The days are short at Ginty Creek now.  But the weather has been incredible.  Mild – often above freezing during the day and -12 to -15C at night – and endlessly sunny.  We have not had a spell like this for a year and a half.  It is still 2 weeks until the shortest day but in fact the timing will be much the same.  The sun climbs over the horizon at around 9.00am by the clock and sets around 4.00pm.  It never climbs very high, and the light stays long and low.

The afternoon that I returned from the Tatla Lake winter fair was exceptionally mild.  It was already raining as I drove home, then it absolutely deluged for half the night.  The 6″ fluffy snow on the ground was converted to 3″ ice crunch.  Despite several forcasts to the contrary, we have had no precipitation since.

The low morning light picks out the hoar frost on the pines near the pond.

And on the elegant seed stalks of the rock cress.

A sun – enriched tree trunk is beautifully lit.

But the most spectacular times have been sunrises and sunsets.

Because the sun rises so far to the south now, it picks out the cottonwoods that line the McClinchy River.

The sun now sets to the left of Finger Peak.

And I can sit at my table and watch the show.

I have a lot of computer work to do, but the sun is shining gloriously out there so how can I stay inside.  I will put the snowshoes on and crunch out some more trails.