We’ve picked up 1.5 inches and light snow is continuing into the early afternoon today.
3/3/2010 Snow
Our gravel road is snow covered.
Snow Covered Gravel Road
March Snow
March 3rd, 2010Winter Weather Update
February 28th, 2010I updated my snow chart showing I’m up to 78 1/16th inches this season. Some of the more recent events have mostly missed me off to the east, including the the most recent snow storm that slammed areas in the Northeast.
Snowfall totals can vary widely even over short distances. Loudoun County, Virginia has picked up a lot of snow this season including much more than I received during the February 10th event. CapitalWeatherGang readers may also be interested to hear that I heard from BlueRidgeMike who measured more snow than me during some events. He lives just a few miles north of my location. Just over 70 miles away to the west, Canaan Valley has recorded over 217″ of snow so far this winter. Their figure is not even completely up-to-date as they received more snow this weekend while I only saw flurries.
Next chance of accumulating snow is Tuesday night/Wednesday…
Season-To-Date Snowfall
Snowshoeing in Virginia
February 25th, 2010With the snowier than normal winter we’re experiencing, I purchased snow shoes. Snowshoes are a great low-tech invention to spread your weight over the snow so you can walk on top of it without sinking down in it.
Wooden Snowshoes
One of the neat things about snowshoes is that not many people have them so you can have normally popular trails all to yourself. There were no human tracks on this section of the Appalachian Trail several days after the recent big snow storms (only animal tracks).
Animal Tracks on the Appalachian Trail
Here’s a shot of a nice winter view.
Winter Mountain View
See Also: Recommended Snow Shoes
Credible 2006 Mountain Lion Sighting
February 23rd, 2010I was organizing and going through some old magazines and came across this interesting item from the April 2006 Potomac Appalachian:
While on his way to remove a blowdown blocking the Big Run Loop North Trail in late January, Pete saw a big dark colored cougar cross Skyline Drive about 100 yards ahead of his car. It was about five feet long with a long tail and bounded across the drive in one jump…
The incident above is from page 21. The Potomac Appalachian is the newsletter of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, which maintains hundreds of miles of hiking trails in the mid-Atlantic region including many trails in Shenandoah National Park (Virginia).
Mysterious Scat Found in Arizona
February 21st, 2010One of the “fun” things about this blog is that sometimes people send me pictures of animal poop. I don’t consider myself an expert, but will try to help make an identification if I can.
Amanda submitted the following description and photos:
I came upon numerous samples of an unusually shaped scat in Window Rock, Arizona last week. I asked a local about it and they assumed it was cow or horse but having lived in a farming community most of my life, I feel very comfortable in saying that it is like no ‘pie’ I’ve seen before…
I would say they were often as long as an adult arm but coiled somewhat. The consistency of them did not betray fur or seeds or any distinct qualities. The most unusual part is the shape which is like stacked discs around 2 inches across.
The question is, what animal left these droppings?
Unidentified Scat Discovered in Arizona
Unidentified Scat Discovered in Arizona
