Inside wood box empty, 45 MPH winds, 10° outside

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bogydave

Minister of Fire
Dec 4, 2009
8,426
So Cent ALASKA
:bug:
I have to fill the wood box today. :shut:
45 MPH winds, gusting to 60. That alone takes your breath away.
10°f is cold, with the chill factor, -16°.
All that nice snow we had is gone, snow drifts in front of some doors.
If I'm not frozen or blown away in the wind, I'll try to get a few pics.
Several layers, maybe some rocks in my pockets. Maybe one more cup of hot coffee before I go out. :)
Wish me luck.
 
Bogydave is now Frozen Bogydave. Thats how my kids used to describe that weather. When you go outside and your boogies freeze up.
 
Took a few pics
That white blur is snow moving at over 40 MPH.
Drifted in front of the shop door & in front of the split spruce & birch rounds.
Cleaning the driveway pretty good too.
So much for a nice insulating blanket of snow on the yard.
Now to move some wood.
 

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I know what you mean. I am hating this sixty degrees and raining tonight. :)
 
Not real cold here but I surely appreciated coming inside to a nice wood heated home after sitting most of the day in a deer blind. Temp not too bad but wind drives the cold right to the bones.
 
Keep the wind. Send some snow to anywhere north of the Mass. Pike.


KC
 
Saw the title of your thread, but before I could read it, much less reply, I had to go take a long hot bath and then finish toasting in front of the fire. I was shaking too bad from the cold to respond.

Came home tonight around six, and found DS--who had complained of not feeling well this a.m.--in bed zonked. No fire, but the stove was still warm. Took care of ashes and started a fire, and looked over the inside wood rack and thought, "This will not do, this will not do." Still wearing office clothes, put on my coat and gloves and went up to the garage, dragged in a cargo sled load of birch, and then pulled in two or three sled-loads of spruce from outside the back door. Needed to split some of the rounds that came in this last batch. Got the rack filled, and tucked the birch back between the end of the rack and the wall. I probably was outside 20-30 minutes at the most.

When I started, I only had about enough left to last until morning, and now I should be good to go until my ambition starts to stir sometime on Saturday. The days of going from weekend to weekend without having to fill the wood rack are behind us for awhile, I fear.

By the time I finished getting the wood and sat down with h.c, I got the shivering shakes and couldn't get warm. I was outside for maybe 20-30 minutes, tops. It's about 20-25 below, no wind, plenty of snow. Cold just seems to bother me more than it used to, or maybe I should have taken the time to put on warmer clothes. I think I figured if I slowed down that much, I'd lose enthusiasm for the project. It's supposed to drop another 10 degrees tonight, so the sight of that inside wood rack full is a good feeling to know.
 
I started with a balalclava with just my eyes showing, then layers then felt pack boots.
I was over dress once I started working, but warm
The wind & snow made it hard to see when the snow was right in my face but the wood door to the basement is on the leeward side of the house.
When the wife got home she was happy to see it done. She usually helps.
I emptied the stove a little later & ran out with no hat or coat to the garden to empty the bucket, Mistake, even a few minutes bare skin was stinging.
Still 40 MPH winds with over 60 gusts. 8° now. Hoping power stays on :)
 
Used to live out on the coast, and then spent a winter on the Rock. We all miss the storms. Last February when the storm his the NW coast from out of Siberia, and just kept rolling, we had 40-50mph gusts, with trees whipping around. Felt so good. Energizing, even while it drains you. It's one of those battle-with-the-elements feelings.

This cold just makes me want to curl up and sleep until March. Or April.

My car wouldn't start this morning, and I fussed with it for almost an hour in a cold garage. Then it just wouldn't get warm, drove to work, plugged it in, and was happy to walk through the doors. Got off work, ran errands in a cold car for about an hour or more, and then got home and did the wood. Didn't think that one through, although it's obvious in retrospect that I was chilled all day. After I brought the wood in, I drank a cool glass of water, and that undid me--that's when I started shaking.

Must say the end result is worth it. Was just downstairs throwing a few pieces of birch on there, and shutting it down for the night.
 
You folks waaay ooop dar' take care. We don't wanna hear about a wood burner getting frozen into a statue. It would look bad. ;-)
 
Jags said:
You folks waaay ooop dar' take care. We don't wanna hear about a wood burner getting frozen into a statue. It would look bad. ;-)

Depends upon which one of us got frozen, I'd say. :)

Got up about an hour ago to check on things, found my fire down to coals. Bundled up this time just to walk out and get the ash pan, and then to dump the ashes. It's only 10 feet from my back door to the ashcan, but I put on coat and boots and gloves in spite of that. Slow learner at times, but I eventually get it. Thermometer is reading -30 here.

Cleared out the ashes, moved the coals to the front of the stove, dropped some fire-killed spruce on it (dies with the sap in it, and burns hot and fast), and a few small splits of fresher spruce. Brought the temps up fast, and snuggled on the couch with the cat. Crippled old dog followed us downstairs and hung out with us while the fire got going. Topped it off with some big spruce splits, and came back to bed.

Thanks for keeping an eye on your neighbors to the north, Jagsy. As long as it's just windy down in Bogyland, and just cold up here, we'll be fine.
 
Pretty warm now, 12* but 50mph winds makes it cold.

It's weird cause at work last night (Anchorage) it got down to -10* but only maybe 20mph winds. Mild breeze compared to here at the house.
 
Ill trade ya just emptied the inside fire box this morning before work. It is currently -43 with dense ice fog...'who wants to run
Out to my wood pile for me :)
 
Basement woodbox I fill with an artfully piled wheelbarrow load which usually lasts me 2-3 days. Takes me 20 min to get that done. When the new fireplace is installed (less than a month now), I'll be feeding it from a cord I'll keep on the front, covered porch. Three tractor bucket loads from the woodshed and the rack is full. Will just bring in an armload or two each day. I didn't time it when I stocked it last weekend, but I'd figure on half an hour from empty to full.
 
These stories remind me of the old saw about a plate of ham and eggs: the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.

We're in the chute now--win, lose, or draw, the rodeo has begun. Ready or not, for some of us, winter is here.
 
I'll work all day in 20 below (F) temps, but when it's over 100, I 'm only going out for a few minutes at a time. I am what I like to refer to as a hot weather wussy.
 
Working in the cold isn't to bad, but -25 & colder stresses equipment & when it breaks in the cold you have real troubles.
We used to shut down out side work at -30, or -20 with winds over 15 MPH. Metal gets real brittle at these cold temps.
Winds to start letting up later today but then the below zeros come back.
The high winds, with single digits temps are tougher to work in than the sub zero cold with no wind. IMO.
I keep wondering where all this blowing snow is coming from, by now it should all be gone & where is it all going?
Single digit temps with humidity in the 35% range, at least my wood is staying dry :)
If going outside in this kind of weather , drink lots of water !!
 
be careful out there Dave. McKinley took the top prize for "most dangerous big hill in the world" this year. Alaska can be a dangerous place. Keep your mucklucks dry.
 
Be safe Dave, that's some serious weather. If we don't see a forum post from you in a few days, maybe should we send out search & rescue... ;-)
 
Delta-T said:
be careful out there Dave. McKinley took the top prize for "most dangerous big hill in the world" this year. Alaska can be a dangerous place. Keep your mucklucks dry.

No trees up on the Mt. No reason for me to go there :)
I like to "look but don't touch" when it comes to Mts that never loose the snow :)
So clear now, McKinley (Denali) is visible from many locations here. Pretty awesome.
Picture from moose camp in September.
 

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you tryin to tell me that that mass of clouds in the background is the mountain??? sweet lord. looks to be a few feet taller than our "big hill" Mt. Washington (all 6288').
 
Delta-T said:
you tryin to tell me that that mass of clouds in the background is the mountain??? sweet lord. looks to be a few feet taller than our "big hill" Mt. Washington (all 6288').

Yea, it's a pretty big rock :)
 
When I was there the mountain "wasn't out."
 
firefighterjake said:
When I was there the mountain "wasn't out."

It like to play with tourists, only comes out on sunny days :)
 
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