Winter Solstice

It's incredible how much more the "winter solstice" means when you only have 3 hours and 56 minutes of daylight. I don't really mind the darkness too much, but yesterday I was filled with an overwhelming feeling of hope and relief, knowing that this was as short as the days would get, and hereafter I would have only longer days to look forward to (even if it will only be 4 hours and 10 minutes of sunlight by New Years!). 

More winter photos and snowshoeing

This week I've gotten out to explore a couple times since we still don't have enough snow to close off all the roads, so I thought I'd post some pictures.

Yep. That's a negative-20.

Heading west out of town

These signs are on all the roads out of town

Fox (?) tracks found while snowshoeing

On a -17 degree day, frozen rivers were steaming!

Sunset over the outskirts of town

Less-frozen parts of the sea ice were steaming

On Friday I got to go with one of the rangers to the elementary school to help out with a program. Originally the plan was to take the kids snowshoeing since most children here have never done it before (go figure!), if it was warm enough. In Nome, "warm enough" is defined as -20 degrees or above. Ha! Well, Friday turned out to be one of the coldest days of the week so we brought the snowshoes just in case but assumed we would be staying inside. I didn't even bother to put on my snow gear.

However, when we arrived, the temperature had risen to about -17, deemed safe to go outdoors. The kids all had their snow gear and were stoked to get outside, so after a briefing on snowshoe etiquette, we got them prepped and braved the cold, ourselves, to take them out to a nearby field.

5th Graders trying out their snowshoes for the first time

Two lessons learned: 1) It takes about a half hour to get sixteen 10-year-olds in snowshoes, and 2) always be prepared!  I ended up standing out in the tundra in -17 degrees just wearing my hiking shoes, jeans, and a coat for about 45 minutes. Both my legs were completely numb on the walk back and it took me the entire rest of the day and night to finally feel warm again.

A really great group of kids!

The kids absolutely loved it though, and they were a great group. It was very interesting to see what it's like to be a kid out here; there was a very broad spectrum of abilities, experience, and personalities in the class, but they were all quite smart and had a lot of local knowledge. Hopefully we'll be able to take them  out again in the spring when it warms up above 0 again! :)

Ice Adventures

Yesterday a group of us decided to brave the sub-zero temperatures and enjoy our still snow-free weather and drive out to Dorothy Falls, a fun hiking location we'd been to over the summer. The falls are about 25 miles from Nome and a 2 mile hike from the road. We headed out at sunrise around noon, to make the most of the daylight. 

Before starting our hike though, we stopped at Salmon Lake to see how it was doing in the cold. We found it almost completely frozen over, the ice at least a foot and a half thick. I've never seen anything like it before. Some of the ice was totally clear, with bubbles frozen in place!

Frozen bubbles under the ice!

You could see all the way down to the bottom with air bubbles and leaves frozen in place. It was totally surreal.

S'no place like Nome for the Holidays...

Despite the mild melancholy of not being home for the holidays, so far December has been bit more exciting than November, which I will get to momentarily. 

To begin, there is still almost no snow; today the newspaper reported an all-time record low snowfall last month, as we received only 0.2 inches instead of the average 12.1 inches! Climate change in action, I tell you! In addition, the air temps averaged about 14 degrees F last month, as opposed to the usual 16 degrees.

On gratitude, love, and a village

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful to be alone. And I don't mean it ironically, but most sincerely from the bottom of my heart. I am alone because I am fortunate. I am alone because I am loved enough for my family and friends to let me go off and reach my own stars. I am alone because I love my family and friends enough to be able to leave and come back, knowing I still have a home and a community.

I am thankful to be alone because it allows me to reflect on these things and realize that not only am I comfortable enough with myself to enjoy a Thanksgiving in solitude, but that I also have so much to be thankful for.

Wintry Wanderings

I've actually managed to have an incredibly busy weekend, filled with lots of cooking, exploring, and fun with the few friends that are left in town. Today we headed out around 10:30 to drive and hike around the road that heads east out of town, and watched the sun rise over the almost-frozen Bering Sea.

Safety Sound bridge

Alapaa! (It's cold!)

The colder it gets, the more Alaskan I'm beginning to feel. That's not to say I'm "becoming" Alaskan, but this place is definitely beginning to fill more of the stereotypes than it even did in the summer. As winter moves in, most of the summer seasonal visitors have moved out and Nome seems to be taking on a more rural, bush town-like vibe. Most of the people I see now are the year-round Nomeites and villagers, all wearing their beautiful fur parkas and colorful kuspuks, though some of the kids are still running around in shorts.