Hamlet Thrives on Snow--Lots of It : Recreation: Folks in Bucks Lake hunker down when the long winter arrives. They have plenty of snowmobile enthusiasts for company.

For most folks living in California’s high-mountain regions, the two to six feet of snow dumped by last weekend’s storm caused all kinds of toil and trouble.

They had to spend hours digging out of the white stuff. Highways and country roads were closed. Power outages left many communities in the dark.

But for the hearty residents of Bucks Lake, the storm barely ranked as an inconvenience.

This mile-high, remote hamlet in the northern reaches of the Sierra Nevada is snowbound about six months every year.

From late October through April or May, the only way to make it into Bucks Lake--about 100 miles north of Sacramento--is on skis, snowshoes or snowmobile. You cannot drive here. The one road into the Plumas County town is not plowed.

Six feet of new snow fell over last weekend at Bucks Lake on top of a four-foot pack. In places, drifts are 15 to 20 feet deep.

Despite all the snow, the town’s gas station, general store, bar, restaurant and the Bucks Lake Lodge operate seven days a week to serve the community’s prime winter clientele--snowmobilers.

“Bucks Lake is a snowmobiler’s paradise,” said Gary Mueller, who with 22 friends and neighbors recently traveled from the Eagle Lake area, 100 miles to the north, for a four-day stay.

The Eagle Lake crowd left their cars four miles from Bucks Lake at the end of the plowed country road and snowmobiled the rest of the way.

“We have this winter wonderland all to ourselves,” said Tim Eck, one of the group. “We’re snowmobiling 80 to 100 miles a day up and down mountains, through meadows, snow-covered woods and over frozen lakes, having the time of our lives.”

Bucks Lake, nestled between the 7,000-feet-plus Eagle and Spanish peaks, is best known as a summer vacation spot. Visitors flock to the large lake for which the town is named and by which it sits. During the summer, the population explodes to as high as 1,000.

But during the winter, the town’s full-time population dwindles to 13. Two of the residents, Dixie and Ken Nelson, own and operate Bucks Lake Lodge, the general store, the bar and the restaurant. In late fall, the Nelsons buy and truck in enough food, fuel and supplies to last the winter. Once a week, they bring in fresh provisions--milk, meat and vegetables--by snowmobile.

The tranquil setting becomes a bit hectic on weekends. “There are as many as 175 to 200 snowmobilers in here and nearly as many cross-country skiers,” said Nelson, who bought Bucks Lake Lodge and moved here 13 years ago.

His 10 cabins accommodate as many as 78 overnighters who pass the evening in the lodge playing pool, Ping-Pong, cards or other games. Others simply relax in front of a roaring fireplace and chat.

“No telephone or TVs. Just peace and quiet and all this wonderful snow,” said John King, a snowmobiler from Susanville.