Gone Fishing

We didn't catch any fish and we got caught in a downpour but we sure had a lot of fun!

Hike It Baby Bodenburg Butte

Bodenburg Butte had been on our list for a while and so Andrew agreed to come with us to a Hike it Baby event there. As soon as I saw his face when they announced the "welcome circle" though I knew he was never coming back to a second one. Haha!

It was a challenging hike with a LOT of stairs and a scramble at the end. Not making anything easier was thick ice on the steepest parts and the sharpest corners. Yikes. A few hikers without ice grippers had to turn back early. The girls did great and set the pace for the rest of the group. They really enjoyed playing with the other kids at the top, watching the parasailer, and pretending to lick the chewed-gum-covered log (we agreed to the fake licking, we forgot to warn against the real touching barfbarfbarf). Andrew and I enjoyed the 360 degree views at the top.

Matanuska Glacier: Part 1?

There were so many pictures to choose from I may have to make a second post. Matanusaka Glacier is two hours away from Anchorage and it's AMAZING. It was 1 degree F with a breeze so it was pretty dang cold, we could have stayed longer if the skin on our faces had let us. My hair had pieces of ice in it by the time we got back to the car! We're already making plans to go back when it's warmer. 20 degrees at least. :)

The one picture of Kit looking up with her mouth open? She kept saying, "Daddy, watch!" and then she'd make that face. We're not sure what we were supposed to be seeing but it made us laugh. We have such funny girls.

Weekend Fun: Byron Glacier and Portage Lake

We haven't had a lot of snow this year and it's been pretty "warm" so we took a chance and headed down to Portage Valley to hike to Byron Glacier. Even knowing the weird winter we've had we were still shocked by how there was no snow on the ground and how small the glacier was. After we played around the glacier for a while we headed back to Portage Lake to have a picnic lunch.

The wind pushes pieces of ice from the lake onto the shore, piling them up into the jumble you see above. That's some pretty strong wind!

Eklutna Lake In Winter

We thought we'd hike the Edlu Bena trail since it was a two-mile loop with only a 150 foot gain in elevation. We thought it'd be easy. It probably would be if the trail wasn't covered in 1 1/2 inches of ice with a dusting of snow on top. We earned every inch of the 150 feet of elevation gain (and loss)! :)

The lake was very pretty, almost otherworldly. Definitely worth the views.

We were all wearing our ice cleats which helped tremendously. Andrew had brought his crampons just in case and he ended up wearing them since he had Kit on his back and it was even icier than we had anticipated.

Seriously. The last bit of the actual Edlu Bena loop is a steep downhill trek. You can see the places right in front of Andrew where previous hikers had slipped and fallen. There were sections where we were surprised that they didn't just sit down and slide to the bottom. It would have had to been more pleasant than falling every few feet! Andrew in his crampons walked confidently downhill (lucky guy!) and pulled the girls. They thought that was the best! I exercised every muscle from the waist down staying upright. Holy moly.

We had a lot of fun and it was our first time out hiking since the 12-mile slog that I forced everyone on in November. Even with the ice this one was fun and we will definitely be getting out again!

Chasing Sun to Girdwood

We got in the car with no specific destination, we just wanted to get outside and into the sunshine.  Andrew knew I was eager to take some photos so he was sure to pull over a lot for me. :) This photo was taken on the Turnagain Arm.

We ended up in Girdwood. Andrew spotted a frozen-over marsh to pull over at and we "skated" in our snow boots. Here's Andrew showing us how it's done:

Keep in mind this is the guy that should be resting his sore back.

Sliding Arlie around in a circle.

Kit thought that was pretty funny.

Andi showing us her moves. She's been practicing at home so she was excited to show us what she had on the ice.

The light was exceptional. I took over 300 pictures!

After we were done playing we stopped at a bakery in Girdwood for some hot cider and some humungous pastries. It was some good fuel for the road.

Sunset along the Turnagain Arm.