Good Karma and an Orange Sno-Cat
Matt and Erin Regan
For Matt and Erin Regan, “Living in the High Sierra is life at its best—until it isn’t.” For these self-described homesteaders, the YouTube fantasy of off-grid living in complete isolation is a farce. Standing casually in dirty and soaking wet clothes on top of snow nearly as deep as she is tall, Erin explains that “for her and her neighbors living off the grid takes grit, determination, and a certain measure of stubbornness.” People who continue to call this lifestyle home beyond the first few winters are testaments to human resilience. Surprisingly though, even in near desolation, community takes root.
For all of us townies, paved roads, reliable utilities, and prompt emergency services are expected if not demanded. Even in challenging years. According to UC Berkeley’s Central Sierra Snow Lab, with over 700 inches and counting of snowfall, this 22/23 season has shattered the records all the way back to the winter of 1952. During the series of winter storms to hit the Sierra, Grass Valley and Nevada City were subjected to a multitude of health and safety emergencies, including no power in freezing temperatures, structural issues from snow loads, propane shortages, delivery issues, and downed trees crushing cars and homes. Despite all our infrastructure and resources near the city centers, our roads, utilities, and first responders were completely overwhelmed.
“We’re approximately an hour and a half outside of town, double the elevation, and get more than double the snow, and we know that no one is coming to save us,” Matt commented as a matter of fact. Mostly unaware of our civilized problems, not out of indifference but rather facing challenges of their own. The Regan family worked proactively to take care of their animals and property, but not all their neighbors could keep up with the barrage of weather. “People think that all of us up here are a bunch of loners, and I guess it is sort of true, but at the same time we are really tight knit and look out for each other,” Erin said. “When we started getting calls from several families that were in trouble, we didn’t think twice.” As she put it, “we know they would be there for us too, and living up here we all need each other occasionally.”
Snowfall in the High Sierra, 2023
Years ago, Matt and Erin invested in an old 1967 SnoCat to get around in situations like these. Like many Americans, “the last few years of skyrocketing living expenses and other personal hardships have put us in extremely tough financial times.” To the Regan’s, resources like gasoline are not easily replaced: “we knew we would have to use our reserve fuel and that somehow we will get by without it.” To them, “there was no question; when neighbors were out of food or fuel we had to help.”
Their first stop was a mere seven miles away but took all of two hours to get there. The family—Liam, Jessica, and their four boys—greeted the orange SnoCat like a godsend. Jessica explained with admiration that “Matt knows how to fix anything, even in extreme conditions.” Normally the family could hold their own, but the snow came down faster than they could all shovel it and it buried both of the family vehicles under a mountain of snow. Matt described the mess: “When we pulled up to their property, a long trench was dug out extending from their snow-buried home. The snow was so deep on the road that their cars resembled a mere wrinkle in the white sheets of snow.” After hand shoveling out the front of the first vehicle and chaining it to the Snocat the team got it unstuck from its hole, but the roads proved impassable even with four-wheel drive and chains. “It was getting late, and we still had to get off the mountain,” Erin said, setting the scene, “so we drove them into North San Juan for food and fuel and nearly 14 hours later the mission was accomplished in the nick of time.”
But the calls for help kept coming in. Another neighbor and friend who was away from home during the storm and couldn’t get up to his property. “There was so much snow that he was worried his structures would collapse if he could not get up there to pull some of it off the roofs,” Erin said. “He was so relieved when we got him to his house. He lost some of the smaller buildings, but the main house was okay.” Another notable deed was when Matt and Erin made another run into town on behalf of one of their elderly neighbors who were completely snowed in. They were out of firewood, animal feed, and even fuel. Erin said she was grateful she and her husband were able to make it to the couple “because they were completely snowed in, and they might have frozen up there all alone.”
When all was said and done, Erin stated that her family clocked more than 40 hours helping their neighbors. And while she respects and appreciates law enforcement and other emergency services, she has learned that sometimes “we as neighbors have to do everything humanly possible to be of service to each other, so that our first responders can focus on other emergencies.” It was her feeling “that freeing them up was another way she could help even more people.” After she finished her thought, I told her that she and her family had earned a lot of “good Karma,” but Erin quipped back without hesitation, “no, we’re just paying it forward.” To her, “living in the mountains isn’t about trying to avoid neighbors, it’s about giving our neighbors their space.”
Photos courtesy of Matt and Erin Regan
