I went up hill tonight to check on things. Everything came through just fine with the exception of some moderate to severe washouts along the driveway. The worst part is where the road takes the big left hand turn past the brook. Fortunately, we have a good supply of gravel well positions and the tractor should make short work of the road repair in plenty of time for Arunah Hill Days.
Looks like Irene was exclusively a rain event for the hill... no damage at all to any of the buildings, and very little "blow down" around the clearing. The porto-potties are fine, and the new roof on the shower building came through its first tropical storm with no problem at all.
The hill is still pretty saturated, especially in the usual spots, like below the telescope storage shed. The berm we put in a few years ago seemed to do its job, the clearing and the top of the driveway came through it all in pretty good shape. I'm expected with the great forecast for the week we'll be in great shape for Arunah Hill Days.
On the way to the hill the Westfield River was flowing fast and muddy, but was below flood stage. Once I got the the Knightville Dam, it wasn't too hard to figure out why... The dam is impounding massive amounts of water that would have otherwise inundated Westfield and Agawam.
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I'll be up on the hill Wednesday and Thursday after work. Hopefully if the mowing and gravel repair is done in time, we'll be setting up the RUM and enjoying some dark skies on Thursday night!
