January on the Mountain
Starting out the new year right, mostly
Winter Wonderland
Snowmobiling or ‘Sledding’
What a month! December ended with cold weather, around -25C or -13F. It snowed lots, and since I have snowmobiles to play with things were looking pretty exciting. In the first few snows from last year I tried to ride, but kept getting stuck. The powdery snow wasn’t enough of a base for my bigger machine. It would just dig right through the fluffy snow (I do know how to ride, I swear) and hit ground. Like a car being stuck in the mud but the opposite.
Another couple of snowfalls in January and it’s GAME ON!! Not getting stuck any more, I got to explore backroads that I can’t make it through in a car or on a dirt bike. Some roads are soooo steep and narrow there’s no way that I’d make it in a truck. Other’s are covered in bushes that make it impossible to dirt bike. The bushes all lay down under the snow, and the road suddenly opens to snowmobiles.
My machine is meant for deep powdery snow, which it was for a few days. Then it warmed up! Into the pluses and sunny. A bittersweet change for sure. Suddenly my powdery snow has a hard crunchy layer. My snowmobiling turned from powdery mountain snowmobiling to trail riding. Snowmobiles are cooled by the snow that hits the underside of the machine. When the snow is powdery it isn’t a problem. When the snow is hard you need to drop the ‘scratchers’. They scrape the hard snow as you go and fling it up into the underside of the machine. So, scratchers engaged - time to check out more roads!
Tobogganing and GTing
Just after bailing face first
There’s something that I’ve been wanting for a long time and this year my partner got me one for Christmas. A Snow Racer. With steering, brakes, all the fixins! It’s even the same blue as my coat.
Last year the snow was too deep and fluffy to do much tobogganing in. You’d just sink, everywhere you went. This year with that hard crust on the snow - you FLY on a toboggan! After climbing up the mountain, sometimes crawling when the snow crust breaks under your feet, we get to the top.
First we tried riding those long black utility type sleds. They worked great - the snow is still hard enough that when you bail you break through for a bit of a soft landing! Then, time for the Snow Racer. Man. That thing flies!! Definitely necessary to have helmet and goggles on. Brakes fully applied the whole way down, and still you’d sometimes end up in a ‘death wobble’ and bail. Into the snow or whichever tree you were trying to avoid. What a fun few days. Making new lines down the mountain, crashing in new and creative ways. I’ll admit I was a bit sore after the third day.
Fishing
The neighbour called one day and asked if we’d like to tag along for some fishing? Um. HECK YES.
Man, what a thrill to get off of the mountain for the day, and go fishing! The best. We planned to meet at the nearest road between our places. The neighbour would drive us to where they like to fish on the lake. I packed up my ice fishing pole(always handy in case of impromptu fishing opportunity), tackle box and some snacks onto the snowmobile and away we went. The ride to the road is a fast one when you’re excited. What a beautiful day, sunny and warm, ice under your feet. There were already some holes in the ice that just needed to be re-opened to fish through.
I was getting skunked. Everyone else had a few fish to take home but me! I’d even managed to snag the bottom once and lost my hook. Not long after I changed holes, a tug! After a surprisingly good fight I’d landed my first Brook Trout. A little one that I threw back. I’ve seen Brookies before but never caught one. They have a distinct white strip on their fins and gorgeous colourful spots.
I caught the rainbow trout in the last few minutes of fishing. The neighbour had told me about how it can be better to use your hand to tug the line when you feel a bite. I’d had something nibbling and suspected it to be something small. A bare handed yank on the line, and I’d hooked what I thought was a little fish! I pulled it up, completely forgetting about my reel and saw it in the hole. The narrowest ice fishing hole on the lake. It just barely squeezed through. My best rainbow trout to-date!
The Challenges
January wasn’t without its challenges. The main one being that my water froze. All of it. I stored a few thousand litres of water in cubes in a sea can - the same one that houses my propane freezer. In principle it should have worked if this winter were like last. The freezer’s pilot light wasn’t enough to keep things thawed during the -27C cold snap in December. Now I have very well preserved water. For spring.
So for now I’m back to what I did last year. Melting snow. I have 5 more mouths to feed (4 bunnies, 2 goats, one less chicken) so keeping ahead of melting snow is a must. I have a ceramic filter which works great for making the snow safe to drink. It just takes some patience, as it only moves through the filters at a slow drip.
I also discovered that the snowmobiles are not lightweights on their fuel. I’ll have to make a trip to town for more in the near future. Plans are in the works to renovate the kitchen space of the sea can from the stinky Balsam Fir to lovely cedar. I was warned that Balsam is a stinky wood.. did I listen? Nope.
I love reading about your life on the mountain!