2017

Tuesday 5-2-17

Greetings and welcome!

PeshFest at Kosir’s was a big success last weekend. There were a lot of people having a lot of fun on the unusually high river. There was food and music, races and rafting, and a petty nice day for it Saturday. Sunday was chilly and overcast.

Saturday I got in on the fun and took a few pictures on the river and sold some flashlights and lanterns too. On the way back from taking pictures a friend and I spotted this eagle. He was pretty patient with us and we came away with some nice pictures. I made this one a little bigger than usual when you click on it.

The water in the Peshtigo was abnormally high last weekend, and with yesterday’s rain it will stay that way for a few days. We have really had a lot of rain in April, so I looked up the rain gauge from the USGS gauge by Kosir’s to see what that measured. We had close to 6″ of rain in April. I am not sure what normal rainfall is, but my guess is that we are about 50% above normal.

There will be some repairs needed to gravel driveways and trails subject to erosion in heavy rains. Likewise the sandy area of my driveway that gets soft at frost-out is again very soft.

Saturday is the opening of fishing season. My take on it is that the lakes will not only be open, but much warmer than normal. We had an early thaw and some nice weather to warm lakes up.

What I think will really add to that is all of the runoff from the rain in April. I can tell you from years on (..and in) the river that runoff is much warmer than the spring water and melt water that make the base flow. A friend told me that his lake nearby had risen really significantly this spring. All of that runoff should warm it up too.

The weather looks decent for weekend fishing. The NWS has both days sunny and in the mid-50s. The morning pre-dawn start might be a little nippy, the overnight lows are expected to be in the low 30s.

The spring greening is progressing at an increasing pace, and the rain is not lost on the world of green. The grass will need cutting and already does in some places. More and more trees are getting leaves, and some are starting to fill in pretty good.

A trip to Wausaukee yesterday found that they are quite a bit farther along than we are in Silver Cliff. Two thoughts came to mind immediately.. First was marveling over how much difference 20 miles can make. The second thought is that we are probably in for a big week of changes as we catch up.

Heating the house has been interesting lately. Recent nights have been in the upper 20s, and days in the 40s and 50s. I could use electric, but why when there is wood ready to go and paid for? The trick is to not overdo it and  get it up to 90 in here. It takes a soft touch to keep the house 78 on a 50 degree day.

I am looking forward to getting some outside work done later this week. I have a lot to catch up on, including the fishing boat and the lawnmower. So far in my travels over the weekend the bugs have been very minimal, with the occasional wood tick being the worst of it. Unfortunately with all of the April rain I am expecting a bumper cop of mosquitoes in May. I would like to get a head start on that.

We have some new businesses in town. The Sportsman’s Cafe on Hwy X by Popp’s Resort is open under new ownership. Early reports had good things to say. Dockside Bar also has new owners as of about a month ago. The Rapids Resort will also soon be under new ownership, and Caldron Falls Bar had new owners as of last August. Best wishes to all.

That is going to wrap it up for today. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 4-28-17

Greetings and welcome!

I have about 100 things to do today and my update here will be first so that it doesn’t get missed.

This weekend is a big one for me with Pesh-Fest coming up at Kosir’s. There are a lot of people coming to play in the whitewater, enjoy the music and food, and there will be some vendors too. I will be there with my flashlights, and I know of at least one other person setting up shop.

The river is the highest that it has been on this date in the 18 year history of the USGS gauge. My guess is that it is about +29 or +30″ right now. This picture was done at a similar level about 4 or 5 years ago taken at First Drop. It is a 16′ raft with 13 people in it. There are going to be some epic flips, crashes and disappearing acts this weekend.

The high water should make the PeshFest downriver race interesting too. Those that can keep from swimming should flush down in 45 minutes or less.

If you are into whitewater to feed the adrenaline rat this would be an excellent weekend to go for a paddle.

We had a lot of rain this week. According to the USGS gauge by Kosir’s, we have had just over 3″ of rain in the last 8 days. My gravel driveway is again muddy like it is frost-out time, but it is just from all of the rain.

Yesterday’s storm had the radar dark green all day, except for where it was pink or white from the snow or snow mix. We had snow here in the afternoon, but it did not accumulate other than on cold surfaces. Some areas to our northwest had white ground and accumulating snow. It got below freezing last night and iced it all up, but sunrise fixed that.

One of the storms hit Oconto Co and the Lakewood area with  probably 2″ more rain than we had. That is going to make the ATV trails very interesting. When I was in Lakewood and Townsend this week there were some big washouts and huge puddles on the ATV trails. Some of us would find blasting through a 40′ long 2′ deep puddle or some rugged terrain  quite attractive. The clubs on the other hand really have their work cut out for them.

Spring is progressing a little ahead of schedule. The maples are dropping their little red flowers. The grass is growing and will need to get its first cut in a week or so. The birch trees are starting to get their catkins, and some trees are unfolding first leaves. I usually figure May 10-May 15 for the big green-up, this year we are a little ahead of that.

People camping this weekend will want to bring their warm gear. We have been down in the upper 20s and low 30s the past few nights. The weekend forecast is a little better with NWS predicting lows of 28 tonight and 34 Saturday night. Saturday looks nice with a sunny day and a high of 52. Saturday night (20% chance) into Sunday morning (50% chance) another system will bring us rain and snow. That storm will rain on us right through Monday or Monday night, so Sunday is looking soggy.

A passing thought this week was that maybe I should stock up on Repel the next time that I hit WalMart. With all of this rain I would expect a bumper crop of mosquitoes for May. I hope to spend a lot of time outside in May, it it will be good to be prepared.

Well the clock says that I need to be about 4 things farther down my list than I am, so I had best get to work. Have a great weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Wednesday 4-26-17

Oconto ATV Trails Open this Friday 4-28

Greetings and welcome!

I did not forget to do my Tuesday report this week, I had planned to be a little late with it.

With a pretty good storm heading this way I thought that I would hit one of my favorite sunset spots Tuesday night. Extra moisture in the air will make a sunset really colorful, and the storm clouds make some dramatic structure for the sun to peek through. Curses, foiled again. The storm was a couple of hours ahead of my plan and we were socked in with overcast. No sunset for me. Maybe later in the week as the storm departs I can get the pictures I was after.

It was a really nice weekend and beginning of the week. Temperatures in the 60s and 70s and no bugs made outdoor activities very enjoyable.

Monday I went for a walk in my back field to see how spring was progressing. I was surprised how much the grass had come along in the past week. One plant was flowering and the willow-ish bush in my pond was busting out too. There were no trillium yet, but I expect them soon. I really need to get on my yard work that I need to get done before the grass and ferns get too tall.

The only entries from the insect world on my walk was one mosquito and two wood ticks. That is pretty good for my field.

Last weekend the water in the Peshtigo River was at +26”, just rippin’. A lot of people took to the river for some whitewater rafting, and had a great time in the big water.

I headed down with my camera and caught a little of the action..

This coming weekend is Pesh Fest, a big party and whitewater downriver race at Kosirs. The way that it sounds they are in for a big turnout.

I will be there with my red tent selling flashlights. I have been saving up for this event and have $5 and $10 specials. The rest of my inventory I will be selling at Pesh-Fest only prices. My tradition at Kosir’s and Rapids resort goes back a long way. I will do some special pricing for this event.

The forecast for the weekend looks ok as long as the timing doesn’t change. Friday and Saturday look mostly cloudy and in the 50s. There is a chance of rain starting Saturday night and increasing for Sunday and Monday.

As far as water levels we should be in good shape. We are probably at +17 or 18 right now, and it is raining. There is a decent sized storm that is expected to bring potentially an inch or more of rain. The TV just showed a QPF graphic showing about 1.25”. As of mid-afternoon Wednesday one line of rain has already blessed the watershed with a pretty good drink.

The Peshtigo River watershed is long and narrow, and Wednesday rain is perfect for weekend paddling. It is hard to predict river levels without knowing what the storm will bring, but at the moment my wild guess is mid to upper teens, and maybe 20+ if the storm brings a lot of rain. Anything over 12 is awesome, so we should be in good shape for paddling the weekend.

A friend mentioned yesterday that he was up by Goodman Park earlier this week and Strong Falls was just magnificient with the big river flow. I thought that a waterfall tour would be an excellent suggestion. My top picks would be Goodman Park, Long Slide Falls and 12 Foot Falls.

When I was at the local gas station Tuesday I renewed my fishing license. It won’t be long before it it time to hit the lakes.

A passing thought on the way home is that the lakes will be a lot warmer than usual. Not only did we have a mild winter and early thaw, runoff from all of the rain we have been getting warms them up too.

The ATV trails in Oconto County are expected to open this weekend. The weather has not been kind to them. Heavy rains a week ago caused some trail erosion and there are some big big puddles. The last word that I have as of Wednesday evening is that they will still open Friday.

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

RJB

Thursday April 20, 2017

Marinette Co ATV Trails Open Fri April 21!!

Greetings and welcome!

Tuesday I was driving along coming into Townsend when it hit me that I never did my Tuesday morning update. Self employed life has been a little crazy. So at that point you guys are first this morning.

Last night we had a storm come through with some really heavy rain. I would guess that we had a little over an inch. Not too far south and west they saw as much as 3″. I would guess that the heavy stuff hit Lakewood, Riverview, Crooked Lake, and Mountain. The arrow points toward my location near the upstream end of Caldron Falls Flowage on the corner of the top stair step of Marinette Co. Click the radar return estimate picture to make it bigger.

As mentioned above the Marinette Co ATV trails open tomorrow. Other than our generous rains the past few weeks the ground has firmed up nicely after the frost came out of the ground. I checked the Red Arrow Townsend web site and they are still waiting for April 29 to open Oconto Co trails. In the update President Gary says, “..Barring any monsoons..”. You mean like 3-4″ of rain in one night? I guess he called that one.

Spring is working its way west this week. In Wausaukee they have lush green lawns and the trees are starting to bud and get leaves. The really green stuff is west of Hwy A now and getting into Silver Cliff. My yard is even showing a little of the green and a couple of trees are getting the first leaves unfolding.

Here are some pictures from this morning looking out of the kitchen window..

Friday night I grilled out at sunset and patrolled the Ponderosa with an adult beverage looking at all of the spring cleanup jobs and unfinished projects. It was a nice night and a generally bug-free experience. I did see one moth, one mosquito, and one wood tick. The mosquito and wood tick both had fatal encounters with me, hopefully they were the motherships of each species, but I hope that every spring and it never works out.

The past year snowmobiling season was one of the worst in memory. The upside is that the early thaw got the ATV trails open a week early and there is no question that the lakes will be open for the opening of fishing season in two weeks. I remember a few years ago you could ice fish the opener, not this year. I will even suggest that the lakes will be a little warmer than normal.

Speaking of fishing, there is a fishing show with famous local guide Mike Mladenik this Saturday at The Hanger from 9-3pm. It used to be Sky Harbor next to the Crivitz Airport on Hwy W 4 mi est of Crivitz. There are fishing seminars in the morning at 9:30 and 11am and it costs $5 to get in.

I am not quite ready for fishing just yet. The boat trailer has a flat tire and the boat needs pressure washing, but the trolling motor battery is charging as we speak. I will have to get on that the next nice day that I can get away.

The whitewater rafting season continues to bring high water levels on the Peshtigo River. I just checked and the river gauge shows about a +19″ river level with the slope of the graph going almost straight up. Their rain gauge shows us getting about 1.25″ of rain last night.

Next weekend on April 28th they are having the 2nd Annual Peshtigo River Festival (aka Pesh Fest) at Kosir’s. Last year they had the big smoker out and J-Man BBQ’d us up some really outstanding vittles. I will be there selling my flashlights and lanterns and have a few specials saved up for the event. Here is a copy n paste from the Kosir’s Facebook page..

Last years 1st annual PESHTIGO RIVER FESTIVAL was a hit, so we’re bringing it back for round TWO! Join us here at Kosir’s for our 2nd Annual Peshtigo River Festival!! We can’t wait to hang out with everyone, listen to music, party, and most importantly PADDLE with all of you! There will be tons of food, drink specials, music, guided raft trips, scheduled shuttle services, raffles, and much much more! Camping spots are also available, so make sure you grab yours soon! Call 715-757-3431 to make a reservation!
We promise you won’t be disappointed!

When: April 28th, 2017 – April 30th, 2017
Time: Whenever!
Where: Kosirs Rapid Rafts
(W14073 County Rd C Silver Cliff WI 54104)

There will be a race down the beautiful Peshtigo River starting at 1:00PM on Saturday, April 29th. More details about the race can be found on Dirt Bag Paddlers Facebook page, or feel free to message us for more info!

Music will be provided by DJ Terrence Young

Food and drinks hosted by Rapids Resort
Let’s bring the love of Whitewater to Kosir’s and have an amazing fun filled weekend and make the 2nd Annual Peshtigo River Festival one to remember!! We can’t wait!!
Looking for transportation to and from Pesh Fest? Look no further… Rally has you covered! Check out www.rallybus.net for all your transportation needs!
http://rallybus.net/kosirs-pesh-fest-2017/

Well time for me to get back to work. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB