Outdoor Bunnies

I left the Eastern Sierra for Alaska the 3^rd week of April arriving in Juneau on the 23^rd. Corey and I spent two weeks playing non-stop. We had beautiful weather – warm and sunny, which is quite unusual for Southeast Alaska. Being a Southern California native, I had a hard time understanding why everyone was so eager to get outside. One minute could not be wasted on frivolous tasks.

As soon as we got to Juneau, Corey and I hiked out to the Mendenhall Glacier via the West Glacier/Spur Trails. Both were still fairly snow covered and the trails needed some maintenance work making the trek slightly longer than usual. The glacier itself was bare and we scoped out potential routes as well as cool features to bring clients out to later in the season. In preparation for our upcoming mountaineering courses we spent some time practicing crevasse rescue skills in addition to setting up various pulley systems. Several days later we took a friend of mine, Taylor, out to the glacier. He is from Venice, CA as well and had never been on a glacier before. So, just as anyone else would do we dropped him into a crevasse and made him climb his way out using ice tools. His mother was very pleased.

Other activities included ski touring and sea kayaking. Corey and I spent a couple days ski touring on Douglas Island. We skinned up to the top of Mt. Troy and spent the night on the summit gazing out over the water. We had a fantastic view from our tent. The ski down was a bit precarious and somewhat amusing looking back to that morning. I don’t ski well in mountaineering boots. In fact I did a better job at glissading on my face! I was not laughing much at the time, but when I think back to that moment I can’t stop giggling. Continuing on with hilarious moments…Corey and I also spent a couple days sea kayaking out to Berners Bay. We saw lots of wildlife including hundreds of eagles, humpback whales, and stellar sea lions. I even caught a fish with my bare hands. We also made friends with some random horses at our campsite. One horse in particular started nibbling on my hair while I was eating breakfast. Another horse tried to snatch my dry bag and wouldn’t give it back. We played tug-of-war for a few minutes before I was able to pry it from his teeth. All the commotion got the horse excited. Walking away I noticed a large organ under the belly moving up and down out of the corner of my eye. When I turned to look at him I saw a huge erect penis! Needless to say this sent me into a fit of laughter.

After our excursions in Juneau, Corey and I flew up to Anchorage to instruct mountaineering courses for National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS). Before our contracts started we spent a few days visiting with his sister Heidi. In doing so we drove out to Seward and camped for a couple days. We explored a bit on the Exit glacier not making it very far up glacier. Firn line was real low and we didn’t have the necessary equipment to travel on snow covered glacier.

Corey and I spent the next month instructing mountaineering courses. We both had NOLS Pro contracts teaching mountaineering courses tailored for Naval Academy students. We taught different student groups, but traveled on the same route in opposite directions. My course did a North-South traverse of the Chugach range starting out off the Glenn Highway near the radio towers/Nelchina Valley. We headed up the Nelchina Valley and onto the Nelchina Glacier. From the Nel we headed to the Science Glacier via the middle fork where we traveled to the top of the Science and hung out for a few days. While skiing down the Science we ran into Corey’s course and spent the night in their perimeter camp. Imagine 33 people in the middle of nowhere on some glacier camping in a perimeter no bigger than 1,000 square feet. From the Science we headed down the Tazlina and crossed over onto the Valdez Glacier via Cashman’s Pass. From there we skiied/hiked on bare ice to the toe of the Valdez where we were picked up and driven back to the Farm.

The course was a huge learning experience. Cashman’s pass was the crux of the route taking approximately 8 hours to ascend as a group. We had to set up one large fixed line using three ropes and negotiate getting up and over the burgschrund. We didn’t face precarious weather conditions. We were shut down on days we were setup to do some peak ascents by fog. My most memorable experience from the course was teaching ski school 50 yards from a large crevasse on a downhill slope. I set three deadman and attached each student to a single rope in order to effectively teach a gliding wedge/wedge stop. I was quite proud of the ingenuity behind my classroom setup.

The students were a good group of boys. Although my co-instructors had a hard time relating to them, I think my background of playing on an all-boys water polo team for 4 years and having worked in a male dominant lifeguarding service for 13 years made it much easier for me to connect with this group. Along with the students I learned a great deal. I have more skills to add to my bag of tricks and made some revelations about myself as an outdoor instructor in this type of environment where you are forced to camp in small spaces with individuals you would rather not spend time with (i.e. bear camping, glacier camping). To make a long story short, I found that I should have communicated more with my co-instructors, who were more senior than I, making them aware of how their actions affected both the students and me. Instead I kept my mouth shut and tried my best to go along with my coworkers visions even when I disagreed. Upon reflection, I realized that I could have possibly changed the negative energy that built up throughout the course on the I-team. If faced with the same type of negative learning environment I will definitely speak up. Overall, I enjoyed my students and am thankful for the challenges presented on this course. I have already taken what I learned and applied it in situations that have come up recently in my lifeguarding job.

After finishing up our courses for NOLS, Corey and I flew back to Juneau. Upon our arrival Corey started working right away for Above and Beyond Alaska (ABAK). I, too, started guiding trips out to the Mendenhall as there were several tourists signing up for glacier treks. I spent ten more days in Juneau, AK; not enough in my book. J On my last day, I spent several hours solo climbing on the Mendenhall while Corey was working. I pushed my climbing skills beyond what I thought I was capable of in the beginning. The more stuff I ascended and descended the more comfortable I became. I can’t wait to go back and play some more.

I am currently residing in Marina Del Rey, CA and lifeguard at Venice Beach. I’ve been here since June 23^rd and am gearing up for the end of summer as I am feeling the fatigue setting in. I have spent the last several weeks lifeguarding 40-50 hours/week and teaching a science enrichment camp on my days off. During that time southern California was pounded by the biggest summer swell it has seen in 10 years! The waves were so large we had to shut down the Venice Pier due to the waves shoaling up under the pier and potentially causing structural damage. The last time the waves were that big (winter 2005 – may have been slightly bigger) the concrete bathrooms were swept into the ocean. Since the swell hit a couple weeks ago the surf has been much better. Inshore holes have made it more dangerous for ignorant beachgoers, but have made for some decent wave shape.

Today is the first of three days off in a row. I have spent the day being somewhat lazy. The most active thing I have done thus far is wash/wax my truck and go to the grocery store. I think tomorrow will be a surf, sand bag, and yoga day!