I'm going to miss these views!

I went on a 5 1/2 hour hike with London's class for a field trip today.  We hiked the West Glacier Trail up to the face of the glacier.  The weather was amazing,the scenery was amazing, and I enjoyed every minute.  I even got a pretty good sunburn on my forearms.  Right now my whole body is sore and I'm sure tomorrow I will be stumbling around like a grandma...but it was so worth it!

The beginning of the hike we walked along the shoreline.

Some of the icebergs out in the lake.

Another iceberg

London hiking

This is a wild lupine.  They grow everywhere up here...and I love them!

This is a view of the lake (and the visitors center) from the trail

The cloud you see in the trees is a spruce pollen cloud!  It is so thick you can see it!  Everything here in Juneau is covered with a film of pale yellow spruce pollen right now.

This is a little pond at the base of the steepest part of our hike.

The kids call this "The Cliffs of Insanity"

The first part of the climb.  If you can see, we had to rest half way up.  It really wore us all out!

Here they all are resting...and waiting for stragglers. =)

Second half of the steep climb

Here are the stragglers...and a view from the resting spot.

More of the "Cliffs of Insanity" =)

The west side of the Mendenhall Glacier.  So beautiful!!  We ate our lunch right here!

Ice break-up

Close up of the glacier ice

I think this one is my favorite!

This spot of rock was covered with ice last time we lived here!

All the kids at the glacier

London and Me...

...and Emma's head...lol.

This hike was great and I am going to sleep so good tonight! =)

Hiking on Mendenhall Lake

This afternoon we went hiking on the frozen Mendenhall Lake. We went with our friends the Rosenbruchs and the Daltons. We all hiked out across the lake last year, but this year there wasn't any snow covering the ice so you could see down through the ice this year. It was very unnerving (for me only...lol) so on the hike back, I chose to not walk down the middle of the lake and stuck to the edges. We went out to the waterfall and let the kids play and took lots of photos. We all had a great time. It is the last time we get to go out with the Daltons...they are moving to Utah this month. Wendy and the kids are leaving on the 7th, and JP is following them near the end of the month. I am really sad that they are leaving. They have been some of the most wonderful people we have met, and they throw the best parties I've ever been to. Good luck to you in Utah, and you will truly be missed!

The Daltons
JP, Wendy, Ryann, Bailey, Cody, and Mason

Hiking on the lake



Partially frozen waterfall

The ice had cracked and refrozen in some places. There were also several places where you could see bubbles trapped under the surface.

Thanks Wendy for taking pictures of us!!




He is smiling AND he doesn't have his eyebrow cocked up! I won this one!!! =)

Bailey took this one for us. Thanks Bay!

Brooklin, Bailey, and Jayden

Caleb



London

Isaiah looks like he is trying to warm his hands by an ice cube fire! hahaha! He was actually playing the drums on the ice and wanted me to take a picture of him.

East Glacier Trail Hike

We went on two hikes yesterday! The first one was the East Glacier Trail. The East Glacier Trail is a loop trail starting at the back of the Mendenhall Glacier Visitors center. It is 3 miles around, and it took us about 3 hours to hike it...with stopping to eat, rest stops, taking pictures, and waiting for those who lagged a little. (we were all guilty of this!)

I am really scared of bears, so I made sure to let the bears know we were coming...I wore a set of bear bells on my backpack! It worked! The only bear we saw the whole trip was a small bear sticker on the ground. Isaiah took a picture with it, and pretended to be scared. =) This hike is really beautiful, and took us up right over the top of Nugget Falls.

One of the last pictures is of Isaiah and Aria at AJ Falls. Micah and Cori thought it was pretty funny...AJ...Aria Joye Falls! They said she does fall a lot. =) Aria and Isaiah were just the cutest on the trail. They held hands most of the time and had on matching hiking boots. They really are a lot alike in many ways, and have been playing and talking each other's ears off! If you know either of them...they both have A LOT of really interesting things to say, and it was funny to listen to their conversations. Micah said at one point on the fishing trip yesterday, Aria had gone on so long, Isaiah was just kind of at a loss for how he was going to break into the conversation! They are quite the pair!