On the horizon

It's only moments before the sunrise. The sun is just below the horizon. We had been waiting to see the sun and clear skies. Because clouds = no experiments. Let's see..we can already see the first rays making the clouds blush on the top of Mt. Sanford.

Pull up a chair on the deck to watch the sunrise. Enjoy the steaming cup of coffee and the steaming river in -10 F.

Almost there. We can already see that the sun is hiding behind Wrangell. Once it makes it up in the sky, it'll make everything nice and toasty. Or not, you know. Stay tuned for the grand entrance.

Last rays

Winter evenings in Alaska are special. The sun is usually hanging low in the sky almost all day. When it sets, the last rays turn the mountains pink. It's the most beautiful thing you'd have ever seen. Here is Mt. Sanford on one such evening from an earlier trip. This time alas, I didn't get to view this. Look how different it looks from the previous post.

Wrangell Mountains

A few minutes later I was looking at the magnificent Wrangell Mountains nat'l park in the distance. Mt. Drum and Mt. Sanford. These are the mountains I was looking forward to viewing from different angles for the next seven days. However, the weather decided to get in the way for the most of my trip, battering us with heavy snow fall, cloudy skies, and fluctuating temperatures. I had posted on these views back in this, this and this entries. Winter is really the best time to come here.