The weather in the Chariot Canyon was much different than the weather in San Diego which was located on the Pacific Ocean and surrounding bays. San Diego has a most agreeable weather pattern with sunshine and warmth about 90% of the time. But San Diego County, which was on the same latitude as the State of Israel, had many different climates across her landscape. There were the extreme deserts found in the far east of the county which were covered with wildflowers during the springtime and had hidden springs and creeks that were fun for body-surfing and created little oases in the desert year round.
Then there was a high range of mountains that covered the middle part of the county and this area had strong and sudden snowstorms and lightning and thunderstorms that sprung up out of seeming nowhere but did not last for long. We lived in those mountains but right on the edge of the desert-where we lived was called the high chapparel. The water from the mountain tops ran down the mountain in streams that fed the water table for the entire Imperial Valley. We had to be very careful of what landed in the streams because it would inevitably work its way down into the vast farmlands of the Imperial Valley where it was measured by specialists in the BLM, whose offices were in the Imperial Valley. We were watched for a lot of reasons by the BLM who had the task of keeping the public lands safe and in good condition. The officers who worked with us were very kind and understanding of our various problems and they asked us to keep a BLM weather station at the millsite to track temperature, rain, snow, and wind speeds so that they could keep a handle on how dry the vegetation was getting and if there was the possibility of wild fires occurring and the state the vegetation was in and whether it would go up like a tender box, or resist the fire if the plants had a high water content. Usually, the vegetation was very dry and we had three fire storms in the canyon while we lived there that cleared off thousands of acres of underbrush and trees. Watching the plants and trees make a come-back after the fires was one of the joys of living in such a dangerous place. The vegetation would start blooming and new green shoots would sprout miraculously and pretty soon, the mountain's scars would be once again covered with new vegetation. We lived at the 5,000 foot level and (just an added note) there was a huge wolf sanctuary situated on the top of the mountain behind us and we could hear their howling all through the nights and parts of the day. The sanctuary was actually just outside of Julian proper and was the source of a lot of angry debate, but no wolf ever escaped because they were surrounded by 8 foot high chain-link fencing, and they were kept fed well.
Anyhow, we were not very well prepared for the cold and snow and winds of winter. Our house still had slight cracks in the walls because they were made from used and sometimes slightly warped lumber. When the wind blew and it was raining or snowing, we would get little drifts on the floor of the house. To combat the cold-sometimes getting as low as 7 degrees below zero-we had our one little pot-bellied wood stove which Bruce would spend the winters filling with logs and kindling. The pot belly would turn red from the heat and we all stood or sat right around her. We would be dressed in several layers of clothing and our jackets 24/7. When it was time to go to bed at night-none of the other rooms were heated-we took big flat rocks and baked them in the propane oven until they were very hot. Then we would wrap the stones in newspaper and slip them into the foot of our beds, under the covers. It was sheer joy to get into bed then and the rocks would be warm for about an hour so you could get to sleep without worrying about being cold. Waking up in the mornings was a lot of fun because the fire would have gone out and the cabin would be dark and icy cold. It was Bruce, who woke up at 5:00, that would stagger out to the stove and start the fire roaring again so that the children could run out to the stove and get warm and get ready for school. Since we were always dressed in regular clothes and several layers of them, the children would actually wash up the night before when the house was at its warmest, and put on clean clothes for school, which they would then sleep in so they didn't have to try to put clothes on in the freezing living room the next morning.
Our windows, which totally surrounded the house, were simply screening over large cutouts in the walls. During winter, we had plywood pieces that closed over the screens like flaps and were locked close with a bent nail. We lived in a wooden cocoon in the winter. In the spring, summer, and fall, the open screening kept the house cool during times when the temperature could rise to over 110 degrees.
One day a wind and rain storm came up unexpectedly and the winds were about 50 miles per hour. The wind caught the wooden flaps that covered the windows and they blew wide open letting the rain-soaked wind straight into the house and destroying a lot of our property.
Our friends, Mike and Tony from the Santa Ysabel Indian Reservation, would come up in their big old wood-hauling truck to check on us during the winter. They always brought food and goodies for the children and their happy dispositions went a long way to making us feel safe and cared for, and their advice saved our lives several times.
Tomorrow we will hear about how we survived wildfires and wild animals, and hear about Bruce's constant battle with rattlesnakes and sidewinders and why he would leave their bodies lying around the millsite. I cannot tolerate snakes coming from all directions; they freaked me out.
Then there was a high range of mountains that covered the middle part of the county and this area had strong and sudden snowstorms and lightning and thunderstorms that sprung up out of seeming nowhere but did not last for long. We lived in those mountains but right on the edge of the desert-where we lived was called the high chapparel. The water from the mountain tops ran down the mountain in streams that fed the water table for the entire Imperial Valley. We had to be very careful of what landed in the streams because it would inevitably work its way down into the vast farmlands of the Imperial Valley where it was measured by specialists in the BLM, whose offices were in the Imperial Valley. We were watched for a lot of reasons by the BLM who had the task of keeping the public lands safe and in good condition. The officers who worked with us were very kind and understanding of our various problems and they asked us to keep a BLM weather station at the millsite to track temperature, rain, snow, and wind speeds so that they could keep a handle on how dry the vegetation was getting and if there was the possibility of wild fires occurring and the state the vegetation was in and whether it would go up like a tender box, or resist the fire if the plants had a high water content. Usually, the vegetation was very dry and we had three fire storms in the canyon while we lived there that cleared off thousands of acres of underbrush and trees. Watching the plants and trees make a come-back after the fires was one of the joys of living in such a dangerous place. The vegetation would start blooming and new green shoots would sprout miraculously and pretty soon, the mountain's scars would be once again covered with new vegetation. We lived at the 5,000 foot level and (just an added note) there was a huge wolf sanctuary situated on the top of the mountain behind us and we could hear their howling all through the nights and parts of the day. The sanctuary was actually just outside of Julian proper and was the source of a lot of angry debate, but no wolf ever escaped because they were surrounded by 8 foot high chain-link fencing, and they were kept fed well.
Anyhow, we were not very well prepared for the cold and snow and winds of winter. Our house still had slight cracks in the walls because they were made from used and sometimes slightly warped lumber. When the wind blew and it was raining or snowing, we would get little drifts on the floor of the house. To combat the cold-sometimes getting as low as 7 degrees below zero-we had our one little pot-bellied wood stove which Bruce would spend the winters filling with logs and kindling. The pot belly would turn red from the heat and we all stood or sat right around her. We would be dressed in several layers of clothing and our jackets 24/7. When it was time to go to bed at night-none of the other rooms were heated-we took big flat rocks and baked them in the propane oven until they were very hot. Then we would wrap the stones in newspaper and slip them into the foot of our beds, under the covers. It was sheer joy to get into bed then and the rocks would be warm for about an hour so you could get to sleep without worrying about being cold. Waking up in the mornings was a lot of fun because the fire would have gone out and the cabin would be dark and icy cold. It was Bruce, who woke up at 5:00, that would stagger out to the stove and start the fire roaring again so that the children could run out to the stove and get warm and get ready for school. Since we were always dressed in regular clothes and several layers of them, the children would actually wash up the night before when the house was at its warmest, and put on clean clothes for school, which they would then sleep in so they didn't have to try to put clothes on in the freezing living room the next morning.
Our windows, which totally surrounded the house, were simply screening over large cutouts in the walls. During winter, we had plywood pieces that closed over the screens like flaps and were locked close with a bent nail. We lived in a wooden cocoon in the winter. In the spring, summer, and fall, the open screening kept the house cool during times when the temperature could rise to over 110 degrees.
One day a wind and rain storm came up unexpectedly and the winds were about 50 miles per hour. The wind caught the wooden flaps that covered the windows and they blew wide open letting the rain-soaked wind straight into the house and destroying a lot of our property.
Our friends, Mike and Tony from the Santa Ysabel Indian Reservation, would come up in their big old wood-hauling truck to check on us during the winter. They always brought food and goodies for the children and their happy dispositions went a long way to making us feel safe and cared for, and their advice saved our lives several times.
Tomorrow we will hear about how we survived wildfires and wild animals, and hear about Bruce's constant battle with rattlesnakes and sidewinders and why he would leave their bodies lying around the millsite. I cannot tolerate snakes coming from all directions; they freaked me out.
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