Wolf Call

Yesterday was a very cold day.  The high never got above -20.  Everyone was bundled and cars were having a hard time starting.  Eveyone pretty much stayed indoors.  The cold air turned all the trees and bushes and shrubs white with a very thick frost.  Buildings crackled in the cold.  I tried to walk down by the river today to get some pictures of the river but I turned around when my cheeks got too cold and my dog was trying to float in the air instead of walk on the cold road.  It was tator tot Friday so a few of us went over to Eddies for lunch.  It was pretty quiet there too.  I thought my whole day was going to be pretty boring but the last thing I did before going to bed was take my dog out one last time.  As she was sniffing the ground I heard a very strange noise.  At first I did not know what it was.  Then I realized a wolf as howling in the distance.  A few seconds later the howl was answered and then I heard numerous calls and yips.  Somewhere out in the tundra a pack of wolves were playing in the cold.  I listened until I could no longer stand the cold and the sound faded.  It was a great way to end the day.

Testing the River

I had an interesting talk with our pilot yesterday.  I went to see him to ask if he could land the plane at Brooks Camp yet so I could go do a Christmas Day Bird Count out there.  To get to Brooks Camp in the summer you land on floats in the water.  To land in the winter the river and lake need to be frozen and then the plane lands on large, fat tundra tires.  But the river has to be frozen.  Before I left to go to MN the river was still open.  But since I have been gone the temperature has been below zero and not been above it.  So I was hoping the river was frozen by now.

I was told that the pilot would test the river on Tuesday morning and if it is frozen he would come back for me and take me out there.  I started wondering how he was going to check the river so I asked.  He said it was very scientific.  First he gets three 25 pound rocks and loads them into the plane.  Next he flies over the river, opens the door and tosses out the rocks.  If the rocks bounce on the ice he can land the plane.  If they go through the ice we can't count birds at Brooks Camp.  Very scientific indeed.  Lets hope the rocks bounce.

I did go to Lake Camp yesterday and there was a small patch of open water with 11 common mergansers floating in the water.  Die hard waterfowl refusing to go south.  I love it.

I'm Back

Hello dedicated followers.  I am sorry that you have not seen a post for a few days.  I had a family emergency and was back in the lower 48.  I am back in Alaska.  While down in MN it was unusually warm for December.  Recorded highs were being broken and every one was talking about global warming.  Those that like the warmer weather were enjoying it being warm and the grass turning green.  Those, like me who like the cold and the snow thought everything was depressing.  But I am back in beautiful Alaska where things are covered in snow and frost and the temperature is -21.  It is good to be home.

I have been greeted at work with some animal sightings which I love.  Out at Lake Camp four river otters were seen playing on the ice.  And of course the Law Enforcement people who are flying around the park to prevent poaching of moose had to tell me about the moose they are seeing.  They are so sweet.  I am told that there is a mother and two calves hanging out on Pike Ridge which is a hiking trail about six miles from here.  If the weather was above zero I might be inclined to go for a long hike to see if I could find the little family but a long hike in below zero weather seems a bit much.  I am not sure I want to see a moose that bad. 

So it is back to working on grant proposals and paperwork.  The office is very quiet with a lot of people taking the week off to be with families.  The quiet is good.  It lets me concentrate harder to write better and hopefully get more money to do ore fun stuff.

Unexpected Trip Home

Hello, I am sorry about missing a couple of days.  I have had to rush home for a family emergency.  So I was home four days and flew back to Anchorage then home to Minnesota.  Flights around Alaska are never dull as we had strong winds the day I flew out.  The flight was so rough that even the flight attendant said the this is a rough one and immediately sat down and buckled herself in.  That was not comforting to say the least.  I wasn't sure I was going to make it to Anchorage.  When I got off the plane, the gate person went "Mrs. Anderson we just put you on this damn plane".

Four hours in the Anchorage airport than on to Portland.  I arrived in Portland had 20 minutes to get to my next flight.  I made it, no problem.   Arrived in Minnesota but my suitcases did not.  There were not even showing up on their computer scene.   I filed my claim and left the airport.  I had just spent 19 hours in airports and flying.  I was exhausted.  We went to bed early only to be awaken at midnight by the courier who was to deliver my suitcase.  I was informed that they would be delivering my suitcase at 2 am and I needed to be there to sign for them.  Are you kidding me was my response.  I told them to deliver them first thing in the morning.  they arrived at noon the next day, after two very angry phone calls upon which I learned they had arrived at the airport at 5pm the night before.  What horrible service Delta airlines has.  If it had been Alaska air I would have gotten 2000 miles added to my account.  Delta gave me a little bag with a toothbrush that sucked, toothpaste, a comb and a razor.  Merry Christmas!

Air Dropped Fish

So I promised you another mystery story form Katmai and here it is.  In 1956 a fishing guide and bush pilot decided that he would transport 20 arctic char from Lake Idavain to the lake inside Kaguyak crater.  Idavain lake is part of the Naknek drainage.  Kaguyak crater is off the pacific coast.  It is one of two volcanic craters that contain lakes in Katmai.  The other one is Katmai Crater itself.  Off he flew and as he passed over the crater he dropped 20 fish.

In 1963 this pilot told this story to a biologist who went out the next year to see if the arctic char survived.  He did not find arctic char but he did find dolly varden a different char species.  The Kaguyak crater does not have a stream or river flowing out of it and dolly varden are a river fish that like to go and visit the ocean then come back.  Yet this biologist found 9 specimen.  To this date no one else has ever surveyed the lake.  A number of biologist have argued over whether any char species exist in the lake.  The story from the pilot was quoted as a personal communication in 1969 but in 2007 biologist said this is a local myth or native lore.

Which is it?  I don't know, that is why it is a mystery but I am writing a grant proposal to see if I can find out.  I could have a lot of fun this summer if I get all these grants.

A Mystery at Hand

As the wildlife biologist at Katmai National Park, my job is to decide what needs to be studied or monitored based on the knowledge I have.  Which right now that isn't a lot.  But I have discovered two mysteries so I thought I would spend a couple of days and tell you about them.

Back in the middle of the 1850's the Russians started trading furs in Alaska.  They started in the Aleutian Islands then moved to the peninsula and the Kenai peninsula and finally the southeast.  When they had depleted the resources they brought in fox.  By 1910 any island that they could reach by boat they placed arctic fox.  Red foxes were all ready on some near shore islands but arctic foxes did much better in the island habitats.  Also the arctic fox has a recessive gene for blue fur.  It was this bluish fur that made their skins so valuable. 

From 1910 -1940 fox farms were all over and very successful.  But in 1936 biologist realized that the bird populations of these fox farm islands were disappearing and it was the fox that were eating them that were making them disappear, some all most to extinction.  So policy changed.

From 1940 to 2002 foxes were eradicated from the thirty nine islands.  They used poisons to kill the fox.  In 2002, people were upset about the way the foxes were being killed so methods changed.  Today I know of three islands that had fox permits off the Katmai coast that are considered part of the park.  What I don't know is if the fox were eradicated. 

One island Takli, was permitted for fox farming but Alaska Fish and Game thinks that the person who owned the permit used it to hide his illegal trapping.  Two of the islands were successful farms.  I can not find any records of eradication on any of the three islands.  So do we have arctic fox that should not belong on our islands?  It is a mystery.  One I would like to solve.  Tomorrow I will tell you an interesting fish story.

The Chinook is Here

We are going through our second chinook of the month.  What they are is strong warm air winds.  The temperature is 38 degrees right now but the winds are blowing at 50 mph with gust up to 75 to 100 mph.  They blow warm air.  I know 38 doesn't sound warm but it is for here.  These winds blow so that doors rattle and the wind hitting the side of the house sounds like a train just crashed into it. 

If the weather continues like the last one that kept me in Anchorage for 4 extra days, today will be very windy.  Then it will rain turning everything into a large ice rink, then the temp will drop and the rain will turn into snow.  Very wet heavy snow and with the wind still blow and  it will become a blizzard.  When everything quiets down we will have a large amount of snow on the ground above a layer of ice.  Makes walking so nice.

Day in the Office

Yesterday was my first day back after being in Anchorage for 10 days.  I walked to work in the beautiful dark sky filled with all kinds of stars.  I actually saw two falling stars.  I got to work and noticed a pile of papers on my desk and a large box.  What could it be.  I opened the box first, new uniforms had arrived. Moose survey paperwork lay on my desk.  I looked them over.  Only one attempt at surveys in all the time I have been gone.  Well at least I may get to do one. 

Next up emails.  There were 106 emails awaiting my return.  First I deleted all the ones that meant nothing.  Had one spam that I had to forward to regional office.  Then I started answering the others.  An hour later I finished and then it was off to a meeting with the boss.  We talked about Anchorage, talked projects and made a few decisions about projects.  Another hour and half gone.  I then went to work on my grant proposals that are due in tomorrow.  I realized that I had a lot of work in front of me.   One of the grant proposal are with other parks so we had a conference call to talk about the project.  Which was completely changed by the time the phone call was over.  Back to the start for that one and I had that one finished.  Oh well.

Time to get back to writing only the boss called a department meeting.  Yeah team.  That took the rest of the day.  I hardly wrote two words and I have four proposals due by Friday.  Not good.  I was told though that the best proposals are done just under the bell.  I hope that is so. 

Back Home

After four days of trying I am back home.  It feels good.  They got a lot of snow here to so I looks wonderful.  I took a long walk last night and it felt so good and it was great to get away from all the people and the traffic of Anchorage.  Now it is back to my two legs and fresh air.  Ten days in Anchorage and no moose.  I am beginning to think those creatures don't exist.

Winter Travel In Bristol Bay

I was suppose to leave Anchorage last Saturday at 4:30 pm.  At 4:30 we were told they had to wait for a flight crew before we could board.  5:00 waiting for a flight crew.  6:30 waiting for flight crew.  6:40 flight crew arrives.  6:50  flight canceled due to bad weather in King Salmon.  Next available seat is Monday 4:30 pm but I was on stand by with 35 other people.  Sunday morning no room.  Sunday night flight canceled due to weather in Anchorage.  Monday morning we are in a blizzard in Anchorage.  Monday afternoon storm clears out I go back to the airport again.  4:30  no news.  5:00 I get to board the plane to King Salmon.  One hour 20 minutes later we are making our decent into King Salmon when the plane makes a right turn and heads out over Bristol Bay.  The navigation system in King Salmon has failed and the plane cannot land.  We are diverted to Dillingham.  We spend 1 and 1/2 hours in Dillingham then board the plane.  Another 20 minutes to de-ice the plane.  15 minutes later we fly over King Salmon again but can not land as the fog is now too thick to land.  Where am I?  Back in Anchorage.  I am not sure if I saw a moose right now it would make me happy.

Becoming a Snowman

Not much happened in Anchorage today.  I spent the day reading and writing a grant proposal to study arctic foxes that were an  introduced species on the islands off the Katmai shore.  Then at about 1:30 pm I decided that I would walk over to get lunch.  It was lightly snowing until I walked out the door.  Then the wind picked up and the snow fell heavily.  By the time I got to the restaurant  I was covered in white flakes.  I grabbed a quick lunch and headed back to my room and this time I looked like a walking snowman.  My blue jacket was white.  My brown hair was covered in a pile of snow.   As I walked down the hall to my room snow fell off me in clumps.  I knew that I would be spending another night in Anchorage.  I was right all flights were either cancelled or delayed the rest of the day.

I saw nothing but cars.  I am not sure where all the people have come from.  Alaska doesn't have that big of population but the road was bumper to bumper traffic.  Maybe it is just the holidays that is bringing the people out.  But I thought I left all that noise and mess back in the 48.  I miss King Salmon.  The ravens were out flying around trying to find scraps of food in the restaurant parking lot.  They squawked at me looking for handouts.  Other than that not much else went on.  I am hoping to go home tomorrow.

A Day at the Airport

What a long day.  I checked out of my hotel at noon and went to the airport.  Got there about noon my flight didn't leave until 4:30.  Anchorage airport may be a fun place to hang out if you are flying to the lower 48 but it isn't so exciting if you are flying to the bush.  I went to check in and was told I could not do that until 12:30 but they let me weigh my suitcase and tote box.  My tote box weighed 56 pounds and my suitcase weighed 47 pounds.  So I had to rearrange things.  Inside my tote I had 8 pounds of butter to take home.  This was an easy fix I took six pounds of butter.  I put three pounds in my suitcase and three pounds in my back pack.  Problem solved then I waited until 12:30 to check in.  When I checked in my tote box weighed 52.5 pounds and my suitcase weighed 48 pounds.  Not sure what happened to the scales in that 20 minutes but they need to get that fixed.

I sat and read a book for four hours with a quick dash to the snack shop for supper.  At 4:30 we were told that we would be delayed for 30 minutes as they had to wait for a flight crew.  There 13 of us flying to King Salmon and a full plane of people on another flight heading to Dillingham.  Five minutes later they canceled the Dillingham flight.  5:00 came and they announced they were still looking for a flight crew.  5:30 our crew has arrived as soon as they are on the plane we will get you all aboard so that you can go home.  Ahuh.  Yep, ten minutes late our flight was canceled because of weather.  Great!  We were told that we could fly standby tomorrow with 30 other people from three canceled flights earlier in the day.  Or we could book the next available seat.  Monday night.

I called my boss to see what I should do.  I was told to book the next available seat but try to get on a flight sooner if possible.  So that is what I did.  I booked the flight for Monday night and I said I would fly standby if possible.  I also asked if they were putting us up in a hotel for night.  I was told that the answer was no.  Reason being the flight was canceled because of weather.  But I retorted that we were delayed an hour because of your lack of a flight crew.  If you had a flight crew we may have been able to get home. But Now an hour and half later we have no flight.  So the ladies at the counter agreed and called their boss and explained the situation, that person agreed but could not make the decision so she would call her supervisor. Whom we learned was at the Pen Air Christmas Party. An hour later we were finally told that no Pen Air would not be putting us up for the night as we were cancelled for weather and that is not their responsibility.

So I called the hotel I left earlier in the day and got a room for the next two nights.  Sucks!  I was ready to go home,  Well, maybe the moose planned it and they will make an appearance before I leave.  I would like that.
















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Last Minutes in Anchorage

I spent yesterday in meetings and running errands for the office.  I was all over Anchorage.  I drove by parks, through downtown, and in all the running around, I can't say that I saw any wildlife.  I had lunch with an Anchorage resident from work and was told that there was no one place that you could go and see moose they just showed up.  She did tell me that even brown bears will eventually turn up in the alleys of town looking for food.  So I kept watch last night thinking how cool it would be to tell everyone that I did not see a moose but a brown bear walked by.  But I can't even tell you I saw anything that cool.

When I studied Alaska before moving up here I was told that Anchorage was 20 minutes from Alaska.  I thought it was funny but in reality it is true.  Here in Anchorage you can eat a large variety of foods, buy what ever you need, not that it can shipped to King Salmon but you can still buy it.  Prices are much lower than King Salmon but still expensive when compared to the lower 48.  There are four lane highways to get you from one side of town to the other.  People are everywhere.  But when you think of Alaska as the last pure wilderness of the United States don't think Anchorage.  I am looking forward to going back to King Salmon and the quiet and peace and getting out of this city.

So I am packing up the groceries and clothes and getting ready to head back.  I did not see a moose.  I did not see an eagle.  The most enjoyable time I had in my spare time was the trip to the native gift shop.  Which if you are traveling to Anchorage you should go to.  I still have about 8 hours left so maybe the moose will feel generous and make an appearance.

What a Day!!

I hate to be boring but I went for a walk today.  I walked around this little lake that is surrounded by pine and birch forest.  It had mountains in the background that were covered in snow.  I spent my lunch hour walking around the lake.  My eyes peeled for something.  I saw a raven fly over head.  He called as flew by.  A lonely, single cry.   I met other walkers with their dogs.  I saw a few trees that had been beaver chewed.  What I did not see was a moose.  How sad is that.

The rest of my day was spent learning about the fact that shorebirds are disappearing.  11 to 29 species are disappearing in the Midwest, 22 to 30 species are disappearing in the north Atlantic.  In Alaska we have 20% of the worlds shorebirds.  Yet even we are seeing declining numbers.  One of the problems is that we don't have enough information about the birds that fly thousand of miles just to build nest, lay eggs and raise chicks then fly back south. I did learn that Alaska biologists and Russian biologist are doing great work at trying to figure out what we don't know.  I am hoping I can do that too at Katmai.  But first I have to figure out what shorebirds we have and since they won't be around till May I will have to keep trying to find that elusive moose.

Moose and Native Traditions

The moose report for today is brief.  No moose.  Applebees parking lot has been empty.  To be fair to the moose I have not have the time to actually look for them.  Today I had a meeting with the biologists who study land birds in Alaska.  Very interesting day, better than statistics.

I did get a moose report from Katmai.  My partners are trying to get the moose surveys done for me while I am gone.  Today I got a report from the office.  On Monday the pilot and my partners went up and with in two hours into the survey team ran into ice fog.  A fog so thick they had to turn back.   Tuesday they were set to go and the pilot got called into jury duty.  Today, bad weather.  But in the two hours they were in the air on Monday they saw 25 moose and two of the bulls only had one antler.  Things are not looking good for moose work.  They did see two groups of caribou.  Yeah!  Not sure I really have enthusiasm behind that yeah.  I want to see the moose and the caribou.

At lunch today my friend took me to the Native Hospital to visit their gift shop.  If you are ever in Anchorage don't miss this shop.  It is small but everything in it is made by the native tribes.  Everything in the shop is absolutely beautiful.  There are ivory carvings, handmade jewelry, wall hangings and moccasins and mittens made from a variety of animal furs.  There were three small trees that were covered with homemade ornaments made with fur.  I could have spent a fortune.  I bought a wonderful seal fur ornament in the shape of an angel.

I looked at other things and fell in love with a hand carved jewelry  box.  The only problem with this little shop is that they only take cash or checks and I had $25 in cash and no check book.  Be sure if you visit and I wouldn't miss it if I were you, take lots of cash.  While I was paying for my purchase I was talking to the clerk and I found out that items made of fur are going to be rare items in the future as not many of the natives are tanning hides any more and the children don' t seem to be interested in the art form.  It is so sad as this has been a way of life for the tribal community for centuries.  We should be worried about these lost cultures because once they are gone, we can't get them back.  I know there are people out there who think this is horrible that we kill animals for clothes or art work but we could learn so much on how to live in harmony with nature from tribal cultures.  They honor the creatures of world, not exploit them or worse ignore them.  By the way, there were lots of things made of moose hides there.

What is Your Moose Story

Nope, no moose sighting for me today.  Day two of statistics class which if I could figure out how to write the code I have to admit is going to make my job easier.  But I went to class when it was dark and I got done when it was dark and I hardly glanced at a window.  The only thing I saw was my computer screen.

However, I did hear a lot of moose stories today.  It started with a woman who missed yesterdays class and had come straight from the airport.  She said that she checked out her rental car and was exiting the airport when a huge bull moose appeared at the side of the road and followed right next to her car.  She was afraid that it was going to attack the car.  From that story came the one about the women staying at a hotel across the street who said that she had seen one last year in the hotel parking lot.  From there I was told about the moose that frequent the marine trail.  Well, I walked that trail last month and didn't see any sign of moose.

After I got back to the hotel, I reached for the paper and stretched out to check out the news.  On page A-10 was a picture of a moose seen Monday grazing in the cemetery.  At the end of the caption was this web site adn.com/moose where people have posted their moose stories.  Not all are pleasant.  Seems the area moose are not friendly to the neighbors.  Then on the last page of the paper in big letters it asked me "HAVE YOU GOT YOUR MOOSE CALENDAR YET?"

Seems everyone but me has a moose story.

Got Moose

I would love to tell you that yesterday was great but I can't.  I spent the day studying statistics and I hate math.  And for the report you all have been waiting for.

I saw a moose head on the wall in the hotel.
I saw pretty blue lighted moose for Christmas on the BP lawn.
I saw a moose crossing the next three miles sign
I heard on the radio that there were no accidents or slowdowns this morning but be sure to watch out for that occasional moose!
My meeting is at the Alaska Pacific University which is a gorgeous campus, surrounded by birch and pine trees,  and has a lake.  It is beautiful but no moose.  Did see 35 dogs running around the lake.
Went by the Applebees parking lot - twice- NO MOOSE!
I sat in my hotel room glancing outside often and no moose.

So far all I can tell you is it is a pain to drive or walk in Anchorage in the winter.  Not a thrilling report.  Good thing DQ is down the street and the candy cane bliss blizzards are divine.

Come Out, Come Out, Where Ever You Are?

Yesterday I spent most of the day trying to get to Anchorage and my hotel.  My flight to Anchorage from King Salmon was suppose to leave at 8:55 am.  But we had lots of rain that turned into wet heavy snow during the night and they were trying to get the runways cleared when I checked in.  Anchorage was having very high winds with gust of 100 mph.  I was told to come back by 10:00 am.  I was there at 10 but no plane.  It arrived at 10:50.  There were only four of us flying into Anchorage so all formality went out the window and we laughed as we got on the plane.

The runway was far from smooth and I thought for a second that we would slide off the runway as the plane slid as we gathered speed for takeoff.  Once in the air we rocked and rolled until we got high enough for the winds not to be a factor.  We got on a full airplane as most of the passengers were flying to Dillingham from Anchorage so we had a stop to make.  I had never been to Dillingham so I was excited to see some new Alaska territory.  It wasn't that great.  Dillingham was covered with ice and lots of it.  It looked like that was all it was-ice.  We landed and everyone got out and no one got on.  We (the four of us from King Salmon) were asked to move to the last two rows of the plane to keep the weight of the plane stable.  Another first for me.

The flight to Anchorage was problem free until we started to descend and of course got into the wind.  This is my second flight into Anchorage and both times I felt like I was on a roller coaster that may never quit.  Finally on the ground we walked to the gate.  You have to fly Pen Air  to get to King Salmon in the winter and Pen Air has no inside jetways to get you from the plane to the terminal so we had to venture across the tarmac to building walking head first into the wind.

I managed to get my luggage and my shuttle to the hotel with no problems and I was excited as Applebees is about a half a block from my hotel.  I searched the parking lot for the moose that were suppose to be there as we drove by but no sign of any.  I checked in and my room overlooks a park full of birch trees.  I am assuming these are woods that the moose of Applebees come from.  I have a perfect spot to catch them.  So all I can say now is come out , come out where ever you are moose.

Where Did the Ice Go?

Yesterday we had 50 mph winds blowing all day long.  It rained on and off all day.  In the morning the rain made the ice slippery than heck and with the wind you basically sailed down the road.  By the afternoon all the ice was gone and the streets were just a muddy mess.  Since yesterday was my last day with a vehicle I decided that Craig and I should drive to Bristol Bay Beach and see if we could find any walruses. 

About a month ago we had a strong storm that caused a huge storm surge.  A couple of the neighbors and I went to go and see the beach and it was impressive.  12 foot waves crashed onto the shore.  With high tide, the water had risen over 38 feet.  It was unbelievable.  The following week we had temperature below zero all week long.  So Craig and I went to see what the beach looked like.  Everything was frozen.  You could hardly see any open water in the Naknek River or Bristol Bay.  I was shocked that it froze so quickly.  These last four days we have had temperatures above freezing and the last two days lots of rain.  So I wasn't sure what to expect when we got to the beach.

The mouth of Naknek River was wide open.  The bay itself was all open water with icebergs floating in it.  The beach had huge, I mean huge, boulders of ice lying around.  They were over six feet tall and six to eight feet across.  The tide was low so there was about a quarter mile of mud flat before you reached water.  I wanted to walk out to one of the beached icebergs but with all the rain you really would  have sunk in the mud and I have heard stories about people who get so stuck they have to fly in helicopters to pull them out and some people drown because the rescuers don't get there before high tide and the people drown standing in the mud.  I didn't take the chance but it was quite the site.  Every where you looked were stranded icebergs.

We didn't see any wildlife, except a couple of ravens but the icebergs were impressive enough.  It was something to see.  Now I am off to Anchorage.

Moose Plans

For those of you who are regular followers you know that I have been trying to see a moose anywhere in Alaska.  I am suppose to be flying moose surveys right now looking for them in the air but the weather hasn't cooperated in the least.  So it is time to make a plan.  I am going to Anchorage tomorrow.  I have been told by many people that Anchorage is the place to see moose, though I was there for a week a month ago and didn't see any. The place to see them is the Applebees parking lot, so I have been told.  Tomorrow I go for another week.  I have two days of statistics training, 2 days of attending the Boreal Partners in Flight yearly meetings and then a day of working in the regional office.

The plan is to rondevu at Applebees every night until a moose is spotted.  I will be keeping a close eye everywhere for  the elusive creatures.  I am going to hike trails and scour parking lots.  I am not coming home with out seeing a moose.  Do you hear that moose I will find you!

Unpredictable Weather!

So no moose survey yesterday.  It was windy in the morning than it got windier.  Than the snow fell.  Great big, wet, heavy snow.  It was so beautiful.  30 minutes later that snow had turned to rain.  Huge raindrops falling at huge amounts.  Now with our ground frozen the rain had no place to go so it just pooled up.  Then of course to be nice mother nature dropped the temps back below freezing so by the time I walked home from work it was a sheer ice rink all the way home.  As the night went on it was  little sleet, little rain and a little snow.  It was enough to drive you crazy. 

NOAA the supposedly experts of weather said we would have an accumulation of and inch or two on the ground this morning but no go.  It looks like it might be misting outside I will have to wait and see when I open the door.  It is below freezing so it is a good thing I bought the ice grippers for my boots otherwise I would be falling all over the place.  It is my guess that the moose have their hoofs on the weather dial and are laughing it up turning it right and left.