Snow, Snow and more Snow

Monday, Nov. 28th

 *** Let it SNOW *** Let it SNOW *** 

 ***  Let it SNOW  *** 

The "Chilkoot River" Winter Wonderland.

That has definitely been the theme for November...SNOW.

Once it started snowing here it has not seemed to quit. We wanted to see what winter here was like and we picked a good one. We have had over 100" of snow since the first of the month ( I did the math for you...it's more than 8 FEET !!). That is an all time record amount for Haines in the month of November and already twice what they got all winter last year. Some locals seem to grumble about it lots but for us (so far) it has been nothing but fun !

We have had to shovel the driveway at least 4 times in the past two weeks. The hard part is digging through the berm that the city snowplow leaves blocking the driveway when he clears the street. It's usually about 4 feet tall.

 

One of the reasons we have to dig the truck out is to do one of our jobs. We get paid to deliver a free newspaper once a week called the "Capitol City Weekly" (because it comes from Juneau, the capitol city of Alaska). We drop 360 copies at about 20 different locations around town...rain or snow.

You can check it out at http://capitalcityweekly.com/ 

The job doesn't pay much but it's part of our house sitting job. Besides, it's something to do and a chance to talk with everyone around town.The job doesn't pay much but it's part of our house sitting job. Besides, it's something to do and a chance to talk with everyone around town.

The "Hitch-Up" in early November (notice the drifts).

We enjoyed a nice, quiet Thanksgiving at home. It was nice because my Cowboys got a win (barely) and quiet because we only had 3 friends over. We were not sure if they would be able to make it over as the day started with 12" of fresh snow. By noon the sun came out, they made it and we all feasted on Lori's dinner.

We gave thanks for many things including not being in the MLS at the Hitch-Up for winter (and having to shovel the 92 RV sites).

Check out those snow banks

The next night, Friday, we took a walk to the library to kick off the Christmas season.

Friday is usually our weekly night out when we go to the Elks club for the burger feed (best burgers in town) and a couple of beers. It is also a weekly social event for many in town (including us) and draws quite a crowd each Friday.

This night we would skip the burger feed and eat leftovers so we could go to the biggest social event of the winter.

The library was packed with hundreds of people

The "lighting of the Christmas Tree" at the city library is basically a fund raiser for the library. You pay $10 to get in where you find table after table of homemade cookies, candies and finger foods to help yourself to. Also, there are dozens of tables with  mini Christmas trees decorated and donated by businesses (like one with fishing lures from the Sport Shop) for a silent auction. At 8pm the lights were dimmed when they lit the tree and everyone sang "Winter Wonderland".

Two days after Thanksgiving we celebrated Lori's birthday (her 29th) with a drive out to the Chilkoot River so she could test drive her new birthday presents - snowshoes and a new hat. I know what you are thinking but let me tell you, it is really hard to gift shop in such a small town. There is only one clothes store and there is no spa in town...no really.

There aren't even any restaurants open this time of year in town (except Lori's work and you know she didn't want to go there) so I made her favorites for dinner - Red Lobster's clam chowder and cheese buns with Marie Calender's German Chocolate (birthday) pie.

There was about 2 feet of fresh powdery snow with no tracks when we started. We were going to try and make it the 2 miles to the Chilkoot Lake where we enjoyed so many summer days to see if it was frozen over.

We only made it about 3/4 of the way to the lake when we decided it was best to turn around.

Spaz the W.A.D. was having trouble plowing through the deep snow. Even when she stayed on our trail, her legs would sink to her belly with each step. The snow was also balling up, freezing into ice balls and sticking in the spaces between her toe pads causing her pain and making her limp. 

It is rough going and very tiring when the snow is that deep - even on showshoes or skis. Lori and I could have gone on for miles and miles (wink,wink) but we turned back after an hour because Spaz was tired...not us...really.

Even though we didn't make it to the lake, it was a great day. The river that we spent so many days fishing on was covered in that white blanket of winter peace. There was blue sky, no wind, and the only sounds beside us were bald eagles.

That was one of my favorite fishing spots - it sure looks different now.

As beautiful as this place and all the snow and storms are, it is easy to overlook the deadly side of it all and the remoteness of this place, Haines.

Think they will fly soon?

 

Back in Vegas we took it for granted that if there were ever a medical emergency, at any time, we would be able to get to a hospital and get whatever care we needed.

 

That is not true here.

 

The nearest hospital with full-on operating rooms is in Juneau which is only 80 miles away, but there are no roads to Juneau. When the storm is bad, the planes can't fly and therefore, no medi-vac, even if you are dying.

 

There is a highway to the hospital in Whitehorse, Canada 140 miles away. But again, in a bad storm, that highway pass will be snowed in and impassable, even if you are dying.

 

When these storms rage, it can be a bit unsettling to think of the stories you hear about people who have died because they could not get to the medical help that would have saved them.

 

Sunrise rising on "Fort Seward" at about 9am

Sorry for that bummer talk. Lets get back to what makes it worth it to be here, like this sunrise after one of those storms where the mountains glow pink. The buildings in this photo are some of the oldest in town, part of the original army fort built around 100 years ago. The fort has quite an interesting history and you might like to take a quick look at with this link: http://www.fortsewardalaska.com/history 

This Angel is for my granddaughter, Starleen...see you soon !!

 

To further kick off the Christmas season, we were treated to another one of natures most spectacular masterpieces last night, the "Northern Lights".

 

We were able to watch them from the living room as they glowed green and danced above "Santa Claus Mtn." across the Lynn Canal. 

 

We even saw angels in the snow after the storms had passed.