Mud Season - Frost Heaves NH

Spring in New Hampshire has Hazards

The calender says that spring is less than 20 days away but the thermometer is telling a different story with a 2  degree reading this morning.  On the bright side the sun is shinning to help cut the windchill factor down from the 20 mile per hour winds gusting me across the driveway.  Forget the temperature for a minute.  Springtime in NH is the arrival of Frost Heaves and Mud Season.  The dreaded frost heaves start  to appear right after we had our first warm spell in February. Frost heaves form as a  result from ice forming beneath the surface of soil during freezing conditions. When we have a warm spell water seeps through the cracks in the road and freezes causing expansion of the road surface lifting the pavement. The whole road turns into a pot hole.  In Gilmanton they fill these craters with sand so you don't bend an axle. They do mark the roads with signs for really bad sections ( some cases the whole road ).  The real joke here is that the police revenues go down from the inability to giving out speeding tickets. There is no way that you could drive over the speed limit on the roads around here. Next comes Mud Season!  The NH Lakes Region and north is loaded miles of dirt roads.  Just as we approach mud season your first sign is  the towns start to post the dirt roads to prohibit commercial trucks on them. What happens is the dirt road has expanded during the freezing process and as the road thaws and re-freezes and we get road mud ruts.  You don't need 4 wheel drive to get through this stuff but a car wash is needed daily.  The ruts are almost like a bobsled run, follow them in the morning and create your own in the afternoon when the temperature warms.

If you are looking for a lake home in New Hampshire call Lady of the Lake Realty at 1-888-737-5550 or e-mail at info@nhlakesrealty.com or visit our website  New Hampshire at www.nhlakesrealty.com or www.lakeorskirealestate.com  Contact us today!