Rainbows & Glaciers

Dear Family & Friends,

Farrell writing this week, mostly:-)

It occurs to me that there are no words to describe the natural beauties we have seen this week. We had Heather (our youngest daughter) and Branson, her husband, with us through Thursday. Their first wedding anniversary is tomorrow, Monday, August 5. The best I can do is identify some of the breathtaking pictures.  

“Alaska doesn’t grow on you, so much as it makes you unfit to live anywhere else.” Hobbes Barber

Fireweed and vista from Flattop Overlook.

This is fifteen minutes from where we live. You are looking North toward Denali, which you could see 143 miles away, if there were no clouds. This is a completely untouched photo. It had been cloudy and sprinkling off and on. Kitty is the photographer. 

These were taken on the Matanuska glacier. The underfoot ice is the most dense and looks black. If you look closer it is actually crystal clear and you are looking through the ice at the rock deep down. The glacier blue is the mid range ice density which reflects the blue light. Puzzle ice is less dense and breaks apart - like a puzzle. We all tasted it. It tastes like water. Branson finished it off.

Glacier ice underfoot.

Glacier ice underfoot.

Glacier blue crevasse.

Kitty, Heather, & Farrell hiking glacier.

I thought we would end up on top of the glacier looking down all around. Not so ... the top of the glacier is much too broken and rough. The guide told us it would take about a month to get to the other end (27 miles). It would be mostly ice climbing. The ice -- at least at the bottom of the toe is about 500 yrs. old or about the time of Columbus. It was a beautiful two hour drive from Anchorage, then a drive over dirt roads to the tour location, another two mile drive to the large staging tent w. restrooms, a hike down from trail, an interesting walk over a pontoon bridge, then onto the glacier. We hiked over a lot of ice, rock, and mud on ice. They provided a guide, helmets, and after the bridge ice cleats for everyone.

Pontoon bridge heading to glacier.

Kitty & Farrell in front of a blue ice cave.

Branson eating puzzle ice. 

Matanuska Glacier from the trailhead.

Black Bear.

We were on the lookout for moose and bears the whole time they were here. We have only ever seen bear scat before. We went to the Alaska Zoo, (7 min. away & the only Zoo in Alaska), and saw black bears, brown bears, and a polar bear. The polar bear only made a brief appearance, but it was HUGE, and earned its reputation for being deadly. Don't think we ever want to encounter any of these in the wilderness. We did see a half dozen moose calves at the zoo. They were brought here when they lost their mothers, usually due to car accidents. They lose about 250 moose a year.

Bald Eagle.

Brown Bear.

Farrell, Heather, & Branson heading up to Flattop Overlook.

That night after dinner we headed up to Flattop Overlook. It was a little rainy and cloudy, but we weren't sure we would get another chance for them to see it. Again, it did not disappoint. We even saw a full rainbow!

Left side of rainbow on Flattop Overlook.

Right side of rainbow from Flattop Overlook.

This rainbow picture is a little before 10 PM at night. The arc was very narrow, probably due to the angle of the sun. As Kitty walked toward the end of the rainbow to photograph it, she actually looked like she was there.

Flattop Overlook view of Cook Inlet. Anchorage downtown is the group of high rises in the middle right of the picture shown against the water. Turnagain arm is to the left and Knik Inlet is on the right. Turnagain arm has up to a 35 ft. tidal change which creates a "Bore Tide" wave about 7' high that surfers can ride for 13 miles. We have seen the mud flats on Turnagain Arm at both low tide and high tide. It's remarkable. We are still on the lookout for Beluga Whales at Beluga Point. 

Branson, Heather, & Farrell on Flattop Overlook at sunset. The Compass Rose in the middle has pointers to all the prominent mountains in the distance. It points to three active volcanoes, Iliamna (10,016 ft.), Redoubt (10,197 ft.), and Spurr (11,070 ft.). Denali is on the right and several other peaks. The sun is now setting at true west and it's finally getting dark at night again!

Sunset on drive home from Flattop Overlook.

Alyeska North Face trail 2.2 miles. Nice stroll, right? The name tells it all. Heather (6 months pregnant), Branson, and Kitty did the whole hike. I turned around about 1/40 of the way in and instead rode a tram to the top. It was a 2,200 ft. rise to the top with numerous switchbacks, stairs, and some steep sections. The views were incredible and there are six glaciers on the mountains in the distance. We all rode the tram down. 

What a beautiful sweet time to enjoy all this with Heather and Branson. Notice the clear air? They left late Thursday evening and took a redeye home. They wanted to take the 4 hr. 37 min. non-stop flight which is only offered in the summer. The Badger family camping trip started the next day. Oh to be young again. Kitty will fly home when Heather has her baby at the end of October.

Branson on trail overlooking Alyeska Resort.

Branson & Heather on North Face Trail.

Turnagain Arm view from North Face Trail.

Heather & Branson at Alyeska Roundhouse.

Kitty & Farrell at Alyeska Roundhouse.

We did manage to fit in some of our regular duties during the week spending all day Monday writing reports and categorizing pictures for the ongoing temple build. We have had up to 30 workers on site. One crew continues to put in conventional concrete forms and another (from Lindon UT) is assembling ICF (insulated concrete forms). The latter had a major pour on Friday in one quadrant of the perimeter wall of the temple. We also had some sweet visits to the visitors' center at the beginning and end of the week. Three little girls walked over with their mom from where they are staying (Pres. Smith, grandfather, is a counselor in the mission presidency and grandmother is a part-time Sr. Missionary at the mission office and daughter of A. Theodore Tuttle.) We had a wonderful chat about temples and families. I'm always humbled by the Spirit the little ones bring. The wisdom of an all knowing, loving Heavenly Father often comes through in unusual ways.

The Rustic Goat in Anchorage.

We were a little down after our company left and had a busy Friday, so Kitty suggested we see if our good friends, the Cox's, would like to go have dinner that night. As usual we had a large group of visitors show up just as we were leaving. After a pleasant visit we drove home, cleaned up and went out for a nice dinner, then came back to our place for ice cream, nuts, and fruit. We had made a gallon, literally, of clam chowder Heather and Branson's last night here and needed to share it. Cox's leave on Sept. 11 and we are going to miss them. They were in the MTC with us. We sure hope they come to see us with Kuerth's next summer.

Sister Bowman is our ward organist. She has a long history of providing music both at church and professionally. Right in the middle of the Sacrament today, there was a little disruption. Apparently she fainted and fell off the organ bench onto the floor. Several brethren were there in an instant. After confirming it was not a CPR situation they resumed the meeting (at her request). The emergency personnel showed up, quietly assessed her situation, and after awhile assisted her in walking out. What amazed me was how orderly everything happened. A young man (teenager) who is musically proficient just calmly walked up and played the organ at the end of the meeting. We were all praying for her. The word is that she is doing okay.

We expect this next week to fall back into a more normal routine. That is good but I still seem to be inclined to push the boundaries of what is the norm for this calling. That is I am never satisfied with settling in with a status quo attitude. I see more opportunities. That is always the fun part. #ThinkCelestial

We love you all.

Elder & Sister Badger