Friday, December 10, 2010

Lake Cheney in winter


Soon part of this frozen lake (here in fall colors) will be maintained as a public skating rink. I'm pretty excited about it. There is plenty of skating to be done in Anchorage in winter. The public schools have rinks for school hockey teams and skating after hours is free. This week we found a covered rink (i.e., no clearing off snow) and I got a chance to brush up on my skills. I still can't skate backwards, though. Not yet. 

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Independence Mine and a white-tailed ptarmigan






Skiing at Independence Mine was something of a magical experience. I'm a sucker for any "living history" location, and moving between the abandoned buildings of this mining town while surrounded by unending white was incredible. I've never seen this much snow before and winter is only in its second month. Alaska is a special place.