Scaffolding...Not just for painting..

Today we went out to the refuge, and along the way, Amy and I discussed our failure from the day before of opening the gate (I had planned to give her the tour before research started, but we sadly failed at manual gate operation technique), and whether it just needed some brute force, which is not either of our fortes....luckily for us, the gate required a hammer and some significant pounding/yanking before it gave. We managed to make it into the refuge without getting stuck, as the snow was somewhat more significant than last year...as in majorly so.
We started immediately with erecting the scaffolding, which lay buried and frozen to the ground and itself. The process started easily enough, until it was realized that a few vital pieces lay out at an old tower site, and needed to be hauled back. I volunteered, and 15 minutes later after I had stepped in yet another burrow, I sincerely wished I hadn't.
At some point in the day, we managed to get all the skeletons up (as I tend to think of them), and then it was time to put the traps out. Last year there was not snow. Last year there wasn't a huge drift blocking the front door to the barn. Last year we didn't have to first climb the drift, fall into the barn, haul carts up, followed by traps, followed by more traps. This year, I got a serious workout in my arms and legs. This year, I mourned last year as I went to the fartherst tower with 24 traps, only to go back several times. Last year I didn't take off my jacket and first three layers; this year I got that new experience to remember always....