It has been a wonderful week. The weather has been great, with only a few occasions of periodic rain. We've been seeing highs in the 50s, and the tiny buds at the tops of the trees have unfurled into baby leaves. How wonderful to see green cloaking the landscape!

Last Saturday night, the dance recital went very well. I haven't had a chance to watch the video that Steve took, but I was proud that I only made one mistake and recovered from it nicely. We all had such a great time, and at the end of the show, all of the dancers came out on the stage at the same time, while the audience cheered and applauded us. What fun! I think I may do this again next year.

On Sunday, we drove to Denali. We woke to sunshine and blue skies and were excited about our drive into the park. After a stop at Sunrise Bagel (our favorite coffee/bagel stand in Fairbanks), we got on the Parks Hwy for Denali. As we passed the scenic overlook a few miles down the road, we caught a faint glimpse of Denali on the horizon. This was great news, as a sighting of the mountain just outside of Fairbanks has always meant she'd be visible inside the park.

We saw several moose on the way to the park, but none inside. Instead, we were entertained by snowshoe hares and ptarmigan - both already changing out of their white coats and into their summer attire. It seems as though this year will be another prolific one for bunnies. The downside is that we'll see them on the roadways, casualties of increased summer traffic.

As we drove along the park road, we caught a glimpse of an arctic ground squirrel peeking up over the side of the road. We stopped the car, so that I could get out and snap a photo. As I moved closer to the squirrel, he took off running down the road, looking over his shoulder at me to see if I was following. That's when we noticed a second squirrel further down the embankment.

We realized then that the first squirrel was distracting us from the den - and most likely the babies - being guarded by the second squirrel. I walked close enough for a photo, and saw that she was standing in front of a hole in the side of the hill. We didn't stay long, as she was acting quite nervous.

We drove all the way into mile 30 (Teklanika), stopping along the way for photos and video footage. On the way back out of the park, we stopped at Savage River (mile 15) and decided to hike down to the footbridge. Last year, we saw dall sheep in that area, and hoped to see them again. We were in luck, although there were only a couple of rams visible. A few other hikers let us know that there were many more just over the ridge - mostly ewes and lambs. We didn't feel like doing any extensive climbing, so we headed back to the car.

The rivers are mostly thawed, but there is still some ice hanging along the edges. While Savage River is almost totally without snow, Sanctuary River is still topped with a fairly thick shelf of ice, which is breaking off little by little and washing downstream.

The landscape is mostly brown in the lower elevations, with a lot of snow still visible in the mountains. Where water run-off has crossed the tundra, the vegetation is painted a brighter russet and golden color. The area near the Teklanika River bridge still looks like late winter rather than early spring, with virtually no color but for the green of the spruce trees.

Spruce and mountains	Russet dotted landscape	Reflective pond	Mt McKinley
Mt McKinley	Red tundra	Spruce and park road	Savage River
Savage River	Snowy Landscape	Steve and binos	Tall grass
Me and Denali in background	Park Road	Reflective Puddle	Sanctuary River
Park Road	Teklanika River	Reflective pond	Kettle pond
Kettle pond	Park road	Park road	Savage river
Savage River	Savage River	Savage River Footbridge	Savage River Hike
Puddle on path	Park road	Pond and spruce	Pond and spruce

Steve and I visited Creamers Field the other day. We walked the boreal forest trail while taking advantage of sunshine and warm temps. It was nice to get outside and walk together. The trees weren't as greened up as they are now, but there were plenty of reflections in the water under the boardwalk.

Seasonal Wetland Pond	Robin and nesting grass	Green Comma butterfly	From viewing platform
Boreal Forest trail	Boreal Forest trail	Reflections	Reflections
Pintail ducks	Lesser Yellowlegs	Tree swallows

Steve's off this weekend. We'll be taking care of chores around the house - both inside and out. We bought some paint for the living room and I'd like to get started on that. But we also have closet organizers to install in the master bedroom closet, and I think that's going to be the priority. I don't like doing inside work when it's so nice out. I have a feeling that if the sun shines tomorrow - rather than the predicted rain - I'll find an excuse to work outdoors, rather than in.