Florence Co ATV Trail Opening Date
4-28-2022 OOPS! ATV Trail Opening Dates
Greetings and welcome!
It looks like the Iron Snowshoe Club is ready to go but the county has not announced an opening date for trails yet. Since the trails north of HWY C are on county land they have the final say on opening dates. The word on opening dates should be coming up any day now.
RJB
Tuesday 4/26/2022
Greetings and welcome!
Today’s topic list..
Spring Weather
Carole Walesh benefit
Spring Thaw/ATV Trails/Ice Out
Bugs, Critters & Misc.
First up the spring weather.. Last Sunday we had our first 70+ degree day. It was actually 74.5 according to my readings. Naturally being a nice spring day the winds were at hurricane force. I don’t know why but every nice spring day around here comes with a lot of wind. In this case winds were in the 20mph range gusting up to 40mph mark and just above.
Naturally people wanted to do yard work and clean up the winter mess. Someone down by the Van Beek Subdivision decided to burn a little, I’m not sure if it was a fire pit or a brush burning fire, but it got away on them. The resulting wildfire burned an area of grass, his neighbor’s wood shed, and a little of the neighbor’s house. According to Facebook reports 5 fire departments and the DNR responded to get the fire under control. That is going to be a very expensive mistake for someone. Between the dry grass from last year and the 20-40mph winds fire danger was very high and burning permits were suspended.
This Saturday is the benefit for Carole Walesh. It is being held at the Silvercliff Memorial Park. See my last update for extensive details. About the only new stuff that I have is that it has continued to grow, and they warned people not to ride ATVs there because the roads and trails will not be open yet.
Speaking of ATV trails, the Iron Snowshoe announced that trails will open Friday May 6th. It looked like volunteers really had their work cut out for them clearing trails with the winter storms and the big ice storm taking down so many trees. It wouldn’t be surprising if it took longer is some areas.
The warm weather last weekend really advanced the spring thaw a lot. Sunday afternoon I went to Boat Landing #9 (by Thornton’s) to check the ice. The big lake was clear but the wind had blown a lot of slush/ice into the bays and along the shore. That lake will definitely be clear of ice in two Saturdays when fishing opens.
The ground in most spots is firm but damp. The snow has disappeared in all but the deepest cover and biggest snow piles. There is still plenty of mud to be found so forest road exploring is hit and miss, but we are getting there.
We are having a little setback from our spring weather this week. Today and tomorrow will only be in the mid-40s and overnight lows in the low 20s. That will get a little better by the weekend, but we are still expecting to be below normal. Normal high temperature is getting close to 60, but this spring just won’t let it happen.
I have seen a few moths so far and some people have spotted their first ticks. So far most of the insect world remains dormant. The chipmunks are awake and digging holes again. The deer have been hanging out by the roads. This week the grass started greening up, so hopefully more diverse food sources will bring some relief to motorists. The turkeys were fanning and strutting about two weeks ago, now I am seeing a lot of solo hens. I have not seen the first leaves on trees yet, but the maples are getting their red buds/flowers.
One last thought.. The seasonal road weigh limits will be lifted on Marinette County roads south of Hwy X as of Thursday the 28th. Restrictions remain in place north of Hwy X. Town roads will vary with the township.
It is hard to believe that it was 74 degrees Sunday and two days later it is snowing like it means it. No it isn’t. This year winter just doesn’t want to let go.
By the way.. the water levels for spring whitewater rafting remain excellent. It looks like it is about +18 today and pretty happy there. That is a really fun level for any whitewater enthusiast.
Have a good week and thank you for visiting!
RJB
Thursday April 21, 2022
Greetings and welcome!
We have a lot to talk about on my first visit back after winter. My list is..
Pesh Fest this weekend at Kosir’s/Rapids Resort
High water for rafting this weekend
Weekend weather
Ground thawing out/ATV trails
Carole Walesh benefit 4/30
Ok.. First up.. Pesh Fest..
This is a days long whitewater celebration at Rapids Resort and Kosir’s Rafting. Here is the schedule..
PESH FEST 2022
WEDNESDAY:
? Hot Wing Challenge @ Rapids – 7:00pm/$10
– 6 of Todd’s hottest wings
– Eat them the fastest & win a prize (1st and 2nd place prize)
? Showing of The River Runner @ 7:30pm in bar
THURSDAY:
Bags Tourney @ 6:00pm
Pool Tourney @ 6:00pm at Rapids
? Showing of Deliverance at 7:30pm in bar
FRIDAY:
? Race Registration starts @ 5:00pm
? RAFT GUIDE OLYMPICS @ 7:30pm
– Teams of 4
– Prize for winner
– Anyone can enter
? Piano Man @ 9:00pm
SATURDAY:
? Commercial Raft trip at 9:00am
? Race Registration ends at 10:00am
? Commercial Raft trip at 12:00pm
? Race starts at 1:30 (1st drop to bridge) – prize for winner
? Bucket Raffle Drawings at 6:00pm
? Awards at 7:00pm
? Corey McCauley Music. 6-930 (will be announcing prizes and winners in between sets)
? Liverkillers at 10:00pm
* WE ARE HAVING AN 80s THEME PARTY AT RAPIDS ON SATURDAY NIGHT! BEST DRESSED WINS A PRIZE! ***
SUNDAY:
? River Clean Up sponsored by P.E.W
Wristbands: $70
Ultimate Kayaking Wristband: $70
-Pesh Fest T-shirt
-Camping Wednesday – Sunday
-Wing Comp. Entry
-Choice of Entry into pool tourney or bags tourney at Rapids – Prize for winner!
-Entry for raft guide olympics
-Shuttle
-Race Entry
-Meal Ticket (Saturday)
Ultimate Rafting Wristband: $70
– Pesh Fest T-Shirt
– Camping Wednesday – Sunday
– 2 Raft trips during Pesh Fest (includes all gear)
*One weekday/One Weekend Trip
Ultimate Camping Wristband: $30
– Just camping
(includes Wednesday – Sunday)
High Water on the Peshtigo River for Rafting
People coming for Pesh Fest and to paddle the Peshtigo River whitewater are in for a great water level this weekend. The Peshtigo ran as high as +31″ earlier this week. That is an absolutely monsterous level. The people that paddled it saw why the Peshtigo is world famous. Today it is down a little, at a +16″,+ a great level. It will be rising again. We had another rain last night, probably at least 1/2″. There is also rain possible Friday/Friday night. No matter what happens there will be outstanding water for weekend fun on the Peshtigo River. It will be on the rise too, making it a little pushier. Yee Haw!
Ground thawing out/ATV trails
The ground thaw is coming along nicely. It means a lot to a lot of people between the road weight limits, people that want to ATV, and people that want to get some work done.
Most of the ground around my house is thawed out and firm but damp. I could drive on the grass yesterday without much depression. The shaded areas like the north side of the house and heavy pine stands have as much as 6-12″ of snow and some frost in the ground under it. The transition areas are wet and muddy.
This week we are expecting to get close to 60 today and Saturday could hit 70. That should help a lot.
I believe that the road limits come off around the first week in May. Hopefully the ATV trails open then too, but that varies. Right now we aren’t having to many major setbacks so hopefully that works out.
When I went to Boat Landing 9 on Caldron Falls Sunday the big bay was still iced all of the way across. It was melted away from the shore a little and in the bays, but it has some thawing to do. With this week’s weather I fully expect it to be open by the first weekend in May when the fishing season opens.
Carole Walesh benefit 4/30
Allan and Carole Walesh own Jungle Jim’s Pub & Grub in Silver Cliff. Carole has been having some very significant health problems, and a lot of it isn’t covered by insurance. I will let the poster explain.
The community has really responded in a big way. One bar had a meat raffle, another donated Friday night tips. Rapids is donating money from the chicken plop bingo. There are gun raffles. If they raise enough money Allen and Ed from Rustic Inn will shave their beards.
There is a benefit coming up on Saturday 4/30 that was originally planned for Jungle Jim’s. That quickly outgrew their space and now they are having it at the park where they had the centennial picnic. There will be all sorts of raffles and a huge bucket raffle.
These folks have done a lot for our community over the years and it is good to see so many people step up to help them. Auto immune disease is a long term and very expensive path to travel. I hope that they raise a lot of money.
Weekend Weather
We have a big storm coming in for the weekend. It does look like it might time out well for us though. The way that the TV news showed it the storm would come through with a first wave Friday and Friday night as a warm front heads north. Saturday should dry up and bring us a 70 degree day. (YeeHaw!) Saturday night into Sunday the next wave of the storm will bring more rain before clearing out Sunday and bringing us a 65 degree day.
Ok so that sounds almost too good to be true. I like what it says though.
Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB