Without question I will return to Alaska to fish, climb, or hopefully ski, but for now, the 49th state is behind me and I return to the familiar, crowded and tame lower 48.
The summer was spectacular. As of our departure on the 1st, it had been the hottest, driest summer on record in at least 20 years. Needless to say, we lucked out. Of the forty-some odd days we spent in and around the Juneau area, I used my rain pants a grand total of once. The statistic may be slightly skewed since the pants self-destructed after a 2 mile hike, but the salient point is this: we visited a rainforest and had stunning bluebird weather.
I wish that I could describe to you how wonderful the summer was--full of laughter, adventure, hard work, music, and gorgeous sunsets amongst other things--but I simply cannot. Many of my stories involve students, and for privacy's sake I cannot tell them here. Also, being an employee of Overland puts a certain restriction on what I can publish in this blog. But in large part I simply feel I cannot accurately convey the experience of the summer.
My stories, at least for this chapter of my life, must remain unpenned. My photos, however, I will happily share.
Shank the cameraman!
Virgin Islands? Nope. Glacier? Check. Must be Alaska. Sweet!
God-ray sunset near Haines.
My feet are freezing in this picture. This lake is pure glacial runoff. It is so cold that swimming just makes you angry. Augh! (Swimming = 10 second endeavour + cursing)
Dinner. Point Bridget State Park, near Juneau.
Section of trail the group built in Point Bridget State Park. Trail is a boardwalk for much of its length, and we spent many hours carrying planks, pounding nails, and leveling boards.
Sunset near Haines.
No comments:
Post a Comment