Finally, a sunny day...

Such a nice day, probably the first blue skies Juneau has seen this whole month. And of course, guess what I did. I spent it hiking with a great group of people.

Brian and I took off up Mt. Roberts with the Ewing family, Brian, Lisa and Nathaniel. Such a nice day!!

Spaghetti Feed

Here are some pics from a week or so ago of some Juneau friends. We had a good meal and great hang out time!

Biking instead of hiking...

Saturday was a "nice" day here in Juneau. It didn't rain the whole day and I even saw some blue skies and sunshine!! Hiking Mt Juneau had been the plan for the day, but things changed, I went to garage sales (and bought a practically new Kitchen Aid for only $75) and then Paul, Brian and I went biking.

If you look really hard you can see the Herbert Glacier in the background. The white in the middle of the picture. We biked out to Boyscout Beach and then did a good five mile or so to Herbert Glacier.

Yes, I took this while riding. :) Good balance practice.

Here is the glacier up close, although we are unable to get much closer due to a raging river in the way!

Can you all see the fall colors in Alaska?? Not much, but it does make me happy to see some yellow leaves. Makes me remember my fall in Vermont only two years ago.

Victoria, British Columbia

While in the Pacific Northwest, I was also lucky to see my good friend Allison. I met her while in Vermont working as a travel nurse. I hadn't seen her for two years, so it was a really fun visit. We hung out in Seattle a bit and then took a ferry to Victoria.

Here is a bit of Victoria. A beautiful city and a beautiful day!!


The Craigdorroch Castle, built in 1889 by Robert Dunsmuir. He was the wealthiest man in British Columbia during that time period.


Allie and I in one of the many parks, surrounded by some great flowers.

Scenes from Oregon

Home sweet home for the month of August. It was awesome!! I was able to see a lot of friends, some of whom I haven't seen for a few years even. First up was a visit with my friend, Michelle. My roommate from nursing school. She's on her way to being a wonderful doctor.


My mom and I were able to go hiking around Mt. Hood. It was awesome. Good weather, good hike and good company. Here was a spot we climbed right above the lake we camped at.



A beach day with the family! It was a nice hot day at the beach and we all enjoyed some hotdogs and smores. My nephews are so cute!! I even saw an eagle at the beach in OREGON. Amazing! I see them all the time in Alaska, what fun to see one in Oregon.

Hiking in the Pacific NW

My best bud Sarah and I have always had a desire to hike the Pacific Crest Trail. Not all at once, but a little at a time over a good amount of years. We attempted our first section four years ago and it down poured on us, so we didn't make it very far. This year, Sarah picked our location to backpack for three days and it was right near Mt. Adams in Washington State.


We got off to a late start and had to change our plans in the middle of the day, but hiked for a few hours to get to this great meadow right under the mountain. It was a great night.

Here is Sarah cooking one of her great dehydrated meals.

We decided to day hike for most of the day on our second day. We started in the morning and started hiking around Mt. Adams for a few hours. It was a beautiful day, a little hazy off in the distance, but really nice!

Here is Sarah and I and Monty.

Our last day it did rain on us a bit. But we hiked the last six miles out and treated ourselves with a huckleberry milkshake.

Finally...Mt McGinnis

Finally took the opportunity of a "nice" day in Juneau to hike a mountain that has been in my mind for a long time. And what better hiking companions than my two roomies, Rachel and Janelle.The view was pretty nice most of the hike. Here is a good view of Mendenhall Glacier.

Unfortunately when we got to the top, it was cloudy and we couldn't see a thing from the top. I was a little perterbed. It was a pretty steep hike and really wanted a view from the top. We came down from the top the easy way on this snow bank. So cloudy you can't even see the top of the mountain!

Here is my roomies and I!

Flowers do bloom here.

If you can see the little tiny tent and people, this is what some of the cruise ships offer for a few hundred dollars. A trip to walk on the glacier!

To the glacier with Mom

My mom was wonderful enough to come and visit me for a week during July. It was a lot of fun and almost didn't rain the whole time! We did some fun hikes, a boat tour and had some good meals.

Brian and I took Mom to the glacier, a good day for a hike and another good opportunity to touch the glacier.

Here we are in the midst of the ice.

Tracy Arm Glacier Tour

Mom and I took a trip to the Tracy Arm Glacier. It was a very long boat ride to and from the glacier, but well worth the adventure. Along the way we saw some whales, seals, a brown bear, and all sorts of ICE!

Happy Fourth of July!

Fourth of July is a big day in Juneau. The whole population of 30,000 people or so come to downtown Juneau to watch the fireworks which are on the night of the 3rd/4th, unlike everywhere else in the USA. A big group of us gathered at Brian's mom's house to watch the fireworks from her porch. Only one small cruise ship in town that night.

It was a pretty decent show, lasted about 30 minutes.

The day of the fourth is also a big deal, the only traffic problem I'll ever see in Juneau is this day, it took us about ten minutes to pull out of a parking lot after the parade. This picture is the Filipino group dancing and representing. They had great outfits!

The loud and fun group I was with most of the day!

Hiking Heintzleman Ridge

This awesome hike was about two weeks ago with another fun group, Christine and her husband Tim, Brian Ewing, my Brian, my roomie, Rachel and myself. Plus four border collies!

Yes, flowers are finally blooming in Juneau, it took until July, but they are here. The short month long summer is finally here!


More beauty to behold! A truly fantastic place to hike and live for this period of time.