Until Next Summer, Tracy

So today was our last Tracy Arm trip of the season for our crew. It was a great one! We got dipped into Ice Falls and it was sooo much fun! Surprisingly not as cold as I'd imagined, so we kept going back for more :) Here's the gopro footy... 

Ice Falls Shower! Tracy Arm Fjord from Jessica Davis on Vimeo.

We also saw some cool stuff the past few days, so here's some of my favorite recent photos...

^Ice fishing catch of the day. Fishin' for bergs! 

^This cutie has a mustache! And fat rolls for miles! haha 

^Brown bear on the shore in Tracy Arm

^The nook! What a gorgeous spot among an already gorgeous fjord!

^Yeah, I took a selfie at Sawyer Glacier.

^Orca spy hopping in Lynn Canal on a beautiful sunny day. 

^Flame! One of my favorite humpbacks.

^Humpback whale jumping for joy.

^They let me drive these things... haha. Might as well make it comfortable! 

2014 Winter is a Wrap! Hello Summertime!

Who wished the winter away so fast? I sure didn't. It seems like this season flew by faster than ever. It was a great one though! Yesterday was closing day at Eaglecrest. My riding improved a ton, both in the park and all over the mountain. I reached a goal I never thought I'd reach: passing my AASI Level 2 Certification. Stoked to get that Burton pro deal now... among many other educational reasons, of course. :)

I did manage to injure myself a few times, although nothing super serious. First, my knee... then my chest/ribs. It was all worth it though. I'm still feeling the pain of a cracked sternum and ribs, but I am quite content with the way the season turned out. It was a great season with some great people, and I'm already counting down the days until next season!

Today was my first day back at Allen Marine. Yeah, HUGE break between jobs, right? It's ok though. I like making money and I'm stoked to get back into the summer routine. After the awesomeness of last summer, I can't wait to get back out on the boats and make this amazing wilderness my office once again. 

Our friend from back in North Carolina has been visiting us for a week now. It's nice to see a familiar face from back home and I hate to see him leave. It's been a fun week though!

I'm tired and don't feel like posting any photos at the moment, but you can see any recent photos on my Facebook page by clicking HERE.

Tracy Arm and the past few weeks...

Once again, sorry for the slacking on the blog updates! Here's a quick peek at our Tracy Trip from yesterday! I'll post a full update later tonight. 😊

The Wolves of the Sea

So far my time with Allen Marine has been epic. I've gone through tons of training, which is good because I've never worked or been around bigger, sea-going boats before. It's certainly spawned a new love. I've always loved the water and going out on boat rides, but I'd only done that in lakes. Sea creatures are amazing and I want to spend as much time around them as possible! Whales, oh gosh, whales are just beautiful, amazing creatures. The whales here in the waters of Southeast Alaska are humpbacks and orcas, more commonly known as killer whales. I've seen humpacks a few times this spring, but I saw my first pod of orcas Thursday afternoon on my first tour! I'm pretty sure I was even more excited than the tourists were. It was such a breathtaking experience that I will never forget. I did manage to get a few photos :)

Male and female orcas in Stephens Passage

So beautiful!

This is a baby orca. You can tell it's a baby from the
orange tint where it's normally white. It's mother surfaced
right after I took this photo. Amazing!

Here's a cool fact: Orcas are sometimes called the 'wolves of the sea' because of the way they work in packs to hunt their prey.  

I'm sure I'll have a thousand more photos of orcas, humpbacks and other wildlife here pretty soon. My whale knowledge is still pretty basic, but I'm learning new facts every day. I really miss my home, family, and friends, but I sure do love Alaska more than I ever thought possible. Some people think of warm waters and hot sandy beaches as paradise, but I've found my paradise right here. So thankful for this experience <3>

Slushy Aurora Whales :)

Lots to talk about since my last post! 

The Slush Cup was an awesome event. After a leaky pond on Saturday, the event was postponed till Sunday so the pond could be repaired. I think it worked out for the better since all that muddy water drained out and they refilled the pond with pretty green/blue mountain lake water. There were lots of competitors, but only a handful made it across the massive 130 ft water pit. Dustin and I worked the 'Big Rippers Grill' with Tessa and Tommy and sold a shit ton of burgers, brats, and dogs. 

What gorgeous weather for the last day of the season!

Lots of spectators showed up to witness the soak-fest.

Is that a front flipping bunny? Yes, it is.

 

This guy SENT it!

We also FINALLY got to see the amazing, magical Aurora Borealis Saturday night/early Sunday morning. Words just cannot come close to describing how awesome it really was. I always thought the videos you see with the lights dancing around was super time-lapsed... which most of them are, but the best part is that they really DO dance around, just not quite as fast as they appear in the videos. It's a truly magical experience and I can't wait to see it again. This planet is one special rock in the universe. I tried to take some photos, but the aurora is super hard to capture on a point and shoot. Below are a few photos that others took from the same aurora event, but it's exactly what we saw with our very own eyes! 

Photo: Ron Gile

Photo: Frank Pierce

Photo: Frank Pierce

I also started training at Allen Marine a few days ago. I'll be mainly working full-time as passenger service and a back-up deckhand, but if a full-time deckhand position comes up then it's mine. I'm currently in deckhand training and have been learning all sorts of stuff about diesel engines, since part of the job is fixing stuff that breaks while underway. Just to be clear, I know absolutely nothing about diesel engines... three days ago. The training is pretty intensive, and honestly things seem a bit easier to remember than I expected. So far, if an alternator belt breaks or a fuel filter needs changing, this girl can fix it! I'm sure I'll learn a ton more over the next couple weeks and I can't wait. I want to learn everything I possibly can about how those boats work. I feel like I'll be pretty mechanically inclined after this summer :) What I'm even more stoked about is seeing whales and other Alaskan wildlife on a daily basis. How lucky am I?! What I feel like is a 'good omen' of sorts, is the whale I saw in Auke Bay before I went to my first day of training on Monday. Whales are such massive, majestic creatures! I wish I had a photo but all I had was my iPhone and it was too far away to really get a decent shot. Note to self: glue my camera to my side!

One of these boats will be my office this summer :)

Also, Dustin got a job with Eaglecrest working full-time over the summer on the mountain ops crew. He's super stoked about being on the mountain pretty much year round. This is an awesome opportunity to get more involved with Eaglecrest and I'm very proud of him :) Looks like he'll be getting a three day weekend all summer... I'll have to admit I'm a bit jealous!
Dustin also snapped this photo of our mountain view from the front of the house...

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Lastly, I want to say how heartbroken I am to hear the news of a good friend's passing today. If you spent any amount of time at Beech Mountain Resort, you knew the friendly face of Scott Dodson. He was a truly good man and was the foundation of that mountain. Dustin and I both have had so many good times over the years with him. Many of the memories I have that involve Beech also include Scott. If you needed help with anything, he was always there with a lending hand. He loved that mountain so much, and it showed. I can remember countless times where I've laughed so hard it hurt, all because of Scott. May he be eternally happy now, without pain or suffering, looking down upon his family, the mountain, and people he loved so much. Beech Mountain Resort will never be the same without him. Rest in peace, Scotty.