End of Summer fun!

The last few weeks have flown by! They have been action packed as summer in Alaska comes to an end for me.  The end of the summer was amazing! My aunt and uncle came to visit and it was so good to see them! They are like a second set of parents to me and it was really neat to show them around Seward and what I’ve been up to all summer (even if it rained the whole time they were here!). After spending a few days in Seward, we headed up to Anchorage and Talkeenta and spent time with family watching football games on 70 inch TVS and then in the woods at their cabin. My family’s cabin in Talkeenta is such a gem! It sits on 50-something acres right on a beautiful lake with Mt. McKinley shining beautifully in the background. We spend 2 days up there hanging out, kayaking, BBQ-ing, and playing with my cousins two young kids who are adorable. I could of spent the whole summer at this cabin, no cell reception; beautiful scenery….it was a slice of paradise! It was so great to spend time with my family up here in Alaska and I feel so blessed to have done so! After a beautiful, fun weekend we had to say good-bye and I drove back down to Seward to finish off a few weeks of work at Exit Glacier Guides.

Patio at the cabin!

Goofing off with my Grandma! 

Uncle Ray and Aunt Jeri

View from the cabin!

The last few weeks of work were pretty slow, but were fun nonetheless! As a team, we had some pretty epic pizza nights where mine and the Silver Sherpa’s pizza was given “Pizza of the summer” award (roasted garlic chicken, red caramelized onions, fresh tzaziki, red cherry tomatoes, and summer squash!). There were also a few days where Captain Crampon and I sat around drinking margaritas at noon and eating chips and salsa at the office. But the best part about finishing up the season with Exit Glacier Guides was Guide Trip. Guide Trip is an end of the season tradition that they have where all the guides (and office girl) go on trip all together to celebrate the season and hang out! The fun part of it was that it was a mystery until a few nights before! A couple nights before we were to leave, we had a shop meeting to discuss our trip. Captain Crampon, told us we were going to Harriman Fjords, which is a 2-hour water taxi outside Whittier (an hour-ish drive from Seward). He warned us it would be raining the whole time, but we all still wanted to go and get after it! We all spent the night at the shop and got a 4am wake up call and were out of the house by 4:30. We drove to Whittier, got to the water taxi where the captain informed us of the extreme weather conditions of wind and rain. He proceeded to as “Are you sure you want to do this?” three very serious times and off we went. I was nervous to say the least because I really had no idea what I was getting into, but I was ready at the same time to push my comfort zones a bit! And boy was I correct…

We get onto the boat at 7:30am and crack open beers (in Exit Glacier Guide style) and are instructed by the captain to chug them because once we got out of the harbor “we’d break out teeth”. So they chugged them. Nothing like an Alaskan IPA to replace your morning cup of coffee... Captain was right, as soon as we left the harbor, it was the most extreme weather, 4 foot swells, boats flopping and blowing all over the place. I came out of my seat a few times getting suspended in the air as the boat jumped waves. After the initial freak out wore off, it became kind of fun. Half way through the boat ride the captain informed us that other boats tried to go where we were headed and all had to turn around because the waves were 4 times bigger than what we were experiencing. So we changed our location to Blackstone Bay, a secluded bay surrounded by glaciers. After about a half hour longer of braving the waves, we arrived at our location and I felt like were on some sort of military mission. All of us got off the boat except Ryan and formed a line. Ryan started handing off all the gear, food, etc. And with in 10 minutes the boat was unloaded and leaving us. For a moment I thought “Here’s my chance to change my mind…I can go home to my warm dry bed…”But I thought, this experience is probably good for me”, so as Gail force winds blew and rain poured we teamed up and built our camp. Tarps were hung, tents were set up, trees were climbed, and a lot of team work happened (most of the time I sort of stood back amazed at these wonderful people making this shelter happen)…then by noon, we were all snug in the big dry tent (which we brought to use a dry room and hang out place) with a beer in hand. We hung out all day in that thing as the 40 mile an hour winds howled and blew. A few times they knocked over our structure, so we all piled out and made some adjustments to help keep our shelter sustainable and intact. After a few more hours and few drinking games later it was dinnertime! I was expecting to be eating trail mix and granola bars the whole time, but nope! Our food menu for the trip included grilled salmon with pineapple teriyaki quinoa, blueberry pancakes, halibut burritos, and scrambles. We ate like kings!

After the first day and getting used to the weather (and having brief moments of panic and feelings like I couldn’t do this…ok…I even devised a plan to tell everyone I had to go home for a second there…) I made it through the night, howling winds, pouring rains and all! I woke up feeling like Bear Grill or some wild woman warrior and was ready to take on whatever was next. In the morning we completely changed our shelter structure to make it more efficient and stable. There was a little break in the rain (and when I say break , I mean it went from monsoon to just raining). So we jumped in the kayaks and paddled for about 7ish miles. We paddled along the most beautiful scenery including 2 tidewater glaciers and the biggest waterfall I’ve ever seen! We paddled next to curious seals, snuggly otters, and through fields of icebergs. It was the most amazing beautiful this I’ve seen in Alaska yet! The sights, the sounds, the company was all so amazing. Then the monsoon started again after paddling for a bit, so we paddled fast back to base camp. I was completely drenched and freezing so I ran to the tent to suit up in dry clothes and once I was all dry headed to the big tent to sit snuggly and chill. We waited out the rest of the night telling stories and eating amazing halibut burritos.

View from base camp!

Massive tidewater glacier!

Kayaking! 

Biggest Waterfall I've ever seen!

The gang after 3 days...all smiles! :)

The next morning when we woke up, it was a miracle! The winds had stopped and it was SUNNY! Within a few minutes, we were suited up and on the glacier. We hiked around for a few hours on the glacier and found a good spot to do some ice climbing. It was awesome! We all had moments of realization of “Where are we?” and we ice climbed and hung out on some remote glacier. We were in awe! After spending some time of the glacier, we ran off, packed up base camp and set our camp chairs along the beach to wait for the boat. We all had a moment of feeling like warriors. As we sat their with our beer in hand, sun shining on our faces, we felt victorious for having made it through such rough and crazy weather and having a BLAST while doing so! I couldn’t of imagined camping in those conditions with any other people.

Waiting for the water taxi.

Another group shot!

Sun setting on the shop...what an AMAZING summer!

The people I worked with this summer are some of the most inspiring and good-hearted people I’ve ever met. They love the outdoors and adventure and good times guides their hearts. They’ve helped inspire me to be more confident in my abilities and inspired adventure within myself! I feel so grateful I met them this summer and now have friends to look forward to seeing next summer!

After we got back from the trip, we had a few tasks at the shop to do, like cleaning and sharpening crampons then we were done! I said my good-bye’s to Exit Glacier Guides (till next summer) and headed back to our place on Nash Road (which has it’s own blog coming….)

Only thing left to do this summer, is pack up the rest of our things, jump in the car, and drive 3,000 miles back down to the lower 48 and set up a home in Northern Idaho….not without a few adventures first! On the list, Talkeenta, Fairbanks, Jasper, and BANFF!

However, as I’m sitting in a pile of boxes, dishes, and belongings, I will have to post another blog about all those things…More to come, now to pack!

Blessings and love!!

Jillian

P.S-Thanks Nathan Lane for all the pictures...check out his photography!!! :)