Oh, Sunny Days

It's funny how quick the transformation occurs...after one day of sun, it has been notoriously absent for the past 3 weeks.  Every now and then, we'd get a glimpse of blue sky or a brief respite from the rain but we've come to accept cloudy, overcast and often rainy skies as part of our routine.  On the few occasions where the sun did make a brief appearance, it was mostly behind clouds or still raining at the same time.

So today, we were truly blessed when the sun came back and bright skies reigned supreme.  Bud moved around our meeting schedule to accommodate tram rides up Mt. Roberts (which provides perhaps some of the best views of Juneau and the surrounding area around).  He bought us lunch, had us meet one-on-one to do "official business" while sitting in the mountaintop cafe and let us wander around while he met with other clerks.  Getting an opportunity to hike midday but after a three-hour "field trip" from the office, it's definitely hard to get any work done.  Here's two of my favorite pictures from our adventure:

After work, the sun held up so we had only one thought: what can we climb before the sun sets?  Although we were a bit ambitious, we decided Mt. Jumbo was a good idea (it's often described as a 7-8 hour round trip with advanced and strenuous climbing conditions).  Yes, the trail is sometimes straight up roots, rocks or the mountain.  Yes, we left to go home and change at 4:15 PM and got to the trail by 5.  Yes, we did it in 4 hours instead of 7-8, but we were still descending in darkness part of the way (the sun set at 7:40 today...yikes!).  However, getting to the top was definitely worth it and some of the pictures on the way down were truly amazing.  Here are 2 of my favorites:

Tomorrow, I leave for Anchorage.  Work is sending us on an "orientation" trip, which includes a nature "heritage" hike.  We get back late Monday night.  This means a few things: 1) I will not be bringing my laptop so there will be no new posts until next week and 2) You will have to wait until at least Monday or Tuesday to see the rest of these amazing pictures on Facebook.  I will incorporate all the Anchorage additions too so get excited.