No snow -- Losta wind

The entrance station is no more....
One of the biggest pieces of equipment -- a snow plow/front end loader -- took a tree.

Park,. Supt/Ranger Gary Olson, who is well over 6 feet tall, stands by a root tangle where trees went down in the campground...

The good news is when this tree crushed part of the maintenance supervisor's home in the park, they were in another part of the house. They have moved.

Camp Connell, Ca -- We are just fine thank you for asking, but some of our neighborhood did not fare so well.
In the past week we've experienced the severest winds in memory.
The steady winds were around 40-50 mph with gusts up to 60 or 70. At the ski resort where our son works winds at the crest were around 100 mph.

Power was out for four days, an cable for five, but we managed reasonably well with the wood-burning stove and a small generator to keep the freezer, a light or two, and Zack's video games going.

Within a mile of our home at least a half dozen houses/cabins were destroyed by falling trees, but no one was hurt thanks to the fact most are weekend second homes and no one was foolish enough to come listen to the wind blow. e live in an area of very large trees, mostly Incense Cedar, Fir, Sugar Pine and Ponderosa. On our lot alone we have 30 or so trees taller than 150 feet.
But we also live in a creek bottom, protected somewhat from high winds, but watching the tops dance and sway was pretty darned interesting. And hearing branches and cones rattle off the roof for two days was tiresome.
At our house the acre was covered with broken limbs and branches, but no real damage to anything. One branch small fell so far (150 feet or so) it gouged a cut in the deck railing, and stuck into the wooden deck surface like an arrow. It is still sticking up an inch or two.
I have not had a chance to get out to take pictures, but a friend took photos of the state park where we volunteer two miles away. You'll get an idea of the force of the storm.
We were lucky, and have agreed the next time the weather forecast calls for this sort of wind -- if it ever happens again -- we will go find a motel at a lower elevation, or move in with friends for a day or so.
Incidentally, even though the damage within ten miles of our home probably will total over $10 million, no news organization gave it much attention. Cities and Lake Tahoe are more interesting to the news media.
Rural life has some interesting aspects.

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Camp Connell, Ca -- Mar. 25, 2011 -- As of yesterday a neighbor had measured approximately 27 feet of snowfall this winter. And it is still snowing.

Our average, we think, is around 15 feet, so this has been an unusual year.

Long-time locals recall a similar winter in the 1970s, or maybe early 1980s.

Several neighbors have found they have urgent business down the hill, usually in the Bay Area with family or friends. After a certain point snow just becomes, well, snow.

The snow plow operators are worn out, and deserve a break.

I admit I am ready for a real Spring, not one on the calendar only.

But it is still pretty.

The video is very amateurish, shot with my little Flip Video camera. The editing -- such as it is -- is all my fault.

I do hope you notice the music. It was as appropriate as I could find.

Come see us.

Bring a shovel.

Sharp-toothed Aliens Attack!!!!!

Camp Connell, Ca. - I am not making this up.
Something strange is eating my steps. There are teeth marks on what is left of the risers on the stairs, and I have been hearing strange gnawing sounds off and on recently.
Here's what it looks like at the entrance:

And then I started noticing that within a very short time after I put out feed for the birds in the neighborhood, it began to disapear. Like this:

And then I spotted this:

Using my keen investigative skills I figured out that aliens have penetrated the bodies of the normally benign squirrels in my area, and they are mounting a concentrated attack.
We have squirrels: grey squirrels, which are the biggest and lope around like foxes all around the house; ground squirrels, seen in the picture, which are the most voracious and can fill their cheek pouches with an endless stream of food types; Douglas squirrels, also known as Chickarees, which can eat 3,000 cones a year and often do; and assorted chipmunks, including the long-eared variety who clean up after their bigger cousins.
And we almost certainly have flying squirrels, though I have never seen one here. They only descend from the tree-tops at night, munching whatever they find including fungi, and then disappearing back into the heights before dawn. As a kid, my friends and I tried to tame them only to learn the basic Squirrel 101 lesson: squirrels bite.
Seen from one perspective they are cute little buggers, endlessly entertaining with their antics and scolding and squeaking.
But I think they are possessed by the devil, determined to eat my porch and drive the birds away.
The only thing worse are the feral cats that come around to hunt them, spawn of evil.
And then, I spotted these new guys, shortly after hearing my bird feeder rattle empty. to the ground.

If I don't re-appear in the next few days, call the secret Air Force UFO experts and tell them what happened.