Home at last

Home at last.

After a couple of days in Boulder, Austin and I returned to Nederland to see how bad the conditions were.

I stopped off for groceries and gas on the way up (who knows how long we'll be cut off from the world). It looked like the majority of people who didn't have electricity were still without.

The drive up was harrowing. The weather was warm (relatively, "warm" was 26) and sunny, but the canyon highways was covered with slush and black ice. One turn almost cost us as I skidded across both lanes to the oncoming shoulder. I managed to regain control (and avoided the instinct to hit the brake, which would have put us in the canyon).

We arrived at our house about 9 a.m. The snow had built up a few more inches, and I could tell that the brilliant sun was beginning to harden the top layer.

Austin and I trudged in to the house. Austin made it most of the way on his own, but once again I had to rescue him when his little legs stiffened up.

The garage door was still open, but no snow was inside, nor was there any evidence of creature invasion. And thankfully, the power was restored.

I took Austin upstairs and dropped him off, stripped off my wet clothes and started looking the house over. Nothing was out of place.

After resting for a few moments, I drank some water, bundled up and headed back out.

Grabbing the snow shovel, I began to create a path back out to Caribou. Foot by foot, I cleared a trench 18 inches across and from 2-4 feet deep. It's easily 100 years, and it took me 2 1/2 hours to clear.

Here's the YouTube video featuring the trench (I originally shot the video in HD, but reduced it in quality before uploading, Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpyv5TzoC8Q):


Of course, I was extremely hot during this activity, despite the 34 degree weather. The sun makes a huge difference, and I definitely have a sun burn from the snow reflection.

When I finally reached the road, I cleared enough room to park the jeep at the mouth of the driveway.