Snow Ghosts

Early this morning, before the sun had even begun to peak the glowing white mountains, fallen snow fluttered, swirling and sweeping on the black, icy road. Snow ghosts.


Our neighbor's son snow shovels our driveway for us every now and then. That's nice of him, but his 18-year old domestic dispute at 2am that caused doors to be slammed and yelling outside two nights ago, while his mother is out of town, is not. While the cats away the mice will... be rude and inconsiderate. Anyway, we like snow shoveling our driveway. Especially when the snow is still fluffy, not icy. It's fun, exercise, and an apparent necessity to wintering in Alaska. So bring it on, I say! (The snow shoveling, not the door slamming).

On Saturday we went cross-country skiing. The Juneau Nordic Ski Club grooms a few trails around Juneau and maintains them for the sport during the winter. We took advantage of this and headed out to the Mendenhall Campground which is closed during the winter, allowing for a long loop of groomed, flat road for classic or skate skiing. We were a little put off by the number of cars we saw parked along the road, but only saw a handful of people on the loop. It was cold and cloudy, but not raining or snowing, so the snow was perfect.










We baked sugar cookies that night, because Steph needed the FULL CHRISTMAS EXPERIENCE this year. We used her Grandma's secret recipe, and they turned out amazing!








Disaster zone!

And then on Sunday, before having a yummy dinner at our friends Red and Joleen's house, we took Forrest to the Glacier for a romp in the snow. The romp turned out to be a couple of hours worth of oogling the scenery, because when we walked down the path towards the visitors center, we saw 15 or so people walking around on the snow-covered lake. Yes! The day I had been waiting for had arrived. I was a little apprehensive about walking out on to the ice, and I would not have done it if I hadn't seen a couple of 200+ lb people walking out on the ice as well. There were skiiers, dogs, families taking their holiday card portraits, joggers and the like out on the lake. We stayed on a path where other people had previously walked, and headed towards the nearest icebergs stopped cold in their tracks.




This is the sky at around 2:30pm




The glacier looked incredible. A few people were walking up to it's face, but we are going to save that for another time.







After looking at these shots again, they vaguely resemble a familiar scene.. one of a warm summer evening walking in the foothills of the Sandia mountains, mammoth granite boulders towering above me and silhouetted behind a blazing sunset. On Sunday, though, the warm air of Albuquerque was replaced by a freezing chill, granite boulders replaced by smooth, cold ice. The blazing sunset is all that remains the same.

Call me crazy for loving such a desolate, frozen landscape, but I think of this place as fondly as I do the sweet smelling air and warmth of the desert.

I am feeling a pang of homesickness as I type, and I am so happy to be making a trip back in a few short days!











Ice and sky
















Breathless.



Merry Christmas!!!

Don't Eat Yellow Snow

Well color me delighted.

A couple days after my last post, in which I griped about the lack of white falling from the sky, we got the first major snow of the season! Equipped with the Subaru and its new snow tires, a few warm layers, hat and gloves, I have been loving every second of it. I spent my childhood hoping for an epic snowstorm, the kind that would hang around for days, stopping transportation and keeping me home from school. Needless to say, it never came to New Mexico. So, all grown up, I sought out a location where I would get a heavy dose of the white stuff every winter. What better destination than Alaska, where people live in igloos and dog-sled to work (or so 6 year old me thought)? The reality is a bit different, but just last night my neighbor spoke of 8 ft tall mounds of snow left over from snowplows in her front yard last year. And people actually ice skate on frozen ponds here. On PONDS!

It's a fascinating new world, this snowy one. I had never even HELD a snow shovel until a few days ago, when Steph and I attempted to snow shovel our driveway, long after our neighbors had cleared theirs with snow plows and snow blowers and the snow shoveling skills we can only hope to one day posses. But, still, I loved it.
I creep down the snow packed streets around town, hands at 10 and 2, knuckles white. My concentration is as intense as my fear of sliding off the road and in to a snowy ditch is. I really, really don't want to get into an accident this winter. Despite this, I love the snow!








Downtown Juneau two days ago.


A beautiful Raven by the docks downtown


The tides really do fluctuate THAT MUCH!




Here is the new house, decorated, snowy, and a christmas tree in the window!


And looking down the street.. a winter wonderland!

On Thanksgiving, we started the day off with a short hike by Mendenhall lake. There wasn't too much snow, and the trail was mostly slush and ice. It was quiet and beautiful, and I felt thankful for living in such a stunning land.


The frozen lake


Weird chunks of ice






A fog was beginning to settle in the valley as we returned to the car

For dinner we made vegetarian tostadas, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, and cranberry sauce. My sister was disgusted when she heard what was on our menu, but we loved it! We debated cooking a turkey, but resorted to tostadas for one reason or another!

Before the most recent dumping of snow, last weekend, we went out to the rainforest trail on Douglas island. We wore spikes on the bottoms of our xtra tufs and crunched along the trail with Forrest in tow.








Adventure pup!












Frozen waterfall on Douglas