We often get January thaws and they are all absolutely miserable.  It’s been like this for over a week now.  At first it froze overnight and we got a few gleams  of sun.

But mostly it was dull, dull, dull.  Objects appeared in a different light than they did when it was freezing.  I have passed this tree numerous times and never managed to get an acceptible photo of its texture and colour.

The wind blew from the south and it often came in gusts.  Pine needles started to litter the snow.

The branched item is a bit of dead mistletoe.

Stumps started to emerge.

A downy woodpecker began to visit the feeder.  He, at least, was a bright spot.

Then it started to rain.

Advantage: no shovelling the snow off the solar panels.

Disadvantages – too numerous to mention.  I ache.  I have no energy.  Plodding through the snow is twice the work and no fun.  I find the humidity very uncomfortable.  The noise from the highway is magnified by the damp, low air and the wind direction.  There are more trucks than usual on Highway 20 this year as the chip trucks are running steadily from the sawmill near Anahim, and they are also hauling logs from further west, which doesn’t happen very often.  When the trucks come down either of the steep hills that bracket my place, their air brakes judder and roar, even though these hills are well over a kilometre away.  It is the one major disadvantage of this place and something I cannot learn to ignore.  When the clouds are high and the wind is different, I hardly hear them.

And, of course, the yard is a disaster.  Good job the Icers I bought for my boots arrived from Lee Valley in the mail.  I would not be able to move on the ploughed areas without them.

For the first part of the thaw, Puntzi Mountain, the weather station 90 km to the east, advertised sunny and much cooler weather than we had.  Bella Coola in the west showed warm and wet.  We had obviously moved over the mountains to the Bella Coola weather system.

This morning, Puntzi forecasted -11C and some sun.  Max temps were supposed to be +2C.  Which side of the mountains were we going to be this time?

Yesterday evening, there was a glimpse of Finger Peak.

This morning, the sky was red in the southeast (where the sun rises at the moment.)

Supposed to be warning weather, but there is always hope.  However, at +2C (as opposed to Puntzi’s -11C) we seem to still be in the Bella Coola weather system.  It advertises +6C and rain.  The Norwegian site touts a maximum of +7C and mixed sun and cloud (but it has proved to be not very accurate and it is showing the wind coming from the wrong direction at the moment.)

So we’ll have to see.

The next day

Hooray!  we’re in Puntzi!  Not quite as cold as they are, but it is freezing, and the morning sky was loaded with huge stars.  Looks like we’re going to get some sunshine!