Photo courtesy of Western Carolina University Southern Appalachian Digital Collections
To see an enlarged version visit this page and click on photo.
Lake Logan and Sam’s Knob winter shots
Lake Logan was created in 1932 when Sunburst logging camp was no longer functioning and Champion’s need for water was growing. The West Fork of the Pigeon River was dammed, completely covering Sunburst and creating an 87-acre lake that served a dual purpose as an industrial site and as a corporate retreat with stocked streams and 35,000 acres of forest land for hunting. This undated photograph shows a frost covered forest surrounding the lake.
Southern Appalachian Digital Collections
Still no snow in Brasstown, but the bitter cold weather did finally arrive. It was a chilly 8 degrees this morning.
I was looking at snow photos in the Southern Appalachian Digital Collections and found this one of Lake Logan in Haywood County NC.
The white building on the other side of the lake is the boathouse where I worked when I first met The Deer Hunter. If you look closely you can see where we cleaned all the fish folks caught in the small building just beyond and to the left of the boathouse.
I was tickled to find the photo. It’s been ages since I’ve been to Lake Logan but I can well remember standing at those windows looking out at the lake and the surrounding mountains. It was a good job. I made pretty good money, had a lot of down time where there was nothing to do but read, talk, and cut up with my fellow employees. We even got to eat all our meals in the lodge. I’m ashamed to say all that goodness was wasted on my youth and I complained way too much about this or that.
Early one May I got to see those beautiful trees surrounding the boathouse covered with snow.
My shift started at 6:30 a.m. in case any early rising guest wanted to fish. Not long after we started work that day the snow began to fall and it fell fast! In no time at all everything was covered. It was a heavy wet snow that had trees and limbs snapping throughout the area. The sound of so much breaking wood was eerie.
The Deer Hunter came to get me about 10:30 a.m. because I was afraid to drive in the big snow, but once he assured me the roads weren’t even slick I drove my car following him back home. By late that evening the snow was all gone.
Last night’s video: Walking Barefoot in Snow Prevents Colds???
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I’ve never worked at a boathouse but I helped build one at Lake Rabun. We stood up poles similar to light poles up in the lake and built a boathouse on them. We pulled the poles across the lake with a boat and tied them to the shore. When we need one somebody would just cut it loose and send the neighbors black lab out to fetch it.
That’s one job I never complained about. The wages weren’t the greatest but the way I looked at it I should have been paying them not the other way around.
Great story. It reminds of This one time,
It was in summer here in Midland Tx, it was over a 100 degrees outside, sunny and everything. A storm rolled in and the temperature dropped rapidly. And as crazy as this sounds, it snowed . Even with some thunder. In the middle of summer! We played in the snow for about an hour before the sun came out and the temperature went right back to the 100s I was so sad to see the snow melt as quick as it came. I was like 8 or 9.
Anywho the Temperature today at work was back in the 90s I love the cold but it never lasts in West Texas.
Hope you get your snow ❄️ this year Mrs. Pressley!
Here in Indiana we are expecting a couple of inches tonight. We have had such frigid temps lately – but today was a balmy 36 degrees … felt so nice. Cold temps will return this weekend though. I check the weather forecast for your area often – just to see if you have snow coming. Looks like icy conditions for you tonight. I do hope you get that snow someday soon!
I always enjoy reading your posts and your videos. This picture is very peaceful too! Blessings to you and your precious family.
I was born in Mississippi and raised in Michigan . M mother made a goal of to purchase a car . My Daddy thought they should save for their home first . My mother had to take a long bus ride to her job. She had to wait for a long time at a bus transfer point (30 minutes). Daddy’s route to work was direct and shorter. I was four years old but still recall the clashing of the values as my Mom drove up in a new Buick. Dad said You stole our house money for this car. Mom replied “no sir James” I nearly froze to death at the bus stop. You are saved from being a widower with two babies to raise . Our family ate a lot of bean soup and corn bread but a year later we had our first Michigan home and we’re headed south for Thanksgiving in MS . Ironically mom allowed Dad to drive her car to the deer camp. He laughed about her sneaky way of raiding the grocery money to save her frozen snowed upon Mississippi body. Oddly I recall that car as having wool itchy upholstery. Great memories of both cultures growing up. Cold weather in Michigan Humid and hot skeeter bait every late summer in Mississippi. . The snow on Lake Logan is beautiful your perspective might change if you had to commute to work in that frozen precipitation five days a week. It quickly would lose its beauty . Tipper , there is a quote my Dad would say that may apply to your lament . “ you cannot put an old head on young shoulders”
Tipper, we have plenty of snow here in Baileyton Tennessee if you want some. We are expecting more tonight. I made it to work today. The roads are pretty much clear except the off roads. I probably won’t be able to go tomorrow. That’s a wonderful picture . I bet there were alot of fish in there. Nice fishing place. God Bless granny.
It got down to 12 degrees here in Bassett Va, that is cold. The snow we got wasn’t very much, it all turned into an icy mess, we were lucky that our power stay on. Praise the Lord. They are still forecasting some more bad weather in the next week. Glad that you came across the picture were you once worked. That is a beautiful picture. Praying for the Pressley and Wilson families. God bless.
It got down to -6º here last night but that was Celsius. I have a thermometer with a sensor outside so I don’t even have to go outside to check it. I am in hibernation mode now. I’ll probably go out on February 2nd to check for shad·ers.
Love the picture and I know it brought back some special memories for you. We still don’t have any snow, but we sure do have some mighty cold weather. Stay warm and safe everyone.
You’ve heard the phrase “It’s too cold to snow!” There’s some truth in that. The biggest snows we get here in the Southern Appalachians are when the temperatures are in the mid 30s, at least that has been my experience.
I can remember when Daddy would get me and Harold up early on snowy mornings to go out and shake a patch of yellow pine trees he was babying. The hill had been a mountain pasture and the trees had grown back in naturally and had been very thick. Yellow pine seedlings like that grow long and spindly. Their root system doesn’t develop strong enough to support them because they compete with the surrounding saplings. They also depend on their kindred as a buttress against the wind. If you thin them, as Daddy had done, it takes a while for their roots and stems to strengthen enough to properly support their own weight, much less a snow load. Heavy wet snow is a pine tree’s worst enemy. The added stress causes them to uproot, break or bend to a point where they are useless.
So, we get up, get dressed and hit the woods, literally. We would walk through the woods with a big stick and whack the trees trying to dislodge the snow before the distortion it caused became permanent. Smaller trees could just be simply shaken. However there is a catch to this. You are looking up at 8 inches of heavy snow poised to drop down and drive you into the ground. You have two choices. You hug the tree and hope all that snow all falls around you or you try to outrun it. Now it becomes a game.
You are in battle against nature itself complicated by your partner’s actions. Is he deliberately trying to take you out? Of course he is! Do you retaliate? Of course you do! Will the wind bring down snow when you least expect it? Where? Bare in mind this gameboard is on the side of a mountain, a goatbluff so to speak. Does that sound like fun?
I have always heard the same thing about it being too cold to snow. If it gets much below 35 degrees it is too cold. It seems like our biggest snows in upstate SC came when the temperature was in the mid 30’s.
That was sweet of Matt to help you get home. I’ve been driving in snow all my life and I have never liked doing it and still dislike it. I have driven in so many snowstorms and blizzards I don’t think I have any stress receptors left in my body, lol. I refuse to drive a pickup off this mountain in the winter, I will drive the side by side down but that is it. My husband humors me.
I don’t remember ever being called sweet, but if it snowed and I was not working I would both take and pick up my wife at her work. Just call me a “go getter”. I took her to work and would go back and get her. Someone else mentioned pickup trucks, in all of the years I drove in snow, I drove 2 wheel drive pickup trucks that had around 10-12 eight inch cement blocks in the bed across the back axle. Most of the time my dog box made from 2 sheets of plywood and some 2x4s would also be in the bed.
South-central Virginia got only about an inch or two of snow and sleet, but it fell fast enough and heavily enough to overcome the brine on the roads, so travel was interesting for awhile on Monday evening. People in my area have two ways of driving in snow: they try to drive the same as they usually do, or else they won’t set foot out the door. Maybe I haven’t got the sense that God gave animal crackers, but I’ve never been afraid to drive in snow or ice. Put it in low gear or 4WD, take my time, and leave plenty of space between me and the next car.
A job at a boathouse would have been a dream come true for me. There wouldn’t have been downtime as long as I had my fishing pole close by. We have a weather advisory in place again today and it includes ice this time around. I hope that if we have a power outage it doesn’t last ten days like it did during the ’09 ice storm.
Our little bit of snow in Richmond, Virginia is mostly gone, except for our deck, which doesnt get much sun in the winter. It should melt today, because our high is supposed to be in the 40s.
I see. You are having to find snow pictures ☺. At least you found one that has memories for you. Those heavy wet spring snows are indeed very pretty but short-lived. I’m glad you have the memory. And as to how we were once to how we are now – I say it seems like we have to live one life before we learn how to live our life well. Seems like if we could start out with mature smarts we could be a lot more useful and content?
Beautiful picture that brings back so many of your wonderful memories during your younger years. It seems like a perfect job to have and fun too. Jobs always have lots of work to do, but when it has down time to enjoy, well that’s a big plus.
Having lived around Superior, Michigan, Huron, and smaller inland lakes for most of my life, I also agree there is nothing so beautiful as wintertime lakes. Up here, winter is half of every year and, in truth, Michiganders love their “quiet seasons,” where tourists go home, and we also hear the many sounds of winter forests. The snows and waters of fall, winter, and springs are primary reasons why I love my home.
Tipper, wish you had some snow we got here in Kentucky. My Grandmother who was born in 1901, used to say if snow hung around 7 days it was waiting on another one. In the past I have seen this to be true lots of times in Tennessee where I grew up and Kentucky where I’ve lived for many years. Hoping you get your snow.
Thanks for including us in your day to day. I always look forward to your email every day. It is 7:53 AM here in upstate Florida and a ‘balmy’ 33. I don’t do those numbers you have. I do love my summer even with the 95 degree it sometimes gets. Praying for Granny and you guys…stay warm and well and safe.
Well, I got your snow,Tipper. It came down in flakes the size of cotton balls. It didn’t take long for 6 or 7 inches to accumulate. Then the temperature plummeted, so the snow has become crusty ice. I’m staying in out of it & enjoying feeding the birds of all kinds on my back porch. It’s been a long time since we’ve had more than a dusting here in Dayton TN. Cold temps will be lingering for another week or so. Yes, as much as I love the snow, I’ll be ready to see it go when it leaves. (I did not walk barefoot in it for fear the neighbors would throw a net over me. LOL!)
Tipper,
I think if we were all as honest as you about our complaining back in our younger days, we would all be in the same boat with you. For some crazy reason it is not until we have stepped long away from those days that we see the beauty and wonderment in what we were doing and what we accomplished.
It was 3 degrees here in Monroe County, TN… an improvement from yesterday’s minus 4. We got about 7 inches of snow and it’s hanging around for another one, I reckon.
Stay warm,
Carolyn
Thanks for sharing these precious memories and the pictures! I can count the big snows here on one hand in my whole life which makes it exciting to me as well. I too wish it would snow here but highly unlikely here on the coast of South Carolina. It did get down to 29 with a heavy frost this morning so no wind. I am told the wind chill was in the teens last night. I do enjoy reading about other folks experiences so thanks so much for your writing and brings back many memories for your readers including me.
We have about a foot of snow on the ground. It didn’t snow yesterday—too cold. I took two of my granddaughters out for a snowy walk in the “forest” yesterday. We were all getting anxious to play outside again. Our walk was a quick refreshing five minutes—with a wind chill below zero and snow over the little ones boots, we came back inside before our faces froze off. Lol. We did get to see some squirrel tracks that ended at the bottom of an oak tree and several deer tracks. They love looking for animal “footprints”. It’s gonna be a balmy 32 today—yay for playing outside! Our county is under another storm warning from this evening until Saturday. We may get another six to twelve inches of snow. The wind gusts may be as high as 45 mph, so got to get prepared for the power to go out. That’s what happens when you live where there’s lots of trees. I loved your video with the ham steak—the whole dinner looked yummy. I love to buy those too—they make a great breakfast. Stay warm and safe everyone and enjoy the beautiful winter weather wherever you are.
Such sweet memories and what a beautiful lake.
I have lived in central Florida so long I get cold at 65 degrees, but I remember bitter cold. My last winter in Indiana was so cold with the windchill was far into the negatives . I loved the snow and my dad instructed me on how to drive in the snow so I was never afraid driving.
I miss snow but I don’t miss cold!
Is there anything prettier than a lake (or a river, or a stream, or an ocean coast) surrounded by snow-covered trees? Maybe that same view in Spring with its new green growth or Summer with its lush growth or Fall with its breath-taking colors. What a beautiful world the Lord gave us!
It’s been so cold here too. Temps and windchill below zero, but we made it to 27 yesterday. The wind is what makes it so unbearable.
My chickens are coming out of a molt so I was fearing some might not make it.
When my honey and I were young he worked second shift and he would come home after a snow and want to take a walk. The moon would make the snow look like it had diamonds all over it. It was so quiet, peaceful, and very beautiful. So long ago. (we met coon hunting so jaunting around in the dark was normal for us)
Thanks for sharing and I’m still hoping you get snow. If it’s gotta be cold we might as well have snow
God bless all y’all!
“If it’s gotta be cold, we might as well have snow.”
Amen, sister! Cold temps without snow is a waste of cold temps.
Pretty picture. One of our local news stations showed some pretty pictures of this week’s NC snow, I think one picture was at Gatlinburg. Cold nighttime temperatures -the middle teens with a single digit wind chill predicted through the weekend before warming up and raining. Below freezing temperature predicted from Friday evening to noontime Sunday. Next Thursday and Friday daytime temps near 70 degrees. After all my years of driving in snow and ice to work, I now only want to see snow in pictures. Tipper, I would start on my last job (daytime) at Michelin at 6:30 am but would often go in early and start at 4-4:30 am in order to get off earlier in the afternoon, as long as I got the work done, the time didn’t make too much difference. For many years I worked rotating/swing shifts-7 straight days on one shift, 48 hours off and then start another 7 days on a different shift with one weekend off each month.
Haven’t watched video of walking barefoot in the snow and can’t say if it will prevent colds, but can say without a doubt it will cause cold feet!