Aki and I are out the road to get away from the strong winds hammering Downtown Juneau. Usually it is colder out here. But today it is a toasty 15 above F.

            No clouds block the sun. It lights up the snow-covered Chilkat Mountains and brightens the surface of Lynn Canal. Aki squints into the resulting glare as we approach the Peterson Lake outfall stream. Inches of thick ice coat the rocks on either side of the stream. The ice would glow as if lit from within if the sunlight could reach it. Without the sun’s help the ice is reduced to a low-contrast rock coating that make passage impossible, even for the sure-footed little poodle.