Digging out at Bear Valley

Camp Connell, CA -- The big March storms have passed, and daffodils are actually appearing at the lower elevations.
The temperatures are up into the 50s and 60s, and the snow is melting fast -- except at the highest elevations.
Bear Valley is at 7,030 feet, and they have had a winter to remember. Longtime residents compare it to the big storm years of the early 1980s.
Our son Zack works at the ski resort, another thousand feet up the mountain, and he spent six days straight shoveling snow so the lifts could carry the skiers.
Today we went with friends Gary and Jeri to check out their cabin at the village at Bear Valley.
The pictures tell the story, even when I bounced the camera around a bit.

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.

Okay, we have had enough rain for a while

The "seasonal creek" runs through our property, but rarely this fast!

Camp Connell, Ca -- We were pretty happy when we had a long cool Spring, a mild summer and no forest fires within miles of where we live during the driest months of the year.
After several years of near-drought conditions it was a relief.
Fall was brief.
Snow started falling before Thanksgiving, and seemed as if it would not stop. We had six feet or so within two weeks, the ski resort opened early, and I managed two ski days without injury before Turkey Day.
Then the snow stopped at our elevation, we had a brief thaw, and then the rains came.
We lived a part of our lives in Florida so we are familiar with real rain, as opposed to what we normally get here in the mountains. Summer and Fall are dry here, while in Florida we could get four inches in an hour or so from one good summer thunderstorm. I think we lived here for several years before we even heard thunder.
In Florida you just pull off to the side of the road until it stops.
In California you wonder what the heck is going on.
The Winter of 2010-2011 is shaping up to be different in our mountains. It has been raining, really raining, for several days. Or weeks. I think I heard one of the TV guys say we are running about 150% of normal for snow pack before the normal heavy snow season begins. The rain must be three or four times normal for this time of year.
When you drive the roads of the Mother Lode country it looks like the Smokey Mountains, mist and fog and everything dripping wet. Beautiful, but very different from what we are used to.
We went by our daughter's home near Murphys today after church and Coyote Creek was out of its banks and into the road in large areas, around eight inches deep and getting deeper. All the gopher holes on their property were spouting water turned red by the mud. The gophers, presumably, have headed for higher ground.
My son Zack works at a ski resort at 7,000 feet and they have been shoveling for days to keep the place going. At that altitude it is almost all snow. They expect six to eight feet from this storm.
Here at our home at 5,000 feet it has rained and rained and rained. We've had 4 inches in the last two days, maybe a record. I suspect it will be ten inches or more from this storm by the end of the week.
The bridge to our neighbor's house is still above water, proof that FEMA was wrong and we are NOT in a flood zone.

The seasonal creek has gone ballistic, ripping down the hill below the house like white water rapids people pay to visit.
The wind has kicked up enough to bring down lots of limbs, and a tree or two We heard a big "boom" earlier but can't find out where it came from.
The latest series of storms to roar in off the Pacific came just as son Zack and Granddaughter Katie left to drive to Spokane Washington. At last report they are safe, but the first day of the trip was in pouring rain, and the last 300 miles or so have been in snow. They should arrive at Spokane tonight, where only two or three inches and cold temps are forecast.
They are fine, but as Zack said on the phone a while ago:"Thank God we are in the Subaru with snow tires." Lots of cars and trucks off on the side. (This is not a product placement advertisement: everyone here loves Subarus.)
Here the rain is still coming down as of 6 p.m. Sunday, but the temperature is dropping steadily. The expectation is that by 10 p.m. it will change to snow.
That figures, since I need to drive to the marina at San Francisco Bay to check on the boat, and it looks like a long day.
Pat will stay home and keep the fire going, take care of the nervous dog, and make soup. She will have the old pickup truck if she needs to escape. She will have quiet and beautiful snow for company.
And I will be driving in the rain.

The forecast is for rain and/or snow for the next five to seven days.

Santa better have his radar turned on.

This Christmas event Saturday was hoped-for as a sleigh ride, but the rain made it a covered carriage ride.


Note: I used to chuckle when Pat's dad included a detailed weather report in every letter and phone call from his Florida home. Now, I understand.

Snow way....

Camp Connell, Ca-- What we are experiencing is not the first snow of the year. That happened a few weeks ago with a polite three-inch covering that made good pictures but did not inconvenience anyone.
Today we are having what we call a dump. Twelve to 14 inches on Friday night, and an additional two feet or so (so far) since yesterday. The first of several we expect each winter, and this one came early.
It is beautiful, but the more years we live where winter is a reality, the less enamored I become with snow.
The snow plow has come by twice, and our lane is open enough to safely make it to the county road that connects us to the state highway.
But we opted to stay close to home after son Zack arrived this morning and warned us that the roads were extremely slick, and even careful drivers were sliding around playing bumper cars.
Yesterday afternoon Pat was driving home and just as she turned of the highway there was a young man beside his crushed pickup truck, looking a bit dazed. He told her he was alright, but his truck was demolished from the tree he slid into. His ATV had flown out of the back and landed nearby. His airbag inflated, though he said he was going so slow it didn't help much. He was driving down the mountain in his 4-wheel-drive vehicle when it began to slide sideways and he could not regain control.
This morning the local news website reporter trees down across a county road nearby, and several thousand people in our county without electric power.
We have to plan carefully any trip, even short ones. We carry chains, even for the all-wheel-drive Subaru and the four-wheel-drive truck. We carry shovels, drinking water and sleeping bag. And a First Aid Kit.
Just in case.
So this winter I have begun thinking about warm places, sunshine, and clear skies and roads.
Unfortunately our favorite sunny winter retreats have had recent setbacks.
The Pacific Coast of Mexico has changed through the last decade.
The resort area near Puerto Vallarta that we enjoyed for several years has become increasingly expensive, more isolated from Mexican people, and seems somehow less friendly than it once was, at least for me as a budget-minded visitor.
The beautiful little town of LaManzanilla on Tenacatita Bay is apparently as charming as ever, but Mexican politics, greedy and politically-connected resort developers and even some drug activity seem be be getting closer all the time.
The Florida that I used to know, as a child and a young adult, is disappearing faster than I can track. The coasts are now lined with condominiums, many of them empty or in the hands of the repo man, and the Everglades and "old Florida" beaches are dying faster than the aging population.
My native South -- Alabama and Georgia -- are not exactly winter travel destinations. I'd rather shovel snow off the deck than go through another cold wet winter that seems so typical in my memory.
The warm desert resorts of Southern California were interesting for a while, but require money by the bucket-load, and I have always been, and remain, cheap.

On the other hand, we've never been to Hawaii. Maybe it is time.

(Meanwhile, it is still snowing. Only three days into winter and I am ready for an escape. I think we'll walk to the general store for a candy bar.)

Spring is trying real hard....

Camp Connell, Ca -- That's a Black-capped Oregon Junco pecking away at out bird feeder outside the kitchen window,
The bird, and his flock of friends, have begun swarming around the house in the last week or so as the weather is trying to decide what season we are in. We are at 5,000 feet elevation so Winter is still toying with us.
We have had a wave of Spring storms, mostly cold and wet, move in from the North Pacific.
So we have rain, then it gets colder, and we get a new layer of snow, then the sun comes out and it starts melting. Then the cycle starts again.
The icicles on the bird feeder are a result of those cycles, but the birds don't seem to mind.
The Grey Squirrels are moving around a lot too, as are the Stellar's Jays. The deer have not yet returned, waiting on the ground-covering snow to melt any day now.

Just down the mountain, the grass is a brilliant green and other critters are on the move. This beautiful skunk was getting a drink of cool water from a ditch near the Ironstone Vineyard near Murphys. I kept a respectful distance and he waddled away, only slightly irritated. but not spinning around and aiming his artillery in my direction as he will do when really threatened.



At Murphys' elevation, somewhere around 2,000 feet, the oak trees are not yet ready but the grasses are.

When you hear about the beautiful rolling hills of California, this is the place. It is spectacular in Spring as the plants awaken and the animals return to warm-weather patterns. The grass looks like the scenes we saw in Ireland last Fall. Almost hurts your eyes.

Or makes you sing for joy.
The old hymn "How Great Thou Art"expresses it perfectly:

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

When through the woods, and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees.
When I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur
And see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

I did not try to sing to the birds and skunks and squirrels. Didn't want to scare them off.




Earlier in the week I was driving on the highway near Calaveras Big Trees State Park and a coyote started to cross the road in front of me. He saw me coming, stopped, and backed up to the edge of the road and sat down to wait for me to pass, completely adapted to passing cars even here on the edge of the wilderness. Smart critters. No wonder they are the source of many legends among native people.



I missed a lot of good animal pictures because I was too busy looking, my mouth hanging open.

As I was standing beside a dirt road admiring the green grasses, a Red-Tailed Hawk soared overhead, intently watching the grass for a sign of a careless mouse.

One of the Scottish folk songs I love has a line in it about a hawk. He captures and eats only what he needs, the songwriter says, "not one mouse more."

Would that we were that conscious of what we do to the earth.



Back at our house, the snow plow came this morning around 7 a.m., scraping and blowing away the snow and ice from the drive so we could get out to work in the park's warming hut.

By late afternoon the icicles were gone from the bird feeder. The forecast for the next few days is warmer and sunny.

But you never know.

Spring Skiing at Bear Valley

Camp Connell, CA -- The night before we had about 18 inches of new snow, and then the sun came out the next morning.
So I went skiing.
It was one of those stunning days in the Sierra Nevada you can remember for years. Snow-capped trees, brilliant blue skies, fresh snow sparkling in the cold air.
I talked Pat into driving with me the 20 miles uphill to Bear Valley Ski Resort. The drive alone was worth the icy roads.
Because it was a Thursday even though we arrived late we still got a good parking space, one of my measures of a good ski day. No crowds at all. No lift lines.
Son Zack works as a lead ski lift operator, and we surprised him and had lunch together when it came time for a break.
It was a great day to be with family, even though Zack had to work and Pat stayed in the lodge where she read, ate, and made new friends.
Because of an inconvenient surgery in January I missed two months of prime skiing, and I don't have THAT many years of skiing left in my aging knees, so I was eager to catch up. But not so eager as to kill myself. I am a cruiser.
My Gulf Coast friends know I got a late start, only started skiing in my 40s, so I am happiest (and most competent) when I cruise the intermediate runs. I don't do a lot of flips, races, or deep powder.
But I love it, and it was a really good day.
The video is less than four minutes long, very amateurish, and a bit wobbly in places. But it will give you an idea of what it is like to soar on top of the mountains in winter.
And then I went home and took a nap.

Winter survival tips

Camp Connell, CA - Lots of people enjoy being outside in the winter, and very few ever need to know what to do if they get in trouble.
But it happens, and as a result I worked up a short version of a Winter Preparedness and Survival sheet for the docents at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. When the weather is good I occasionally lead snowshoe tours in the park, and usually try to impart some of these common sense tips to people.

I suspect it is ironic that shortly after doing this the snow melted, and I had surgery which precludes me from doing much outdoors activity in the cold for a few weeks. No matter: more snow is on the way and I am healing fast.

So, here is some information you may be able to use if you want to enjoy the outdoors year round:

Being properly prepared to enjoy the outdoors in winter requires no technical skills, but a lot of common sense and some preparation.


Be Prepared

The odds are great that you will never be lost or in a survival situation.
The best way to survive is to not get lost or hurt. Most people do that every day by exercising reasonable care.

Be aware that being properly prepared means for a worst case situation, not an average day’s walk in the park on a well-defined trail.

Conditions can change rapidly in winter. A short sunny stroll can end up in a freezing whiteout. Extra preparation helps make for a pleasant visit.

So, check the weather forecast , and dress appropriately.

The most critical item to help a person survive in winter is adequate clothing. You cannot overemphasize the role clothing -- and a good attitude -- play in enhancing the chances for survival if something goes wrong.

TIP # 1: Remember ABC = “Anything But Cotton.” We all love blue jeans and fashionable shirts, but when cotton gets wet -- either from melting snow or sweat -- it loses the ability to provide warmth and actually drains heat from wet bodies.

Wool and synthetics, worn in layers, wick away dampness and provide warmth when you are active. An outer layer(jacket and pants) should be water proof or resistant .
Extremities get cold faster than the core body, so boots, gloves and a warm hat are essential ingredients to avoid hypothermia and even frostbite.

If you can convince yourself to think of tennis shoes, cotton socks, long-sleeved cotton T-shirts and denim blue jeans as dangerous in a winter wilderness, you will be better prepared for anything.

TIP # 2: Carry essential items with you to make sure you can survive,--even on a brief day hike-- if something happens and you get stuck hiking or skiing in the snow.

The minimal list should include an extra layer of clothing for warmth when not moving, drinking water, an energy bar, and ways to stay dry and warm. (A complete checklist is included below.)


Survival Tips

Survival in winter requires staying warm, staying put in a safe location(except in extraordinary circumstances) and making sure someone can find you by enhancing visibility.

So, let someone know where you are going and when to expect your return.

And, before you go into a winter wilderness, prepare properly.

Remember ABC means “Anything But Cotton” and “There is no bad weather, just bad clothing.”

Here is a longer memory jogger that outlines the essentials you should carry with you to assure winter survival:
Remember, For Wilderness Survival, Keeping My Cool Will Continue My Life

Remember ............Rope (long enough to rig a shelter, or make a snare)
For............................Food (granola or high calorie bars provide energy)
Wilderness..............Water ( absolutely essential)
Survival....................Shelter (large garbage bag, thermal blankets or a fly)
Keeping...................Knife (strong enough to cut branches or rope)*
My............................Map (a basic tool to locate yourself)
Cool.........................Compass (another basic tool; GPS will work)
Will...........................Whistle (one way to signal for help)
Continue..................Clothing (enough to keep you warm if sitting still)
My............................Matches (waterproof, or flint and steel and starter)**
Life...........................Light (small flashlight helps someone find you)
*Adding a wire saw would is worth the extra weight for back country trips.
** You may want a small amount of fire starter, or dryer lint. Also, if you carry a propane lighter, carry more than one. They fail often.

If you get lost or injured...

Remember to “STOP”:

S = Stop where you are. Don’t wander, calm down for a minute. Search and Rescue teams suggest we hug a tree to help calm down.

T = Think about where you are, what resources you have and what you need to do.

O = Observe your surroundings. Take note of the terrain, snow depths and conditions, weather, time of day, tracks and trails and anything else that might help you with the final step.

P = Plan what to do. Decide what is best to assure your survival based upon you condition, location, equipment and knowledge.

Your priorities should be:
Shelter -- Use clothing, a garbage bag, branches from trees, a snow cave or trench, or anything else that will protect you from wind and wet and cold. Separate your body from snow with something: a closed-cell foam pad is good, and lightweight.

Fire -- Low branches broken from a tree, or the inside of downed wood, will burn even if the exterior is damp. Split the wood. Start small. Add more wood slowly. Keep it going.

Signal -- Use your whistle, smoke, a mirror, bright colored jacket, or SOS stomped in the snow to increase your visibility. Try sending on your cell phone even if it says no service.

Water -- You must drink water to avoid dehydration. East snow sparingly. Melted is better.

Maintain a positive attitude. A strong will to survive, coupled with positive efforts to keep warm and healthy while awaiting rescue, has been the basis of many wonderful survival stories.

Some additional reading:
www.wilderness-survival-skills.com/winter-survival.html
www.gottagoitsnows.com/survival/
www.rbnc.org/schoolunits/survscen.htm
www.yosemitegifts.com/wisuskknca.html (flash cards for children)

Compiled for CBTA

The Snow Dance worked

Tioga Pass in Yosemite via webcam

Camp Connell, CA -- A training class for people who lead snow shoe walks ended early this week with this encouragement from the leader: "Now let's go home and do the snow dance!"
We did, and it worked.
The snow started falling about 2 p.m. today while we were having lunch at the Just Delicious Cafe in Arnold, almost 1,000 feet down the mountain from where we live.
When we got home it became a steady drop, quietly hiding and healing all the scars of a long summer and Fall. This is one of the loveliest times of year here in the mountains. Come to think of it, there are no bad times.
But this is really nice.
The video was taken from our porch, and the still photograph borrowed from a web camera at Tioga Pass, in Yosemite National Park, a few miles south of us and at 9,900 feet.
Eventually snow gets old, particularly if I have to shovel a lot or the plow shows up late.
But for now, we love it.
Earlier in the week we attended the training session for snow shoe walks in Calaveras Big Trees State Park, bought brand new snow tires for Pat's Subaru. And then today I bought a new pair of downhill skis.
All I have to do now is get in some shape other than portly.

Bring it on!

And now, for a look at the weather

Camp Connell, Ca. -- We needed some snow.
Well, we got it. The photo shows the scene out our living room window at noon today, with the "more snow" weather forecast on TV. They say it may quit tonight for two days, then start again.
In the last eight days or so we have five to six feet of new snow.
It is enough to satisfy me, actually, but the TV folks say we are still behind the snowpack needed to avoid another drought year this summer and fall.
Don't get me wrong, we really like snow to admire and play in. But there are certain issues: Pat had to spend the night down the mountain to make a scheduled 7:30 a.m. meeting at our granddaughter's school; the meeting was canceled because of snowy roads; we missed church Sunday, and two board meetings were canceled due to icy roads; I can't go skiing either because the roads are too bad, or I am too timid to ski in deep powder, or as we call it here, Sierra Cement.

I could not get out the dirt road to the highway this morning even in my truck because of 18 inches of new, very wet, snow.

It was so wet Mr.Miller, the plow fellow, had to use a giant front-end loader to clear the road enough for his snow blowers to get to our driveway.
The top photo shows him clearing the road at the top of my driveway, and the bottom photo shows the blower clearing the drive by our doorway. My semi-buried truck is barely visible.




They did get it cleared enough for us to get in and out.
For now I am using this blogging break as an excuse not to go outside and shovel the garage entrance clear of the snow now piled up against it.

No problem.

Tonight, I will just throw a burger on the barbie and kick back and, probably, watch the snow. That's the barbie in the picture. It took about an hour to get the deck cleaned off, less than normal thanks to son Zack repairing the deck blower.




I think I'll have some fun and stay in and work on my taxes.

Living in a post card

Our local web site posted a short video today of the road conditions in our neighborhood, after about a foot of new snow.

The webmaster referred to the scenery here as "living in a post card."
You can see what he means by following the link and clicking on the YouTube video.

The entire video is over seven minutes, maybe too much for most of you. If it is, advance to the last minute. Those who know this part of the country, or who have visited our home, will recognize the last minute of the video as showing the ride from Dorrington, home of the Lube Room saloon/ bar and grill, a quarter mile to the Camp Connell General Store (and our post office), and the turnoff to our side road.

www.bigtreestech.com/home/

Or the direct YouTube link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnugUK2JZNo

If you check the links too late, you'll have a chance to see how a local non-profit web site provides news and information and community links to the 104 full time, and hundreds more weekend and vacation folk who call this area home.

Enjoy.

(Technical stuff) The picture below is of granddaughter Delaney during a snowball fight with Pat a week or so ago. The drive photos are of the new snow that fell this week.

Snow's here for Christmas

Calaveras Big Trees State Park -- Within two days of the recent blog showing us basking in a warm pool in the high Sierra, the snows arrived, just in time for Christmas.

Then early last week we attended a training session for docents at the state park two miles downhill from where we live. Chief Interpreter Wendy Harrison took the photo of our happy group along the trail through the grove of Sequoia trees.

The snow was perfect, the chief interpreter broke the trail, and the rest of us followed along on skis or snowshoes. The training was only moderately strenuous, and we saw lots of tracks: coyote, rabbit, squirrel, mice, birds, and maybe even a fox. The deer have moved downhill to avoid the snow, and the bears are sleeping.

We ended up in the warming hut having lunch together around the fire while the ranger gave a talk on survival skills for winter. This year, for the first time, the park will offer guided tours in the snow and Pat and I will be taking people through the park trails. Pretty good duty.

All in all, a lovely day.

I don't want anyone to think snow is always fun, fine or easy. Since that first good snow we have had snow, sleet, rain, and more snow. Now it is a bit crusty and hard to drive on. My shoulders are sore, and I could do without the needed shovel skills. But my new garage-sale snow blower works well.

And when the grandchildren came to visit this weekend, it was a really good time for sledding and snowball fights. More on that later.

Meanwhile, have a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Sanders & Pat

Just before the snow

Camp Connell, CA -- Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 -- We returned tonight from a quick trip across the Sierra Nevada mountains to take a look at the high country mountains before the first big series of winter storms brings snow.
We started east across California's Highway 4, aka Ebbetts Pass Highway, on Thursday on a bright and sunny morning, cold and clear and beautiful. Fall color is gone, and the trees at high elevation are bare, sparkling, and ready for winter. The brush is ripe with buds and the stems are a red color, indicating they are dormant and just waiting for the Spring to come.
The streams and lakes we passed along the route are all partially frozen, particularly in the shady spots. The route we followed is also known as the old Immigrant Trail, or the Big Trees-to-Carson Pass route once followed by beaver trappers, families moving West, and gold miners in search of fortunes.
Our route took us through Markleeville, seat of California's least populated county, and by a wonderful state park. Grover Hot Springs Park has just what the name implies, steaming hot springs where you can soak at any time of year for a mere $5 fee to the state.
As soon as we had a quick lunch (the cook was sick at the hotel, but they served great soups left over from the night before) we took the plunge.


The springs are at 5,600 feet, and hoar frost was snuggled into the weeds alongside the trail, and small patches of snow in the trees on the north-facing slopes, but the air was comfortable and the springs terrific.
We drove on into Nevada to visit the home of one of our favorite historical characters, Snowshoe Thompson, a mailman who carried mail and packages across these mountains between 1950s and 1870s, on skis in winter.
He is considered the father of skiing, and local resorts pay him homage. It took him three days to ski across a route that took us about four hours of tough mountain driving. Mostly we admire his skill and strength. You can find out more about him at this website:

http://snowshoethompson.org/story_of_Snowshoe_Thompson.html

Then we went on to Carson City, the capitol of Nevada, with a quick drive through Virginia City, the heart of the Comstock Lode silver strike in the late 1800s.
Here's a look.
Of the two, Virginia City is more interesting, though little was open and we opted to spend the night at a casino hotel in Carson City. The Gold Dust West Casino, Hotel, Bowling Alley and RV Park, looked good but the food was bad and the casino pretty sad. (I was too, as I dropped $40 in the Wheel of Fortune Slot machines.)

Friday we drove west toward home by way of Carson Pass, a beautiful two-lane route that goes near Lake Tahoe (though you can't see it from Carson Pass). It is named for Kit Carson, who came this way 150 years ago.
We went by Kirkwood Ski Resort, and then through the gold rush towns of Jackson, San Andreas and Angels Camp before arriving home just at dark.
The rain started about 9 p.m., turned to sleet by 10.

P.S. We woke up to a light covering of snow this morning.
Much more is expected Sunday.

Gas prices, Spring, eBay, and good friends...

The news is good here this week in Camp Connell, as it always is, though the economic indicators are somewhat less certain. Here are some items to consider:

-- Gas prices hit $4.05 9/10 this past week at the local general store because the tanker arrived.

It appears that the big oil companies, Chevron in this case, set the price at the pump based on some mysterious formula and tell the local sales folks what to charge. Folks at the store this evening tell me they've seen prices as high at $4.29 in the San Francisco area, and the ski resort up the mountain charges more than our local store.
The price of gas doesn't seem like much of a big deal until you consider a long road trip. It was cheaper for Pat and me to fly to and from Mexico, even adding in the cost of an airport motel, than to drive. Next year we are hoping to go to Alaska, but driving seems a unlikely option.


--Weather report: the snow is melting in our front yard.

-- Today (Friday) was my last ski day of this season. The resort up the hill will be open two more days but we will be busy and it really isn't worth it as conditions are not great. The window for decent skiing is so small now, as the sun turns the icy snow into slush by noon, I'm starting to think about hiking at a lower altitude.
One act of faith: I purchased a season ski pass for next year.


-- Spring is officially here at Camp Connell. We have Crocus blooming, dozens of other bulbs fighting their way up into the sunshine -- some coming through patches of snow.
The other sure sign of Spring is that the work has resumed on the garage we were having built for last winter, but didn't quite make it. The site has been cleared of snow and tree debris, and the inspector came by yesterday and gave the go-ahead for pouring concrete on Monday to finish the slab. Then, if rafters and lumber can be found, the walls should start to go up.


Next week I have to arrange to have the snow tires removed from the Subaru. These are REAL snow tires, not your wimpy East Coast type that can stay on the car all summer.

And baseball season is underway for my 11-year-old granddaughter Delaney.

(UPDATE: The forecast calls for some rain mixed with snow in the middle of the week. No matter. It is still Spring.)



-- We have rented our former home in Sacramento after trying unsuccessfully to sell it for four months. As part of the cleaning out, I have vowed to sell off a bunch of small stuff on eBay. Made my first sale this week: a pair of commemorative drinking glasses with Apollo 13 designs. Sold for $1.29 (shipping was over $8, but the buyer in Iowa paid for that). The buyer sent me an email that said, "Say, are you the same LaMont that used to work for the TODAY newspaper in Florida?" Turns out he read the newspaper as a youth, and has been a space buff ever since.

-- Pat and I are back in school now, training the be docents at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. The park is only two miles away, and has over a thousand Sequoia trees, giant redwoods, big trees or -- if you are British -- wellingtonian.. Technically,they are Sequoiadendron Giganteum, and that's the sort of thing we are learning along with how to deal with drunken and rowdy campers (call the ranger). Should be fun this summer.

-- Coincidence, or not? I had a telephone call from Stan Rodimon this past week. Stan was a classmate at Marion Military Institute from 1957-1960, the school I wrote about recently, and then at the University of Alabama where we both graduated before going off into the Army and losing track of each other. He and his wife Linda were struggling married students when we last got together 46 years ago. They were good friends and interesting people. They promise to come see us this summer so we can do a bit of catching up. What a treat!

Adios snow, hola Mexico

Camp Connell, Ca.-- I know that some of my friends and family will be suspicious that we are leaving for the warm beaches in Mexico because still another massive storm packing three feet of new snow (on top of the five still on the roof) and winds expected to top 60 mph on the mountain ridges is due to hit tonight and tomorrow.

Au contraire, my friends. We simply committed to visit our friends Michael and Sylvia (aka the Captain and the the Admiral) at their new home on Tenacatita Bay months ago. It's all in the name of friendship. Cold beer, warm sandy beaches and casual clothing requirements have nothing to do with it. It's a matter of cementing long-standing friendships.

It has nothing to do with the fact a lean and hungry-looking coyote wandered through our yard, cutting across the horseshoe pit, looking for a rabbit snack yesterday.

It also has nothing to do with the fact that when I went skiing Thursday the wind and snow basically blew me off the mountain. I had decided to call it a day early after hanging an edge and tumbling dramatically down the slope on the backside of Mount Reba ("Are you okay mister?" asked the smart-ass kid on the snowboard). My ankle, wrist and knee (all broken or torn in earlier decades) were slightly tweaked. After I spit the snow out of my mouth I decided to head home a bit early. All my basic parts seem intact. But I need some beach time.

My ski timing was almost good. The resort shut down the ski lift I was waiting for -- get back on the horse for one last run -- because the wind was too high to operate safely.

Pride intact, I headed down the hill to hearth and home. Hot tea with a tad of bourbon, and Girl Scout cookies (Shortbreads), make a perfect apre' ski treat.

So, for the next few weeks there will be no more shoveling snow off the roof. If it collapses, so be it, I won't be here to witness the event.

I fully expect Spring to be in full blast when I get back. Well, at least I am hopeful some snow will be melting and running into the seasonal creek instead of into my basement.

Then maybe we can get back to work on the garage we thought we would have built before the snow came.
I've already planted seeds for Sequouia trees that should live several centuries longer than me. And my daughter and family are currently staking out their garden plots at a lower elevation, where they promise we can grow a tomato or two.

But first, a Cuba Libre at Palapa Joe's in La Manzanilla with my buddy Michael, and perhaps a little sailing on the Bay.

See ya.

California living- shovel, ski, sail

Camp Connell, CA - Well, it IS winter after all, and the fact that it continues snowing more than two weeks after the last blog was posted should only be a mild surprise.

Here's a picture from today, after I spent three hours shoveling and the plow came twice. I know it is blurred, but it was snowing and my hands were shaking from all that shoveling:



We do have snowshoes, and use them once in a while to get to the general store at the end of the lane and across the highway. But today was just boots and coats, because we stayed out of the deep stuff, like that on the roof.

We cancelled a trip down the mountain to the big city (Angels Camp) where they have a real car wash, and a Starbucks, due to bad road conditions. Yes, we have all-wheel drive, but we aren't stupid about it.

But all is not snow and ice and huddling by the fire. There is a beautiful ski resort just up the road. With my season pass I can go, ski for short while, and head home early for the hot chocolate, and still get my money's worth. We did that earlier in the week.

This is at Bear Valley Ski resort. Check it out at www.bearvalley.com
Lines are rare, non-existent at midweek, and lots of groomed intermediate runs appeal to me and the other geezers.


Pat contributes as a lodge bunny (can I say that?) and brings along a good book and food, while I go off down the mountain.


And then of course, this being California, last week we went down to San Francisco Bay and went sailing.





You may notice were were bundled up a bit, but we were sailing, and there was no snow!

Forecast: For tomorrow there is a 70% chance of snow, and the high temperature is expected to be in the mid-to-high 20s.

Snow, snow, beautiful snow

Camp Connell, CA -- While it wasn't the storm of the century, it was a beautiful BIG dump of snow.
We had about four feet within three days, most of it yesterday (Saturday) after days of off-and-on snow and rain.

Here's what our closest paved road -- it leads to our dirt lane --look like after a big snow while the power company crews work to restore power:

Here's what Pat looks like when she is wearing snow shoes for the first time--she only fell down a couple of times -- and that's a pretty good view of the house behind her:

Here's what Sanders looks like when digging out the Subaru, or at least thinking about it:

And here's what our summer toy -- the canoe -- looks like, with our stalled garage construction project (foundation only) not quite obvious to the left, marked by the rope:


We holed up in the cabin for a couple of days, and there were minor inconveniences: the power was off 16 hours, and we got a chance to test our little camp/boat stove, and all our flashlights; the snowplow showed up about 5:30 a.m., which was a rude but welcomed awakening, and it took me several hours of shoveling to clean up walkways, decks and the edges of the driveway.

But all in all, a pretty interesting couple of days.

Tomorrow, I go skiing for the first time this year.

Then, weather permitting, we'll go sailing later this week. THAT's why people live in California.

Storm of the century -- not quite!

Camp Connell, CA -- The weatherman had been warning us all week, and the regional television stations were bordering on hysteria. A REALLY big series of storms was heading our way from the Gulf of Alaska.

As of this writing, the third storm in the series is passing over us, and we are okay. Just fine, in fact.


Friends (from Virginia, Mexico, Maryland and California) had contacted us, concerned for our safety.

Rest assured, dear friends, we are surviving quite well. We have cut back on our driving activity, as the roads have been pretty messy, but we have lots of wood stacked, extra food stored, and our trusty all-wheel-drive Subaru full of gas and supplied with a winter emergency kit in the back (sleeping bag, flares, chains, wool hats and granola bars). And I watched two John Wayne movies (Rio Bravo and The Searchers), to toughen me up.

We were SO prepared.

And now, in the almost aftermath of the big storms, Pat is baking cookies, I am eating cookies and messing with the computer and making sure the birds have extra seed scattered on the snow. All is well. We may take a walk later.



The major concession we made to the storms so far was to sleep downstairs last night, in what is normally our guest room. With high winds predicted during the night, and living in a house surrounded by 150-foot-tall trees, we decided that would be a good idea. A few years ago one of these big trees fell through a nearby cabin and neatly sliced it in half. We can't control that, but we can be cautious in high winds.

It was very interesting yesterday to stand by the sliding glass doors and watch the tree tops sway wildly back and forth while the snow swirled around.

So far the blizzard did not turn out to be a blizzard. The first two storms brought gusty winds, but not extreme, and about a foot of new snow. The mountain passes above us got more -- three or four feet -- but nowhere near the ten feet predicted. So far.

It is currently snowing hard again, naturally, just after the snowplow came through to clean out the lane. And right after I shoveled a walkway. We expect another foot or two by morning.

So we may have to skip church if the roads are bad, but by Monday I think I need to drive UP the mountain to the ski resort and see if my aging knees have one more season in them.

It beats shoveling snow.

And then I can respond appropriately to my friends in Mexico who keep sending me pictures of them strolling on the beach, and at an open-air tango party in LaManzanilla.

Meanwhile, here I am testing our camp stove -- just in case.


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For a picture of what is happening weather-wise in our neighborhood, check this link:

http://www.bigtreestech.com/weather/live.php