No Snow, @#$%^&*!

[Black_Fly]

Most of the snow here got washed away by a freak rainstorm last week. I was looking forward to some snowshoeing after getting some chores accomplished. We're down to about 3-4" on the ground, some of it crusty. Oh well, I guess Bogan and me will wait it out watching the fire burn and the river flow. I still have a few projects to get done between walks and meals. It's supposed to snow again in earnest this weekend.

 

[snapper]

We started off the year with a 24" storm that disappeared with the rain on Christmas day. Since then we've never had more than 4" at a time but so far, it's stuck around. There's a nice crust in the woods so even getting just a couple of inches refreshes the trails for xc skiing. Still not enough to need snowshoes but at least skiing is an option again. In fact, I just got back in from doing some vigilante trail maintenance on a loop I rediscovered the other day. While I miss my snowshoes & mukluks, I'm happy to be skiing again.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time...be well.

snapper

 

[Alan Gage]

No snow to speak of here and no complaints. Snowshoeing is a fun novelty but I prefer to walk on my own two feet when possible.

Alan

 

[PaddlingPitt]

Sorry to hear about your lack of snow, Black Fly. Kathleen and I love snow and winter, which is why we moved from Vancouver to East Central Saskatchewan. Here’s Kathleen and Shadow out on our trail along the lake an hour ago.


We pack our trails by pulling a drag behind the skidoo.



The trails are firm. No need for snowshoes. We just prance along in our mukluks.



We have about five miles (8 km) of trails through the bush on our property. We often reflect on how fortunate and blessed we are.



Shadow, our rescue Siberian Husky, loves to hunt for Meadow Voles and Shrews living in their tunnels beneath the snow. I always hope he doesn’t get them, but a Husky has gotta be a Husky.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Only one snowfall so far this winter in Covidicut and none in the forecast. What a blessing!!!!

 

[stripperguy]

Similar to snapper's weather, but we had 30" disappear around Christmas too! I had a bad leg injury and couldn't enjoy that powder.
We currently have the same crusty 4" at home in the town of Colonie, but I drove just 40 miles from home on Sunday for some BC skiing in the Taconics. There was 18" of excellent base with 4-5" of nice, fluffy powder on top. Sounds ideal, right? Well, not quite. Just under that powder was a breakable crust, which for those of you that don't know, is a challenging condition at a ski area, let alone in the back country in the trees. Still was a nice day to be out, just a little more effort on the way down than I signed on for. Skied alone, so the only pics I have are of my tracks...

 

[PaddlingPitt]

We recently came across the following quote. There was no attribution, but obviously a wise person:

”If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life, but still the same amount of snow.”

 

[memaquay]

I'll send you guys some......probably 3 to 4 feet in the bush. Great winter so far. Got to try out my new Ice schack pop up in the back yard, it's a wonderful thing of beauty.

Only problem is, it's so big, I gotta build a new sled for my skidoo. Working on that today, going to put an 8 foot box on it, should be good for the apocalypse now.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

We recently came across the following quote. There was no attribution, but obviously a wise person:

”If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life, but still the same amount of snow.”

I don't find the saying wise, but rather semantically illogical.

Here is what I consider a logically true statement: "If I find joy in snowless days, I will have more joy in my life the fewer days it snows."

Besides, I choose to go to Florida in the winter to avoid snow, semantics and logic altogether. And, there, I can canoe in warm water every day of the year, while the water is frozen solid for five months in the bleak north and dangerously cold another two months.

 

[Canotrouge]

We got snow, lots of snow this year compare to other years! But really mild temps, didn’t get below -25c yet and mostly above -15c....

 

[lowangle al]

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[Mihun09]

They had predicted we would get more snow than "normal" but so far it has not showed up, in fact it rained on Wednesday, then froze. 6 times this Winter having to commute to work on ice due to how unseasonably warm it has been. It is a balmy -13C at the moment which would be "normal" day time temp for here with nights at -22C. Usually we would see a half dozen days around -40c but there is only 2 months left to get that and we may not see it at all.


Christine is off snowshoeing today considering the snow is not too deep in the bush and it will be warmish at -11C. I'm sure she will have a trip report after words.

Karin

 

[PeteStaehling]

I miss the snow! My snowshoes languish in the shed here in Tallahassee.

 

[Mason]

Here's what happens when we get a low snow year (Montana). Shallow snowpack results in the formation of depth hoar, which is an unstable layer of facets, above which rests the snow. The facet layer collapses when loaded (here by some skiers), and bad things happen. Three people got caught, one seriously injured and helicoptered out. The other two skied out banged up. (Photo from Mtavalanche.com)

 

[goonstroke]

I miss the snow! My snowshoes languish in the shed here in Tallahassee.

I may be 15 degrees or so of latitude north from you, but my snowshoes are also languishing in the shed. I'm sick of this mid-Atlantic weather. There's nothing more disgusting than rain in January.

 

[lowangle al]

Rain in January is why I moved to Alaska 30 years ago.

 

[Mason]

Rain in January is why I moved to Alaska 30 years ago.

And you moved to Anchorage??????

 

[yknpdlr]

You weren't here in my backyard this morning, Lake Effect from Lake Ontario.

 

[ppine]

Nevada means snow in Spanish. We have been dry as a bone, but it is snowing today and will be for the next week. A good snow storm in the Sierra is anything over 4 feet.

 

[stevet]

Glenn, do I recognize Juniper Springs run in your pic? Magical place.