Icy Reflection

The last 2 days were clear and crisp with no wind - clear and cold at night and around 40 during the day.  Perfect ski weather.  Of course it could not last and today it is supposed to rain HARD.  And I fear the weather guys might get it right this time.  Although I will add the storm is tracking east which means Kodiak might get the backside of the storm, and it would not be a total bust in terms of snow.  I predict snow on the mountain and rain in town.

A couple of days ago I went crust cruising up the Upper Buskin River.  Many of the ice bridges in the canyon had melted out so I could not go far upstream.  But the skate ski conditions on the dry riverbed down towards the lake was GREAT, and it was also pretty good on the beaches along the shores of Buskin Lake.
Patrick

A 'Trace' of Snow

I love it when the spruce trees on Pilar Mountain are draped in snow!

According to the weather guys Kodiak got a 'trace' of snow Wednesday night (they later upgraded it to .3 inches).  But if that's a trace I'll take it every time.  I have noticed that this year the weather guys consistently seem to downgrade the snow totals. While in years past they have tended to exaggerate the totals.  Sometimes I think they measure it as it falls and other times (like this year) they maybe only measure what is in the cup at the end of the storm.  I'm not exactly sure but I have come to realize that their observations are not very standardized between the different observers.  The totals are very much more subjective from year to year than you would think, and this makes it difficult to use their measurements to compare snow years.

Anyway, we woke up to snow on the ground, blue skies above, and very little wind.  We hit the trifecta!

I raced out of work to climb Pyramid and found the road to the pass was impassible.  So I had to climb up from the switchbacks.  I have not had to do this in years.  And I had to do it quick if I was to make it back in time to pick up the kids from school.  So I raced up.

It was glorious.  Deep powder - and I had it all to myself.  When I was done I looked back at the mountain and admired my sinuous squiggle of a track that went from top to bottom.  Then I skied down the road to my car.  Skiing on the road was sort of weird because I am used to doing it in my car at about the same pace I did it on skis.  Except what is slow for the car is very speedy on skis!

I was in a good mood when I picked up the kids - right on time with their after school snacks on hand.  Patrick

I started my climb from the dark area in the center of the picture and skied back to the car on the road you can see on the right

Blowing Snow & Rime

On Tuesday I braved the road to the pass and climbed up Pyramid in the driving rain.  It was my first time downhill skiing in 2 weeks!  Half way up the rain turned to snow.  Snow and rime.  Everything was getting covered with a layer of ice.  

Then on the way down it really started to snow and it was snowing all the way down to the car.  And I as I drove to town the snow followed me.  In town I noticed the 'cats paws' of melted snow flakes hitting the windscreen. Whoooo whooo maybe it would even turn to snow in town.  The weather guys said no - but they use computer models and are generally wrong.  They do not know the quirks of Kodiak weather!

When I picked up the kids I told Nora that she would wake up Wednesday morning to snow on the ground.   And I was right - post to follow!

Selfie on top - I'm soaked!

Snow Forts

Yesterday morning the kids and I went to the golf course to play in the snow, and the sun came out.  To convince Nora and Stuey to go there I told them about 5 foot deep snow drifts to dig into.  I don't think they quite believed me.  But afterwards they did!

They brought a friend along and dug tunnels into the drifts while I skied around and around the golf course.  I'd stop by and check on them as I passed during my loops.  I noticed that their play progressed from tunnels and forts to simply jumping up and down to see how deeply they could sink into the snow.  Good fun.

Up the river to the Big Hole

End of the road - the 'Big Hole'

Yesterday it warmed up and rained a bit at the house, but where we went to go XC skiing it still stayed primarily snow.  Taking the kids skiing can be hard.  When we started our ski Nora was in a great mood and Stuey wanted to stay in the car.  So I left him there, and Nora and I went for our XC ski.

After a bit I looked back and there was Stuey following on foot.  I think he was surprised by the depth of the snow and how difficult it was to keep up on foot.  He decided he wanted to go by skis after all.  So I raced back to the car and got his skis and boots.

So all was well for while.  We skied way up the river to the 'big hole' where the snow shelf had completely collapsed into the river and there was no way around it.  By this time Stuey was in a great mood. He loved it when I'd take pictures of him throwing snowballs at the camera. From Grumpy to fun-to-be-around in less than an hour.

Meanwhile Nora has gotten tired and grumpy. Maybe a little Hungry?  She swears that in the future no more XC skiing - 'only downhill'.

We make it back to the car and drop by McDonalds on the way home for a late lunch.  Nora later admits she had fun.  Stuey too.  Both loved the canyon and negotiating the holes on skis.  Another 'forced family fun' adventure!
Patrick

Risky Play

Yesterday I got home and was exiting the car when I heard, 'hi dad'.  It was Stuey and he sounded close, but when I looked around - no Stuey.  Then, 'Dad look up, I'm up here'! And so I did look up into the spindly cottonwood tree (not pictured) in front of where I park my car.  There was Stuey way, way up in the tree.  'Dad, it is a great view from up here - I can see the ocean over the house'. Oh boy . .. .

A rush of thoughts came to mind. 'Wow that's dangerous'.  Then I thought what if he breaks my pretty tree. And finally I realized - that's a lot better than Minecraft on the iPad.

When I was a kid I used to climb trees all the time.  I also used to break a lot of tree limbs and fell out of trees quite frequently.  Just like I used to fall through the ice on small ponds and bike without a helmet.  I did not always engage in safe play.  The upside was that I learned about tree climbing, ice, and rode my bike a lot.  I did not do 'electronics'.

And so heart in my throat I said, 'Wow Stuey, that's cool.  You really are way up there.'  I then convinced him not to climb that particular tree because I really do not want it broken! I also told him, 'make sure to step on branches close to the trunk and always have at least one hold'.  'And don't go too high!'  Nothing like imparting a little of my hard earned tree climbing wisdom.

I went inside for a bit and came out after a bit to find Nora and Stuey climbing in the big cottonwood.  I yelled up to them, 'Be safe'.  Patrick

Ski Landscapes

For the last week I have been skiing a lot - twice a day in fact.  In the afternoon after work I have been going up the Upper Buskin River into the canyon on my classic XC ski gear, and then in the evening I have been taking the dogs skate skiing on the local lakes.  It seems every day we have been getting more snow, and on the upper Buskin there is now more than a foot of snow on the ground.

Funnily enough while the Upper Buskin has been getting more and more snow, not much snow has fallen in town.  Yesterday is was a mix of rain and snow at my house, but snowing hard inland.  Also a lot of the snow has been 'ocean effect' and only fallen on the northwest end of the island or in the mountains.  However, this is definitely a weather pattern I can live with and I hope it continues.

Patrick

I've been taking this panoramic a lot - which is best?

This is 9 pictures stitched together - now I have to take the picture with people in it!

Little holes of blue sky like this are often called 'sucker holes'

I wanted to catch the full moon rising like I did with Stuey last year - Click Here for Post

A view from yesterday - another 3-4 inches have buried my tracks from the day before (look carefully on the right)