Is the Ice Out?

That is the question of the day on the phone. Is the ice out? Not yet but we are hoping for ice out by fishing opener on May 10th. All the signs are there for the ice out but it could be close. For Clearwater Lake, historically 'ice out' roughly two weeks following the Brule Rivers. The Brules were open last Thursday so that should put us on a schedule for ice out by fishing opener. The ice has darkened and is pulling away from shoreline.

The smaller Lakes are going to have the ice go out before the larger lakes such as Seagull and Gunflint and even Clearwater.

Watch the blog or give us a call and we can tell you what is going on. In fact, I might just update my voice mail daily for those after hour calls.

Tree Planting

The snow has melted and we are all looking forward to a day of tree planting at the Green Up Event. I was checking the list for what we needed to bring along and if you have one, you should bring a dibble or dibber to plant the trees. There were will be some available from the forest service. I wasn't sure what this tool was so before I started digging through my garage I had to look it up on the Internet. This is what it looks like.

Mourning Cloak Butterfly

Thank you to the person who provided more information on my 'Signs of Spring' blog entry where I identified a moth that is actually a Mourning Cloak Butterfly.

One of the "winter" butterflies, the mourning cloak is often seen flying very early in the spring. Like other tortoiseshells and anglewings, the mourning cloak overwinters as an adult, even in areas with freezing winters. On sunny days, the mourning cloak's dark color and basking behavior allow it to raise its temperature well above the air temperature. The wings act as solar collectors, warming the hemolymph (blood) in the wing veins and returning the warmed fluid to the body until the butterfly reaches a temperature sufficient for flight.

On a weather note, we continue to have temperatures over freezing. With rain on Monday night and Tuesday morning, the snow is melting fast at mid-trail. I was actually able to get to several of the resort outbuilding pretty easily. At least the top layers of soil are soft so this is all good for the Green Up tree planting even starting May 1st.

Lynn

Creek

The signs of spring just keep coming. I walked out on the porch this morning and could hear the creek next to the lodge. I has opened up in the past few days and the melting snow is running off.

Our temperatures continue to be in the 50's during the day and 30's at night.

Signs of Spring

There are some sure signs of spring that I saw when I drove to Grand Marais today......

It is raining out today and not snowing,

The snow is melting fast,

Devil Track River is flowing,

South Brule is starting to flow,

North Brule had a little open water,

A moth on the grass (photo)

and, most importantly, the Dairy Queen is open in Grand Marais!

I see grass!

For the first time since December, I can see a patch of grass. The picture is of Sarah trying to roll in the grass! We did have our snow storm just a few days ago but we probably only had 6 inches of snow and the rest was just re-arranged by high winds. Temperatures today are in the 40's and it will be in the mid 50's for the rest of the week with some rain later in the week.

We had wonderful warm sunshine today and even though I still had to wear boots, a light spring jacket was all I needed to go outside.

There is still plenty of snow to melt with probably still 12 to 18 inches in woods but this warm weather is encouraging that Spring has really arrived here. There is still ice to melt off the lakes, but we hope ice will be out as usual by fishing open. Stay tuned!

April Blizzard

Just when I thought spring was finally on the way, we get an April Blizzard. We on the Gunflint Trail and Grand Marais probably will not get a lot of snow from this weather front, but we certainly do have the high winds that go along with blizzard conditions. Duluth and the upper portion of WI are getting the brunt of up to 18 inches of snow. Two of the TV channels from Duluth are out due to the high winds and power outages. Luckily it is Spring Break for the school kids in the area.

The winds started late yesterday afternoon and sometime during the night it did start snowing here. It is blowing so much it is hard to tell how much snow we actually got but I am guessing only a few inches. Much of the snow is just blowing around. The winds are to continue today and tonight and the winter storm warning lasts until Saturday morning here. We are expected to get only 3 to 5 inches today but will continue with very high winds.

Our temperatures hover around freezing and following this front we will have sunny weather and temperatures in the upper 30's and 40's so whatever snow we get will not last long.

This picture was taken from the lodge porch towards the lake. I didn't want to venture very far outside for fear of blowing over!

April Winter

Many of you are continuing to get little burst of winter with these weekly winter storms. Parts of the Iron Range got up to 17 inches over the past weekend. We got about 6 inches and by this weekend it is expected to be up in the 50's and maybe the 60's. I do hear that yet another weekend winter storm is coming our way but expected to pass south of us but watch out northern Wisconsin.

Summer will come soon so if you are planning a visit to the BWCA or a cabin on the lake this summer, give us a call soon.

Pilated Woodpecker

I could hear this guy just knocking away yesterday but I had a little trouble finding him. Finally I saw him out on a dead tree near the lake in front of the lodge. The Pilated Woodpecker is our largest woodpecker. He is the same size as a large crow.

Nature's Speed Bumps

When I returned to the lodge a few days ago, I was so happy to see that the ice and snow was gone from the Gunflint Trail. That alone cuts my travel time to Grand Marais by about 1/3rd. I don't want to be one those cars or trucks I see off the side of the road during the winter embedded in the snow. We seemed to have a lot of ice on the Gunflint Trail this winter.

With the freeze and thaws of this time of the year, the Gunflint Trail is little like a roller coaster. At the seams in the road it buckles up or down until the ground fully thaws out. I found myself driving a little too fast this morning to Grand Marais and airborne a few times. After hanging onto the steering wheel just to stay in my seat and bouncing the dog around in the back seat, I decided that the speed limit was a little wiser! At the speed limit, it is at least a mild roller coaster ride. Nature was reminding me to drive safely - which is better than the warning I have gotten from my local Sheriff!

We still have at least a foot of snow on the ground and probably more deeper in the woods but it is 45 degrees already today. I either skate across my parking lot or sink into the mud depending upon the time of day and the temperatures. As someone told me this morning, at least the mud is an indication that we are really going to have spring soon.

We are counting down to the Gunflint Green Up!!