Welcome to Denali! When does summer start?

I can't believe it's been an entire MONTH since my last post!   Just as Alaska "gets real cold, real fast", my life got real hectic, real fast.   Work has consumed my life as once the hoarfrost consumed my roof.   Here's a brief catch-up...

Welcome home boyfriend!  Oh, you thought by coming back in May you'd miss winter in Alaska?   Think again!   Here was Alaska's May Day welcome...

That snow and ice melted in a few days... to be followed by a ton of hail!  The ground didn't look quite right without a covering of white anyway...

I managed one last trip to Teklanika before they closed the road to car traffic in the Park...

Ghost of Denali... spooooooooky...

Since then I haven't seen much outside of the gas station I run.   However... I did get out for a nice hike about six miles south of my work.   Just to get out into nature and hear birds chirping and water running instead of cash registers beeping and tourists complaining was AMAZING!   It's the small things in life...

I saw my first crocuses of the year!   They officially usher in the beginning of spring.   The flowers were a little weighed down by a recent rain, however these tough, beautiful flowers will spring back in no time... no pun intended:) 

The area I like to hike in is a major migration spot for caribou, so I can always find signs of their past presence...

As the days get longer and warmer and greener, the moose have come out of hiding.   I see moose every day on my way to AND from work.   My favorite member of the Alces Gigas family is Patches, the neighborhood moose.  She can be found munching on fresh willow buds at all hours of the day...

As I write this, it's the first week of June and it's really greening up around Antares to be sure!    I can hardly recognize my neighborhood from the winter...

Now when I go out to the outhouse I have to wear bug spray instead of a down jacket!

I'll close with a picture from my drive home from work at 11:00 PM.   I still need to wear sun glasses...