Byron with Friends

I have had a few visitors this summer. This month I had my nephew up for about ten days. His visit coincided with the three week visit of a Japanese graduate student I am hosting until the end of the month. She is studying ice algae, or 'red snow' as we commonly call it. I planned some epic algae hunting adventures for us, but we tried our luck and skills on Byron glacier first. I have been doing research here since fall of 2009, mostly on the avalanche cones we are walking up to. I almost always stop there, but couldn't really tell if that would be adaquate for Megumi's work, so we all pressed on to the toe of the glacier. Except my nephew; he opted to play on the rocks instead.

Not only do I usually work at the avalanche cones, I usually work alone. Sometimes I bring my dogs. This was my first view of the toe. The point at which I decided we would have to hope for red snow in those lower patches because I did not bring a rope, crampons, or ice screws with me and did not want to try my luck with the rocks next to the ice with an inexperienced mountaineer. This is the point at which I began to totally rethink the plan I had developed for her stay. It was evident that she was not comfortable, but I could not tell at that time what I would learn a lot more about later.

Things you don't think to ask people from other places: have you ever walked on snow? have you ever walked on rocks? have you ever walked off a trail? have you ever walked on a steep slope? None of these? Well! Let me change that for you in one fell swoop!

Super glad I gave Kyle the camera, he captured some great shots on this trip and several other days. I would gladly take him anywhere. Just wish he could have told me at this point how far behind me she was and how slowly she was moving. It took me a while to notice and fully comprehend. The adjustment was painful for me, but has ultimately ended in success - no visits to the hospital or rescue by my SAR group.

Busy Beaver

So, I've been a little busy. Sorry for the silence. I have about two minutes right now, so I'll just tell you about this one photo. It's of the AK pipeline, somewhere in the Livengood area. That's a town that sprang into existence ~1914 due to the (late) discovery of gold. The town does not exist anymore. It's just a DOT maintenance camp, a (closed) general store, some small scale mining operations, an old pipeline construction camp, and a road intersection. I was up there flying around in a helicopter for work. This was the second day of flying and this helo did not have a door attached on my side. I have flown in a lot of helos for a lot of reasons in a lot of places. But never with the door off. It was exciting.

Aloha Break

The day after my final final Niwt and I flew to Kauai for a week and a weekend. There was sand and beaches and warm ocean water to be enjoyed.

We kayaked in a National Wildlife Refuge and saw endangered geese. Then we kayaked to the Bay and were pummeled by wind and waves and rain.

When it was sunny we checked out a coffee plantation and when it wasn't sunny we checked out a national garden. It was not sunny a lot so we had to get creative. At least the rain here won't kill you or turn to hail.

The only shells I could find on the beach were tiny. And there weren't many of them. Not what I expected.

We camped on the beach most nights. Right after we set up the tent it started pouring rain. It did that a lot. Overall themes of the trip were: rain, waterfalls, beaches, minor injuries (ripping off large portions of toenails, scraps, cuts, bruises), and fresh fruit. It was fun and I have tan lines on my feet, therefore the trip was sucessful - even if I didn't get to snorkel.

Jail Cat and Boo Boo Dog

Sunshine cat wants to know what you are doing. She assumes all cameras are here to take pictures of her. She's usually correct. Saturday her beautiful self was enjoying the sun and watching the dog....

...in his BooBoo Loon collar. Which is an improvement on the Cone. Tatonka had his stitches out Friday afternoon, but wasn't healed up all the way yet so he had to sport the BooBoo for a few more days.

He's right as rain now, with pretty good test results. We'll be back at training this week and we're already back to running a couple miles morning and night with hikes on the weekend.

The wild jungle cat has been captured at last! She is tamed behind the metal barrier.

*GASP* With a flick of her paw too quick to be seen she is free and walks the plank again.

Quickpee Likes Breakfast

No, Mom, this is not a post about me. A few weeks ago I was following my normalish morning routine and I made one change which made me roll my eyes but seconds later made me grateful. I let Tatonka outside (Percy abandoned me for Niwt after dinner) and I told him to go pee so he could have breakfast. That made me roll my eyes because 'breakfast' and 'dinner' are part of dog vocabulary around here. I realized that having said this to him as I was closing the door meant I had only bought myself a few moments of peace from his morning exuberance. I walked into the kitchen and petted Frog. It took me a couple blinks to realize I had an extra animal outside. Luckily when I ran back to the front door to retrieve my retriever he was waiting for 'breakfast' right outside the door. Never been so thankful for his appetite ever before. I had to quickly sneak outside and tell Niwt to keep Percy inside; she has a more volatile and unpredictable reaction to moose. Now I check the yard every morning to see if I have a moose bedded down there before I release the hounds.

Favorite Things

See if you can spot the sarcasm....

I love it when people with 'smart phones' ride the bus. From my personal observation (from the seat of my bike) when they step off the bus and begin their journey down the sidewalk they forget to join the rest of us in the real world and they walk and text down the middle of the sidewalk. I'm here to tell you it isn't pretty and it's at least as dangerous to me as people driving and texting.

I also love vehicle shopping. Heaven forbid you have taken the time to know what you want. Because you won't be able to find it. Even if money were no object. Not that I don't totally love my bike being my main mode of transportation. It's just that I forgot to run errands last weekend and I'm out of cat food. For some reason in this town all the pet stores are within one large shopping mall block of each other. I'm not kidding, even the new one. And it's way outside my biking range. Except for the high end one down by the railroad tracks. Its entire business hours are while I'm at work and class all day. Fear not, the cats are just getting fat off the stores of canned food I have for bribing them to not scratch me when I administer twice daily medicine.

I love that I have two dogs. So do the cats. This way someone gets to feel superior at all times. Usually it's the cats. Rarely is it me. A few nights ago I settled down in my study chair to study. I realized I forgot my snack on the kitchen counter, so I retrieved it. I don't live in a huge house or anything. We're talking the journey to the kitchen is approximately 3 seconds from the chair. I returned to the chair and noticed Percy was licking her chops and looking sheepish. I didn't think much of it at the time as she had a kong with peanut butter in it and she pretty much always looks sheepish. Despite having this dog in my life for six years I have apparently not mastered the ability to tell 'sheepish' from 'guilty'. This was obvious as soon as I was a couple pages into the reading and thought I would have a little sip of eggnog. Funny, I don't remember spilling on the outside of the cup.......wait, why is the cup mostly empty....and there is nog on the table, floor, dog bed, ..... dog..... Damn dog. That was a huge cup....and it had rum in it. Maybe that was the attractant. Stay tuned for future tests to see if Percy will be attending AA meetings.

I think most of what else I love in the world right now can be summed up with people's realistic sense of themselves. This includes their pets and children. No, I'm sure your akita on the extendable leash ten feet from you had nothing to do with knocking you off your feet when he lunged at me. Seriously, go ahead, blame the female runner.....with the lab....on the pinch collar....I'm sure he started it. Yes, your chihuahua is so cute it's like it's not even a dog. Go ahead and bring him inside the place of business. His constant yapping won't bother a soul. Don't mind if I do the same thing with my 96 pound black lab. You don't mind, do you? It's okay, he's a search and rescue dog so he's perfect. Oh, except that he doesn't really like little yappy dogs. Thanks for the snack.....

View from the Snow Cave

Most of my winter fun has involved a view such as this from inside a snow cave. Now that school has started this is about as fun as it gets. When it's darker because I'm training at night or there is loose snow over the blocks for a more advanced dog, I often fall asleep. Sometimes inside a snow cave is the best place to be; it's out of the wind, it's quiet, and there's nothing to stress about. Especially if you have done something silly like not doing a radio check before you get in the cave and you actually have a dead radio. Then it's really quiet.

Tatonka and I have a full day tomorrow. We're giving a demonstration to some kids at the science center, doing some backcountry skiing together, and then a little cave work. He has no idea how much fun is headed his way or I'm sure he would have not given me that sappy big brown eyed pathetic look when I left the house this morning.