May 2014

Friday, May 16, 2014

Greetings and welcome! Just a quick weather update on the weekend. It was below freezing here last night and we are expecting more of the same Friday and Saturday night so if you are visiting the area, plan accordingly. Anyone planning to camp this weekend will want to make sure they have plenty of warm bedding. Also of interest, St. Mary’s Church in Crivitz is hosting a car show on Saturday. This is being held in the public lot on Main St. where they hold the flea market in the summer, right across the street from the church. That’s the short report from the north woods. Thanks for visiting and have a great weekend. RJB

Monday May 12th, 2014

Greetings and welcome!

It was a very nice weekend last weekend. Temperatures got up into the mid-70s, and we had nice days. Saturday we went for a ride and hit 5 different waterfalls, getting pictures and video at each one. Even though it was 75 degrees out I still managed to find a few spots with snow remaining in their little micro-climate. We also saw falcons, deer, a Momma bear and cubs, and more. It was a very fun afternoon.

One thing that we couldn’t help marveling about was the absence of bugs. No ticks, gnats, mosquitoes, nothing all day. It was certainly appreciated.

So far this spring I have had 3 ticks, no gators, and no gnats. One fisherman said that he found some skeeters down by the water but I haven’t seen one yet.

Sunday was nice too, but toward sunset the wind started kicking up and the skies grew increasingly menacing. Overnight we ended up having some pretty good rains move through the area. We are not flooding or anything but the wet weather has low spots holding water and the streams are a little swollen.

The grass has greened up and some of the popples are coming right along in their first leaves. The maples have flowered and are dropping the red things. Next come the little helicopters and the leaves. The rest of the forest is still pretty thin, but the forest floor is greening up and the trillium can’t be far behind.

I have a feeling that the rain over the past few weeks will bring some dramatic changes in the next week in how many leaves and underbrush emerge. Today’s new sighting was the pussy willows and some swamp dwelling shrub flowering.

When I was out Saturday one of the little lakes that we visited was starting to get the first few lilly pads. There were only a few soda can sized ones, but that tells me that it is time to go fishing. The bass and panfish should start getting good the next few weeks.

On our waterfall tour I took 249 pictures. Ooops. I shaved it down to 79, but that is still a lot. Instead of photo bombing the page I made a gallery page for them. I will share one or two here too.

Check out the gallery page, there are a lot more really nice pictures.

That is it for this visit. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Thursday May 8th, 2014

Greetings and welcome!

Last weekend turned out pretty nice for weather. Between the sun and warm days the lakes around here were opened up by Sunday. Sunday was nice enough to start the BBQ grill for some burgers. It was a little windy and the grass was dry and only a little hot ash started a burn spot. Until it greens up last year’s dead grass is a fire hazard, at least when it isn’t raining.

We have had some rain.Wednesday morning brought some really dark skies and thunderstorms. Last night we had a couple of big lines of storms come through with torrential downpours and even some hail. It was really jamming on the roof. There were two distinct lines of storms ( the ones that woke me up anyway..), and each lasted for a while.

The USGS gauge by the river by Kosir’s  says that we have had a little over an inch of rain in the last two days. It seemed like we easily got that last night alone, but that is mostly a guess from the noise on the roof.

As I type Thursday night the atmosphere is loaded with warm air and moisture, and there is more rain on the way. That is expected to clear out by tomorrow afternoon and give way to a nice weekend. I am expecting  a sunny and mid-60s day for Saturday, and about the same for Sunday, with a storm moving in for Sunday night and Monday. The timing on that could change, so Sunday afternoon bears watching.

The ATV trails open up this Saturday. Like the lakes, the trails came a long way last weekend and this week. It was a slow spring break up, but the ground has thawed for the most part.

The grass is starting to green up nicely. It isn’t ready to cut, it is just getting started. The first leaves were spotted this week on a few popples. It won’t be long until more pop up.

That is news for tonight. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 5-2-14

Greetings and welcome!

It has been a busy week and I haven’t had a chance to update. I have about 5 minutes so I have to move fast.

The rain this week added up to 2-3″ by my estimation. At one point it was snow, adding up to and inch or two here, and 2-3 farther north. Some places reported giant snow flakes of baseball size or bigger as the wet flakes stuck together on the way down.

I think that the gauge on the Peshtigo might be malfunctioning. It looks way higher than the net gauge indicates. Whatever the case, between the high water and the nice weather this is THE weekend to hit the river.

Fishing will be hit n miss. The rivers are wide open but some lakes aren’t. When I checked Caldron last night it was open on the river end by Landing 11 and down toward Crane’s Bay, but by Landing 9 and the dam it was only open the first 50′ from shore. You could get a boat in at 9, but you wouldn’t get 10′ before hitting ice.

There is live music at Curve Inn this weekend in celebration of the opening of the fishing season.

Gotta run.

RJB