Clear and chilly. Into the 20s overnight and at or slightly above freezing (depending on location) today.
The newest section of the Cross Trail is a popular place to walk (or ski, when there's snow)
This afternoon I walked the section of newer Cross Trail with Kitty from Old Sitka to the junction. We passed several folks with skis (some carrying them, others still working at skiing).
I thought I might have heard a sapsucker when I first got out of my car, but I didn’t hear it again, nor could I see it.
The mountains over Silver Bay have accumulated more snow. It seems like often February through March is when the most snow accumulates in the mountains.
There were clouds in the west, so I didn’t bother trying for the bridge to see if the sun was now setting behind Kruzof Island. If it isn’t yet, it will be soon. With clear skies in the forecast for tomorrow, perhaps I’ll have a chance to see.
I did go out to Sea Mart for the sunset before heading to ultimate. It wasn’t as colorful as I thought it might be, but nice to see all the same.
We only had four show up, and played catch for a bit.
When I got home, the sky wasn’t yet fully dark, but I could see Venus and Jupiter together in the sky. Jupiter’s moons were showing nicely.
I think this may have been the clearest views I've had of Jupiter's moons
With the aurora forecast showing significant activity I headed out around 10pm to see if I can see them and get some pictures.
I drove out to Starrigavan and was a little surprised at how much inbound traffic I saw.
I saw a bright band as I came around Harbor Point, but there were already two cars pulled off there. There were many more cars at Starrigavan, and several groups of people watching from various points along the road.
With the bright moon off to my left, and a rising tide threatening to make the water deeper than my boots were tall, I just grabbed a quick picture of the northern lights from Magic Island and then moved on.
I wasn’t seeing too much, so decided to head back to Magic Island. The one car that had been at the parking lot on my way out was gone. I hadn’t anticipated how bright the moon was. It was going to make it difficult to see any lights in the west or northwest.
I waded across to Magic Island where I had a better view to the north. I could see some faint aurora, but I decided the moon was just too bright.
The 30 minute forecast was still showing high probability of aurora, and I wasn’t ready to give up yet.
My next stop was Sitka Memorial Park. I could see the lights there. Not especially bright, but I did set up and take a few photos.
From there I moved to Yaw Drive, where I spent more time.
At first there were lights over the Sisters. Then they went more overhead and to the east, rising over Verstovia.
They never got especially bright while I was out, though they were active.
While I was taking pictures of the aurora over Verstovia, I saw a couple different shooting stars over the Sisters. One was nicely bright to my eyes, and both probably would have shown well in a photo. I didn’t end up catching in a picture, though.
My iNaturalist Observations for Today
