Laughton Glacier

Across the tundra we trekked for days, searching for refuge. All we had was the clothes on our bodies and a camel skin to drink water out of sparingly. We had to kill a moose and sleep inside of its emptied body to preserve ourselves from the harsh winds and glacial, frigid air.... Oh, wait. That wasn't us. But we did go to a freaking sweet glacier hidden up in the coastal mountains northeast of Skagway. We may or may not have almost died a few times. Almost fell in a few crevasses, almost slipped and cracked our heads on boulders frozen into ice for the past few hundred years. We almost lost our footing and slid down about a fifty-foot ice slope. I (Adam) almost got taken out by a boulder bounding down a cascade of water that i was trying to traverse. It was intense. It was worth it.

This is where we went. Located in the Tongass National Forest, Laughton Glacier is a popular place to hike up to if you are an avid hiker. We consider ourselves "boderline avid". We don't get the rush of hiking, but we get the rush of seeing where you hiked to. Its the equivalent of a person who likes running because it makes them skinny, rather than running just because you love the rush that comes from running. Make sense?

As soon as we got glimpse of the glacier in the distance we got as close as we could as quickly as we could. We were excited. The first part of the glacier we got to was this. A monstrous river coming from underneath the glacier. This water was pure glacial water. One time, i watched a Man vs. Wild episode where Bear rode out of a glacial crevasse via these underwater tube full of water. I was going to try it out, and then Joanie stopped me...

Once we finally got onto the glacier, the ice was SO blue. And old. You could tell this ice had been here for a LONG time! Supposedly, 1 foot of glacial ice is created by the longtime compression of 100 feet of snow! Anyway, that slope in the background is the ice slope that Joanie and I almost ate it down....

Ah, and smack-dab in the middle of the glacier was this SWEET glacial waterfall. It was crazy trying to get down in there to get this picture, but it was totally worth it. We were totally encased in ice at this point.

Remember that crevasse we almost fell into? Yup, here she is. This crevasse wasn't the biggest. But it was intimidating. If you were to look down that crevasse for the bottom, you would never find it. It was pitch black. Many a hiker have died by falling down one of these bad boys.

Here's Joanie standing over the crevasse of doom....

No, i take that back. This is the true pit of doom. This was as wide as my shoulders, and if i had fallen down there, i guarantee you would never have heard from me again. You could hear thunderous water crashing around down there. This was intense. Bottomless pit is an adequate name.

You must focus grasshopper.....

You know those big wind indicators that are on big tall poles? Yeah, i got the guts up to do it. I climbed it. Here i am, trying not to look scared. Some of the dumb things i do... Luckily for me, my soon-to-be doesn't discourage my adventurous spirit...

Mmmmm, aren't those just the prettiest eyes you ever did see?! Yeah that, my friends, is petrified bear poop. It must have been there a few years or so. It crumbled like sandstone. But it was most definitely bear feces. Joanie was avoiding me like the plague after this. Actually, haha, Joanie was having a hard time on the rocks, so i picked her up on my back and i was trying to sprint up the path to catch up with the other peeps. I hit a rock weird and ate it- hard core- on the gravel path. I didn't even have a chance to get my hands out or anything. Full on, face plant in the dirt. Yeah, it hurt.

Ah! Now there are some pretty eyes on the left there. I'm surprised the glacier wasn't melting with how hott Joanie is! ;)

Finally, this is what got us back down to Skagway. Well, not this train exactly. It costs extra to ride the Steam train. They only run this historic piece twice a week. We had to wait for the next train. But it is pretty sweet. The train had to bring us up here as well. If we didn't take the train it would be a LONG day hike just to get to this spot.

SUCH a fun hike. Just when i thought the hikes couldn't get any better, we go and do something awesome like this. Even though i won't miss the cold up here, i will definitely miss the beauty of Skagway and the surrounding area!

Land of the free!!!!!

Well, Happy belated Independence Day! In honor of the glorious occasion, i posted this picture of a HUGE bald eagle that me and Joanie snuck up on at the edge of the Oar dock in Skagway harbor. The thing was probably as tall as my upper torso. When it finally decided we were too close for its comfort it unfurled its gigantic, gorgeous flappers and took off for the mountain at the edge of the port. Unbelievable. Me and Joanie just stood there in awe. What an amazing land we live in!

Our 4th of July was spent as follows: Woke up late, we headed to church and enjoyed a phenomenal 3 hours of church. (Despite how hard it was to not go out and enjoy the 4th of July parade festivities) After that, we had one of our routine check-ups with the branch president, had a meeting about how to get the 24th of July party all set (We are the activities co-chairs) and then we headed to Joanie's for a nice lunch. After lunch we went to an awesome party for my company. It was one of the best parties i have been to. We had a bon fire. Had fun watching other people get inebriated out of their minds. Played some volleyball with Joanie (until the death of the volleyball of course where the ball ricocheted off of Joanie into the street where an RV ran it over with a loud BAM!) Party foul. HUGE party foul. Haha. We had some good brats and Bulgarian meat and multicolored jello and beans and well, you get the point. It was some good eatin'.

We didn't plan this, but i guess one of us was holding the lemonade when someone came up and said, "Facebook picture!!!!! You guys should kiss!" So, we obliged. Now, if we were drinkers, this is how the caption for this picture would go: "Okay now, honey. I love you, but i'm taking your last beer away from you. You've had one too many." :)

Joanie and i sort of have "our spot" on the end of the dock, kind of where that eagle was. So far, we've only been there once. But we have grand plans for going back more. If only the weather wasn't SO gloomy all the time here. Anyway these next few pictures are of us at the end of the pier out in the middle of the Skagway bay.

This is my beautiful fiance. Mmmmm mmmmm!

Off in the distance you can see the Skagway ferry called the Malaspina. This is the one we will be taking to Juneau where we will fly from Juneau down to SLC to get home! Yay!

Because we are so far north the sun is up almost 24/7. This picture was taken at around midnight in the beginning of July. This was our first real good sunset we had seen. Usually the clouds are covering everything. Really really pretty!

Okay, so last week. We went out and played a pick-up game of soccer. It was a blast, but unfortunately Joanie and i were separated and but on opposite teams. Yeah, bad news. Anyway, Joanie was taking hits left and right during the game. She got pummeled in the face twice, elbowed many times, kicked, and hit at least twice in the thighs while playing Goalie. Do you see the big line going zig-zag down her knee? Yeah, that may or may not have been due to my shot at the end of the game....i felt real bad.... She still has the bruises, a week later!

Here is a little special treat for y'all. I have been growing my hair out. (I haven't cut it once since i have been up here in Alaska) You can tell it looks pretty bad. But usually it doesn't look too bad. Anyway, i did my best to put my hair how i used to wear it when i was younger. Smeared-down part with the wave in front. Word. I can still rock it. :)

CHEESE!!!!

This, my dear friends, is a wolverine! Awesome, right?! (Speaking of wolverines, i nearly hit one up around the Canada/US border. It nearly scared me to death...)This wolverine is one of many stuffed animals at the Caribou Crossing venue that i take my passengers to every week! Its an incredible museum of taxidermy put together by one of the most reputable taxidermists in the world.

Joanie always has Saturdays off, so its kind of a bummer when i get scheduled to work on a Saturday. But, this particular Saturday was the best of the season for me because Joanie was able to ride along on my Yukon/Rail tour that goes from Skagway 70 miles into British Columbia and then the Yukon Territory and back to Skagway. It was SO nice to have her there with me. We had to be a little sneaky though at first. I didn't want my guests to know that Joanie was on the bus. A good portion of my tour is talking about the fun adventures that Joan and I have had while up here in Alaska. Usually, by the middle of the tour my guests are just dying to meet this mysterious wonderwoman. So, we acted like we didn't know each other for the 2 1/2 hours up to the Yukon. (This was tough, because we are ALWAYS hanging all over each other) We never had taken a pic together in front of the Alaska sign, and Joanie really wanted one on this tour, so Joan and her friend Brittany (a new driver who was shadowing my tour) acted like love-sick 20-something girls swooning over me to get a pic. I, of course, obliged. ;) So, this pic up above is the product of that. At this point, no one even had a clue that we are engaged.

Finally, we got to lunch, and i let all my peeps off the bus. After the 1 1/2 hour break at lunch when i had all my guests back on the bus ready to go. I said, "Folks, i have a confession." (They all got this anxious look on their faces) I had Joanie stand up and i said, "Guys, this is my fiance, Joanie!"....and they FREAKED out! They were so excited to see her! From the crowd we were getting things like, "Woooh! Adam, you DID get lucky!" and "Ow ow!" or "Oh, you guys are going to be such a cute married couple!". Anyway, it was a blast to play it up. It was one of the best groups i have ever had. We invited them all to the reception and the open house (haha...there's 44 people we didn't take into account...). And the tips at the end of the tour were the best i've ever had. So. All around, it was an amazing tour. All because Joanie was there! So, we've considered having her quit her day job and just accompany me on all my tours....hehe. Up above, this is a picture of me driving my favorite MCI bus #179. We call it the white stallion because it is one of the only busses in our fleet that can actually accelerate up an incline.

Here's Joanie, keeping tabs on my driving. :)

Has anyone seen a buffalo this close?! Its pretty big. Like....HUGE.