By Joe Crain
Snow is beginning to melt!
At last we are starting to see some signs of spring up here in the North Woods of Wisconsin. Some patches of grass are starting to emerge in the southern exposure areas and under the large trees. Night time temperatures are continuing to dip into the upper 20s, but the day time highs have been consistently reaching into the lower 40’s so the melting of our abundant snow cover has been at a pace slow enough to keep flooding concerns very low in the area. I took a quick visit over to our cabin on the Amnicon river this past weekend and the river was high but well within its banks. I’m confident that there is little danger of flooding as the remaining foot or so of snow still on the ground melts away over the next couple of weeks. Lake Nebagamon still has a way to go before the ice comes off! Caretaker Andy was out doing some solo ice fishing last week and reported about 20 inches of ice still remaining. He said he did have to wade through open water from the shore of Lorber Point for a few feet to get to the ice. Farther off shore the ice was still solid and substantial; as a matter of fact, he saw a truck enter the ice from a shore line cabin on the south side of the lake where the tall trees have shaded the shore and kept the ice in that area from deteriorating. He’s had a few days catching some pan fish and had no luck at all on another occasion. He said it was good to get out of the house and get some positive physical distancing done. Although he did have one encounter with a fellow angler on the ice that he said walked toward him with his hand
The shop is bustling
out for a “howdy do” hand shake, Andy said he was able to politely decline the physical contact and was able to maintain his six foot personal perimeter while exchanging fish tales with the fellow ice angler. The most enjoyable sign that spring is well under way has been the gradual return of our summer birds. In just the last week I have begun having regular sightings of Robins, Mourning Doves, Red Wing Black Birds, Grackles and most fun of all have been the small flocks of Swans passing over with their long outstretched white necks and their irregular high- and low-pitched honks. I wish we would get a mating pair to take up residence on Lake Nebagamon!
With only a few slight changes to our usual routine we have been able to keep plugging away at the needed maintenance around camp. Wisconsin issued its “safer-at-home” order on March 25, and deemed “Maintenance” as an essential service so after a little brainstorming with the Boise office we came to the conclusion that the two of us could continue working safely. It has been pretty easy in such a large shop to keep our distance, and now that the weather has started to turn, we will be able to work out in camp separately. I was able to build and repair eight screen doors this month. Caretaker Andy had a week of stay at home vacation and has been doing some needed maintenance on the caretaker’s house that always has been shoved to the bottom (and often off) of the “To Do” list since his return to active duty. This week I will be heading out into the Villages to do some badly needed screen replacement!
Looking forward to ice out so my distancing can be done in style in a boat out on the lake its Caretaker Joe At Camp.
Work on some new doors