For people living in areas drenched by seemingly never-ending heat this past summer, winter seems an awful long way away. But in the north, people have a tougher time forgetting the long, cold winter that has only disappeared shortly before. Winter can come back any time of the year in northern areas - fresh snow came to the mountains above Holloway Bar in early July this year - which, if you ask anyone that's lived in the Cassiar area, is not an uncommon event. Just six weeks later, I encountered fresh snow in the mountains a couple of hundred kilometers to the south of Holloway Bar along Highway 37. Miners have to be prepared for quick season changes as mountain weather starts usually starts to produce early morning frost early in August most years. Frost isn't too much of a problem, but hard freezes can mess up the waterworks and make mining later into the summer and fall a bit of a gamble and race against time. Not surprisingly, placer gold miners usually hope for an early spring so they can start digging right after the ground thaws - late May or early June in this area - and then hope the conditions stay warm late into the fall to grab that extra few weeks of good mining. But, you have to take the weather as it comes and let Mother Nature set the schedule.

Be sure to visit hollowaybar.com before the snow flies!