Winter hiatus

Flagstaff sits at an altitude of 7,000 feet (2,130 m.). The air up here is thin and cool … and downright chilly come winter. The area’s nightly low temperatures average below freezing from late October well into May, which means that do-it-yourself concrete work pretty much comes to a halt once winter starts dragging its cloak across the land.

Exploring the work site

I was hoping to get the piers finished before the nights got too cold, but by the time winter set in I had just 6 of the planned 12 piers finished, and only seven footers poured. We had a brief warming spell in March, and I was able to dig the remaining holes and pour the final footers, as the freshly dug holes reached earth that was comparatively warm and the days warmed up to the high forties and low fifties, so the fresh concrete stayed warm enough long enough to set up adequately.

But that was it, until the weather warmed up some. Which it didn’t do until early May. Oh well – I love Flagstaff’s weather just the same!