by Three Bears on February 19, 2012
Most people here can’t remember a winter so out of sync with the season.
Temperatures have yo-yo’d up and down while storm tracks have been non-existent or to the north and south of us. Despite that the skiing has beem exceptional, if not epic. Mountain ops has done an incredible job and nature has helped with the relatively meager snow cycles that have brought us enough fresh to have guests smiling this crazy winter.
We’ve been blessed with snow cover since mid-December and Christmas Day brought an all-day snowfall! We’ve had a consistent 8″ depth here in the valley, and as I write this, February 19th, there is 48″ at the Mt. Mansfield stake and the whole mountain is open. Just 50 miles south the ground is bare and other areas are not faring as well. The warmer temperatures this winter have meant great snow conditions, i.e. less ice and also less layers for warmth. We’ll have to wait and see if any dumps are forthcoming and a sense of weather normalcy returns.
An interesting sight on the Mountain has been a resident moose. It’s been spotted several times and was last seen on Thursday.
by Three Bears on October 29, 2011
With the leaves go the leaf peepers and the last migrating birds, the calm after the greatest show on earth. It’s tick season, the time before snow when the bare tree vistas inspire the name. Time for many to take a break and either close completely or scale back hours for a much needed rest. For us it means a month off, and while I love the this time before, but in anticipation of, the winter and snow, common sense calls for getting out of Dodge. We’ve just come off the busiest five weeks of the year and a six month stretch without a break.
Most years stick season lasts until early December when staying snow usually comes. While it’s often white for Thanksgiving, the snow that falls prior to that comes and goes. I’ll try to get one more mushroom gathering trip, the late fall oyster mushrooms are exceptional, and some hiking. I like to hike best on a damp day when you can sneak through the woods with very little noise and disturbance. It increases your chances of surprising wildlife. Besides possibly flushing a partridge, deer, moose and bear are all active this time of the year. Deer season is still weeks away so hunters are few.
The rest of the time before leaving for Florida will be consumed with moving fireplace wood, getting all outdoor furniture in, the last garden clean-up, setting up the perimeter markers for snow plowing and just chilling.
Temperatures have yo-yo’d up and down while storm tracks have been non-existent or to the north and south of us. Despite that the skiing has beem exceptional, if not epic. Mountain ops has done an incredible job and nature has helped with the relatively meager snow cycles that have brought us enough fresh to have guests smiling this crazy winter.
