A Beautiful Day For Snow

Sometimes when it snows, it's a gray day and it's snowing. Other times, it's a brighter day, snow comes down hard, and then the sun comes out to highlight all the trees with their newly fallen snow. This was one of THOSE days, and thankfully I had my camera with me! I don't think these photos need any other explanation... so... enjoy!



The view from the upper air building (where we launch weather balloons).

'Til next time...

First Snowshoe Adventure of the Season and Snowflakes!

I was itching to go snowshoeing, but didn’t know where some great trails would be.  I don’t know why I thought we needed trails, but we ended up going to the Coastal Trail and snowshoeing for awhile on there. It was neat to see the trail for the first time in the winter… I’m so used to seeing it in the summer when I bike along it! It’s been a cold winter already, and sea ice chunks are building up as one of the highest tide differentials in the world continues day after day.  It’s pretty neat to see these huge chunks of ice and silt out there just piled up.  It looks like a natural disaster has occurred!  It’s definitely natural, but not a disaster at all (although… these ice chunks can be quite dangerous for many coastal communities, especially on the northwest part of Alaska when unusually strong storms or high tides bring the ice on shore. Thankfully that doesn’t happen all that often!).



That's Mount Susitna (also called Sleeping Lady) in the background.



Part of the Coastal Trail



The Chugach Mountains sure do make a nice backdrop for our humble city!

I decided to go for a drive along Turnagain Arm today after snowshoeing on the Coastal Trail. I got a few photos of Turnagain Arm, but it was flurrying.  Not that flurries are bad… they’re just distracting because they’re so beautiful when they’re dendrites and plates! At one of the pull-outs, I stood there photographing all kinds of snowflakes on my car windows for probably close to an hour and a half.  At one point, the people in the car next to me (who had taken in the view and then were sitting in their car for a few minutes before leaving) put their window down and asked if I locked my keys in my car.  “Uh… no… I’m just photographing snowflakes… don’t mind me!”  He said, “I was wondering what you were doing there!”  Haha, yes, it’s true.  I’m not going to lie… it was hard to tear myself away!  The flakes just kept falling gently and I’d see a new one and just HAVE to photograph it as well.  Anyway, enough chatter… enjoy the photos!

Ok, NOW you can see some snowflakes.  I hope they were worth the wait!

I hope they were worth the wait!!  'Til next time...

November 23rd... Exploring My Neighborhood Park

Well, we've gotten 28.9 inches of snow so far!!  Our "normal" snowfall by this time is about 18", so we're starting out strong!  I decided to grab a friend and go for a walk in my neighborhood park so I could be out in the snow and enjoy the falling snow and beautiful scenery.  I also wanted to explore the trails that someone (or more than one person) was making through the bog.  Here's a little of what I found:




Mid-afternoon sunset has begun... days are getting shorter!



Not that I would know this if I had kept current with these blog posts, but I'm certain these shorter trees are completely buried now (Feb 2012)



One of the trails we're exploring... perfect, and close to home!

First Snow of the Season... Must Go for a Hike!

Yay... the first snow of the season has made it to sea level (just before Halloween)!  This gets people around here excited, and I love that!  A couple friends and I decided to go for a walk at Eagle River Nature Center.  We were treated to some great scenery along the way!



This is the trail we were going to take.  I appreciate the attempt at safety, however I think the salmon run is LONG over now.  Oh well... onto another trail! We aren't easily turned away around here.



There's something really neat about snowy landscapes with open water (and reflections).  I love this type of landscape!



I think this photo has a lot of "mood"...



Another one of my favorite types of photos... reflections without being able to see the actual thing that is being reflected.



This is a cabin that can be rented at the Nature Center.  I bet it would be awesome... I might have to rent it sometime!



The view from that cabin!

I have a feeling we're going to get A LOT more snow than this during this season.  We shall see! 'Til next time... I hope you enjoyed these photos!