Breakup time is getting close
I haven’t posted since moose season, partly because there wasn’t a lot of opportunity to get out. Travel in and out of town, and most other activities were restricted all winter. Vaccines are here and at last count about 80% of eligible residents received their shots. We aren’t back to normal yet but things appear to be looking up. I’m still planning on running two races this year. One is in Anchorage in August and I’m told it is still on. We had a good bit of snow this winter but it was relatively warm so the ice on the river is thinner than usual for this time of year. Still, we won’t know how breakup will go until it happens. I’m hoping for boring and uneventful this year. 2013 was exciting enough. For those who don’t know what I’m talking about just look back at my posts starting at May 2013. I went down last weekend and took some photos of the tripod and the river.
This is our tripod and the photo was taken on 25 April. Obviously the ice is still firm and you can see the tracks from the snow machines that were used in construction. For those not familiar with the tripods purpose, it is connected by a line to a clock on the shore. When the ice moves enough to trip the clock the official time is recorded for the start of breakup. All through Alaska there are similar tripods placed on frozen rivers. People place bets on the date and time of breakup. Some of the prizes can be substantial.
Above is shot of the Yukon looking downstream from the pilings where the tripod is standing. This was taken on 25 April also. The large dark spot on the left side of the photograph is a spot of thin ice that is open for much of the winter. During the coldest part of the winter if this is open, the fog coming off the open water is thick enough to obscure the east end of our runway. Sometimes it is bad enough to shut the airport down.
Here is a shot of the tripod taken today, 8 May. As you can see it is leaning a bit as the ice is getting weaker. Also you can see more dark spots on the river.
What a difference a week makes! Another shot taken today looking downriver from the pilings. The open hole is now completely unfrozen and the bank ice has melted in several places.
Another shot of melting ice on the side of the river. This ice is a lot thinner than normal.
The roads are completely free of ice and snow which means we are back to dust and grit getting everywhere. I try to do most of my runs in the morning when there are fewer cars. Things are moving quickly with warmup this year. It is staying above freezing in the evening and the temperature is getting up in the 50’s during the day. Breakup shouldn’t be far off.