This winter has been amazing. We had one big stormin December, but it got warm over the holidays and much of it melted. They were actually talking about a "snow drought" back in December. Well that did the trick. We have had snow fairly constantly since the first of the year. A couple of big storms, one 22" or so, another 14", but it's the constant 2-3" that is really causing the build up.
The road continued to narrow. Finally last weekend I tried opening it up by shoveling the sides, but that's a tough job. Mike Shanty then came by with his snow blower and did the job. So the road is in good shape now.
The problem we have is where to put the snow from the driveway. The banks are too high to plow it on top of them so either I have to shovel it over the banks or the driveway just shrinks. Trying to shovel, but it's making me old before my time.
So it's quite a winter. Could still have a month of snow left. They are talking about 6 more inches between tonight and tomorrow. THe big problem with this is it supposed to warm up starting tomorrow so it could be heavy snow. We're even supposed to get some rain this week.
I guess that means winter is beginning to wind down. The Spring is going to be a mess.
The first picture is the Christmas tree.

Winter Approaches?

My last post was back in March but most of you reading this have been here at some point over the summer so no sense rehasing that. Now that we are in to the middle of October I thought I would start making entries once again.

The last 36 hours have been incredible. It has rained steadily, sometime incredibly hard, but the wind has been the amazing element. I can't measure the speed, but for the last 36 hours the trees have been bending over and the lake looks like an ocean with white caps everywhere. It has been amazing to watch. Temperature yesterday started at about 45 and dropped to 36. We had snow flurries but no build up. Lake Placid apparently had 3+ inches on the ground. It's still pouring and blowing as I write this Saturday AM, nothing else to do.

There were still boats on the lake as of Thursday. But fewer and fewer lights as I look out. Corey Island family still hangs on.

I'll post again when something intersting happens unless I slide into the lake between now and then.

Not sure what happened on the last post, but here are the pictures I intended to include.

Well you may think Spring has sprung where you are, and it very well may have. But we have already had not only Spring but also Summer and Fall. Winter is in full swing
and we'll soon be playing hockey on the lake. There may be a chance I am over reacting as it is supposed to be 75 on Saturday. Yeah right! We shall see. For now, it is winter as far as I'm concerned.

Yours in white.

Well it's April 5th and I was in NJ for the weekend, so I'm not able to give an exact date when the ice went out, but it is gone and so is 99% of the snow. It must have been extremely warm over the weekend. I was reminded that last year the ice went out sometime around April 17th. Almost 3 weeks earlier this year.

Though the snow and ice are gone, other than the birds, there is really no sign of spring. No buds on the trees, no evidence of flowers that I've seen. Probably another week away at least. But Spring will get here and soon thereafter Summer. Lot of work to be done between now and then.

I wanted to take a picture of the ice free lake, but the batteries in the camera are spent. I'll send one along later in the week.

Well I know it has been some time since I've added to this blog, but there just hasn't been a lot going on. In a nutshell:

Seemed like a very mild winter. Couple of days/nights it got down to 15-18 below but only on 2 or 3 occassions. Fair amount of snow through the middle of Feb., but then it began to warm up. After President's weekend there wasn't a day below zero and most of the time it was in the 20's and 30's. March was very mild. No snow at all. The ice is beginning to back away from the shore and there are even some open spots a ways from shore. Supposed to get to almost 80 this weekend and that could do in the rest of the ice.

Because of the warm weather the road is not driveable. I've been walking down to the house from the parking area for two weeks. A couple of days of dry weather and the road should be better.

That's about it, told you not much has been going on. In some way I'm sorry to see winter go. It is wonderful time of year and it's great having the lake frozen. But now that the weather has warmed and things are about as ugly as they can get, the sooner true spring gets here the better.

I'll post again when some noteworhty happens.

All the best!

There is truly something magical about the sky on a cold winter night. 2 below without a cloud in the sky. No humidity. Nothing to stand in the way of you and the stars. Makes one wonder what is behind it all.

High 10 today. Not a cloud to be seen. The snow glistened like diamonds. A few snow mobilers on the lake, a few cross country skiers, a few ice fisherman. But not a lot. One of those days you feel lucky to be here.

Well, into my second winter and today I saw a new low temperature. At 6:30 this morning it was -18. Now at 9:00 it is -16. I've neveer been in weather that cold. Walked with the dogs for a bit and all I can say is you better be dressed properly or it is painful.

Lake is frozen and covered in snow. Beautiful. This is what a winter should be like!

This is my first post of the winter season as to this point in time there really hasn't been any reason. The weather has been very mild and there has been no snow to speak of. However that has certainly changed in the last 24 hours. Since this morning we have been experiencing the remnants of the fabled midwestern storm. We have received I would say at least 8 inches of snow and it could be closer to a foot. No idea how I am going to get out of here, but where there's a will...

The temperature was in the low 30's last night, I got my truck hung up on a rock in the driveway, thank goodness for AAA,because it was so slippery. It is now about 15 and predicted to go to 11 or so. But they also said 1-3 inches. So much for the weather channel. Bottom line is winter has finally arrived. It is beautiful and if I can get myself plowed out and have time left over I'll take a few pictures and post them tomorrow.

As far as the lake goes, no ice yet. With the predicted temperatures this weekend I anticipate ice will begin to form, again I'll take some pictures if it does.

I hope the millions of you reading this are well.

This is a week late but the ice is gone and so is the snow. Hints of Spring are in the air. They say it could be 75 this weekend.
The road needs some work. A load or two of crusher run should get back to where it needs to be.
A few lights come to life each night on the lake. More each week. Life is returning.
See everyone soon I hope.

April 5, 2009

It is now April 5, and though there are signs of spring around; birds chirping, temps rising, we got 2 inches of snow last night. The ice is still on the lake but large open spots are beginning to appear so it shouldn't be long before it's gone.
The road is a pretty big mess. Some large holes have appeared, some of which I've been able to fill in, but not able to drive to the house in fear of the road giving way. Should be ready in a week or so to drive on, but some maintenance will be needed this summer I would think.
All in all it's the ugly season. Not much to write about.
I'll let everyone know when the ice goes out completely.

Yes I know it has been some time since I've posted any news, but there is a good reason. There really hasn't been any. February was a fairly tame month weather wise. Not much snow, some rain, a few cold days but not a lot to speak about. One day just melds into another.

But now March is here, and though you know there is still some winter weather ahead, you can't help but feel spring can't be far away. That's not because the weather tells you that, after all it is 6 degrees right now headed for 5-10 below tonight, and snowing like crazy, but it's March. March is followed by April and you know the rest. So even if we get a big storm, the snow can't last too long.

The funny thing is, I was thinking this on the way home tonight, it doesn't seem like winter has really been all that difficult. There certainly was some shock in the very begining, and maybe I have a short memory (many would say no maybe about that) but here we are in March, there was never a problem with the road, I never got stuck or had any type of problem with the house, pause (I had to knock on wood), that couldn't be easily fixed. Now I'm looking at another month of iffy weather and then April and mud. Not tremendously exciting, and there could honestly be more problems with the thaw than with the cold winter, but I was here last April and with one exception didn't find it to be intolerable. So I'm looking forward to the change in not too many days.

There was a big party this past Saturday night out at Corey Island. Big bon fire, snow machines, ATVs, dogs, sleds. Looked like everyone was having a good time truly enjoying the winter.

That is about it. Hopefully my optimistic outlook won't get me into trouble and you'll hear form me again shortly.

Well the winter continues to amaze. It hasn't snowed for the last 5 days. It got a bit warmer over the past weekend, almost 30. However, last night, Feb. 3, it was -10 and they are talking about -10 to -20 tonight. But again, no snow.

My perspective about the winter is interesting, at least to me. Here we are in the beginning of February and I feel like we are approaching the end of winter. Everyone says March can bring a lot of snow, but my feeling is in March how long can the snow last. That last comment reminds me of the Civil War General who said, " they'll never hit us from...." We are 3 weeks from March when if it snows it will be a short term inconvenience. By then it has to begin to warm up every once in awhile to melt some snow. May make getting out of the driveway a bit tough, but heh just one more challenge.

The pictures hopefully give you a feel for how much snow we've had. And much of it has settled. Beautiful on days like this, Jan. 31.

It appears as though the cold snap has broken. Today it is a balmy 19 degrees. Almost feels like summer.

Took a walk on the lake. Very strange. In places there is about 2" of ice then about 4" of water and then a layer of ice too thick to measure. But it made walking even in the snow shoes a bit difficult. Dogs has a hard time as well. The two pictures attached are from about 200 yards out on the lake.

No snow to speak of in 4 days. Looks like we're back to "normal" winter.

The one responsibility about having a blog was brought to my attention by my son Willie, and he said: "Dad if you are going to have a blog you have to make an entry every once in a while". So taking his advice I will try and be more consistent in posting to this blog, but no promises.

The last week has been most interesting. Over the weekend, Jan. 3 and 4, I was in NJ but we got 8-10" of new snow up here. Had to plow on the way down to the house, but it was fairly cold so even this much snow wasn't much of a problem. It snowed another 3-5 inches over the next few days. The problem is beginning to be where to put the snow. The mounds are becoming intimidating.

The most interesting thing has been the temperature. As everyone knows the cold has been coming from the West. On Tuesday night at 10:00 it was 26, by Wed. morning at 6:00 it was -7. It never got above 0 on Wed. Thursday morning, again about 6:00, it was -12. When I got home form work at 4:30 it was-4. It is now 10:44on Thursday night and -12. I haven't ever been in
-12 degree weather before and it is truly amazing. They talk about Adirondack "fireworks" at this temp. Boil some water and throw it in the air. It just kind of tails off into the air and never hits the ground. The evaporation, as with your breath, just hangs in the air. Apparently as it gets even colder the water begins to pop and freeze almost imediately once thrown into the air. I'll wait to see that, maybe later, it's supposed to be -21 tonight.

I don't know if it can snow when it is this cold. I guess that's the good news. It is beautiful up here in the winter, as I've said before, and with this cold things are beyond crisp and clean. the crunch of the snow even sounds clean. Tough on the dogs though. Our older dog, Tupper, doesn't handle it well. Lying by the wood stove is her idea of winter. Lincoln on the other hand is undeterred. If there is a stick to be chased; rain, sleet, snow or -12 makes no difference, it's heaven regardless.

Well I guess you can take this posting too far, so I will call it quits for now. I'll take a walk on the lake in the next day or so, take some pictures and include them with the next posting. As I've heard everyone up here say over the last day or so when saying goodbye; "stay warm".

I know it has been some time since I last made an entry to the blog. I apologize to my millions of readers.
Trying to catch everyone up over the last two weeks: the weather over the holidays was a true mish mash. We had warm weather and some mixed precipitation just before Christmas, then on Christmas it was cold and beautiful. Some "warm" weather followed Christmas and turned the access to all our houses to some fairly treacherous ice/snow. The new year dawned cold and beautiful. Didn't get much above 10, with that gorgeous deep blue Adirondack sky. Then of course it clouded up and began snowing. Not much accumulation however. As a matter of fact it was relatively snow free until about three days ago.
On Tuesday the temps got close to 30 and it began to snow. So it was a mix of snow and rain, call it snain instead of sleet. There was about 6 inches of whatever you call it, then Wednesday night it got colder, while continuing to snow. So at least the next 6 or so inches was light and fluffy. So here it is Thursday night, still snowing, 10 degrees and it is supposed to be a very cold weekend.
Both accesses to our houses are clear and well taken care of. The only problem I forsee is where is all the January and February snow going to be plowed. The mounds are growing, thus the roads/driveways are shrinking. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next 2 /3 months.
Pictures will follow early next week.

December 20, 2008

First real snow fall of the year yesterday. The call was for 2-4 inches, we got at least a foot. But the temperature never got much above 15 so it was amazingly light and fluffy. Easy to plow and shovel. Today it reached 10 and was one of those georgeous cold, crisp, days. Nice to be out in. More snow called for tomorrow, between 3 and 10 inches. Giving themselves a fair margin of error. Still staying cold, reaching the high teens then back into the single digits tomorrow night. First official day of winter, I guess it's only fair.
The road is in good shape. Lots of snow, but good traction so there shouldn't be any problem getting in and out. Supposed to stay cold right through Christmas. Both roads in are clear and very passable.
Happy Holidays and safe travels to all!

The attached picture will give you a better idea of where the ice line was around 2:30. Since then the wind has picked up out of the north, the temperature has dropped 16 degrees, now 12, and it has been snowing steadily. The ice line is probably now only 50 yards off the shore. Amazing change. Supposed to go to minus 3 tonight and a high of 13 tomorrow, but 44 on Wednesday. Go figure.

It's been over a week since I last posted anything to the site. This last week was a "warm" one, in the 30's may have touched 40. Normal temps returned again Friday with high in the 20's. It was 12 this morning at 7:00. Despite the warmer weather last week somehow the snow kept coming. No major accumlations yet, just little bits at a time. There is probably 6 or 7 inches on the ground here at the lake. Amazingly enough, in the village the ground is barely covered. The big change is the lakes are beginning to freeze. The portion of the lake we look at is frozen half way to Corey Island. What is amazing is the family is on Corey Island. Looks like they got there Thursday night. Must have used an ice breaker.

The road down to our camps is in pretty good shape. Between my plowing and the Bettman's plower, Rick I think, it's fairly clear and easily manuevered. The original ROW is not plowed and the confrontation is coming as I left a letter indicating my intention to keep it open in Mr. Day's mailbox this morning. We shall see.

Two pictures are attached showing the progress of the ice. Hopefully the line is visible.

More later as things develop.

November 23, 2008

Yes Virginia, there is a sun up in the sky over Upper Saranac Lake! But it is only 8 degrees. Beautiful!