My Drive Home

Folks keep asking how we like living outside of Anchorage, as if life in the mountains is somehow questionable. What am I to say? "Gee, I wish we'd stayed in that apartment near the industrial park!"

NOT.

So my drive home is no long past through the sprawling mid-town shopping district, industrial lots, and strip malls. Yesterday, it looked like this: 
 

And no, that's not a UFO above the mountains. That's one of several of the inevitable rock chips and bullseyes that all Alaskan drivers have. When you live in a place where the D.O.T. uses gravel for traction on the snow-packed roads, rocks are frequently airborne.

The snow line keeps lower on the mountainsides after every round of precipitation, and is now visible on the mountain behind the one on which we live.

Soon. :)
 

Oh Yeah, It Snowed Yesterday

Alaskans always watch for "termination dust", a term referring to the first dusting of snow on the mountain tops. No one can agree whether it refers to the terminus of the mountains, or the end of summer.

Either way, what we received yesterday wasn't termination dust. It was snow, and it's down to just above the treeline.

At least we had a summer, this year. Now all that remains to be seen is whether we'll have a proper winter.

It's Getting Closer All the Time

We noticed yesterday that next week's forecast called for lows around freezing, and highs in the mid-40s, for next week.


But no worries, I thought, as I left Anchorage today. Yes, it's still raining, and there's still a bit o' breeze. But no big deal, right?


Right?


It's 42° F. here at home, and there's snow a-plenty on the mountain peaks around us. And not that far above us, either.


I can hear you now: "Keep it up there, Rev."  "No, it's too soon!"  "Better you than me/us."


Whatever.


Either way, we have snow in the neighborhood. It's that time.

It's Probably Here to Stay

The snow in the mountains, that is.

What else is here to stay?

• Silly politics season
• Endless posturing by both politicians and self-important talking heads

but you probably knew that already.

Isn't That Interesting?

Isn't That Interesting? Dept:  Gas prices dropped to $2.99 overnight. Fascinating, isn't it? That's down nearly thirty cents in five days. Strange how they couldn't do that before the State was asked to investigate.

Whiter Than White Dept: There was a LOT of snow in the mountains yesterday. I'll try to remember to grab a picture or two, if the rainclouds lift today. Meanwhile, leaves are dropping rapidly. Our temps this week will be nearly 10 degrees cooler* than last week, too. Seems like autumn's in a hurry, this year.

9/14/15, from www.adn.com

9/14/15, from www.adn.com

You Can't Always Get What You Want Dept:  the Alaska Dispatch News has this story today.

Hunting show stars charged with poaching in Alaska preserve

Two hosts of the Sportsman Channel hunting show “The Syndicate” and eight others have been charged following a poaching investigation in Northwest Alaska's Noatak National Preserve.

I'm getting really tired of the various Discovery channels and subsidiaries trying to milk a few more dollars out of Alaska, no matter how contrived the stories/situations are.

Funny thing is, there's plenty of frontier up here, if you want it. We have 587,000 square miles, 90 percent of which is unpopulated, undeveloped, and completely devoid of roads.

Beware of Falling Rocks Dept:

A rock slide that temporarily closed the Seward Highway Monday came as a surprise to officials with the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities, which had recently taken steps to prevent such slides in the Mile 113 area of the highway after a similar incident earlier this year.

The latest rock slide was reported around 8 a.m. Monday and stopped traffic between the Potter Marsh weigh station and McHugh Creek. DOT spokesperson Shannon McCarthy said this slide came down at the "exact same" location another rock slide that closed the highway on Feb. 19.

Workers remove one of the large boulders that fell onto the Seward Highway about a mile south of the Potter weigh station on Monday morning, Sept. 14, 2015. Bill Roth / ADN

* Highs this week around 50, with lows falling into the mid-30s by week's end.

So It Snowed Last Night

It was raining and very windy when we woke up at dark:thirty this morning, and the large waves crashing into the beach were the reason for the early rise.

But once the clouds began to lift, it provided a not only a gorgeous view of the sunrise, but of this as well:

Termination Dust

Alaskan readers - and a few others - will know what that means:  a dusting of snow on the higher mountain peaks. It happens near the end (i.e., the termination) of summer, as colder air moves closer to the ground, and the freeze line descends.

So you know where I'm going with this: there's a chance of snow in the mountains tonight "or certainly by the middle of next week", according to the talking head on the TV weatherguess.

So as the company commander once told us in boot camp, many moons ago: "Gentlemen: if it's inevitable, you might as well relax and enjoy it."

Not this year ... yet.

About That White Stuff ...

You know, the "S" word that many of you didn't want me to mention...

On Sunday, the peaks above 3,500 ft had some snow on them. Today, that line was down to 2,500 ft.



Some of it has melted in the afternoon sun, but it's definitely here. Now, it's entirely possible that we might not see any ground snow for another month. But I've been wrong before.

One thing for sure: it won't be much longer now.

Not a Great Start to the Day

Ever have one of those days when you should have stayed in bed?

Okay, that's a silly question; of course you have. And today was my turn.

When the alarm went off, I just knew it was a malfunction: couldn't POSSIBLY be time to get up, right?

When I tried to sit up, it took a minute to find the floor ... and I'm not sure I was entirely vertical at that point, which contributed to the problem.

In trying to shave, I missed my upper lip and took a bit out of the edge of my nose, which wouldn't stop bleeding right away.

I shoulda stayed in bed ...

* * * * *

On Sunday, I wrote about how the weather has turned cooler, and mentioned that (judging solely by the departure of the snow geese) we might get early snow.

I neglected to mention that on Monday there was snow on the mountains above town. Granted, only above 4,000 feet, but still ... and it was 31° F. at my place, this morning.

Hmm. From the accumulating signs, it may not be long, now. White stuff is inevitable, of course; it's Alaska, after all.

Resistance is futile.


Have I mentioned I shoulda stayed in bed?

Something Whited This Way Comes

View across the road, taken this morning at 0900.

click to embiggify

likewise

Another Step Closer

to winter.

The snow today is down around the 3,500 to 4,000 foot elevation on the peaks above town. We haven't been above 51 degrees all day (or yesterday, either, at my place) and the skies are gray and foreboding. It rained all night, and leaves are falling in earnest. I took these pics with my cell phone as I left work ... I keep telling myself to remember my digital camera, and one of these days I will.

That's life above the 61st parallel; your mileage may vary.

Happy Labor Day! (with fresh SNOW update)

We have 44 degrees this morning, with a medium overcast & a sprinkling of rain. There's fresh snow on the higher mountain peaks above town, too. But what the heck - I'm not in the office, and that's a good thing, right now.

Have a great, relaxing day. Enjoy!