Early Winter in the Central Idaho Mountains

McCall Idaho – Brundage Mountain – and an outdoor playground!

The kayak is “sleeping” for the winter, and so is the bicycle. I do keep a kayak paddle standing outside my 5er to remind me winter is but a temporary state of affairs – but while it is here, I do make the most of it! 

Snow is piling up outside my 5er and there’s MORE to come! I awoke this morning to a brisk -17F, today is a brilliant sunny day (with temperatures around 10F), and it looks like MORE than 4 FEET of snow is heading our way in the next week or so.

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The kayak paddle is just off to the side! A mid-December photo – in the process of getting snowed in for the winter.
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My propane tank is ALREADY buried! (mid-December photo)

The past few weeks have been more than busy, allow me to share what I’ve been up to in this video below – then be sure to see my 2nd video with scenes from the lake, the slopes, the golf course and more…

Winter is here – Preparations are done – Now lets have some fun!

As I mentioned in my video, my fridge froze up and I’m now employing my trusty 40 qt. cooler to keep my refrigerated goods cold (it runs on 12 or 110 v). Click the image below to see what I have that has now stood the test of time and lasted 5+ years. (And currently, Amazon’s price is $16. less than I paid 5 years ago!)

 

As I mentioned in the video, when it warms up (in late February??), I will fire up the fridge again and bring it back to life! Thanks to all my preparation steps, so far all else is working. Because it has been so consistently cold, I plug in my (diesel) truck most nights and keep anti-gel additive on hand to keep the fuel working. I suspect we’re right now in the coldest part of winter.

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Still BBQ’ing!
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I keep my truck bed filled with snow all winter – helps with traction and driving.

The video below shows several different aspects of life here in McCall – the “Central-Western Idaho Mountains”.

Ski all winter – but there’s also time for…

sharing this amazing lifestyle with you! Some of my upcoming posts will focus on building a website – which can be lots of fun, a creative “outlet” and can generate income for you. If you are interested, the big issue I’ll tackle early on? Website security! It has become a MAJOR concern in recent weeks and I’ve learned how to “lock down” my site to prevent damage from future attacks. Stay tuned for more info soon!

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45th Parallel Ski Trail at Brundage Mountain
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The lakefront (Payette Lake) in McCall – mid-December

I also have some video footage I will share soon about two lines of trailers I believe are built well and respect. Further, I have more post concepts that will enable you (and I) as RV’ers to enjoy our traveling experience and find unique campgrounds and regions you may not have considered as you crisscross our amazing nation.

A few posts you may find of interest…

How to get an exceptional nights sleep in your RV

RV Insurance and what I’ve found to be important when choosing

What it takes to survive winter in extreme cold

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A break in the clouds at Brundage
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One of my ski students on his first intermediate run.
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4 thoughts on “Early Winter in the Central Idaho Mountains”

  1. Hi Alan –

    Wish we had known you were at the McCall RV Resort! We would have liked to have met you. My husband and I were there over Christmas too. We came in on Christmas Eve, when it was snowing. We had to wake up Lymon at 10:30 p.m. – felt really bad doing so, but we could not find our spot, which was G2. We were in the Grand Designs Momentum 5th wheel, right next to Gene, the maintenance/caretaker.

    We had a wonderful time in the snow. Loved waking to see the deer all around us; and the occasional fox darting by at night. Our Labradoodle, Cayanne, had her first visit to the snow and loved it!

    We are looking to retire in McCall, so the visit during winter was necessary. We shall go again when it warms up to make sure it is the right fit for us.

    We fared well enough in the cold – nothing broke down on the coach – even the fridge, with the cold weather kit, worked well. Gene lent us his snow shovel, since we forgot ours. The only hitch we had was coming through Donner Pass on December 23rd – CalTrans turned us around on the 80 to go put chains on our Ram Dually AND the trailer. Very not fun for Greg, my husband to put them on for the first time in the slush and cold. (I helped with holding a flashlight.) When we got back on 80E, CalTrans was no longer there, so we realize timing is EVERYTHING while RVing. We will not ever endeavor to drive in inclimate weather with the 5th wheel. Knowing what the weather is ahead of time is key. We learned the hard way!

    Reply
    • I recall seeing your rig over Christmas! You should come back to ski / enjoy the amazing snowfall that will happen this week! And yes, timing is important – I try to never travel with the 5er when roads are snow/ice covered. Only once (on May 1st) did that happen.

      Reply

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