This is our inbetween season. That block of time that comes every fall when the leaves are gone, the ground is frozen, the wind howls, and we're waiting for snow to make travel easier.
Our main cabin is only a mile from the nearest dirt road, but its all uphill... and the longest commute between truck and porch took over 4 hours. You'd think it would never take that long to hike a mile if you have two working legs... but think again.
I was working in town that fall of 1999, and between the time when I left for work and when I got home, we'd received almost 4 feet of snow. I was using foot power to go back and forth... it was too cold for my four-wheeler to start and these were the days before I owned a snowmachine. So the only way to get up the mountain was to walk.
Without snowshoes, the last quarter mile was climbed on my knees to spread out my body weight. By this time the snow was switching to rain, and I arrived dog-tired at my cabin door at 6:30 in the morning.
Fast forward a decade... and you'll find me at the same ever-expanding homestead. Now married and with a toddler and satellite internet access- but life is much the same. Yeah, we have snowmachines and the dogteam has dwindled to 4. But the inbetween season is here again.
Yesterday found me working hard to get the four wheeler started, so I could haul those last precious loads up the mountain before we play the waiting game. Waiting for snow to make the snowmachines go. Praying for trail padding to slick up the skis and provide braking for the dogs. Wondering when it will come.
So I did manage, with much ado, to add 240 pounds of livestock feed and 80 gallons of water to our stash. And I really hope it tides us over until sleds travel easily up and down the mountain...