View From Bird

I was thwarted again this weekend in my attempts to hunt ice worms on glaciers. So instead I hunted glaciers. Smokey followed me up Bird Ridge on Saturday for my second attempt at viewing the hypothetical Bird Glacier. We got a break in the clouds long enough to look up the valley. But the valley curves, so I can't truly see the area where the glacier would be if it still exists.

See how close we are to the ocean? Notice how far down it is? It feels like this ridge climbs straight up, like I've been up stairs that had less slope.

This is my high-tech ice worm hunting clothes. Also what I have lived in almost all summer. No bikinis here; stretchy waterproof layers. And this weekend I have been sporting whatever shoes don't kill my road rashed ankle that had a close encounter with the pavement on my bike last Thursday. You don't even want to know what my thigh looks like. I didn't know bruises could come in those colors. Don't worry Mom, I'm too sore to ride to work for a few days and I think I'll wait until the insurance card shows up in the mail first.

Smokey has awesome new binoculars, but they still aren't good enough to see ice worms from here. Never mind that I'm looking at the glaciers across the inlet..... I think I've successfully begged an airplane ride to check out my potential remote glaciers for access (and existence!). And the permit application for the Forest Service work has been altered to include the possibility of being dropped off by helicopter. What? Everything is close to a heli ski base and they aren't exactly super busy right now. Plus, I bet I can get field assistants that way.

Sunday was nearly as exciting, but maybe not as glorious. Tatonka and I went to cheer on a fellow canine SAR teamate who was going through her final test for certification. We start our series tonight and worked a three hour problem yesterday while we waited for her. We started in the only sun we have seen in weeks. But that soon ended and the rain held off until we finished working, so I guess that is a success around here. Tatonka was very good at keeping my feet warm while I studied last night, except for his snoring.