According to the TV weather, this was the third coldest April in interior Alaska since they started keeping records. Of course, this had to be the year I spent April in Denali. It got to the point where every morning my coworkers would wander into the dining area, look out the window, and moan “Oh, no, more snow!” As our maintenance crew was working to haul away the snowbanks on the hotel property, more was falling to take its place. This was the view of Healy on the first of May. Oh, the building in the middle? That’s our grocery store! The Stampede, where I’ll live for the season, looks like a perfect winter scene.
Once the snow started melting, it began to freeze at night, making walking treacherous. We were required to wear studded snow tires on our boots to help prevent falls.
The good news is that Spring did eventually come. In just two weeks’ time most of the snow has melted (with some stubborn snowbanks still creating mud as they melt away). After living in Arizona for so many years I thought I had completely acclimated to the warm country, but when it hit the upper forties here I found it wonderfully mild!
Travels with Billie 