It's rained for the past week. I'm so angry at rain! And also, the month of July got double the average rainfall! The average is 4", WE GOT 8". So, in case you don't understand what I'm saying-I can't wait to see the sun. Okay, for some reason, the pics posted in reverse chronological order, but you'll figure it out.
DK and Sierra sharing a brownie and icecream. They got messy, but who cares! He's so cute in his little Carhartt overalls. And, yes, I know his hair looks like a girls. He's a skater kid! It's the new style! Back off!
Drake and Sierra in their "barbaloot suits." a.k.a. footy jammies (for definition of barbaloot suit, read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.)
Drake trying to make a monkey face.
Mendenhall Towers.
This is the medial moraine of some glacier. "A medial moraine is a ridge of moraine that runs down the center of a valley floor. It is formed when two glacers meet and the debris on the edges of the adjacent valley sides join and are carried on top of the enlarged glacier. As the glacier melts or retreats, the debris is deposited a ridge down the middle of the valley floor." (Straight off of wikipedia.)
Me and Drake in front of the helicopter.
My handsome baby boy. Bryce gives me grief for saying "baby", but he'll always be my baby, no matter how old he gets.
Drake drinking glacier water. It's pure. And, no mom, he didn't get giardia. He was fine.
Our landing site. Drake and I went on a helicopter ride on the 19th with our friend Eric Fields. His mom was in town and paid for us to go on an hour long ride over the icefield. It was amazing. So much better than a tour.
The Juneau Icefield. 1500 acres of ice. Breathtaking. You can't imagine the enormity of it.
Some cool icefalls.
Dogcamp. This consists of 5 big tents for the mushers and 80 dog houses. This gives you a little perspective of how huge the icefield is. Check out the next pic.
That circle is dogcamp. That's how huge the icefield and the mountains are. I'm telling you, it's unbelievable.
Riding our bikes on the Herbert Beach. It was pretty hard because you couldn't tell how deep the mud was until your tire was in it. I almost got stuck.
The trail was a little sketchy towards the end. The dropoff on the left goes into the Herbert River. I had to get off my bike and push it at some parts of the trail because the rocks and roots stuck out of the ground 8" or more. By the end of the ride, Drake said "I like the smooth, good trail." The bouncing on the rocks and roots hurt his butt.
Tyler's dog Kona getting a stick under the water! Crazy dog. Drake was having a blast throwing the stick and watching Kona stick her head under the water to retrieve it. At one point all we could see was her tail.
There were two old cars along the trail. This is the second one. They're really old, like 3o's or so. I don't know. They've got bullet holes in them. I have no idea how they actually got that far into the forest. Aside from the trail, the forest is dense and you could sink down pretty far in the moss in a heavy vehicle like that. This one is about to fall into the Herbert River.
Herbert River. Those are tree trunks sticking out of the river. The banks erode when the river swells with glacier runoff and heavy rains. As a result, the trees topple into the river. The river was running really quickly.
This is the view from the Mendenhall East Glacier trail. Check out how small the visitor center is (for those of you that've been here.) We're pretty high up the mountain!
Those little white things in the water are icebergs that have calved off the glacier. There's tons of them.
Me and my little berry.
A fam pic in front of the Herbert Glacier. The trail is 4.6 miles long, we biked nearly the whole way. It was fun. Drake rode his bike almost a mile, then we stashed it in the bushes and put him on mine. We went with our friend Tyler.
A pic of the Herbert Glacier with the Herbert river in front of it. We couldn't actually make it to the terminus of the glacier because of the river.
Mendenhall from the road on the way to the visitor's center.
Three coho salmon in Steep Creek. They come back from the ocean in the late summer to lay eggs, then die. They had most of the trail closed because bears are feeding on these salmon in the area.
A huge coho. It was nearly 2 feet long.
A great blue heron feeding in one of the kettles surrounding Mendenhall Lake.
Drake ahead of me hiking up the East Glacier Trail. It is a 7 mile loop with either stone or wooden stairs most of the way up. It's a 400 foot elevation gain. He's a hiking maniac.
DK and Sierra sharing a brownie and icecream. They got messy, but who cares! He's so cute in his little Carhartt overalls. And, yes, I know his hair looks like a girls. He's a skater kid! It's the new style! Back off!
Drake and Sierra in their "barbaloot suits." a.k.a. footy jammies (for definition of barbaloot suit, read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.)
Drake trying to make a monkey face.
Mendenhall Towers.
This is the medial moraine of some glacier. "A medial moraine is a ridge of moraine that runs down the center of a valley floor. It is formed when two glacers meet and the debris on the edges of the adjacent valley sides join and are carried on top of the enlarged glacier. As the glacier melts or retreats, the debris is deposited a ridge down the middle of the valley floor." (Straight off of wikipedia.)
Me and Drake in front of the helicopter.
My handsome baby boy. Bryce gives me grief for saying "baby", but he'll always be my baby, no matter how old he gets.
Drake drinking glacier water. It's pure. And, no mom, he didn't get giardia. He was fine.
Our landing site. Drake and I went on a helicopter ride on the 19th with our friend Eric Fields. His mom was in town and paid for us to go on an hour long ride over the icefield. It was amazing. So much better than a tour.
The Juneau Icefield. 1500 acres of ice. Breathtaking. You can't imagine the enormity of it.
Some cool icefalls.
Dogcamp. This consists of 5 big tents for the mushers and 80 dog houses. This gives you a little perspective of how huge the icefield is. Check out the next pic.
That circle is dogcamp. That's how huge the icefield and the mountains are. I'm telling you, it's unbelievable.
Riding our bikes on the Herbert Beach. It was pretty hard because you couldn't tell how deep the mud was until your tire was in it. I almost got stuck.
The trail was a little sketchy towards the end. The dropoff on the left goes into the Herbert River. I had to get off my bike and push it at some parts of the trail because the rocks and roots stuck out of the ground 8" or more. By the end of the ride, Drake said "I like the smooth, good trail." The bouncing on the rocks and roots hurt his butt.
Tyler's dog Kona getting a stick under the water! Crazy dog. Drake was having a blast throwing the stick and watching Kona stick her head under the water to retrieve it. At one point all we could see was her tail.
There were two old cars along the trail. This is the second one. They're really old, like 3o's or so. I don't know. They've got bullet holes in them. I have no idea how they actually got that far into the forest. Aside from the trail, the forest is dense and you could sink down pretty far in the moss in a heavy vehicle like that. This one is about to fall into the Herbert River.
Herbert River. Those are tree trunks sticking out of the river. The banks erode when the river swells with glacier runoff and heavy rains. As a result, the trees topple into the river. The river was running really quickly.
This is the view from the Mendenhall East Glacier trail. Check out how small the visitor center is (for those of you that've been here.) We're pretty high up the mountain!
Those little white things in the water are icebergs that have calved off the glacier. There's tons of them.
Me and my little berry.
A fam pic in front of the Herbert Glacier. The trail is 4.6 miles long, we biked nearly the whole way. It was fun. Drake rode his bike almost a mile, then we stashed it in the bushes and put him on mine. We went with our friend Tyler.
A pic of the Herbert Glacier with the Herbert river in front of it. We couldn't actually make it to the terminus of the glacier because of the river.
Mendenhall from the road on the way to the visitor's center.
Three coho salmon in Steep Creek. They come back from the ocean in the late summer to lay eggs, then die. They had most of the trail closed because bears are feeding on these salmon in the area.
A huge coho. It was nearly 2 feet long.
A great blue heron feeding in one of the kettles surrounding Mendenhall Lake.
Drake ahead of me hiking up the East Glacier Trail. It is a 7 mile loop with either stone or wooden stairs most of the way up. It's a 400 foot elevation gain. He's a hiking maniac.
3 comments:
Hello Frankenberrys..... Thanks for the great pix and commentary. We know that weather and living conditions have been difficult for a family of three but you surely have some memories that will last you all a lifetime. Nana and I have been busy picking black berries on our daily walks and she has put up more than two dozen jars of jam. She's now moved on to doing pickles. We are getting ready for another visit to out home construction next week. We'll be driving the "Magic Bus" down with plans to stay on the property for a week or two. We are very excited about your detour visit with us on your way down from Juneau. Seems weird to think that stopover in Seattle should give you a chance to dry out and see some sun. Love you all. Hugs and kisses to Little Berry! Nana & Popa
wow you guys are getting to do some pretty cool stuff...what an amazing experience
Torie,
Why haven't I known about your blog before now? Holy Crap! What killer pictures, you guys have done some amazing stuff. I bet Drake has loved every minute of it. He is soooo big and such a little stud. Love the hair. Henry would be in heaven up there. We are stoked to have you guys home soon. I promise we will make the trip up to Ogden. We have to get Henry and Drake together. :)
Sorry to hear about Bryce's grandma, she sounded like a great lady.
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