Dudes. This past weekend was so wonderful. Like, seriously. I don't even know how to share it all with you. There will probably be no eloquence in this post, just a heads up. But here we go: Part of it was spent at a women's retreat with one of the churches/youth groups at The Shrine of St. Therese. IT WAS GORGEOUS. Once we got there, we took a walk around and went exploring. I felt like Lucy Pevensie in the Chronicles of Narnia. Everything was a frosty tundra. During the sunset, the sky looked as if it were on fire illuminating the mountains and surrounding nature. Once everyone arrived (about 25 people or so), we ate some dinner and began the weekend's festivities. Much focus was placed on prayer, which was glorious. To make things better, we spent a good chunk of time scrapbooking, having quiet time with God, eating too many molasses cookies, walking, seeing the Northern Lights, girl talk, and of course, snuggling. My mind was clear and my heart happy. Then the other part of the weekend was spent ice-climbing. And let me tell you all that it was pretty treacherous. There were six moments when we thought at least one of us or all of us were going down. Let me tell you about it:
1. Not So Frozen Lake: The Mendenhall Lake had just frozen over so we decided to spend 20-30 minutes crossing it to get to the glacier. Pretty treacherous. As we were nearing the ice-berg formations, the ice began to thin and become less stable. So in order to get off, we had to go up towards shore and climb the slippery iced rocks. However, the ice was especially crackly at this part. We didn't know what to do. Until Mitchell decided to sacrifice himself and cross over on his stomach to distribute the weight. Before he did so, we had to come up with a rescue plan just in case. It felt like hours waiting for him to cross, but despite the sounds and water bubbles underneath the frozen glass, he survived. Which meant that we could all cross. Packs and all. 2. Slippery Slope: Once getting off the lake, we still had a ways to hike to get to the actual glacier. This entailed us climbing through uneven terrain (which normally I'm fine with but this time wasn't) that was covered in ice and frost. I slipped, fell, and slid one too many times to still somehow be alive. We also had to cross a creek with rushing water, but figured it was okay because it was frozen over at the narrowest point. Well, I went in and was soggy (but luckily that part happened at the end).
3. Duct Tape Crampons: As we were hiking around, my footing was off and I was tripping more than usual. Well, that's because my crampons were sliding off of my shoes, so we literally had to duck tape them. A little sketchy? Absolutely. But worth it? Yes. The same thing happened with Mitchell. Except he was missing spikes in a few spots, so his were probably less functional and more dangerous than mine were. Meanwhile, Brittni and Ben were running around like Popo and Nana the ice-climbers from Super Smash Brothers. 4. Melting Ice Cave: Climbing up the glacier was pretty fantastic. There were a few crevices that I almost fell into. But luckily Ben made me strap my backpack around my chest so he could hold on and pull me back if I were to have actually fallen in... These crevices needed to be conquered in order to get to the ice cave. This ice cave once went out to the lake but last summer a huge part of it collapsed. The ice was pretty thin, but we still thought it would be a good idea to cross it... 5. Repelling: Ben set up a climb on an ice-wall (more or less). My ascent went fairly well, besides the shards
of ice that went into my eye from my ice-picks. But the descent. That was dangerous. This required walking off the ledge backwards while Ben belayed. It was freaking terrifying. It was just me and a rope tied to my harness. After working up the courage to scale down, I started to go off the edge. Things were going fairly well as Ben was talking me through it. However, at some point, I totally lost control and ended up upside down...hanging by a rope. I seriously have no idea how that happened. I just was kind of let down upside down at that point... For the others, their ascents and descents were successful. Brittni, Mitchell, and Ben were all pros. Leave it to me to be the one that almost dies. 6. Blizzard: We were getting ready to head back and make it out in time before it got dark when all of a sudden, the winds picked up and snow was everywhere making it nearly impossible to see anything. Things were starting to blow away, we almost fell off the the glacier, but survived. **Though many of these things did happen, several of them are also embellished for dramatic affect.**
It really was a wonderful experience (despite the dozen bruises I have on each knee) and I had a lot of fun with it. I would not have asked to be in better company and we all had a YOLO mentality. We knew that God was on our side if anything were to go wrong, which proved to be true. There is absolutely nothing that I would want to change about that weekend or any of the days I have spent here. It just keeps getting better and better. - A