[Rockhounds] Snow OT(WAS: Idaho metamorphic trip and glaciers)

[Lanny R]

Hi John,

It looks like we won't be seeing any rocks and minerals in northern  
Idaho for a while yet. Fortunately the snow melt is slow and the  
flooding is only a possibility.

You received about twice what we received here in Coeur d'Alene, but I  
don't have to go far out of town to see what you are talking about. We  
still have city streets that are barely a lane and a half though with  
those big berms of snow, and some rural roads are more like tunnels.  
Yet, it is a pretty sunny day today, although it is generally cloudy,  
which makes one think of spring and going to the mountains! I'm going  
nuts, unfortunately I didn't make it to Tucson this year, but the wife  
is really thinking that Arizona in February sounds like a great idea  
next year.

How about the Mountains? If the spring stays cold, as it has the past  
few years, it will take a while before we can drive those ridge line  
roads and get to all that kyanite and almandine. Fortunately the  
mountains only received around the average snow or a little more, so  
they should clear out and not have snowbanks in August blocking the  
roads.

Until then, we collect in the basement or the lowlands.

I'm glad you survived, but I imagine you and Julie did do some serious  
thinking about Arizona!

Any other areas of the USA have a lot of extra snowfall and thus may  
have a late thawing of the mountains and hold up our collecting trips?

Regards,

Lanny


On Feb 18, 2008, at 4:41 PM, John Siebel wrote:

> Lanny, et.al.,
>
> Sorry for the delay in getting back on this but it's been one  
> gruesome winter here in Pokey Creek and we've been rather busy. I  
> won't go into ugly personal details other than pipes freezing (and  
> bursting) and woodshed collapsing under the snow load (burying 1/2  
> of our firewood supply until spring and smashing my tiller, mower  
> and chainsaw). We're guessing over 12 feet total snow so far with  
> close to 5 feet on the ground at any one time. A succession of warm  
> days has dropped the snowpack to where we can measure it in inches  
> again (34" as of an hour ago). Had to shovel the cabin roof twice  
> and trench out a 12 foot berm in front that threatened to blow in  
> the living room picture window. We were snowbound on and off for a  
> few weeks but, fortunately, we have good neighbors who trucked in  
> supplies when we needed and helped us out when I was flattened by  
> the flu. We considered a move to Arizona several times but then we'd  
> miss the deer, wild turkeys and moose that parade through our yard.
>
> But it seems the worst is over (knockin' on wood here), we lived  
> through it, and up here in the hills we don't expect to see the  
> flood that will probably close St Maries and the lowlands. But I've  
> had enough character building for one season and mild sunny days are  
> making me anxious to get out to whack rocks and dig up the garden.  
> Looking forward to the field trip though, you're right, it may not  
> happen until August. I'll bring zucchini!
>
> John
> Santa, Idaho
>