Hey Matt … Harold and I said "It was a cold and windy day"!!! (Inside joke … that is how my Uncle [who taught me and Matt's Dad how to hunt] used to start almost all of his hunting stories), and he could tell stories!
1st - The F-150, with Blizzack tires, goes up and down snow covered 4wd roads like it is on dry ground!
Going up the mountain, we had to stop the truck for a grouse that was in the middle of the road … thought that was a good sign, but it turned out to be the only grouse we saw! It got very cold, and very windy. Woke up to 5*F this morning, and it never got over 10* all day long. Luckily the wind let up in the afternoon, but it is always humid up there, and the cold just goes through you.
We had several "episodes" of snow, so it always stayed fresh, and not many tracks. We jumped two deer while searching for grouse, found a single set of coyote tracks, and on the way down the hill came across large bear tracks (I thought they would be hibernating by now).
The wind last night was ferocious and relentless, and we struggled to maintain enough heat in a two story 20 x 24 cabin with uninsulated plywood walls. So earlier today we discussed plans to insulate.
Too tired to download pics now, but I'll post some tomorrow.