Our first visitor

We finally had our first visitor from the Lower 48 when our friend Lauren came for a visit. We were so excited to show her a bit of Alaska. The main thing I wanted to show her was the northern lights, but sadly it was cloudy every single night she was here. That just reinforced to me how lucky we are to live here, where we have multiple opportunities to experience the typical Alaska things.

Lauren and I visited the ice museum downtown (Poor Husband had to work). It is small, but definitely worth the stop. The carvings were amazing. It was about 20*F in there so it gave Lauren a small taste of what we experience in the winter. I was freezing, which tells me I am not ready for winter.

We rented a cabin for a night just outside of Denali National Park. This was the view from behind our cabin. It was very beautiful. The pictures don't do the beauty justice. The fall colours on the trees in and outside of the park were amazing.

We drove as far as we could in the park, to mile 15 (Personal vehicles are allowed only that far, and after that point you must take a bus tour. If you are lucky, you can apply for and win a Denali Road Lottery ticket to get to drive the entire park one day in September). During our time in the park, the weather was less than cooperative so we did not get to see Denali, nor did we see any wildlife on our drive. Despite that, the drive was still breathtakingly beautiful.

We decided to hike Horseshoe Lake, just inside the park. We saw an otter eating his lunch on the banks of the lake. On the way back, we heard a beaver fell a tree. Sadly we did not see the beaver but we did come across some trees that beavers had been snacking on. 

After our time in the park, we headed down to Anchorage. We took Lauren to the Wildlife Conservation Centre, where we saw bears, moose, bison, elk, muskox, and other animals commonly found in Alaska. 

For the first time ever, we did not see Denali on our drive back from Anchorage. The fall colours made up for the fact that the mountain was not visible. I think that autumn in the best time to be in Alaska. Alaska is beautiful anytime of year, but there is something about the yellows and oranges dotting the mountains that makes it especially beautiful.

Migration Time

Fall is in full swing here in Interior Alaska. The leaves are turning, the air is cooler, the fireweed has gone to seed, and the birds have stopped for a break on their way south. We headed to Creamer's Field to check out the sandhill cranes and the geese as they made their biannual stop here. 

Alaska in the fall

We went to Anchorage again last week. The drive was beautiful with all the fall colours. So much had changed in just 9 days. Oh, and not to brag or anything, but I took most of these pictures out a car window while Husband was driving. I'm an amazing car window photographer!

So long summer

They say summer is over here in the Alaska interior. I don't believe them, mostly because the calendar says it is the middle of August. August means it is still summer. However, all I have to do is walk outside and I realize they are right. The daytime temperatures are still around 70*F (around 20*C), but the air feels different, fall-like. There is a crispness to it. The leaves are turning yellow. The geese honk as they fly overhead, heading south to warmer weather. The days are getting shorter. It actually gets dark at night now.  We are losing seven minutes of daylight each day. A week ago, sunset was at 10:34 pm. Tonight the sun will set at 10:01 pm.

I am told that autumn doesn't last long here and I should expect the first snowfall sometime around the middle of September. I knew winter would arrive early this far north, but I did not expect it to arrive in September. Fall is my favourite time of year (anyone who has lived in New England for any amount of time during the autumn can't help but fall in love with fall!). I am sad it will be short-lived here. I don't want to think about the impending winter, with it's -40*F temperatures and very little sunlight. Instead, I plan to soak up the last few days of warmth and sunshine before it's too late.

Autumn day

The fall foliage hit peak this week, with the trees boasting leaves of gold, yellow, and red. This picture is the view from our bedroom. I love seeing those beautiful autumn colours!

The weather was so nice on Saturday, we just had to get out and enjoy a walk down by the river.