Mail Day, Take Two...

We left for mail day today nice and early so we could make it in time for the 1:00 rush and get to visit with some of our far-away neighbors. There is very little snow at the cabins, and so we took the truck - thinking we would squeeze one more trip in with it. Well, 6 or 7 km up the road, the snow started getting a little deep and so we switched it into 4-high. A couple of kilometres past that we were having trouble making it up the hills, so we tried 4-low. We made it a little farther and then decided we should turn around. Did I mention there was close to a foot of snow there? Couple this with an icy layer underneath from recent rain and we were at a standstill. We usually all travel together in one truck, but this time Paul was following us in his truck to park at the top of one particularly sketchy hill, just in case we couldn't make it up on the way back - we would have a back up plan. I'm glad we turned around when we did. This could have been one long day...

Take two - Tim and Cohen, Heather and Paul and their kids suited up when we got back here and left on the sleds. They had quite the outgoing load - several jerry cans and a 100lb propane bottle on the skimmers. They should be pretty loaded on the way back in too as we are all expecting several boxes. Nola stayed with me and we are sneaking in a movie. I don't expect them back until well after dark.

My snowmobile is still awaiting parts (hopefully in one of the expected boxes!) It will still be out of commission until at least November 25, our next mail day out, because Tim has been parting mine out to make his brand new again. Now mine needs idler wheel bearings and bushings, and an unidentified part we can't find yet on Royal Distributing's website. I should get to drive it by spring...

On our partial journey out today we saw lots of animal tracks. Wolverine, moose, marten, rabbit, squirrel and fox. On my list of things to see this winter, along with wolves, is a wolverine. Hopefully we'll sneak up on one ambling down the road while out on the snowmobiles.

There has been a helicopter making lots of tours over the area - we have been told it is BC Fish and Wildlife doing animal counts. I am not sure what they are counting - wolves? Moose? Caribou? All of the above? We were told by a BC Parks officer a few weeks back that there should be a herd of Caribou going by the cabin on December 20. I can hardly wait - I will definitely be trying to get some pictures of that! They must be very predictable animals if they can pinpoint the date like that. Here's hoping they keep their yearly appointment...

It is starting to snow right now - hopefully they make it back before it gets too heavy!