Tram in it to the top of Mt Roberts

Mt Roberts is the view that we see from our condo.  We have lived here for four years and kept saying that we needed to do the trail, so today was the day.  Since we couldn't start until 2 pm and Coastal has fee passes for the Tram, we decided to ride the tram up and then hike from there.

The Tram takes you up to 1800 ft and for those of you reading this, you must know that I hate the Tram ride up, really I do, I don't look around, I find a focus point, usually my hand or the floor and focus on my breathing.  At the Tram we stopped for a restroom break and then checked in the Nature Store for a trail map.  To my dismay, they were a $1.00 and since we brought no cash and we have trail books at home, there was no way I was paying for one.  I asked the elder women behind the counter for the the miles up to the summit.  She seemed a bit weary  that it was 2:30ish in the afternoon and we, well at that point it was I she saw Bob was in the restroom, was going to head to the summit.  I tried to reassure her that:  a. we lived here, b. the last tram was not until 9:30 pm and if we missed it, we would hike all the way down, sunset wasn't until 10:55 pm c. we have hiked plenty before and I didn't think that this trail was that challenging.  At this point Bob had walked up behind me and was giving a look.  I wasn't sure if it was the "I can't believe you told her we were locals look" or not.  I told the lady we had a cell, we would be fine and we headed off to hike.  What I found out later was that Bob was annoyed with the women for asking so many questions and implying that we weren't prepared.  Seriously, you should have seen some of the people that we saw on this trail:  hiking in poor footwear, no water, little kids being dragged along.  Anyway, our first stop . . .

We had picked up Subway before we came up and stopped at the first picnic table we came to for a bit of lunch and recharging.  The picnic table and scenic outlook just happened to look out to our condos.  They are the brown ones you see in the picture below.  While taking the picture and hiking, we had a few people comment that we lived here and we would just point, "yep, see those brown buildings, right over there".

Hiking along.  As you look at these pics, you should be able to tell who had the camera today.  It was a beautiful hike.

The view down Gastineau Channel towards Taku Inlet.

Takin' a breather.

Time for a water break.  I didn't realize that Bob was taking my picture as I was watering myself.

Ahhhh!

Smile.

I believe just before this picture we were singing "the hills are alive with the sound of music, ahhhhhhahhhh".  It just reminded us of the views in the Sound of Music.

Bob the Explorer

The view

At the top we found a spot to sit and Bob had brought a Coke along to enjoy, and yes, it was really a coke!

As we sat there, these guys floated into view.  We had seen a few different ones all along the trail.

As we hiked and chatted with a few of our fellow hikers, we were asked how high we thought the summit was.  Bob and I originally said 3300 to 3600 ft.  Then we lowered it to 3300 to 3500 ft.  As I was working on this blog posting I decided to look it up. It is actually "3816 vertical ft".  I told Bob at the end of the hike that I felt like we had speed hiked.  We were out of the car at 2 pm and back in by 6 pm.

People along the way: 

We meet a nice young (I know, can't believe I said that, but we are getting a bit older, from South Dakota.  They did pretty well, they ended up turning around, realizing that they didn't have the proper gear or water and they were really huffing and puffing.  I thought it was cute that at one point the girl told us that she couldn't believe we weren't laboring on the hike!  I assured her that I love hiking, but hate the up part and that we labored too.  We told them about a few trails in Skagway since that was their next port. 

High-fived a little guy decked out in Tiger gear.

Chatted with a man that was hiking in workboots, jeans and a sweatshirt!  It was warm out, by the top I was in a tank top and had zipped the legs off my pants! 

It was a perfect Monday, we ended our wonderful day with a stop at the Breeze for a take-n-bake and a slushie.  Then home to the couch where photos have been uploaded and blogged.  Bob is watching The Lightning Thief and since I have already seen it I am off to dreamland.

Yummy bread bowls

New Micro . . .

for now.  We plan to buy new appliances in the Fall, but this is what we are working with until then.

Out with the old

A few weeks ago, our microwave started sparking and smoking and although it had done this before, this time it was done for good.  We have lived with it still installed for a few weeks, today, Bob decided to remove it and throw it away. 

Bob trying to figure out what's still holding the darn thing in

As we take on new project, by choice or because we have no choice, we are discovering new projects:

I ranted a bit after seeing this, looks like they just punched a hole in the wall.  What happened to pride in your work?  Bob and I have been joking that with our "improvements" we are going to systematically destroy this place!

Auke Lake Trail

Pictures from Auke Lake Trail

Wouldn't you just love to "pull up to" the lake in your plane?

The old trail

 

The new trail

 

Bob and I went for a walk in the woods today.  We revisited a trail that we went on when we first arrived in JNU.  It was October 2006, we had just bought our rain gear, it was a rainy day and we wanted to make sure it kept us dry.  That was the first time we visited this trail.  Now it's 2010, the trail has been completely redone.  It's no longer a hike to us, but a walk in the woods.

Birthday Flowers

 My beautiful birthday flowers from my wonderful husband.  There were also birthday brownies, but they went pretty fast!

We both had to work today, but Bob picked me up and we decided since it was a beautiful night to walk over to downtown, stop in at the Dog and then get some Mexican for dinner.  On the walk over I remembered, as I am wearing flip-flops - which Bob questioned when we left the house, that the buses stop early on Sunday, so we would have to walk home also.  No big deal usually, but for the flip-flops that I had woren.  On the way, we saw some kind of crane that we usually don't see, so here they are.  We only had the little camera, so not much of a zoom, trust us, they are some kind of crane.

Once we got into town, we just decided to go and eat.  We went to the two Mexican places in downtown and realized that they are both closed on Sunday!  So much for our mission!  If you could have seen us, we were focused on getting some Mexican food.  Next we tried the Hanger and Bob was applaud with there prices, we have apparently never gone there for dinner and it is tourist season.  So we stopped by the Dog, had some potato skins and then started our walk home.  About 3/4 of the way home, my loving husband took pity on me, that and he needed to use the restroom and he sped up and then came back to get me.  Now I do this walk all the time and it is no big deal, with the proper shoes!  Alas, always be prepared - I know this!

Once back at home I enjoyed a very enlightening conversation with my brother and then snuggled with my love. 

Lilacs

I was so surprised the other day when I was walking home that I have been walking and driving by an entire block of lilacs and never even noticed.  I was stunned!  It is incredible to me that I have lived here for four years and never realized it was there.  It smells lovely and I will now make it a point to walk this way home and so that I can enjoy the beauty.

High Finger Fivin' the Mitten

On my walks to work in the morning, I have passed this "mitten" since we moved here.  Recently I started high fivin' it with my finger, it's not big enough for a full high five.  It kind of makes me laugh each time I do it, got a little Monk in my I guess cuz' now I can't pass it without the finger five.

Happy Birthday Sis!

Happy Birthday Sis!  I hope that you take some time for yourself today, you deserve it!

One lonely flip-flop

You would think that I would know better than to try and wear flip-flops on my walk to work, but in my defense after our hike the other day I got a blister and it hurt too darn much to wear shoes, so I headed to work in flops.  About 10-15 minutes into the walk I realized that this wasn't happenin'.  I need real shoes and I know this.  So I stop along side the road, change shoes and finish my hobble to work.  After a couple hours at work I can't take it anymore and decide to go and put my flops back on.  What do you think I find . . .

that's right, I only have a flop, no flip!  I must have left the other along side the road.  So after work, before my meeting I went and bought a pair of open back shoes.  Then I my way home I look for my flip, but no luck, I am left with a flop!

Campers' Cove Hike

Monday the 7th was Bob and mine's first day of summer vacation day off together.  The weather had been so nice that we decided to head out for a hike.  We both needed new hiking boots and we had been wanting to purchase a new smaller backpack for day hikes.  Using backpacks that are made for school books, just don't cut it and we've done that long enough.  Could be that we are getting older and we have a few more aches and pains then we used too.  After spending my entire first paycheck from the Dog, we had what we needed and were ready to go. 

The plan was to hike to Campers' Cove Cabin, have some lunch, fish and read, then hike out.  The hike was beautiful and it was so warm and sunny out.  At the cabin we played in the water, it was actually a nice temp, you could walk around in the shallow bay and your feet didn't ache from the cold after two minutes.  Then Bob fished, I read and we enjoyed the sunshine.  When it was time to start hiking out we decided that instead of hiking out the way we came, we would hike the loop, connecting so one of our favorite trails, Pt Bridget.  This is where the fun really begins, first, we didn't bring bug stuff, who forgot that?, then we were both a bit more tired then we realized and started to drag, next, we kept seeing some very large paws prints, trying to convince ourselves that it was a large dog!  On the way through the meadow, the tall grass started rustling, I knew that I couldn't make it to catch up with Bob before whatever was coming crossed our path, so I started backing up.  That darn porcupine scared the bejesus out of me!  He was all puffed up, Bob said, "it's not gong to shoot it's quills at you", how did he know that's what I thought it was going to do?  The rest of the hike to the trail head was fairly uneventful, just the two of us being together, enjoying this beautiful place, smacking at bugs and stumbling over tree roots cuz we were tired and not lifting our feet.  Once we hit the road, we had about a mile hike back to the truck.  Bob had said on the hike, when we were seeing lots of scat, that we wouldn't see a bear in the woods, but we would on the road . . . luck for us, I had my new whistle.  What a fabulous first hike.

 New Gear

Also notice on the new day pack a new carabeaner and whistle, which came in handy for beinging loud to let the bear know we were there.

Some of the bays that we hiked to

Nature

Molly playing in the cove

Nothin' like finding a rope swing in the middle of the woods

Wildfowers in the meadow

PS Thank you Joelle for our NAO gift certificates!

A Quiet Morning at Auke Bay Marina

This morning I was up super early, Bob had to be to work at 6 am and since I needed the truck, I was up with him.  I decided to just get ready for the day, Saturday School at 9 am, and after I took him to work, I went for a drive.  I ended up on Back Loop Road and as I entered Auke Bay, I say this gi-normous yacht!

Seriously, I know that you can't really tell from the pictures, but it was huge.  I never could see the name of it, I wanted to Google it and see if I could find out where it came from, no luck.  I am always curios who these things belong to when they roll into town.

A sailboat named Bob.

This was an odd looking boat and I was wondering what it was.  Upon closer inspection I found it to be for oil spill response.

It was flying a pirate's flag.

Auke Bay Marina

Heading out for a day of fishing.