The great thaw is scheduled to start next week!

While we have all the sunshine of spring, the thawing part has eluded us. We’ve been consistently below zero, despite our long days. It is already not dark when I get up at 7, and it is still not dark by 10pm!

Looking today’s forecast, we’ve already passed our high temperature for the day (at 8am) and are heading to -28C/-18F tonight.

But next week! Look at those temperatures! +7C forecast for Wednesday!?

We’ve got less than a week to get our Ice Pool tickets in, for guessing when the river will go out. As of today, it is still frozen solid, the ice bridge is still in place for driving across, there is still a race track in the center so you can go race your beater cars. All signs still point to frozen for awhile… Will it wait until May? Here’s when it broke the last several years, from the Yukon River Breakup website.

Here’s a few photos from the last few weeks. Here are a couple after our friend Tim finished stripping the snow off the town streets. (He had a backhoe come behind him to clear out these driveways!)

It left a nice step into our back lane (our garage and house is the brownish buildings).

All ready for the thaw to start!

I got out with a couple girlfriends two Saturdays ago. We went to the TH farm (the Tr’ondek Hwech’in Teaching & Working Farm) for their Health and Wellness day. They used their little one room canvas tents for vendors. I picked up some locally made salve and ointments, and some chaga mushroom chocolate balls!

Here are a few pictures from an evening walk around town on March 30. Here’s the Midnight Sun Hotel that was supposed to re-open at the start of the pandemic, but hasn’t yet. Still hopeful to see the inside some day!

Jeff had a birthday last weekend. I got him the DeWalt cordless circular saw he was eying.

Last Sunday I walked over to the Catholic church to vote in our territorial election. They had two days of early voting, so why not vote early! Since then, two of the candidates have stopped by the house during the day to try to sway our vote. One of them I had already voted for, so no swaying was necessary.

On Tuesday I walked the perimeter of town. I was shocked to see this at the ferry crossing/ice road:

The Highways department put up an electronic sign! How is this ugly monstrosity conforming to our historical guidelines in any way? What is wrong with a piece of cardboard and a marker for a sign? What is so important? “River isn’t frozen?” How has anyone survived without this electronic message board? I hate it so much. Get rid of it.

Here’s the ice road across the river on Tuesday evening:

OH! And an update on the redpoll weaning. I ran out of nyjer seed. They’ve been angry. They are still stopping by, picking away at the ground and bare feeders. Today is day two.

But what just walked in the back door? Jeff with another $140 bag of nyjer seed! The hardware store was able to get two bags in, and Jeff scored the second, so the birds are back on the crack… I mean… nyjer seed.