November Visit

I'll use any excuse I can come up with to visit the Yonderosa - this last weekend I had a few of them.  Nothing like combining a little business and pleasure.

It was just cold enough to turn the valley rain into snow.  By first light the dusting of snow left a picturesque winter landscape for me to enjoy.

In addition to the beauty and the quiet the snow creates a registry of the local critters for me to discover.  Deer, Coyote, Grouse, Snowshoe Hare and Douglas' Squirrel were the most common.

I was amazed by the amount of deer activity.  About a half hour before dawn I watched a brute of a Whitetail Buck stroll through the meadow.  I tried to get a picture but it was just too dark to capture him.  Based on his presence and the quantity of deer tracks I believe the rut is still on. 

Here is a GameCam picture taken by one of my neighbors a month earlier.

Inside the cabin stayed toasty warm.  It took the Big Buddy Heater a little over 2 hours to heat the interior from 25*F to over 60*F.  Once room temperature was achieved it was easily maintained with intermittent use of the low setting.  Occasionally I would leave it off too long and the medium setting would bring it right back up to cozy warm.  Use of the high setting would spike the temperature over 70*F which was uncomfortably warm for me.  Shut down the cabin would loose 2-4 degrees per hour depending on the exterior temperature difference.