Fishing season looms

Overnight low -5C, daytime high of 7C.

More snow over night, and light flurries in the morning.  Cloudy and cold throughout the day, but warm enough to melt all of the snow deposited in the past two days.  The sun came out around 4:00 and hung around until it dipped behind the mountains for the night.

The lake is mostly thawed now.  Just need a windy day from the South to disperse the remaining ice sheet.

Wasn't expecting THIS

Overnight low -3C, daytime high of 6C.

Well, I did say it felt like fall yesterday.  Snow over night, continuing in off and on throughout the day.  Precipitation for the day was a couple of inches, but little retained it's frosty state by day's end.

Blow me down

Overnight low -2C, daytime high of 11C.

Felt like fall today, not spring.  Cold temperatures, high winds, and a little snow.  Check out the bend in the trees.  This picture was taken during the worst of the day, though the winds were even stronger from 8pm onwards.

Breaking Good

Overnight low 0C, daytime high of 16C.

Overcast morning, short hail storm around noon.  Cloudy and windy afternoon with occasional light showers.  The sun broke through occasionally from about 4:30 to sunset, when the wind subsided.

Well, I was wrong about the snow (my 10-day prediction ended today), but the lake is starting to break up ahead of schedule.  If it's a nice day tomorrow, I may bring out the ice-breaker.

Logging Part 2 - Not weather related

Here are a couple of pictures of the logging activities between 31k and 33.5k markers.  The start of the logging road was still very muddy, so I did not venture out to the spur road near the start of the logging road at the 31k mark.

I instead hiked from the Hendrix road directly across to the new bridge.  The road is still soft, but walkable   Wouldn't want to drive a vehicle down it yet.

New bridge over Hendrix Creek.

The road stops just after the bridge.

View upstream of Hendrix Creek from the bridge

View from about 100 meters before the bridge

looking back towards the start of the new logging road

It's all about perspective

Overnight low 0C, daytime high of 13C.

Blustery day, the daytime high was deceiving.  Gusting winds and overcast skies throughout the day.  Light rain off & on all afternoon.

These two pictures were taken within a minute of each other from opposite ends of the road.  So, depending on your perspective, the ground is mostly snow covered, or mostly bare.

It's like a sauna out there

Overnight low -5C, daytime high of 16C.

Not quite a sauna, but it sure felt like spring today.  Overcast morning, mostly cloudy afternoon.  Light rain around dinner time for a half an hour.  The spring buds are winning, and the snow is not fighting the inevitable.

Grey skies are gonna clear up

Overnight low -5C, daytime high of 11C.

Overcast morning leading to blue skies with wispy clouds for most of the day.  Plenty of snow melting today, but lots left to go.

Breaking up is hard to do

Overnight low -1C, daytime high of 11C.

Very light snow over night and continuing until about 8:30am.  Little accumulation, but was gone by noon.  Overcast in the morning, windy & mostly cloudy in the afternoon and evening.

The Hendrix Lake road is far more solid now, as the thawed ice has drained.  Still riddled with potholes.

Bigger cracks in the ice on the lake

And more open water along the banks.

Slow and steady she goes.

Life finds a way

Overnight low -10C, daytime high of 10C.

Gorgeous day, clear skies from dawn till dusk.  Significant snow melt as well.  I've never planted these flowers, they just keep reappearing every spring.

Fluvial Emergence?

Overnight low -8C, daytime high of 7C.

Frosty over night, the wood stove was cranking on overtime.  Clear skies, no wind, and cold most of the day, partly cloudy late afternoon and evening.

The picture below is deceiving.  There is only about two feet of open water before the ice - and that's due to human intervention.  Unfortunately, the surface is still 99.9% ice.

Crisp

Overnight low -1C, daytime high of 7C.

Mostly cloudy morning, mostly sunny afternoon.  Windy at times, and cold for most of the day - even in the sun.  Not much snow melting today.

Slick 50 (or at least 33)

Overnight low 0C, daytime high of 9C.

Scattered showers through most of the day.  Steady rain from about 4:00-7:00.  The ice on the lake is staring to thin on the edges.

Had to drive into town today, and the gravel road is extremely soft in many long sections West of Spanish Road.  It was like driving through heavy mashed potatoes.  You know it's slippery & mucky when the pedal is almost to the floor, you're only driving 30kph, and the truck is sideways.  The grader was out, but I don't think it was doing much good.  The balance of the 33k was relatively stable and snow-free, but still heavily pot-holed.

Drop

Overnight low 1C, daytime high of 8C.

Perhaps the first rain of the year today.  Foggy and almost muggy morning, then cloudy all day.  Very light rain off & on from 11:00, then steady rain from 6:30 onward.  The white stuff should be around for another 7-10 days.

Drip

Overnight low -7C, daytime high of 9C.

Mostly sunny morning till mid-afternoon, then clouding over.

The melt has begun.  The ground is thawing faster than the snow is melting though.  Could have some local flooding this year.  Check your crawlspace.

Even Keel

Overnight low -8C, daytime high of 8C.


Cloudy and breezy through early afternoon, then calm and mostly cloudy.  The sun poked through a few times, but didn't hang around for more than 20 minutes at a time.

Snow-capped Mt. Hendrix

Logging - Not weather related

As promised, here are some pictures of the logging activities around the 31k mark.  I've also crudely marked up an overview map so you can get a better idea of the extent.

Map of the logging.  The red stripes represent logging completed last fall, or over winter.  The yellow stripes are an extrapolation of what I could see from the main road - might be logged, might not be, might be even more extensive.  There is a secondary logging road leading there.  I may explore this another day.  The bridge has been built just South of 'Gilligan's Lake', not sure how far the road is built.  Again, perhaps another day.

On the West side, the cutting is up to the power line.  It starts at about 31.5k, and stops about 200 meters past the 33k marker.

New bridge

Secondary logging road at the 31k mark

View at the 31k mark looking North

View at the 31.5k mark looking North

View at the 32k mark looking North

View at the 32.5k mark looking South

View at the 33k mark looking North

Chilly night

Overnight low -8C, daytime high of 7C.

Cloudy throughout the day, turning to mostly sunny around 5pm.

Thinning Ice

Morning temp 6C, high of 11C.

Sunny in the morning, then cloudy the all afternoon.  Light snow all afternoon from 12:30 to about 4:00.  Not much accumulation.  Mostly cloudy evening.

I picked up a new indoor/outdoor digital thermometer last week, so starting tomorrow the daily high/low temps will be far more accurate.  I'll  be posting the daily high and previous night's low at the top of each daily entry.

New Views

Back up for the "summer."  Snow on the road from Spanish Road onwards, only one track to drive on, but only about 4" deep.  Suspect the road hasn't been plowed in a few weeks.  2WD not recommended without excellent snow tires.  Condition of the road is about 4 out of 10.  Lots of heavily potholed sections.  There's also a nasty dip just before the new logging road at the 31k mark.

Little to no snow on the roads in the town site, but approximately 8-10" on the lawns & park.  Arrived at 2:15pm and the temperature was around 4C.  Felt like almost 10C when the sun came out, but that didn't last long.

For those of you (including myself) who were disappointed with the new logging road going in at around the 31k mark, I've got bad news.  They've clear-cut out both sides of the Hendrix Lake Road from that point up to just past the 33km mark.  Pics to come in the following days.