There’s a guy on the Weather Channel explaining why the ‘primary’ roads will be cleared before the ‘secondary’ roads; I’m not sure that anyone who didn’t know why that’s so before he explained it would understand why after he explained it.
I’ve got 18 head of cattle in the front pasture. They are OK right now but will need to get more hay into the hay rings tomorrow after the snow quits. I suppose that getting to the hay barn will be as challenging as it was the year before last when I had to go off-road with the tractor. Here’s the set-up:
The tractor is in the barn at the lower right of the image above. The hay is stored in the barn in the upper left. Both sit on high ground and the terrain between the two incorporate low ground. The normal path is along the solid red line: down a steep hill then up a steep hill. The ‘backup route’ is via the dashed red line: I go down the hill in the pasture adjacent to the equipment barn where it is not steep. Through the woods along the side of a ravine and after crossing a cattle gap (pictured below) I go left into the woods and climb the hill.
Here are a couple of pictures from last year that shows the challenge:
This taken while standing in front of the cabin and looking towards the equipment barn.
This from the valley floor looking back at my cabin. That’s my good girl standing adjacent to a concrete drive in 5 inches of snow.
This photo was taken from the same place as the previous one but facing the opposite direction. It shows the road going up and to the left and the valley running along the right side.
Finally, this is the alternate route. Photo was taken from the same spot as the previous two but looking up the secondary valley (red dashed line). On the extreme right in the photo is the starting point of the steep path through the woods.
Trying to get up and down very steep roads consisting of ice covered concrete is a fools errand so will be off-roading the tractor come tomorrow.