When is Spring?

The Vernal Equinox occurred on March 20th this year.  Often considered the beginning of Spring -- forget that in Fairbanks.  There are actually a number of indicators here that supposedly signal Spring has arrived.  

In some northern states of the lower 48, the drumming of Hairy Woodpeckers is considered a sign of spring.   I would have to say that is not enough for me here.  Although they have been drumming tentatively for about a month, it sure still looked like winter.

As you can see, on April 13th the entry drive to the cabin was down to earth.  This was not a natural phenomenon, as the landlord had just plowed Willow Run Road and the entrance to all of our cabins.  There is still plenty of snow -- but daytime temperatures have been hovering around 35 degrees and it hasn't been below 0 at night for a week or so.  Snow is, however, forecast for the next 5 days.   

The most obvious sign of changing seasons is the light.  The sun rises at 6:18 am and sets at 9:26 pm.  We have 15 hours and 7 minutes of daylight and gain 6 minutes and 52 seconds each day.

When I complained about Willow Run Road early on, Ann told me I would be sorry when the "snow road" was gone.  I think you can begin to see what she meant -- a dirt road on permafrost is never going to be very smooth.

This is the intersection of Willow Run and the main highway, Goldstream Road.

As a reminder, this is the same intersection on March 5th when we took off for Anchorage --

so there has been some improvement!

Goldstream creek (for which the Valley is named) looking west 

This is part of a major sled dog trail network in winter, but spring is clearly on the way here with the ice slowly disappearing.  

... Goldstream creek looking east

Creamer's Field Migratory Waterfowl Refuge

On April 10th the headline in the Fairbanks News Miner was Geese are Back.  Two Canada geese landed at Creamer's Field at about 11:15 am Thursday April 9th.  Several lanes had been plowed in the field for their arrival.  The article declared that Spring is here.  

The average date of arrival for the past five years has been April 8 -- so they are a day late (and I hope not a dollar short).  This is big news in Fairbanks.  The city even has a celebration when thousands of sandhill cranes arrive at this refuge sometime in May.  Apparently they can stay for months.

As you can see, there were more than two Canada geese on April 13th

Moving on from one "sign" of spring to another...

A universal sign spring has arrived is Breakup

The Nenana Ice Classic is a typically Alaskan phenomenon.  A tripod is planted two feet into the Tanana River ice between the highway bridge and the railroad bridge at Nenana (about 65 miles south of Fairbanks).  It is 300 feet from shore and connected to a clock that stops as the ice goes out.  We passed it when we drove to Anchorage.   

In 1917 railroad engineers bet $800 guessing when the river ice would break up.  Last year, in the classic's 92nd year, the winners shared the prize money of $303,895.  You have to guess the day and time to the minute to win.  On the last day possible to enter, I guessed April 27th at 3:13 pm, but that is probably too early for this year.  It costs $2.50 to enter and it is so much more fun than the lottery.

There is LOTS of information on this if you are interested (and why wouldn't you be?) on their website: www.nenanaakiceclassic.com.

The Chena River is certainly looking less than solid, but breakup is not yet here.  The ice thickness in February was 22 inches.  The thickness at Nenana was 46.75 in. on April 9th this year  -- I guess it will have to really warm up for breakup to happen by April 27th.

Another sign of Spring in Fairbanks is the Beat Beethoven 5k run to support the Fairbanks symphony orchestra.  It was last Saturday morning and there were over 700 participants (of which I was one).  The idea is to finish the race before the end of Beethoven's 5th -- which is about 30 minutes in length.  

The run is on the university campus and there is one really long steep hill (which I walked) along with several icy patches to make it more challenging.  There are cars stationed all along the route with Beethoven's 5th, played by the Fairbanks symphony, blaring.  I came in 275th out of 330 women (and girls) in the race, but I was 2nd in my age class (of course there were only 4 of us).  Needless to say I did not beat Beethoven to the finish but I did beat him a ways past the 2 mile mark.

I leave you with another photo of the Alaska Range from the top of Ballaine Hill.

Wishing you all a wonderful Spring