Two clouds floated through our streak of blue sky days

A varied thrush hopped around on the ground collecting small bits of gravel. I do not usually seen them on the ground, near people, much less in the parking lot of a busy hangar. The robins, yes, and most common the little redpolls and finches taking dirt baths. The thrush normally stays in the brush. 

Glacier Creek is rushing with run-off from snow and ice melt. I can easily hear it 100 yards away. Yet the small drainages and puddles are drying up. Our “creek” has dried up behind the house in Girdwood. We live near the foot of Penguin Ridge. Penguin is 99% clear of snow. Are the little birds looking for bits of water when they stalk? I think tiny bits of gravel for their crops and insects mostly.

Who would ever think to say they were hot in Girdwood? For the past four weeks, there have been maybe two days of rain, and not even full days. Not the normal weather pattern for the northern tip of a rain forest. I have concern for the trees. The trees are not adapted to this dry air for such an extended period. Their offspring may adapt in the coming decades. Or, adapted species will move north overtaking the present species. 

Here are two clouds seen in over Glacier Valley today. Beautiful blue skies really show off the green mountain sides and the few spots of snow remaining. With more than 14 days of temperatures in the 70’s, it is hard to imagine bits of snow still on the ground. The cool nights of the north help them remain. Homeowners with large picture windows are surely grateful for the cool nights here in the valley. I look forward to an early crop of strawberries.

Nice powder snow in the valley today

The bitter cold broke the spell of the warm rain, and now the snow has briefly broken the spell of the bitter cold. Briefly. Last night Girdwood received 3 inches of snow, powdery, white, fluffy snow! Not wet, not mixed with rain. It was a lovely sight out the windows this morning. 

I had to drive into Anchorage and it was a blustery Tuesday along the Turnagain Arm. No white-out, not much snow falling at all. However, snow was blowing all over the highway. There were snow dunes on the shoulder along Potter Marsh, pretty. 

Though the weather forecast was for temperatures to rise, expected when there is cloud cover, the temperature stayed around 10° in the city. Upon return to Glacier Valley this afternoon, I came into a temperature of 25°, much more pleasant that the recent single digits. We could still use some more snow. Below is a picture of my favorite snow gauge, the picnic table at the Girdwood Fire Department. The photo with the bluer sky was taken in November. Since then we have had three warm spells when the snow has melted. There have been three small snow showers since, including last night. Notice the picnic table looks about the same as in November. By this time of year, the table is usually a snow mound. The lack of snow is a bit disconcerting. Not only for weather watchers and those concerned with the environment, but for the Resort and their ski mountain as well. I hope we will be blessed with our usual February dump of snow starting this weekend!

 January 29, 2013

November 17, 2012

Cold under light clouds, surprises from our local helicopter flight seeing business

The clear skies last night opened up the ceiling to release the warmth of the earth and drop in cold air. It is 17° in Girdwood this morning at the T. As you can see, the clouds have returned, yet the cold air still sits with us. In the streetlights, the frost on top of the snow sparkled until the flat white light replaced the sharp light. 

Yesterday I mentioned I had seen some birds taking up freshly spread gravel on the road. After much research, I am pretty sure the larger grey bird was an American Dipper. I had seen this bird before and ID’d it as such. But without a photo, I am still not 100 percent sure. I’ll be going back to see if I can set up a tripod and catch it for sure.  Here is my view of Max's Mountain today.

Glacier City is home to all kinds of interesting goings-on. Yoga with Erin at the Four Valleys Community school is a quality class. For a good core work out, I highly recommend it. It is obvious Erin has had professional training. If relaxing yoga is your preference, there are several other instructors through Four Valleys, check their classes page. 

Even more exciting things happen at our local heli-flight seeing and back country skiing businesses. Alpine Air Alaska is the utmost in professional helicopter services including maintenance. Last fall they provided flight services for some Coors Light commercials. Well Coors is back this winter and Alpine Air is one of the service providers. I was not asked to sign any confidentiality agreements, so I hope everyone is ok reading this. They are not the only service provider but they are the locals with great respect in the community of Girdwood. Visit their website to see some clips of the filmed commercials. Support Alpine Air by recommending them to your friends and family when they visit Alaska. Alpine Air donates a good deal of support to the community in Glacier Valley. They have donated a time to the development of the Girdwood Nordic Ski loop, to repairs and work on the hand tram over Winner Creek, and to local remote weather stations on high peaks. Get a group of your friends together for a heli-glacier landing. There are so many glaciers so close to us and a helicopter trip gets you to them quick and easy. There is nothing like seeing the beautiful Alaskan landscape from a helicopter. 

Look, these glaciers are just a 20 minute hop over the mountains, actually through Winner Creek valley, and they are gorgeous. Yes, we can see 5 or 7 glaciers from Girdwood depending where you are, but you can actually hop over and walk on them! Above is the toe of Knik Glacier, head of the Knik river. Below is approaching Colony Glacier, and last is standing on Colony. Wow, just right over there! 

Blue bird skies and birds active this bright day

This is the day here in Glacier City, blue skies, fresh snow, and decent cold air. There is about 4-6 inches of fresh powder, not wet snow any more! The temperature is 23° and the blue sky has lots of clouds floating through. The clouds at the lower elevations seem to be moving quickly to the south. 

I took a nice walk down to Glacier Creek near the Girdwood library and fire department. It was amazing how fast the temperature dropped on Tuesday freezing the water on the ground in nearly two hours. The fresh snow is on top of ice and in some places the water was running under the ice. As a result, when walking on the snow, footsteps sink and “whoomp” down because there is nothing under the thin layer of ice to hold me up. An interesting balancing act to keep the ankles from turning in or out. 

On the walk, I heard a raven talking to someone, in one of its many voices. This was not a voice I recognized. While looking for the raven I actually saw an eagle in a tree near the library. Quickly realizing the raven was probably talking to the eagle, sure enough, it was trying to convince the eagle to find a new resting place. The eagle, of course, was not fazed at all. It did, however, duck and squirm when the raven attempted to dive-bomb the larger bird. Luck of the draw capturing this move. 

Today I am using a new camera. I recently was given a Nikon CoolPix that is waterproof, shock proof, and cold hardy. It has a zoom function, but it would have been nice if I had the SLR for this chance meeting. Oh well, It is handy in its own respect. 

Also while out-and-about, I saw the small flock of LBBs in an intersection harvesting the fresh gravel that was spread on the road. There were other folks and dogs out so the little brown birds kept flittering back and forth into the trees. They are some type of sparrow, will be going back to see them again. There was also one larger brown bird with them, I have seen this one before and just cannot ID it in the books. It must be someone on the move before spring? 

Nice fat flakes falling today

Snow, glorious snow! Snow is falling heavily in Glacier City today! And probably all around the Arm and Western Prince William Sound. Thank goodness, just in time to cover all the slush that froze within two hours yesterday when the temperature dropped in the morning. Currently, the temperature in Girdwood is 29° perfect for snow conditions and for it to continue all day. Nice fat flakes gracing Girdwood and the ski area today!


Its not easy to see in the photos, but the long range view shows that it is near white-out! Normally in any of these views, you would see mountains–how could you not, it is a valley after all! The tall photo is toward Max’s Mountain, I am barely two blocks away, and I cannot see it at all this morning. Very nice! 

Our local conspiracy of raven were checking out Alyeska Highway today. They were so low flying across the road we thought they were cats running across. Thank goodness they were not. 

Tonight's yoga class is at the Girdwood School, Yoga with Erin. There are classes throughout the week, not only yoga but all kinds of work-outs, art, and fun. Classes are for everyone, children to adults. View their classes at Four Valley Valleys Community School. Activities for those of us too far from Anchorage to try to drive in for some fun education.

Today's special dinner is the weekly burger at Jack Sprat on Olympic Mountain Loop. Every week chef prepares a different themed burger. Additionally, they grind their own beef for the burgers, a great deal and a fantastic burger. Jack Sprat's Menu

Real good snow in Girdwood Tuesday, finally!

Yipee! Winter has returned to Glacier City! It has been snowing in Girdwood since around 4am, and it looks like about 3-4 inches at the T and the base. Alyeska reports less on their snow report, not sure why, there is definitely more on the ground at houses nearby. The snow is the best, its falling slow so it is not wet and heavy anymore. Visibility is probably not great on the Seward Hiway, but at least its not wet! The temperature in Girdwood has dropped to 29° and is forecasted to fall further tonight ensuring the snow will stay!  There is a bit of a wind shaking snow off the trees !occasionally.

You can see from these photos looking toward downtown Girdwood (above) and Max's Mountain (below) it is snowing quite thick! This and the views from Alaska 511 weather cams show some heavy snow with low visibility.

Great bird observations, further appreciating the warmer weather for that aspect. I have seen quite a few chickadees poking around tree trunks. So nice to see other life about besides humans (and dogs). My husband has been observing an eagle in old Girdwood. 

I am looking forward to checking on the quality of Moose Meadows today. It has been too soon for the Girdwood Nordic Ski club to groom the trails, check their site later for updates. 

Moose Meadows was coated with light fluffy snow and the scene was gorgeous gracing us with a sunset as seen below. It will be a few days before the Nordic Club can groom since the snow is on ice in most places but in many other locations there are slushy pot holes. A few determined folks took on the loop, and we had a wonderful time! 

Snow at high elevations and a little blue sky in Girdwood

There has been light snow fall at sea level in Girdwood the past two nights, however, no build up. The top of the mountain though has been blessed with over a foot of fresh snow. Anywhere over 500 feet elevation is cold enough to retain snow. The snow has been building up so much, Alyeska's snow safety has been hard at work to clear avalanche dangers. The howitzers started at 8 am. There will be no danger for skiers at the top of the mountain as the tram remains closed due to the accident earlier this week.  It still remains above freezing at 34° in Glacier City today at the base of the mountain. 

I drove into Anchorage yesterday and saw the ice and snow had melted in all the marsh areas along Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm. The sides of the mountains look good where the snow has stayed on the trees. It was nice to be just 40 miles down the road and experience some blue sky and sun shine. Today in Girdwood we are seeing a bit of blue sky between the fluffy clouds, a nice reprieve from the rain.

If you have indoor plants, be sure to check their soil for moisture. Winter care for indoor plants is important because the environment is quite different from the summer. Its easy to forget about their water needs when we people feel so warm. Our central heat systems and gas heaters really lower the humidity in our homes in the winter. Stick your finger into the soil up to the first knuckle after your finger tip. If the soil is dry, water your plants until water runs out the base. Or, if your houseplants are sitting in saucers, fill the saucer full so the soil can absorb from the base. 

A gorgeous sunset toward the Cook Inlet. This photo does not do it justice. Will be working with a better camera in the future.....

Above freezing in Girdwood with a break in the rain

Glacier City is receiving a nice break from precipitation and ultra-grey skies. The temperature, however, is still above freezing. It is 34° at the T this morning. As of noon, the resort is still firing rounds from the howitzer to try and clear potential avalanche danger. They started at 8 am this morning. There was a fair amount of snow on the upper mountain, snow looks like it held steady at about 5-700 feet elevation. At sea level, not so snowy. 

I like seeing the snow stuck on the trees on Max’s shoulder. That gives a better feeling of winter, which it should be! 

Thankfully there were no drunk driving accidents on New Year’s. There were some calls for cold exposure, which in a way was a drunk accident. Drunk kids not realizing they were too cold because they were so inebriated. 

The Resort had an accident due to high winds. A gust blew a tram car into the tower carrying the cables. See more about it on this news website. Everyone made it to the base safely and there were no major injuries. Quite an exciting way to begin a new year! 

Parts of the earth remain exposed to the air today in Girdwood. If you planted new trees this past year, you would do well to mulch around their bases to protect tender roots from freezing the next time the temperature drops. Trimmed tree limbs with needles still on them make good mulch, or you can purchase shredded wood mulch at any garden center. 

Here is a view up Glacier Creek toward Raven Glacier. There are areas on the creek where the water is melting over the snow, seen in the center right. Normally the snow and ice would be covering more of the creek flow and the flow under the bridge. There is no snow under the bridge.