i'd been eyeing those three days of sun on the forecast for a week now, and the first of which finally arrived on tuesday. it wasn't my day off yet, but i got up early enough (aka 10am) to get a lovely hike in before going to work. on wednesday, i rented snowshoes and went out to the coast and did a 5.5-mile hike that took most of the afternoon before catchin' the sunset and the moonrise. today, i slept in, and snowshoed some more by a creek, and now getting ready for my first geomagnetic storm (aka aurora/northern lights), which a friend and i will watch by the glacier at midnight. oh i do LOVE my life (so what if i still have to do my taxes? still got 4 hours before the weekend ends).
Day 1: short hike up a mountain to a meadow:
where people have been cross country skiiing
Day 2, driving to the northern shoreline of Juneau to snowshoe in the woods
seagull or eagle? i'm leaning towards seagull because of its rather fat underside!
first time snowshoeing. snowshoes distribute your weight over a larger surface so you kind of "float" above the snow, or sink at most a couple inches before the surface, no matter how thick the snow is. it's also super easy to learn, since you walk exactly the same way with snowshoes on as you would normally. it just feel like you have very, very big flip flops on.
tall trees in the forest.
mystical winter scene (aka there was ice on the camera lens)
taking a short break (yes, i peed in the snow (not pictured); no, there was nobody around)
more hiking after lunch. by this point, i was getting kind of tired, considering i'd been out for almost 4 hours in 15-degree weather. but happy as a clam
on my way back into town, i stopped by the coast again. my awesome (but temporary) 2009 subaru patiently waiting for the sunset.
sunset, moonrise.
moonrise over the "valley"
the wolves could come anytime now :P
day 3, more snowshoeing along a creek
skier and dog on glacial lake
on another note, valentine's day flowers from work! (i got to work on monday and the dinner table was covered in pink tablecloth, with pink daisies, and pink napkins!)
Who gave you such a nice set-up on Monday?
ReplyDeleteAwesome hiking photos ("yes I peed in the snow (not pictured)" really cracked me up, btw). I'm learning so much from your blog...snowshoes are kind of intimidating but not that difficult, eh? Good to know!
thanks, lindsay! the set-up was my big boss' nice gesture for the kids :P
ReplyDeleteyou should totally try snowshoeing! i agree that it looks intimidating, and i had a really hard time believing you could just "walk normally," but it really is just like walking and apparently burns 45% more calories than walking or running at the same speed!
Wow gorgeous photos! Are there really wolves up there and do you have to watch out for them the way we watch out for mountain lions & bears in CA?
ReplyDeleteP.S. I also tried snowshoeing for the first time in Yosemite over Thanksgiving and I agree - it's pretty awesome just to wander without a trail! (Just don't get lost)
It is really good to know and have a taste of what you enjoyed so much in the 3 sunny days' hikes, while we thought you were suffering from the snow storm. Some of your photos are unbelievable gorgeous, although the one revealing your personal stuff is the closest and humorous to me!
ReplyDeletewell, i think there are wolves, but it's only really a threat to dogs and babies :P i was just playing off the "twilight"/werewolves moon stereotype haha. bears, on the other hand, is sort of a parallel to the rattle snakes of SoCal...
ReplyDeleteoooh, i haven't gotten brave enough to wander off-trail yet, but i'm glad you got to tho, and in yosemite, too -- awesome!