After getting back from our glacier hike, we decided to settle in to the tent for the night, find some candles, crack a bottle of wine, and make what may very well be the best meal ever cooked on Mendenhall glacier:
A couple of hours, one bottle of wine, a bottle of champagne and a heated conversation about George Bush and Islamic folk invading the U.S. later, we passed out. (Note: Discussing world politics while sitting on a glacier drunk is fairly pointless and dangerous, especially if ice axes are present.) I fell asleep to the sound of a nearby waterfall interrupted by a passing storm, comforted by the fact that I was sleeping on a large ice cube. After a nice breakfast and some cocoa in the morning, we headed back out onto the glacier for some more exploring and ice climbing:
Yep, that's me. See boys, you finally get some pictures of infamous Glib Gal in all her harnessed glory. Actually, as this shot was taken I was advising the Outdoorspro that if he didn't hurry and take the picture I would surely soon fall to my death and drag him with me because he was on belay duty. He just laughed and told me to lick the ice so my tongue would freeze to it and I wouldn't fall. Well, not really, but that would've been a good thing to say.
What you can't see from this photo is that about an hour earlier, while traipsing around the glacier in our crampons, I decided to slide down a slope in an attempt to become one with the glacier. The problem with falling on a glacier is that there's nothing to grab onto because you're on ice and you just pick up speed as you descend. Thankfully, there was a ledge to stop me before heading into a deep crevass from which I surely would not have returned. Of course, I chose this moment to have my first ever panic attack and had to be coaxed across the glacier back to safer territory. I've never been scared like that in my life and suddenly I was realizing the heights, slopes and dangers that hadn't phased me until after the fall. I even had nightmares about being swallowed by the glacier for the next two nights. It's moments like those that remind me how little I am in the grander scheme of things.
We caught the last chopper out that night, went home and relaxed then spent the next day salmon fishing in inclement weather(to no avail - which I'm secretly happy about because I was not looking forward to cleaning fish...). When the weather got too powerful on the docks and even the Outdoorspro was tired of the weather, we headed to the Alaskan Brewing Company for their free tasting. Yes, you read that right, FREE BEER!!! And they were quite generous with it. I highly recommend their beer tasting tour if ever you are in Juneau - nice staff, warm tasting room, and FREE BEER!!! Some of it is even good.
Hit the bar scene that night and headed home on the earliest flight out Sunday morning. A big thanks to Outdoorspro for being such a great host, putting up with me, and hooking me up with free helicopter rides and some great adventures.
2 comments:
Sounds entirely too bitchin for words... Definitely a trip to remember, thanks for sharing the bad-ass photos!
After checking with the other glacier guides, i have come to the conclusion that that was, in fact, that best dinner (and breakfast) ever served on the glacier this season.
Still, even after a panic attack, that was an exceptionally cool day on the ice. Don't let the Glib Gal fool you, she rocks! Oh yeah!
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