More Snowshoe Walks And Gardening in -13 Below

   

I ventured out on another below zero trek this weekend.  This

time I wore my snowshoes and that made getting around so much

easier!!!  No more waist high snow to plow through!

The trees on the river were still coated with thick blankets of

ice fall.   This thick coating of frost made them look so magical.

We did have a dusting of new snow, so the wild celery stalks were even

more beautiful this weekend.

  I followed several sets of moose tracks

on my hike, but I never ran into them.

After my hike by the river, I went over

towards Quartz Creek.  Off in the distance the sun

was shining on one of the surrounding mountains.  

Kenai Lake on a cold day with a hint of sunshine!

One part of the lake by the mouth of Quartz Creek had a slight opening.  

Here two ducks were busy diving for fish.  They were very 

wary of me.  Each time I tried to get closer they would either dive 

or fly off.  Each time they would fly in a big circle overhead, then land if I backed away

from their one lonely opening in the lake.  I decided not to

disturb them, winter is hard enough without me 

bothering them.  

By then my light was fading fast, so I set out for home.

Before I called it a day, I did some quick winter gardening.  

The snow in my area is so deep that I needed my snowshoes.

I wrapped the trunks of my fruit trees earlier in the fall, but now

with all the snow the exposed parts that were unreachable were now easy

prey for these nibbling pests.

I needed to get more tree wrap on before they decide to girdle the trees. 

Yep, that's a true Alaskan for you, gardening at minus 13 Below zero!!