Summer vacation took my husband and myself to Alaska this August. We flew to Anchorage and explored the Kenai Peninsula before a small plane took us across the Cook Inlet to Silver Salmon Creek River Lodge. It was breathtaking and a photographer’s dream. (Those who follow me on Facebook got to see our daily photos posted.)
This was my third trip to Alaska. The first was about twenty years ago for an Episcopal church-wide meeting of Christian education council of which I was part of in September. My second trip was a family cruise from Vancouver to Seward in August 2012. We saw a lot along the way and got to experience whales, bears, and eagles as well as what glaciers look like up close and personal.
As we flew into Anchorage a few weeks ago (close to the same time of year as previous trips), from my window seat I snapped photos as we passed over glaciers and mountain peaks. Stunning. But as we spent a few days in the Anchorage area I felt a difference. I had nothing to prove my intuition of the change, but it was unavoidable: the temps were in the 70-80s and snow was missing from many peaks. Yes, there were pockets of snow on the highest peaks, and glaciers could be seen nestling between them carving valleys for the future, but it was not as much snow as I remembered.
Rows of Sharon 