Potluck 2 June 14th

The sun continues to shine on SE Alaska. I've never seen so many sunburned people in my entire life.

We made the rounds near Nemo Point early this morning and invited several groups to the potluck, including a couple visiting from Hawaii.

We brought a load of gravel to Lower Salamander and repaired a section of trail that was beginning to erode.

Corree, the USFS interpreter, did the presentation at the potluck. She talked about the science of phenology which is the study of plant life cycles and their relation to shifts in climate.......not to be confused with phrenology, which is the pseudoscience concerning the measurement of the human skull. The locals shared their observations on the weather patterns over the past thirty years - all agreed that over the years it's gradually become warmer and that the snowfalls have become lighter.   Climate change was mentioned frequently and the cause of it is anyone's guess but the presentation was interesting nonetheless and provided fodder for discussion.

Sunny weather is forecasted to continue for another week or so- incredible. I have noticed that the biting insects like the black flies (aka white sox) and no-see-ums are thriving in the sunny weather. They've been unusually thick lately.

The sunny conditions and humid air combine to provide incredible sunsets every evening as you'll see below.