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In January 2008, the snow began to fall and continued to fall until there were between 8-10 feet. The last time I had seen that much snow was in 1984 when I lived in the Colorado Rockies at 9000’. I lived off the beaten path in the community village in a 24’ cloth yurt known as Sleepy Hollow. It sat right next to the Breitenbush River💕
That winter the snow kept falling until we had essentially tunnels to navigate through the village. Although we maintained the road from Detroit up to the guest entrance, the plow had created one lane of traffic with at least 10 foot walls of snow up either side of the road. We decided to close to the public and put up a sign to that effect in Detroit.
One couple who were on their honeymoon never got their messages, voicemail or email and showed up anyway! How they made it up the one lane road past our closed sign must have been sheer determination to arrive at their desired destination! Here they are pictured below walking towards the lodge which is barely visible off to the right…
One of my favorite memories is the morning I chose to shovel snow all the way from my front door to the community tub in the village where I soaked and showered every morning. It took me hours to make it from my path through the woods, through the village to the tubs. There was so much snow it was almost surreal. I was wearing my bathrobe as usual.
The Village:
These 4 pictures illustrate how much snow fell over a few days, as you can see the levels rise. The first set is the side of a cabin in the village, and the icicles really show the level rise. The second one is of our community fire station in the village. Look at the snow on the roof! It was both amazing to watch and beautiful.
These next 2 photos are of a bear sculpture that lives outside one of the community dwellings known as Bear Cabin… The first was taken in 2005 to show you what it looked like without mountains of snow around it. The second one shows it in the bear cave that formed around it from the many feet of snow that were falling…
When I finally shoveled a path across the deck where the tubs were down the steps to the shower and stepped in and began to lather my hair with shampoo. I recalled how my family always thought I was crazy, the black sheep so to speak or more appropriately purple since my hair was that color. I imagined what they would think could they see me now, naked surrounded by so many feet of snow washing my hair on the edge of the forest. Although I was alone I burst into laughter.
After my shower I soaked in the springs for a long time until I warmed up again and made the journey back to my yurt, put another log on the fire in the wood-stove and prepared for a day in the office.
Thanks Quija. I’m not missing snow but I do miss my morning routine of outdoor showers and soaks.
Sweet! I was at Breitenbush that winter, and a couple of other winters like it! A winter wonderland, truly. The snowy walls along the pathways through the community village were at least 8′ high and single track. The only way to pass another pedestrian on the track was to back up and squeak off at a pathway to a cabin and let the person by. After a few days and more snow, the compacted track was actually almost 2 feet above the ground. If your foot slipped off the track to the side you would post hole deep down into the softer snow just off the track. It became treacherous! But oh so glorious!
Another way we could pass on the narrow path was to hug one another and pivot. What a nice way to welcome a new-to-me community member! That winter I experienced cabin fever, as the snow piled up almost to the top of the cabin’s windows. It was a huge job to shovel the path, heaving snow up and over the top of the snow. Matia climbed up somehow and danced around on top (luckily she was small enough not to fall through the crust!), shouting “this is the way to cure cabin fever!” Early in February I journeyed out to visit a friend who’d barely recovered from chemo. I got a ride with Carol and we joined the caravan of staff and guests…what an adventure! It took 2 hours to reach Detroit, 10 miles away. We had to stop and wait for the plow truck to clear a wide enough section for the incoming cars to slip by. Carol yelled greetings to each car heading up to Breitenbush – Welcome! she said, You’ll have a great time!
That was my first winter as a fill in and it was magical and intense. The paths on the staff side were narrow little trails. So many memories. Snow avalanches while soaking in the tubs. Snow up to the second story of star cabin. I wonder if I can find any old pictures…..
That was a crazy winter with one lane open and a pilot car going back and forth to Detroit three times a day for a month.After that it was decided to buy a snow plow instead of hiring Harold and Kevin Hills to plow.I believe it cost Breitenbush about $50,000 on snow removal that winter.
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