Nice while it lasted

Jeff Reardon

Jeff Reardon

Well-known member
Supporter
Yesterday, for the first time since mid-January, the temperature rose above freezing. Sun was out, the wind died. It literally felt like T-shirt weather. My wife and I went out on snowshoes in the warmest part of the afternoon, and I was sweating in a pair of fleece pants and a mid weight fleece shirt.

It was snow conditions we almost never see here--4+ feet of dry, bottomless powder. Four feet of snowpack is not unheard of here, but usually when we get to that point it's later in the year than this; the snow has been a lot wetter and denser; we've had some rain, sleet or melting mixed in; and the snowpack is pretty dense.

This year all our snow fell with temps below 10 degrees F, so it's dry and fluffy.

I'm a big guy, and even on a pair of 42X11 bearpaws, I was sinking to my knees in the snow. Great work out--better than a stairmaster!

At one point I stepped over a blow down that was completely buried. I wouldn't have known it was there except that when I stepped onto the snow on the back side, my snowshoe dropped about 3 feet. I'm guessing that snow there was drifted over the blow down.

I am very glad there was no video of my fall and extraction. My wife is still laughing about it.

Back down to 5 degrees now. Expecting 15 below again tonight, and more snow mid week.
 
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This damn winter just wont end. I was checking the forecast where I grew up in northeast PA, sub-zero lows and higs in teens/20s all week. That's nuts for the last week of February.
A guys who consults for us lives west of Boston, hes lived there all his life and never remembers snow up above their kitchen windows.
 
Jeff , back in December for us,still haven't seen 32,bottomless powder but not as much as you in Maine, back down to -25 tonight and below zero for the next few days. Very hard winter for the Whitetail.
 
I am in Tallahassee for a couple of days. Today as the first time I saw bare ground on about a month and a half.

66 degrees and it feels like paradise!
 
Yeah, we puttered around, got the snow cleaned up worked on the snow fort, listened to the birds sing... 10 right now.
 
I have been there. If you fall there seems to be no bottom to push on to right yourself. Tell your wife we need pictures next time.
 
I'd give anything for some of your weather. We had mid 70's here last week. Got cold and rainy over the weekend with about an inch of rain and 38 degrees one morning. While that may sound great to you, we are having a terrible drought. Hundreds of wells have gone dry, lawns and yards are dead, drinking water is being trucked into some towns, the toilet motto of "if it's brown flush it down but if it's yellow let it mellow" is returning, and millions of acres of farm ground is not being planted which will raise our food prices. It's ugly!!! Send your storms here please.
 
Same here up in Washington, 50's during the day and not a cloud in sight, no snow in the mountains this winter, this summer could be like hell!!
 
Sounds like a great outing Jeff. Imagine how deep you would be sinking without the snowshoes! I stopped measuring the depth of the snow last week when it was 3 feet and we have had a couple of 6+ inch snowfalls since. However the temperatures lately have gotten up into the teens with the sun out, so I think the snow is settling down a bit.

We've yet to see 30 degrees this month. But it's 20 and sunny today, with the birds singing it almost feels like spring! Now if we could only get the wind to die down.

Just waiting for some streams to open up so I can start trapping beaver again. I briefly had a baited set going through the ice on one pond. However with all of the snow it just took me too long to check it every day.
 
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