Waving goodbye and being peacefully alone was one of the most anticipated moments I had been waiting for all summer, as yet another autumn in Alaska begins. The rugged landscape changes little if any in form, only in color as the leaves become a lovely burnt red and deep, bright yellow. The leaves of color fall gently with a heavy frost in the stillness of morning and are scattered by the tens of thousands with a stiff wind. As quickly as the birch showed a fresh bud in spring, it has shed the foliage of a new season revealing a forest of tangled and naked sticks and twigs. Nearly eight months will pass before my scenery changes, though the color will make one final transition from the dull and bare greens and browns of the wooded surrounding, to a blinding and frigid white.
The thought that just a short four months ago I was in this very chair, looking out over my little slice of paradise is a hard thing to grasp. Half of my mind believes that I never left while the other part knows full well I had a summer away, but excited to be here once more. It will take a few days to re-adjust to my home away from home, but I feel quite relaxed being only day two. The cabin is nearly complete with my usual equipment and provisions for the winter, with the exception of a few things I hope to build in the coming weeks.
The best first morning views -
Here's to an exciting new season in Bristol Bay with a promise of adventure and uncertainty. I feel quite ready to face the elements of weather and isolation, hoping that this winter will fly by as the last season did. I have a few bears around the cabin and plenty of spruce grouse in sight. Things are shaping up quite nicely.....
