St Patricks Day in Leetonia

Those nasty Leprechauns
I think the Leprechauns played a trick on us and decided we needed another taste of winter before they would grant us a real Spring.

We had anywhere from 8-12 inches of snow Saturday and we had to go somewhere with the dogs. Needless to say they are jambed into a dog crate for the 9 mile trip to Cedar Run to get the car.

I don't think they are too happy about the idea of riding in the crate, but they are happier than being left behind.
March is the month most likely to make us wonder why. Why do we live somewhere the plows don't go? It takes so much extra time to load everything into the snowmobile then unload it into the car and do the same thing on the return. Working up here in the winter on cabins takes twice as long and you get half as much done as you do when the roads are clear.

Today upon returning "Sunday", the roads had been somewhat packed down by the weekend snowmobilers. The road is still a little iffy for vehicles other than snowmobiles and there are places where the road is starting to show through...bad for the snowmobiles. Welcome to the March In-betweens. When you don't know how to get in and out until the hour you are ready to go. Things change in an instant with rain, snow, freezing or thawing. Even with the hassle looking at the blue sky with a few white clouds and the beauty of the woods somehow gives you the courage to face it another day.

Mountain Girl Road Advisory: Snowmobile preferred...vehicle possible but dangerous.

Winter's Revenge

No this isn't a picture from a month ago. Unfortunately we are now back in the snowmobile mode. We have 6-8 inches of new snow as of 7pm and still snowing. I just brought my truck home the other day thinking I could keep both vehicles at the house now that Spring had come. Wrong!

The truck did make it through 6 inches of snow, but you must have a steady hand and no fear of sliding. Do not attempt to drive to your camp for the St Patrick's weekend, unless you have a snowmobile it might be more pain than it is worth. I don't expect this snow will last long since the ground has warmed up a bit and the days are longer. But it won't be gone for this weekend.

Mountain Girl Road ADVISORY in affect. Snowmobiling is the preferred method of travel. I just saw Mick on his snowmobile looking like a true mountain man with is leather cap. All the animals are hanging low and they generally know best. Don't bring a truck back this weekend unless you have a lot of time and money to spare. The snow is supposed to continue until morning.

Spring took a nap today

Leetonia Rd near Red Rock road close to creek


(Cedar Run)Pine Creek at 8'
Well all hope of Spring snowed away this morning with a cold snap and a couple inches of snow. To top it off, I went out to start the car and my chained tire was flat. This meant changing two tires, since the chains won't work on the the spare donut. Half of my day was spent going to town to get it fixed. It appears an old plug failed. Leetonia is the best place to live if you like repairing tires. I annually plug at least 4 tires a year between the two vehicles and average replacing about 2 tires a year out of eight. These stony roads are extremely bad on tires. This is the first time I have had a flat while there was still snow on the roads.

Leetonia Road coming up Cedar mountain from Sliders Rd is closed to vehicle traffic until it either freezes solid or melts the foot of snow/slush still there. We went down it yesterday...barely and decided going up it wasn't going to happen. We came back on Thompson Hollow to Painter Leetonia which is 90% clear, but adds about 5 miles to our trip. We drove it in the fog so thick we weren't sure we were on the road half the time. I don't recommend doing that...combination dark and fog = BAD!

The creek is up to 8 feet at Cedar Run and roaring down the valley with Spring Melt. They are calling for another 4-8" of snow this weekend, but I suspect it will melt fast. It won't be enough to snowmobile. Mountain Girl Road Condition rating remains: Adventurous ONLY! Have shovel, chains, and the ability to walk for help or enough food to last in your car until someone finds you. On a weekend you might be found in a day...weekdays count on 2-3 days.

Some roads are completely clear and others dangerous...the dangerous ones appear before you can make another choice. Be careful out there.

Spring has Sprung in Leetonia

Spring is here!!!! Today we spotted the first Robin in the front yard. Of course it didn't stay long enough for a picture. So you are getting the picture of the deer that just completed eating the sunflower seeds I put out for the birds. They seem to know exactly when to show up. The birds are not pleased with the intruders and will sometimes dive bomb them.

The Robins seemed interested in picking up the straw on the front yard. Can they be thinking nest already. That is a very optimistic thought, considering the calender doesn't even show Spring for another week. We've had snow as late as May so they better be ready to keep the nest warm.

Leetonia Meltdown by Paula Martin

Its all melting now....

I am home just in time for the March meltdown. This is the month I dislike the most up here. During the winter things are tough, but with snow and cold get across the mountain requires either a chained up vehicle or a snowmobile. March presents a new problem. Roads which are half-snow and half-mud.

Snowmobiles do not like the mud and cars and trucks do not like the hard pack snow melting into a kind of snow quick sand. This is the month we start to see people in the ditches surprised by the depth and severity of our unplowed roads. Plowed roads give the illusion on 50 degree days all is well in the woods. It seduces people back on one lane death traps with little space for error and few places to change your mind and go back. Even worse is the fact the first few miles often seems fine..then you are sucked into a slush pile and pulled into the ditch or worse over the mountain.

Most of the time people clean the ditches with their vehicles. We see hundred of yards of trenching, swearing and "I didn't know there was still snow back here". Well you know now if you read this blog. Driving before April 1st requires calling someone who lives back here or taking the risk that your car will be a ditch trencher.

The dogs are happy to sit on the porch in the sun..the younger one likes to play war with anything he can tear loose, bark, cardboard, or tarps. Our front yard looks like a war zone of imaginary enemies he has destroyed. As the grass appears so do his trophies. I need to train him how to rake it all up.

We have definitely made a turn towards Spring. The birds are loudly announcing their presence and the deer have been yarding up. Seems like the woods starts to wake up in March.