Anchorage-area Nordic skiers are reporting good and bad news on a local public forum for ski buffs. Good news first: ski trails across the bowl are described variously as "fast," "SUPER," and very nice, with most newly groomed for skaters and cross-country skiers.
Particularly good skiing and snowshoeing is reported in South Anchorage, but that's also where the bad news is cropping up: Skiers posted Saturday morning on Cross Country Alaska that they'd spotted fresh black bear tracks at the top of Rover's Run, near Service High School.
Friday, a skier posted they'd actually seen a bear near a place known as "Conversation Corner" on the Hillside.
Bears are nothing new in the Hillside region of Alaska's largest city. But bears in sub-zero temperatures just before Thanksgiving, many weeks after winter has begun, are rare. Most bears are well into hibernation by now.
One commenter suggested ordering a prescription sleeping aid, Ambien, for the insomniac bears.