Spring is finally here. Well.... sort of.
We still have about a foot of snow on the ground here in the valley. The river's up and it's trying to melt but honestly, as much as we'd love to see the snow go, we're too afraid to wish for it to happen fast. The river can only hold so much.
It was the craziest winter I've ever seen. I've lived here for less than a decade, granted, but I even heard the old timers say it was the worst they've seen. It just wouldn't stop snowing. And when it did, it was ever bit of 30 below. I lost my sled dog yard in early December. I couldn't keep the dog houses above the snow! I just couldn't keep up. So the dogs went on the truck indefinitely and they stayed there until April. Seven times a day, every day, I went out to let the dogs out. And that's just bathroom breaks. We also had to train and feed in between all the snowing and frigid temps. It was wild. I'm pretty sure before Christmas we lost the ability to see out our windows in the house. We even lost one window in our bedroom. The roof slid and a big ice chunk came right through . We had to board it up from the inside because we couldn't get to it from the outside. Sam pretty much spent the whole winter either in the plow truck or on the roof shoveling. Then in February came the Chinook, complete with rain and wind and warm temps and all that snow started slipping and sliding and getting heavy. Avalanche after avalanche. At one point there wasn't one road open to get into or out of Jackson Hole. We lost power. During one storm Teton Village actually closed down because the crazy winds toppled a shit pile of power poles. Many were without power for weeks. It was a zoo. Then the snow got really crappy with more rain and warmth. So I hit a lick for Canada to get out of here with my dogs for a while and go find a winter that wasn't so damn off it's rocker.
I came home the first week of April and thought maybe, just maybe, it would be spring. WRONG. At the beginning of this month there was still a good two to two and half foot of snow on the ground. Add mud and a river teetering on it's edge, ready to swipe through your house at any moment and, yeah, I guess you could say it's Spring now. HA!
This is not the first time in the last few months that I've had to ask myself, "Wait. Why do you live here?"
But it's coming, even though not as quickly and cleanly as we'd all hope. Spring is coming. The birds are coming home. Yesterday I heard the sandhill cranes calling out back and the herons have been fishing in the muddy shallows of the overflowing river. And the Canadian Geese are here in large numbers, trying to find a dry patch of ground to nest on. And there's a patch of dirt in my flowerbeds showing that I may or may not have had my hands in today.... just for the pure pleasure of the smell of the stuff. I even caught a robin pulling worms this morning on my way out the door. Yeah. Spring's coming all right. Won't be long till the antelope and the deer start coming home and the elk leave the feed grounds and head for the hills. I can't wait to have my pony back and get out in the country. Should be one hell of a spring for mushroom hunting! And the wildflowers ought to be pretty spectacular this year also.
I didn't have much time to blog this winter. Obviously I had a lot on my plate with the winter and the dogs and all that. But I'm excited for a summer of new adventures. I've got a colt to break and rides to take and we've been through the ringer in the last year and I've got a feeling that something good is about to happen. (You gotta manifest that shit, you know?) Hope i can keep you all entertained with a few stories here and there. I'll let you know if anything exciting happens.
Anyway, in with the spring and out with the snow!!!! Yee Haw!
We still have about a foot of snow on the ground here in the valley. The river's up and it's trying to melt but honestly, as much as we'd love to see the snow go, we're too afraid to wish for it to happen fast. The river can only hold so much.
It was the craziest winter I've ever seen. I've lived here for less than a decade, granted, but I even heard the old timers say it was the worst they've seen. It just wouldn't stop snowing. And when it did, it was ever bit of 30 below. I lost my sled dog yard in early December. I couldn't keep the dog houses above the snow! I just couldn't keep up. So the dogs went on the truck indefinitely and they stayed there until April. Seven times a day, every day, I went out to let the dogs out. And that's just bathroom breaks. We also had to train and feed in between all the snowing and frigid temps. It was wild. I'm pretty sure before Christmas we lost the ability to see out our windows in the house. We even lost one window in our bedroom. The roof slid and a big ice chunk came right through . We had to board it up from the inside because we couldn't get to it from the outside. Sam pretty much spent the whole winter either in the plow truck or on the roof shoveling. Then in February came the Chinook, complete with rain and wind and warm temps and all that snow started slipping and sliding and getting heavy. Avalanche after avalanche. At one point there wasn't one road open to get into or out of Jackson Hole. We lost power. During one storm Teton Village actually closed down because the crazy winds toppled a shit pile of power poles. Many were without power for weeks. It was a zoo. Then the snow got really crappy with more rain and warmth. So I hit a lick for Canada to get out of here with my dogs for a while and go find a winter that wasn't so damn off it's rocker.
I came home the first week of April and thought maybe, just maybe, it would be spring. WRONG. At the beginning of this month there was still a good two to two and half foot of snow on the ground. Add mud and a river teetering on it's edge, ready to swipe through your house at any moment and, yeah, I guess you could say it's Spring now. HA!
This is not the first time in the last few months that I've had to ask myself, "Wait. Why do you live here?"
But it's coming, even though not as quickly and cleanly as we'd all hope. Spring is coming. The birds are coming home. Yesterday I heard the sandhill cranes calling out back and the herons have been fishing in the muddy shallows of the overflowing river. And the Canadian Geese are here in large numbers, trying to find a dry patch of ground to nest on. And there's a patch of dirt in my flowerbeds showing that I may or may not have had my hands in today.... just for the pure pleasure of the smell of the stuff. I even caught a robin pulling worms this morning on my way out the door. Yeah. Spring's coming all right. Won't be long till the antelope and the deer start coming home and the elk leave the feed grounds and head for the hills. I can't wait to have my pony back and get out in the country. Should be one hell of a spring for mushroom hunting! And the wildflowers ought to be pretty spectacular this year also.
I didn't have much time to blog this winter. Obviously I had a lot on my plate with the winter and the dogs and all that. But I'm excited for a summer of new adventures. I've got a colt to break and rides to take and we've been through the ringer in the last year and I've got a feeling that something good is about to happen. (You gotta manifest that shit, you know?) Hope i can keep you all entertained with a few stories here and there. I'll let you know if anything exciting happens.
Anyway, in with the spring and out with the snow!!!! Yee Haw!
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