Amos Lakes

Location - Mystic Lake

Amber, the 1-year old Golden Retriever, investigating the snow and ice on Mystic Lake, February 2001. Mount McKinley, 95 km away, is visible at left in the background. Mount Foraker is just left of center.

You won’t find "Mystic Lake" on a map. It’s the unofficial name for one of the two Amos Lakes. Mystic Lake’s twin is "Sunset Lake". They are roughly the same size, with a maximum length of about 1 km. The lakes are located between the Tonzona River and Red Paint Creek about 95 km south-west of Mount McKinley and 145 km east of McGrath. On a clear day you can see Mount McKinley and Mount Foraker from Mystic Lake. When we set up the ALISON observatory on 3 December 2002, the ice was about 0.19 m thick and there was no snow. Because of the unseasonably warm weather and resultant melting, the ice was about 0.02 m thinner the following day.

The Amos Lakes are the large water bodies in the center of this image. Mystic Lake is the eastern one. The ALISON site was located near its southwestern shoreline.

People

Fred McElroy proudly poses with a Mystic Lake trout.

The Mystic Lake observatory was run by Dr. Fred McElroy, a retired soil microbiologist, who worked for Agriculture Canada before starting his own plant pest and diagnostic research business.

Originally from Seattle, Fred and his wife, Marilyn, retired in 1996 and realized a lifelong dream. They visited Alaska and spent time as caretakers at Mystic Lodge, which they subsequently bought in 2000.

In January 2002, Fred had some questions about lake ice and found Martin and some answers. One thing led to another and Fred agreed to run an ALISON observatory, a winter activity that satisfied some of his interests as a naturalist and contributed to science education and research.

Fishing, among other activities, satisfies his naturalist’s interests in summer.

Data

Download data for these graphs and other ALISON data.