Well, today is the 8th of January, 2011. Tomorrow is the 9th and the last legal day to deer hunt for the season. Since tomorrow is Sunday (and I'm always in Church on Sunday) today was our last opportunity. I woke very early and was considering all the weather reports on TV as well as the WX channel here on the Internet when I finally decided the predictions were in our favor. At about 8:00a, I got a call from my friend, Ed, saying, "Let's go!" It didn't take me but a few minutes to put the mule onto the trailer and head out towards the mountains. It was still partly cloudy as we headed East - and then turned North for about 12 miles - so everything was looking good. Looking good that is until about two miles before our last turn into the woods. We looked up on the mountain to our North and saw that it was covered with a dark cloud and white snow! Should we go on? Yes. Of course. It was not snowing where we were and the temperature was 36 degrees. It didn't take long, however, until temperature began to drop down...35...34...32. Still no snow - to speak of - although there were a few flurries. Determined to take advantage of this opportunity we talked of other things ... keeping an eye on the thermometer ... and the skies. After winding into the mountains for about 12 more miles we noticed that the snow activity had started to pick up a bit. Five miles before destination (the cabin) I stopped and took this picture.
This cabin is just 5 miles from mine. The ground has already begun to look white here - but not too bad we thought.
Once at the cabin, we both bailed out of the truck and started putting on jump-suits, "below-zero" boots and heavy coats and hats. The more I doggedly pressed on with additional clothing, the heavier the snowfall became! Finally, I said the magic word. I said, "Ed, what should we do? Do we want to be safe - or sorry?" He said, "Well...I think I'd rather err on the side of safety!" So --- take off the jump suit and heavy clothes and get back in the truck like someone who had good sense and head for home before we get caught out here and can't get home!
