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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Friday, December 7, 2012

Little Su

 
Little Su is what locals call the Little Susitna River ,  I just call it beautiful.   My niece took me for a ride up Hatcher Pass to see the scenery.  I didn't realize how awsome the river would look.  Although the temperature was plenty cold, the river hadn't fully frozen yet.  Instead, parts would freeze creating mini ice dams over which water would escape, flood nearby areas and freeze.
 

While there are some rocks here, much of the difference in the height of the water is due to the ice dam effect.

 
Here's a side view.  I thought this was really cool.
However, the thing that took my breath away was the huge range of intense colors of the water.  My pictures are pale comparisons to the real experience.
You can sort of see through these trees the shading of the water.   Chartreuse, emerald, aquamarine, and just about every color in between were playing together.
Can you imagine how beautiful this would have looked when the trees in the background were decked out in gold earlier in the season?


As we drove further, I noticed these little crystaline formations dotting the top of the ice.  (You may have noticed in an earlier picture which was out of order.)  I'd never seen anything like them before.
Aren't they adorable!  Made me want to get lots closer and get some better shots.  Not enough to risk life and limb trekking through the snow on the steep bank and risk falling through the ice (won't be a problem in a month or so.) but still, these little things were amazing!
Like white waterlilies floating on the newly formed ice.



Oh yeah, the mountains were pretty neat looking too. 




But just look at that beautiful water!


You can tell from the density of the trees here that this is much lower down.  The colors here were especially intensely chartreuse and emerald but the sun wanted to make reflections and my filter to combat that was back in the car in my camera bag where clearly it did absolutely NO good at all.  In any case, it's a pretty picture to end our little tour of "Little Su."
 
If you're ever in the Anchorage area, you must contact Alison, she gives great tours!
 
Speaking of great service, we just refinanced our house to take advantage of the current low interest rates.  Ron Aurty, Sharol Klise and their team at Mortgage Advisory Group provided truly exceptional service throughout the process.   We have purchased, sold, and refinanced homes before and I can say that this was the easiest and most expedient transaction we've experienced to date. There were even  some fun surprises along the way.  Please be aware that I didn't know Ron from Adam before this experience but heard about him by word of mouth.  Further, I've recieved no incentive for mentioning Mortgage Advisory Group other than excellent service.  If you're in Washington State and find yourself thinking about a mortgage or refinancing, Give Ron a call at 206 226 3222 or 425 224 8302.  MAG is located about a two hour drive away from our home  but Ron traveled to us and provided superior  service with an incredibly positive attitude.

27 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, it is my dream to have a river on my property one day! The pictures you posted show every reason why, so many different shades of beauty.

    As a fan of your blog I'm sending you some blogger love and nominating you for a Liebster Award! To accept you have to list 11 random facts about yourself and nominate 11 other bloggers you like (who have 200 followers or less.)

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    1. Much as I admire rivers, having one on my property might be a little scary with all the rain we get here.

      Thanks for the blogger love and for the nomination. It'll take some thinking to come up with 11 random facts about myself and thinking isn't my strong suit but I'll sure give it a try.

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  2. Gorgeous! The colors, the ice and water action all just beautiful. Wonderful to see the area with someone who knows it so well.

    Alaska is one of the few states I have not been to yet. Not sure I want to go in the winter though. We retired to a warm climate for a reason.

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    1. It was lots of fun to be seeing all this with my niece and partner in crime. Although we still talk frequently, we se a lot less of each other since we've moved a couple of thousand miles away from each other.

      Alaska is beautiful in the summer too and if you like gorgeous scenery, there's no place like the Southeast and Southcentral parts of the state (my own bias.)

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  3. Wow...you captured the colors so well, I can't imagine how it could have been any better in person. Oh wait...it wouldn't have been because I would have been freezing my @$$ off!!! This is as close as I'll ever get to Alaska. Thank you for being my tour guide.

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    1. In looking at the pictures, I was disappointed that the colors seemed so washed out. The extremely intense coloration of the lower part of the river almost hurt my eyes it was so gorgeous.

      Pathetic truth be told, after a while we were both tired of getting in and out of the car so many of these shots were taken from a moving vehicle. Just pull a little forward and click, now back up a some so we can get that post out of the picture, click and so on.

      Really? you wouldn't consider going up even in the summer?

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    2. Summer maybe...if it involved a cruise...maybe.

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    1. It was a thrill and as a jaded old curmudgeon, those are few and far between.

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  5. Gorgeous scenery! the river looks so dramatic with ice over it and the ice formations. The crystals look like balls of cotton wool from afar, almost tempting to touch (but not quite yet..)

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    1. It was a wonderful afternoon full of beautiful scenery, fun conversation with my niece and a back seat stocked with enough snacks to feed a third world country. Who could ask for anything more?

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  6. That last picture is breathtaking.

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  7. This was a fascinating post! I've never seen a frozen river before. Lakes and ponds a-plenty, but never water that is supposed to be moving, and is often frozen while in the act of moving. I have no doubt the colors were amazing. Those little frost thingys dancing on the surface of the ice are so cool too.

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    1. Glad you liked it Alison. I just checked out your other blog and saw that you were in my home town on your Alaskan cruise. It was much different when I was growing up there. It was much closer to looking like a ghost town. Although there were always tourists, the town wasn't so very tourist trappy.

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  8. Wow, Little Su is one pristine gorgeous river! Here's to her remaining that way forever. I may have been overcome by the intensity of the colors of the water in person; the colors in the photos are awesome enough. Thanks so much for this tour!

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    1. It's always a pleasure to have you along on these trips!

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  9. Worth freezing your buns off...especially when they're YOUR buns. Thanks for that!

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  10. Wow, gorgeous photos!

    I saw your blog listed on Rosemary's blog.

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    1. Thanks for stopping by and commenting. Rosemary seems like a very nice person and her photography and words are always inspiring.

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  11. Excellent photos on your post today. Love them. The Little Su is really a beautiful spot. Thanks for sharing. Oh yes, besides the Quickies and the 6 packs - I do enjoy a good party Have one to go to in a couple of hours! Jack

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  12. Such lovely pictures! Thanks for sharing this beautiful river and photos with us. Have a nice weekend! I've got a new blog address and name.

    Satu

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    1. Thanks! I'm glad to see that your posts have been saved on the new blog! Love your new look!

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  13. Not only is it beautiful but amazing as well. I have never seen a river do that. You live in beautiful country!

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    1. It was pretty special as I had never been to that area before. I was only visiting my family in Alaska; I now live in the lower 48.

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.