All is quiet...and cold...on the Hill

Matt Paine and I had a little time to make a quick stop on the Hill this past Friday afternoon. We wanted to check all the facilities and see what kind of shape the road was in. Unfortunately last weekend's "sanding" (work) party may have been a bit futile as old man winter and the Hill's elevation left a good 5-7 inch fluffy snowcover on the road. Right at the barn I put my truck in 4 wheel drive and we gently, as to not dig any ruts in the road, made it up past the lower lot. At the first hill I instantly felt all 4 wheels break loose, even in first gear with very little throttle. The hill, combined with a slippery base layer of wet snow, and 5+ inches of fluffy stuff was enough to overcome any friction I had. I backed down, put it in 4 wheel Low and locked the rear differential. I let the truck's idle take us up as it supplied just enough torque to not brake any wheels loose. We made it gently up to about 50 yards below the clearing and started to break loose again. Mind you I've had my Tacoma up to well past its hubs and skid plates in snow behind the Deerfield rail yard before with no issues. The road on the Hill Friday had just the right mix of conditions to cause the need for chains.....well unless of course I wanted to "gun" it and risk digging up the road or worse ending up against a tree. Neither of which I preferred....so we parked my truck and walked the remainder of the way.

Aside from 6+ inches of snow and some deeper drifts (one 10 incher on the road), the Hill was quiet with cold temps and blowing snow. The clubhouse was still buttoned up, Pavillion looked good and the telescope shed still rodent free. Of course the half iced and snowed over pad near the clubhouse sent a sturdy "I'm not ready for spring yet...." message from old man winter. The sky was partly clouded over but a nice crescent moon shone high above the clubhouse with the new HAM radio antenna looking as if it was pointing it out for us.

After a few minutes of taking in the snowy hill we headed back to my truck and off to dinner. With the potential for some good snow storms this week I'm thinking that groundhog was on to something after all.......











-Kevin.

Sanding the Road and Radio to the Far Reaches

We had a good turnout for the February workday. Dan Carnevale, Kevin Collins, Ray Burk, Tom Walker, Matt Paine, and I spread several barrels of sand on the slick spots of the driveway. By afternoon, even my little 2-wheel drive Matrix easily made it to the top of the hill.

We inspected the telescope storage shed, and were pleased that there are no signs of a rodent problem.

With the outside temperature hovering around 25 F and the sun struggling to break through the high overcast, we gathered around the wood stove and Matt went to work on the ham radio. Matt was soon hitting repeaters all over New England and New York. He had conversations with folks in Westboro, Ma, Troy, New York, and Rhode Island.

With a massive Nor'easter just south of the New England coast, the prospects for a clear night on Arunah seemed to fade. If the weather holds, the hill will be in good shape for next weekend's winter star party.... though a midweek storm looks like it might have other plans. We'll just have to wait and see.

Our mailbox was a midwinter casualty of snowplowing. I ran into town to pick up the Arunah Hill mail. We'll have to put mailbox repair on the list for the March workday.

Thanks to all who helped today.
-Ed