Sugar Snow!

January 19 to January 20:

Made a quick overnight trip to the trapline by myself. A hockey draft kept me home Friday night but Saturday morning, bright and early, I was Highway 16 bound. The weather over the past few days has been above zero and I was concerned that anything we might catch at the moose kill or bait station might get green belly. Large carnivores laying in above zero weather isn't good. My plan was to run the entire line and head home early Sunday. I was also going to take down all the marten sets as the season on them closes shortly.

When I arrived at the top of Boulder Road at the unmanned gas plant, snowdrifts had the road filled in at several spots. When I reached the gas plant, I already knew I would be making the five-mile trek to the cabin by snowmobile. There was no way I was going to chance getting stuck when I was by myself, considering the only tracks going in were my own. Boulder Road has yet to be plowed since before Christmas and I'm starting to wonder if it will be plowed again this year. I strapped what I could on the Ski-doo and headed towards the cabin. Once I had a fire going and the cabin was starting to warm up, I hit the trail. It was 11:30 AM; I'd be back at the cabin before dark if everything went well.

The first thing I noticed was the snow had changed. In fact, it was now what trappers' call "sugar snow", snow that has crusted on the top like sugar while leaving a soft underlay. An underlay that will suck you in once a ski gets caught under the sugar snow. On Pipeline Trail, my trails were no longer visible. Drifting snow had filled them in and I was stuck for the first time before I'd made it to the second marten set.

I finished Pipeline Trail getting stuck once more and was sweating pretty hard by the time I hit Grizzly Road. Nothing had visited the moose kill nor the bait station, for which I was grateful, but I picked up ermine #15 at a set that had failed to produce all season.

On South Trail, at a marten set where Dakota and I had previously watched a ermine jump from our box, straight down and nose first, disappearing into the snow, I was surprised to see a marten hanging from our trap. It was our ninth marten of the season. I removed the marten and the trap and closed down the set.

Marten number nine on the season.

I continued down South Trail navigating an almost invisible trail and was once again sucked under the sugar snow. This time I dressed down before digging out. I'd been sweating and was now cooling off. I didn't want to get sweated up again. Soon I was back on the trail shutting down sets and refreshing lynx cubbies. I still needed one more lynx for my quota but was also grateful I hadn't caught one during the warm spell. Lynx can green belly as well. And then I hit the top of Broken Bridge Hill and was once again sucked under the sugar snow.

Sucked off the trail and into and under the sugar snow.

Fourth dig out of the day.

After digging out for the fourth time I was now exhausted. It was snowing like mad and the wind was blowing hard but I was sweating once again. It was starting to get late. Being stuck so often I would now finish up in the dark.

On Old Forest Trail I picked up another marten in a set we'd previously caught an adult female, the only one of the season. The other females we'd caught had been young of the year, part of the marten dispersal. This marten was a big adult male that would fetch a good price at auction.

The tenth and final marten of the season. All marten traps are now down.

The weather had now turned and it was -22 Celsius when I went to bed Saturday night. I was able to dial in the Vancouver Canucks game against Anaheim without too much trouble that night. Looking for AM stations is often an adventure and I only get one FM station, XM105 from Whitecourt. Funny how I can get radio stations from Vancouver but can't get anything from Edmonton.

I drove from the cabin to my truck at the unmanned gas plant and then loaded up. I put the sled into the back of my truck; it was now coming home with me. Next trip in I'll need it to haul stuff from the plant to my cabin. With a little luck, maybe they'll grade Boulder Road and the sled can stay at the cabin once again.

Until next time!