Eagle Glacier Trail

No pictures for this trail. It was kind of a lost cause.

Saturday G called us in the afternoon and asked what we were up to, then suggested a hike. It was record heat (83 degrees) and I thought that sounded like a good idea as long as it was in the shade.

G picked the Eagle Glacier Trail. None of us had been on it, and we had no idea what to expect. We had our work cut out for us since it was after 1:30 and we had at least 14 miles to go. At about mile 2.5, Mr. X stumbled and stubbed his toe. At the 3 mile mark he said he couldn't go any farther. G said her ankle was bothering her anyway. And the mosquitoes were having me for lunch, so we decided to call it a day.

On the way back to the car we ran across a group of gold panners. They had a few flakes after an hour's work. They also had a 10 week chocolate lab pup who was tuckered out by the heat and hike - he was asleep right in the middle of the bridge and didn't wake up even when we petted him.

G and B came over for popsicles and we showed bored them with the packrafts. Mr. X iced his foot which we're pretty sure is going to need at least three weeks of recovery.

Weather Outlook: Avalanches

images from Juneau Urban Avalanche Advisory site: http://www.juneau.org/avalanche/

After the 49 inches of snow we got in January, avalanches were inevitable. The temperatures have warmed up to 40 degrees and it's been raining and blowing (80 mph gusts today).

Wednesday, as we were waiting at a stop light, Mr. X and I watched a avalanche come down the Behrends Street avalanche chute. I was pretty shocked and quite concerned. The dust cloud looked enormous. This chute is particularly worrysome because there are 40 - 50 houses and the high school in its path. Mr. X told me it was the second one he'd seen there that day. Thankfully the avalanche wasn't big enough to reach any of the homes, school or road.

When we got out to the valley, Thunder Mountain was grumbling and rumbling but it was just dark enough I couldn't see any movement on the hillside.

Thursday morning, we heard a report that the Thane road (south of town) was closed due to an avalance at midnight. It took DOT a little over 12 hours to get the road reopened and reports were that the slide was 250 ft wide and 16 - 20 feet deep. This is a well known avalanche zone; DOT shoots a Howitzer across the channel to cause intentional slides in order to prevent slides like the one that happened Wednesday.

Thursday afternoon I heard reports of a slide on Mt. Juneau onto the Flume trail. Emergency officials are warning everyone to stay off of high risk trails - Juneau, Sheep, Jumbo, etc. - for the next 48 hours.

Tom Mattice - our avalanche forecaster - says that temperatures are headed lower tonight which should stabilize the snow pack, but some of the zones have not relased their snow yet so caution is advised today. He notes that, "We went through a large natural avalanche cycle from Wednesday afternoon into Thursday Afternoon with most all avalanche paths in the urban enviroment sliding."

January

The first week of January, I lost my marbles. It was so dreary around here and we'd had a December full of rain.

While Seattle took a punch in the gut the second week of the month, we reveled in 0 degree temps and glorious sunshine. Mendenhall lake froze solid and everyone took to the ice. Mr. X and I walked out to the glacier over the ice, using yak traks, wishing we would have brought sunglasses.

I even bought ice skates at St. Vincent's and took a little skate across the lake. Then it started snowing again. First 4 inches then 8, then 24, another 7 (and still more to come). Sunday night we walked out to an ice berg and took some pictures. We even had a picture taken by one of my favorite Alaska photographers, Mark Kelley (too bad I'm wearing my hat and neck gaitor so I look like a sausage). And don't worry the skis come out tomorrow morning...just before it starts raining again. :)

Reason #785 to rent

Never pay a plumber for gushing 2.5 inch water pipes.

It's in the crawlspace. The plumber is coming today. We didn't notice anything wrong with our water (maybe it's the upstairs water supply?), but I could hear water running and running. When our landlord's winter caretaker came over last night he couldn't hear it, but he sure found it.

X-Country Skiing

Yesterday was our first real snow. We have about 20 inches at the house (and expect 12 more in the next 24 hours). That meant John did some serious postholing all day (he says 12.1 miles) on the Nugget Creek trail. This also meant that I dragged him out the door for some night skiing at 7 pm. We skied out the door and soon found that the icy streets were better suited to skiing than the powdery sidewalks. We didn't make it far, 'cause the binding on my $2 skis kept popping open, but John didn't fall on his head so I'll count his first X-country ski trip a success.

Getting Ready for Winter

Winter is in the air. It's getting colder. That snow line is falling lower and lower down the mountain. We've started our winter preparations:

• Put on the studded snow tires - Check.


• Pull out the winter coats - Done.


• Replace Rain Boots with Snow Boots - TBD


• Lubricate door locks -To Do


• Seal windows - To Do


• Stock up on books and movies for long winter nights - To Do


• Dark commute both ways - Already.

Weather Report: Wind

While it seems the rest of the country is battling snow, we've got wind. Gusts up to 80 mph in town and the first reports of damage:

JPD: Wind damage reported
Sergeant Chris Burke says officers on patrol in the South Douglas and downtown areas discovered 14 different vehicles and 1 house, which had broken windows on the windward exposed side of the vehicles and house. (KTOO Radio)

Four Wheel Drive...

I recently read an article in the Anchorage Daily News and one of the reader comments caught my eye. It tickled my fancy. Make me laugh. I wanted to share it with all my friends, but I knew I'd get slammed, flamed and all out be-littled.

But I can't take it any more. Yesterday, driving home, the roads were icy. I mean we got 6 inches of snow at 33 degrees, the plows went out and then the temps dropped - that kind of slick. Everyone was moving along at a reasonably good clip and then we could tell that there had been an accident. And that comment, that silly comment, totally fit the situation.

Four Wheel Drive: 'Cause it puts you further into the snowbank.

Not convinced? Think about it for a second - a ford focus and a ford F250 - who's going to make the deepest, most dramatic hole? Which one leaves the road, crosses the ditch and buries itself in the snow bank?

Drive carefully out there; 'tis the season.

(Please know that I am not laughing at other's misfortunes, rather I'm laughing with all the four wheel drive enthusists who laugh with me for driving 2wd)

Summer weather

We're back from the Chilkoot and yes, my wildest dreams did come true. It was an awesome adventure. One thing bothered me though. Everyone we talked to before and during the trip asked what our biggest concern was for the trail. "Weather", we said. "Why? Are you from a rainy place?!" they queried.

Just so you know, here's a portion of Juneau's weather summary:

"July had 19 days with measurable rainfall. There were a few dry stretches with the longest lasting five days between the 25th and the 30th."

Coincidence? I think not.

Marmot Day

It's Groundhog day, now dubbed Marmot day in Alaska. Don't worry, the marmot doesn't have weather prognosticating responsibilities, that job is still Phil's -by the way did he see his shadow?
In weather news, we've had an unseasonably warm January. We only had 20 inches of snow and the average temperature was 26 degrees last month. It's been a mild winter so far - thanks el nino - we can hope the trend continues for the next 3 months (i.e. no snow shoveling, no avalanches, etc.)

I suppose the one downside is that I haven't done any skiing.