Sneak Peak

                                    


                                

We had a very late spring this year causing us to make a mad dash to complete some big projects before our guests arrived for opening fishing.   All of our cabins are in dire need of a fresh coat of paint on the outside.  My goal was for Joanna and I to complete three cabins while John worked on finishing up our new floating dock.  We didn't quite meet our goal as we surprisingly ran out of paint.  It took ten gallons of paint just to complete the front of the two waterfront cabins.  We had no idea how thirsty the siding on the cabins turned out to be.  But we did finish cabin 1 and if I do say so myself, it looks quite marvelous.  I can hardly stop looking at it.  This paint is supposed to have a lifetime guarantee and it's going to have to last that long because I don't plan on painting these cabins again.  It's a big job. 

In the meantime,  John worked on moving our existing docks to evenly space them, making more room to park larger boats.  He plans on separating them and adding a six foot walkway which attaches to each single dock with hinges allowing them to go up and down with the water levels.  Doing this will turn each 16 foot dock section into a 22 foot dock and allow us to park more boats on the lake. 

The new dock system located next to the fish cleaning house is a very stable 8 foot wide 32 foot long floating dock connected by a ramp to a heavy duty rock crib anchoring it to shore.  We can park four boats there now, but plan to add another two 16 foot dock sections, hopefully this fall and maybe end with a 20 foot "T" on the end.  This will also be a swimming dock with a ladder.  In the future we hope to build a sauna on shore near the dock for folks to get warm and run dive off the dock into the water.  No fishing will be allowed on this dock to protect people from getting snagged by fish hooks.

I included above some pictures of our campground and the new fire pit right on the lake.  With all the rain we've gotten lately, the lake is as high as I've ever seen it.  I like it this way and hope that we get some more good rain each week to keep it that way and provide the moisture we need for all the plants and trees.  Everything dries out so quickly here because of the sand/gravel soil.  It also saves me lots of time watering trees and gardens.   I really am thankful to live in such a beautiful place.

IT'S OPEN

That's right, the ice on Indian Lake officially went out yesterday on May 19th!  Joanna and I paddled a canoe up the river and into the lake just to see what was happening and found the lake totally opened up.  Along shore in a bay we found a bit of ice about 20 feet in diameter still floating.  It was thin and mushy and we had fun plowing right into it and poking it with our paddles.  It was a couple of inches thick.  We easily pushed our way around in it.  I've never had the pleasure of doing that before.  It was a great relief to finally see all open water. 

So, all our upcoming guests can sigh in relief that you will have a lake to fish upon when you arrive.  The plumbing to the two waterfront cabins and the fish house also melted and we have accessible water everywhere now.  Whew!!

Today it has rained and rained and rained, a good soaking rain and lots of wind.  We surely needed this moisture and it helps keep down any fire danger.  We are thankful.

Weather Update May 17th

I just returned from a four wheeler trip over to the north end of Indian Lake to take some pictures of the ice melting progress.  The ice is definitely thinner than a few days ago.  It wouldn't take much more to push it out.  A nice strong wind would be helpful.  It looks like the weather forecast is for rain on Saturday through Wednesday.  That will help cut it too.   On the last two pictures, I zoomed in closer so you could see the ice more clearly. 

Our First Really Warm Day

It's May14, 2013 and we had our first night without freezing temps.  As the sun's warm rays shone on our neck of the woods with temps in the 70's,  a foggy mist suddenly settled on the river.  The warm air touching the very cold river must have created the cloud.  Joanna and I quickly grabbed our cameras to capture it and then just as suddenly, it was gone.  The next few days have also been warm and sunny.  We are hurrying to finish some outdoor painting before the predicted rain comes next week.  It's supposed to rain Saturday through Wednesday.  But don't despair you early bird fishermen, they say the fishing is great in a gentle rain.   Can you see the seagull in the third picture?

Weather Update May 12th

Happy Mother's Day to all you wonderful mothers out there!

 John and I just went around to several of the lakes in the area to see what the ice was doing and take some pictures.  Aruthusa Lake is open about halfway into the bay by the boat landing, Mitt Lake is more open, about halfway up the lake. The road to Victoria Lake and Barrel Lake is very muddy and soft yet, with snow still on the landing road to Victoria.  But Victoria Lake is open in spots and the ice is very thin and black, so it should go in the next few days.  I will try to get down to Barrel Lake tomorrow to get some pictures.

This week is supposed to have temps in the 60's and low 70's which will help a lot.  Indian may go out mid week or so May 21, 22, or 23.  That's just a guess.   Heathwalt is more shallow so should be out this week as well as Barrel , which has a good current. 

 (Top picture is Aruthusa Lake, next picture Mitt Lake, next is Victoria Lake, next Victoria Lake parking area,  next Victoria Lake landing.)

Cabin Availability

Recently we added a new feature to our website which is located on the Indian Lake Cabin page, after the first paragraph in large purple letters that say "Cabin Availability".   You can now click on that link and it will take you to a calendar showing which cabins have been reserved and which are still open for rental.  We have desired this feature for some time to make it easier for those wishing to book a cabin to check themselves and see what the availability is for the dates they are desiring to come stay with us. 

Weather Update- May 8th

We had a very warm day yesterday with temps in the 80's.  Yahoo!!!  That's just what we need to melt down the ice and snow here.  John and I drove to Kenora yesterday to pick up some more dock materials and on the way there, we saw many lakes that were now in the black ice stage and some totally open.  They are a little ahead of us, but not by much.  With another week of warm weather, we hope to be ready for our fishermen opening weekend.

John, Joanna and I just took our first boat ride up the river to the lake this morning.  Once we got to the lake, we could see that the ice is about 6 inches thick on the closest edge, so maybe up to 12 inches further in on the lake.  

As you can see from the pictures, we are making progress.  Today we are working on another 16 foot floating dock section to add to our new longer dock system.  Then we will be repositioning the other docks to make more room for boats to park.  Things are in high gear hear and we are excited about receiving our first guests of the season.  Everyone stay hopeful and pray!

Weather Update

Folks are getting a bit nervous about opening fishing and whether or not the ice will be out on the lakes, and understandably so.  This is probably setting records for snow and ice to still be around at this late date.  However, we are seeing some positive signs of weather change which gives us great hope that indeed we will have open lakes for our guests coming for opening fishing season this year. 

Just a few days ago, we had temperatures as high as the low 70's cutting the snow and ice and then we had a day of strong rain which took it down even more.  As you can see from the pictures I posted, we are now looking at bare ground at camp.  This happened in only a few days where we previously had several feet of snow. 

The ice on the lakes is changing color too indicating it is melting.  We don't exactly know the depth of the ice, but probably around two feet at the moment, probably less on the smaller lakes.

It is predicted that we will again have some nice temps coming on next week starting Monday.  That will hasten the removal of snow and ice.  Once the snow is melted north of us on the 325 road, I will scoot around with a four wheeler and take pictures of the different lakes to keep you informed of what is happening in our neck of the woods. 

Spring Fling

Joanna and I just returned from a terrific vacation in the states which lasted almost the whole month of April.  We set out  on April 5th to Ely and a night at our daughter Cherish's place, then continued on to Minneapolis and Omaha, Nebraska all in one day.   We listened to a trilogy book on CD's by Joel Rosenburg which was so thrilling that it kept us awake and alert for the eleven hour drive to see Jonathan, Reseth and little Aaron in Omaha.  We enjoyed four fun-filled days with them taking a walk to a lovely park, visiting the fabulous Omaha zoo, eating dinner in downtown Omaha at a darling little Italian place, a quick visit to Offutt Air Force Base where Jonathan is a navigator on a jet and just hanging out together.  Everyone told me that grandparenting was absolutely wonderful and it truly is.  Jonathan and Reseth have done a tremendous job raising that precious Aaron and he is a joy to be around. 

We had planned to stay till Wednesday with Jonathan's family, but when he came home for lunch on Tuesday and pointed out a huge storm that was heading east through the middle states and on into Minnesota on Wednesday with large hail and tornado winds in Omaha and 9-12 inches of snow in Minneapolis, we made a quick decision to pack up and head out that afternoon to get back to Minneapolis.  Our daughter Cherish was to come down from Ely to Minneapolis on Wednesday as well and we were going to spend the night at a motel and fly out on Thursday together to Orlando, Florida.  I called Cherish on Tuesday and encouraged her to pack up fast and make it to Minneapolis on Tuesday night to get ahead of the storm.  She arrived in Minneapolis the same time we did at 9 pm on Tuesday night, just as a freezing rain made road conditions treacherous.  

We stayed one more night in Minneapolis and after a two hour delay at the airport to de ice our plane, we flew to Orlando, landing in 90 degree weather.  Yahooo!  What a joy to see green trees, green grass, green plants, loads of flowers, blue skies, bright sunshine....aaahhhh!  We thawed out in no time and began our exciting Florida adventure.  After spending two nights with my sister in the Orlando area, Nicki drove Cherish, Joanna, Anne ( a friend from Ely, MN) and I an hour to get to our New Smyrna Beach condo where we met up with my Dad and his personal nurse, Tammy, who drove down from North Carolina.

Dad, who is now 88 and on continuous oxygen to help him breathe, had been looking forward to this trip for months, hoping and praying he would be well enough to go.  His nurse Tammy drove them to Florida from Franklin, NC which is about a ten hour drive and all six of us women were on hand at the condo to meet his every need.  Never was a man more cared for than Dad for those seven days.  Mom passed away last August and Dad thought it would be great to gather some family together and have a stay at the beach that we have enjoyed together through the years.  He invited lots of relatives and friends over to visit while we were there and the time flew by.  We went boogie boarding in the ocean for hours each day, swimming in the pool, playing tennis, walking the beach and of course, lots of sun bathing.   The weather couldn't have been more perfect.... 80 to 90 degrees each day.  

We left New Smyrna Beach on Saturday and returned to Nicki's house in Orlando until Tuesday.  That gave us several more days to spend time with Dad, do some shopping and visit my brother Ron in Winter Park.  Cherish, Joanna and I went for a walk in Nicki's neighborhood and came across a beautiful peacock.  Apparently someone brought them into this quiet neighborhood that has lots of large oak trees.  Six female and three male peacocks roam around in the vicinity with people leaving food outside for them.  Cherish prayed that the male would open up and flout its feathers and sure enough it did.  What a sight!!

I figured by the time we arrived home the end of April, all the snow would be gone and we could get started painting cabins and working on finishing up the docks and other outdoor projects.  Wrong!!
The 325 Road had just about as much snow on it when we got home as when we left.  Not a very encouraging homecoming to say the least.  However, over the weekend of April 27th the temperature rose to the 70's and stayed there for a couple of days putting a huge dent in the snow piles and weakening the ice.  We dare say there will be open water for our fishermen when they arrive on May 18th for opening fishing.  It is good to be home.  :)