4 Ft of snow and many, many flowers

Driving through Los Banos we passed fields and fields of white and purple blossoms. We could see the beautiful snow capped sierras in the distance. The pastures next to Table Rock Casino were covered by blankets of pink, white and yellow flowers.  We left the car on the road and hiked in through 4 ft of very packed snow. We didn't need snowshoes.

May looking like November

Lou and Ann and Willy arrived in 37 degree fog with a dusting of snow under the trees from the day before.  We did a check all around and this is the report:

Lower Dinkey is about the level it usually is early July.

Glen Meadow is about like August.

The bridge looks like late July

We saw 2 BIG fish at the bridge (10" or more), bigger than I've seen there before. 

The store is open weekends and has better clothes and other things than Dennis had. I got the good shirt and PJs

The woman there said they had 8" of snow 3 weeks ago when they opened and have been able to get in all winter. The only saving grace being they got a lot of work done.

There are several pickups around the Forest Service cabins at the mill so it is occupied.

There are a disturbing number of dead or dying trees around (almost all fir). Lots of dead tops, some with spotty dead branches.

There is very little new sawdust in the log cabin.

I unplugged the heat tape in the pump house. It is cold but I don't think it will freeze enough to be a problem.

The light in the pump house is burned out again

The light under the cabin is burned out.

We have eliminated several large moths in the cabin but no other bad signs except the bit of fluffy stuff from the ceiling yesterday that hasn't reappeared (yet?)  We may have to hunt to find the source of the moths.  They aren't the little ones that come in food. They are about the size of small butterflies.

There is not a lot, but some water in the frog pond and no frogs

There is basically no water, just a damp spot at the little place we cross to go to the meadow

The gate is down and the barbed wire cut  so Altho there is wire on the ground, there is now no fence on the meadow at our end

There is no sign of a fence in the middle of the meadow

The meadow is green but barely. It will be dry soon 😒😩😢

AND I replaced the computer with a somewhat faster iMac. It looks the same otherwise. Unfortunately, the internet connection is still slow.  

It was sunny and much warmer when we left Sunday morning.

Snow? Winter?

 Because our webcam showed not much snow we thought we might be able to drive into the cabin. Well, maybe if we had a hummer we would have made it but Mother Nature stopped us right after the turnoff from the Providence Creek Road.  Nothing a few shovels can't handle.

Next trip, think of a more elegant way to adhere insulation to the metal pump house door. Current solution isn't as beautiful as it is functional.

Poaching Ponds and Photos

 Seize the moment and grab a tree when we can. This spot is just before turning into our road and we weren't the first to thin out that thicket of fir trees. Looks like 2 other trees were cut in the last year or so. We thought we might put up a notice directing activity over to the USFS side of the road. The frog pond has some water and snow is still in the meadow all the way upstream. I just love this dramatic old snag surrounded by oaks.

Black Oaks and Golden Leaves

Take this Colorado, we have fall color right outside the cabin window. During the summer the oaks recede into the background but in the fall the south west hillside shows it's stuff.

Unfortunately the other stuff, Raven stuff, persists. Cleaned up the deck and windows and put down more boards but the roost needs to be blocked off. 

Visitors around the Cabin

Some large bird is again perching on the rafters over the porch on the south side.  Among the white splats are pellets from some big bird. Note the little bones sticking out.  I was hoping they would be owl but after some research, it appears ravens also produce pellets. Mr or Ms Raven is a more likely visitor since we've seen them around the cabin before.

In addition to the birds, Smokey the Bear or a relative left a calling card on the trail to the pumphouse not far from the propane tanks.  Willy guarded it for us while I took these photos.  No other signs.  Probably just passing through.

Ready for Winter

The log cabin is drained with antifreeze in the drain traps, the new door on the pumphouse is insulated, the heat tape is plugged in, the firewood is back on the porch, etc. It was a busy 2 days but all is ready for winter.  Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!