End of Summer and the Construction Seasons

Anyone who has driven up the Gunflint Trail lately has noticed that a major construction project is underway along the roadway.  Arrowhead Electric Cooperative is burying their electrical lines along the Trail. They are also installing fiber optic cable for eventual broadband service. We actually have fiber optic cable ran up to a juntion box mounted on the side of our house. However, the other end of the cable is not connected to anything! Our best guess is that we will have broadband service by the end of next summer.

Putting the lines and cable underground has been a slow process. It has taken nearly a month to go from far end of Poplar Lake to our Lodge. We have already had three days without phone service as a result of cut phone lines. As the installation crew moves past the South Lake Trailhead shown in this picture we will have two branch phone lines to our Lodge and house that will likely have to be relocated.

 

The weather service has predicted overnight lows in the upper 20s twice this month. So far we have been lucky and have not actually experienced frozen any waterlines. I've already insulated the exposed sections of waterlines and the exposed valves. I have also drained the water from the Outfitting building. On the really cold nights Poplar Lake gives up heat and is keeping the temperatures along the lakefront from dropping below freezing.  The fog you can see in this picture looking into the bay behind the Outfitting building is acting as a blanket keeping us warm.