There's just something special about the first time I do something each season, even if they're firsts I have every year. First bike ride in the spring when the highway is just barely dry enough to ride safely. First hike of summer when the trails aren't yet overgrown with nettles and cow parsnip. First blueberry picking trip to Thompson Pass in the fall when the tundra is crimson and smells of autumn. Today, it was finally the first snowshoe of winter.
Thanks, I'm sure, to the wonders of global climate change, we didn't have any snow here in Valdez until the beginning of December. That's just ridiculous! What we have had is lots of ice. Those of us who like to play outside have either been ice skating on local lakes or anxiously awaiting decent snow for skiing, snowshoeing, and snowmobiling. We don't really have enough snow for most winter activities, yet, only about six inches or so, but it's just deep enough to make it easier to snowshoe than walk on the trail behind my house.
I was hoping to make it back to Corbin Creek, four miles roundtrip, but I was stymied, as I have been all summer, by a stream that decided it needs to flow on the trail instead of wherever it flowed before. It's been a major frustration for me as it severely curtails how far I can trail run or hike from my house. There doesn't appear to be any way around the flooded area without the use of a machete. (You can see in the photo below my tracks on the right where I tried to find a way.) Soon, however, if Valdez snowfall returns to normal, the snow will be deep enough to bury the alders and devil's club and there will be freedom of movement. Until then, I'll enjoy whatever opportunities Mother Nature offers me to get outside and enjoy her grandeur.
