On Monday, May 25th, Memorial Day, at approximately 1245hrs two cars decided to drag race down Hatchers Pass; I was traveling into Hatchers Pass with Gretchen, Maggi, Travis, Jack & Jasper; the teenager drag racers struck us head on at around 75mph, I was traveling 30mph. The explosion of steel on steel caused mass chaos followed by air bag deployment and twisted metal.
Gretchen fractured 4 bones in her back, leaving her in brace for 8-12 weeks; Maggi was medevac'ed in a helicopter due to a contusion on her forehead and memory loss from what actually happened; Travis was put on a stretcher with neck brace due to pains in his back; I walked away unscathed physically minus a few abrasions on my knees and hands; Jack & Jasper both flew through the vehicle, leaping out of the nearest exit and running nearly a mile away from the accident site before being rescued by a kind good Samaritan bystander with aching Travis following leashs in hand.
Pray for the innocent, pray for the guilty, pray for forgiveness, pray for choices made to shadow self doubt, pray for decisions of the future.
Thanks for your prayers and support during this time of trial.
Peace be with you.
~Samuel
Fireweed in bloom, clouds burning off, blue sky shining through, its gonna be a good day!
We each roughly carried 30-35lbs packs
Packraft (6-8lbs empty) folds to about the size of a small sleeping bag
We also carried collapsible paddles, life preservers, air pumps, dry suits, dry bags, paddling gloves and booties, water, food, dry clothes, and bear spray
Crow Pass trail looking back towards Girdwood
High water conditions on the Eagle River, clear blue skies, warm air temperatures brought out several expeditions of packrafters making the same trek as us
Matt heading over the pass
Token crow pass photograph, raven glacier looking stunner in the background
I'm very happy with how the Raven Glacier photographs turned out and will probably create a separate blog entry because I took so many
Starting the descent from Crow Pass towards the Eagle River
More Raven Glacier
Bull Moose (shot take with Olympus point and shoot, not zoomed in, he really was that close)
Shoulder high Fireweed
The Eagle Glacier source of the Eagle River, and part two of today's adventure
Full kit donned and ready to rip!
This may have been our first time packrafting, but we sure looked like professionals!
Totally stoked with the whitewater!
Matt doing his best "tubing" impression, looking for his Coors Light
Low water in some spots required a short portage across gravel bars
My rig
Mission complete, before returning to the patrol base we stopped by our favorite watering home for a Pizza Man Special (extra large) and 32oz Schooner of the best local micro brew
We decided to show Maggi and Travis the trails just behind our house; so we took a quick drive to the South Fork Eagle River trailhead 
Moose and two newly born calves drinking some mothers milk, probably less than a week old.
