For Fourth of July weekend we decided to take our little family on a backpacking trip out to Crescent Lake with some friends.
We had the Chariot for the two little ones and Corinne hiked the whole way in and out.
We had the Chariot for the two little ones and Corinne hiked the whole way in and out.
It was 7 miles in to the lake and it there was quite a bit of tough terrain.
I stayed at the back to help stabilize the Chariot.
Taking a lunch break on the way in. Lauren and Torsten wanted out and Corinne wanted in!
We were so excited when we made it there. Crescent Lake is a beautiful place.
As soon as we arrived, the kids went to the lake to throw rocks in the water. Torsten really wanted to go in the water.
In only took a few minutes before he did.......
...right after Lauren went in just ABOVE her rubber boots. Unhappy kids for a minute.
Haakon took Corinne fly fishing with him for the Grayling in the river.
He taught her how to cast all by herself.
She caught a few bushes, but she also caught her first Grayling all by herself!
She loved it and Haakon had a hard time getting her to quit for dinner time. We had delicious fresh Grayling every night as part of dinner.
We had a little owl visit our campsite. The girls got a kick out of watching it's head turn all the way to the back.
Corinne peeking out of our tent.
Bedtime with Torsten was the biggest challenge of the trip. He just wanted to wrestle everyone until one in the morning. Lots of fun!
Lauren having a great time in the tent.
Yay! We survived the night.... barely!
The rest of the group stayed in the public use cabin. I am hoping to get a picture of our group on there. We had a great time with the Pond's, the Tuia's and Ty Z. Thanks for inviting us!
I am positive that our presence made the whole trip more...... exciting!
There were float planes coming and going all day on the Fourth of July.
Hanging out on the boat....
Our friend Kaye did the girls hair in a lovely french braid.
Heading out!
We figured out later that Haakon was carrying over 160 lbs. He was amazing!
Lunch break by the river... notice Lauren's cute braid didn't even last an hour.
Sisterly love! They are such good friends!
The T-monster! Lookin' so cute!
Taking off on his own little hike. I love all the beautiful wild flowers up here!
We made it and had a great time! We felt such a sense of accomplishment as a family and caught a glimpse of what it must have been like for those early pioneer's who crossed the plains with their young families.
We are excited to do more trek's like this with our kids and love to prove to others that just because you have kids you don't have to stop doing the things you love. (A little more complicated... yes! But soooo worth the effort!)
HAPPY PIONEER DAY!!!
Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau the day before we fly out for Gustavus.
Haakon's cousin Terry drove his motorcycle up from California and joined us on the big trip.
Here we are on the boat headed out to our drop off point in Glacier Bay National Park.
Some of the wildlife we saw on the boat ride. Seals......
Puffins......
Humpback whales.....
At the drop off spot..... Kind of weird having tourist video you as the boat is pulling away.
Headed out in our double kayak. Lovely shot of me as I focus too hard on trying to get us in the shot while not dropping the camera into the water.
Haakon and Terry making plans. We were geared up with a book, map and HJ's brand new GPS. Which kept track of our trip, travel speed, distance etc. It was fun to have along.
The water was amazing the first day. We paddled with the tides into a beautiful place called Adam's Inlet. We paddled 22 miles (info from the GPS) with the help of the strong tide.
Adam's Inlet had tons of animal life. Porpoises swimming all around us, as well as seal and tons of birds.
Lots of bugs at our first camp spot. Haakon is showing off our trusty bug shirts. Life savers at the first two campsites.
The second day the water was great in the morning but the weather turned and we had pretty choppy water. We only made it 7 miles the second day (in the same paddling time). We were quite humbled after that.
Our second campsite. We actually had a bear walk through our camp that night. It was a little bit nerve racking. No guns allowed in National Parks.
Wild sweet pea. There are so many beautiful wild flowers out here!
Day three, finally getting to the icebergs and first glacier. Isn't the color beautiful! (sorry it was a little rainy that day so the next few shots have some rain drops on the lens.)
Seeing the completely socked in entrance to the small bay in front of McBride Glacier.
At low tide the ice chunks get grounded and have to wait until the tide rises to break free again. In this shot they look small but they are taller than me.
Terry tried to enter the socked in cove during a rip tide and tipped over in the middle of the narrow channel. Luckily he was able to pull his tipped kayak and himself to safety. It was an extremely scary moment but we are glad that he is alive to tell the tale. In this picture he has just come out of the freezing water.
Here is Haakon pulling our kayak around so that we can join Terry at the mouth of the cove. 
Terry and Haakon surveying the area of the accident. 
Terry rejoicing that he is alive!
Lunch time on a rock after Terry warmed up and changed out of his wet clothes. We had to eat in the tidewater zone and store our food in bear proof containers at least fourty yards away. 
Camp spot for day 3 and 4.
We took a nap on the sandy beach here after eating lunch. 
Icebergs by our camp.
The grounded icebergs at low tide. It was pretty cool to walk among them.
Low tide....
Exact same spot at high tide. It really helped us realize how much ice is under the water.
Where is Terry and Haakon?
There they are! I know, how many pictures of ice can you take..... and there are more!
Day four we got up early, left our camp, and headed to Riggs Glacier up the bay for a day trip. This is White Thunder Ridge. I really wished I could water ski on that water (in a dry suit of course).
We made sure to paddle with the tides this day and paddled 23 miles in one day. You can see way at the back is Riggs Glacier where we had left from that morning. By the end of that day my elbow completely seized up and refused to paddle. In total we paddled 65 miles on this excursion.
