Antics, happenings and what-not.

Mt. Alice is an beautiful, evil bitch. AKA the beginning of the worst week of my life.
Current mood:

crushed

So, it has taken me a few days to get up the....the I don't know what.....to write this story out. I've told it so many times in the last few days that I don't even know if I believe it myself but for some reason, writing it all down makes me a little afraid.

And there are pictures.

Anyway, sometimes experiences come along that cause you to discover abilities within yourself you never really were sure you had or would have to use.

Anyway.

One of those things where you always think....that'll never happen to me. Then it does. I have to apologize in advance...but I think this story will come in increments because it just keeps coming at me.

I don't know what I did to deserve all of this bad for so long, but for the love of god I'm ready for some good.

K, lets get started before this starts sounding like a depressed woman's diary.

So last Sunday, July 15th I finally had a day off. And so did Heidi. If I haven't mentioned Heidi, she works in our sales office and she's my friend.

We had decided the evening before that we were going to hook up with some comp tickets with a local guide company that offers glacier trekking excursions on Exit Glacier. Meet time was about 8:30 am at Res Art coffee house.

8:30 rolls around and we roll in to Res Art. After several unsucessful attempts to contact Exit Glacier Guides we finally get through only to find there aren't any comp spaces available that day. We decide to hike Mt. Alice.....down Nash Road and across the bay. Neither one of us had hiked it, it was 65 degrees and sunny and we were both up for something new that would get us a little exercise.

The first part of the hike is a bit steep. For those of you who are familiar with Mt. Marathon, it's not quite that steep but pretty close. The lower trail traverses through beautiful ferns and spruce and definitley has that green temperate rainforest feel. Also, Heidi is perfect as a hiking partner. She likes to take her time as much as I do and she's game for stopping for breaks. No desire to run up a mountain....that's what I like in a hiking partner.

Just above the first ridgeline the trees thin and the trail becomes less steep. Beautiful views begin popping out in every direction. To the northwest is the Resurrection River valley.

This is also where we begin getting views of the true summit of Alice. We won't be getting to that peak....in a day....or without some more technical gear than our own two legs.

Just a little higher up the trail hops onto a ridgeline overlooking the main valley on the mountain. To the left is a 1500+ foot drop, to the right are sub-alpine meadows and bay views.

Left:

To the right....overlooking Seward:

Heidi and I picked a spot near here to enjoy the sun and to eat cheese and crackers. Even Charlie and Miles were having a great time!

Heidi.....all photogenic on a photogenic mountain.

The flowers on the mountain were incredible...moss campion.

Well above treeline we started running into smaller snow fields. This is one we end up having to cross. At this point, the trail is virtually non-existent, but the sub-alpine terrain makes it pretty easy to explore. Before we crossed, we started throwing snowballs onto the field....knowing how much Miles loves snowballs. The field was slick, and he was doing some heavy duty sliding.

This snowfield comes into play later.

Here's Heidi getting a photogenic again......gonna sell this one as a postcard.

Alice's true summit again.

More views.....sub-alpine terrain....easy to wander around!

With all the snowfields, there are little glacial tarns around....and fresh water for the pooches. This is looking south. Once we were up pretty high, Heidi and I decided to see if we could see over the south ridgeline into the Godwin Valley.

Getting there required crossing scree fields...which are pretty sketchy.

This is also where I almost stepped on a Willow Ptarmigan.....and where Heidi may have lost her camera. Sucks....she's not sure where it fell out, but she's out $400 bucks. So, if anyone is ever hiking Alice and finds a camera....and there are pictures of Heidi and I on it, it's Heidi's. Not impossible....its shock-proof and water-proof.