- This topic has 12 replies, 5 voices, and was last updated 14 years, 6 months ago by eon.
Snow on the Mountains
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September 28, 2009 at 4:11 am #3468owlieParticipant
I love to watch the seasons change. About a month ago, it was the gorgeous yellow birch and the red of the fireweed that heralded the beginning of fall. This has been followed up the last two weeks by the gradual move of snow down the mountains and the dropping temperatures. The average is in the 40’s these days, I think.
I’ve been doing some riding on the south side of Palmer near the State Fair grounds. I found a couple of pictures that show the change over the last week and a half on the mountain side from roughly the same angle. Basically what happened is that we had a front move through that dropped a soaking rain on the lower elevations and left snow fall on the upper elevations. (BTW, where I’m taking the pictures form is only 200-300ft above sea level.)
From last weekend (Sept 19):
If you look at the far left on the second picture above, you can see snow further up the valley from earlier in the week.From this weekend (Sept 26):
September 28, 2009 at 1:15 pm #22564JtownJJAParticipantBeautiful pictures, Owlie!! Back in June I went out west for the first time to visit some of the national parks (Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Zion, and Bryce). I never got tired of just looking at the mountains. Amazing! Your pictures remind me of that trip.
September 29, 2009 at 1:24 am #22579owlieParticipantThank you. My husband feels the same way, it is a huge part of the reason we moved to Alaska.
September 29, 2009 at 4:14 pm #22591wbsprudelsParticipantThanks for the pics. Having lived in the Midwest all of my life, I am not accustomed to such beauty. So how long is your riding season in Alaska?
September 29, 2009 at 6:03 pm #22592eonParticipantTerrific pics. More please
I love mountains which is why I love the Seattle area. I used to head into the Highlands of Scotland every summer when I lived back there. Used to rejuvenate my soul. And here is a gratuitous link showing the homeland at its best (having an expert photographer certainly helps)
http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120351September 29, 2009 at 11:38 pm #22597okcponyParticipantBeautiful country up there! Hope to get up there someday in our 5th wheel or maybe on a cruise!
September 30, 2009 at 1:44 am #22600owlieParticipantI’m originally from the Midwest too (Oklahoma). Living in Alaska is quite the change.
Generally, riding season starts in March or April depending on break-up (local jargon for when the snow and ice starts melting and clearing out). It ends in September or October depending on the rider’s tolerance for cold weather riding (we’re in the 30s and 40s right now). The number of riders on the road has dropped off exponentially over the last two weeks. I think I saw one motorcycle on my commute home today, where I would see 20-30 at the height of summer.
September 30, 2009 at 1:55 am #22603owlieParticipantI’ve heard that the cruise deals were really good this last summer. If you do that though, try to get three or four days to rent a car and explore on your own.
September 30, 2009 at 2:19 am #22604owlieParticipantThose are fantastic. I’ve never really liked taking landscape shots because I despair of ever getting anything as breathtaking as those.
September 30, 2009 at 3:11 am #22605owlieParticipantFrom a couple weeks ago when I played hookie from work.
These first few are off of Knik Goose Bay Road. KGB Road runs southish out of Wasilla. You end up on the other side of the Knik Inlet from Anchorage. The road that I drive everyday to get to work runs parallel to the coast on the other side of the Inlet. I have to say that the drive down KGB was much more pleasant.
The next day, I rode the other direction toward the Knik River. That road is beautiful. The pavement is in good condition, and if you go one direction, there are nice twisties. If you go the other direction, just gentle curves and eventual views of the Knik Glacier. Unfortunately, the wind was out of the north and the closer I got to the river the colder and more miserable the ride got. So, I turned around about half a mile short of the River and went back to walk around on the Matanuska River. Here is a picture of Thumper in front of the Matanuska River.
I also spent some time enjoying the view at Center Lake Park in Wasilla watching the ducks.
Finally, these are just for Eon. These are mostly taken from the trail up to or within the April Bowl at the top of Hatcher Pass. The road is paved most of the way up for access to Independence Mine (a State Park), but the road over the pass is gravel. I didn’t try taking my bike up here, but we sometimes see them on the road making the trek over the pass (even cruisers- I think I’ll stick with the comfort of my sweetie’s truck).
The last one with the gorgeous yellow willow trees is taken in Willow
Valley, which is the long way down from Hatcher Pass.September 30, 2009 at 3:00 pm #22606eonParticipantThose are great. I’m jealous you have such great country nearby, although I cannot complain too much as I have mountains all around me here.The ones from Hatcher Pass look uncannily like Scottish mountains. No trees, bare rock, heather, boggy ground.
Temperature is starting to drop here also. Got caught in my first heavy rainfall last night. I forgot how much fun riding in the rain at night is (not!). Plus somehow over the past year my waterproof gear has taken on the properties of a sponge. Was very cold and miserable for the first few miles, then I started to warm up a little (maybe the gear was acting like a wet suit). Then, when I had finished playing soccer, I had to put all this cold wet gear back on and ride home in ~45′ temps. Nice
October 1, 2009 at 3:13 am #22615owlieParticipantI don’t know why, but I always assumed the Scottish mountains were more heavily forested. The funny part is that I didn’t realize that it is heather until I looked it up. Up here, we just refer to it as the tundra, but many of the plants that make it up fall into the same family.
I haven’t spent much time in the areas outside of Seattle, and what little time I’ve spent, someone else has been driving, so I haven’t seen nearly as much of the state as I would like. However, my last visit, in May, we went to Snoqualmie Falls, that that was gorgeous. Too many people, but still gorgeous.
So far, I’ve been able to avoid riding in the rain except for a couple of sprinkles. I’m hoping the weather holds up for at least another two days so I can get my bike in for its first service. I don’t have to have done it to know that riding in the cold rain is going to be a miserable experience. I don’t envy you the ride.
October 2, 2009 at 4:18 pm #22639eonParticipantPretty much all of the original forests in Scotland were cut down centuries ago, only a few small pockets remain. Any other trees you see will have been planted by the Forestry Commision, a government run dept that balances commercial logging with access to the country, with the emphasis being on the commercial side.
Riding in the rain isn’t too bad if you have the proper gear. I stupidly did not have the rain liner in my pants (I thought I did, it quickly became obvious I did not) and I had my gloves outside my jacket allowing the rain to run inside them. Doh! Combine that with the first night/rain/cold of the season and it was a “why am I doing this” moment. I plan on getting getting some hippo hands to protect my hands from the rain/cold and give my gear another chance. It worked well enough last year so it should still be good. If not I will have to break down and get an expensive winter setup or get myself a car.
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