We recently had the extreme pleasure of taking a three hour glacier trekking trip with our friends' company, MICA Guides. They operate fully guided treks and climbing trips on the Matanuska Glacier. We went along for our fun AND to help give their new summer interns the opportunity to practice their guiding skills.
Michiel had never been on crampons and I had only done it once, but we found it to be pretty easy to pick up and very gratifying to get way onto the glacier to see hidden lakes, ice falls, and incredible shapes and forms.
See the photos web log to see just how incredible it was!
Monday, June 13, 2005
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Feelin' Clammy
After the moose incident, we got into the car - hearts still pounding - and joined some friends for a long drive to a beach along the Pacific Coast to dig for razor clams. Clams are best harvested at a large negative tide, that is, when the low tide is far off shore - preferably more than -2 feet. Yesterday's tide was -2.5 feet, so we thought it would be fun to go clamming.
Armed with fishing licenses, 5-gallon buckets, fluorescent pink and green rubber gloves and shovels, we descended on the beach to look for the little dimples that indicate the presence of a clam. When you see a dimple, you start digging quickly and carefully. The clam shells are very sharp (thus the name "razor clam") and fragile, which makes digging very tricky. Just a little too close and the clam shell is shattered. The clams are also very fast diggers, themselves, so it's a race between you and the spitting clam that is trying to pull itself vertically deeper into the sand.
It was good fun but not very fruitful as the tide wasn't really low enough to get the really big guys. In fact, only the experienced clammer in the group got his limit (60). When we returned home, we had the more difficult task of cleaning them (which includes removing them from the shell, rinsing them several times and cutting out all of the internal organs and yucky parts (very scientific, huh?). Here's a photo to get a better idea:
Michiel and I managed to harvest enough to make a clam sauce for our pasta dinner - but it sure was a lot of work. If we had to live off the land this summer, we would be in for big weight loss. Kidding aside, we ARE trying to live as much as possible off the land since groceries are more than twice as expensive as what we're used to paying in Amsterdam, but we'll have to try something closer (this required nearly a 2.5 hour drive each way) and more bountiful.
On another note: just saw a bald eagle swoop past the cabin window with something in its talons. Excellent!
Armed with fishing licenses, 5-gallon buckets, fluorescent pink and green rubber gloves and shovels, we descended on the beach to look for the little dimples that indicate the presence of a clam. When you see a dimple, you start digging quickly and carefully. The clam shells are very sharp (thus the name "razor clam") and fragile, which makes digging very tricky. Just a little too close and the clam shell is shattered. The clams are also very fast diggers, themselves, so it's a race between you and the spitting clam that is trying to pull itself vertically deeper into the sand.
It was good fun but not very fruitful as the tide wasn't really low enough to get the really big guys. In fact, only the experienced clammer in the group got his limit (60). When we returned home, we had the more difficult task of cleaning them (which includes removing them from the shell, rinsing them several times and cutting out all of the internal organs and yucky parts (very scientific, huh?). Here's a photo to get a better idea:
Michiel and I managed to harvest enough to make a clam sauce for our pasta dinner - but it sure was a lot of work. If we had to live off the land this summer, we would be in for big weight loss. Kidding aside, we ARE trying to live as much as possible off the land since groceries are more than twice as expensive as what we're used to paying in Amsterdam, but we'll have to try something closer (this required nearly a 2.5 hour drive each way) and more bountiful.
On another note: just saw a bald eagle swoop past the cabin window with something in its talons. Excellent!
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Attack!
Cooper, the dog belonging to our landlady, used to be able to roam freely around Hope but on the day we arrived in town, he was discovered after 5 days of being "locked onto" a female dog. The ensuing emergency visit to the vet (driven by the lady who was formerly looking after him), stitches and lampshade-like dog collar made us wary of letting him roam while WE were his caretakers.
While we were looking after him and we weren't walking, jogging or hiking with this exceptionally social dog, we had to keep him on a leash outside to keep him from being too bored and lonely. Yesterday morning, he was on the leash and started barking like crazy. There had been a cow moose and her calf visiting the house the past two evenings and we knew that Cooper would bark like that when she was around.
I was in the main house and came down the porch stairs to see what was going on only to nearly walk right into the moose which was standing just around the corner. Cooper lunged at the calf, which started to walk down the driveway, but the mother moose (an ENORMOUS creature) did what threatened cow moose do - she reared up on her hind legs and tried to stomp on the dog. Meanwhile, I tried to pull Cooper back by his leash. Luckily, the leash kept Cooper from actually touching the moose and yanked him away from the rapidly descending hoof.
I was able to drag the snarling dog back into the house and the moose didn't seem interested in pursuing me so she nonchalantly loped down the driveway to join her calf.
Needless to say...I didn't really need any coffee to get me going for the rest of the morning.
While we were looking after him and we weren't walking, jogging or hiking with this exceptionally social dog, we had to keep him on a leash outside to keep him from being too bored and lonely. Yesterday morning, he was on the leash and started barking like crazy. There had been a cow moose and her calf visiting the house the past two evenings and we knew that Cooper would bark like that when she was around.
I was in the main house and came down the porch stairs to see what was going on only to nearly walk right into the moose which was standing just around the corner. Cooper lunged at the calf, which started to walk down the driveway, but the mother moose (an ENORMOUS creature) did what threatened cow moose do - she reared up on her hind legs and tried to stomp on the dog. Meanwhile, I tried to pull Cooper back by his leash. Luckily, the leash kept Cooper from actually touching the moose and yanked him away from the rapidly descending hoof.
I was able to drag the snarling dog back into the house and the moose didn't seem interested in pursuing me so she nonchalantly loped down the driveway to join her calf.
Needless to say...I didn't really need any coffee to get me going for the rest of the morning.
The Excitement Never Ends...
We went for a jog a couple of days ago and chose a long, gravel road paralleling the mountains. It was all going fairly well, especialy since I (Sheri) am only a reluctant runner. I was getting ready to turn back but Michiel suggested we go a little further, just to see what was beyond the bend in the road. Curiosity works well in motivating me, so I agreed. We saw a black "critter" ahead on the side of the road. It's long ears made me think it was a dog, butI didn't discount the other voice in my head and Michiel's, which said, "I think that's a bear."
We jogged a little further, the sweat blurring my vision of the furry thing about 3 bus lengths ahead. Surprisingly, the dog we were jogging with made no sign of realizing that there was something there and he normally barks at everything. As we watched the way the furry thing moved, we both (Michiel and I) knew that that it wasn't a dog. It was slowly walking towards us but hadn't caught our scent, yet (they don't have good vision - but DO have excellent smell). Suddenly, it stood on it's hind legs as if it heard us. It stopped, raised its ears and looked around, but then continued foraging in the brush along the road and continued walking towards us.
At that point, we started walking slowly backwards - keeping an eye on the black bear. When we were sure that it was busy in the brush, we headed home - occasionally turning back to make sure we weren't being followed.
We jogged a little further, the sweat blurring my vision of the furry thing about 3 bus lengths ahead. Surprisingly, the dog we were jogging with made no sign of realizing that there was something there and he normally barks at everything. As we watched the way the furry thing moved, we both (Michiel and I) knew that that it wasn't a dog. It was slowly walking towards us but hadn't caught our scent, yet (they don't have good vision - but DO have excellent smell). Suddenly, it stood on it's hind legs as if it heard us. It stopped, raised its ears and looked around, but then continued foraging in the brush along the road and continued walking towards us.
At that point, we started walking slowly backwards - keeping an eye on the black bear. When we were sure that it was busy in the brush, we headed home - occasionally turning back to make sure we weren't being followed.
Monday, June 06, 2005
Fun in Hope
Life is good in Hope. We have been doing some manual labor in order to "work down" our rent on the little cabin. Sheri is now an expert at stacking wood and Michiel is deliriously happy with his new role as gardener and dog "owner".
Of course, there's been plenty of socializing with the folks in Hope (inescapable in a town of less than 200 people), going to the local "watering hole" to listen to live music, and some day hikes.
We have been having gorgeous sunsets. Yesterday's was pink and purple and as we watched it from the end of town overlooking the Cook Inlet, a moose galloped across the pasture behind us.
A few mornings ago, the dog alerted us (by barking furiously) that there was a stranger on the property. It turned out to be a momma moose with twin calves and they were making their way past our window, around the cabin and into the woods.
Current sunrise: 4:32 AM
Sunset: 11:21 PM
Of course, there's been plenty of socializing with the folks in Hope (inescapable in a town of less than 200 people), going to the local "watering hole" to listen to live music, and some day hikes.
We have been having gorgeous sunsets. Yesterday's was pink and purple and as we watched it from the end of town overlooking the Cook Inlet, a moose galloped across the pasture behind us.
A few mornings ago, the dog alerted us (by barking furiously) that there was a stranger on the property. It turned out to be a momma moose with twin calves and they were making their way past our window, around the cabin and into the woods.
Current sunrise: 4:32 AM
Sunset: 11:21 PM
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