Homestead mailing list

["Lynda" <lurine AT softcom.net>]

There are no records up here prior to 1850, or at least no acknowledged 
records because there were no white men.  However, the records since then 
have been kept faithfully.

Way back when there was no way to get into or out of the valley for months 
at a time during the winter.  The Summit (3660' and the northerly route out) 
would be closed down anywhere from Christmas until sometime around April or 
May.  There wasn't a southerly route until the 1900s and it would be closed 
from Thanksgiving on.  Parts of 36 (running east/west and the only way out 
of the south end of the valley) are still only one lane and a rather 
interesting trip!  We recommend it in the winter for anyone who likes white 
knuckle rides <g>

Lynda
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gene GeRue" <genegerue AT ruralize.com>

> Lynda's post reminded me of a visit to Heartwood about fifteen years
> ago by a lady then in her forties. She said that as a child she had
> lived upholler for several years; her father had run a portable
> sawmill. In fact, the engine that powered that sawmill came out of an
> old car, the remainder of which still sits at the edge of the woods.
> Anyway, I commented that she had had a long walk to school, about
> three miles, up and down two pretty steep hillsides, and that would
> have been especially onerous during snow time. She replied, "It
> didn't snow then."
>
> During the years between her residence and the current time I have
> seen hard winters where the snow stayed on the ground from about
> Thanksgiving until sometime in March. In recent years it is rare to
> have snow that stays on the ground for three days. I offer this as
> information that may support the premise that what we are calling
> global warming may in fact simply be part of yet another normal cycle.