Friday, January 2, 2015

Every end has a new beginning

The end was cold.
Really cold. We jumped in the Jeep and headed to the cabin on Tuesday night, it was going to be the coldest night of the year and for some reason I was nervous about the heat settings at the cabin. The Jeep has a snow plow and the roads were snow pack and/or icy so it was a long, slow drive.

When it's -15 to -20 outside, and you are doing an average of 40 MPH. that's a negative 50 degrees on the vehicle. It wasn't a very warm drive, no matter the heat setting, but we had plenty of gear on and around to help. The cabin was fine, but I did turn up the heat a little and the driveway got plowed. It was a long cold drive back home.

New Years eve had me heading back to the cabin. I had a grand plan to hike about 15 miles on New Years day, but the 18 inches of fresh snow derailed those plans. I did get out and about several times, and spent some time reading and reflecting on the type of person I am, and where I/we are headed in 2015. New Years isn't about drinking, fireworks, balls dropping or other people. This is the day I lost my Father several years ago, this is a day for me to try and have some sort of epic adventure.

Alone.

Hello 2015! The temperature was -15 but I got out for a few miles of hiking, I'm determined.

The beginning was cold and wet.

The snow started falling early on New Years day and of course in the country the plows don't run on a holiday. This storm and the end of the previous days storm left a bit of snow on the roads and plenty in the hills. It was very tempting to head up into the tree's but I need to get snowshoes.

Fresh snow, it was really coming down so I waited it out inside. A few hours later the sun started to break through and I shoveled. Then it was hiking time! I got hot and regretted wearing thermals, I probably should have worn shorts. I'm always running on the melty side of hot.

Here, I'm smiling... honest. It was about 3 degrees but with the sun I didn't even get chilled.


I read a book, watched a movie, watched Oregon spank Florida, ate a big salad and did 400 pushups. I figured since I couldn't get out for much cardio I would still get some sort of workout in. All the usual chores were done and then I went to bed for a 4AM wakeup drive to work. The joys of commuting on roads that weren't plowed.

12 comments:

  1. Sounds like a great day. Enjoy the new year and what adventure it brings.

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    1. Thanks, it's going to be another grand year! I hope yours is as well.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thanks Rev. I hope you and your family have an awesome Alaska style year!

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  3. Wow, You are inspiring! Not that I could do any of that, and the fact that I am new to living at 7000 ft keeps me down a bit. But you are inspiring me to push my limits a bit. Looking for a satisfying year! Bless you and yours.

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    1. I'm glad I'm inspiring but honestly I probably have OCD and guilt issues that just drive me constantly. If you ever need pointers let me know and I'll toss some your way!

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  4. If the power goes out, will you have no heat? Will your pipes break? That's a big worry of mine up here, but since I am home, I can fire up my backup systems should the power go out, and only two of my buildings do not have propane gas as a heat source , which is not dependent on any electronic pumps, controls, thermostats, etc.

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    1. If we are here it won't matter. If we are away, it could be bad news, depending on how cold it gets.

      We are going pick up a couple radiant heaters and have them running off the battery backup so if the power does go off, at least there will be something. Just one more step to add to the 'before you leave for a few days' list.

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  5. Are you planning on planting any fruit trees, either on the property or close by within the forest?

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    1. We are planning on fruit trees for sure. With the amount of sun and rain here, plus with the water table being high, it's an exciting prospect.
      Apple tree's for sure, possible some others but we need to research a little bit and talk to the local greenhouse folks to see what good choices are for the area.
      The bad part is the ground is very rocky for digging, but that's not necessarily bad for roots. We are planting a lot of random things this spring just to see what grows, what gets eaten, what thrives. We think blackberry bushes might do well on the roadside, it's acidic from the ponderosa tree's but should get enough sun.
      It's super exciting.

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  6. I wonder if some sort of phone line/internet connection could inform you if the heat goes out and then an Ap that allows you to turn on a backup battery powered system would work? Then again I usually try and go low tech myself and would more than likely just shut everything off completely if I was gone. I find low tech to be the most reliable :)

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    1. We don't have a phone line, we don't use the one in the city for anything but the alarm system. Here it's $35 a month so we said no thanks.
      We have internet but it's not very reliable. We think a batter backup system and radiant heaters should work fine. If it's plugged in, it's charged and the radiant heaters shouldn't come on (based on the temperature settings on the electric baseboard heaters). If the power goes out, the battery system should run the 2 heaters for 12 hours.

      Theory of course, need to get it set up next weekend and test it out, including run time on battery alone. Solar eventually is our plan for the backup.

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