A Frosty Week (December 12-13, 2009)

Today's sunrise- 10:07, sunset- 3:53, total daylight- 5 hours 46 minutes

As the sun rose each day this week, it revealed a landscape of white frosted trees. The spruce, birch, and aspen were covered in frost and the sun never came out long enough to melt it off the branches. We took in this beautiful landscape on Saturday as we skied the trails of the National Wildlife Refuge. The trails were not the best, being a ski/snowshoe trail, but the trip was well worth it when we spotted a porcupine about 20 yards away chewing on a down aspen tree. The animal was not concerned with our presence and continued to nibble away at his snack. We also spotted about four eagles at the end of our ski. On Sunday, we went skiing on the Tsalteshi Trails, which are very well managed and once again got to take in the beauty of the white trees.

On Thursday night we head back to Minnesota to spend time with our families for Christmas. We are very anxious to get back! It’s about a 5 hour flight and we will land in Minnesota around 5:30 Friday morning. Merry Christmas to everyone and safe travels, wherever you may be going!

Shooting Snowshoe Hares! (December 5-6)

We took in a beautiful weekend with a lot of outdoor exploring, mild weather, and fluffy snow on the ground. The sun has been rising at about 9:30 AM and setting around 4PM. The days have definitely been getting shorter but not for long. On Saturday we put on our snowshoes for the first time this winter season. We headed out on a short trail, 0.3 miles, to Egumen Lake. The lake was emitting a gurgling sound in which we have never heard a lake do before. We’re not sure what was causing this noise. Any thoughts from our friends? We followed the lake’s perimeter for awhile and came upon some tracks in the snow that were not canine but feline. We came to our own conclusion that they were tracks from a lynx.

Following the discovery of the mysterious tracks, we made the decision to bushwhack back to the car by following the noise of the highway. Jon saw movement within the base of a tree and quickly caught a glimpse of a snowshoe hare. We tried to flush it out of hiding but were unsuccessful. Continuing on with our bushwhacking we spotted yet another snowshoe hare, this time seen by both of us. A few minutes later another was flushed out. This one eventually stopped but then took off again. At this point we met up with the trail. While heading back to our car we saw a hare sitting behind a spruce tree. It was difficult to see, its ears, the only part we could see, were barely visible. We tried to flush it out and it raced ahead of us. At this point we made the decision to take off our snowshoes, allowing us to walk more quietly through the snow. The hare had stopped just ahead where it anxiously awaited a photo op. We were about 12 feet away face to face with a nervous but composed snowshoe hare! We consider ourselves very fortunate to have had this opportunity.

Sunday brought yet another gorgeous day with highs around 30 degrees. We tucked the snowshoes away and brought out the cross country skis. The Tsalteshi Trails in the nearby town of Soldotna are finally groomed. The conditions were perfect. Jon was greeted on the trail by his second ermine sighting of the season. The trails are all named after Alaskan animals and today we found out why the Mountain Goat Trail is named as such. We were fortunate that not only did we survive the climb up but also the descent. Hoping all are well as we eagerly await our trip back to Minnesota for Christmas. Or as they say in Alaska, eagerly awaiting to go outside! (a.k.a. going to the lower 48)