Mario sent me a picture recently. It was a picture of winter weather. But it was taken during the summer. A photograph of Mario and Pati hanging out on the Albula Pass wearing bike shoes in the midst of a mid-summer snowstorm in Switzerland. Mario said he was going to tell me the whole story behind the picture but he never did, which leaves it up to me to make up a story for the photograph and here it is: Mario was doing hill repeats up the west side of the Albula on his bike as part of a little Swiss mini training camp he'd undertaken. Meantime, Pati was in the midst of an overdistance day-ride from her home town of Vättis, far to the north. Mario was just topping out on his eighth and last time up the western side of the Albula Pass from La Punt when he looked up and saw Pati topping out on the pass from the eastern side. They took this picture together and then went their separate ways and won't see each other again until late August in Alaska when school starts.
While Switzerland has apparently been experiencing winter weather this summer, the same can't be said for Alaska.
After the
least wintry winter ever in Alaska, we
had the
warmest spring, and now we've had the
warmest, sunniest summer ever. No change is in sight, as an
El Nino bomb is gathering itself for an assault on Alaska next winter. What's to be done about this? Andrew and I decided to go hiking in the sun.
The biome in which Girdwood is situated is considered "rainforest". But that may be changing with the climate. Girdwood hasn't seen much rain lately. Andrew and I went out for a recon hike to see what what was going on in the mountains above town. Ridges that would usually have huge overhanging cornices were bare rock. Rocky meadows that have been under snow for years and years were dry and bare of snow, with no lichens yet grown on the rocks after the sudden disappearance of the snow cover. It was simultaneously frightening and blissful. It was so nice up there, I went back a couple weeks later with D.
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| This part of the trail is steep! It may be forest, but I wouldn't want to fall. |
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| The ocean |
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| Girdwood Valley |
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| Our destination, Mt Alyeska, in the background. |
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| Climbing the ridge |
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