Picnic on a Glacier

The Matanuska glacier (or however you spell it) is about 100 miles out of Anchorage. To spare you all the details you could probably find on Wikipedia involving the formation, location, and all sorts of other completely unnecessary, yet pretty cool, facts on glaciers, I will just tell you about why I love the Mat. And try to use shorter sentences in the process!

Its really not that far away. And its not like you are driving 2 hours down a long straight road. The scenery is gorgeous once you get past Palmer. Though I did have trouble with that, as I would rather look around than concentrate on avoiding the back end of the slow camper in front of me.

Its not too bad of a hike to get to the actual glacier. My parents are not the most decorated gold metal athletes in the world, and I felt confident that they would be able to make it to the glacier and back at a pace that suited them. It gets a little muddy and/or slick at times, but if you are careful, its not a problem!

Its a blast to explore! Once on the Glacier, we carefully picked a path to explore a little bit as well. We found some cool features, and no one fell or got stuck in a crevasse. The only reason my whole backside got wet is because I sat down on a ice ledge with dad for a picture.

Bring an empty water bottle to fill. Man, I love glacier water! nothing like drinking ice cold water right from the source. Is it perfectly purified? I dunno. Do I care? Not really. If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger, right?

Wear shoes with good traction. Preferably hiking boots, not indoor soccer shoes. It wasn't too bad this trip, as we didn't do too much adventuring. But I would definitely have loved a little more traction.

Wear gloves! You might look like a whimpy popsicle walking out to the glacier with a hat, scarf and gloves, but the gloves really give you more mobility on the ice. Its not light and fluffy like snow if you want to grab on to something for stability. It keeps you from tearing up your hands, and everyone else will wish they were cool like you with gloves.



After picnicing on the ice, perching on the edge of a glacial water fall, and prancing around on the ancient ice formation (gee, aren't you glad I stopped with the "p" activities there??), we headed to my friends' house for dinner. They are around 70mile, so it gave a perfect break in the drive back. We stayed till around 10, and headed back to town with an hour or so of daylight left to guide us. When we were close to Anchorage, I spotted two different momma moose leading their calves (one single, two twins for a total of 5 moose) in the dusk, all within a quarter mile. It was a very nice ending to the day!

Medevac

For most things medical, my company is the preferred air carrier out of the villages we fly to. Everything from regular doctors appointments to emergencies, we fly patients in and out. When it is a regular appointment, the pilot has to treat them as a normal passenger. But when its a medevac, the pilot can call himself "lifeguard" and get priority landing wherever they are going.

It was really a regular day. My supervisor and I were waiting for the next flight to come in, which would be at least another hour. Everything was cleaned, all the freight was organized, and we were out of busy work. Just when we were to the point of being really bored, the phone rang. One of the clinics needs a medevac for a stretcher, and the 99 is the only plane that can handle that. We flew into action, making a dozen phone calls and re-arranging the passengers so the plane could get there as quickly as possible. Thankfully we didn't have too many passengers moving that evening. After the dust settled a little, we got a better idea of what happened requiring this emergency flight. Too much alcohol. Someone fell off her porch. At least it wouldn't be blood and gore coming off the plane, right?

Just another day!

Girdwood in the Rain

Dearest darling Mumsie and Popsicle got in last night. After settling in and a not so restful night's sleep (they arent used to all the light), we planned an easy day to Girdwood. My roommate drove us about a 40 miles south of town to the local ski resort and hippie haven. We found wildflowers about everywhere we went, which was pretty cool.

First stop: The Alaska Candle Company.
- super cute hand made candles (various Alaskan wildlife)
- quick stop
- Feautured in Northern Lights coupon book
- recycling at its best: old shoes used as planters (I dont know that they were ever functional shoes, they were just really cute)
- samples of how candles look through the dipping process
- seal oil apparently allows for longer burning
- wish there were more color options (there were only white and brown)
- Located: left side of the road when driving up toward Alyeska

Next up: Kobuk Valley Jade
- Big selection of pretty jade and other pieces to look at
- Huge jade boulder that they are in the process of cutting through (will take them weeks to cut once)
- Local artifacts (sleds, snowshoes, baleen, etc.)
- I bought a new ring
- Dad bought a box of rocks :) Pieces of unpolished jade
- Located: take a left at the big Alyeska resort sign. It will be on the right after that.

Lunch time: The Bake Shop
- Soup of the day: Barley Beef and Veggie
- Alaska's famous sourdough bread
- Ginormous cinnamon rolls
- various sandwich offers
- really crowded, but hit the spot on a cold rainy day

After lunch, we drove down to the main building of the Alyeska resort. Because of the bad weather, we decided to skip the tram ride to the top. On a good day, its supposed to be a great ride. We headed back to town, and stopped at the Indian Valley Gold Mine. They offered a demonstration of gold mining, and a giftshop with more Alaskan wares. Amongst other things, dad bought a bucket of dirt (with Gold and other minerals in it).

Once we got back into town, we went to Wild Berry, a anchorage based chocolate factory, complete with a huge chocolate fountain. They let us sample some different pieces of chocolate, and we walked away with a big box of Wild Berry jelly filled chocolates. I highly recommend it for finding Alaskan gifts, even if they are a bit more aimed at tourists. There are several local companies represented in their wares.

Life as a 135

Sec. 135.1 - Applicability.

(a) This part prescribes rules governing --

(1) The commuter or on-demand operations of each person who holds or is required to hold an Air Carrier Certificate or Operating Certificate under part 119 of this chapter.

(2) Each person employed or used by a certificate holder conducting operations under this part including the maintenance, preventative maintenance and alteration of an aircraft.

Blah blah blah blah blah.... FARs get boring pretty quick, but that gives you an idea of what type of company I work for.

Based on the fact that we don't have a set schedule, its all of our job to figure out the most efficient way to operate: getting all the people and their stuff with the least flight hours and gas burned. Some days its easy. 6 or 7 people will go on one of the big planes, leaving enough room for a few people's groceries to go out as well. Some days its not so easy. The planes will be stuffed full both ways, and we have to send some smaller planes on freight runs the whole day. Still other days we will have a reasonable plan lined up, and the weather will be bad so we can't go anywhere.

Once the day's plan is lined up, its still subject to change. All it takes is one phone call asking for a charter, one piece of haz-mat that cannot fly with passengers, and everything changes.

Thats why I love working in the 135 world: two days will never be the same! Its all about learning to adapt to changes, and figuring out how to make everything as efficient as possible.

Flattop

looking south at the Turnagin Arm and the Kenai Peninsula

-The most popular hike in Alaska.
-Never go without cell coverage
-In fact, you hardly lose sight of Anchorage
-"easy to moderate" hike
-GORGEOUS view: Mt. Redoubt, McKinley, Susitna, the inlet, Fire Island, etc.
-1.5 miles up, 1500 ft (same distance/height down obviously)
-3510 ft. at the summit
-perfect place to build a castle, as it is already flat

incoming!

T minus 11 hours till mom and dad get here! So excited to see them :)

The last goodbye

It was a quiet afternoon. I fueled the Navajo after its last flight to prepare it for the next day's adventure. A single 150 made laps around the pattern, some touch downs worse than others as a student learned the art of landing smoothly.

Though the afternoon seemed routine, the events earlier that day were anything but normal. We had a charter scheduled to a village out the chain. On the schedule written next to the number traveling was "+stretcher." Now, keep in mind that we get some pretty crazy things in the back of that plane. From 500 pound outboard motors to refrigerators to living room furniture, we load anything into that plane that people want to move.

But this one was different. A woman. A mother, sister, daughter, grandmother. She was returning to her home for the last part of her life. I could feel the pain in the air as the family bid a final farewell to this loved one.

After watching the family, I couldn't help but keep this song on repeat in my head for most of the day:

Yesterday we were laughing
Today I'm left here asking
Where has all the time gone now
I'm left alone somehow
Growing up and getting older
I don't want to believe it's over

Don't say goodbye

off to camp

Kingdom Air Corps is off again. Last night, a friend and I drove up to 80something mile to see everyone off for camp. 2 150s, a 152, a 170, a 175, a 182, a 206, and a 15 pax van are all in route to Bible camp, at a gold mine between Bettles and Anuktuvuk Pass.

Things are different this year. There is a lot of organization. There are a lot more people going. Several young husband and wife teams are going. My prayer is that it will be blessed. From their efforts to the kids hearts to mechanical safety in flying, that God would bless them abundantly.

I am really sad that I wont be able to spend time with the kids this year. But as I was talking to Uncle Tom, I remembered that its not about who is going, its about God's work.

I can't wait to hear stories on the other end!

the dark hole that was once my blog...

Phew. Life has been crazy here. from working 10+ hour days to moving and getting to know new roommates, I havent had much time to stop and breathe. And when I do, I am usually off on another hike. Its a crazy lifestyle, but its the only way to survive in the summer!

People ask me how we survive the summer with all the daylight. My answer is twofold:
-Alaskans need to recharge our solar batteries. When we hit winter, we aren't getting a ton of sunlight, so we take advantage of it and enjoy every second we can!
-We work and play so hard during the day that, out of sheer exhaustion, we fall dead asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillows.

Ok, I am going to write several short blogs and schedule there posting, so it doesn't appear so abandoned around here!

Liz