One thing the gas lams do is give off a lovely warm glow from the windows of the lodge. Luckily, it was only about -8c when I went out to get this shot at around 8:45. Again, this shot is much easier to get inn the winter when,in the summer, you would probably have to wait until 11:30 or later to get full darkness. The stars show up much better on the full size version as well.
There's no electricity at Skoki Lodge. In the summer, it stays light until around 10 so it's not really an issue. In the winter, darkness falls around 5PM and that's when the gas old lamps are fired up. Some of these lamps original lamps from when the lodge was built in 1930.
It's really hard to tell how deep the snow is in the winter. I had to return in the summer to find out that the bottom of this sign is actually about four feet above the ground. This was a pretty bad snow year as the snow should probably be above the top of this sign.
That was the query of an elderly German fellow who had packed his spotting scope in to the Lodge. It doesn't show up in the image but Venus is actually a thin crescent in this early evening shot. One of the nice things about Skoki in the winter is the fact that it gets dark quite early - this shot was taken around 7:00 in the evening. During the summer, you'd probably have to stay up until close to midnight to get a similar shot.
As winter has returned with a vengeance, I've decided to revisit some images that I took during a ski touring expedition last spring. This is the view that greets you as you come down to Skoki Lodge from Deception Pass. If you're lucky, you get there just in time for tea and snacks before the delicious dinner. The Lensbaby added the bokeh effect in this image and the sepia toning was added in Photoshop.
I'd love to say that this image of Mt. Burgess was taken after many hours of strenuous hiking as we got to our campsite and were just settling into our tent. In reality, it is taken from the bridge over the outflow of Emerald Lake at the Emerald Lake Lodge. There are two fantastic restaurants within a three minute walk from here and the accommodations, although considered rustic, are nowhere near a tent.
From a lovely fall day at Heritage Park, this window is on the side of the bakery where they sell homemade breads, muffins, and gingerbread men. Mmmmmm, gingerbread men......
