glaciers

Antarctica TOUCHDOWN

Published January 15, 2019

So remote, so FAN-TAS-TICAL, a modern day Jules Verne novella – HELLO from the bottom of the World 😊

Two days past I boated open-water & ranger-walked a Chilean penguin reserve. Today, chinstrap penguins observed ME – a trail of foreign runners trekking to a makeshift camp two miles distance. Beyond my wildest dreams. I was here.

Diego de Almagro hotel lobby. One carry-on, one checked bag. ‘do not Disturb‘ tagged my door, room rented for a week. Sixty+ on-time travelers, ready/all accounted for.

Passports collected, boarding passes distributed, every seat sold. Solid buzz of timber. Voice arcs of language, loud laughter, buzz-buzz-buzz. No ONE dominate conversation, a happy mix of shares. ANTARCTICA DREAM realized – multiplied 60.

3 hour flight. Cloud cover obscured all window-touristing. Propeller buzz, the new constant. Static comforting drone of sound. Lost in individual thought, wrapped inside our own Private Idaho. Quiet anticipation. 20 minutes out, descending. Hum change.

Ocean, white caps. First LOOK. NO, not white caps – ICEBERGS.

Snow scattered LAND below. Holy moly – WOW WOW WOW! First PASS. Plane tipped left, UP, circled twice. Now confidentially approaching, 2^nd descent. Peninsula littered with Research Modulars painted red – Russia, Chile, Korea, China.

Close, close, closer…TOUCHDOWN. CHEERS from the Team. Job WELL done.

Imminent immediate Photo Tourette’s. You know, same pic 20x – absolutely no difference. Can’t be helped. Sensory overwhelm.

Disembark. Bag retrieval. Two-mile hike to camp, three groups of 20.

barren, LUNAR…

& PENGUINS. Welcome to Antarctica! 🐧❄️❤️

KGI (Isla Rey Jorge) Webcam: https://www.aipchile.gob.cl/camara_ubicacion/show/designador/SCRM

: Antarctic Airways 🙂

: driest, windiest & highest continent of the PLANET

: ICEBERG approach

: TOUCHDOWN

: ecosystem requirement

: White Continent selfie

: 2 mile hike to Camp

: 7495 miles from HOME

: chinstrap penguins

: pitching Camp

: 50K Start, 30 minutes

Antarctica TOUCHDOWN

Posted in Antarctica | Tagged glaciers, wildlife | Leave a comment

Mendenhall Glacier

Published July 27, 2018

2 trips to Alaska, BOTH times marathoning played second fiddle.

2013: ice-climbed Matanuska Glacier (100 miles north of Anchorage). 5 years later: canoeing/crampon-hiking Mendenhall Glacier (easy 20 minutes outside Juneau). FAAANNNNTASTIC! Booked today’s Ice Adventure Tour 2 months before leaving Colorado. Probably not the best pre-race prep, but ya’ll know from my hike pics – I don’t shy away from glaciers, snow or high altitude.

Today’s itinerary: Canoe 2+ miles ‘cross glacier-fed Mendenhall Lake, roaring waterfalls/tree-surrounded by Tongass National Forest (wildlife eye-candy), then crampon-hike over blue primeval ice. Sign me up! Adventure Day!

Every year we see a wide variety of glacial features come and go. This year guests have witnessed and posted photos on everything from ice caves to the very rare site of icebergs calving into the lake. However sights like these are NOT an everyday occurrence, AND CANNOT BE GUARANTEED. Mother nature does what it wants, when it wants.

On every tour, you get the chance to canoe through a glacier lake, hike beside, and even onto the glacier ice itself. The Mendenhall Glacier is constantly flowing and the landscape is always changing. For this reason, we have expertly trained guides who assess the glacier’s movements and continually make new routes to show our guests the best of what the glacier has to offer on every tour on that given day!

Met up with Liquid Alaska Tours at the Tramway, close quarter-mile walk from my hotel digs. Quick 20 minute van ride to our launch north of Juneau. BALD EAGLES EVERYWHERE. Counted 6 on light posts surrounding Juneau’s Macaulay Salmon Hatchery. As local salmon swim upstream/return to spawn thru Gastineau Bay, birds & bears are awaiting. DINNER 😊

Do’s & don’ts speech, life jacket – and paddle. 10 long strokes, break. 10 more strokes & break. 2 ½ miles across Mendenhall Lake. Outside, active, super FUN – LOVED canoeing across a glacial lake in Alaska. That said, lot more strenuous than running 2 ½ miles (different muscles I guess). Guides were kinda task masters ‘bout the paddling. Faster we reach the glacier, more time we have to adventure. Aye aye, Captain. Got it. As luck would have it, both were native Coloradans. Alamosa & Pagosa Springs. Small world.

Shored our craft left of the HUGE retreating glacier. Group-carried the boat several feet inland; boulder-propped, secure. No soul wants to hike return & find their only transport home floating away in 40-degree (iceberg-drifting) water. Nope, not me.

Crampon fitted. Permafrost & ancient ice ahead. Glacier hike. No ice cave spelunking this season. Caves formed/existed but none strong enough to support human weight. Amazing visuals though. Absolutely nothing disappointing ‘bout this day’s journey.

Silt-littered white, primeval BLUES, killer crevasses, pools of glacial water 200ft deep. Two HUNDRED feet deep.

Tonite, I’ll be glacier dreamin’. Mendenhall ❄️😴❄️

: Liquid Alaska Tours

: Mendenhall Lake

: Nugget Falls

: first peek

: Mendenhall Glacier

: docked, boat secured; fitted with crampons — hike on!

: silt field

: ice cave

: laden with crevasses

: Ice, Ice Baby ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬

: primeval blue

: human ants

: dwarfed by Mendenhall’s enormity

: 1,000ft drop

: 200ft DEEP

: newly formed crevasse

: final gaze goodbye

Posted in Alaska/Hawaii | Tagged caving, glaciers, kayaking | Leave a comment

Aspen to Crested Butte

Published July 2, 2017

Holiday weekend. Add Monday as a vacation day & suddenly you’re 4 days from the office. Mentally scheduled this weekend’s trek a year ago, when PS’ CEO (my employer) made the journey. Hotels in two towns – both sides of this epic mountain crossing adventure.

Aspen to Crested Butte.

By car it’s a 3 ½ hour drive. On foot, one can be there in under 8. Waist-high fields of wildflower. Hike start at Maroon Bells, Colorado’s most photographed peak. Sign me up!

Lazy morning start, couldn’t drop Pup at the kennel ‘til 9am. Lunch in Georgetown, Hwy 24 south to Leadville, west over Independence Pass (open ‘til October or first snow). Late afternoon arrival in Snowmass Village, 20 minutes from downtown Aspen (& much better on the pocket book). Carb- loaded for dinner. Hiking all day tomorrow, why not? 🙂

Sunday morning. What I didn’t know? Only access to Maroon Bells trailhead [in summer] is by bus. No cars allowed. No drama, surprises happen…but later trail start than expected.

Maroon Bells. Never been in summer. Trees all leafed out, lush meadow undergrowth – whole lotta green. Maroon-Snowmass Trail #1975 to Crater Lake, 1.4 miles. Busy hike path. Trek canopied in Colorado Aspen. BEAUTIFUL!

Snapped photos & snacked at Crater Lake. Couple of hikers shared their topo map (thanks!) – soon after, switched trails. Next landmark: West Maroon Pass. Path broke from rock to mud. Long patches of pack snow. Continued to lose trail, backtrack, regain trail. Snow-melt waterfalls, beautiful landscape though sometimes frustrating process to maintain forward momentum.

Biggest trail miss? Came across a large swath of glacier remnant & fresh snow. Fast-moving water rushed underneath weakening the base, making it precarious to cross. Trail couldn’t be on the other side, right? Bush-whacked 45 minutes (half-mile) UP UP thru dense willow & snow-covered pine. Zero path, nada. Continued to push thru thicket, trek UP/over, listening for human sound. SUCCESS! Group of 6 hikers stopped for lunch high ‘bove a scenic glacier – unfortunately not trekking to Crested Butte, not on trail. ARGH! Obliged to snap a group photo, then far far in the distance saw 2 hikers snow-crossing. TRAIL! Backtrack, restart.

Most harrowing water crossing? Used a fallen pine to ford West Maroon Creek. Fast-moving waist-deep water. How cold would a complete submersion be? Yep, that thought entered the brain. Slow & steady. Luckily, no drama 🙂

Elevation increased, temps dropped. Deep shoe-sucking mud, emptied into seasonal streams, trail ultimately lost under pack snow. Snaked thru a large boulder field, cairn-marked between competing 13- & 14er peaks. Less than a mile UP to West Maroon Pass, then another 4 [miles] down to the trailhead. Transport on the other side leaves at 4pm – mighty tight timing. Yikes!

Dark clouds from the West. Weather change.

Passed a guided group of climbers; they had turned back. 20 feet of snow at West Maroon Pass. IMPASSABLE.

15 minute discussion with my hiking mate. [good/bad trait] I’m a determined, focused individual – not easy to redirect once I’ve got a game plan cemented in the head. Lost the battle today; turned around we did. In hindsight OF COURSE we had no choice…but at the time, disappointment overwhelmed any happy endorphins. Hiked a good 2 miles in silence.

This too shall pass. AND it did ‘bout the time we reached Crater Lake.

Caught the return bus back from Maroon Bells, headed back to my Snowmass digs – hoping to find a spot in the Inn. 3-day holiday weekend, not a chance. Nor another hotel in Aspen…or Snowmass Village…or Carbondale…or Glenwood Springs (an hour out).

Of course I DID have a hotel reservation tonite – in Crested Butte, 3 ½ hours away by car. Fueled up, purchased a bag of gas station snacks. All part of the journey. 9:30pm rolled into my HIKE destination.

New town, new adventure awaits in the morning 🙂