And It's Only Monday....

I got the day off today by default.

It was supposed to be an 'all hands on deck' day to do an annual cleaning of the main lodge.  But....

Intermittent snow and a weekend of blowing sheets of wind/snow have left the roads closed (again) with snowdrifts.  One truck is stuck in a drift, and at 3 large equipment snow vehicles are broken.  Temperatures have ranged from -12 to 18 degrees this morning.

So the most of the menfolk are out repairing vehicles and clearing what snow they can.  Dan is in the woodshop building a storage box for the horses.

It's a good day to be inside...... :)

A Midwinter's Night Dream...

Alas, all you who yearn for the kiss of Caribbean sun and sandy beach.  And you, who wail about the travails of cold and snow.... who think the flakes of frozen water are dismal and dull.  Those who think joy comes in hot glazed days or warm humid nights.....  the secrets of Winter are alive for the solitary souls that understand the beauty of the cold.    anonymous

Thank you, Paul for the beautiful photos...... :)

January Silence

After a lovely holiday and a fabulous time making memories with Rachel and Paul, our life has shifted back to the flow of normal life.  Weather on the mountain can be quite different than down in the valley by Gardiner.  The town has had warmer weather, where the roads are often clear and downright muddy.  They get rain; we get snow.  Our basic snow pack of 2+ feet has never left, and this morning we woke up to 4-5 new inches of fluff.  Prior to the new addition, we had a weekend of intense blowing snow.  The valley we live in (called the Cinnabar Basin) funnels the wind coming down the mountains and makes quite a stew of swirling snow.  "Ground blizzard" is what it's called when it's in crazy mode.  The winds comes from all directions, and sheets of snow life up from the ground and take off.

This morning the wind was gone, and everything was still.  We are literally living in the clouds; what looks like fog are cloud formations clinging to the ground.  All the mountains surrounding us are invisible:

Although the roads were plowed and cleared on Saturday, by now they have disappeared again, and the ranch manager was out starting to open a trail so everyone can get out and on to the work of opening the roads once again.  This is a daily chore that takes up a good part of the day....

It's a different world up here.  Good for someone who likes solitude and their own space. 

It's beautiful........

Cold, Silent, Beautiful

My thanks to Don for these photos-

In the summer, this is a deck.

And this birdhouse defies gravity!  I'm sure the birds are much happier in the climate of the South......

Snow Measuring Tool

Compare this photo of Dan's grill to the earlier post..... yes, we have more snow!

It's a good tool measurement of the growing amount of fluffy flakes.... at least until tonight.  The ranch managers graciously gave us two hind quarters of venison, and Dan is butchering the meat and freezing the packaged amounts.  Tonight we have venison on the grilll!

Snow Daze

Winter is upon us... we got a good 14" of snow on Sunday, with  a bit more accumulation each day since.  More snow on the way tonight as well.

Here's the views from our back porch, as well as Dan shovelling snow from the front sidewalk:

Yesterday, Dan, Don (the man that works with Dan) and I went to Gardiner over lunch to get chains for our tires (yep, we found out we need them). 


On the way back up the mountain, we ran into a good herd of mountain sheep that had moved down into the valley with the bad weather.  We drove right through them, and they merely looked at us!




Fortunately, Don had his camera with him, and took these great shots:

Now, if only could see some reindeer..... :)

Today we woke to to a good additional 12" and the skies are white again with snow.  PLUS they are talking about another 1-2 feet of snow this weekend.

Since I'm not the one doing all the plowing, I say 'bring it on!'  I've got internet, TV, and a stack of books to read.  I'm in hermit mode.

Happy early winter preview to you and yours!

Pre Labor Day Grill Envy...

Dan got his grill last week.... and we revv'ed it up today.  Since we grill a lot, we're happy to be 'back in the saddle' again.... and the steaks were awesome!

This is big mountain country, and Dan now has a grill worthy of its surroundings.  We've got one side for grilling, one side for smoking and it's even got smokestacks!!  Yee-haw.

Yes.... what you're seeing is snow.  It was a drizzly day which turned into mothball-sized hail earlier in the day, and then snow.  While it won't likely stay, it's an interesting thought to see the precursor of winter on September 5.......

Here's another photo of the snow:

Have a wonderful Labor Day!