Snowing in July

Driving along one day early in July I thought I was losing my mind. Little bits of white were hitting the windshield as snow in the winter would. I knew it was summer and I knew it was chilly but not cold enough to snow. The mesmerizing beating of the little white dots had me perplexed. I had to find out where they were coming from. Upon investigation I found tufts of little white balls all over EVERYWHERE. Piles were along the roadside. My porch had puffs piled in the corners, on my doormat. Tufts of white on rooftops and on the green grass. This wind of white continued into July. No it wasn't snow, but the cottonwood tree. However, this is unlike the cotton wood trees I grew up with. The cotton wood trees here have pods that release tufts of white that remind me of the old movie Legend with Tom Cruise and Mia Sara. While in the forest when Tom is showing her the unicorn, the wind is covered with these puffs of white. That is what July in Anchorage is like. The cotton wood trees hang with these pods open, ready and willing for the wind to carry it away. While hiking one day, one of the tufts landed square on my eye.. not a good feeling. The snow in July seems to ending as July ends. I still spy the occasional cotton wood pod still hanging in the tree, but the beautiful snow in July is over for this year. Next year I will be better prepared with eye drops. What a beautiful sight to behold, snow in July.

With love my friends,
Angela

Hatcher Pass

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I am very thankful to live in Alaska. I am especially thankful to live in South Central Alaska. Here I go again living in the South. :) In this area we have the best of both worlds, the wonderful wilderness and the convenience of quirky stores and wonderful eateries. We have my glorious opera, theatre , and cultural museums but only a short, less than an hour to a few hours drive the best hiking, skiing, fishing and hunting in the world.

We took a short half hour drive to Hatcher pass to see what was there or rather what was not there.  Hatcher Pass (3886 ft.) is a mountain pass through the southwest part of the Talkeetna Mountains. It is named after Robert Hatcher, a prospector and miner. It is just on the other side of Palmer which is about 17 miles from my house. Willow, Alaska, approximately 26 miles to the west is on the other side of Hatcher Pass. The Dena'ina Indians hunted for caribou, sheep, and moose in the Talkeetna Mountains until the 1930s when the miners came in and homesteaded the area. There is still mining today. There are signs all over with stake claim numbers and warning DO NOT MINE HERE CLAIM MADE. I thought of the new show on TLC about gold mining. When you first enter the pass there is a pull off for public mining recreational mining. The are so spectacular I don't know if I could concentrate on the mining. Right now everything is a luscious green with light undertones.

rocky area where a glacier used to be

this mtn. is actually rather far away

Shades of gray, jagged peaks surround you as you drive through the pass. No trees, grass or moss grow at those heights. I was brought back in my mind to our time in Iceland. The beauty around, the clouds, the windy mist. It is a different kind of beauty. The rocks create pictures, the greens creates images on the mountains.

From the craggy rock come beautiful flowers. The moss creates the smooshy mat that you walk on. I think camping on it would be a nice comfy cushion. Jacob and Ashleigh decided it was necessary to do funny poses on the craggy rocks. (I think they are elf houses, but I think we are in the wrong country for that statement). I know the day we went it was misty and dark cloudy so on a sunny day the experience will be different. I love the clouds, the dark mountains, the little arctic ground squirrels and water falls in the rocks. I was unable to get a picture of the little ground squirrels, but they looked just like prairie dogs running across the gravel road.

Scott and I had traveled the night before up Hatcher pass on the motorcycle. You can certainly tell a difference in the temperature, it drops once you get to a certain point.
Enjoy the pictures of Hatcher Pass. There has been talk of adding a ski lodge and more areas for folks to live. I hope it doesn't come to pass in the pass. I love being able to go and see all the wonder and beauty. If you want shops and places to stay I ask you to go back to Anchorage or the lower 48 from where you came. It is amazing the way it is.

Chugach range in the distance

With love,
Angela