The Beauty of Snow

February 2nd (Tuesday)

 

Today was our last day off of work before we start back onto our next 14-day shift of ten-hour days.  I thought I would just write a quick note because I wanted to send along some pictures from our fun in the snow.   

 

We got snow three times over our two weeks off, and we had an amazing two weeks of lovely weather.  Between the snowy days we had sunny days and very little rain.  It was the nicest two-week stretch of weather that we had had in a long time.

We went for two beautiful walks up along Martin River.  It was an area that we had never explored before and it was particularly beautiful in the snow.   

 

We followed the trail that was cleared up to about three kilometers into the valley.  

 

At first the trail came through the forest and out into a lovely marshy area where the river meandered its way through an open grassy area.   

 

We saw several pairs of ducks, and we found the home of one resident squirrel who had a lovely home of three large spruce trees. 

The trail then followed the crystal clear, slow moving river and we found many sandy beach areas that might make for great swimming spots in the summer.   

 

As we followed the trail further up the valley, the trees got bigger and they were primarily large spruce trees.

 

After the second snowfall of a new 3.5 inches, Jason and I built a snowman down by the water pump station alongside the river. 

We also made a third a snowman in our yard, but unfortunately our third snowman family member was short lived.   

By the next day he had leaned right over sideways to say, “Hi.” 

And, unfortunately he leaned so far that his body fell off and his head rolled down our steps and landed beside our truck.  Our first two snowmen are still alive, however, and each day their looks and personalities change.   

The one on the left has tuna cans for eyes, and now looks like an owl.  We have found that the tuna cans heat up so much in the sun that they melt the snow around them and fall out.   

We keep having to put them back in, and as the eye sockets get bigger, the owl look has really come alive.  Our other snowman has drooped forwards and looks somewhat unwell, his carrot nose keeps falling out.

 

And, today (February 2nd) we woke up to two more inches of snow, but it was wet.  In the sun it got up to seven degrees and everything was melting fast.

We took the little red boat out for a spin today, and the starter worked great.  We did not go far as the winds were outflowing through the channels and it was rough in the Dean Channel, but it was nice to get out, and we got to see a sea lion and lots of sea birds, including the little Guillemots. 

 

On our way out a Goose floatplane took off from town and flew right past us.  One thing that we noticed on our way back in towards Ocean Falls, was how little snow there was just a bit out Cousins Inlet.  It seemed that the snow did not really start until around the area of Twin Lakes.  When looking at the weather forecasts for the various areas over the last two weeks it has been interesting to see the differences between the weather in Bella Bella, Bella Coola, and here.  Often it has been coldest here, and we have definitely gotten the most snow. 

One very cool fact, which is a sign of spring, is that in the last 15 days we have gained 53 minutes of daylight, pretty awesome!  As we get more and more daylight, there is more time that the sun reaches our boat, and in another two weeks or so we should get our first sun at work, assuming of course that it is not cloudy.  Spring is on its way.