2020

Saturday 4-18-20

Greetings and welcome!
Last Saturday I tried to update. I spent a lot of time talking about the upcoming storm and the heavy snow expected. I finished it up and posted and poof it was gone. I was pretty mad about it. Usually I have redundant auto-saves, but apparently not last Saturday.
As it turned out I was wrong about my main concern regarding the storm. I was worried about the snow clinging to branches and the wind taking them down like we had twice early in winter. It didn’t happen, it was just snow and wind.
At the GF’s house near Fisher’s Camp & Thornton’s it would be generous to call it 4-6. At my house in Silver Cliff there was closer to 8-9. The big winner was Spread Eagle with 15″.
The snow didn’t last long. Most of the ground is bare except where the sun can’t hit it. On the north side of my house there was probably an inch left late afternoon. The rest of the ground was bare.
Some years it is a question if the ice will be off of the lakes by the first weekend in May when people want to go fishing. That won’t be a problem this year. The lakes are wide open.
The frost is out of the ground in most areas and sunny spots are firming up a little. The first green grass is getting obvious in a lot of areas and the trees are budding. I figure it is about two weeks ago before things go green in a big way.
Dog owners have reported the first ticks. I haven’t had one yet.
I worked outside quite a bit today and was completely bug free. Usually about this time of year the gnats will come out in force. It was a windy day and that probably helped.
I spoke before about how this was going to be an outstanding spring whitewater season on the Peshtigo River. And so it was. The river peaked at about +37″, huge water. Now it has settled down to about a really fun +13″, and it seems happy there. It is tragic that the virus thing has the rafting shut down.
It is time to talk about seasonal campsites for Rvs and campers. We have some nice spots that you can set up camp and compared to other areas the site prices are a steal. Check into sites at Silver Cliff Camp just west of Kosir’s, Curve Inn Resort a little south of Hwy X by High Falls Flowage, Kosir’s has seasonal sites with water & electric, and Hilltop Resort has their mobile home park.
There is no word on the opening of the ATV trails yet. The ground has some firming up to do, and there is still snow up north in the woods. Give it a couple of weeks and conditions should improve a lot. For now some town roads are open to ATVs, and the county roads and all off-road ATV trails are not.
Everyone is hoping that we can get back to normal sooner than later with the virus lockdown. In the meantime we have been supporting our favorite bars and restaurants by getting some carry-out food. They appreciate the support and they get to see at least a little business during the shutdown.
That is about it for tonight. Have a good one and thank you for visiting!
RJB

Saturday April 11th, 2020

Thursday April 9th, 2020

Greetings and welcome!

It is a cold and windy 30 degree morning in the northwoods today. Apparently spring is in quarantine too. I do not see any big warm ups in the 16 day GFS forecast model. There are several chances for snow between now and next Wednesday and again in about a week.

We had some rain recently that even included some thunderstorms and hail Tuesday. That rain pretty much finished off the snow on the ground in all but the most sheltered areas.

When I was at Caldron Falls Flowage Tuesday there was still a lot of ice on the big bay by the dam. It was rotten and on the way out, but there was a lot of ice. On the other side of it when I drove past Deer Lake (the one south of Hwy C in Athelstane) yesterday it was free of ice except for right on the south shore where the sun couldn’t hit it.

Last weekend the area was really busy. Apparently the gov’s safer at home order meant safer up north. It was like a Memorial Day weekend or something. The stores were busy, the highways were busy and the internet and cell service was miserable. There were people outside enjoying the warm days and doing yard work. It usually is a very quiet time for the area, but it was like a holiday weekend with everyone off of work. I can’t say that I wouldn’t have done the same thing.

The Peshtigo River has been running at record levels since the ice went out. The virus thing has all of the rafting companies closed, and we are missing out bigtime. Over the weekend the Pesh hit about +36″, a really wild ride. There were private boaters kayaking it, but the folks that would see it by raft missed out. It came down a little since its peak, but Tuesday’s rain will give it another boost.

People are missing going out and being social at the bars. We still go and get carry-out food once or twice a week, but there is no sticking around for happy hour. Rapids Resort was closed for the first couple of weeks while they cleaned and refinished stuff. Now they are open daily from noon until 7pm. Other nearby carry-out spots include Firelane and Lakeside.

We are all looking forward to warm weather and our freedom. Neither looks apparent in the short term.

Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Tuesday 3-31-2020

Greetings and welcome!
Day 14 of quarantine and honestly if I didn’t look at the computer I wouldn’t know what day of the week it was. We have been locked down way too long.
The snow on the ground is finally starting to go away. Most areas of my yard are at about 6-8″. There are a lot of bare spots where it is sunny, and over a foot of snow remains in shaded areas. Plowed areas and roads are bare.
We had some overnight rain a couple of days ago that really came down. There might have even been a little thunder. Radar estimates said about 1.25″ fell here. It did really take down the snow a lot.
That has area rivers at flood stage. The Peshtigo River where they raft it is running at about a +30″. That is absolutely huge, the kind of water that will stand a 16′ raft full of people right up on end or flip it like a pancake.
There are flood warnings for the Peshtigo downstream closer to Marinette. Other rivers have flood warnings too. The Menominee, the Pike, the Wolf, the Embarass, and a couple of others all have flood warnings.
Closer to home the Eagle Creek is up over it’s banks and the swamp near Firelane Bar no longer has an identifiable creek running through it.
Other than the rain and the occasional sunny day the snow is not in any hurry to go away. It sure hasn’t been melting from warm days. Mostly we have been getting into the 40s in the daytime and into the mid-20s at night. We have not had any really warm days getting into the upper 50s and we have not gone into the 60s at all yet. Both could come in the next week.
Mud season is in full swing and I have seen some ugly driveways. We do not have a deep frost but there is plenty of rain and melt water to make up for it.
The DNR suspended all burning permits last week. Like the bar closing they only gave a couple of hours notice. They don’t even want you to have campfires.
I have never been a fan of this time of year. The weather is cold when we are itching for a warm spring day. The mud makes the driveway a challenge and there isn’t much to do in the lakes and forests. Everything is a drab brown or gray. Now we are locked up too.
Relief is hopefully a month or less away. Hopefully the weather will turn around soon and hopefully the virus panicdemic ends soon too. The grass should start greening up once May gets here, and fishing will open. Usually the first or second week of May brings the opening of the ATV trails and the really big greening of the land.
There is a lot to look forward to but first we have to wait. Wake me up in three weeks when it is over and spring is starting.
Have a good one and thank you for visiting!
RJB