Wednesday, June 27, 2012

still more from don sheldon cabin

not too many more i want to add. good thing as i'm waiting for my niece and her friend to arrive and we'll be off exploring so no doubt taking more photo's. i was in the middle seat on the way back. looked like a nice view out the front of the plane. raining or threatening of rain today so hoping that clears and my niece can do this flight. we shall see. gotta go by the weather on these trips and adjust plans as needed.
worked last 3, was ready to sleep this morning. did awaken a bit early so that i could make a drive north. my cousin laurie is in town. haven't seen her for many years so it was fun to sit for a few minutes and catch up. a meal would have been easier as i had the dogs and they were a bit antzy after a drive to hatchers pass. eventually, i loaded them back up and took them up to independence mine for a walk in a drizzle.
denali peaks out. guess murkowski is once again attempting to get mckinley renamed officially back to the native denali, which means "the big one" i believe. people in alaska generally use the denali name anyway. mckinley was just some politician from ohio who never even set foot in alaska. i think he has family that continues to fight to prevent name change. it gets old naming stuff for politicians though. where is mother theresa way or ghandi peak?
interesting seeing the life that exists way up there. not too much happening, but still it's a start.
more tourists on the glacier.
an old wreck was spotted on a glacier and a team went out to recover what they could. the crash was from the 1950's, military. would be good to be able to finally lay that mystery to rest for the families. pretty random find. lots of deep crevasses where the plane wreck was so a crew had to be extremely careful trying to recover. they got what they could from the top of the glacier and didn't risk going into the crevasses. did get some human remains and things that apparently will aid in the identification process.
looking down a rabbit hole...big rabbit!!
there were some interesting cases at work. not my direct patients, but you end up helping out with all the patients at times. my load was pretty easy so i was able to help a bit.
a large mass was thought to be cancer turned out to be some strange cyst filled with tape worm type thing. yikes. guess it's better than cancer, but from what we read if that cyst breaks a terrible anaphylactic reaction could occur. always something new in medicine. i like that. my work is rarely dull.
watched the crew that camped below us pack up and then they went for a ski. not sure i'm brave enough to ski so close to obviously open crevasses, but then i ski like crap anyway. i've only actually gone downhill a few times. the lifts gave me the worse time of all.
they use the skins to get up the hills and then remove them. guess this process has gotten easier in easier over the years. the equipment we all have to do the things we love just keeps improving. still an outhouse is an outhouse and the pads just can't replace a nice mattress.
most of these first ones are with the rebel.
we all obsessed about this big hole way up there.
rock/snow slides seemed constant.
the light changed over and over as well. i knew i'd be taking a zillion photo's of the same mountains.
independence mine looked kinda cool cloaked in mist and fog. will load those hopefully before i take off for round island. that trip will come up quickly.
my gear hasn't ever made it back in it's place since before memorial day.
this is same group the day before. they are returning from doing climbs in the crevasse. they are roped up together.
looks like michelle and lena will save me and take care of the pups. still need to check with the neighbors next door so see if they can keep an eye on the house stuff, trash out, mail in, the cats, mow lawn a few times perhaps. haven't seen them yet, hopefully they can. i'm so grateful that michelle and lena will take the girls. probably worked out better this way. they've had a few runs at it and the dogs should be happier there.
here they are doing thier crevasse work. looks like they are having fun.
i saw that one raven fly by and then lots of these guys. don't think i saw any other birds up there.
gail above, the cabin below.
gail and mack go through our stuff down below. night one, 4 tents below.

we really did get blessed with amazing weather.
as i drove to hatchers i chatted with my eldest brother, claires dad. when i drive a bit it's always a good opportunity to try and catch some family at home and check in.
liked this bird shot.
more crevasse action above and slide action below.

the sleds are out there to assist the pilots in landing and getting thier depth perception right. still enjoying the book about don sheldon.
i think we will all sleep good tonight. its raining right now. i tried to clean some today, but it will just have to do. the byers cabin should be easier to pack for. looks like karen, katie and alicia will join us the first night, which will be fun. wine, fire and laughter hopefully...always a great idea.
these are from the flight in. loved the little pools of blue below us.
the ice is always on the move. it doesn't look like it, but that stuff down there is a slow river, powerful though.

i think it was on stuff like this that the plane wreck was found from the 50's.
kinda happy that all my big travel stuff will be done in time for the olympics to start. i do enjoy being able to watch that a bit. not obsessively, but will be cool to be able to relax, watch olympics, take longer hikes and just enjoy that july/august alaska. this summer will be over quicker due to all these trips. what to do next year. will rest from planning for a few months.
above is the dark morainne of the edge of a glacier. below is the river of silt water that comes out of the glaciers.
green, green we are now surrounded again by green!!
looking out the back window at the glacier behind us. these are again from the little camera, on route back to talkeetna.
i'd tossed the monkey on the seats and the pilot tucked him in the pocket. cute, eh?

these are backwards so us getting back out to glacier and awaiting our pick up. we got down fairly early to try and avoid the long days making our trek back as slushy as our trek in. it went very smoothly.

chilling on a glacier, eating lunch.

i was safely back off the rock and feeling more relaxed. the snow on the glacier at the landing field is pretty packed down and therefore feels more stable.
that second night i work at some point...yes the second night i slept. this is as dark as it got out there solstice. loved the pink!!
denali was again hiding but that is where the mountain should be...how could something so large be so hard to see?
the tasty spread of dinner on night two.
it was delicious!!
compliments to the chef, shelly!!
i think i ate better out there than i do at home on a normal night. i have some steaks in the freezer for this weekend. will just have to cut up some potatoes...planning on stealing this steak meal and the meal of fajita's or similar that gail had made the night before. well, i think i got these in pretty fast. not an indepth conversation this evening. that is how it goes. wanted to share the rest of the cabin shots though before i start moving on to other alaska shots. hope everyone out there is enjoying life!! thanks for stopping by.