Conditions Update for 12/23/2020

Merry Christmas on this cold and blustery December 23.  Not a whole lot to report - we've tried to keep up with some mode of trail maintenance with the little bit of snow that we're farming and trying to hold onto.  We did install more sections of fencing where the trees have continued to fall and allow too much sun to shine on the snow.  That should help conserve what we have and keep the ground frozen enough for when we do get more snow, which is in the forecast for early next week...fingers crossed!

Trails were regroomed last evening, but no new classic track was set with the low snow conditions.  We might try pulling something around in a day or two to get at least something set.  It'll be a thin track, but it'll be nice to have something to ski in.

Hopefully, the surface conditions aren't total boilerplate today and tomorrow.  We tried a different thing to grind up the surface before running the "Tidd" groomer.  

As it has been, and is getting worse by the day, there are a lot of rocks and obstacles on the lower part of the course, with more grass and twigs on the upper part.  The wind will probably lay down some tree trash too, so please keep your eyes peeled for that stuff.

Use extreme caution in the burn areas of the system, and especially the front hill.  If you do take your skis off to walk, walk to the upper side to avoid making holes in the middle.  (thanks!)

The upper part of the trails should still be nice for skiing, so it's worth it...

Season is ON! 12/15/2020

 Finally, we received enough snow (barely) to go out and groom.  We also got some damaging wind, but it wasn't too bad and we were able to clean it up and get the trails packed and groomed.

It's super thin in many sections, so be SUUUPER careful and use your rock skis.  Mostly, the lower road is groomed and skiable from A to O, as are the upper trails, which ski a bit better.  We also got the upper meadow and Caldera loop packed in.  

It's all lumpy and bumpy until we get more snow, so keep that in mind.

Here are some recent snow pics of the trails and the mess we had to clean up:

SWNSC shop

SWNSC kids skiing on Camp May Rd

Clearing downfall out on the trails

Good skiing the next day out on the trails

Trails groomed 2/05/2020

Oof, that was a long night!  There was quite a bit of new snow for what seemed like not much of a storm.  The total amount was hard to figure out, but it looked like anywhere from 5" (bottom) to nearly 8" at the top.  Sometimes that happens.

Anyway, the entire system was packed/groomed out, but may be just a bit soft out in the meadows.  The tree trails and stuff down low will be firm right away.  It was very cold, so it set up fast.

Kids ski program this afternoon starting out about 4pm.  We'll have a classic time trial this Saturday, about 5km or so, so come on out if you're up for that.  First skier off at 9:30AM.

Enjoy!

2/04/2020 Snow Update

After a bit of a break from getting some "real" snow over this past week, things look to have improved with today's storm.  Travis got up there last evening to grind up all the old snow, tree garbage, crust, glaze, etc., so that this new snow fell on something a bit cleaner. 

We'll get this groomed out, likely without a classic track, for the week, then put in a classic track for the weekend.  The kids (and anyone else who wants to join in) will have a ~6km classic-technique time trial on Saturday morning, first skier off at 9:30 AM.  So, we'll have a pretty good track set by then.

Updates as we get them...

Trail conditions 1/15/2020 - GREAT!

Hi all,

Hopefully you've been out skiing since the weekend's little "refresher" doses of new snow.  It was just what we needed after the little freeze/thaw hardening of the older snow last week.  Nothing got really bad or anything, it's just nice to have some "freshies" to work with while grooming.  One day last week saw some more firm conditions for the first time this season.  Snow-pack is still holding well and I think things look great at the moment.  There's a pretty good storm in the forecast for tonight through Friday, so hopefully that will really add to our already great ski season.

We did get out Monday night to blend/grind in the new snow on the Lower Guaje Trail, then bust drifts and wind-slab crust in the meadows, and then simply "mash" in the new/tracked snow on the upper tree trails from L-J-down to A, etc. (we groom in a counter-clockwise direction).  It was a mish-mash of conditions and situations that required setting the teeth down in some spots, lifting then in others, and then combining methods in yet others still.  No two parts of that trail system are the same!

Logan Ott also set some good track on most the system, so classic is great too.  Travis Gibson went back up last evening to clean up the drifting and untidy passes from Monday nights' efforts.  We had to pull out different equipment to run everything, so it needed just a bit more work here and there.  A big thanks to those guys, and to Kevin Reid for keeping up the shade fencing maintenance work.  The fencing is SO incredibly crucial to the grooming and continued great ski conditions.

Ski on!

Conditions Report - 1/10/2019

We had the kid's group practices last evening, and it was humid/wet and a bit on the warm side.  The kids got a lesson in snow type variability, and a couple of them on waxable skis (the kick zone part) got to feel the challenge of wet conditions and how it forces very good kick mechanics.  The snow got saturated with its own moisture in many places, making for variable skiing.  Some areas still had cold, dry, powdery snow; some areas had wet/glazed snow, and some places were a little slushy.  Temps were in the low-30s, but strange things happen with ~100% humidity, which is not the usual situation around here. 

Once darkness set in and the temps lowered, those wet areas froze up, making for a hard-glaze.  It'll probably soften up a bit today, but be prepared for a mix of frozen glaze, mush, and dry powder.  Trails could use a bit of a re-groom, but we do not have a full team of volunteer groomers to cover it.  Something might happen Friday evening, and hopefully, we get some new snow.  Keep your fingers crossed.

Overall, the skiing was incredibly good last evening with the new grooming on the lower road and the meadows, with new track out there as well.

Lower Road & Meadows Regroomed 1/9/2019

Beautiful conditions continue here into the second week of January.  Last evening, groomers got out to clean up the Lower Road (a.k.a Guaje Canyon Trail 282, a.k.a. "multi-use" trail) and reset the track, and to go bust up those drifts out in the meadows from the little skiff of snow and load of wind that accompanied it the other day. 

Things continue to look good for nice conditions this weekend.  Be sure to catch Sanna and Lynn's clinics both Saturday and Sunday.  Check the SWNSC Facebook page for info and updates:

https://www.facebook.com/swnordicskiclub/

Trail Report for January 8, 2019

I keep meaning to get a trail report out, but the "other" SWNSC reporter gets it posted up on FB more quickly.

Anyway, things are looking simply fantastic, and there's more winter weather in line to keep things nice for the foreseeable future.  Chris Michel (of CM ArborCare) has been so kind to help us out with grooming and spent a good deal of time getting on top of what hadn't been done after the New Year's Whopper, plus mixed in with the little 3"er from Sunday.  That one came with some wind, so there were drifts out in the meadow, which makes it really hard to groom and keep in shape.

We'll probably go bust those drifts up as much as possible this evening using the Ranger and the G2 groomer, both relatively new tools in our rag-tag fleet of grooming equipment.  The G2 is our newer Tidd-Tech groomer with the electrically activated (huge improvement over having to deal with all that back-breaking weight, and hand-smashing stuff by hand) grinder teeth and track-setter.  It is prone to electrical/mechanical breakdowns, mainly the actuator relays blinking out, but overall, it's such a huge improvement.

Our workhorse and very reliable snowmobile has thrown us for another uncharacteristic loop - the starter has failed, but we have one on order and so the "groomer staff" has a plan to get it replaced, which is not easy (SF PowerSports would have charged us $1,000+ to do the job), but doable.

So, go out and enjoy the skiing!  It is simply beautiful!

2009 Polaris Ranger with Tidd-Tech G2 Groomer in action, December 2018

2018/19 Holiday Miracle! (and machine issues, of course)

Haven't been keeping up with the trail conditions and grooming blog much this year.  Things have been super busy with life and family, fall trail work, then getting the machines back up and running this year.  Hopefully, the dust will settle and we'll be running more smoothly soon.

We're having some machine issues (surprise) and are slowly hacking through the NEW 50" or so we got on top of the previous two storms, which were also significant.  Our "new" Polaris Ranger is awesome in the snow, but it is not a new machine and has some bugs that needed to be ironed out since it had sat around in a dealership yard for quite a while.  With grooming, all machines show their skeletons in closet very quickly, and so that's what is happening now.  

Thankfully, our "ol' reliable," Kermit (1972 Cushman Trackster with modifications/replacement engine) is still running like a champ, just very slow.  It's limited on power and traction, but it manages if driven with care and expertise.  Our Yamaha Viking snomo is our "beast" machine, but has trouble in deep snow and drifts out in the side-sloping meadows.  It needs to have the meadow packed out a bit before being taken out.  I had taken it out the other day, before this storm, when the main relay/starter solenoid crapped out.  I had to hot-wire it and hold wires with a zip-tie to get it home.  The part should be here soon.

Many hours have been spent fixing stuff, with some auxiliary hours spent packing and grooming.  Hopefully that'll flip this week and we'll have it all groomed.

As of now, we had only managed to get the newly downed trees cut out, with a few track-packing (no groomers/rollers) passes, and a couple with the roller down the lower road and the meadow.  The upper tree trails are not groomed yet - only a single track-packing pass, so sorry for that.  Logan Ott is headed up to finish the rolling today, and maybe we'll groom some tonight.

Wow, what a storm!  I *think* that's the most single storm total I've seen since moving here 21 years ago.  The winter that followed the Cerro Grande fire (2000/01) was a bigger winter, and we had at least as much, if not more snow on the ground, but it didn't happen in one single storm.  It was a continuous stream of storms with very short breaks in between, and also cold temperatures.

Despite frustrating winters of late, there have been some good intervals in there.  Here's a quick run-down of winters going back to 2000/01:

2000/01 - this winter set the standard.  It snowed...A LOT, and it began in October, and continued into May. Plus, it was very cold.  We all got tired of snow that year, and it was just almost impossible to keep up with it.  During that time, we didn't open the "gate" at the beginning of the trailhead, and it just finally topped over it and we were able to drive the snowmobile/groomer, plus ski right over it.  It didn't emerge again until late April!

2001/02 - 02/03 - almost identical (lousy) winters.  We groomed, but the base never was all that good and both years were low-snow and kinda warm.

2003/04 - started off a little slow, but gained a LOT of momentum toward the middle/end of January and continued through May!  February was fantastic, with so much snow.

2004/05 - this was a warm and wet winter, but resulted in a very healthy, wet snow pack that stuck around until late April.  That year, we set the record with our latest day of regular season grooming...April 15.  Good crust skiing all April.  This was a great year.

2005/06 - this was the year we built the SWNSC shop, but it wasn't finished in time.  The winter was horrible, with hardly any snow, until very late.  It was chilly, but extremely dry.  We didn't really groom that year.

2006/07 - 2008/09 - this was a run of moderately OK winters.  None were super great, but there were some nice stretches in all of them.

2009/10 - this was a very good winter, that saw the snowpack build steadily and never suffer a long "thaw" stretch.  It wasn't any single storm that made it great, but rather a steady stream of storms with cold weather that kept the base solid and gave both town and the mountains a very good snowpack.  It was the last good winter for a while...until now.

10/11 - lousy winter.  Started off OK, but got warm and dry early.

11/12 - post Las Conchas winter.  This one started off really well, actually and we built up a base early, with cold weather.  It snowed sporadically after January, but at least we had a season.  The black soot on all of the burnt trees would slough off and get into the snow, causing the sun to melt it quickly down in the burn-affected areas

12/13 - lousy winter.  Not much snow, kinda warm.  Some skiing, but a shorter season.

13/14 - ditto

14/15 - this was an OK winter, with some nice periods.  It wasn't super-great, but was a little better than the others in this string of low-snow winters

15/16 - kinda lousy winter, some skiing, not a great year  

16/17 - This one had periods of good snow, but was pretty warm.  We did get a lot of snow up on the trails, but it was always followed by warm weather.  It rained a lot in town during the winter, so not a lot of snow built up below about 8,000'.

17/18 - the winter that never was.  There's nothing good about that year...it was the worst on record.  We finally got some snow for about 2 weeks in late February, and we ceremonially groomed, but it never was a real winter.

2018/19 - WOOHOO!  Although, we had a rough stretch there in mid-December, but at least we had a little bit of a base.  We'll see how it goes for the rest of the season...

Grooming Report 2/24/2016 (Los Alamos)

Got up there in the evening and got things groomed, albeit without a classic track.  I had some issues with things, especially the unfortunate finding of more trees down.  Dang...I'm getting sick of that!

Things were superb this morning, with freshly groomed trails, 10 degrees F, and a beautiful sunrise over a fog-shrouded valley.  Conditions should hold OK until it gets warm over the weekend.

Forecasts look interesting after the middle of next week...we'll see...

Trails "Pre" Grooming Report... 2/23/2016

I think we have received a short "stay" of execution on our ski season.  That was a better storm than was predicted for us, so I'll go up and see what can be done with the grooming.  I'll report back tomorrow.

In the meantime, skiing was still possible, albeit sloppy and slow, over the weekend.  It was crusty and bumpy before the thaw, then slow and slushy afterward.  There were actually some truly "bad" spots, although they were very short and could be "tip-toed" through.  One more week of that kind of tropical weather, and it would have been over.

We'll see now how things look.  It's supposed to warm up again over the weekend, then sort of flip flop.  I think the season is going to be week to week, day to day from here on out.  We just lost too much of the base to really rely on anything.  We'll keep it going as long as it's viable.

Lots of trees came down too, unfortunately.  I was going to groom, but ended up cutting out trees instead.

High winds last week brought down a number of trees.  Getting those removed was a chore and kept me from doing any grooming.

Los Alamos Trails Regroomed Wed and Thursday evening

There was actually a little bit of new snow with that wind-bag storm.  There was also a lot of tree debris and even a couple of trees that came down.

We went up and cleaned up most of that, bladed out the drifts as best as possible, and even ran the "harrow" to grind and rake up the tree trash.  Lots of pre-work just to get to an actual grooming job!

Still working on some new things to keep the shop running, as well as our new equipment.  New changes and improvements come with a learning curve.

Skiing should be pretty nice this weekend.  It's supposed to be warm both Friday and Saturday, so keep that in mind in planning your ski outings and any associated waxing...

Thanks for all of your support!  

See More Frequent Updates on the SWNSC Facebook Page (you don't have to have an account!)

As the title suggests, "See More Frequent Updates on the SWNSC Facebook Page (you don't have to have an account!)"

https://www.facebook.com/swnordicskiclub/

We've had our hands full of things like this (see below).  It has snowed every single day, and the wind keeps blowing and drifting the meadow.  For the last few days, we've had one or two hands working on things, so it's not getting fully groomed very quickly (the couple of hands have day jobs too!).

Ugh, getting tired of this! 

Anyway, hopefully we're through the worst of it.  When you go ski, PLEASE take some time to pick up as much debris and branches as you can. 

Christmas Ski Conditions Update 12/25/2015

Merry Christmas!  Hope you've been able to get out and ski the trails.  They've received a steady dose of new snow just about every day this past week.  Only a little fell today, but it kept the streak going.

We've spent a lot of time rolling, blading and even a little bit of "finish" grooming, but with the wind, trees falling, and some machine and shop maintenance issues, we haven't quite had enough grooming time to get it completely finished.  So, sorry about that.

We did get a classic track reset, but of course, the wind in the meadow just keeps blowing it over and creating more drifts almost as soon as we're done.  It's tough to get a machine through there these days, and it doesn't look to let up until next week.  We'll see how much snow we end up with too.

Please be patient, and get your classic skiing in shape until we can get it all packed, leveled and groomed out.

Also be careful -- there is a tree down below Point A on the Canada Bonita trail (lower road trail).  We'll get that out as soon as we can.

Otherwise, it is very nice classic skiing, and pretty wide, albeit soft, skate skiing.  The meadow trails are fun to ski on backcountry/touring skis too, but you'll have to break your own trail for now.

Have fun!  Ho, Ho, Ho...!

Grooming and Conditions Update 12/22/2015

Christmas is almost here, and we're receiving a nice gift in the form of new snow and awesome holiday ski conditions!

We're still trying to get some sort of consistent grooming rotation down, plus we have one or two new volunteers who are still learning, so things are not always consistent just yet.  But, we have kept things pretty cleaned up and nice for both skate and classic.

We also got a new Tidd Tech G2 groomer, which saw it's maiden voyage last evening.  I used it to set a new classic track in most places.  It works well, but there's a learning curve to it and it needs some more adjustments before it's up and running at 100% efficiency.  Hopefully, we'll all get some practice on it over the holidays.

Things were bladed, flattened, and somewhat groomed last evening.  It should ski nicely, but there's already new snow falling, so it'll change quickly.  I think some nice classic striding will be the best bet until we get more snow and get it all groomed.  It's all in good shape, with one thin spot on the front hill, and those big rocks near the entrance/exit to that grove of trees in the meadow above Point-M, and on that off-camber hill break-over between M and O.  Be careful in those spots.

Other than that, conditions are pretty nice and improving all the time.  We'll certainly have some nice holiday skiing this year!

Stay tuned...

Our new Tidd Tech G2 groomer after last evening's grooming.  It does an awesome job on the trails!

New equipment coming!! Want to help us groom?

OK, so we've been busy getting grants, donations, selling junk, etc., etc., so that we could pay off our debts and build up an account to cover the cost of some better stuff and more sustainable grooming equipment.

That being said, we just spent a ton this fall on the groomer (~ $7,500), some auxiliary stuff like a trail utility trailer,  a couple of lightweight grooming implements for certain conditions and situations, and assorted maintenance items that had to be purchased to get things back in order.  The chainsaws have also taken a lot of abuse and suck up some money to keep running!  Even without the grooming expenses, we've had to make a bunch of runs around the trails to keep things clear.

It has taken several years of miserly spending and a lot of effort and to build up the account to something we were comfortable with, but now it is going to be a little bit fragile until we get some more grants, donations, sell some more junk, etc., etc.  We got off to a pretty good start this year with everyone's generous donations and memberships.  Hopefully, El Nino will kick in and we'll see a bunch of great snow, which will be groomed to perfection with our new high-tech groomer.

We don't have a lot of grooming help, so we'll see how the schedule works out.  There may be some gaps in the grooming if no one is available.  If you're able and willing, we could use some help here and there.  Even if you can't groom, go out after snowstorms and ski pack (or snowshoe pack) the trails.  That really helps, actually!

Hope for some snow!!

Trail Report 12/2/2014

After being out all last week for some actual xc skiing in Crested Butte, I feared what our trails looked like after over a week of neglect.  It took quite a few hours for three of us to clear what came down before Thanksgiving week, so with another storm that came in the form of ice and wind, I was very much dreading what I was going to find up there.

As it turns out, it wasn't so bad.  It wasn't perfect, but it was manageable for me, by myself, to complete in one evening, albeit a somewhat long one!  I counted eight new trees down, only a couple of which were of real significance, but certainly no whoppers like the "G" tree (see earlier post) that take all day to remove.

The trails are holding a good crusty base of snow/ice on at least 90% past point A.  Before that, the front hill has a long bare stretch, but also a good stretch of snow/ice, so the fencing is doing its job.  I had to fix it in a couple of spots, however.  It was really cold up there last night, so that is good.  I started taking pictures of all the trees, but only made it to about #5 before my phone's screen froze!

Anyway, the trails are once again clear and actually skiable in a few sections, but we won't be grooming until we get a good storm.  There is a lot of debris that needs to be picked up if you're out snowshoeing or otherwise.  Please pick some of the leftover sticks and branches when you come to them, and report any new trees down.

Starting the long trip around.  This was just the beginning!

The ones with all the limbs and branches make the biggest mess.

Lots of debris left on the trail once the tree is cleared.

Don't ski across this with klister!

Tree #4 for the evening.  More branches and debris =(

Tree #5.  My phone froze shortly after this.  It was cold.

Just past point A on the lower road.  The conditions range from quite good coverage, to nothing, and much of the early sections are down to this ice crust covered by that last little skiff of snow.

Trail Report 11/21/2015

We're still working hard on getting everything cleared out just to get around the system.  Last night, John Bernardin went out and finished clearing the rest of the tree downage and get a packing pass with the roller.  There was still a lot down, so he only got around once.

Today, Dave Wykoff is up there and there is already some new trees down.  What a mess!  This sort of happens this time of the year with the ground really freezing up and shifting the weak trees around.  That heavy snow and wind made a real mess too, so this will probably continue for a couple more weeks, unfortunately.

So, there's skiing, but you'll have to tiptoe around the tree messes.

PLEASE -- take some time to pick up the branches and debris if you go out.  It is a huge help and really makes things better for the next round of storms.

Thanks!

New trees down just this morning!  Please help clean up the debris left over after clearing the trees.

Trail & Conditions Update 11/19/2015

Well, we had intentions of getting the trail system packed with the little snowcat and the roller, but it turned into a tree clearing and logging operation. If you've been following things, you know I crashed on my mountain bike a little over a week ago and broke a rib, which is not feeling so great and is keeping me from moving quickly. Using a chainsaw and moving very heavy trees is not great for it! 

Also, all grooming implements were completely frozen to the ground, which took a while to deal with! So, not a whole lot to show for two days' worth of work. I think John Bernardin and the other groomer guys are mobilizing to go finish the job on the trail system. A big thanks to them...

 I did get the Camp May road section up to the Mother lift all cleaned up and groomed for both skate and classic. The ski area personnel have driven everything they have on it, so it was a mess. It looked and skied well yesterday. It may not last long. The kids ski team had their first practice on it yesterday, and it was great, but got very chewed up. We'll post pics of the ski team practice when we get a chance.

 Anyway, please be patient with the conditions and our ability to get things going. Also, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE (!) take a moment when you're out on the trails to stop and pick up some of the tree debris in the areas where we cleared out the big trees. I tried to clean out the big stuff, but there's still a lot of debris. Just pick up a few handfuls and toss it over the side. That really helps things.

You can imagine my disappointment at seeing this!

RIP point G tree

Due to my rib situation, I had to make a bunch of extra cuts, then lie on my back in the snow and push the logs with my legs!

I actually used Kermit to help move some of the log sections

Groomers Group Trail stuff update 11/16/2015

So far, things are looking pretty good.  After the big rounds of trail work days with John and Dave using Dave's tractor, I've tried to stay on top of keeping things clear after those other storms, especially that really windy one last week.  

I got Kevin Reid to come out and he was a huge help.  Dave and Kevin helped with clearing out those last sketchy trees still standing on Dave's and TJ's.  Kevin came back out the next weekend to help me clear out about 15 more trees that had come down after the first snowstorm.  The "new coat tree" collapsed, and that thing was messy.  One more big tree fell a ways above J, and it crossed the trail twice because it was such a big tree.

I broke a rib riding my mtn bike last week, so I was moving slowly by myself this week.  I went up on VetsDay to hang the fencing at the rock, so I saw that a few things came down in that big wind, but not as bad as I had expected -- the biggest thing was just past the gate actually.  I cleared out a few smaller things up to the "rock" area and only had time to hang the upper row of fencing. 

On Saturday, I went back up to hang the rest of the fencing and to see what else was left to cut out. I saw that the bypass from O-M had two clusters that came down, but with only one medium/big tree, while the rest were fairly minor.  The meadow also had several trees sticking into it because those trees above it are all burned and dead.  Point L had a cluster down too.  

Overall, it was manageable for one person and so I hope we'll have an easier time of it when we go out on the groomer -- always bring a saw just in case.

So, as of yesterday, it was all clear.  We'll see how it goes with this storm.

Kermit noticeably runs better after John's tune-up.  That is such a useful machine.

We still need to work on the Viking too (oil, plugs, engine coolant).  I did clean up the shed and the new drainage system is working well on Kermit's side, except for the back part.  I still need to seal some of it up.  It isn't sloped enough in the back, but it shouldn't make any bad ponds.  I think I'll just tack the tarp down on the floor so that it'll be easy to push the water into the drains.

If it snows enough, we should consider getting out with a roller to start packing things down.  There were still many long stretches that were completely snow-covered from the previous weeks' storms.  I think we'll be in business soon.

Also, we've ordered a whole new, completely modern grooming rig from Tidd-Tech.  They are having some supplier issues, so our delivery date is being pushed back quite a bit.  I hope we see it in December.  It'll take some effort to get some new things installed (hitch, wiring, etc.), but it should really improve things!

Fall tree clearing begins!  However, we'd been clearing trees throughout much of the summer this year...

Some of the less-traveled trails had a lot of scrubby trees down.  Several dozen, in fact.  More frequented trails get cleared periodically by SWNSC volunteers.

A common sight out in the burned areas of the trail system

The burned areas are now burgeoning with new undergrowth, including a very healthy raspberry crop!

Fall started a little late, but then really popped

We had to get some areas, like that very badly burned zone on Dave's Dogleg, cleared out for safety reasons

Down that hill near the big turn on Dave's

We probably cut out over a hundred hazard trees in some areas

It began to look like a logging operation

Lots of locust still popping up on the trails.  Thanks to all who helped cut it out

Kevin Reid was a huge help in keeping things clear later in the fall

How things looked in early November after the first flakes fell

Using our small "cat" groomer, "Kermit" to get around and help pull big logs out of the way.

The "new" coat tree fell victim too.  RIP new coat tree.  Time to find a new one!

This bigger tree was very tall and actually crossed the trail in two different locations

We had to make some modifications to our equipment barn to keep water from ponding and destroying the floor.  Note the sloped parking stall and the holes in the middle (the black spots) for drainage.  It already seems to be working.

Veteran's Day:  had to go hang some fencing, so Kermit got a short workout to go up and clear some trees that fell during the high wind event

Thankfully, our pre-emptive strike on the bad hazard trees limited the number of trees that came down to about 15, rather than 150, which we saw around Christmas last year!

The fencing has been installed at "The Rock"  (this area faces south)

The area around Point J was getting to be very dangerous.  We had to mitigate the situation, so these big trees had to come down.  

This area really looks like a logging operation!