Pumpkin, Leaves, Frost- I think fall is here

So Alaska seems to be about a month ahead in the fall and a month behind in the spring of the seasons I am accustomed to in the lower 48. Fall is fall though and it seems to be a spectacular season just about everywhere. I was starting to worry after the month plus of rain that I experienced in August. I wasn't sure it was ever going to stop. Turns out, fall is a very nice time of year here. The rain stopped, the colors changes, the leaves are falling, and the temperatures (and light) are dropping rapidly. There are really only Birch trees here for deciduous trees so yellow is the predominant fall color. Some of the lower lying mossy plants turn a vibrant red so it is great to get up into the mountains above the trees to see the beautiful red color as well. The leaves are nothing compared to those I experienced in New England, but were still a welcome change. I love fall and one of the things I love most is pumpkin! Fortunately, Costco had pumpkin for its fall special so Sadie and I stocked up and have been baking pumpkin everything. We started with my personal favorite, pumpkin pancakes! Pumpkins are apparently a rarity in AK as doorstep decorations because the pesky moose love them as much as I do so I will have to settle for the canned version. School, classroom observations, training, and planing for winter have all put a damper on my summer time adventures. But honestly, after a grizzly encounter, just about everything seems dull.....So I leave you with some images of fall here in AK:

The view of the mountains from the trails at APU

Look, there's fresh snow up there!!!!

Where's the trail?

Nothing like new shoes and lots of leaves for some nice cushioning while running!

Headed out for a rollerski after the first frost, it's only 32F out on September 26, brrrrrrrrr

The leaves make for some hairy rollerskiing, and this is after they swept the trail...

Sadie making her way up the hill on a beautiful, brisk, fall day. With it regularly being below freezing all morning, I think winter is not far away. I have been told we will be skiing up on Hatcher Pass in the next couple weeks! In the mean time we are just focusing on some hard fall training and making the best of the slippery, frozen, leaf covered rollerski paths. 'Till next time.