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

Friday April 14th, 2017

Paddler’s Alert!

Peshtigo River is at +26″.

Greetings and welcome!

It looks like we are in for a mostly nice weekend starting with today. The TV is showing high temps of 60 today, 70 Saturday and 64 Sunday.

There is rain in the forecast for Saturday, but my guidance shows it coming early and late and a 70 degree day in the middle. The morning storm doesn’t look like much and the evening storm should come late enough in the day to not bother daytime activities. It might douse the evening campfire, but my earliest guidance has it coming in about 9 or 1opm. Once the evening storm gets here we could see some thunderstorms. The TV showed us getting 1/2″ of rain by morning.

Yesterday I put a lot of miles on the car, and in my travels I checked some lakes. Waubee Lake and Townsend Flowage are free of ice now. High Falls was wide open by Popp’s and again as I traveled over the Hwy X Bridge. Caldron Falls is wide open at Landing #8 by the dam with no ice in sight. You can put a boat in and do some fishing or cruising, though swimming might be a brisk experience. Do that at Kosir’s where you have a wet suit.

Speaking of Kosir’s, earlier in the week I suggested that with all of the rain ” I would not be surprised to see it go into the 30?+ range for this coming weekend. “. (It being the Peshtigo River..) I checked this morning and it is at +26”. It isn’t 30+, but it will be a really fun level to go whitewater rafting. Call Kosir’s to get your reservations.

Something that I saw in my travels yesterday is the greening of the grass. In Wausaukee the lawns are full green and growing. Here in Silver Cliff 22 miles west I still have more brown than green, though it is starting to green up.

That brown stuff from last year’s vegetation is part of our spring fire danger. It will burn readily, and with the ever present spring breeze a single spark could set the neighbor’s whole field on fire.

That kicks my butt every spring. I have a nice day and want to clean up the yard, but I am too chicken to even have a basic campfire most days. Even with a garden hose right there, some days with a breeze and low humidity I wouldn’t even consider it.

This week we had a lot of rain and we have some humidity, so the wind will be the key factor in me having a campfire/grill/beer@picnic table happy hour today. When I checked a few minutes ago fire danger was only moderate.

For those of you interested in a nice Easter Dinner Hilltop Resort is having an Easter buffet with broasted chicken, ham, and much more for $12. I hear that they have very good chicken, and if I can get my taxes done in time, that will very likely be my Easter Dinner destination.

There has been no sign of Houdini since Tuesday night when he licked clean yet another traditional mouse trap without setting it off. The sticky traps and the latest baited trap remain untouched. My guess is that he died of obesity from all of the peanut butter that I have been feeding him.

Have a good weekend and thank you for visiting!
RJB