March 30- I don't have
any compelling words of wisdom tonight, but I did have a few moments of
free time so I thought that I would sit down and put fingers to keys (the
new millennium's version of pen to paper).
The snow has been slowly
melting over the past couple of days, but it has really been quite a slow
melt. We have already dropped below freezing and it is only 10 after
seven, the sun has just set and we are in twilight. Most of the snow
should be gone from my neighborhood by tomorrow, but I know that up where
it was over a foot deep, there is still a lot down. The hours of
sunlight are really increasing now. With the time change Saturday
it will be staying light up here until about 8:30 PM and getting light
at about 7:15 AM. It's strange, my move up here took me to a land
of more sunlight hours in the summer and less in the winter compared to
Chicago. However, it seems like the amount of more sunlight we get
in the summer is greater than what we loose in the winter when compared
to Chicago. At the summer solstice, if I remember correctly, it stays
light until about 10:30 or 11 at night. Kinda neat. However,
it is weird to be going to sleep in broad daylight!
The other day when
we were experiencing that storm, I was able to capture a really neat visible
satellite image of it. At the time this
shot was taken, the storm had become vertically stacked, meaning that
the surface low was sitting pretty much directly underneath the upper air
lows. Normally, the higher up in the atmosphere you go, the more
you have to travel to the west to get to the center of the lowest pressure.
Or in other words, there is a tilt to the west in the column of low pressure
as you go up in the atmosphere. When a low becomes vertically stacked,
it can sometimes also have a clear center and this was a classic case of
that. Note the almost clear skies sitting at the eastern end of Lake
Superior just to the south of Michipicoten Island. Put this image
out in the Caribbean and it would likely fool just about anybody into thinking
it was a Hurricane. I guess it was our "White Hurricane". Another
neat thing about this storm was that it retrograded for a while, or traveled
against the "normal" easterly direction that weather systems have in them.
From the point that this picture was taken, the center of the low moved
southwest to about Marquette and then to about Eagle River WI before beginning
to take on an easterly component to it's travel again.
Since I'm sure you
all were just fascinated with that last pic, I thought I would thrill you
with another. Today's
visible imagery provided me with a good view of the snow cover from
the storm early this week. Normally snow cover does not show up very
well up here because so much of the topography is covered in trees and
the trees show up as dark returns on the satellite image. Down south
where most of the land is clear of trees, snow cover shows up very well.
Monday's storm dumped such wet snow that it stuck to a lot of the trees
and the grayish tint to the ground from Ashland and Iron counties in northeast
WI to Marquette county is snow cover. Some other interesting features
you can pick out are: Lake Gogebic, which is the sliver of lighter returns
running from north to south in the two western most counties (Gogebic and
Ontonagon) of the UP. The Rousseau Plains to the east of Rockland
and the Baraga Plains to the south of Baraga, which also show up as an
enhanced area of white. The streaks of white near Munising are some
high clouds moving through at the moment. All the lakes in western
Ontario also show up very well, those are all the white splatterings to
the north of Lake Superior.
I hope you all enjoyed
the little satellite tour. As a weather geek, I get into such things
and I love to talk about the weather. I think that it would be a
blast to teach a class in meteorology. Maybe some day.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 28- This entry will
most likely make just a few people jealous, but after having my first winter
turn out to be the worst riding season on record here in the Keweenaw,
I think I deserved this. As I'm sure most of you know, the Keweenaw
was hit by the second biggest snowstorm of the season yesterday.
It was an elevation storm, meaning, the higher up you went, the heavier
the snow. Here at Lake Linden, the deepest it ever got was about
4". However, up on the hill by Calumet, the snow was 12"+ deep and
there were reports of up to 18" of snow in some spots up here. Had
the temps been about 4-6 degrees cooler, all areas up here would have been
hit with about 20-25" of snow.
Anyway, it was enough
to take one last, last, last ride. Some friends of mine were heading
up to Calumet to "test". There is a race at Marquette Mountain this
weekend and they want to test different setups for the race. There
were no spots on the trailer so I decided to ride up there an meet them.
As I said, the snow down here in the valley was not too deep. We
had about 3-4" on the ground when I left. I had to scoot across some
bare spots to get to the trail and once on the trail there were a few wet
spots on the lower section. By the time I got to the upper section,
I was treated to this.
You can't tell by the picture, but there was about 8-10" down in this spot
and I was first tracks. Lots and lots of fun. The snow was
a little soft, but still it was really great to get out and feel the G's
as it hit the throttle.
A little further up
the trail, I was a little higher in elevation and the snow was about 12-14"
deep. The heavier snow also pulled
down some tree limbs as well as a few entire trees, but I was able
to work my way around all of them and this actually had to be one of the
best rides of the year. Not so much because of the conditions, although
they were pretty fun, with a fresh 12-14" of snow to ride through, but
because it all came as such a surprise. I thought that for sure there
would have been other tracks out today. There are still plenty of
locals up here who can head off for a late season romp in the woods like
I did, but for some reason, no one did and I was the lucky one to track
up the fresh blanket covering the trail.
I met up with my buddies
and took a few runs down the testing track. It is a little embarrassing
to get nosed out by a 440 when I was riding a 580, but it is amazing what
you can do to a sled to make it go faster. My sled is 100% stock
and could probably use some adjustments to peak it out a little better.
I do plan to put on a track with deeper lugs for next season, as well as
have my friend make some modifications to the sled to give it better low
and mid range power. That way I will have a good bush sled.
I am not too concerned with high end speed. The places I ride the
most, you can't really go much faster than 50-60 mph anyway, so having
that low end torque and a deeper track will get be through the deeper snow.
The ride back was even
better, as I knew where the wet spots were and was able to avoid them,
or hit them with enough speed to skip across them. The only things
that would have made it better would have been a riding partner and more
gas!
As I sit here typing
this, I realize that I am very fortunate and am grateful for that.
I also realize that given the way things seem to be shaping up this spring,
it may not be the last ride either. Although, we will begin to melt
it off over the next few days and there will be even more water out there
to avoid if I do get to go again. If not, then I got my fix and will
be ready for next year. How many days until December 1st?
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 26- What a wild
past few days of weather we have had! Thursday was so nice, then
Friday gray and gloomy with falling temps. Not to be outdone, Saturday
featured more gray, rain and snow all day, with winds to over 50 mph.
The precip on Saturday was more snow than rain here, but did not accumulate
except for a slushy coating on some cars and tree limbs. My house
suffered two casualties due to the winds. A fascia board worked itself
loose and alerted me to the fact with a banging sound, as it hit up against
the side of the house and the roof. I bundled up, grabbed a hammer,
some 8 penny galvanized sinkers and the 8 foot step ladder and went out
to secure it. Thanks goodness for today's fowl weather gear.
I manage to stay nice and dry, except for my face which had spray blown
onto it from the edge of the roof. I was quite an experience out
there fitting the aluminum flashing back in place and hammering some nails
in to hold it, all the while on the top of an 8 foot ladder in 50 mph winds
with snow pelting the back of my hood and spray swirling into my face.
I felt like I was in one of those old B/W movies which featured a sailor
desperately battling to keep his ship afloat in a tremendous hurricane.
Even the dogs did now want to go out in the weather, opting instead to
"hold it" until things cleared up a bit. Their plan worked, as the
skies broke and the winds subsided right at sunset and actually provided
quite a magnificent show of reds, oranges and yellows set against a backdrop
of different shades of blue. The other causality to the house occurred
at the chimney, where the cap to the fireplace side of the chimney came
off. I did not see this had occurred until late this evening and
was able to find the cap, but the sun had set and I did not feel like climbing
up to re-attach it. A new storm is coming later tonight and looks
to last into Tuesday, hope the house does not flood down the chimney!
The waves were huge
on the Big Lake yesterday. Biggest I have seen them yet, even bigger
than the storms of last autumn. It seemed like the winds were stronger
too. I know that my house literally shook a few times and driving
the car along the north shore was a challenge at times as well.
Today was the exact
opposite of yesterday, with blue skies and a warm sun heating things into
the mid 50's. The hounds and I took full advantage of things and
got in two long walks. Things in the woods were still very wet from
both the melt and the precip of yesterday. I figure that if we had
been about 4 degrees cooler yesterday, we would have ended up with about
6-8" of wet snow, as .51" of precip was measured at the airport yesterday.
Had that storm come about a month ago and done its stuff with temps in
the teens or low 20's we would have gotten over a foot of snow.
A new storm is bearing
down on the Keweenaw as I write. This too would have been an epic
snow provider had it come a month or two earlier. Even now it looks
like we could see as much as 6"+ of snow in some spots. The models
are putting out over 1" of liquid equivalent moisture. Some of it
will fall as rain and the snow will also be very wet so accumulations will
be kept down by that as well, but I might be able to take a ride later
tomorrow or Tuesday if things play out as indicated.
Gonna sign off for
now, it's been a long, but fun weekend and I need to be sharp as a tack
at 5:30 AM tomorrow.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 23- It was such
a nice day that I thought I just had to tell everybody and even supply
a pic or two. Of course with a day in march in the upper 50's and
even low 60's means one place to go... yep, the beach. Today, Big
Traverse got the call, and a good call it was. We arrived to
find a lake surface like glass, with just barely a wind to mix things up.
It was mostly sunny, although some high cirrus and cirrocumulus did move
in and filter out some of the suns rays. Even so, the three of us
had a wonderful time. Like I said in yesterday's journal entry, this
beach has a nice long strip of sand and is relatively undeveloped and has
some pines and scrub that grow up to the high tide mark. By high
tide I mean storm tide, not lunar tide. I'm sure there is a slight
lunar tide, nothing like you get in the oceans, but the storm tide is really
what determines where the beach ends and the forest starts.
Anyway, we were the
only ones out there for the whole time. A single set of human and
dog tracks revealed that the beach had seen some other visitors recently.
We walked about a mile down the beach, taking our time, enjoying the day
and making sure to sniff everything (the hounds told me to say that!).
We came to a good spot to take a break and sit for a while. To my
surprise, the dogs just plopped down right next to me and looked out over
the tranquil lake right with me. Usually they don't like to sit still
for too long when we are outside. Too much to do. I guess they
decided that they had seen all they needed to see and sniffed all they
needed to sniff for a while and the three of us sat there in the sand and
took it all in and let it all go out at the same time. Once again
another one of those moments when I was about as happy to be where I was
as I could possibly be. This place has provided me more of those
moments in the past 10 months than I think my entire life leading up to
that point provided. The neat thing about it is they just sort of
sneak up on me and overtake me. I am not looking them, working for
them or paying money for them, that is what makes them so special.
About all the snow
is gone, even the piles around my house. The lakes still have ice
on them. Here is a shot of Rice
Lake as I drove by. Although you won't catch me out there.
At the party last weekend, someone drove their truck out on the ice and
it went through. It was right up along the shore and did not even
get it's undercarriage wet, but still had to be pulled out. The ice
it went through was about 2-3" thick and that was about 4 days of warm
temps ago.
It looks like by Saturday
it will be back to reality, with highs in the upper 30's to low 40's, maybe
even a few flakes of snow, but I doubt any accumulation, I hope.
Boy, I bet you thought you would never hear me say that! Truth is,
it's spring and I am ready. Given an average year, we would still
likely have at least a foot of snow in the open areas and twice as much
in the woods and would still be riding. If that were the case I would
be happy. My dream climate is to have enough snow to play in till
mid April, then bring on the 50's and 60's for a month and melt if off
and then 3 months of 70's and low 80's with low humidity. Follow
that up with 50's for a month or so and then bring on the 30's and 40's
for a month and then let er snow from November through March again.
I have actually just described the average year's worth of weather up here.
Of course you never have a year of perfectly average weather, but something
close to it would be just fine with me.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 22- Yesterday I
talked about looking forward to some warmer weather and today I got a little
taste of it. It was not really warm, but we did break into the low
50's and with the sun, it was really nice. The sun helped to dry
things out and most areas around my neighborhood are dry, with patches
of snow left where it was piled up by removal equipment (my front yard)
or in places that are in the shade most of the day. Speaking of my
neighborhood, I remembered the item I wanted to talk about yesterday, but
could not remember; There are a couple of retired men in my neighborhood
who have tapped many of the maple trees (maples make up about 80% of the
trees in the neighborhood) and are collecting the sap to make syrup.
One of them has a license to sell it and I bought some. It is really
good, quite a bit different from the maple flavored corn syrup I buy in
the store. I may have to get some more as they cannot do it in the
fall. I thought you could, but they said no. Anyway, it is
neat to put it on my breakfast and think that it was collected from the
trees around the house.
With the weather so
nice, today was most definitely a beach day. We all piled into the
car and headed off to Five
Mile Point beach. I was a little worried that the walking might
be a little hard if there was still a lot of snow and ice piled up, but
as you could see, the beach was fairly clear, with only some snow and ice
right along the waterline. That sure is a beautiful beach.
Actually, they all are. Each one has it's unique and special
features. Bete Gris has the singing sands and the Bear Bluffs in
the backdrop, Big Traverse has the long, uninterrupted, sweeping expanse
of beach, with some pine and scrub brush up away from the water.
Plus you have views of both the Huron Mountains and the higher peaks of
the Keweenaw Range (Bohemia, Houghton, Gratiot). For the best views
of the Huron Range as well as an almost guarantee for solitude (at least
during the week) you head to White City. The north shore from McLain
St. Park to Sedar Bay, you have the different sized glacial rocks, mixed
with some sand and the occasional agate to walk on, as well as the dense
hardwood forest growing right up to the high tide mark. Plus the
waterfalls and creeks running out of the woods into the big lake and all
the driftwood. Plus the north shore is treated to some big waves
when the winds are howling out of the west, north or any combo thereof.
Today's beach was sand
and has about a mile of it to walk on. Plus the occasional piece
of driftwood, but not much in the way of rocks. We got as far as
Five Mile Point and took this
shot looking north towards Eagle River. The Sand Hills lighthouse
is just to my right and a little behind me from where I took this shot.
With day's like today,
I am really done with the snow. I mean it. I really would be
most happy if we did not get anymore the rest of the season. At least
not any more than would melt off in a few hours or so. I am really
looking forward to doing things like exploring out in the woods and heading
off down the unbeaten path, but we have to wait for things to dry even
more.
I guess that will do
it for another day's adventures in the Keweenaw. Stay tuned for more!
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 21- I do believe
we have entered fully into the mud month. The hounds and I have been
quarantined from the woods until things firm up a little more. Most
of the snow from last Wednesday is now gone. Although pockets still
remain from that snow and the entire winter's snows in spots in the woods.
With temps the next week to ten days rising above the freezing mark, most,
if not all of the remaining holdouts should be gone. Given enough
mild and dry days, the woods should actually be able to support some exploration
by us. They could now, but I am too lazy to take the dogs out and
then spend the time to clean all the mud off of them. They have no
problems getting muddy, especially the little Tomboy Baileys. She
actually seeks out the puddles and makes sure she hits everyone.
Just her fun loving side I guess. However, the dogs are not particularly
fond of baths or even the garden hose.
A few more signs of
spring are popping up around here in the Keweenaw. First, I have
spotted a lot of seagulls. I cannot remember seeing any of them here
when winter was going on, so they must do some kind of migration.
Secondly, the Coast Guard Cutter "Mackinaw" will be heading up the Portage
Canal tomorrow. I don't know why they take it up the canal to break
up the ice. Even with the ice broken I don't think that the regular
coast guard boats will be traveling through the canal. Today I came
up with the speculation that once the ice becomes very unsafe to be on,
they just roll the icebreaker through to end anyone's ideas of venturing
out onto it. I don't blame them if that were part of the reason.
No need to be allowing a dangerous situation to exist if you don't have
to. Last year it did not go through until the first of April.
I was up here at that point, making an offer on the home I now live in
and remember seeing it go through. Actually, if memory serves me,
it was not even the Mackinaw, but another ice breaker, maybe even a Canadian.
I know that the Mackinaw has been painted all white and the ship last year
had the traditional red, black and white markings. Anyway, it still
had a lot of ice to break up, as it was fairly solid all the way through,
past the bridge and out towards the lower entry. This year, the canal
is wide open from the eastern edge of Tech to the western edges of Hancock
and that area of open water has been getting bigger and bigger.
With all this talk
of spring, I need to mention one last winter phenomenon that I saw last
week. I took the hounds to the north shore and was able to see some
active ice volcanos. There were many in the various stages of development
and I think that I have been able to figure out how they form. I
cannot get into it here, as it would require me to use graphical representation,
but I do believe I have solved that little mystery. The snow volcanos
turn into the ice castles once they become dormant.
Back to spring talk.
I realize the real and prolonged warmer air is still a month and a half
away, but I am looking forward to the summer up here, having the windows
open and being able to sleep with the scent of the pines outside my bedroom
window blowing in. Then it will be a quick 3 1/2 months until the
trees begin to change and then, with a little luck, snow in another 2 months!
Ok, so I do have a one track mind. At least I did indicate I do appreciate
the summer months, both of them!
I know that there is
one last thing I wanted to share with you all, but my mind is blank, so
I guess I will close for tonight.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 19- Wow, I did not
realize I had been away for so long. Three nights off. Actually
two of them I had stuff going on. I suppose I could have sat down
and got something out before going out, but never got around to it.
Our snows from Wednesday are about all gone. There is still some
in the woods, but my back yard is bare. I never did go out and play
in it on the sled. I think I was a little nervous about taking that
one last trip on such marginal conditions. The sled is currently
in the garage, all nice and clean and in fine working order. I guess
I just figured I may as well keep it that way. The last ride was
really a good time and that was a good way to end the season I figured.
I realize that there is still the chance that a major storm could hit,
but the way this season went, I am willing to put money on it that it will
not happen. Plus, our average high is now 34 degrees, the sun is
very warm and we are putting a degree to the average high every 2 days.
In a month, the average high will be 48 in 2 months it will be 64.
I am actually looking forward to being able to wear shorts and no coat
on my walks. That is still at least a month, maybe more away, but
this snow lover has had it for the season and am ready for the beautiful
Keweenaw summer of warm days and cool nights.
Last night I went to
a fun party on Gratiot Lake. It is an end of the season party and
usually everyone can ride to it if they want. A few guys did bring
their sleds via trailer, but mine stayed in the garage. The few that
were there basically took runs down the lake in some impromptu drag races
and did not head off into the woods.
The hounds and I have
been sharing time between the woods and the beaches. The woods are
a little sloppy, with Wednesday's snow still melting, but with the soils
not being too rich and the topography being rather hilly, things do not
get too deep out there. Even so, I will be happy for the mud months
to end and the ritual of having to dry off the hounds before they can go
into the house also to end.
For not writing for
three days, you would think that I would be full of insight or adventures,
but the honest truth is I have been sitting here trying to think of things
to say and am at a loss, so I guess I will close for now.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 15- Only a month
away from tax time! Uh OH! Usually I have my stuff all in to
my accountant and am just waiting for him to get it back to me (usually
April 14 in the evening!). This year, I have yet to even get started,
I guess it might have something to do with the fact that I am almost positive
I will owe. That's the one bad thing about running your own company
(ok so it's a one man show, it's still a company!) refunds seem to be hard
to come by, even with the deductions.
Anyway, I am in good
spirits, as we got some snow today. About 6" fell here. That
was the most in a 24 hours period since January 17! That says a lot
for our winter, or lack thereof. I did not get out for a ride.
I could have, but just barely. The snow did not melt at all and with
a high of about 20-23 tomorrow, I may go for a quick spin tomorrow, just
to say I was able to ride in the middle of March! I did manage to
take part in another of my favorite winter activities, skiing. The
hounds and I took off down the snowmobile trail. Someone had gone
down it, but only one track. We did not encounter that person or
anyone else so I was nice and safe for us to be out there. I forgot
the camera, but did manage to remember it on a walk earlier in the day
and snapped some shots of the neighborhood as the storm was finishing up.
I think that I took them as much for me as I did for you. Come this
August when I am really missing the white stuff I can look back at winters
last little gift. This last little gift also put us over the 130"
mark, keeping us from breaking that all time record low since the NWS started
taking records using their current methodology. I have discussed
this in other entries, that records go back to the 1800's, but the data
was noticeably different before the current, standardized methods of reporting
snowfall and snow cover were adopted.
Back to the photo show.
This is a shot looking
down my street. I live at the end of the road, where it dead
ends. Nice and quiet and safe for the hounds to play while I shovel
the driveway or cut the grass. The snow was a dry snow, but fell
with very little wind and as a result, all the trees
were flocked. I just love it when that happens. It was
not a heavy enough snow to really drape it on, but it was still neat to
see for one last time. That is one thing that did not occur to the
extent that is usually does up here this year. In past years I have
been up here in the winter everything has been just caked with 2-4 feet
of snow. Even things you would never expect, like the tops of fence
posts or mail boxes. Oh well, just another thing to look forward
to next year, beginning about Halloween!
We headed out towards
the fields near my house
and I took this last shot. It never ceases to amaze me how the landscape
changes with a fresh coating of snow. Put 3-5 feet down and everything
looks different. This summer I want to find some near roads to ride
on next winter, but I may have to become very familiar with them in the
summer so I can find them in the winter. Some of the roads I found
last summer would not have been recognizable to me this winter if I had
not become so familiar with them. And the snow did not even get all
that deep.
Guess I will close
for now. But before I do, I will mention that I did post a page to
this site which describes my decision for the future. You can find
it by clicking here.
Thanks to all who have already congratulated me on my decision, I am so
glad that is brought good feelings towards me and the site. Until
next time...
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 13- With my least
favorite season (bug) coming in another month an half or so, I am wondering
if this low snow year and early melt might have a silver lining.
That being the fact that the dreaded Black Fly needs clear, running water
to multiply. My hopes are that with the early melt, not as much clear
running water will be around once temperatures warm enough to allow the
bug breeding season to commence and as a result, not as many as the little
pains-in-the-neck will be around. I got the answer to my rabbit question,
it was a snow hare. Maybe I can get some help with my theory on the
bugs, any entomologist's out there?
The hounds and I took
to the north shore for a walk today. I was amazed to see how the
ice castles were basically all gone and very
little ice was left along the shore. The water had eaten away
all but the ice right along the shore and it made it safe for the hounds
and I to explore the edge of the ice, as the water was only about a
foot deep right at the edge. Here
is a look in the other direction.
It is really neat to
walk along the shoreline and see the things that were pushed up by the
wave action in the fall and early winter and then buried under the ice
and snow. Not a whole lot of exciting stuff, but still interesting
to see football sized rocks sitting on the ice.
All the melt water
creeks are still running and will be for a while longer. Another
treat is to walk along the shoreline and encounter where one of these creeks
drops out of the woods, crosses the beach and empties into the lake.
Like I have said in previous journal entries, I was really intrigued when
I first encountered one of these creek mouths. Back down south, there
is very little shoreline left untouched. Even where the shoreline
might be left somewhat undeveloped, a bridge or other man made object is
usually there to cross or divert the creek. Up here, almost all of
these creeks just tumble out of the wood, totally untouched by man.
They are not too dramatic in most cases, the exception being the mouth
of the Montreal River, but just the simplicity of the creek running over
some rocks, driftwood, and in some cases a blow down, on it's way to the
lake is really worth many minutes of observation to appreciate nature in
its original beauty. With the cold weather we have been having of
late, some of the less vigorous creeks have been wrapped
up in a blanket of ice, with only a small trickle of water making it
through the ice.
I know that this winter
proved to be disappointing for me, with the late arrival of the snows and
the early departure, but being able to take walks like I did today still
confirms to the the fact that I live in one, if not THE, most beautiful
and special places on the planet. Glad I can share pieces of it with
you all.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 12- Well, long time
no write! Sorry, a few of the days off were intentional, but I did
have plans to make an entry last night, but I was without my internet connection
and decided not to write anything since I was unable to upload it.
I guess I need to start out by saying that we had another near miss storm
Thursday. We did get a little snow, but the heavy band slipped about
40 miles to our south. Places like Ironwood, Bruce Crossing, Baraga
and Marquette were the benefactors of that system. Just another in
a long line of disappointing storms this winter! Interesting to think
that some places in southern MO, IL, IN and even into sections of OH saw
more snow yesterday than we have seen in almost 4 weeks. Almost as
amazing is the fact that there is still snow on the ground in spots up
here. Most yards are bare. I still have some, where the snow
thrower piled it up and there are even a few spots in by back yard.
Also in the woods, there is still snow on the ground in most spots.
However, most of the logging roads really took it on the chin. The
road that I rode on March 1, is basically unrideable in most places.
I went out there to survey the situation to see if a ride would be possible
tomorrow, but decided to put the ride on hold. We could go if we
were really desperate, but I am not really feeling too desperate right
now so am not pushing for it.
Another thing I wanted
to make sure I wrote about is the noticeable increase in the strength of
the sun's rays in the past several weeks. Both yesterday and today
we remained below freezing. Actually today I think that we held in
the low to mid 20's, but yet the inch and a half of snow we got last night
all melted from the ground from the sheer strength of the sun. I
think that is what is most responsible for the loss of snow elsewhere up
here. On my way out to the logging road today I noticed that the
side of the road that was shaded from the sun still had snow banks of 2-3
feet on it, but the other side was bare.
The local inhabitants
of my neighborhood (non human) have really become more active over the
past few days. Last night we saw a white rabbit in the yard.
I say we, because at about 2 in the morning, the hounds were going nuts
at something outside. I sat up to look out and saw what was the object
of their desire and was impressed to see the white hare. I don't
know if it was just an albino, or maybe some escaped domestic or what.
I seriously doubt that it is an arctic hare, as we are most likely too
far south for those. Maybe someone with more knowledge who reads
this journal can fill me in. At any rate, there has been a marked
increase in activity and this had led to many interruptions of my slumber.
This evening, I let the hounds out and they took off after something.
It was a rabbit, and it got away. They looked to have it trapped,
but all of a sudden it jumped free and ran like lightning to freedom.
I doubt it will be venturing into our yard anytime soon. A word of
note. I did not let the hounds out to get the rabbit, it was there
and I did not know.
After a couple of weeks,
I believe I have come to a conclusion as to the fate of this site for next
year. I will not get into it here, as it deserves an explanation
of it's own. Rest assured, the journal is safe from any sort of fee
to read it and it was never under any threat in the first place.
This part of the journal has always been a labor of love and something
I want to do and I could never think of charging people to read about my
life and times in this wonderful place. I do think that my decision
will please most, if not all, persons so stay tuned, as I plan to put out
my intentions on a special page this week.
I almost forgot, I
did manage to take some shots of things in the woods on a walk Friday.
This
is the trail #3 up the hill some from Lake Linden. A few weeks
ago it was able to be ridden and is now about 85% bare. That shot
just happened to be in an area that was only about 20% bare. This
is a shot of a trail that was not groomed, but yet did have some traffic
on it and the snow was packed down. You could certainly ride it,
but it is only about a 2 mile stretch. This is a shot of the same
trail a little further down the road. I guess I can be thankful
that there is still some snow for me to get my fix in. Last night
on my way home from going out it was really coming down. We got about
an inch in 30 minutes. Sure was beautiful.
Well, it's late and
I'm tired and need to get some sleep for Monday. The 20 foot commute
could be a bear! Sorry, don't mean to rub it in, but after having
to make a 50 mile commute each way, sometimes in bumper to bumper traffic,
I am most grateful to be able to walk to work and make the commute in my
PJ's! Only to have Bailey's sleep on my feet while I do my morning
work. Doesn't get much better than that.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 8- For a weather
geek like me, this was one of those days when the satellite imagery, radar
imagery and surface reports could not update fast enough for me.
I had an absolute blast watching the low in the Plains do it's thing.
Watching all the ingredients come together to produce a whopper of a low.
I don't know how much snow has fallen in the Black Hills, but I would not
be surprised to hear about 2-3 foot totals as this one was a classic for
them. What really cracked me up is to watch the Weather Channel and
see how the on air personalities (OAP) just could not see the magnitude
of what was happening. I realize that the population of western South
Dakota is not too large, but the are THE WEATHER CHANNEL and weather is
weather, regardless of where it is happening. Some of the OAP's just
stood there and pointed out the features of this system like it was an
average, run of the mill low. Put that thing off the coast of NY
or MA and then watch them go nuts with live remotes, special team coverage
and a regular three ring circus! Don't get me wrong, I like TWC,
they do an excellent job of providing the current status of the atmosphere,
but it sure seems to me that the majority of their OAP's are just puppets
and do not know a whole lot about the weather. There is just no way
I could have stood in front of a camera, with the radar and satellite imagery
being blasted behind me and NOT gone nuts pointing out at least some of
the features that were making this storm produce 1-3 feet of snow, 100
mile per hour wind gusts and a temperature drop of 30-50 degrees.
I also had a lot of
fun watching the weather show right outside my windows. Today broke
like many in the past week or so. Some low level cold in the valley,
complete with frost. By 9 AM, temps warm to the low 40's and it looks
like another record breaker. Throw in some high base scattered thunderstorms
for a little excitement and things are rolling. Then at about 2:30
the temperature dropped from 61 to 41 in 10 minutes! The change in
temperature was so dramatic that the little bit of rain that occurred right
along with the drop hit the warm pavement and we had steam just boiling
off of the pavement as it was still warm while the air temp was so much
colder. I think that the temperature drop I experienced today was
about the most dramatic to date in my life. 20 degrees in 10 minutes
is not easy to do. At one point we were at 41 and Marquette was at
74.
It has been raining
very lightly since the temperature drop and thus the hounds and I have
been cooped up in the house. They are down for the count. Regardless
of how active their day is, they hit the hay at about 6:30, bellies full
and the days work done. I think they take after their Grandfather
(my dad), he is famous for his ability to fall asleep in almost any situation
soon after dinner.
I am looking forward
to the return of winter. It sure will come as a shock to the system
with the near summer like weather we have been having of late. I
know that a lot of locals were thinking that winter was over and I had
my doubts on if we would ever see what the Keweenaw calls winter ever again
this season, but it looks like tomorrow morning will prove that there is
no doubt winter is still here. Maybe even get to go for a ride tomorrow
afternoon.
Have to head off to
the snowmobile club meeting now so will close.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 7- Well, I was
going to skip today, but ended up with some free time so decided to sit
down and put my thoughts and experiences of the day to words. A very
warm one today. The airport got to 61 and the Harbor (Copper Harbor)
rose to 58. I believe the 61 was a new record and that would make
5 days in a row. Tomorrow might make it 6. Very unusual anytime,
anywhere to break 6 record highs in as many days. My thermometer
sat at about 60 when I had to leave to head to tech for a seminar and I
bet it rose more than that. I was almost tempted to wear shorts on
the afternoon walk today, but opted not to. The poor hounds really
get warm on the walks, as they are still sporting their thick winter undercoat.
They are inside dogs, so their coats are not as thick as if they spent
most of their time outside. But I also keep the house cool in the
winter so that they will not overheat and I think that they do develop
a pretty thick coat. They have not begun to shed more than usual
as of yet, so they must know the cold is not yet over.
The warm temps have
caused the juices to flow in the maple trees and buckets are out and the
trees in the neighborhood are tapped. A few locals make their own
syrup and today we walked by the boiling station. I hope to be able
to get me some when it is ready. One of the guys sells it and is
licensed to do so.
Another thing I have
been noticing on my walks is that the forest sure has come alive with scent.
I don't know if it is because I am able to smell better with the warmer
temps or that the forest itself is emitting more scent now that it is warm
or maybe a combination of the two. I think that it is a combination
of the two.
In about 30 hours,
things will be changing rather dramatically, as winter looks to make a
comeback. It looks like the bare spots might even get covered up
with several inches of snow by Thursday PM. Then the snow looks to
last, as temps look to sit below freezing for the rest of the week and
into the weekend and possibly even into early next week. Currently,
a host of winter weather advisories are up for the Dakotas and western
MN with everything from winter storm watches to winter storm warnings to
blizzard warnings. Just when I was getting use to the spring weather!
Not complaining though.
Two last tidbits to
share before I close. Both revolve around my trip down to the big
cities (Houghton/Hancock). Number one, the canal is open in spots.
Wonder if that is a record. Two, I sat in my first real traffic jam
since moving up here and it was a doosy. They have the bridge under
reconstruction right now and it is down to one lane in each direction.
I got to sit in my car for an hour while traveling from the western side
of Tech to the bridge, about a mile in distance! What a mess that
is going to be! Just another reason to say out of the hustle and
bustle of Houghton and stay up here where things are more laid back and
quiet. Although I do have several more seminars at tech. Maybe
I will just take my car and park it on the other side of the bridge and
ride my bike to the seminar, then ride it back to the car and drive the
10 miles home. I would ride the bike all the way, but it will likely
be too cold and my seat is just too hard. Such the problems I have
to deal with! Guess that will do it for another night.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 6- I'm not going
to pull a fast one and put the 5th's date on this entry was well, even
though much of this entry will be about what happened yesterday.
The truth is, I will be slowly making the transition into the warm season
version of this journal. I will be making entries to the journal
all year round, but as we head away from the snow season, it will be updated
every few days rather than every day.
Anyway, I did take
my last, last ride yesterday with friends from town as well as a few locals
from other parts of the Keweenaw. I say last, last ride as it was
the last ride after my last ride. With the way the weather goes up
here this time of the year, there may be one last ride after those two!
It actually ended up being quite a
group. I think that there were about 13 or 14 riders in all.
I think the notion that this really could be it for the year brought everyone
out. We started out at Gratiot Lake and rode the woods to Lac
La Belle. The snow in the woods was still good for riding, as about
10-12" were down in most spots. The creek crossings were a lot more
interesting than they were a few weeks ago, but still nothing deeper than
6" and if you hit it just right did not even get the windshield wet.
From Lac La Belle we jumped on the DNR trail to head to the next local
trail. The DNR trail was almost impassible, at least if you were
looking for snow. It was about 50% snow covered and you had to jump
from side to side to try and ride in as much snow as possible. My
carbides were basically shot anyway, so I did not mind the bare ground
so much.
Once off the groomed
and well traveled DNR trails we found ample snow to ride in again.
This is the "local" trail
up to the top of Mt. Houghton. It really is more of a footpath and
not even wide enough for a car. At times, I had about an inch or
less on either side of my skis to get in between the trees. Made
for some fun riding though as you really had to be on your toes and fun
to play a little "chase" through the trees as well. I really wanted
to get to the top of that mountain, as it is about the highest point that
far north and I knew it would provide a scenic vista. Actually it
is only one foot taller than the more famous Mt. Bohemia just to its west.
My aspirations of a scenic vista were not let down as can be seen in this
shot of the view south
out over Bete Gris Bay and Point Isabelle. Way off in the distance
and barely visible on the horizon were the Huron Mountains. Off to
the right and out of the shot was the Gay stack and even Traverse Island.
The
view east was equally as impressive, with the Bear Bluffs in the foreground,
Keystone Bay and Keystone Point in the middle and Keweenaw Point and Manitou
Island almost at the end of the view. The last two features are not
able to be seen in the photo. It was the first time I had ever seen
those two features, even if it was from several miles away.
On the way back down
we detoured to find some places to play in the snow. We spent some
time in an area where you could again weave your way up and down a 200-300
foot hill. Two separate logging trails provided the turn around point
and the pathway to find a new way up or down through the grove of trees.
Above the upper logging road were some cliffs, one of the members decided
to try and ride up them and this
was the result. I don't know if you were able to see the sled
right at first. If not it is in about the center of the picture,
right above the head of the fella on the right. The rider is standing
to the left of the sled. The shot did not really do justice to the
slope of the hill. Like I said it was more of a cliff than a hill.
Where he got stuck, it was about a 65 degree slope. That may not
sound too steep, but once I arrived at the sled. I could stand with
my feet equal to the back of his track and touch his headlight without
bending down or leaning over at all. It took 6 of us (what was left
of the group at that point) to keep the sled from crashing down the hill.
I actually ended up loosing my grip on the snow and took a tumble and ended
up stuck under the sled, between the skis. They had to lower the
sled down so that I could get out, it was too steep for me to be able to
climb up and out. Here
is another shot from below, I wish I had taken one from the side to
show just how steep the slope was. Of course the common question
amongst the group to the rider was; "What the ()#@% were you thinking?".
His reply was that he started up and was having too much fun to stop.
That seemed to make sense to all of us and we had lots of good laughs as
we lowered it down. If he had, by some miracle, made it to the top,
I have no idea what he would have done then, as there was no way anyone
could ride down it. The grove of trees below the clearing he was
riding up would have made for certain disaster. Maybe we'll find
out next year.
All the sleds and riders
made it back to the starting point in once piece and there was not even
any damage (save for one little, minor rollover). Really an accomplishment
when you think of the conditions, amount of riders and exactly who was
riding! My only war wounds were a pair of shin splints. I did
not even know it was possible to get those while riding, but I did manage
to wake up with them. I talked to some others in the group and their
damage ranged from a few bruises to such sore leg muscles that walking
was almost impossible. Another sign of a successful trip.
Today was either a
near record or new record high for the Keweenaw. My thermometer read
55 in the shade this afternoon and the bank sign in the sun read 62.
The 62 is only close to 40 degrees above average. Take that departure
the other way and the high for the day would have been about 15 below.
That helps to put things in perspective a little. I made the most
of the day and washed all the mud off of my sled and the friends sled who
lent me space on his trailer yesterday. A clean sled is a happy sled,
even in 55 degree weather. Readings look to be even warmer tomorrow
and Wednesday looks to be quite warm as well. Thursday it is back
to reality, with cold and some light snow. I have to admit, even
with the beautiful day, one last storm of 12"+ would be nice. I still
have a few quarts of 2 cycle I'd like to use up before the summer.
I know it will keep, but trying to fish for an excuse to ride one last,
last, last time!
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 4- Another wonderful
spring day in the Keweenaw, too bad we should still be in winter.
But enough of that already. I was able to get some springtime chores
done today, like taking down the christmas lights and sweeping the mine
fields in the back yard. No questions as to where those 40 pound
bags of dog food have been ending up!
I did manage to take
a walk along the north shore with my two buddies today. Things still
frozen up pretty good right along the shore, but not nearly as they were
a few weeks back, when as far as you could see was pack ice. Now
things are melted right up to the ice castles. Lots of melt water
creeks also spilling out of the woods and into the lake, carving mini canyons
through the snow and ice still packed in along the shore. Sorry no
pics, I forgot to bring the camera.
Last night I went to
the local watering hole to chat with whoever was there. It is really
nice to be able to walk in and know that I will likely see someone I know.
Of course with most people now knowing my profession and with the highly
unusual weather we have been having, the conversation revolves around the
weather. I don't mind. Even watching the weather all day long
does not cause me to want to escape talking about it once the work day
is over. I am truly fascinated by it. Stories gravitated towards
the big snow years of the past, something I just love to hear about.
My conversation partners told me about the years when most people had to
dig holes down to their first floor windows so that some sunlight could
get in. THAT is something I hope to experience sometime. Am
I nuts or what?!
The Lake Linden boys
are teaming up with the Keweenaw Boys for one last ride. I sure hope
we can find some snow! I trust that these guys know of some spots,
as they seem fairly confident. I am debating on if I should wear
shorts for the ride or not. We look to be pushing 60 tomorrow.
At least to the south of Houghton. We will be riding up closer to
the tip of the peninsula, but even still, highs will be pushing 50 there.
Something tells me I will be giving the sled a good washing Monday to get
all the mud off of it! No matter where we go, we will be sure to
find at least a little mud.
Monday also looks to
be the inaugural day for the grill. The thaw has resurrected it from
the snow and I think that a nice juicy steak is called for. May as
well make the most of our early summer! Looking at the latest round
of models it looks like winter will show it's face up here as well as into
much of the northern Midwest by the second half of next week. Locals
also talk about some monster storms which hit up here in March. I
think that I have been told about the St. Patty's day period a hundred
times. We'll see if it comes true. With that in mind, I will
sign off for now.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 3- Today provided
me with quite a bit of free time, especially after our afternoon walk and
I decided to sit down and read my own journal. Interesting stuff,
if I can say that without sounding too arrogant. It was also interesting
to try and remember some of the events I wrote about. Some I was
able to recall as clear as yesterday and others were more of a blur.
As I got deeper and deeper into November, it was interesting to read about
my thinking while we were breaking the low snow records then. Little
did I know that the rest of the season would follow suit! I am thinking
that this had to have been one of, if not THE shortest snowmobile seasons
on record, as the snows came late and left very early. 8 weeks of
riding by my count. Normal grooming should be 17 weeks and you can
usually add another 2-4 weeks onto that for riding as a whole. In
any rate, we are also very close to seeing the lowest seasonal snowfall
at both the airport and the measurement site in Delaware. I seriously
doubt that we will set those records, as we are only a couple of inches
away at the airport and one or two spring storms away from the record at
Delaware. But as long as the season is basically over, I say lets
break the record. Fitting end to my first winter here!
Watching the snow leave
has been an experience in itself. Slowly, but steadily, things once
buried under a fairly deep layer of snow are once again emerging.
In some cases it is dramatic, like an automobile which is out of commission.
In other cases it is less dramatic, but equally as unique, such as a pine
cone. Also interesting to note is that these objects were frozen
in time and space. The hounds and I took a walk on the beach today.
Almost all the snow is gone, but a few patch still remain where it had
drifted. In the areas that had no snow, it was unique to see even
tire tracks that were made in the sand before the snow came still there
now, 3 months later. Almost a spooky sight to see the tracks go along
and then disappear under a bank of snow, only to re-emerge on the other
side of the bank. The one thing bad about this uncovering of things
once buried in the snow is sitting in my back yard courtesy of the hounds!
One of these cold mornings I will have to get out there and sweep the mine
field.
Speaking of the hounds
and the beach, I did manage to bring the camera along on our little walk
today. For some reason I was a little burnt out in trying to find
new snow to play in and it was a sunny and mild day so I thought that the
beach would be fun to go to. The kids loved it. Even managed
to get in for a dip.
A saying I like to use is: "You can lead a Lab to water... You just can't
keep them out of it". The water is still a bit cold for daddy.
Say by about 45 degrees! Really strange to think that 10 days ago
I was riding my sled through some pretty deep snow out
here. I must say that stepping onto the beach this afternoon,
with the water lapping at the sand and the sun beating down, it did make
me look forward to the summer afternoons that will be spent out there relaxing
and tossing the stick for the labs to fetch. Just one of the many
things to look forward to this summer.
After their dip and
about 30 more minutes of walking, we all decided a break was in order.
Sitting in the sand and looking out over the water, with the Huron Mountains
in the background I was once again thrown into one of those moments when
I felt eternally grateful to be blessed to be here and not stuck in the
steel, glass and concrete jungle somewhere. I have landed in a magical
place. A few hours up here and you will know what I mean. It
has riches that no man could buy or produce, that is what makes it to magical.
While sitting there,
I was able to snap a few shots of the hounds relaxing in the sun and sand
after their swim. Here's Burt
and here's Bailey's,
sort of caught her right as she was getting ready to smile!
Hope everyone is enjoying
all this great spring weather. Don't know if it will last like this
too much longer. But then of course, in another month or so, this
will be average for the time, so I guess we don't have too long to wait
even if winter does decide to show it's face again.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 2- I do believe
yesterday's ride was good medicine for me, as I do not have the burning
itch to get out there and I could actually handle seeing the rest of the
snow go away without any further depression. I think that knowing
that yesterday's ride was likely my last made me savor each twist and turn
and little bump. Like I said, it was not my intention to put on 100
miles, I was going for quality and not quantity. I do realize that
we may not be done for the year with snow, but am no longer holding to
any threads of hope and am ready to hit the beach in my shorts and watch
the hounds fetch sticks out in the lake.
But today, since there
is still snow out there, we had to take advantage of it and went for a
ski. We had a hard freeze this morning and for most of today the
temps stayed close to freezing. There was one area that I really
wanted to try and ski once the snow firmed up. It is a place that
the hounds and I skied many, many times this winter, but there was also
a big field, but during the winter, the snow was way too deep for the hounds
to get through. I knew that the freeze/thaw cycle this spring would
create a hard pack and the hounds would be able to go anywhere I did on
the snow. Today was the day to hit that field.
To get to the field,
we had to ski a trail that
went through the woods. Still plenty of snow on that trail.
At least 8-12". It would not be good for riding as it is very short
and there is a big blow down about halfway through. The hounds loved
it, as once they realized that they could go anywhere on the frozen snow,
they took to the woods!
That was Burtie on his way from a scouting expedition, and here is Beezy
doing a little forestry work.
We got to the field
and made our way up into it. There was not really anything special
to the field itself. It was just one of those places that I wanted
to explore and see what was on the other side. Because the field
was out in the open, it did not collect as much snow during the winter
and also was exposed to the sun during the thaw and thus had quite a few
bare
and wet spots. These made navigation through the field a little
more challenging, but we made it through OK.
The field was bordered
by classic keweenaw woodlands.
Actually, this particular area of woods included more softwoods (conifers)
than hardwoods, but still deserved a picture for everyone to enjoy.
Also bordering the field on one side is the Dreamland
snowmobile trail. It is interesting to see how the snow also
stays longer where it had been compressed down by the snowmobiles and grooming
equipment. This trail was actually in much better shape as it did
not get the wear and tear that the main DNR trails got. With the
exception of some areas which are likely wet, this trail would be totally
ride able yet. Here
is a shot of the trail as it heads back into the woods.
On the way back to
the car, we passed one of the many little creeks that pop up during the
spring thaw. I just couldn't help myself from taking off the skis,
walking down to the little creek and snapping a shot of how gorgeous
it was. Most of these little creeks dry up by the middle of summer
and this past winter, I did not even know that anything of that nature
was down there as it was covered with 3-4 feet of snow.
Lots of pictures today.
I filled the camera's memory, otherwise there would have been even more.
The final stretch of trail to the car was a bit exciting, as it was downhill.
The surface was pretty much a hard pack snow, almost ice and I do believe
I set a new land speed record for cross country skis! I literally
flew right past the dogs who were both running as fast as they could, which
is a lot faster than a human can run! Thankfully I was able to come
to a stop before reaching the road, or I would likely still be picking
gravel out of my wounds!
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
-
March 1- Well, I can't
believe another month has come and gone. I realize it is a short
one, but still, it seems like only a week or so ago that I was redoing
this page for the new month of February. Anyway onto the news of
the day...
I got my final ride
of the season in! My friend came through and we hit the trail this
afternoon. I really got spoiled living were I do and being able to
open up the garage door and drive my sled right to the trail. That
trailering stuff is for the birds! Actually it was not too much of
a hassle, but did take up time that could have been spent riding.
The area we rode in
was the same spot the hounds and I skied in yesterday. The only problem
with today's ride was that the camera died on me after only 3 pictures.
It was just the battery again and the pictures I took were stored in memory,
so at least we have that. However, I could have taken more and even
wanted my buddy to take one of me, but alas, it was not to be.
Had a little bit of
a scare at the start. We pulled up to where the logging road intersects
the road we were driving down and look down the trail to see a set of ATV
tracks. Not sure if many of you have ever seen what an ATV can do
to a snowmobile trail, especially if the snow is soft as it was today,
but it is not pretty. I was a little upset, as the trail yesterday
was mint, and today there was a set of 6" wide ruts in it, almost to the
ground. I let my anger simmer some and kept in mind that the person
riding the ATV had as much right to be out there as we did. I just
became disappointed that the pristine trail that I had hoped to ride was
now tracked up. We unloaded, suited up and headed down the trail.
We did not even get a mild down the trail when we came to the spot where
the ATV had turned around and headed back out. I believe he/she did
not feel too comfortable riding out there, with their tires sinking in
so much and all alone so we had the rest of these woods to ourselves to
track up! Actually, our sleds barely even made tracks, especially
later in the day as the temps dropped to the upper 20's and everything
began to freeze up.
We did not ride hundreds
of miles today. I doubt we could have even if we wanted to.
The riding was a little tricky, as the snow was soft at the beginning of
the ride and made for some different responsiveness in handling.
As things froze it made things different even more. For those of
you who did not read yesterday's journal, do so and you will be treated
to some pics of the trail we rode on, especially at the beginning of it.
For those of you faithful followers, here is a new pic of the sleds
out in the woods today. As I believe I mentioned before, the trail
we were on was actually a logging trail. The main path was fairly
well traveled, or at least looked to be. With the thaw, no new tracks
were on the snow and the old ones were just a blur on the surface.
Anyway, it was still fairly clear to see where sled had gone over.
There were also many, many side trails that branched off the main path.
It was my plan to try and stay on the main path as far as we could and
then turn around and take each side trail up as far as we could, that way
we would minimize our risk in getting lost. Neither of us have a
GPS and there are really a ton of trails to get you confused if you just
go all over and not pay attention or have a plan. We did actually
mistake a turn and made a loop twice, but once on the loop for the second
time we both knew where to turn when we got back to the place we had made
the wrong turn.
It is amazing to be
riding along a nice, wide path and all of a sudden have it end.
That last shot was one of the spots where the trail came to an end.
One nice thing about this type of end is that there really is no question
about it. It is not like the path gets more and more narrow and it
becomes harder and harder to get through or even tell where it goes.
You just hope that there is enough room to turn the sled around so that
you don't have to drag it around. Most of the dead ends actually
had places to turn around. We also took the opportunity at a few
of these turn around to stop for a refreshing beverage.
Here
is the last shot of one of the spots on the trail we were riding today.
I was planning to take more, but the camera had different ideas.
All told we did about 30 miles in 2 1/2 hours. As much as half the
time was spent shooting the bull at our pit stops. I had a very good
time, it was not my intention to ride a ton of miles, just to get out for
one last ride. Sort of taking that last run down the slope, or that
last wave in. I think that it was repeated in my mind how lucky I
was to be out riding when others were stuck in a cubicle or other place
doing something that they would rather not have to be. This may have
been the last ride of the season, or maybe not. Either way, it more
than lived up to expectations.
Good night from the Keweenaw.
- JD
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