Saturday afternoon after a long day of dog training and studying at a coffee shop while waiting for Smokey's class to be over I got a phone call inviting me to visit the Matanuska glacier the next day. And since that sounded like a lot more fun than cleaning the house and studying, I said yes! It was a glorious sunny day.
Very sunny. Very important to have sunglasses on glaciers.
And why else would you visit a glacier but to climb the ice? I can't think of any reasons because it was certainly very cold and windy outside of the protected area we were climbing in.
Sometimes you fall off the ice though, that's when you are glad to have a harness and rope and an awesome solid anchor system at the top.
Just like anything else, you pick yourself up and keep going. I chose to grunt when swinging the axe after my fall. I think it helped.
One. Move. At. A. Time. The most entertaining part of the day was the young man in our party visiting from Spain. He had not only never been ice climbing, but had never been on a glacier, and never been in such cold weather (it was about 17 F).
Eventually the top appears and it is always a surprise. Much better than looking for hand and foot holds when rock climbing. Cold, but way more fun. Can't wait for next time. Sorry Mom.
And nothing beats the lighting on the glacier. Night falls early and quickly. But any day on the glacier beats every day in the office.
Moonrise to walk back over the rocks by.
Saturday afternoon after a long day of dog training and studying at a coffee shop while waiting for Smokey's class to be over I got a phone call inviting me to visit the Matanuska glacier the next day. And since that sounded like a lot more fun than cleaning the house and studying, I said yes! It was a glorious sunny day.
Very sunny. Very important to have sunglasses on glaciers.
And why else would you visit a glacier but to climb the ice? I can't think of any reasons because it was certainly very cold and windy outside of the protected area we were climbing in.
Sometimes you fall off the ice though, that's when you are glad to have a harness and rope and an awesome solid anchor system at the top.
Just like anything else, you pick yourself up and keep going. I chose to grunt when swinging the axe after my fall. I think it helped.
One. Move. At. A. Time. The most entertaining part of the day was the young man in our party visiting from Spain. He had not only never been ice climbing, but had never been on a glacier, and never been in such cold weather (it was about 17 F).
Eventually the top appears and it is always a surprise. Much better than looking for hand and foot holds when rock climbing. Cold, but way more fun. Can't wait for next time. Sorry Mom.
And nothing beats the lighting on the glacier. Night falls early and quickly. But any day on the glacier beats every day in the office.
Moonrise to walk back over the rocks by.
1 comment:
I have missed so much!!! Not sure I will ever catch up, dang it. -- Patsy
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