Snow is Slowly Leaving

The snow comparison picture that I promised with my last blog posting shows a substantial drop in snow depth. We had three good days of melting over the weekend and things are actually better that what this picture reveals. The snow is gone from all of our roofs and yesterday I managed to drive my pickup down to the outfitting building. The lake ice/snow cover is changing to a dirty brown color as the runoff continues. Sunday I had to install a sump pump at our neighbors house to keep their basement from flooding.  

Some of the additional deliveries that I forgot to mention in the last blog posting include: some new beds, a sofa and some recliners from Slumberland, portage pads and paddles for the new canoes, sweatshirts and T shirts, and tackle and gift items for the Lodge Store. The busy spring season has started for us -- even when ice and snow still has a hold on us. 



April 29th



Fishing Opener -- and Seasonal Delays



Tuesday April 23rd



 Last weekend's snowfall has really stopped us from getting things ready for Fishing Opener.  Since the snow has stopped we have been getting lots of phone calls from people wanting to know if the ice will be out before they arrive.  A few of the calls have been for trip cancellations in May.

The  Lodge picture taken yesterday clearly shows that we still have plenty of snow on the ground. The second picture, taken earlier, shows how deep the snow was three days earlier. What you can't see is how much the snow as gone down.  I'll try to post a second picture of Lin standing the same spot on Monday that should give everyone a better idea of how fast the snow is disappearing. My best guess is that we have  already lost a foot of snow depth.  



Saturday April 20th



The Nation Weather Service just issued a release stating that we should "expect above normal temperatures through Wednesday May 1 which will lead to snow melt and rapid runoff. " So far we haven't had night time temperatures above freezing. This week we have had one night with temperatures below 0!  We're ready for a warm up.  



Today we received our first delivery of outfitting food. We are still expecting deliveries of patio doors, a new water heater for the shower house, some outfitting equipment, nine new Kevlar canoes and some more outfitting food. We hope that the deliveries will be after the snow is gone from the road down to the resort.

We kept the apartment open this winter so we won't have to restart the water system this spring. However, we're going to have a lot of work to do in a very short time to get ready for the fishing opener or ice out -- which ever comes first. 





Wow! Endless Winter

Last week we were in town looking at the waves coming into the beach at the Coast Guard station. There was only a trace of snow on the ground in Grand Marais. Up the Trail, our driveway was down to bare ground and the snow on south facing areas was starting to melt.

I cleared our driveway of snow yesterday ahead of a 3-8 inch snowfall predicted for last night. This morning we woke to 20 inches of new snow on our deck. The driveway is plugged with snow that is deeper than the face of our snow blower. The deck has been cleared  but digging out the driveway is going to have to wait. It is still snowing and we already have over 2 inches of new snow on our deck.