Snow Arrives in Trout Lake

Snow came a bit later to Trout Lake this year than last year, and that was just fine with us.

This would be our second year clearing our own driveway. Not wanting to repeat any of last year's horrible start to plowing, I spent the better part of a day in early December attaching the snow blower to the tractor and rearranging the equipment so that the tractor was ready to go. (Of course, if the snow had come when it did last year - late November - I would not have been ready!)

The first snow arrived in mid-December during a particularly cold spell. Temperatures were routinely in the 10s-20s during the day, and would frequently get down to single-digits at night. (Thank goodness the furnace was fixed!) The advantage of such cold weather, though, is that the snow was very light and fluffy, and thus easy to move. The first accumulation was no more than a couple inches, but it was a good opportunity to practice.

We also thought this would be a good chance to get Rocket out in the winter weather. So we bundled him up in his snowsuit, put him in the stroller, covered him with blankets, and ventured out on a walk to the mailbox. The stroller provided fairly good protection from the wind, but by about the halfway point Anders decided he was done. We finished our walk briskly and returned to the warmth inside.

The second snowfall came a few days later and provided more substantial accumulation. Temperatures remained arctic, so removal was a snap. I've even managed to come up with a plowing pattern that drastically reduces the amount of shoveling and should be much more maintainable throughout the season.

This storm created all sorts of problems in Seattle and Portland, and even caused I-84 to be closed for several days. But somehow the storm was kind to us; maybe it's because most of the precipitation had already been dropped by the time the storm got to us. Let's hope the remainder of the season goes this well!

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket