Balaska!

so, with the semseter finally over, the wait was also over. Alaska! or as milo and jonas say, "Balaska!" we sent derek off for this last month to the land of the midnight sun. there are two versions of the last month...

maren says:

so derek up and left us for a month...it was actually kind of nice...I didn't worry about if the dishes were done, or if the boys only ate mac n' cheese and hot dogs for days on end, and as for picking up toys and putting them away, didn't happen!

disclaimer: not that derek expects me to keep the house clean, but it's something that I feel obligated (as the stay-at-home spouse) to do.

But the boys were super cute about him being gone, they'd get up in the morning and ask, "is dad at skoo?" Well, yes and no, dad's getting credit hours, but not at "school" per se. We made one of those paper ring chains to count down the days until he came home...we probably shouldn't have done it the first day he left, it was a stinking long chain! But it was nice to see it getting progressively shorter. Although I was semi-sad to see the chain getting shorter because I knew Derek's experience on the mountain was drawing to an end. Every time I pictured him in my head, all I could see was a big grin! I knew there was so much he was learning and gaining, and you just can't go back to those type of experiences everyday. But when he finally called and said he was off the mountain, I was so happy! I knew our prayers for his safety had been answered and he had learned a ton! (and he was coming home!)

Kudos to all you single parents out there, I am so impressed with how you get along!

So I know there are some of you out there who are thinking, "man Derek's such a jerk to leave Maren and the kids at home like that. To you I say, I'm so happy he got to have this experience! And no he didn't just up and leave me...It was a mutual decision that we determined would benefit his future career and leadership abilities. Not to mention that he got 6 upper division credit hours which means that he can graduate in December, rather than having to go one more semester!! That's what I'm talking about!

Plus, now that he's home, he's a whole different man (as I type he's doing the dishes!).

and he's hot!

derek says:

it was bitter sweet to leave maren and the boys for such a long time. i wouldn't have been able to have the grand experience i did with out their sacrifices as well as others. thank you very much for everyones support this last month and the months leading up to it. the last month is one i will never forget. i don't think i ever got used to the grand scale of the landscape up in Haines. the mountains are huge up there. a landmark that might seem only a half hour away would take two exhausting hours to arrive to. the lack of darkness also screwed up "sleeping patterns." somedays, i felt like a zombie, because it didn't matter what time it was....it was either skiing time, eating time, or crevasse rescue session time or "sleeping" time, etc.

our expeditions members were comprised of wes (our guide) and tatiana (the assistant guide). the other members were me, ryan (montana), chris (california), simon (london, uk), and henrik (copenhagen, denmark).

(it's a very small world.)

out of all of the times, dates, places, languages, and events, i was able to meet a Dane in the middle of somewhere Alaska. it's been a few years since i've been able to speak danish, but it was really a treat to able to speak it for the last month. it was really good to listen to it, and even better to still be able to understand it. according to henrik, i still speak it well. (maybe he was just being tactful)

anyway, the group was pretty diverse in terms of experience. simon was and still is on the IWLS (international wildreness leadership school) semester program. he was a lawyer back in the uk and decided to quit and learn "how to be a guide" in order to start up a guiding company back home. quite the turn around. ryan is a professional photographer (at the age of 21!) he has worked for skiing magazine and currently is studying at a university in montana. Chris just recently graduated from high school and was taking the course for more experience with leadership. he's starting university this fall. henrik is a software designer and world traveler. he studied tibetan philosophy for a while and one of the most genuine people i've ever met.

the trip started with a heli ride up the garrison glacier which is west/north west of haines. we were supposed to take a plane, but low visibility led us to taking a helicopter. we arrived on the glacier around noon and were greeted by really wet, wet, wet snow. i wasn't in utah. the temps weren't that low (40ish), but wind tended to cool things off. a lot of the time we were in a glass of milk. mainly in the "mornings" the fog was very thick. henrik was right at home. the coldest it ever got was around 20 without windchill. not bad...sometimes.

we actually were very blessed...the weather held us pinned for only 6 days out of the 24 we were there for. i will say, however, staring at the top of a Kelty orb 3 with 2 other stinky people as well as my own stink for 6 days straight can drive one mad. chris and ryan were my tent mates. (ryan had a bad case, throughout the whole trip, of MF...mountain farts) patience is key when mountaineering. ironically, i was reading a book about erenst shackleton's voyage to antartica. (i had it easy)

the skiing wasn't utah powder, but was excellent nonetheless. i think it was the fact that i would be skiing along and then look up and realize where i was. i've never grinned so much skiing. the descents were huge as well. we would certainly work for it though. a lot of our starts were alpine, meaning 2 am starts. it may sound really early, but it was always daytime so i never felt really tired. we would skin a good 4-5 hours and then ski the best lines i have ever skied in my life. it was spring skiing, so we had to start early. if we started late, the skiing would be more dangerous due to avalanches and the snow would turn to mashed potatoes. there was only once where this happened and i think it was to show us how horrible it was to ski in knee deep muck.

our route took us up the garrison glacier and then south across a huge glacier which connects with the davidson and tongass glacier. it was on the top of this "saddle" where i thought was the best of all of our camps. there was endless descent lines and huge jagged peaks. the best views by far! we summited Red Wing Peak which was just 6 miles from our camp. it wasn't super technical, but did require some snow climbing for the 6,650 ft summit. the summit was really really windy, so we didn't stay long, plus we had some skiing to do.

i will interject here and say...we didn't just ski and ski and ski and play and ski.....well...yeah we did but we also had many if not more sessions regarding other hardskills, as well as, more importantly, soft skills pertaining to ski mountaineering and guide mentality, protocols, and leadership/followership styles. the skiing was the icing on the cake, but for me the lessons learned were what i was after as well as the experience....well....the skiing was actually...just kidding!

we ended the trip by descending the tongass glacier with some "excitingness" (not so) on the way. we were able to see some bear tracks but never did see smoky. our plane picked us up and all of the sudden it was over. (this is the readers digest version) hmmm....i believe skiing is a sickness and i'm terminally ill. i will say, i really was excited to see maren and the boys. you really do appreciate more what you have when you don't have it. they're my life.

thank you again to everyone that helped and supported us this past month. we love you all. by the way, check out maren's blog. it's really funny. our kids are so cool. all 3 of them.