April Winter

FTLComm - Porcupine Plain - Monday, April 8, 2002 - By: Timothy and Judy Shire

A year ago today we made the same trip as we did yesterday from Tisdale out to East of Weekes and you might find it interesting to note how it looked then as compared with the scenes along the road Sunday afternoon. We left Tisdale just about 5:00 in the afternoon and though it was bright there was still some cloud in the sky. The fields East of Tisdale to the Crooked River intersection are

covered in snow, in most cases well above the stubble. We noticed some logging West of Bjorkdale and spotted two Whiskey Jacks near one of the logging sites. These pictures begin East of Bjorkdale as you see the ditches are filled with snow and there seems to be some snow in the fields though less than around Tisdale.

The dramatic difference is from Chelan to Porcupine Plain (right) where the fields are all but devoid of snow. It looks like bare country right around Porcupine Plain and there is little improvement as we headed East to Carrigana and Somme. (below) The fresh snow was very thin as we were watching close not only

for deer but for their tracks as well. Moments before Judy snapped this picture two deer were enjoying the view from the centre of the highway. The deer population from Carrigana to Weekes is as heavy as ever with many places indicating lots of traffic in the ditch as seen in this picture (right),

The group were peacefully grazing West of Somme and the snow cover here is all but gone offering the deer plenty to eat. Our wide angle lens from both cameras were just not up to the task of capturing this scene.

East of Weekes the vandalised highway makes it hard to see the fields but as soon as we left what used to be a highway and headed up a grid we could see that this area had much more snow and we were told that the further North and East you went the more snow there was. This picture below of the Lindenbach farm yard pretty much tells the story.