Bucks Lake

Eric Ward made it to our cabin and looked at the internet dish. It is pulled from its mount and is still under four feet of snow. Even under the best of circumstances that will mean an extended period off the air. As we know more, I will put it up here.

As I am still laid up in Reno, many thanks to Kyle Felker for this information. All the roads and parking lots are plowed and dry. Yipee!

The snow is settling at over a foot a day, and has become rideable just about anywhere. However, beware of tree wells, which have become huge and VERY deep. As a result of the settling, the snow has become hard like concrete and will be hard to dig when you have to dig down into your cabin.

We watch the picture every day to see if the dish is finally working (not yet), but that could happen any time with the combination of settling and the dish heater. Of course, there is always the possibility of damage, but we can’t control that now. Kyle will go up and attempt to dig the dish out on Sunday, so one of these days, soon, we will have a picture and the weather station.

We will never know exactly, because so much came down in so little time. But we can document 177″ of snow fall from the 18th through today. That is rather astounding. But here’s the rest….. That makes the total snow fall for the winter right now at 360″. That makes for a total snow fall of 30 feet, with an actual on the ground total reported by several persons at Bucks at 20 feet.

That puts my Wild Blue dish about 8′ under the snow, and the closest anyone can get to the cabin is about 2 miles. And I don’t know when we will be able to dig it out. (I never dreamed I would be saying that.)

So….., patience…..

You may not be watching the date stamp to the left of this post, so this is Thursday night. According to the people at the Lake, last night they got 4 feet. And today, another 3 feet. And tonight, another 3 to 4 feet is expected. Think about it. Usually we expect that much in a major storm that lasts, say seven days. Three days here. The standing snow on the ground now is about 18 feet, and could be over 20 by morning. No extra comment is needed after that…….

Per the bartender at Lakeshore, another 48″ of snow fell last night. This is beginning to get a little beyond belief. I am now almost sure the Wildblue dish, 12 feet off the ground, is now under two to four feet of snow. Wow! I have no idea when or how we will get the picture and weather page back on.

My apology to all of you who regularly check This Site for the picture and the weather page. Like you, I’m wondering if it will ever come back without my on site help. I am stuck in Reno, and the dish must just be buried. It is 12 feet above ground, and by my count the snow depth now should be about 15 feet.

Not very encouraging, but a guy can hope…..

Well, of course it is snowing. I am not at the Lake, but the report from Jay is 3 feet yesterday, and today Jeff Iversen says anywhere from 3 to 5 feet so far, depending on location.

Like the rest of you, I am waiting for the heater to melt the snow off my dish, so we can all have a look.

March, 2011: In like a lion, out like a lion.

We have been so occupied in getting the snow under control, that we have neglected this space. Many of the area trails are groomed now. And the snow is rideable in a lot of places. The Play Day was well attended and fun. It looks like mostly rain for most of next week, so the snow should settle some more.

Both outlets of the dam are wide open, so I assume PG&E is preparing for a rush of spring snow melt. The good thing is that it is all going to Oroville, where it is really needed. Even with the water being let out, it is likely we will have a full lake again this summer.

For you Forest Service cabin owners, the Cabin Fee Act is about to be reintroduced in both Houses of Congress, and that will start a new push for passage. You have been generous in your financial support up to now, and I strongly encourage you to contribute what you can, now, to this final effort. The NFH website includes information on how you can do that.