Monday, April 21, 2008

spring - finally!

funny how quickly things change... feeling way saner this week now that my internal circadian rhythm is a little more in sync with the world outside. got in two of my favorite spring things this weekend - skied all day saturday in a tank top, and sunday went for a quick float down the clearwater in delta. beautiful day, everybody was out, even ran into the masons on the side of the river! lots of geese and swans on the lake, but still waiting to hear my first thrush of the year - then it'll officially be spring.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

enough already!

a fresh 6" of snow on tax day.. now 2 mornings in a row the thermometer in the outhouse has been well below zero.. i can handle being cold nov, dec, jan, feb, and sometimes march. but april??

this young guy has been hanging close to the cabin the last week.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

a bust, but beautiful




All winter I've been looking forward to skiing the Denali Highway. We finally made it down there last weekend, but only made it ~12 miles down the road before we had to turn around. The wind was absolutely howling, and it's one thing to push through that weather for an hour or two - but we still had 30 miles to go before we got to the maclaren lodge. It was disappointing to turn around, but it was absolutely beautiful out there and hard to be too upset. I am convinced this is some of the most spectacular skate skiing in the world. But, being in the heart of the Alaska range - you pay the price for the scenery with highly unpredictable weather.

Friday, April 11, 2008

Spring?

Last week, after a few balmy 50 degree days, I just assumed that was it. spring was here. I was so sure infact, that I decided to walk out to Colorado Creek cabin in extratuffs rather than ski in. Despite the overflow photos below, skiis were definitely the preferable mode of transport, and I was bummed with my choice. This week it's been cold again, tons of new snow - and it's the best skiing we've had all year. Who wouldha thunk.

I think the geese, like me, were tricked by the false spring. Rumor is they showed up south of town this week. What a bummer to arrive just in time for one of the biggest snowfalls of the year, and find there's not even much open water to be had in these parts these days. guess we are all fools for thinking it's april, therefore it's spring.



adrian demonstrating ski technique on the ice-then-slush-then-ice trail
evidence - even inai can smile with the dogpacks on. they try so hard to convince us dogpacks are cruel and inhumane, but then they forget about them so quickly.kyle's snohawk