Silver Bay

Went out to Silver Bay to see the whales, sea lions and eagles. Saw all three, but alas and alack, nothing worth shouting about. They were keeping submerged for the most part (well, except for the lone juvenile eagle in the tree) as they swam about the bay. The mountains, however, were displaying their usual spectacular form.

Peace

Mendenhall Glacier

We took what we thought was going to be a day trip up to Juneau to take care of some business. As it turned out, we were caught in a nasty little storm, and had to stay overnight at the splendiferous Super 8 hotel near the airport. And when I write splendiferous, I really mean crappy.
Anywhoo, while waiting for our flight to be cancelled, we drove out to the Mendenhall Glacier a few miles from downtown Juneau and braved the elements to see the magnificent glacier. The sleet, rain, freezing rain, ice chunks, rising wind and the frozen, skating rink-like surface of the parking lot and stairs convinced us to take a look, then get the heck out of there. So we did. Spending time in the emergency room wasn't on our agenda.

The Mendenhall glacier is fed from the Juneau Icefield. The icefield is America's fifth largest, and blankets over 1,500 square miles of land, stretching nearly 85 miles north to south and 45 miles east to west. It feeds 38 large glaciers, including the Mendenhall.

View of the glacier from the observation area.

View from the lakeshore (as far as we dared venture).

Close up of the twisting ice sheet.

Peace

Sitka Light

Often, the light changes dramatically in Sitka. Snowing hard at 7:30 this morning for a few hours, then some sun and a bit of blue sky. About 11:30, the sky darkens again as more snow approaches.

Peace

Happy Thanksgiving!

Expecting another foot of snow last night (we've had 19"so far this month), but it didn't materialize this morning. Walking back from a friends house a few minutes ago (had a coffee tasting this morning!), the sky opened up and the snow started coming down.

 The pile of snow is getting big by the house!

Here comes the snow!

I am blessed to know you my friends, and I miss you all!

Peace

Icicles

The snow has stayed around due to very cold temperatures (for these parts). It got down to about 14 degrees last night, and more snow is expected. Folks say that this is not common for this time of year, so we must be benefiting from global warming!

Peace my friends!

Snow Pics

I went for a stroll up to the muskeg and down into the estuary to see what the first snow looked like. The weather changed about every 15 minutes: wind, snow, sunshine and more snow. Enjoy!

 It takes a lot of time for the muskeg fairies to stack the snowballs on the pine needles.

 Saw this little guy keeping out of the way of most of the snow.

 Snow is heading my way!

 Saw this otter taking a swim by the bridge.

 The estuary at high tide.

 Leads to the artesian well.

 Last of the green grass in the estuary.

Trees leaning precariously towards the river. They probably won't last another season.

Nature's jewelry.

Peace my friends!

First Snow

First snow (that sticks) of the season. We've had some light flurries, but nothing that stayed around. Today was a pleasant surprise.

Heading out  for a walk to the store! The snow is blowing sideways at this point, stinging our faces (my excuse for the blurry pic).

Peace

A Fine Fall Day

The weather has been rain, followed by a bit of rain, then wind, and lastly, some heavy rain. So when the sun came out, so did I.

 Heading out on the trail, and found ice on the boards that are there to protect the muskeg. Like skating on ice too!

Puddles are iced as well.

This is what I would walk in (not on), if I stepped off the boards.

Last vestiges of frost on the pine needles after the sun has been warming them.

Lots of ice below my feet.

And plenty of snow above me. The road is closed up there for maintenance, otherwise I would have been there getting my snow on!

Hung out at the beach for a bit this afternoon as well, contemplating my belly button and looking for whales. No whales, but plenty of belly button.

Peace my friends! I miss you all.

Winter is Near

The snow is slowly creeping down from the peaks and the weather is almost always cloudy, and raining off and on. Sometimes the heavens open up and the rain falls heavily, and straight down like it was being hurled earthward. One never leaves the house without a rain jacket of some sort, no matter what the weather looks like at the moment.

New dusting of snow, getting lower and lower.

Southwest view of the water from the bridge.

Southeast view of the sound and mountains.

Love the fall colors!

Rain coming down as I look across the sound.

Peace my friends!!

Spot Prawns

Oh baby! Five pounds of spot prawns, bigger than my thumb and fresh off the boat!

Peace

Windy

Not much going on these days, but we did have sustained 55mph winds for about 2 hours, then down to 35 or so. Of course it was raining, so the windows got a good power washing. The big trees behind the house stayed in the ground, but what was left of the raspberries got blown away and a part of a small tree behind the garage didn't do so well. But hey, it's that time of year here, so more to come. Love me some weather!!

Bye, bye raspberries!

I've been pacing myself (some would say lazy), but I'm going to head up into the mountains around here soon and hope to see some bears. Or a bear. Or a bear footprint. They have kept themselves up in the mountains so far, with just a few sightings reported down by the rivers. The rivers stink with rotting salmon, so I have avoided those areas until the stench and the seagulls both abate!

Peace my friends, I miss you all!