February 12, 2011 Sooley Cabin: (3 Photos)

 

3.   Well winter seems to finally be here in full force. After having very little snow or cold weather throughout the fall and up to the first 2 weeks of January, the Northeast Avalon Area has received almost 200cm of snow as of today! With this in mind, we decided to hold an annual Sooley Cabin Trip next weekend, and in preparation Sooley, Maffer, Janes and I headed out to the cabin to clear the driveway and check the ice on the pond.

 

2.   Once again, Saturday brought sunny skies as we headed out the highway to Whitbourne. When we arrived we unloaded the sleds on the highway and headed up to the cabin, and keeping with tradition, we were all stuck in waist deep powder in the first 2 minutes! The snow conditions were awesome, something we haven't seen up there since about 2003. The powder is 2 feet deep everywhere, and deeper where the wind drifted it in.

 

1.   We quickly got the machines unstuck and got up to the cabin where Sooley got the tractor going and started clearing snow with the snowblower attachment. I've found my new favorite snow blower, as much as I love my Honda, the diesel PTO powered tractor blower is just awesome. While Sooley and Janes were snow clearing Maffer and I broke a few trails around the cabin and checked the ice on the pond. Although there was a fair bit of slush and water on top of the ice, we found 8-10" of ice consistently all over the pond. Having a fairly mild winter, I stayed away from any river/brook run ins, and known underwater springs. Again, with such a mild winter, you HAVE to check EVERY pond that you cross, as every one is different, you cant take a chance on the ice being safe.

With the driveway cleared and everything set to go, we loaded up just after dark and headed home in eager anticipation of an awesome cabin trip!

 

Cheers, MIKE

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