing for temps that are barely below 0.  In Birmingham the entire city shut down because it snowed 2 inches.  Cars were stranded and kids slept in their school gyms because no one knew how to deal with it. haha.  In Valdez, AK, they had a "Damvalanche"  which was a huge avalanche that covered part of the road on Thompson pass.  The snow blocked the river that runs next to the road and caused flooding.

Here is video that shows the entire canyon.  The water has slowly started to recede but DOT says they're not sure how long the clean up will take for the road to re-open.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acUoAZiyMv4

We're hoping that it starts snowing soon so we can get back to this…...

Photo Courtesy- Ben Mayer

Hatcher Pass - Photo by Ben Mayer 

Turnagain Pass - Photo by Ben Mayer

Huge icicle from the house.   It'll poke your eye out!

In the meantime, Kristen has been practicing with her new cannon camera.  

This was from the little pink camera.  It does a pretty good job for a 'point and shoot' camera. 

Kristen flew down to Seattle a few weekends ago and found a wedding dress.  You guessed it, it's a white dress.   She met up with her mom and Brittany and stayed with the Delphs.  They had a great time shopping and eating out.  We're just hoping it snows soon so that we can make it through the rest of the winter.  That's all for now!