Saturday, April 21, 2012

Squish Squish Squish

It finally stopped snowing and warmed up really quick, now everything is mud and slush... mush!

It warmed up so fast that we may have missed out on that sweet spot when the snow has melted enough so the truck doesn't get stuck but the mud (erm, ground) is still frozen enough so the truck doesn't get stuck. Just means more small trips around the place with the ATV and getting everything muddy and sloggy dragging it in the sled instead of a few larger and relatively mud-free and dry trips in the back of the truck.

But, hey, at least we can't complain that everything outside is buried... now it's just under water. And again experiencing that wonderful Christmas morning feeling when something you've been searching for all winter finally reappears as if by magic :)

It only took a couple warm days for the mosquitoes to be out in full swing, so I'd better get the dunks spread around the place to hopefully keep the worst of them at bay. At least right around the cabin, hopefully, please, I really don't want to be twitchy and anemic another summer LOL.

Fingers crossed that we don't have a rainy spring & summer this year so our poor trail gets a chance to dry out completely for the first time in nearly 2 years. I might be paranoid, but I'm beginning to think the dry summer we had the year we came up to look at the property and the first year we were here was just a rouse. The NOAA was in on the deception, or else failed to mention that the 16" of precip in this area was really monthly and not annual. The cake was a lie I tell ya!

Random realizations and DOH! moments:
  1. If you buy lumber that won't fit in your truck/car and you know you have to cut it when you get home for the project anyway, just bring the cordless circular saw with you and cut it right there in the parking lot. (assuming that the hardware store isn't nice enough to offer this as a free service)
  2. And if you have sheet goods with multiple or complex cuts (which even nice stores get peeved about do for you) you can do the same if you remember your portable table saw and generator.
  3. Following on that theme, if you know the firewood you're picking up is too heavy to load into your lifted truck by yourself, just bring the generator and log splitter with you to the site and have fun tossing cordwood instead... I mean, you have to process it somewhere eventually right?

7 comments:

Unknown said...

Ah yes, ain't breakup wonderful? I have wondered about your topography from the git-go. The top layer of ice melts and sits trapped on the permafrost. Will be most interesting to see how soon it dries up and even more interesting what if anything you can do to get an all weather road into the property.

Plickety Cat said...

The permafrost is discontinuous in this area, so it's patchy; but drainage even when the snow melts and the regular soil is still frozen can be a nightmare. We get fairly decent drainage of melt water in most areas of the property once it warms up enough to thaw the ground AND if it doesn't start/keep raining.

An all weather road for normal vehicles (not 4WD, not lifted, regular skinny road tires) would require, ideally, an underlayment of geo-tech fabric to provide a separation layer between the mud and the road surface. Without the separation layer, any gravel we put down will eventually sink into the mud and need to be smoothed and added to every year. Our truck doesn't need that stable a road as long as travel on it is limited when it's squishy... which is more of a concern now that we have neighbors.

Plickety Cat said...

And, of course, plowing in the winter to clear and compact the snow :)

Anonymous said...

Welcome back... good to see you posting again. Wondering how you all fared for the winter. Hoping still to see some pictures. Waiting waiting. LOL

Every one around here has had a nice melt off. I think in most places in my yard, Im still looking at a foot to a foot and a half and in some still 2 feet worth of snow. What isn't snow is a lake. Hoping with the 60 degree days we are having and all the sunshine that the snow and all will go away fast and we will get back to dirt fairly quickly.

Wash

Anonymous said...

Good to see your post. Will visit soon. I'll bring the 4-wheeler to get back there.

Darrel

sleddog said...

How do I get my profile name to appear rather than "unknown"? Will try some of the other buttons below.

Bushrat John said...

Ah yes, breakup. It is going slow here as I speak. I still have about 3 feet in my yard and other places it has melted, it is still wet because the sun doesn't hit it.