[at-l] Spring

[Arthur Gaudet]

Hah, it's getting to me now, too! I went to go birdwatching at Plum Island
yesterday, in the middle of the snowstorm. Lots of Pintail ducks, some Gadwalls
& the Ring-necked ducks have just arrived from the south. I wondered what they
were thinking! --RockDancer

-----Original Message-----
From: at-l-bounces at backcountry.net [mailto:at-l-bounces at backcountry.net] On
Behalf Of Art Cloutman
Sent: Saturday, March 29, 2008 8:13 AM
To: at-l at backcountry.net
Subject: [at-l] Spring

It was beginning to look like spring around here just a couple of days ago. We
had a front loader carefully push back the huge mounds of snow onto the middle
of our lawns so that the snow plow had a place to put the snow when he did our
driveway.  A couple inches of ice remained on the edge of lawn and then a six
foot tall ridge of snow remains in the middle of our lawn blocking any good
views of the lake and mountains beyond.  Several days of warm weather( highs in
the 40's) have melted just enough of the ice and snow that we have just begun to
see signs of the grass.  Then yesterday we got hit with another snowstorm.  4 to
8 inches fell in the area.  We got around 4 inches on our lawn but at Gunstock 5
inches fell which covers the corn snow with a sticky coat of fresh powder.
Skiing was great!  But we could not see Mt Washington or the White Mountains
because of clouds and fog.  NH has reached second place for all time record snow
fall.  This was measured in Concord, NH at 115.2 inches.  The record in Concord
was set in 1873-74 at 122 inches.  But, many places in the state have over 150
inches.  Gunstock has recorded 139 inches of natural snow with 51 inches of man
made snow mixed in.  All of this gets packed down with warm weather , grooming
and skiers.  Even after being compacted some places on the mountain have 6 feet
of base. 
Just 50 miles south of Gunstock the grass is starting to turn green and people
are doing yard work.  They are tiring of skiing so fewer people are showing up
at the mountain.  Management at the mountain has determined that the official
closing date for the ski season will be April 6th.  However, there is talk of
opening on weekends for as long as the snow lasts.  It has been an incredible
season.

There was a report from Mt Washington Observatory on the local TV broadcast last
night.  Observatory workers have recorded around 150 inches of snow on the
summit.  That is well below the normal winters accumulation of 200 inches or
more.  But the notches and ravines are reporting a higher then usual avalanche
activity.
-- 

Life is Good!!!
Art Cloutman
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