Lots of Winter Photos

Here are various unorganized photos from the last several weeks.  Winter has shown up in spurts, with rain and warmer temps between snowfalls melting most of the snow.

Sunrise I

Sunrise II

Sunrise III

A nice morning for snow removal!

Clearing snow off of Prime Time

Still clearing snow off of Prime Time!

Clearing the boardwalk.

Taking a break from shoveling!

Morning Mist

Direct Sun!  On the winter solstice, we had 2 minutes and 15 seconds of direct sunlight through the little notch in the mountains to the south of the lodge!

Ice forming around the hydro shed.

Feral makes an appearance outside!  (a rare occurrence these days!)

New Christmas outfit!

Santa Helper Paparazzi

Snowblowing

Looking down at the dock from the boardwalk out to the point.

John and Jeanne over for dinner and card night.

I pulled a "Huck Finn" on John and told him how much fun it was to use our new snowblower!  (He fell for it!)

John and Jeanne on their way home.

The new definition of walking the cat.

Sunrise IV

Loading firewood

High tide.

Here Come the Hardmans!

Jen's sister Pattei and some of her family flew in for a visit around the holidays.  The group of four (Pattei, Scott, Price, and Dan) was too big for the float planes that are now available out of Sitka, so they flew down from Juneau.

Bad weather prevented the float plane from coming in as scheduled, so the group got an unplanned night in Juneau.  Fortunately, things cleared up the next day and they were able to fly in.

They had a good flight down in Ward Air's turbo Beaver- a day late and, unfortunately, more than a dollar short!

"Tis the Season!"

Heading to "Town" for a polar bear dip and a soak in the hot springs.

It was a nice calm day for a skiff ride.  You can see the cabins in Baranof  on the right.

Sisters

Price and Dan getting ready for their plunge!

They did it!

This water is "refreshing" in the summer and even colder in the winter!

The guys didn't waste any time heading for the ladder!

While Price and Dan headed to the hotsprings, Pattei, Jen, and Rick walked up to Baranof Lake.

Wow!

I think this is the definition of "mirror calm"!

We hiked up to an overview of the bay.  Admiralty Island, on the far side of Chatham Strait, is in the background.

The view of Baranof Lake from the overview.

Headed back to the lodge.

The weather turned pretty wet for most of the visit.  We played a lot of cards, ate a lot of food, and watched a lot of football!  

The weather socked in again, so we had to wait an extra two days for the float plane's return.

Alaska Seaplanes sent their Cessna Caravan for the trip--it was a tough squeeze getting it in and off the dock!  (It's a lot bigger than the Beavers and Otters that usually come in.)

Plenty of room on that plane!

Off for Juneau!

Solstice Tidings!

December is roaring by and the days are getting shorter and shorter.  This photo was taken the day before the solstice.  We timed our direct sun coming through the slot in the mountains at 2 minutes and 14 seconds!  On the solstice, it was overcast, so we couldn't see the sun in the cut.

One of our December projects is finding the perfect Christmas tree.  I swear we looked multiple times at every tree in the bay, but Jen finally narrowed it down to two trees.  After several trips to each of those, we decided on a nice Sitka Spruce.

Getting the tree home.

Traffic wasn't too bad.

Feral loves her Christmas tree!

We finally started to get some snow in mid-December!  You can see a dusting on the ground.

Night Lights

Our neighbors had a problem with their waterline over at the townsite.  It involved moving big heavy pipes around in the Baranof River, so I headed over with chest waders and a big pry bar.  Since I was headed over in the skiff, I took our compost bucket out to be emptied.

Jen went with me one day to look for firewood logs on some of our outer beaches.  This is a nice red cedar!

Once the logs are close enough to the water, I put a line on them so I can tow them home with the skiff.

This Sitka Spruce kept trying to pass us on the tow home.

Home Sweet Home!

Our friend Pete stopped by with some crabs, so I made some sourdough whole-wheat honey egg bread to go with it.

I think I made enough!

Our neighbors John and Jeanne came over to help us eat crabs and play cards!

Dinner is served!

Sunrise Colors!

Our first significant snowfall was 9 inches on December 15.  This tree had been cleared from a lot over at the townsite last fall, so I dragged it home to put on the deck.

I got to use the new Honda HSS1132 snowblower for the first time.  It really cut through all that wet, sticky snow!

Heavy rain came in after the snowfall to start a big melt.  It has been a wet winter--we've had 82 inches of rain since October 1, including 29 inches in the first 20 days of December.

A Pacific Loon stretching its wings out in the bay.