Spring Heli Skiing

Last weekend Sam, Stout and I camped out Friday night via the boat and trolled for some King salmon on Sat.  No luck, it is still a bit early, but it was a beautiful day on the water.  Sunday the last remaining clouds cleared to give us a morning for heli skiing up on the icefield.

Driftwood fire on Cherokee Flats

Me doing some skiing

Waiting at the heli pad

Sam is the black dot

Easter Sunday group photo

Berners Bay Cabin

This weekend, while Hillary was working in Bermuda and the Caribbean, Stout, Sam, Pat (and his dog Barley) and myself boated out to the Berners Bay cabin for Friday and Sat night.  Perfect weather and incredible views made for a great weekend.  Stout is still tired today!  We did some crabbing, a bit of bottom fishing, kayaking, shooting guns, ... lots of dude stuff.  Run in the Wetlands at lunch and a run up to the base of Jumbo this evening.

King Crab!

Humpback whale just in front of the cabin.  I missed the tail shot.

Sam in the kayak

Shooting beer bottles with a sling shot

Lions Head Mountain, Berners Bay

Our own secluded beach

Mid-day nap, too much outside time

This is what he is normally doing this time of the day.

Fishing, crabbing, and swimming Stout

Sam and I after crabbing

Boatin'

First King salmon troll of the season

Cautiously

Lunch time

Swimming in Auke Bay

 

Stout and his friend Barley

Some days it feels like spring

The waters are getting calmer, the crabs are abundant, the kings are getting closer, and the days are getting longer.  We've also had some good ski days lately, although the nordic skiing is starting to wither away.  Running and beach walks in the evening have become more common, and Stout is swimming daily.  The ocean is still hovering around 38-39 degrees!  We have gotten out on the boat 3 out of the last 4 weekend days for some dungeness crab and we landed 8 the last day out.

Stout found his nylabone!  The boat dog went for a swim off the boat last time out.  He got leaning a bit too far over the side while we were slowly coming up on one of our crab rings and suddenly he went completely underwater!  His face was hilarious went he came to the surface and started paddling aggressively towards the boat.  Hillary grabbed his collar at the bow and I pulled him in the rest of the way.  He is now a bit more cautious.

Some more heli pictures from the other weekend.  Sam and I on top of a ridge after hiking a ways from the heli drop.  I am slowly making my way out on the slope to jump around and check stability.  First run of the day.

One of the slopes we skied multiple times that day since the snow was so nice.  This is me just prior to a ~15 foot or so rock jump.

Heli leaving the lodge.  Chilkats that we skied are in the background.

Icefield day.  Some pics from the heli.

A nice mellow landing pad

Icefield

Me, woohoo!

A mellow powder run was in order to finish the day after some steeps.

Me, the second run of the day.

Me, on the big line of the day.

This is another picture of that ski line. 

Sunset at the lodge after a tough day!  Free beer from Alaskan brewing on the back porch.