Moose!

On my way home from work one morning, I was watching (closer than usual) for moose, and while I didn't see these guys when I passed by them, I saw them cross the road behind me in my rearview mirror.  I turned around and got to see them put on quite a show for me while they made their way through a neighborhood.



Action shot...





And before I leave you 'til next time... I wanted to post a picture I took at work one evening, since we're on the subject of moose. :)  This is shortly after 10pm... mama moose (you can see her head sticking out from behind the bush by the babies) and her 2 calves went trotting across the yard right outside our windows.  I followed them over to the other side of the building and got this picture with the camera on my phone before they disappeared into the woods.  Baby moose are adorable!!  They've been hanging out around our office since they were born about a month ago.  Can't wait to see them again!

Next hike... Longer and Not Quite So Steep...

Second hike in a week! This time, I opted for a flatter but longer trail.  The friend I went with this time suggested the South Fork Eagle River hike, which is 10 miles round trip and only climbs about 800 ft.  It is pretty open, although the trail is fairly narrow for much of the way. Aside from the mountain views you get all along, the real treat is when you get to the lakes at the end. There are medium-sized boulders to work your way across for about 1/4 mile, and then there are two lakes... Eagle Lake and Symphony Lake. We got to Eagle Lake and I decided that was a good place to turn around. Symphony Lake was only another 1/4 mile or so away, but that was across more boulders, and I knew the 4.5 or so miles back to the car on top of what we had already done would be a challenge for me since I don't quite have my AK hiking legs yet. So in all, we completed a 9.5 mile hike.  Here are some of the photos from that hike... it's just pure torture to have to deal with this scenery everyday! ;)



Our view as we start our hike.





South fork of Eagle River





Eagle Lake



A panoramic view at Eagle Lake.  Symphony Lake is off to the right... over more boulders. :)

Checking Out Anchorage's Water Supply... A Glacial Lake!

I've been itching to go on another hike, so despite a steady rainfall much of the day, a friend and I went for a hike and were treated to some beautiful views. This hike is at Lake Eklutna, which is where Anchorage gets its water supply. Glacier water... yum! It's a beautiful lake... I've heard a lot about it since I moved here, but this was my first time actually seeing it.  There is an easy trail at the edge of the lake, but we decided to take a trail that goes up into the mountains around the lake. I admit that I was thankful to see that this trail is rated "difficult" when I looked it up later... much of it is quite steep! That made me feel a little better about being sore for the next couple days. :) All in all, we traveled 4.5 miles and climbed 1600 ft.

There's a lake out there, can't you see it?  Trust me...




Some mountains on the far side of the lake start to come into view...




See?  A lake!  Not the whole thing, but at least you can see there IS a lake there!




While we were standing there taking in the view, it was starting to clear out pretty quickly.  This is about as clear as it got... but still, what a view!





Lupin... Love it!




Another view along the hike...





So many layers of clouds... :)



Bluebells... another great abundant flower around here.



Weather Balloons!

Since this is the first National Weather Service office I'm at that does a weather balloon launch (twice per day, everyday), we had to make it a point to go see how it's done. There's more to the process than we saw, but we joined in for the actual launch. When the wind is from the south (like it was this day, planes take off right over the launch site. We're just south of the airport, so many of the planes (especially the 747s) are sitll pretty low when they go overhead. Pretty cool.

The balloon is filled with hydrogen, and then a weather instrument called a radiosonde is tied underneath the balloon. Once we got the go-ahead from the airport control tower, the balloon was released. For the next hour or so, it collects data on temperature, relative humidity, and wind and sends it back to our office. This gives us a snapshot of the atmosphere right at our office (basically overhead, although the balloon does follow the winds as it ascends), and the data goes into weather models. Several (50-ish?) offices around the country launch these balloons everyday, and everywhere around the world, these balloons are launched at the same time. Then we get a snapshot of the weather across the globe! Pretty important and useful stuff!



The balloon is ready and waiting for the "all clear" from the airport tower. Wouldn't want the balloon to hit a plane on the way up!



The plane we were told to wait to take off before the baloon was launched.  Always fun to see them taking off right overhead.



Up, up, and away!



You can see the whole thing here... balloon... parachute... and the actual weather instrument (the black rectangle hanging below the parachute).



Turnagain Arm Views... and Some Views From Alyeska...

On Monday, June 6th, we drove down the Seward Highway to Girdwood. It was a beautiful day, so we had to take advantage since several other days during my parents' week here were more cloudy and/or rainy. We stopped several times along the way to take in the views of Turnagain Arm, and then when we got to Girdwood, we took a tram up to a restaurant/viewing platform at Alyeska Ski Resort and took in more amazing views.



You can tell which way the wind typically blows through here... and how strong it is!





Mom and Dad enjoying the views...





The view from the ski hill... at the top of the Alyeska tram.