Fishing Opener and Ice Out



August 24, 2013



In a normal year the ice is off Poplar Lake by May 10th. Last year the ice wasn't gone from Poplar Lake until May 18th. This was the latest ice off date that Lin and I have experienced since we moved up to Rockwood Lodge. We certainly had to cancel a lot of canoe trips and field numerious phone calls from people who wanted to know if the ice would be gone by the Memorial Day Weekend.   

The winter this year has been unusually harsh and long for many of our guests.  TV news stations down in the cities are already talking about lakes being iced over for fishing opener and some of the locals living along the Gunflint Trail are even wondering if our lakes will be open by June!

It always amazes us as to how quick people forget what constitutes a normal winter or how this years winter compares to what we experienced last year. The photos of our Lodge show how far this year's winter has retreated compared to last year at this time.  

The winter is almost over once we start seeing bare ground. We'll be surprised if the lake ice is gone by the Fishing Opener but we know that as the ground warms up any new snowfall will not stick around for very long.  That a good thing to remember as we look outside this morning to 9 inches of new snow.


April 25,2014
















The First Signs of Spring

The first sign of Spring for most people is when the daffodils and crocuses poke up through the snow along south facing walls. Lin and I get excited about Spring when our aluminum canoes are first seen after being buried by snow for nearly five months.

A less welcome sign of Spring showed up last Monday. Two feet of snow on the roof of the summer staff apartment decided to part ways with the north facing roof. The snow fell off the roof and piled up against the back wall of the building. The "long" building was covered nearly to the top of the window openings with melting snow. After two days of digging we managed to clear the snow off the wall. The trench is needed to keep the melting snow from seeping into the building.

Last year we didn't have "ice off" on Poplar Lake until May 18th. Lin and I are already starting to get phone calls from people asking if the ice will be gone earlier this year. The warm up that started this week should really be encouraging for paddlers and guests planning to visit us this May. Over the last four days we have seen our snow depth dropping by over a foot. This picture of Lin was taken last year in late April and can be compared to today's snow depth in this same area of less than twenty inches. Call me an optimist but the likelyhood of a more normal opening date is improving hourly.