April 2023

Tuesday 4-25-2023

Greetings and welcome!

It is 40 degrees at 9am this morning, warming off of a low temperature of 22 degrees.

Our great spring awakening that happened during the week of 70 and 80 degree temperatures has slowed to a crawl. The grass is a little greener and the early trees and bushes have progressed a little with their catkins. The maples are starting to get their little red flowers, but that is about it. I am not seeing the daily changes that we have when it is warmer out.

Our normal high temperature right now is in the upper 50s. Someone needs to mention this to the weather guy. Yesterday we got up to 46, and it wasn’t that warm the whole day. It was coming off of a low of 20. We are stuck in a cold and rainy pattern that isn’t much fun for a guy like me that is dying to get outside and work on the house, cars, boats, and all of the other stuff that has waited all winter to be done. I’d love to clean out my gutters abut I’m not going to do it in snowmobile boots at 42 degrees. Likewise I have a new to me RV that I’d love to get started putting into top shape for upcoming camping trips. GRRR.

The whitewater rafting and paddling last weekend was outstanding. It was a busy time on the river as paddlers came from near and far to paddle the unusually high water and participate in the Pesh-Fest activities at Kosir’s and Rapids Resort. The water level has fallen considerably from its peak of 52″ down to a more normal 24″. Don’t get me wrong, +24 is an outstanding level and a great fun level for playing in the whitewater, it just isn’t at a once in 20 years level any more. Likewise small rivers and trout streams remain swollen, but they are down quite a bit from last week.

The deer are still crazy up by the roads. With the reduced velocity of the great greening of the land, roadside grass is still their favorite food. A lot of the stupid ones have been eliminated and the rest are a little more wary, but they are still right there and still running out in front of cars.

We can add turkeys to that list. They have become much more active in the past week. I hit a turkey once at 60+. It totaled that minivan. It might as well have been a cannonball as hard as it hit. Trust me you don’t want to hit a turkey. Anyway, it looks like they are coming into a breeding season and they are up by the roads too. We saw this group of toms displaying up on the road yesterday.

Saturday night we had a very active display of northern lights. According to internet reports they could be seen as far south as Oklahoma. There are tons of pictures on the Facebook group Crivitz Area Talk. I don’t want to pilfer anyone’s photos so go there and take a look at all of them. We are in an active period for the sun and will be for the next year or two. That bodes well for people that love seeing our billions of stars around the campfire, you might get a little bonus. There are phone apps that will alert you when the northern lights are active.

The ground has continued to dry up and is on a pretty normal trajectory. I might try to run the forest roads up to Lake X and my secret camping and fishing spot. The one in the really deep woods I won’t attempt just yet. I could probably get in there in my big 4×4 truck with the big mud tires, but that would only rut it up for future visits.

Along that same line the ATV trails are coming along but aren’t quite there yet. I have not heard anything about a reopening date for trails, but we seem to be on a pretty normal schedule for those.

The Marinette County powers that be opened most of our county roads to ATV in action taken over the winter. There are some exceptions, including Hwy C between the C & F intersection and the Forest County line and most of Parkway Rd north (Hwy I). Here is a Facebook post from the Southern Marinette Co ATV Club.

Southern Marinette Co. ATV & UTV Club

There has been some confusion on what roads are open and when they are open.
In Marinette County (Year Round) (24/7), you can ride on ALL city, town, and village roads, WITH THE EXCEPTION OF…
1) City of Marinette.
In Marinette County (from May 1 to December 1) (daylight only) you can ride on ALL Highways (lettered roads) WITH THE EXCEPTION OF…
1) County Highway C beginning at County Highway F and ending at the Forest County line all in the Town of Silver Cliff.
2) County Highway I…
a) beginning a Wolfe Lane and ending at Homestead Lake Road all in the Town of Silver Cliff.
b) beginning at Camp 5 Lane and ending at a point 3,480 feet south of USH 8 in the Towns of Silver Cliff and Goodman.
c) beginning at a point 2,220 feet south of USH 8 and ending at USH8 all in the Town of Goodman.
3) County Highway N beginning at the City of Niagara limits and ending at the Florence County line all in the Town of Niagara.
4) County Highway T beginning at State Highway 64 and ending at County Highway B all in the Town of Peshtigo and City of Marinette.
5) County Highway U beginning at USH 8 and ending at the Florence County line in the Town of Dunbar.

One final thought.. The black bears are out and foraging. There are no berries or grubs for them to eat and they are hungry after hibernation. Mind your bird feeders, garbage, and food if you are camping.

That’s it for today. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Friday 4-21-2023

Greetings and welcome!

We have a somewhat sunny but cool 45 degree day going on today. Yesterday’s rain has moved out and now we are getting the colder air behind the storm. There is a little rain possible Saturday afternoon and into Saturday night. It is cold enough that some could be snow, but none of it is more that scattered occasional showers.

This weekend is the Kosir’s/Rapids Resort Pesh Fest. Tonight they have a bluegrass band and tomorrow night they have some sort of rapper/hiphop entertainer. They have whitewater competitions on the river for paddlers and regular rafting trips. It should be a fun weekend for them.

The river peaked at or near the highest that I have ever seen it. My personal best was +54″ and it was within an inch or two of that. The dams downstream were open and really putting out a tremendous amount of water. Here is a video that one of the guys from Kosir’s put on Facebook last week. It is a couple of kayakers running the bottom of Horserace Rapid.

https://www.facebook.com/100004595735541/videos/630287635633739/

That is impressive stuff.

The river has fallen to more sane levels but is still at very high water. By my estimation it is at about a +32″ and it seems to be leveling out somewhat. They are going to have outstanding water for this weekend’s festivities.

It is really rare for the river to get up into the 50s. When it does it doesn’t stay there long. It gets so wide up into the woods that it can flush down the excess water in the watershed in a big hurry at 4,000CFS. With a watershed of about 450 square miles it doesn’t take long to drain it at 4,000CFS. For those that ran it that high, congratulations, you are officially legends. Most likely the next time that it happens you will be too old to paddle it. This is the second time since 1999 that I have seen it. The highest that I saw them run rafts was +48 and it was crazy. Anyway now that it is down to a more sane, but still very wild levels, paddlers are in for a great weekend on the river.

The Peshtigo is not the only river that got huge. The Pike and Menominee Rivers got huge too. The Menominee was beyond flood stage and there were warnings out for that river. It peaked at about 16,000CFS. The Pike is the river that most of the Marinette County waterfalls are on, and those should still be just roaring this weekend. A waterfall tour this weekend would be a great idea.

The frost coming out of the ground continued this week with mostly above freezing weather, but with the rain the ground did not dry out very much. There are still big puddles and soft spots on back roads. I was considering a ride up to the secret lake and camping/fishing spot today to see how that is coming along, but I am rethinking that until it dries up a little more. Some of the back roads are still pretty deep in frost-out mud.

I did see that Marinette County has lifted road weight restrictions south of Hwy X. There is a possibility that the town roads will still have restrictions for a while.

Wednesday night we were out driving right around sunset and the amount of deer out by the roads was just insane. In a six mile ride I know that I saw at least 30 deer in the ditches, and quite a few of them ran out in front of me. I understand why, that is the first green grass or anything else that they have had to eat since probably October. They start having fawns in about 3-4 weeks and they will want that nutrition. For now my speed limit in certain areas is 35mph or less. Once more of the world starts greening up they will be a lot less likely to be up by the roads. In the meantime watch out for deer. They are plentiful and skittish.

That’s about it for today. Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Monday 4-17-2023

Greetings and welcome!

Wow do we have a lot to talk about today!!

First up the warm weather has brought the Peshtigo River almost to the highest that I have ever seen it. I have lived here since 1999 and for many years made money doing whitewater rafting pictures on the river. In my 24 years here the highest that I ever saw it get to was +54″. By my figures we are at 52″, a flyspeck of difference. This isn’t big water, this isn’t high water, this is legendary, once in 20 years water. If you get a chance to run the river this high or even close you will not only understand why the Peshtigo is world famous, you will have bragging rights.

This unbelievable water level was brought to us by a week of much above normal temperatures. For the most part the temperatures got close to the 80 degree mark and two or three days got into the mid-80s. What an incredible transformation that brought. A week ago my brush pile was under 18″ of snow and ice. Now it is on wet thawed ground.

Here are some of the changes..

The ice is completely gone from Caldron Falls Flowage.

The spring peeper frogs are out and singing.

There are buds on some swampy area bushes, maybe pussy willows or related?

I saw my first green grass today, something that wasn’t there two days ago. Now it is widespread and common in sunny areas.

The chipmunks are active and so is whatever digs big burrows in sandy hillsides. I’m not sure if  it is ground hogs or badgers, but they are digging.

We have been seeing a lot of geese flying north in a V formation.

The deer are insanely active up by the roads. I saw at least three dead ones between here and Crivitz Saturday, and it is not uncommon to see 20 or more in a 10 mile trip.

The loons are back. When I was at Boat Landing 9 Sunday afternoon I ran into a migrating group of them. The were two pairs in the little bay, a pair off of the beach, and 10 more off of the point where people beach their pontoon boats.  They were all paired off and yet together. They are fairly territorial and I have never seen that many together so I have to guess that they were a migrating group.

There are a few bugs out. The other day I hit one in my motorhome that left a 2″ across yellow splatter. I have no idea what it was but my first thought is that I was glad that I wasn’t riding a motorcycle when I hit it.

The big thaw will bode well for people anxious to get out onto the ATV trails. We did several weeks worth of snow melting and ground thawing just last week. With the big snow and ice build up that we had I was expecting a late opening to the trails. Now I don’t think so. The frost is out of the ground in most areas around here and the ground is wet but firming up. There are still sheltered areas that have a ways to go so don’t get too excited.

In true northern Wisconsin fashion Mother Nature has done a 180 degree about face on the weather..

Saturday night brought thunderstorms with the waves of rain and lightning moving north in a training fashion. It rained off and on all night and Sunday too. We got a lot of rain in the past 24 hours. The slow moving low pressure area will bring snow and mixed precip today, and a high of just 33. That is a big drop from 85ºF on Friday. The next couple of nights will be in the mid-20s, and we could still see a little snow.

From about Wausau west there are winter storm warnings for significant snow and 45mph wind gusts.

We get a little break on Tuesday when we could clear up and go into the upper 40s, though there will be some wind. After that we are in for more rain and cold, and I don’t see high temperatures hitting 50 all week.

That is going to throw a lot of the great outdoors for a real loop. Hopefully it kills the breeding population of the nasties like the gnats, mosquitoes, and ticks, but that is just wishful thinking.

I will remind you again to really watch for deer up by the roads. The roadsides have the first grass and it is really drawing them out. They are acting stupid too, running in front of the cars. Friday night I took about a 10 mile trip and saw at least 20, and even going slow, slammed on the brakes 3 times. Be careful.

Next weekend is PeshFest at Kosir’s and Rapids Resort. A lot of people come for the whitewater games, live music, and whitewater camaraderie. There is no question that the river will still be high for the big event. I don’t see it being in the 40-50″ range then, but I’d be surprised if it went under 30. A lot of people are going to have a lot of whitewater fun.

I think that’s all for this morning. Have a good week and thank you for visiting!

RJB

Wednesday 4-12-2023

Greetings and welcome!

What an incredible transformation that we have had in the last two days!! Yesterday we got up to 75, and today we got up to- get this… 86 degrees. Our typical high temperature for today is in the low to mid-50s.

The melting that has taken place is just incredible. When I put the snowmobiles into storage Monday the north side of the barn had about 18” of very dense snow and ice. Almost none of it remains. My brush pile was in a shady spot. I was hoping to burn it while there was snow on the ground. The problem is that the rest of the yard melted off from the sun and the brush pile still was under 18” of snow. Today it is on mostly bare ground.

I won’t be burning any brush for a while. Spring is a high fire danger time once the snow goes away. The old grass and brush from last year turns into this year’s tinder. It is also frequently windy on warm spring days. Today we have very high fire danger and farther south and west they have red flag warnings out, meaning no burning at all. That is our future too if we don’t get some rain. The danger goes down a lot once things green up and start to grow. Usually that happens about the beginning of May.

The rivers and creeks are very swollen with the sudden surge of melt water. People rafting at Kosir’s this weekend are in for an incredible ride. The river is rising fast and as of 6:30 tonight it is running +24”. That is an incredible ride for whitewater rafting. But wait.. The gauge is going straight up meaning that it won’t quit rising for a while. I fully expect the river to get into the mid-30s by the weekend, possibly higher.

I have watched this river for over 30 years. There are certain levels where it dramatically changes personalities as far as running the whitewater. At about 12” it is seriously fun. At 16 it starts getting snaky as waves get bigger and the rapids get less forgiving. At 24-26” the waves get taller and the holes deeper. That’s big water and clearly a fun ride. At 28” there is this magical thing that happens and the river gets just HUGE. I have pictures of 16 foot rafts with a dozen people in them totally disappearing in the rapids. It is really incredible. There is a reason that the Peshtigo River is world famous for whitewater, and over +28 is high on the list. This weekend it is going to be all of that and more. People running this weekend have a great trip to look forward to.

When I was traveling Tuesday (Hwy C to Wabeno, 32 to Lakewood, Hwy F back to Silver Cliff) All of the lakes were still frozen over. I don’t know if our 86 degree day changed that. Perch Lake near Wausaukee still held ice late Wednesday afternoon.

The warm weather has a lot of people thinking about golf. When I went past the course in Lakewood Tuesday it still held quite a bit of snow and there was some flooding. That one needs a little time before it is 100% ready. People on Facebook said that there were courses near Crivitz that were at least partially open.

One of my favorite things is exploring the area forest roads. When I went past a bunch of them on my Wabeno/Lakewood trip the forest roads were a mess. Shaded areas held snow. Areas with the frost coming out were very muddy. I won’t be cruising the back roads anytime soon.

I saw my first leaves today. It looked like some sort of cottonwood or poplar. I am not sure if they are first leaves or the beginning of catkins. That is all hard to establish going by at 60. At any rate our first green has emerged.

When I was out driving at sunset yesterday the deer were very plentiful up by the roads. I am sure that I saw at least 15 in a 10 mile journey. There is going to be a lot more of that in the days ahead. Early spring is bad for car/deer collisions because roadsides often have the first grass popping up. As more green plants emerge in the woods the danger is reduced somewhat. At any rate the next few weeks is going to be dangerous for deer up by the roads.

I haven’t been to the Silver Cliff house since the big thaw started (ugly driveway with the frost coming out). I would bet that if the ice is off of the pond we would have the first frogs starting up after today’s warm day. If they didn’t start up already they will tomorrow or the next day. We are expecting the abnormally warm weather to continue until Saturday.

Spring is a magical time around here. With this week’s abnormally high temperatures spring just got a really huge boost.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!

RJB