The New Year on Willow Run

On January 22nd I will have been in Fairbanks 2 years (in fact, 3 winters). I am still awed by winter and the life-style in general up here. There have been a lot of changes -- friends have left, I moved into a new cabin, made new friends, and acquired a DOG! Life will be quite different from now on I think (it already is).

The end of Willow Run on a sunny day in late December.

The woods.

A moose in the woods.

The new cabin in winter.

The back balcony looking south.

A black capped chickadee about to land on the bird feeder.

I really don't understand how these little birds survive at 50 below 0.

Savannah, my new companion.

The following photos are from a walk on New Years Day. The weather warmed up to 15 degrees and Fairbanks was sunny with blue skies.

Savannah and I set off for the trails behind the cabin about 2:30 pm (or just before sunset up here). This shot is looking south toward the hills covered in black spruce.

Savannah running along the trail.

We came across this skiier with his dog Ginny, 3 dog teams and a snow machine. I should mention that dog mushers HATE loose cannon dogs on the trail, and Savannah LOVES dogs -- a recipe for disaster! Luckily the mushers were understanding but I think I will go for an alternate route in the future.

Anyway ... Savannah is a fine dog.

A lake behind my cabin.

An abandoned cabin a few hundred yards behind mine that we pass on the trail.

Pink sky and black spruce.

Apparently, Savannah is an Akita/husky cross and she loves snow (maybe even more than she loves other dogs).

The following photos are of the sunset on New Years Day -- starting at about 3:00 pm.

It is all stunted black spruce.

It looks SO different in summer.

Snow piled on spruce.

Happy New Year from Fairbanks.