I went out to the Back 400 for a hike through the snow. It’s deep: Knee high when I stuck to the snow-packed trail, but off-trail the snow was waist high and it was tough going. It was a bright, sunny day, and I was able to flush the covey of ptarmigan again early in the walk. The days here are already pushing 12 hours, with an increase of almost 7 minutes a day, and twilight lasts almost to 9pm.
As I was reminded yesterday, the midwest is experiencing June weather in March during The Winter That Never Was. In Interior Alaska, I don’t think we have hit “average” temperature the entire month of March. Even today, with a high of 22 positive degrees, we were 10 degrees below normal. Tonight we’re going below zero and we are not suppose to get above 10 degrees until next week. Saturday night has us going down to -25, which will put it at -30 or colder where I am at. Normally, I honestly wouldn’t be thinking about it at all, but I’m down to the end of the firewood and I have no intention of digging through all this snow to scrape up a pickup load, and I’m not going to order a cord either.
Nineteen sleeps. All I have to do is make it to April 3.
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