A few weeks ago we had a pretty good storm blow through this area. Snow and then sleet.

I'll tell you how things started, we'd been cold, below freezing for a couple days before the snow started. So, the ground was frozen, and it was 17* F when it started. It was a cold, dry and dense snow. It was heavy to shovel.

It was still snowing that night, at bedtime. Sometime early in the morning it switched over to sleet. Just looking at it falling it looked like a steady rain, but it was sleet. We had sleet from before daylight and it was still coming down at 10 Pm. The total depth only went to 11 or 12 inches. It just kept packing down the snow. Here at work that day, I'd go shovel every half hour or 45 minutes.

I'll tell you that it was a pain walking in that mess. We were still below freezing, but after 2 or 3 days I could walk on top. Even below freezing, with the sun and wind it glazed over and was very slick.

The mailman stipped by one day, he was sitting there changing his snow cleats. He put on a pair of Yak Trak Pro cleats. Said his old pair were 3 years old. He gave me the used ones.

I was out one day, put those thing on and walked around, up and down hill, it was just like walking on bare ground.

Talking to my daughter, told her to order us a pair. She found a different brand of cleats, about the same as Yak Traks, and they are only $6 a pair. That is cheap insurance.

Think about how much it's going to cost if you'd fall and break an arm or something.

Just a comment about the brutal weather we've had here recently. An huge blizzard struck the state with 8-12" here in the SE portion. In the NE portion of the state, where my cabin is, the storm blew over 30" into camp. It shut down the easement road that connects my camp and another neighbor's digs to the black top road. The neighbor wife made it out in the morning but couldn't get back in later that day, and spent two days in a motel. The man couldn't get out that afternoon, and for the next couple of days. Another neighbor came with his huge snowblower attachment to a tractor and opened up the road. My three kids contacted that neighbor and had him open up a path to our camp. They spent a couple of days shoveling paths to the privy, the woodshed, and the shed that holds the toys and tools. Also had to get up and clear off the solar panels. There was no need for the ice creepers mentioned in the previous post. Just snowshoes all around! They said they had a ball, and needed the quite woods time for some sibling talk. Hopefully all that snow will be gone within the next month. I need to haul out the travel trailer for some late April glamping with my clan.

Frank.

I have a pair of boots with the cleats always on them. I have been wearing them whenever I am in the yard around the dogs. I haven't sledded since the 10 or so of March. Too slick with a nasty crust. If a dog breaks through while running, it might break a leg. If I fall, I might break God knows what.

I took my dog box off the truck 2 days ago.

It is lightly snowing now. Hopefully, it will cover the ice a little so I can walk around without those heavy cleat boots. We still have 2-3 feet of snow here. Southern slopes have some ground visible.

Years ago they made some kind of high-powered hunting boot that had a little pouch on each boot, where you kept the ice studs. I never had a pair, several of my friends had them. Big and heavy clod hoppers as well as I remember. Anymore I wear insulated hiking boots, they are light, have good tread and stick to rocks good too.

I'll tell you this one snow/sleet/ice we had was deadly slick for a while. Hate to say this: One lady died while sled riding. I guess she couldn't get stopped and went over a ledge. Another man was out in his side-by-side, I think it was on top of the crust and got away from him. He was ejected and I was told they had to use ropes to recover him. A man here in town fell, broke a hip and a shoulder, last I heard he's still in a nursing home. Lots of other breaks and what not. It was dangerous.

Here at work I see farmers every day. It was a chore to tend their livestock. Snow we can deal with, but ice is a pain.