I know why Jack London turned to drink...

…..snow removal.

 

So, last winter season (call it Oct 1 to May 1 2007-08) we received a total of 134 inches of snowfall.  That was slightly above average, a fairly heavy year for snow. 

 This year, as of Feb 26, we have recorded 148 inches.  With 2 months still to go. 

 Absolutely brutal. 

 It rarely arrives in a nice 2 or 3 inch fall.

 Our first snowfall was Oct 9 – it began snowing around noon, and by the next morning we had 35 inches on the ground.  That’s abnormal, even for here, and not how I wanted to wake up three weeks before Halloween.

 8 inches, 27 inches, 18 inches, 11 inches, 31 inches.  That’s how it arrives.

 So what do you do with 12 feet of snow?   Put it wherever you can.  The majority of the yard we pack down with snowmobiles; but the only answer for main pathways, roofs, etc is a shovel.  I believe I know how John Henry felt at the end of his day. 

 Using a conservative estimate of a cubic foot of snow weighing appx 4 lbs, over one 3 day period I moved about 4,600 lbs of snow.  Two days later we got another 13 inches.  Good times.  

Pass the bottle, Mr. London, and throw another log on the fire.  Winter ain't over yet.

 

Enough babbling.  What does 148 inches of snowfall look like, you ask?

 

DK and the dog sprucing up the front yard

the woodpile in sunnier days

the woodpile two weeks ago (I'm standing on top of it)

hey DK, whaddya do when there's three feet of snow on the roof of the chicken coop and it's ready to collapse?

hey DK, whaddya do when you need to get to the logs you've milled for cabin construction?

hey DK, whaddya do when 47 inches of compacted snow has built up on the new cabin's roof?

hey DK, is there any justification for dealing with winter in the AK?