Speed Fiend

The big green blob who looks like Darth Vader really gone to seed is me on my ATV.

When our guide, Kevin, picked me up for my ATV trip up to the Knik glacier he said "This is a first for me - I've never taken a single female on one of these - single guys have joined us, but never women on their own." OK, so I'm a little bit odd :o) We picked up the rest of the group (another 3 people) and off we set. Kevin got us to sign a disclaimer which basically said "ATVing is very dangerous and you could die. If you die, you agree not to sue us." By this time I was beginning to worry that I had made a mistake, and should have stuck to something a little less dangerous (like bathing in maple syrup and introducing myself to a grizzly bear. Two of our group had ridden ATVs before (although none as powerful as these). I was the only one in the group who didn't drive. I could see Kevin looking at me in despair as he said "We may not make it up to the glacier."

We set off, with strict instructions not to touch the footbrake. Ever. Unless you wanted the differential somethingorother to set fire to the petrol tank, which, by the way, was what we were sitting on. You would know if you had touched the footbrake, because your bum would
spontaneously combust.






We drove through the most amazing scenery (after the first 5 minutes when I was too scared to look at anything except the ground in front of me) - tundra, forest, mountains covered with snow, rivers... there were flat parts where we could speed up (I discovered that my name should be Donna Schumacher when I had a race with one of the guys)







and really rugged parts where you had to go slowly - one of the party tipped their ATV over trying to negotiate one of these. One of them also hit a tree, and then, about 5 minutes later, slammed into the back of my ATV.



My favourite bit was going through water - some of the water we went through was about 3 feet deep. I told Kevin I loved the water parts so on the way back he made sure to take us the wettest, deepest, splashiest way. By the time we arrived back I was covered from head to foot in mud. Good job I was wearing a rather fetching pale green waterproof number.






We were out driving for about 6 hours, and I'm pleased to report that we DID get to the glacier.

As you can hopefully see from the pictures, it was absolutely gorgeous. The ice is so blue in places.


















































We had lunch there and topics of conversation ranged
from the British use of the word 'brilliant', why men
sit with their legs open, My Fair Lady and what Kevin had in his survival kit (knife, saw, blanket, warm socks, 115,000 bullets (he reassured us by saying that he'd never shot anyone who didn't deserve it), flares, water purification tablets, toilet paper.) I had toilet paper and lip gloss, so half of my survival kit was useful (how many people can say that they have pee'd at a glacier? It was the most scenic loo I have ever used (if a tad frosty around the nether regions)).





We took it in turns to follow immediately behind Kevin. At one point when I was behind him he went sideways up a hill really fast until he was almost parallel with the floor. It was only centrifugal force that was keeping him up there. My heart was in my mouth, but I followed. When I came down Kevin shook his head at me and said "You're crazy woman." Apparently, I wasn't supposed to follow him, he was just 'goofing off' :o) But he said he was impressed.


I still have a big huge grin on my face.



It was the most amazing experience. Wonderful fun, exhilerating, scenery to die for, and I learned a number of things...that I like going fast, that I love getting dirty, that I am braver than I thought, and that when you wee outside, make sure there are no thorns in the vicinity.

I was sad when the trip was over. I wanted to do it all over again. What a superb day. Now I'm off to scrape the 2 inch layer of dirt from my body.