Pre-Winter Eaglecrest Hiking!

Today was bright and sunny with hardly any clouds in the sky, so we decided to hike up Eaglecrest to the ridge to get some sightseeing in for our friends that are visiting. It was kinda chilly, around 32*, but once we started that ascent we warmed up very quick. The views were amazing as always. There was a nice coat of snow about halfway up the Black Bear chairlift... one whole INCH! At least it's something :) I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Snow & Sunshine!

We had an amazing weekend at Eaglecrest and we are SO stoked to have the opportunity to ride such amazing terrain! I've literally never seen, much less ridden, so much snow in my life. It just continues to blow my mind! We've decided that instead of waiting and saving up for splitboards, we need to buy powder boards as soon as possible. Our short little east coast park boards just aren't cutting it here. It's at the point that if we try to ride the boards we have in the amount of snow that's up there, it will become dangerous. We need more floating instead of sinking! We never had to worry about having more than one board back home, but here, a board quiver is a pretty much a necessity!

I also got to teach my first lesson at Eaglecrest over the weekend, and it went awesome! I LOVE the fact that we have two hour lessons instead of just one hour. The teaching terrain is amazing... plenty of space, perfect pitch for beginners, and I'll be able to get every lesson on the lift! No more hiking up and down a slope a million times and never having time to make it on the lift with first timers. The first lesson of the season always makes me smile. Every year, after going so many months without teaching, all I have to do is meet my students and it's like the summer was just a blur. The satisfaction I get by seeing someone go from never snowboarding before to falling completely in love with the sport is priceless.

Anyways, Eaglecrest is closed every Tuesday and Wednesday, so we had planned on sleeping in and chilling all day. When we woke up, it was such a pretty day we couldn't stand to stay inside, so that means you're about to get photo bombed! :)

Enjoy!

A Drive on Douglas

Today we woke up with every intention of getting out and doing something fun, but just couldn't manage to get out from under the warm covers. Sleeping in felt SO good. Dustin was up before me, and I think I finally rolled out of bed around noon. After some breakfast we set out to run some errands, and ended up driving out the road on Douglas to snap a few photos since it was such a beautiful day.

Tomorrow is opening day at Eaglecrest! So excited! Even though only the Porcupine lift will be open, we'll still have fun. I can't wait for the whole mountain to open. I love hiking up to ride, and it makes the ride down seem much more meaningful, but I can't wait to finally ride a lift to the top so I can make way more than just one run a day.

Here are the pics I took earlier!

 I would LOVE to just slash down that face... looks like so much fun!

This guy made an appearance several times, but I couldn't manage to get a good photo :(

Power to the Powder

Today we hiked up Eaglecrest and got some turns in again. This time, on actual POWDER boards. Dustin was on a Capita Charlie Slasher 158 and I was on the same board but in a 154. Thanks to Spenser for letting us borrow these boards, we got some amazing turns in! 

We hiked to the top of the ridge and the view was more than amazing. Snow covered mountain ranges in all directions, and birds eye view of the Inside Passage around us, not to mention a few ravens that kept making an appearance. Although the sun wasn't completely out, we could see that strange ball of energy through the overcast and a lovely 'halo' was surrounding it. I've seen this several times back home, but being on top of a mountain with these views, deep snow, and a sun halo to top it off was just epic. 

The hike was pretty tiring. It snowed a significant amount since the last time we hiked up, and without snowshoes or splits, it was quite a workout. Not that I'm complaining... it's well worth the sweat and burning legs to get to the top of that ridge and see what we saw today. 

Oh yeah, the ride down was pretty fun too! The snow was still nice and fluffy from the past snowfall and since we were on bigger boards, staying afloat and making awesome turns was effortless. I'm still a little weary of attempting any significant drop since I'm not used to riding actual powder, plus being on a board I wasn't really used to riding. I certainly don't want to attempt a drop with my Smokin' board, mainly because it's just too damn short for that kind of riding. Park boards and powder drops don't mix very well :)

Next time I'm going to give my Burton Feelgood a try. It's only a 149, but it's a bit stiffer and has more of a nose so hopefully it will be powder friendly. After today, I've decided I want to stick around a 154 or slightly smaller for my next board purchase... and hopefully that purchase will be a split! 

Here are a few photos (and a video!)

Looking up towards the top of Black Bear chair

The sun halo was so beautiful

Looking back on Douglas and a view of part of Juneau through the valley

Awesome trees :)

Once we got closer to the top, we were easily sinking knee deep

Looking towards Admiralty Island 

Mountains, snow, water... what could be more beautiful?!

Note: This video was still 'processing' when I posted this, so if it's still not ready to view, please check back later! :)

A Tasty Turkey and Moonlit Mountains

I meant to post the Thanksgiving photos last night, but since I was in a turkey coma that didn't happen. Dustin was in charge of the turkey, and I cooked everything else. I was definitely impressed by how good and juicy the turkey turned out. It was one of the best Thanksgiving turkeys I've ever had! 

Besides the bird, I cooked sweet potato mash, green bean casserole, bread stuffing, spaghetti squash, turkey gravy, and a homemade pumpkin pie for dessert (I even made the pie crust from scratch!). Oh my goodness what a tasty meal! Since it was just the two of us eating this huge meal, we now have leftovers that will last us a month. Winter is helping out with the turkey though :)

After a good meal and a glass of wine (or several), we were out. O.U.T. We both fell asleep and napped pretty much the rest of the evening. It sucks we couldn't spend the day with our families, but it was relaxing to just to cook, eat, then not worry about a single thing for the rest of the day.

Dustin injecting a spicy marinade he created.

After several injections and a spicy rub down.

Fresh out of the oven! 

Dustin carving the bird.

My sweet potato mash in the making, and spaghetti squash about to go in the oven.

Winter was gazing out the window but of course turned her head 

as soon as I tried to take a photo. (Oh yeah, it was snowing all day!)

But she couldn't escape my cuddle attack!

The wind was howling something fierce outside. Dustin snapped this

photo of the rough waters in the channel. 

 Today, I had planned to be productive and do something outside since we spent yesterday stuffing our faces, but that didn't happen. We were both super lazy this morning and just decided to sleep in. We took advantage of some of the Black Friday sales at Sequence. No way in hell was I getting in the chaotic crowd of crazies for the early sales at other places. There was nothing I needed THAT bad! I ended up getting some new Burton mitts, a Neff beanie and a Coal beanie. Dustin got a Grenade beanie with hopes of finding a backpack as well, but he didn't find one that he really liked. 

We heard the aurora was supposed to be highly active tonight but it was too overcast to see anything. Also, it was completely the wrong time to be looking for the lights. I've heard the wee hours of the morning is the best time. I keep looking out the window every hour hoping to see stars, but no luck. If the clouds do clear, you better believe that I'll be hopping in the car and driving somewhere away from the lights. Seeing the aurora borealis has been one of my dreams for as long as I can remember. 

It will happen.

It WILL!

Soon... very soon.

On our way home, we pulled over so I could play with the night settings on my camera. The lights in the photos are kinda blurry, but the wind was howling and it was shaking the tripod slightly. I wasn't going to post these two photos but the mountains illuminated by the slight moonlight is just too pretty to keep to myself.

Looking at downtown Juneau from Douglas Island

Looking at downtown Juneau from Douglas Island. 

This one was actually taken in the parking lot of our apartment building.