Crossing the Lake

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This morning, after looking out the windows, I expected it would be a day dominated by snow. Low snow clouds hung over the house. Our weatherman promised that the temperature will rise well above freezing so the snow should melt as it hits our driveway. Winter seemed to be slipping away without giving the dog and I a chance to ski across Mendenhall Glacier Lake. 

            I was more surprised than Aki when sunshine started flooding the neighborhood with light. We needed an open, skiable place to enjoy the light. By checking the ski club website, I learned that Mendenhall Lake was finally thick enough to set up a cross country ski trail on its ice.  Aki’s other human and I ate a quick breakfast and drove with the little dog out to the trail head. We slipped onto the lake ice under blue, sunny skies. There was beauty to digest any way we looked. I took a few photos and followed Aki and her other human across the lake. The sun disappeared when were almost to the other side of the lake. 

            A mixture of hail and snow soon cut off our views of mountains and glaciers. This didn’t disappoint Aki. She ran up to every dog she saw to say “hi” or sniff. Sometimes she would just stop to roll in the new snow. 

Nesting Eagles

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t snowed most of last night. It’s scheduled to snow more this afternoon. But right now, in late morning, no rain or snow falls. The sun is even breaking through the clouds for minutes at a time. Aki is more than ready to walk along Sandy Beach.

            Four inches of new snow cover the trail to the beach. But it gives, rather than makng up slip and slide, when we walk on it. It takes us little time to work through the woods and onto the beach. The tide is reducing Sandy to a narrow trail. In a few minutes tidal water will close it to traffic. 

            By slipping under alders hanging over the beach, we are able to make it to the end of the beach where an immature bald eagle seems to sulking in a beachside cottonwood tree. I wonder, for the tenth time this winter, whether eagles will nest again in the Treadwell Woods that border Sandy Beach. We climb a snow-covered trail off the beach to where we can see an eagle nest built into the framework of a cottonwood. For the time since last summer an adult eagle is stationed above the nest. 

Sweet

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It’s getting close to the middle of March, when people in the 48 states start to put away their skis. In southern states, like Florida, college kids are drawn to beaches and swimming pools like Winnie the Poo toward honey. This morning, the ski Aki and I took through the glacier campground made dream of Spring. The temperature rose, melting ice crystals that had formed on the ski trail during last night’s hard freeze. When we started, I worried that I’d be dealing with ice-slick trails the whole way. But the sking was firm but fine. 

Letting Aki Have a Little Break

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It seems strange walking without Aki this morning. The weather isn’t keeping her home. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, no wind to discourage the little poodle mix. In a few minutes the temperature will climb above freezing. No, weather isn’t the problem, it’s the little poodle mix puppy in the car that’s picking me up. Our 14 year old Aki won’t put up with much from any pup. Almost all dogs tree yield to our10 pounder’s wishes. I just wasn’t sure about my friend’s new puppy.

            Aki won’t lose out on a walk this morning. A few minutes after I leave, she and her other human will head out to glacier for a ski with family friends. Yesterday, the CDC lets us all know that people who had received the Corvid vaccinations could meet without masks. All of Aki’s ski partners qualify.     

We Are Always Drawn Back

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There are a lot of places to visit on a sunny March day. We could be out the road, climbing between snow-covered meadows to reach an almost perfect beach. I might be leading Aki around one of the tidal islands accessible at low tide. But we are back at shore of Mendenhall Lake, getting ready to ski around the campground. 

            The little dog is fine with the idea. It gives her the chance to catch up on the peep mail messages left by other Juneau friends. But I have my doubts. It froze hard last night and we were just told that the snow machine needed for resetting the trail is broken. Aki couldn’t care less even though it might mean me having to struggle on an ice slick trail.

            As always happens, Aki wins. But when we start down the trail I realize that I am also a winner. The trail is just soft enough for me to ski without slipping. I can fly down the trail. In record time we reach a little path that we can use to ski along the Mendenhall River and back to the car along the edge of the lake. Even though strong spring sunshine had been hammering the snow trail, it is still rock hard. This doesn’t bother the little poodle-mix, but toughens my skiing. That’s until I drop onto the lake, which is covered with a thin layer of snow. It lets me glide back to car by simply pulling myself forward with my ski poles. 

Lucky, if Brief, Brake

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Aki’s other human brought her skate skis to the glacier campground. They would have been ideal for moving around the set track. But that was being heavily used this morning by legislative aides and their guests. So, we switched plans and used our skis to trace the edge of the lake. It turned out great. 

Last night well, well-below freezing weather hardened the border ice around the lake. In an hour or so, it will soften in the sun, making it difficult to travel on using the light weight skate skies. But now, the snow still supports us and offers the perfect surface for slashing with skate skis. We make it to the mouth of Mendenhall River in record time. 

No Sunshine for Us

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This morning a helicopter carrying a dangling cable flew along the flanks of Mt. Roberts. The cable produced explosive sounds that encourage small avalanches to drop off the mountain flanks. The snow flew down the mountainside, reaching salt water and covering Thane Road. We must be one of the first cars to drive between Mt. Roberts and Gastineau channel after ploughs pushed it off the road.

            Sunshine broke through the clouds as we headed toward the little Sheep Creek delta. plotches of light lit up the mountain ridge on Douglas Island. For few seconds it looked like the same thing would happen to the delta. One shaft of light did strike a patch of dead beach grass near Aki as she peed on the beach, then faded away, letting the beach return to gray. Down channel, sunlight make Juneau town sparkle. It offered no help here.

Exploitive Gulls

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The temperature continues to climb this week. It’s 42 F. when Aki and I leave the car for a walk out to Point Louisa. For Aki, the trail provides a place to exchange information with other dogs. While I stand well off the trail each time another human approaches on the trail, Aki dashes over to visitor for a little sniff. I need to be off the trail to avoid any chance of Covid spread. Aki acts like she can’t catch the pandemic virus.

            Even though the temperature is well above freezing, We feel a bone-chilling blast of air when we walk on to the bare section of Louisa Peninsula. The base seems empty of birds and the sea lions we often see feeding on the protected side of the peninsula. There are scoters feeding on the protected side of the land, accompanied by two gulls trying for the goodies not captured by the hard-working scoters. 

Surprising Sunshine

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Aki is taking this cross country ski trip seriously. That’s probably because was are being joined by her other human. The little dog watches the road carefully as we drive out to Skater’s Cabin. That’s where we will start skiing around the shore of Mendenhall Lake. It’s suppose to be snowing but none falls on us as we walk to the  lake shore. Instead we have to squint because no clouds block the sun.

            It’s 38 degrees and the temperature will rise before we finish. The snow, hardened by last night’s cold weather, is firm enough to keep us above the snow’s surface. Aki follows us onto the lake, across a small bay, and around a snow-covered point. When I stopped on the lake ice to take a picture, my ski poles slide easily into the ice. In a half hour my skis would  be sinking into icy water. But we have just enough time to fly over the top of it, high and dry. 

Aki Makes Amends

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Somewhere someone is playing football (soccer) or American baseball. The sun is shining there, encouraging the locals to leave their winter coats hanging up in the front closet. No sun shines on Southeast Alaska today. Large chunks of snow fall from the ski only to melt when striking our roads or trails. That’s how it’s been for much of the winter. None of this discourages our poodle-mix, Aki, who squirms and even screams while standing at our front door.

            We head out to North Douglas Island to use a very icy trail that leads through an old growth spruce forest to a crisp beach. Aki would love to fly down the trail but decides, instead, to wait for me to as I take photos or search for noisy birds. She wants to set a quick trot down the beach but stops to let me appreciate the sudden appearance of our nearby glacial mountains. Yesterday she refused to go on a proper walk. Maybe, today, she is trying to make amends.