Snowshoeing In

The snowblower got another workout this afternoon. Steve estimates the total from this last storm was approximately 10 inches. It started later than was forecasted, and the flakes weren't very large, or it would have been much worse. The forecast for next week calls for warmer temperatures, so this could be the last large accumulation we'll have for the season. It sounds crazy, but we were both a bit disappointed that we didn't have a bigger storm.

Since we're not living on our property yet, it wasn't necessary to plow our long driveway there all winter. Steve said he wanted to drive up to get something out of our barn last week, but I highly suspect he just wanted another winter adventure. The snow bank where our driveway meets the road was way over Steve's head, so he had to leave our vehicle on the road and snowshoe down the driveway.

It was a beautiful day with a Keweenaw Blue sky - perfect for snowshoeing in to take some photos. Steve stopped to take a quick shot of his "shack."

This was the first building on our property. Steve assembled it in Saginaw, took it apart, and reassembled it up here back in 2004. He has spent many a night in the shack when working on our property since then. It has a electricity, a small wood stove, 2 cots, a coffee maker, a microwave and a small TV/VCR for entertainment - all the comforts of home - except plumbing!

The snowshoes were making for an easy walk, so Steve continued past our barn and onto the site of our basement.

The snow looks pretty impressive on top of our basement walls, doesn't it? Steve decided to keep going, so he made his way down the trail to his deer blind.

Of course, he had to go in for a closer look.

The roof seems to be holding up well under that snow load. After walking around in the woods a bit longer, Steve made his way back to our barn to retrieve whatever it was he wanted. He said he had to reach down to unlock the door and climb down into the barn. He took the next photo as he was heading back down our driveway toward the road.

Isn't that peaceful looking? He took the next shot as he continued toward the road.

If you look closely, you can see the gate across our driveway. The trees at the end are on the other side of the road. As he made his way to the other side of the gate, he paused to take a shot down the path cut into the woods for the power lines.

That's the area where Steve was snowmobiling last year when he got stuck, stuck, stuck. He claims he'll never do that again. He turned and took this last shot when he was almost to the road - before he climbed that huge bank at the end of the driveway.

Snowshoes come in real handy up here.

All is well in the Keweenaw.