What is left of the Wildman's Buffalo Lodge
(pictures and text are unedited)
ARKANSAS
SPRING BOOK INFO PAGE
15
COLOR IMAGES FROM THE NEW BOOK
4
NEW COLOR POSTERS FROM THE NEW BOOK
12/1/00 As I sat in the dancing bubbles of the hot tub, a bright sun rose into a cloudless sky. The wind was still blowing, making music with the leaves in the trees above that guard the cabin. Hum, it is December, and the trees are still filled with LEAVES! That is very strange indeed. Oaks, maples, and even some hickories are still clutching burnt orange and yellow and brown leaves.
I stepped out onto the deck, with steaming drops of hot water sliding down my legs, and the wind cut right into me, but it felt OK. They were predicting a low temp of 20 degrees this morning, but it never got below 37. The temps always seem to be milder out here at Cloudland - cooler in the summer, and warmer in the winter. I guess that goes right along with the overall magic of the place.
Much of today will be spent at the cabin for me - doing laundry and dishes, and generally getting the place ready for visitors. I will be heading out on the road for nearly a week, and have a number of caretakers coming in to watch over everything. The Wildman and Mary will be out this weekend. Which brings up something that I had forgot to write about (I think). The heavy north winds of last week knocked over his tipi, and drug it off of its gravel pad. Tipis do hold up quite well in strong winds, but the rope we used to stake it down had rotted over the summer, and so there was really nothing to hold the tipi down. We will have to come up with some other type of rope than was sent with the tipis when we put them up again. And I will erect Aspen's lodge as well soon - once the holiday book tour and selling rush is finished.
For those of you around the state that might want to see the new ARKANSAS SPRING slide show, here is my schedule for next week: Monday in Hot Springs at the QuawPaw Tech Student Center; Tuesday in El Dorado at Jefferson Street Books; Wednesday in Harrison at the public library; and Thursday in Russellville at Ark. Tech.
What was that I said about MILDER temps? I just took a short hike and was BLASTED by some arctic air coming out of the north - man it was frigid! But when I eased on around to the south-facing slope of the hillside, the wind died down and it was rather warm. Such a big difference in environment in just a few feet of travel. Native Americans, bears, and others have always preferred south-facing slopes in the winter time - it is easy to see why. My cabin is built to take advantage of the southern exposure, and all of those windows soak up a lot of heat. In the summer, the sun is high overhead and not hitting the glass at all (got large overhangs too - as much as eight feet, with a minimum of four feet).
Many of the leaves on the deciduous holly tree have turned brown and dropped off, making the bright-red-berry-covered branches really stand out against the brown landscape. Sorry for so many pictures of this little tree, but it has so much personality, and I am always drawn to it. One of these days a flock of cedar waxwings will be drawn to it as well, and all of those red berries will be gone!
As we were approaching the cabin, I spotted a wounded blue bird scurrying along the ground. Knowing that Aspen would like to sink his choppers into those lovely feathers, I grabbed him and took him inside. Poor little bird. I bet he ran into one of the cabin windows and got stunned. I looked him over pretty good and he did not seem to have any broken bones, so I just left him alone and kept Aspen inside. It is great to see that little splash of blue and orange around again.
The view from the back deck of the cabin is taking on that overall brown winter hue. But the shadows late in the day are most interesting to me. The bluff over on Beagle Point is easy to see now, and before long there will be a bald eagle casting a shadow on it. They like to come up into the valley every now and then to visit, to soar around a little and see what they can find. They don't stay long, but I am always thrilled to see one. There was a large shadow that crossed my path this morning, but I never did get to see what it was. It is good luck you know for an eagle to cast its shadow on you.
Because of my travel schedule this next week this will probably by my last post for a while. I will swing by the cabin a couple of times this next week, but may not have the time to write, nor any wilderness adventures to write about. Check back on December 7th or 8th. And if any of you are in Hot Springs, El Dorado, Harrison, or Russellville, I hope that you will come by one of the slide shows and say hi. Until then, keep a look out for that black coyote!
12/2-8/00 Wow, it has been one very long, intense, but quick week, and I awoke early this morning completely exhausted. Since there really wasn't all that much "wilderness" time to write about this week, I will do a short rundown of the week here - and hopefully will get back to a semi-normal schedule after today. As I was leaving my last program of the week last night, there were shouts of "go home and write in the journal!" so I feel obligated to get a bit of writing done this morning, even before counting any money!
First off, we went to see Santa on Saturday morning. I hadn't been to see Santa in 30 years! It was a lot of fun getting to see my little girl all dressed up in curls and sitting in Santa's lap.
Silver Dollar City is the last place you would expect to find me, but I went there on Saturday night for the Christmas light show, and absolutely LOVED every minute of it! We all piled into Santa's sleigh - Pam's mom's car, with her dad at the wheel, and the inside filled with merry travelers. It was rather frigid out, and we were all bundled up. The place was lit up like you can't believe - everything had lights on it, there was Christmas music all around, and most of the shops were open. The giant Christmas Tree sound and light show was worth the trip alone - really quite amazing. Then we rode the train, and even went on a ride through the old sunken mine (one of the "larger" kids in our group got all excited and racked up more than 15,000 points with the target pistol - hum, I wonder who that could have been?). I highly recommend this Silver Dollar City experience to anyone who enjoys Christmas.
And I highly recommend in-laws too - it appears that I have lucked out and will be getting a dream set of them when Pam and I get married. (Just trying to suck up a bit here, although in this case it happens to be true!)
On Sunday Amber and I went on a hike while Pam got in a little running. We were only out for an hour, but saw a lot of stuff, including a dead deer floating in a river, fox scat, three different kinds of woodpeckers, a barred owl, and all kinds of plants and other animal signs. What a delight it is to be with a young person as she learns all about the wilderness! Amber is one special person, and I look forward so much to teaching and LEARNING with her in the years to come. Getting to see the world from a child's perspective is so much fun. One of these days I hope to have "Amber's Notes" on this journal. Heck, she will probably take over the entire thing and put me up on the shelf!
Monday morning found me on the road long before daylight, passing through Fayetteville to deliver some books, then out to the cabin to load up the truck for the trip down south. Pam joined me there, and we filled the truck to the gills with books, posters and audio-visual gear. Knowing there would be no room for Aspen, I had left him in good hands at my mom's house in town. He was not a happy camper about being left behind.
Our firs stop was Hot Springs. We checked into a very nice old hotel - got the "mini King" suite there. I was trying to impress my bride-to-be, and reward her for upcoming hard work on the trip. The room and hotel were very nice, but the romantic dinner I had promised her turned out to be granola bars from Wal Mart - we ran out of time and had to get to the show.
This program was for a new photo club in Hot Springs, but it seemed like half the town turned out. I love giving programs in Hot Springs - not only are the people very nice, but there is always a crowd. Pam was sort of thrown to the wolves, as this was her very first show, and I had her handling all of the money. Erna was there once again as well - she brought me a big box of homemade cookies and a half gallon of fresh-squeezed orange juice. It was a delightful group and we had a nice time, and even sold a bunch of books.
Tuesday morning we got up and took a stroll around Hot Springs - even doing a bit of Christmas shopping. The highlight was a tour of the art display of one of my favorite artists - Thomas Kinkade. The light show on his paintings was quite impressive! But there weren't all that many of his wilderness cabin paintings on display - mostly urban scenes and florals. I absolutely love his wilderness paintings, and have two books filled with them (thanks to Nancy W.!). Wonderful stuff indeed.
Our next program was not until 7pm in El Dorado, so we took a bit of a detour and drove into the Ouachita National Forest and to Little Missouri Falls. This is a splendid little area that you can drive right up to. The Little Missouri River creates many cascades as it pours through some unique rock formations. It was a great little break for us, although we didn't get to spend much time there. I had to show off the bronze plaque there that has my name on it. I spent the summers of 1988 and 1989 just downstream building the hiking trail.
We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to get to El Dorado. It's not all that many miles away, but like much of Arkansas, there was no real direct way to get there. That was OK, because we got to stop off at White Oak Lake State Park and get in a short hike. This is one of my favorite dayhiking trails - the tall pine trees there are really something else. It was just so great to get out of the moving vehicle and hike too.
And many of the shorter trees - like holly and young beeches - were covered with the falling pine needles and took on an eerie look to them.
After a quick look at the calm waters of White Oak Lake, we sped off to El Dorado. The bookstore there on the square had a small room upstairs for the program. The owner told me she didn't really expect too many folks to show up, but the place was packed and we had another great show. It was good to see some friends from the hiking club, and even one guy who came up from Louisiana that I had e-mailed a time or two.
When we finally packed everything up and headed out it was VERY late. No big deal, it was only a five-hour drive home! Poor Pam - she got a taste of what my life is really like! It was about 3am when we finally arrived back at Cloudland. There were a few snowflakes here and there, and it was bitter cold. I have this thing about unloading my truck as soon as I get home, so we spent some time out there in the frigid air, unloading boxes of books and projection equipment. No complaints from my partner - I have found a very good one for sure!
Seemed like only a couple of hours of sleep then it was up once again and back to work. I had over 100 e-mails waiting for me, and I tried to answer some of them, but had a ton of other office work to do before loading up and heading out again for another program, or actually two of them this day.
Oh yea, I almost forgot - the forest was covered with a thin layer of beautiful snow! The landscape takes on a totally different personality out here when snow-covered. And it is a great personality indeed. You can see so much more then, and we could pick out individual trees and rocks way across the valley over on Beagle Point. Even though there was not all that much snow, it was enough to turn the wilderness into a magic wonderland, the kind that you just want to run out into and play in. No such luck for us today though - too much work to do.
I drove off to the next program in Harrison, while Pam stayed behind and did a bit more decorating. She has a magic touch with this Christmas stuff for sure.
My program was a speaking one to a ladies book club - no slides or music. I felt a bit naked standing up there without any slides! But it went fine, and before long I was on my way to another program, this on at the library in Harrison. No matter how early I get to shows, it never seems to be early enough. I got there 1 1/2 early, and still just barely got everything set up in time.
Pam joined me to help out, and the show went very well. There wasn't a big crowd this time, but those who did show up bought a lot of books!
I bid a reluctant farewell to my lovely assistant - she had to return to real life at home - and headed back to the office. It was well after midnight before I put things to bed for the night. The snow had melted during the day, and the forest was back to its usual winter brown and grey.
Another early rise for me on Thursday morning, but I did get to enjoy a few minutes in the hot tub. I spent the entire morning trying to catch up somewhat with my paperwork and book orders that all had been piling up all week. Still many more e-mails to answer than I had time for. And I got a call from OUTSIDE magazine - they needed an image of a swimming hole on the Buffalo River for an upcoming article, and needed it the next morning (typical), so I had to do a bit of sorting and packing and got it out to them. Soon it was time to load up and head out again for another program - this one down in Russellville.
My good friends with the TAKEAHIK River Valley Hikers club there did a splendid job of setting this one up at Arkansas Tech University. Good grief, they even had catered refreshments! And since Pam was not with me for this one, they helped me with the book sales, and everything else for that matter. It was another great crowd of folks, and the show went well. Only problem was that I had lost my hat. I felt naked up there without my hat. As I stopped by the Hastings bookstore there on my way out of town after the show, I found my hat sitting on their shelf - it had fallen out of my truck when I was there before, and someone had found it in the parking lot!
Even though it was nearly midnight when I got home, I went into high gear and worked for a couple of hours. I need about 30 hours in each day in order to make things work sometimes. I was one tired puppy when I crawled into bed.
And I must say that I was totally exhausted at daylight this morning. I don't get that way very often. And there was no mocha in the house! No matter - I have found a great substitute for caffeine. All I have to do is step out of the hot tub dripping wet, then go parade around naked on the back deck with the wind blowing - that will wake a guy up in a flash!
The sun is up and the forest is filled with falling leaves - a magical place to be today. But I have much too much office work to do, so am not able to get out and enjoy. I have 45 books and 64 posters to autograph this morning, and then deliver to Fayetteville. Plus try to catch up on the rest of my office work.
It may sound like I am whining, but I really do LOVE the holidays, especially when everyone is buying books! And while I don't get much sleep when doing all of these slide programs around the state, it is so great to meet and talk with folks who I have only known through e-mail, or never met in any fashion. I get to meet lots of folks who read the journal, and it is so nice to hear their (your) comments. Sometimes this journal is a real pain in the rear to continue doing, but meeting all of you makes it all worth while. I'm still not really sure what it is that keeps you all reading, but I will continue to plug away until there is no reason to plug. So THANKS for all of your support and good wishes!!!
BLACK COYOTE UPDATE. No more sightings, but I have been hearing a bit of info from folks who say they have heard of them before, and even seen one. And Glenn told me that the Game and Fish Commission tells him that while a black one is rare, it is a color phase they go through once in a while. I still think the one out here is a very special indeed, and will continue to search for him, and hope to converse with him one night out there in the darkness.
It is rather bright outside tonight as a matter of fact, and Aspen and I just returned from a short hike around the area. While I know he enjoys visiting in town, he seemed to be as glad as I to be out running free in the woods after being "restrained" all week. The night air is crisp, but there is no wind, so it isn't really all that cold out (especially with a big down jacket on!). The leaves crunch softly underfoot. A 3/4 moon lights the way, and provides many interesting shadows on the forest floor.
I could not let this day pass without remembering what I was doing tonight twenty years ago. We were hiking across the United States, and were in fact on the Ozark Highlands Trail, and camped at Fairview Campground for the night. One of our group (from Ohio) had a birthday today, so we drove into town to celebrate. For a hiker walking across the United States, Taco Bell was his idea of a celebration!
We stopped by my mom's house for a few minutes to visit, and then the news flash came on the TV - we all stood there in stunned silence, in disbelief that someone could have done such a thing. A coward crouched in the darkness had murdered one of the greatest musical talents of all time. We moved on over to my house, and laid on my floor all night listening to John Lennon music on the radio. This had as big an impact on all of us as JFK's murder did, and perhaps even more. And, of course, it wasn't only that a great man had died, but also that the Beatles could never be again. Their new album was #1 in the country a couple of weeks ago - my goodness, and they broke up 30 years ago!!!
I heard a funny remark from an announcer this morning. He said that he has seen video of the killer, in jail, happy, and getting fatter every day. The announcer said it was too bad it hadn't happened in Texas - I must agree! (they put murderers to death in Texas)
And I'm not sure if the other coward ever changed his mind or not, but you know that the mayor of New York City has refused to allow the John Lennon Tribute across from the Dakota in Central Park tonight to go on after 1am as it used to do - what a jerk he is. Sometimes very small people are put in positions of great power. Good thing he backed out of the Senate race, because Hillary would have beat him bad. They need a mayor with a spine, like Dan Coody will be!
Lennon wrote some of the best love songs ever, although he always kidded Paul about being the one to do such things. His music will live on forever, as will his message of peace and love. So tonight I will venture back out into the moonlit night, sing a few Beatle songs, and think of this great man who was struck down in the prime of life. You gave us so very much John Lennon.
12/9/00 What an incredible scene! It was way before daylight, but I laid there in bed and stared at the eastern horizon. The bottom layer was coal black - the far ridge. Then there were about a dozen bands of color, beginning with deep red, then orange, yellow, white, light blue, medium blue, dark blue, and finally, black high above. Each band stretched as far left and right as I could see. An intense gathering of color!
All of the bands had faded long before the sun rose 45 minutes later. It was quite hazy out, especially for a crisp winter day - lots of wood stoves fired up this morning perhaps. The forest turned gold when those first warming rays struck it. And way out there, Hawksbill Crag was lit up, but the rest of the forest around it was still dark - it floated in that sea of darkness like a cloud. Mornings are just wonderful out here. Come to think of it, afternoons are too. And so are nights!
Aspen and I took the long route to work this morning, starting off hiking through the sunlit eastern flank of the mountain. The sunshine was merely bright this morning - no the usual brilliant of a clear morning - due to the haze in the air. The leaves were a bit more crunchy than last night, I guess because it was below freezing out. Aspen took off like a shot, and ran and jumped and played like it would be his last romp of life. I can always tell when he is REALLY having a good time because he jumps so high that the tips of his furry ears spend a lot of time straight up in the air.
Crunch, crunch, crunch. It got noisy as I crossed the East meadow. No sun here yet, and the open field was covered with thick frost. I guess the trees protected the forest from being covered with the icy stuff. It was dark over on this side of the mountain where the sun had not reached yet. Lots of blue jays flying around and screaming over here. These birds add a bright flash of blue to the drab winter landscape, and they have many different calls, including one that sounds nothing like a blue jay. I always try to figure out what the heck it is, then remember their strange call.
The berries or "rose hips" of the wild rose bushes along the lane were in the process of turning from bright red to white - I had not seen that before. It was not frost either.
Over on this dark side of the hill is where the two cedar trees grow that I have been eying these past couple of years as potential Christmas trees for the cabin. They both are tall and shaped just perfect, but with two distinct personalities. One is really round and fat, while the other is tall and slender - either would make a classic presentation and fill up the great room of the cabin for the holidays. But I am so glad that we got a fake tree instead. Now these two wonderful trees will continue to grow and decorate the natural landscape for many years to come. I'm getting soft in my old age, and perhaps a bit wiser (at least the cedar trees think so).
Speaking of decorated trees, I must share a photo with you of two neat ornaments that we have received from journal readers. I got the first one last year from my friends Nanette and Dave out in California. It is a special handmade glass one, and is a real work of art. This will be the first year for it to hang. The other one was made by hand by Jeannette, one of my Canadian friends. And I do mean HAND MADE! She quite literally brushed the hair off of her dog Regis, spun that into yarn, and created this Teddy bear from it, then wrapped him with a winter scarf and hat. Both occupy important positions on the new tree (although I put them together for this picture).
The collection of special ornaments here at Cloudland is growing, and YOU are welcome to participate. If you would like to have an ornament of yours hanging every year on our tree, just send one along. I will take a picture of them all as we are taking down the tree and packing them up. (CLOUDLAND.NET; HC 33, Box 50-A; Pettigrew, AR 72752).
By the way, Aspen has also received his first Christmas card. You may send him mail at the above address, made out to "Aspen Dog; C/O Cloudland.net." Goodness, this guy is getting to be quite the celebrity.
The sun is playing tag with the clouds this morning. It is still chilly outside, but I expect it to warm up as the day wears on. The lovely Mrs. Cloudland will be arriving before too long, and we have a busy day planned. I have found some of the comments amusing that both she and I have received from nice folks about me finally "settling down" now that I have found Pam - HA!!! I've been sitting around on hold looking for her for all of my life, and I am going to do ANYTHING but settle down now! She is exactly the kind of lady that will pick me up and get me out there going, which is what I want to be doing. She is very adventurous all on her own, and the two of us together plan to spend the next 50 or so years exploring many places and having a ton of exciting adventures.
Of course, many of those adventures will be right here at Cloudland. A couple of the things on our plate today will be to pick up rocks and place them in the holes of the road into here, which is getting worse every day; and to hike down to the river - her via one route and me by another. Pam has always enjoyed hiking alone, as have I, and now we will be able to combine that, and meet somewhere in the middle for a bit of "wilderness love." In fact, we will sometimes simply put an X on a map, then see if we both can find it on our own by heading off in different directions. Nope, I don't plan to do any settling down anytime soon! (You should see the trips out west, and to other countries that we are looking in to!) And as Amber gets more comfortable with the wilderness, I plan to take her on many rambles, and I'm sure will be following her as well. Both of these ladies are going places in their lives, and I plan to try to keep up.
The weather turned rather nasty after Pam arrived - the temp stayed down in the 30's with a cold, blowing rain. So we opted to stay indoors most of the afternoon and work on Christmas chores. You should have seen and heard and smelled the cabin - Santa's wilderness workshop in full gear! Red ribbons and bows and crafts and CHOCOLATE and a roaring fireplace and Christmas music and tree ornaments and lights and two dogs chasing each other all over creation and dancing and homemade treats and, well, in the middle of it all, I caught the gaze of my wilderness woman and just about melted dead away - it all means so much to me now.
Then it got dark, and the cabin came alive with lights and reflections - it was a wonderland to behold. I tried to snap a few pictures, but without my tripod they did not turn out too well.
After a nice dinner we retired to the TV room and laid on the futon with a big bowl of popcorn like a couple of deadbeats and watched two movies long into the night. That felt pretty darn good. The hot tub was a little too relaxing afterward - it left me nearly so weak that I could hardly step out. Then the wind chill of about ten degrees hit me, and oh yea, I got out and ran into the cabin just fine!
12/10/00 We slept in a bit, then put it into high gear and hit the ground running. A few more chores in the cabin to do, then up to the office for more work, then the Wildman arrived. We helped him fold up and load his tipi that had been blown down a couple of weeks ago. A mouse had eaten several holes in the canvas - with patches going on soon it will be more real!
Then we get into a bit of manual labor. The road into the cabin has gotten pretty bad, with lots of deepening holes, so we loaded up the trailer with rocks to help fill them in. That doesn't sound too bad, but it is. Actually it was not all that bad, and the physical workout felt pretty good.
There is this long pile of small to medium sized rocks at the edge of our property near the East meadow. They were piled up there no doubt by the pioneers many moons ago as nearby fields were cleared for farming. These rocks are often neatly stacked up to form massive stone walls, but in this area the rocks were usually simple piled up somewhere handy. I would never disturb a work of art stone wall, but don't consider a pile of rocks to be historically significant, so don't mind moving them.
I could not get the trailer next to the pile of rocks since it was out in the woods a bit, but we did manage to cut out a path through the wild rose bushes and briars from the rock pile to the trailer. It took Pam, the Wildman and I about 30 minutes to load the trailer with as many rocks as it would hold. Then about 15 minutes to unload the same rocks into one of the larger mud holes - one trailer full of rocks filled just about 1/2 of one mud hole. Hum, it would take MANY more trailer loads of rocks to fix the road! But it was fun, and great exercise.
The Wildman headed on back into town, and Pam strapped on her hiking boots and took off down towards the river - just her and Aspen and Lucy. I tucked a little two-way radio into her fanny pack so that we could keep in touch. I had to get cleaned up and do a bit of computer work before my hiking club board meeting later in the day in town.
Pam had a pretty good hike down to the river, and returned in great spirits all hot and sweaty. This mountain of a trail will beat down anyone, but she made it up in good shape, vowing to race me up it one of these fine days.
As we sat out on the back deck gazing over the wilderness, she spotted a white spot in the air. White? Flying? That could only mean one thing - a mature bald eagle. And sure enough, there he was, soaring right along the bluffline just across the way at Beagle Point. And then there were TWO of them! Both mature and majestic and beautiful. After entertaining us for a few minutes, they both landed in the same tree and struck up a conversation. I swear we could see them talking to one another, making head gestures and everything. I had the telescope on them, plus we had a couple pair of binocs. What incredible creatures!
A thick fog had engulfed the area as I returned late at night from meetings in town. Thick fog, yet the moon overhead was nearly full, so the forest was lit up with this eerie glow that reminded me of being out on the moors in the Hound of the Baskervills. I just had to go for a hike. Yea, but it was late you crazy fool. No flashlight, no sense, no direction in the fog. Yea, I had to go hiking.
It turned out to be a wonderful experience all the way around. I love fog to begin with, but this stuff was extra thick, and glowing, and I could feel it move across my face. It was warm out - in the 50's, with just a slight breeze. I don't actually know where I hiked to - I just sort of floated through the night between the silhouetted trees, moving as the terrain dictated. Those trees were all friends, guiding me along with their outstretched hands, showing me the way, and speaking to me as they creaked way up high. They came into view one at a time, so I was really able to view each one as an individual friend instead of seeing an entire forest at once the way you normally do.
And my mind was racing. My feet were moving carefully but there was no speed limit upstairs. I thought about my future. The next book project. Big time chores at the cabin. Money flowing in and flying out. Pam and Amber. A new tractor! I guess there have been many great options laid on my plate of late, so many in fact that I have not known which ones to select. Sometimes when you have a field of wildflowers to pick you end up collecting none in the confusion. I want to be sure to pick the right ones, and at the correct time.
Somewhere out there in the dim, foggy, eerie glow on the moors, it all came into focus for me - plain as day. Within a few minutes I laid out a game plan for the next couple of years - that's a long time for me. It includes a smart schedule for completing the two new guidebooks (next fall), a unique new picture book (the following fall), a couple of big trail projects this winter and spring, several major cabin projects over the winter and spring, a 2002 wall calendar, plus tons of time with my new family - filled with lazy days and exciting adventures here, and away. Yep, out there in the fog it all made sense. Man, how I love wandering around in the fog!
I had turned on all of the Christmas lights before I left on my little hike. The glow that they put off in the night as seen from afar was something to behold - what a wonderful welcome home. Hum, if only Pam had not gone back to Missouri!
Once I crawled into bed - after midnight - my mind continued to race on, and so I had to get up and turn on the computer and type away. I still don't consider myself much of a writer, but sometimes my head gets so full of stuff that I just have to give up and WRITE! I use one of those split keyboards - a special one made by Datadesk - and cannot hardly type on anything else anymore. I can really lay into this one, and will often type faster than I am thinking. You should read some of the stuff that is written out in front of my thoughts.
The wind is blowing hard outside now, and I can hear it against the logs. This cabin is very air tight, and it takes quite a blow to hear from inside. I kind of want to be back out there in it once again, but now that I am here at the computer, with my hands running on. I will take care of some e-mails, then slide back under the flannels.
12/11/00 The wind was blowing at 40mph from the east at first light - that usually means some major WEATHER on the way! And still very thick fog. Soon it began to rain hard - boy, we sure do need that. The temp was 55 degrees, but I have a feeling that it will be dropping all day. They are already closing schools in NW Arkansas. I could use about a foot of snow right now - got the x-country skis all ready to go.
I was only up at the office for about an hour, and when I returned to the cabin the temp had dropped 21 degrees! (from 55 to 34). Finding out that bit of info cost me dearly - I only had a thin layer of capeline on when I made the trip, and got caught in a DRIVING rainstorm on the way. That was about as cold a rain as you can get without it being FROZEN! Needles to say I covered the 1/5 mile down to the cabin in record time.
The temp continued to drop, and soon it was down in the upper teens, with blowing snow. Just about the time the ground was covered, the sun came out. Then it some really big flakes came down. And the sun remained out - a very strange thing to witness. Actually, it was rather beautiful, as each snowflake was backlit and sparkled as they made their way towards the earth.
I bundled up a bit for the trip back up to the office. The wind chill was well below zero - down below minus 20 as a matter of fact. But as I hiked along, the wind would stop completely for a minute or two. The snow flakes that had been racing along began to float, swaying back and forth, each taking a different path through the treetops. And some would even drift UPwards, then side to side. I would love to have pointed a video camera at that scene, then put it all to music.
The temp is 16 now, and the wind is howling. It is snowing, but not really piling up on the ground yet. It seems that we escaped an ice storm up here, which would have been bad for trees and power lines. And it doesn't "feel" like the kind of snow that is going to pile up - the wind is blowing it all around too much anyway. So I may have to wait to exercise my skis.
I turned all the Christmas lights on in the cabin and tried to take a few snapshots to show you what it looks like. Of course, snapshots are nothing like the real thing, but I hope you get the idea. Add to the glow of the lights the smell of fresh baking bread and wood smoke, the crackling for the fireplace, the warmth of Aspen at my feet, and the thoughts of Mrs. Cloudland and you have a much better image indeed.
Later in the night the sky cleared and the full moon lit up the wilderness. This month's moon is called the COLD moon, and brother was that right! Adding to the incredible brightness of the full moon was the fact that the ground was covered with white snow, reflecting the moonlight all around. I took a short walk out into this remarkable landscape and marveled at how beautiful it really was.
The full moon and snow brought back memories of when I used to go x-country skiing in Colorado overnight. I would always choose a full moon night to do it, then would ski into this neat wilderness bowl area that I know about. I would ski in several miles, set up camp, have a nice dinner, then go to bed for a few hours. Once the moon got good and high in the sky - and above the tall mountains all around - I would crawl out of my thick sleeping bag and head out to ski for a couple of hours. The temp was usually 20 below zero, but since there was no wind at that time of the night, and I was exercising heavily, it didn't take much clothing to keep me warm. It was just about as bright as daylight out there, all alone in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, above 10,000 feet in the Colorado wilderness. I was at peace and at home and loved every second of it. Hey Pam, you want to go skiing?
A note here that Amber sent and received her very first e-mail tonight - to and from me. Man, what I could have done with a computer, the internet and e-mail when I was seven years old!!!
12/12/00 Six degrees just before daylight. For some reason I just didn't feel like jumping naked into the water this morning, so I opted to pick up the maul and split a bit of wood instead. There was still a pile of larger logs left over from the big dead tree that we cut down several weeks ago, an knowing that wood splits a LOT easier when it is frozen, I was happy to get out in the frigid morning air and get a little work done. Man, it felt SO great! Crack, pop, SPLIT! Yep, that old tale about frozen wood is certainly correct - logs that would have taken me ten or twelve chops normally split pretty easy with just a couple of whacks.
I love splitting wood in the snow. Only a heavy dusting of the white stuff on the ground this morning, but there was enough to make me smile. And even though it was only six degrees (no wind thankfully), I was down to just a shirt and pile vest in no time. My gloves kept getting frozen though, so I had to make a trip or two inside to warm my hands at the fireplace.
As the flames lit up my chest, I looked out the window and saw something I had not seen here before - something that warmed my soul. You see, my fireplace is SO efficient (it actually burns and re-burns any smoke and gas from the logs), that it hardly ever smokes outside. What that means is that you never get that great feeling of seeing smoke coming out of the chimney of a log cabin. But this morning I could see the shadow of the smoke (or perhaps it was just the heat) dancing out there in the forest.
Crack, pop, SPLIT! Man, that felt GREAT!!! I split all that I had, then hauled them up and stacked them neatly on the front porch. Enough wood to last all day and night, and into tomorrow. There is still lots of wood left from when Pam and I cut it up a couple of weeks ago - that is stacked in the carport. So I'm ready in case the power goes out, which it has not done in a while.
Aspen loved the frigid temps too, and he spent his time romping all over the place, and chasing small birds through the brush. But once we reached the office, he curled up on top of my down jacket - guess that concrete floor under the carpet up here is cooler than the frozen tundra outside.
They are predicting 4-6 inches of snow here tomorrow. I have mixed emotions about that. On the one hand I would love to get enough so that I could get out and go skiing. But on the other hand I have a slide show at the Pack Rat in Fayetteville tomorrow night, and I would hate for the town to shut down and them to cancel it. We'll just have to see what happens, since they are rarely correct with the forecast - there will either be no snow, or two feet!
Sometime during the afternoon I was out in the woods and realized that the snow was actually melting - yet it was 17 degrees. The sun was out, and I was on a south-facing slope. Still, it was just weird to see snow melting at that temp.
Just before dark, I headed out for a ramble through the woods, not really knowing where I was headed. It was quiet out, except for the crunch underfoot. There were man woodpeckers out too, flying from tree to tree, searching for worms or other bugs just below the bark.
I came across a large double tree that had been blown over some time ago. One trunk went this way and the other one went the opposite direction. I could not tell if it had been stuck with lightening or merely rotted and fell over. Each half took out several other trees on the way down though, and created a bit of an opening in the forest canopy. In the years to come the trunks of the larger trees would become homes for all sorts of critters and bugs and other critters that fed off of them. And smaller trees would spring up in the opening, grow older, and eventually become forest parents themselves, perhaps one day falling over and becoming rotten logs like these two big fellows. Just the chain of life out here in the wilderness.
I hunted around for quite a while, but never found a single frost flower. They usually grow when the temp gets below 20, but none today. Maybe it was TOO cold for them.
At one point I found Aspen staring up into the air. I turned just in time to see an immature eagle soar overhead. Aspen was glued to his every move. This young eagle spent quite a while up there nearby, circling and playing around. It was odd to see such a grand bird out just before dark. In fact, if the clouds had not been so thick, I suspect the sun was already down - it was in that "dusky dark" phase out.
It was funny how the north, east and west facing slopes were all pretty much still snow covered and frozen (only a thin layer of snow though), yet all of the southern facing slopes were nearly bare. I guess you had to face the sun directly before you could melt today. The Indians obviously noticed this as well, and dug into south facing bluffs, where the winters were warmer.
It was a lot of fun just getting out and wandering around with no particular destination in mind. I call that rambling, as opposed to bushwhacking, which is when you are going through the forest without a trail but with a specific destination in mind. Rambling is not only good for your body, it is great for your mind, as it will often set you free to think and ponder and dream and be anything that you want to be. No doubt many of the world's great problems were figured out while on a ramble somewhere. I don't plan to solve any worldly dilemmas, just want to enjoy the wilderness and explore.
It is well into the evening now, and I have just hiked up to the cabin in the darkness. Boy, you should hear all the racket outside! Snow, heavy snow, and lots of it. The winter storm that had been predicted is hitting, and it sounds like it is going to be a big one. They have already upped their estimate of snow towards 10 inches and beyond. YES, that would be plenty deep enough to ski!!!!!!
12/13/00 The heavy snow quickly turned into snow pellets, or SNAIL - half snow, half hail (probably more ice than snow). This continued all night and so far this morning. There is about two inches of the compacted stuff on the ground. For some reason it is VERY difficult to walk across - more like walking in wet sand than on snow. Nothing up in the trees either, so while the scene is one of "winter," it really isn't all that pretty. They are still calling for up to a foot of snow today, but things will have to change a lot for that to happen. Many of the tops of logs and rocks are just covered with a thin layer of ice. I've not seen this type of stuff happen at this temp before - still down in the 20's. Not really good stuff to ski on, especially since many rocks and sticks are above the surface.
One thing is for sure - Aspen just LOVES to run and STOP in this stuff! And when he runs, he gets really low to the ground and digs in. It takes him several feet to stop.
At this point I don't know if
the slide show at the Pack Rat in Fayetteville has been cancelled or not
- I suspect we will wait and see what happens as the day goes on. The governor
has closed down most of the state - all state offices - plus the University
of Arkansas is closed, which doesn't happen unless things are pretty bad.
COME ON SNOW - I need some REAL snow today or else I will be stuck in the
office getting some much-needed work done (I have to complete a revision
of the Ozark Highlands Trail Guidebook and get it sent off to the printer).
But who wants to do that when you could get out and ski! Even if we don't
get any real snow today, I will be out a time or two, and will make a post
later today - if the power doesn't go off, and I don't go into town.
It continued to rain down SNAIL
pellets or whatever it was doing, but not much snow. I got all ready to
head into town to do the slide show, but was unable to get even to the
end of my circle drive - less than 100 yards. Whatever this stuff was on
the ground, it was sure slick! The poor computer in my Mercedes 4WD sled
was working overtime, with all four wheels spinning at different times,
but I just could not make it up my hill. So I reluctantly backed into the
carport and cancelled the slide show. It has been rescheduled for next
Monday, December 18th.
Feeling a bit let down (I really wanted to get out and drive around in this stuff), I could only fix a big meal and then take a long nap. After an hour or so of napping, Aspen woke me up - he had this LOOK in his eyes, and his tail was moving back and forth at top speed. I looked out the window and saw ACTUAL SNOW coming down from the sky! And out in the wilderness there were strange clouds swirling all over the place - just like the steam clouds or fog that form during and after a rain. It looked rather odd indeed.
But what was most important was that there was now some snow on the ground. It appeared to have snowed about an inch on top of the two inches of snail pellets. It wasn't really great DEEP snow, but what the heck, I was starved for some skiing, so I invented the excuse of needing to go collect the mail, so I strapped on my skis and took off up the lane.
And it was a beautiful ski indeed!!! That bit of snow on top was just the ticket, and the skis glided smoothly along. I hadn't been on skis since the big snow here last March, but with x-country skis there is nothing to it - you just put them on and GO. Man it felt terrific!
At one point I was getting up some pretty good speed on this hill, and Aspen decided that he was going to race me. So we sped on down the hill - me crouched and pumping the poles - and Aspen digging in and FLYING along. Needles to say, he won, big-time. And you could tell from the look on his face too.
It didn't take me long to reach the main dirt road and the mailboxes. No mail, of course, but I was a little surprised to find that only two vehicles had been over the road all day. And neither had stopped at the Craig trailhead. I guess the roads were really bad today.
The ski back was even better, faster, more fluid, and I worked up a sweat. I stopped several times just to listen to the forest. Or actually to listen to nothing at all - and that is what you hear after a snow - NOTHING! I mean it was dead silent out there. It was a remarkable feeling out there in the cold and snowy landscape. Nothing but the beating of my heart. And then Aspen would come crashing through the brush. This dog is really smart, and knew that he was breaking the silence - just a teenager trying to cause trouble.
I never saw a single critter, on the ground, in the trees, or in the air. Everyone was inside all snuggled up I guess. Deeper snow would have allowed me to go into the open forest and ski wherever I pleased. But the roads were just fine for now, and it was a good workout.
I stopped off at the office on the way back, which is where I still am a couple of hours later. I've been working on the revision to the OHT guidebook, and transcribing the recording that I made for a new trail section that I will be constructing early next year. The updated guide will have the new information in it, as well as a $2 higher price tag.
It is pitch black outside now, and time for me to shut down the computer, strap my skis back on again, and head down the hill. An inviting fire will greet me, and then the HOT TUB for my sore bones. Hot tubs were made for snow and skiing (and for snow bunnies - Pam, where are you!).
As I headed down the hill towards the office I realized two things. First, that it really was PITCH black outside, and secondly, that I was going wildly out of control down the icy roadway. The dim and narrow beam of light from my headlight that was moving all over the place as I tried to stay on my feet reminded me of the Blair Witch Project. Somehow I managed to keep from falling, and coasted right on up to the cabin door about 30 seconds after I had left the office.
12/14/00 Still heavy cloud cover this morning, but nothing coming out of them. First thing I did was fire up the truck and see if I could get out, and much to my delight, it crawled right on up the hill without a single spinning tire. I guess that inch or so of snow on top of the ice helped out a great deal. Then I realized that a lot of stuff that I had to pack into the truck for my trip into town was still down at the cabin, so I will have to drive back down once again. Sometimes the altitude out here makes you think very clearly - but once in a while you don't think at all! (has nothing to do with the altitude I'm sure)
PLEASE NOTE that I probably will not make another post until early next week.
12/15-18/00 It was a harrowing ride out to the highway from here, and I broke track much of the way. No one had really been out much, and no tracks from the outside world at all. I went into town to check on my mom, then headed up to Missouri, where I spent the last few days. Pam and I got to do a bit of x-country skiing there - 17 inches of snow on the ground. Aspen got into big trouble - he ate several presents under their tree, and then started on the ornaments - including GLASS ones! Don't know what has got into him. I rolled into the cabin at about daylight this morning (the 18th) - still not much traffic on the road at all. My friend Glenn had given me a road report as he had driven out to the Crag from Harrison over the weekend. It seems that the county grader is afraid to come more than part way up the hill from Boxley, so it looks like the main gravel road won't be graded for a while, if at all. And with the temps down in the single digits tonight and highs in the 20's this week, I don't think there will be much melting.
All bundled up in the snow at 20 below
After a very brief and frantic work period this morning, I headed out once again. The mail has not run in nearly a week, and probably won't for a while either. Same with UPS. So I had to take a sleigh filled with books into town to get them shipped out and to the bookstores and under the trees. I arrived back out here at 11pm tonight, and the road in from the highway is simply one thick sheet of ICE. Never seen anything like this before. Not really snow, not really ice. Something in between. I will have to head out early in the morning tomorrow once again - back to town for a slide show and book signing later. SNOW, we need more snow!!! About a foot would do - snow is a lot easier to drive on that is this ice stuff. Sorry for the short update, but I have not been here but a few hours this past week. I will try to post again on Wednesday.
12/19/00 Two major facts today. First, it was 43 degrees below zero wind chill at first light this morning - that is the coldest temp ever recorded at Cloudland. The actual temp was 4. A wee bit chilly for a guy who does not have a heated office!
And the second fact is that today is the anniversary of the death of the greatest man that I ever knew - my dad. He died in 1979, and besides having received the award for being the absolute finest father a guy could ever have, he also just happened to be a world-class athlete in his day (and all American swimmer who helped develop the butterfly stroke, was the #1 rated backstroker on the U.S. Olympic team in the 1930's, and who beat the original Tarzan Johnny W. who was the world champion swimmer at the time in an exhibition race in St. Louis - he gave my dad a head start and never caught up!!!), not to mention that he was responsible for recruiting leading hundreds of volunteers who contributed literally hundreds of thousands of volunteers of service to our community. I will place some frozen tundra from Cloudland on his grave at the National Cemetery today - he would have liked it here, and I do believe is out there in the wilderness, keeping a close eye on his boy.
12/20/00 The first explosion happened ab out 3:30am, and shook both me and my warm and fuzzy sleeping companion up. In fact, he started to bark. The wind had shifted and was blowing so hard that it began to blow large icicles right off of the roof, sending them crashing on down to the lower roof below - sounded just like a bomb going off!!!
The sun rose early into a multi-colored sky, but I just rolled over and went back to sleep. Driving on these icy roads has taken a lot out of me. Thank goodness my truck has been able to make a go of it, or I would have been stuck here all week. Today will be the first day I have been here all day in a week. No mail delivery in a week, nor any expected for a while. And the ice covering is so slick that I can't even get out and hike much - I need a pair of studded snow boots for my feet! But that is OK with me, because I have so much office work to do. It looks like a bomb went off in here, and the mail that I have been going to the post office to get has been piling up, as have my e-mails, although I have tried to get to all of them this morning.
The landscape looks quite different from just a week ago. Most of the leaves are off of the trees now, although some of them fell just after the ice came down last week, and it looks funny to see all those brown leaves imbedded in the ice. Brown and white, that is what everything looks like. But you can see a great deal of detail in far subjects, like over on Beagle Point.
Once while I was standing and staring out the picture window at the cabin (I seem to do that a lot), some movement across the way caught my eye. I got out the tele and discovered a fox moving around over there. It appeared that he was trying to find a way down through the bluffline. He must not have been from around here or he would have known where the spots are. It was funny to see him exploring each little avenue, then retreating when he discovered there was no exit except over the edge. A couple of times he slipped and slid down a few feet in the ice. I wondered how many animals actually slide over the edge of bluffs like this one and get killed. This is really thick and hard ice if a fox's claws won't penetrate it to get a grip.
I kept rooting for the little guy to find the right spot, and he finally did, then quickly ran/slid on down the steep slope and disappeared under the bluffline, probably to hunt for a mouse or two and a warm and dry bed. Without the white snow/ice cover on the ground, and the clear view through the empty tree branches, I would have never seen this fox in the first place. You can really see a lot more this time of the year. Many folks hesitate to get out and hike in the winter, but it is a favorite time of mine because you can see so much (plus no bugs or snakes or other hikers, and a lot more water).
Speaking of hiking, the sun is out now, and to heck with the pile of papers all around me - we are going to head out for a little hike and see what we can find. It may only be a short one, but still will feel great to get out and explore this winter world a little bit.
The temp had risen up to 30, but the wind chill was still near zero. Bright, bright sun. One thing that I noticed right off was that the ice was so hard that even the squirrels are having trouble getting through it to get to their stored nuts. Several places looked like they had to come in from the side via a thinner spot in the ice in order to dig out their nut. I wonder if they store several nuts in one place, or just one nut to a hole? That is the sort of thing that one ponders out here in the wilderness.
Came across several sets of wild turkey tracks. They had been made a week ago, and had melted out just a little bit - they were as large as my hands. Reminded me of prehistoric tracks fossilized in mud. Aspen didn't seem to notice them at all - no scent. In fact, he never found a single critter to chase on our little hike today - guess they are all tucked away inside somewhere.
And there were a number of GREEN leaves down on the ground on top of the ice. Very strange to see green in the forest this time of the year.
The ice was tricky to walk on, and the going was slow. Paul Simon's song was a good one for today - "Slip sliding away..." All of the ice is on the ground though, and none up in the trees. We were spared all of that mess up here in the Ozarks, unlike many other parts of the state. Even though it was near zero wind chill, the sun being out helped warm the innards a great deal. Funny how a wind chill temp of zero sometimes feels WARM after it having been 30 and 40 below.
With the wind blowing and the ice-covered ground, you could have a big time sailing across the open areas if you could rig up some sort of sail.
Back at the cabin I decided to finally get a big chore done that I had been putting off for several months. There are two large vents in the top of the roof that are open in the summer to allow hot air to escape. They are open in the winter too, and warm air escapes. I had closed off one several months ago, but hadn't done the other one because it is just such a pain. But I could stand it no longer. The problem is that the vent is located 23 feet off of the ground, and while I do have a ladder that will reach up that high, it is a big chore. It took me about an hour and a half to get the ladder rigged up, the vent closed off, and everything taken down again. I'm mostly ascared of heights, so I try not to look down while doing this sort of thing. I did look down just once and found my faithful dog all curled up at the bottom of the ladder.
12/21/00 Being the first official day of winter, I stripped down to nothing and tiptoed out onto the ice for a quick dip in my little pool on the back deck. Expecting to slip into 104 degree water, you can imagine my surprise when I discovered the water was nearly FROZEN! I had not been in the tub in nearly a week, and somehow the heater was shut off and not working. I looked pretty stupid - and felt equally so - out there on the ice wearing my birthday suit.
It was yet another frantic couple of hours up at the office before racing into town to get the newsletter to the printers. After a couple of hours of running around in town, the traffic really got to me, and while I still had several stops to make, I bolted for the woods and hurried home. Whew, town is really beginning to bug me.
The fire was roaring again tonight, and I had a big plate full of chili-mac with left over sourdough bread for dinner, along with a glass of wine sent along by one of my California friends Nanette. Quite frigid outside, and supposed to dip down to near zero by dawn. But I was snug and warm in front of the fire, with my fuzzy friend at my feet.
12/22/00 Only 7 degrees at first light - a bit warmer than predicted. And no wind at all. Since I wasn't going anywhere today, I got the lazies real fast, and instead of heading out into the frozen air and up to work, I grabbed a comforter and laid down in the leather couch in front of the big fire and read - actually read a book. Well, at least I started one. INTO THE WILD. Interesting story about a guy who left society and walked into the Alaskan bush, only to die in an abandoned bus. Same author who wrote INTO THIN AIR, which is next on my list (we saw that climbing movie last week). A couple of hours later I finally got up and hiked to work.
Or should I say slid to work. Man, this ice is tough to walk on! It was impossible to walk through the woods in general - just too slippery - so I followed my footsteps from more than a week ago in the ice, on up the trail to the office. Hard to believe that there has been essentially no melting in that week.
On one trip back down to the cabin, I ventured off of the main route, out into the woods proper. Within a few seconds I looked just like that fox the other day - I slid right on down the hillside. I know it probably was only ten or fifteen feet, but it seemed like a hundred feet that I slid - or rather skied on my shoes, my arms flailing in all directions - before I finally grabbed an oncoming tree and stopped. Holy smokes this ice was SLICK!!!
The sun was up all day, and I made several mini hikes around the area - mostly sliding from one tree to another. But some areas had just a tiny bit of snow on top of the ice, and I was able to get along just fine there. One thing about hiking in the snow is that you get to see if you are getting dehydrated or not - white snow means that you are getting plenty of fluids; while dark yellow snow means you need to drink some water! The snow around me was always white, so I was doing OK.
Then I turned on the GPS unit that I was playing with and decided to see how it would track my route around the hillside. I took off on my regular route through the woods and up to the East meadow. Not too much trouble hiking, although I did slip and fall on my fanny a time or two. And there were several episodes where I went sailing on down the hillside like before, grabbing for any tree that came by. I had to get down on my hands and knees a couple of times and literally crawl back to the trail. Aspen thought all of this was hilarious I'm sure, as he didn't have any problems at all.
The GPS worked pretty darn good. I am testing one to see if I will be able to use it and the topo map software as the basis for drawing the maps for my upcoming waterfall and dayhiking trail guidebooks. The testing continues, and while I am not sold yet, the tracks that this unit lays down look pretty good. It still doesn't get the altitude very close though - it shows the elevation at the cabin anywhere between 1950 and 2135 feet, even after letting the unit settle down for 10 minutes.
We veered off of the normal route and headed on up the hill to Aspen's meadow - going from tree to tree because the footing was so bad. I really felt stupid not being able to walk up this little hill.
As I crossed the meadow I saw something that made me feel a lot better though. It seems that several deer had passed through the meadow, probably late last week. And they seemed to have had just as much trouble as I did! Their hooves had slid all over the place!!! I would have loved to had a video camera on this meadow when they passed by. I'll be they really felt stupid, as I.
One really neat thing that I saw as I hiked was a flock of bluebirds. Boy what a joyful delight their flashes of blue and orange brought to the stark winter landscape! I think they know the impact their bright colors have, and if you look close, you can see a smile on their little faces.
It is late in the day and the shadows are growing longer. The fire in the cabin must be getting low by now, so I will once again abandon my post at the office computer and head on down to the warmth of my log home (and put a big log on the fire). I only hope that I don't slam into a tree on the way down!
It has been a great pleasure for me to receive SO MANY cards from all of you this holiday season (the mailman came out today and delivered mail for the first time in over a week!). And to get all of the great e-mails as well. I will be spending the holidays with my new family and with my mom and brother and several friends. There will be Christmas in at least five different locations for us, including the cabin. In case I don't get the chance to look you in the eye directly, shake your hand, and tell you how much you mean to me, I will tell you now that I hope you have one terrific Christmas! You will never know how much I appreciate you being on the other end of this keyboard.
You would have thought that you had stumbled into Santa's workshop tonight at the cabin. There were bows and ribbons and wrapping paper and stacks of presents all over the place, plus a guy who more and more every day resembles old St. Nick (and who once played him in a kindergarten play) in the kitchen bottling up some homemade brew. There were piles of special Christmas gift bags from Cloudland - filled with an array of items for special friends and family. With the exception of miss Pam and miss Amber, everyone gets the same gift from Cloudland, although this year it is more than a single item. The absolute least that we can do to show our affection to many who have given us so much.
There were so many Christmas lights that along with the blazing fire no others were needed to light up the room, not even after I was finished and collapsed on the couch to finish my book. Once I had turned the last page on the guy in the bus in Alaska, I remembered that one chore remained - to vacuum the entre cabin, which was done in the wee hours of the morning, to the off-key sounds of an old song that my grandpa taught me many, many moons ago: "Jingle bells, shotgun shells, rabbits all the way. Oh what fun it is to ride in grandpa's Chervolet...(you get the picture).
12/23/00 A very dark and grey day arrived early. After stuffing the truck with loot and making a few final cleaning stops, I wondered out onto the back deck in the frigid morning air to gaze at the beautiful wilderness spread out before me. You can see SO much more of things now with all that white stuff on the ground. And from the feel in the air, more white stuff may be on the way. The bluff over on Beagle Point is so well defined now - just like it was when I spied that old fox sliding along. I could sit there for hours, exploring the wild world with my eyes and never get bored, but I had business up north, so snapped a couple of pictures for you and headed out.
I probably won't make another post until after Christmas. So I will leave you with John Lennon's wonderful greeting that means so much to me: "We wish you a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, let's hope its a good one, without any tears..." Have a safe and happy holiday everyone!!!!!!!!!!
12/24-25/00 Having not had much of a Christmas since back in the 1980's, this one was very special to me. Pam and Amber and I spent a lot of time at Pam's parents house, which was a pure delight. Everyone always makes fun of in-laws, but I am really looking forward to mine, and could not have asked for a better pair. And while it was a bit of a culture shock to be witness to a mass-presents opening with six kids involved, I managed to hide out at the fringes and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it.
Of course, part of my glory might have been the fact that Pam's aunt and uncle from Wisconsin had brought down a case of special wine, and also that I had gotten into my own homemade batch of Sassafras Liqueur. Or maybe it was being able to discuss the specifics of my potential tractor purchase with Pam's dad. Not to mention getting to STUFF myself TWICE with Pam's mom's wonderful cooking. Hum, and I bet the fact that not one but both lovely ladies of mine came on over and sat on my lap and gave me hugs and kisses - nothing better than gazing up close into the eyes of Pam and Amber! It was a grand celebration indeed, and I soaked up every moment of it.
It wasn't until after 10pm on Christmas Eve that I realized Pam did not have a stocking to hang out for Santa. We both are very much alike, as I have not had one in a very long time either. But my girls took care of that one several weeks ago, but there was none for Pam. "Just hang up any old sock - that will do just fine for me." Hum, no way my lovely lady was going to do without an official Christmas Stocking, so I headed out into the night in search of the perfect one. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find such a thing late on Christmas Eve? I was bound and determined to find one though, and while I won't get into the specifics of the final purchase here, I will tell you that I arrived back at her house just before midnight with a bright red stocking in hand. (I had to visit every Wal Mart in the region.)
At 2am a bright-eyed little girl crawled into bed asking if Santa had been there yet. It was obvious that she had no intentions of going back to sleep, so we all got up, tiptoed out into the living room and discovered a pile of goodies under the tree. This was my very first time being on the other end of the Santa thing, and I must say that while I was a bit unprepared, I found the experience quite rewarding.
Amber and Aspen on Christmas morning
I received many wonderful things from many kind people, including lots of neat items for Cloudland, but I want to tell you about this one very special gift from Pam. Long ago I read a book - the very first one that I had ever read cover to cover (in high school). I have talked about it many times before here - The High Adventure of Eric Ryback. That single book changed my life forever in so many ways. Some of the passages continue to guide my personal life and career even to this day, more than 25 years later. I received an autographed copy from Eric himself several years ago - which is one of my most valuable possessions. Anyway, somehow Pam managed to get that book put onto a set of CD's (thanks to dad!). And you just can't imagine what a feeling it is to HEAR that book spoken, especially after all of these years.
As I left Pam and Amber and headed to Fayetteville to spend some time with my mom and brother, I put in the CD's and listened to the first several chapters of the book. Man oh man, this is one fine book! And not only is the adventure something quite remarkable, but the writing is SO good. I had never realized that before. And it was written by an EIGHTEEN YEAR OLD!!!
The ice storm greeted me as I approached Fayetteville. I ate another big feast at my mom's, then hurried out of town towards the cabin. (Bill - one of my mom's care givers - wanted me to be SURE to note here that he gave me a Barbi doll so that I would be prepared the next time Amber visited the cabin! Another first for me indeed.) I knew the roads would be bad, but I didn't really know that I was a fool for attempting to make the trip out to the cabin. Yet the closer I got, and the worse the roads got, the more I wanted to make it to the cabin, for I knew it would be days before I could attempt it again.
The highway soon became a solid sheet of ice, with more being added to it every minute. There was no traffic, thank goodness. My pace slowed and I was able to make it all the way to the turnoff at Red Star - whew, that was one big chunk of ice out of the way!
Then as I turned the wheel to get onto the dirt road, nothing happened - the ice was glazed over and didn't really care which direction the wheels were turned. I was able to bring it to a halt, as least going forward. As I sat there in the middle of the highway trying to figure out what to do, a strange feeling came over me - the car was slowly sliding right off of the road, heading towards a steep embankment. All I could do was put it into gear and ease down on the gas. In my car when in such a predicament a computer literally takes control of the vehicle. And "control" was a key word here because the wheels gripped and the car inched on up the road and turned right onto the gravel road. Whew, I was out of the highway, not heading into a ravine, and I was safely stopped.
I got out to survey the situation. Ice, nothing but glazed ice all over. I did have a sleeping bag with me - my mom told me you should ALWAYS carry one with you during winter travel - so spending the night in the car was an option. But the situation was going to be no better tomorrow, not even by the next day. Hiking was out of the questions - I would need a set of crampons for the bottoms of my shoes to grip the ice or I would surely fall over and over again. It was nine miles in to the cabin, and getting late at night.
I figured that since I had spent all the money on the car with the computer inside to control things when the roads got bad, I might as well take a shot, and so I did. Much to my surprise once again the vehicle responded quite well, and I inched my way right on up the first hill, then the next, then down a hill, up another, and so on. My top speed during all of this was maybe 5mph. And if you know what a pucker factor is, you can imagine that mine was topped out at the highest level for more than an hour! Lo and behold we finally crawled on down the hill and came to rest at the cabin. I was able to breathe once again.
12/26/00 A thick fog of ice engulfed the cabin at daylight. No wind. The temp hovered in the upper 20's. It could have been a lot worse, but for now things were pretty good, and the power and phone lines OK. I spent most of the morning at the cabin working on processing the OHTA newsletter, and unpacking the sleigh from the trip up north. It was noon before I finally ventured out into the world of ice.
Solid ice. Lots of it. On everything. It was a major ice storm for sure, and it didn't look like I would be going anywhere for a while. It took me 30 minutes just to reach the office - only a thousand feet away. Nearly impossible to walk uphill here - tough enough just to make it across level ground. If I only played GOLF! Than I would have some spiked shoes around. Hum, Cloudland golf anyone?
As I came crashing to the ground for the tenth time I made a mental note - order two sets of crampons ASAP.
I am sitting up here at the cabin now, and it is still very foggy outside. This fog will freeze on the trees, creating what is called "hoar frost." It can be quite spectacular when it gets really heavy. The entire deal is quite weird right now - being so foggy and still very cold and all. There is moisture in the air, so I expect there will be more ice build up on the tree limbs as well.
This storm has hit me a bit unprepared as far as firewood goes. Under normal circumstances, it is no problem to go out and cut up and few day's worth of wood, even enough for a week - there are plenty of dead trees and even cutup logs on the ground. Cutting the wood up for firewood is no trouble at all - in fact is something that I relish doing in the wintertime. But right now there is no way to get that wood back to the cabin - I would need to load it on the trailer or into the truck, but there is no way to DRIVE on this stuff at all.
There is 2-3 days worth of wood under cover at the cabin, but I don't have a fire going in the fireplace today. I figure that all this ice will eventually knock out the power, and so I am saving the wood supply for when that happens, so that I can keep the cabin warm and toasty. Right now I am heating with the central heat pump, with the thermostat set on 60. That is plenty warm enough for me. But I should have cut up and hauled down enough wood for a month. Once I get myself organized (later THIS winter I hope!!!), I should have enough stacked up to last the entire winter. Hum, should have thought of that a long time ago.
It is quite beautiful outside today, and would be a perfect day to go hiking. But it is so dangerous out there, I plan to stay put and work at the office the rest of the day, then slip and slide on down to the cabin for dinner.
HOLY SNOWMAN! What a trip it was back down to the cabin. I thought it would be a breeze, but I was very wrong. It actually took me longer than it did to get up to the office. The main problem was that I quite literally could not take a single step without sliding. I did manage to figure out how to get a bit of control - by placing one foot very carefully while at the same time making sure that my body weight was directly over that foot. And to make matters worse, it was drizzling, and the surface of the ice had a coat of water on it. I ended up on my fanny several times, sliding out of control down the icy hillside. Since I was trying to make it down the road, there was nothing to grab a hold of to stop. Once I got within a hundred yards of the cabin, things really got bad. I could not find anyplace to put my feet where they would not slip out from under me. It took me ten minutes just to go the last 100 feet! But I made it, cold and shivering and half frozen because my pants were soaking wet. It was good to climb up into the warmth of the cabin.
I cooked up a big dinner of glazed carrots, baked potato, sweet corn, and a slice of smoked ham. Then topped it all off with just-baked bread. Much to my delight the power remained on, and since the ice continued to build up in the trees, and I expected the power to go off at any time, I resisted the desire to build a fire in the fireplace. That wood will be needed later for sure.
12/27/00 Still in a fog bowl at first light this morning. Temp in the upper 20's, with no wind. I can just barely see past the meadow. It is still drizzling a little bit. The power went off during the night, but I do not know for how long - it is on now.
I spent the first part of the morning cleaning up the cabin - especially the kitchen - and brewing up another batch of my Cloudland Sassafras Liqueur. I have been looking for a standard sipping drink to keep around the cabin for a long time, and this stuff is it!!!!!! So smooth and wonderful to sip on. I included a small bottle of it in our Christmas bags that were passed out this year (some folks got hazelnut liqueur, but now this sassafras stuff will be the norm), but I have sipped every last drop of it that was left over. The recipe is posted on the recipe page. The key ingredient is Pappy's Sassafras Tea Concentrate, which I found in a gourmet food store, and also on the web (I mail ordered a case of it - wonderful stuff!). It takes a couple of months to age properly - this is the toughest part of making this liqueur - WAITING for two months to drink it! However, you can drink it right away, but the taste really develops a smoothness that is certainly worth waiting for.
I am OK at the cabin - plenty of food (although I could live several weeks on my stored up fat alone). But I have been concerned about the dangerous trip up to the office and back, and have been trying to find a remedy. Bob Robinson said that I should drill screws into the bottom of some boots - from the inside. Hum, I gave that considerable thought. But then I remembered my fly fishing booties that I use when wading - they have a felt sole, and are often the only things that keep me from sliding all over the place on the slippery rocks on the bottoms of streams. It was worth a try. I put them on and walked around the back deck (which is covered with slick ice), and son of a gun, these things worked pretty good.
So I put on my wading booties and headed up to the office. While I still had to step very carefully, and put my body weight over each foot, I was able to move along with some speed (it only took me 15 minutes to make it the 1/4 mile up to the cabin). It was easy to get cocky though, and try to take more than one step without coming to a full halt and planning the next step - but this usually put me down, or at least flailing my arms in all directions and sliding all over the place before regaining my balance.
Once when I tried to make a short cut up a tiny slope, my feet slid right on out from under me and I was sent sailing down the hillside, first on my stomach, and later on my behind. What a helpless feeling that is! And nothing to grab on to since I was on the road (the forest would have been much worse). When I finally stopped, I looked around and saw Aspen heading my direction - he has lost it as well and was squirming all over the place, trying to right himself. He slide right on past me, and off the road, and ended up sliding another 20 feet on down the hillside before coming to rest up against a large oak. It was a funny sight indeed!
Later on, Aspen got real cocky and came flying along a level stretch of the road towards me. When he tried to stop at my feet, he just kept right on flying - it took him 30 or 40 feet to stop!
The ice continues to build up as the drizzle comes on down. There are many smaller trees hanging down over the road, in fact even touching the ground. I had to fight my way through a couple of them. They are getting rather pretty, but that is not a good sign at all - the ice builds up to a point where the limbs and trees break off, not only blocking the roads, but also knocking out the power lines. There were several large limbs already down across the road, and I will have to get out and remove them (plus many, many more that are sure to drop off soon) before I can drive anywhere. I will have plenty of time to do that though - I won't be going anyplace for a while.
The forest is very quiet, except when that silence is broken with the explosions of limbs breaking off and crashing to the ground. Your first thought is always to look UP and see if something is headed down at you. The more the ice builds up, the more dangerous it will be walking around here. I'm sure there are already some spectacular ice displays around here - especially over in Dug Hollow - but it would be crazy trying to get down into there. I might try it if I had a good pair of crampons. Next year perhaps.
Sounds like much of the rest of the state has had a lot more ice than we have had so far. We do get a bit of ice here in Arkansas!
The fog is real thick right now, and I can hardly see more than 50 feet into the woods from my office. The power is flickering on and off, so I will make this post now and hope for the best.
Well, I got a bit too cocky with my wading shoes, and the trip back down to the cabin was pure hell. I decided to take the trail instead of going down the road - big mistake. I made the first hundred feet OK, but then had a really tough time with the rest of it, mostly because it is all downhill - the felt soles don't help much when going downhill. I managed to slide and grab onto enough trees to get most of the way down, but then had a LOT more trouble making it the last 200 feet to the cabin. In fact my worst fall happened on the level 50 feet from the front door - flat on my back with a big bang. This ice is really serious.
The temp got up to 30, and things began to melt a bit. I decided that it might be safer to try to drive up to the office instead of walking - I still had some work to do up there that I could not do at the cabin, and it had to be done today. So I fired up the old truck, thinking its all fours would help. My trip lasted about five seconds. As soon as I cleared the protected carport, the truck began to slide sideways, and I was headed away from the cabin and towards a steep drop off. A bit of terror shot through my body, which was already beat up and bruised and aching from the frozen falls of before. The icy skyline raced past the window. Somehow, I came to an abrupt halt. I was saved, at least for the moment. I carefully opened the door and stepped out, then promptly fell flat on my face. This ice is the worst that I have ever seen, and by a long shot.
My poor car. Though it was not damaged, it will be a while before I will be able to move it anywhere. I think I will be able to pull it out from where it is sitting, once the ice is out of the way, which is good. It apparently had stopped when it hit an oak pallet that I had placed on the ground to walk on - the ice had frozen the pallet into place. I felt rather stupid. Ice makes you stupid, even more so than normal.
I still had to get up to the office, so I armed myself with a splitting maul and headed on up the hill, taking the road route. I was able to make it about half way up - the felt shoes did pretty good going uphill, but were worthless when pointed downhill. Then I got into a small ditch and knocked out some ice and was able to make another couple hundred feet up the hillside. I was right below the cabin when I decided to take a short cut through the woods. Since I had the maul, I felt like I could chop out a path that I could use both uphill and down, saving the trip around of a couple hundred yards each way.
So I began to swing the maul. Chop, chop, chop, chop. One step closer. Chop, chop, chop, chop, chop. Another step. It was taking about 4-6 chops for each step, so the going was slow. But I WAS making headway. It took another 20 minutes of chopping, but I finally made it to the office door. Man I was exhausted. It was just like chopping wood for that long, maybe worse. Nothing more humbling than being out of shape and needing to get a physical job done.
Looks like once I get my work done here, if I survive the trip back down to the cabin, I won't be returning to the office for a while. It will probably be Thursday before I make another post. Maybe even Friday. My head is pounding. My knees are shaking. Yikes, this ICE IS BAD!!! Perhaps a good long nap is in order...
SNOW, we need some snow on top of this - then I could ski wherever I needed to. I do believe that is in the forecast.
The trip back down to the cabin was, well, interesting. I took along a cardboard box to aid in getting down the sloped sections that did not have a ditch on one side. Everything worked just fine, although when I sat down in the box and began to head down the hill, I quickly got out of control, and was spinning around without any way to stop. Lots of fun for a kid I'm sure, but not knowing which tree I would strike, or when, was a little unnerving to me. I finally scrambled around and came to rest before inflicting any pain (good thing no one was watching!). That was the last foray outside for me today.
12/28/00 For the first time in a couple of days, the fog had lifted somewhat at daylight, and I could actually past the meadow and down into the wilderness. It was one incredible jewel of ice all over the place. And later in the morning, the sun popped through the clouds, and the spectacle was quite remarkable.
I spent most of the morning on the couch, reading Into Thin Air (about the tragedy on Mt. Everest in 1996). It was kind of weird to be reading about all this snow and ice, and then to get up and see the incredible beauty right outside my window. Not quite the same thing I know, but I try not to complain.
The sun broke through several times, which always made me jump up and run outside with the camera. No way that pictures of any kind would do it justice, but I took a few snapshots just for the heck of it.
Later in the day, I got ambitious and spent an entire hour chopping out a path for my stricken car to go on. Then I fired it up, put it down in granny gear, and inched my way out of danger, and onto the main driveway. It was still slicker than, well, very slick, so I was not able to go anywhere - could not even back into the carport. But I was relieved that it was out of immediate danger.
Soon after that the temp reached 32 degrees, and the forest began to make all sorts of racket. Much of it was coming from the melted ice that was pouring off of all the trees, but also many limbs finally cracked under the weight and came crashing down.
The surface of the driveway didn't melt any, so it was no use for me to attempt to go anywhere. Although I did eventually rough up the surface enough that I could backup into the carport. It may be a while before I leave this place - lots of food, and books, and WORK to do, so no problem.
Later in the afternoon I hiked up to the office without too much trouble - following the path that I had chopped out yesterday. I worked for several hours on the update to a guidebook which I HAD to get sent off. It is way past dark now, and I am getting chilled and ready to head back down the slippery path to the cabin. The flashlight that I brought up with me is one that is muscle powered - you have to squeeze it constantly in order for the bulb to light. But no batteries, so it never goes dead! As long as you can work your hand that is. It appeared to be clearing off a bit this afternoon, so I suspect I will have a lot of company from above on my hike down the hill. Frigid winter nights often produce coal black skies and perfect stargazing conditions. Hum, perfect except for all that ICE!!!
The power has remained on most of the time, so all in all I am still much better off than a large part of Arkansas. And so far, while there are a few limbs down across the road, most of them that have fallen are small to medium, and will only require a hand saw and a bit of elbow grease to remove.
YIKES, I had an interesting trip down the mountain. My little human-powered light worked OK, and I was able to follow my trail down the hillside without too much trouble. But where the crushed-ice trail in the ditch ended, I stepped out onto the middle of the road and disaster stuck - my feet went right out from under me, and I hit hard on my back and head. I lay there for a minute before I realized fully what was going on. My flashlight was smashed to pieces. It was REALLY dark out. And I hurt like hell. The ice quickly crept through my jeans and chilled my bones.
Then a couple of things happened. I got to thinking about the book that I had just read, about the terrible conditions up there on Everest. That warmed my soul a little bit because I realized that my predicament was so minor compared to what they had gone through. Of course, many of them had died. But I had to laugh a little to think that I was really in dire straights.
Then I rolled over just a bit and saw one incredible sight. There was an orange glow reflecting on the ice out there in the dark woods - coming from a very thin sliver of a moon that was hanging low on the horizon. It was one of the most beautiful sights that I had ever seen! Had I not been hurting so much from the fall and half frozen to death the view might have brought me to tears.
It did give me to shot in the brain that I needed to get up off of my fanny and continue my trek towards the cabin. The moon added little if any light, so the going was VERY slow. I was on all fours most of the time, and still had trouble moving without going down. I did sit on my rear a time or two and sort of slid and pushed myself along, but that didn't always work. I was SO HAPPY to finally reach the steps to the cabin!!!!! And as I did I turned around just in time to see my orange friend disappear below the horizon.
My bones ached from the many falls during the day, and I was chilled to the core. Nothing better than a dip in the hot tub to cure all of that, or at least to make one forget about it all. So I sat out there and soaked under that black sky filled with stars for what seemed like an hour. When I finally crawled out, my pain was all gone. And then the wind hit me in the rear and I felt a whole new pain!!!
12/29/00 As I rolled over and peered out the window at first light, the trees were glowing orange. The sun was just coming up over the ridge, creating quite the light show. And the wind was blowing, hard, and so all the color was moving around a lot. As I stepped outside it sounded like a bunch of glass breaking all around - the wind was knocking off a lot of ice from the trees.
While I was sitting there in the steaming bubbles, a thought came to me that might solve some of my problems. I hurried out and went to digging in the "outdoor" room (where all the camping and hiking stuff is stashed). I found a bag with a short pair of Atlas snowshoes in it, pulled them out and screamed with delight. There was a set of crampons built into each snowshoe!!!
I quickly got dressed and put on the shoes and headed out into the chilly air. Son of a gun, they worked! I was able to walk across the glazed ice without a single slip. Man, was I relieved! I really did not relish the thought of too many more trips up to the office and back. Why didn't I think of this before!
I bought these shoes from the Pack Rat Outdoor Store in Fayetteville back in 1995 to use during my year-long trip across the country taking pictures for my Wilderness Reflections book. I got to use them the very first week that I was on the road. We were in Colorado, and were holed up in a remote cabin at the edge of the Collegiate Wilderness. It snowed four feet in four days! I had never seen so much new snow, and was anxious to use the new shoes. The only problem was that with about 40 pounds of camera gear in my pack, plus all of that power snow, I sunk down to my waist with every step - even with the snow shoes! I was able to work my way over to a stream eventually and got the picture that I needed for the book. Haven't used the snowshoes since. They paid for themselves with that one picture, and now again, to save my rump from further bounces!
I must say that today I am feeling the effects of all the falls - my back is in pretty bad shape, and my head still hurts. But those snowshoes have given me such a giant mental lift!
The sun has been out most of the day, the temp remains in the upper teens - not much ice melting today. After a bit of work at the office, and a trip out to clear the road (had to cut out seven trees that were bent down over the drive), I decided to see if I could get the car up to the office. The wind had knocked off so much ice onto the road, that it all might actually give a bit of much needed traction.
I fired up the car and eased out of the driveway. Much to my delight I was able to get to the end of my circle drive without too much trouble, then up the first rise. Right in the middle of the next hill - the really bad one - the car came to a halt and began to slide backwards and sideways out of control. I had been so careful, and now my poor car was headed towards certain damage.
Steering or braking had no effect. But in a last ditch effort, I moved it into reverse and eased on the gas - son of a gun, that worked! I was able to re-gain control and bring it to a stop, and still on the road. Then I backed it on up to a more secure location and parked. I wasn't going anyplace today. Just as I stepped out, my feet went flying, and I hit the ground very hard once again. That one really rattled my brains, and my back. I was able to crawl to the back of the car and get my snowshoes out of the rear, then hobbled on back down to the cabin.
Just then it began to snow. Large, soft flakes that slowly swung left and right, dancing all the way to the ground. And then the sun came out and lit up the entire wilderness, backlighting the snow and the ice. It was a remarkable scene! COME ON SNOW!!!
No way that I will be able to chop out a rut all the way up the hillside, and there is no chance of that ice melting anytime soon, so my only hope is for a few inches of snow. I keep saying that don't I. Oh well, I am snug and warm and the power is still on. And even if it goes off now, with the snowshoes, I will be able to cut enough wood to last indefinitely. Only problem is that my little girl's 8th birthday is tomorrow, and I really wanted to celebrate with her. Not to mention missing her mom a great deal. Such is a problem of living in two different states. This may be our only winter with that situation though, so not to worry. I will see them as soon as I can get out of here. In the meantime, I absolutely LOVE winter in the Ozarks, and have been able to get a lot of work done on my guidebook update. It is still too dangerous to get out and try to take real pictures - like down in Dug Hollow. But that is OK. The view from my back deck is pretty nice.
12/30/00 A light snow fell much of the night, and about a 1/2 inch was on the ground at first light this morning. By that time I had already been up on the hillside chopping ice for an hour - starting out in near darkness. I found out last evening that a tree limb had crashed into the roof of my mom's house, just above her bedroom, which has now given me even more reason to get into town. Plus I have over 400 newsletters that need to be mailed. So as the morning wore on, I chopped ice until I gave out, went inside and rested for a while, then returned to my chopping. The temp started out around 13 degrees, and is now up to 18 in mid afternoon.
After pooping out for one last time with the big ice sledge, I decided it was time to give it a go. I warmed the car up, then carefully eased on the gas and crawled up the hill. The car of mine only need one wheel with traction , so I have been chopping out a single rut on the downhill side of the road. It has been very difficult work because the ice is still about 4-5 inches thick, and it is as hard as cement. I would usually have to make three or four whacks in one spot to make any kind of dent at all. Boy, so nice to be out of shape!!!
I held my breath as I got to the spot where I had been sent sliding away from yesterday, and son of a gun, the wheel took hold and the car eased right on up the hill. My biggest concern was at this one spot where the road is the steepest, and out-sloped, and there are no trees to stop me from sliding off of a steep embankment and down into the woods. But I made it past that spot just fine this time.
Once up on top and in the clear, I backed the truck up to the office - slipping and sliding all the way. Man, this ice is SLICK!!! Even with a dusting of snow on top, which is very dry and not really all that much help. I have filled the truck with boxes of books now, and am going to make an attempt to drive into town. Still many more bad spots to go - heck, the next nine miles is still all ice covered, with a number of hills. So if you don't hear from me for a while, it may be because I am out in the wood somewhere, having slid off of the road. Or perhaps it is because I was able to make it all the way into town, and then on to Pam and Amber's up in Missouri - that would be a long shot.
I absolutely love it out here in the winter, but with the mail and my mom and Pam and Amber all out there, I just have to try. It is very beautiful here right now - no wind at all, and the air is filled with big, puffy snowflakes, drifting down to a soft landing. It is very peaceful indeed. I hope we get a foot! If all goes well, I will see you next year - THANKS for spending a part of your time with me this year - I wish you the very best for 2001.
I MADE IT OUT! I had to stop 35 times between the office and the main dirt road to remove limbs that had fallen down across the road, then it took me about an hour to go the next seven miles out to the highway - solid ice the entire way. But the thin layer of new snow on top helped out a great deal, and I made it with a minimum of sliding. I had to put it into low range and first gear for most of the downhills - and even then the truck would begin to slide sideways every now and then, only to be corrected by the computer brain. I think I held my breath the entire time. Then it was off to the post office to mail the club's newsletters, and then on to Springfield, where I made it to Amber's birthday party before it was all over. Mission accomplished. While I absolutely LOVE being at Cloudland in the winter, having that ice to battle every inch of the way made me very glad to have escaped for a short time.
12/31/00 Contrary to what you might read in the journal here, I am not a really big party person. I DO enjoy GIVING parties, but seldom really partake of the wild life - I am more of a wall flower for sure. So Pam and Amber and I skipped the parties in Springfield and at her parent's house and stayed home to bring in the new year - we made our own kind of fun, and were all tucked in by 10pm.
So now it is on to the next year, one that I know will be filled with many great delights both in and out of the wilderness, with many old friends and new ones too, AND a new arrival or two at Cloudland. Stay tuned!
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