Families braved the cold weather and icy trails last on Jan. 20 for the Ice Lantern Walk at the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center.
Lanterns made of ice dotted the trail leading from the visitor’s center to the Beluga Slough Wetlands on Jan. 20. Visitors could walk along the path or enjoy the view from afar with free cocoa and s’mores. Despite the icy, slippery paths, people of all ages got to explore the trail, including Jojo Shalit.
“I love about it is that we're going like all these different paths that have like, different shades like that was I see that was kind of dirty, but icy”
The event came to fruition last year when visitor center manager Lora Haller saw ice lanterns at a local restaurant and wanted to make some for the center.
“Last winter, we brought out some buckets and tested it and started making them and I was surprised when we had 250 people come out for the event,” she said
The walk is the first of a series of monthly events the visitor center is holding to celebrate 20 years of being open. Haller worked with volunteers to make more lanterns than in the previous year. From simple containers to a bundt cake, lanterns came in all shapes and sizes. Haller preferred making lanterns from buckets.
“We just have an average five gallon bucket,” she said, “put a couple inches of water in it, and then get some kind of container to hollow out the inside because the thing we're going for is kind of a bowl effect of ice with an open inside. So you can stick a candle in there.”
Warmer weather at the end of December led to some challenges, but with the help of volunteers – and their freezer space – they managed to salvage enough lanterns for the event.
The center will continue holding events each month for its twentieth anniversary, including a talk with an archaeologist and former US Fish and Wildlife Service employee next month.
