First Winter in the Foothills — A Calaveras County Newcomer Packet

You moved to the Calaveras foothills for the quiet. Then October came, and somebody at the feed store said "get your wood in and check your pipes" like that was the whole briefing.

This is the whole briefing.

First Winter in the Foothills is an 8-section packet written from Wilseyville by a local who heats with wood and works this land: how foothill winter actually behaves at ~2,800 ft, how to size a generator for YOUR well pump (worked wattage math, not vibes), how many cords you'll honestly burn and what they'll cost, the pipe-freeze checklist, Caltrans chain rules for the 26/49 grades, a 72-hour storm kit built for no-power-means-no-water houses, the wood-stove and generator safety rules that actually kill people when skipped, and a who-to-call card for outage day.

Every number is either a labeled planning range or checked against a named source (CDC, Caltrans, PG&E, FEMA Ready.gov, National Weather Service) — sources listed inside.

WHAT YOU GET (PDF, 12 pages, printable):

- How foothill winter actually works (elevation, storms, outage reality)

- Generator sizing for a well pump + essentials (2 worked examples)

- Cord math — burn ranges per month/winter + real local cord prices

- Pipe-freeze prevention checklist

- Snow chains + winter driving on Hwy 26/49 (Caltrans R-1/R-2/R-3 explained)

- The 72-hour storm kit checklist (water-first, foothill version)

- Wood-stove + generator safety (CDC carbon-monoxide rules)

- Who to call when the power's out (verified numbers + a card to finish yourself)