Carpet Delay and Snow Season

We are definitely experiencing "snow" season as opposed to the other 2 seasons: "soft water", and "hard water". ( "Bug" season is not an official northwoods season.) The more snow we get the less we have to worry about low lake levels and wildfires. While we are about a foot behind on snowfall we are finally starting to catch up! Here are 2000 words that describe our snow conditions.

Earlier this week I had moved a lot of snow to get access to a couple of our cabins in anticipation of a carpet delivery. We ended up getting some snow which delayed the carpet delivery. Then the drive gear on my snow blower decided to lose a couple of teeth making it inoperable. Last night we got another 4 inches of snow and tonight the forecast is for 6 more inches of snow. Now it comes down to a race to see if the snow blower drive gear will arrive before the carpet is delivered. We may end up storing some carpet in the shop and waiting for Mother Nature to take care of the snow removal.

Mid-Winter Snow Cover

The local Minneapolis newscasts have been carrying stories almost nightly about the lack of snow cover this winter. Last night the news story was on how to protect plants that have started to bud. Tonight's story was about how people with allergies are already suffering from high pollen counts.

Meanwhile, along the Gunflint Trail we have had and still have snow! Our transport van has been sitting behind the bunkhouse since October. Today I when up to start the van and to charge the battery. It wasn't cover with as much snow as usual but as you can see we still have snow!

I plan to hike into a nearby lake tomorrow to do some Lake Trout fishing. The fish are biting and snowmobiles have packed the snow down making it easy to walk over. Hope to have fresh fish for dinner tomorrow night.

White Wolf Howling

To us the sight of a Moose feeding or a fleeting glimpse of a Wolf are both images that help to define living with northwoods wildlife. While we are less likely to see a Moose today, that say five years ago, the chances seeing a wolf have definitely gone up. The DNR management plan established a minimum wolf popluation of 1,600 wolves. When the gray wolf was removed from the threatened species list this January the wolf population was estimated at 3000 wolves.

The wolf's range has had to expand as the balance between wolf and their prey has been lost. To reduce the possibility of conflicts between wolves and livestock or domestic animals a wolf harvest has been proposed. History tells us that this will be an emotinal issue that will crates a lot of controversy.

We had two wolf sighting yesterday when we went down to Duluth. Of course the camera was unable to document either sighting. We did manage to capture a photo of the rare northern White Wolf on our way home. Enjoy.