Judy’s Here!

Judy arrived yesterday via Alaska Airlines and I picked her up in our rental car that we will keep for a couple of weeks during her visit. This allows us to be very flexible in our explorations, using the Super Cub to fly out to destinations around Southeast Alaska and the car when the weather is poor or we simply want to drive rather than fly.

Today, we flew back to the Knik glacier for a hike to Little George Lake. We landed at the Picnic strip and took the 1.5 mile walk to the lakefront. The wind was up so we didn’t chance a boat trip in the Zodiac, but we spent a couple of hours beachcombing and photographing the icebergs. The light was different from the last time I was here, giving a different “feel” to the place. A cold wind blows from the glacier and the ice sculptures are fascinating as the cloud shadows mute the colors until the sun returns and reveals the deep turquoise and brilliant white of the floating figures.

The weather is cloudy and cool, with occasional sunshine that lights the mountains briefly like a celestial spotlight. Other times, the cloud layers hide the middle of the slopes, revealing the bases below with the peaks floating above the cloud layer.

We planned to fly over to Talkeekna after leaving the Knik glacier, but the weather made that a non-starter. In fact, the forecast is for a couple of days of rain. Instead, we returned to Wasilla, tied the airplane down and drove to the local brew house for a leisurely late lunch where we catch up on the news from home and discuss our plans for the next two weeks.

Lou and Mike have been up north, visiting the Great Kobuk sand dunes and Bettles. They are due back here late today or tomorrow morning.