What's that number again?

29.5 inches.

That’s the official snow report from Keweenaw County for the last few days.  I couldn’t really guess how much it was when it was blowing around here because some areas drifted three feet and some were blown clean to the grass. 

29.5 inches is a lot.

29.5 inches on its way

So happy winter!  People are frantically trying to dig out of their houses.  They are slightly worried because they didn’t get their winter tires put on yet (we still need to order ours!).  I don’t think many people were ready for this.  Luckily, fingers crossed, we have all our firewood for the winter. 

If we don’t, we are going somewhere tropical.  Last night Aaron came in the door from the blizzard and said, “That’s it!  We’re buying our tickets to Hawaii right now!”

Luckily he got his plow put together yesterday, so he can push that mass of snow around in the driveway.  Last year winter started on Thanksgiving Day when we got that 12 inches.  We’ll see how all of us yoopers fair this year!

Luckily little Braeden doesn’t even realize what’s going on out there.  Babies can’t see that far out the window, let alone understand the change of seasons.  Well, maybe he does.  He did choose to live in Copper Harbor with us....

Today I got out for a snowshoe.  Oh, man was that amazing!  I even made a snow angel and watched the snow fall as I laid there enjoying the peace and wondering how I was going to get back up. 

Here are some wintery shots of the scenery.  Ehem.  The winter scenery since it really is winter now.

A nearly frozen bog

Bareberries with a new layer

Looking southwest across Lake Fanny Hooe

A handsome beast in the wonderland

Speaking of beasts, I saw lots of deer tracks on my shoe and also a couple otter slides!  The otters must have transferred from Lake Superior to Fanny Hooe.  Smart little buggers.

I guess I don't have any events to report at the moment.  They could possibly be going on, but I am out of the loop!

I guess it's time to dig out all my winter wear from the basement.  Take care!

A New Spring in My Step

If someone blindfolded you, drove you to Copper Harbor, cloaked you in only a light jacket, set you in the middle of Highway 41 in front of the General Store, then took off your blindfold, you would be surprised at the large snow drifts before you.  And everywhere else around you.  Today and yesterday, for the most part, were gorgeous, sunny and warm (relative ~ 50 degrees, maybe?).

The snowbanks are currently melting.  And draining.  And going back to the lake from where they came!  My plan is working perfectly.

However, it wasn't all sunshine and melty banks all week.  The latest blizzard started Wednesday night, and went through most of Thursday.  Aaron and I had to drive to Houghton for a meeting.  Here is the Covered Stretch at about 1:00 pm on Thursday.

Highway 41 in Thursday's blizzard

April 17th, 2014.  Still want to live in Copper Harbor?  Oh, yeah.  Not in the winter.  Or spring.

The following day showed a nice sunset, though.

Sunset after the storm

What's that?  A sunset picture over the lake would be better?  You're telling me.  Hopefully I'll get out there again sometime when the sun looks all lavish.

In the mean time, you're stuck with this Fort Wilkins sign I promised you.  I believe that today, it's a tad lower then when this picture was taken (between the 14" of snow and now), but it's close.  And hopefully it will be lower yet the next time.

Ye old Fort sign, grinning and baring it

For Easter, I took three of my four-legged friends (cuz they're the only ones that will hang out with me) up to Manganese Falls.  The last couple times I was there, I got skunked, so I wasn't expecting much for rushing volume.

On our way up Trail 134/Manganese Road I realized that it's going to be a snow trail for quite a while yet.  Look at all that snow on the road still!

Snow-covered Manganese Road... still

We saw some cool icicles hanging in the moss.

Icicles in the mossy rock

We didn't even get passed by any snowmobilers.  Imagine that.

Also on the way up something new happened.  I was so hot that I had to take my jacket off!  Outside without a jacket since probably early November -- what a treat!  It was truly glorious.

And then I heard it.  The falls.  So loud I could hear them before I crested the hill!

We perched as close to the edge of the top of the falls as we could to see what we could see.  With all those cedars casting shadows, I could barely make out the moving parts, still mostly under snow.  And the darkness made my pictures turn out terribly, so I will spare you that.  At least it sounded refreshing!  I can't wait to go back!

Oh, and I saw Jacob's Falls yesterday as well, on the way to Eagle River.  It was doing pretty well.  Probably triple since the last time I saw it!

I also caught a shot of The Gap between Hunter's Point and Porter's Island.  The ice is still at least 2 feet thick on the Harbor.  People are even out ice fishing yet.  It's a bit slushy out there, but I'll have to get out to Porter's another time yet, so I can check out that lane of open ice on the Big Lake.  I believe it's for the freighters to cross.  Man, are they having a heck of a time this year.  Have you been keeping up with that fiasco?  I'm glad I don't have reservations to be on Isle Royale in early May.  How would I even get there???

Holy cow, look at the train of thought in that last paragraph.  I didn't even show you that gap picture yet.  Please forgive me.  Here it is.

The Gap

It may look a bit puddly, but it's crossable.  And ice for quite a ways out after that.

I think the end of winter is in sight, my friend.  Probably not going to be a swim-in-Lake-Superior kind of summer, but the berries should be juicy!  I am pumped to see some colors around here.  But the forecast doesn't show much more than high 30's for max temps.  Better than earthquakes, I guess!

The Snowbank Song

This is the song I sing to the snowbanks everyday:

Drip.  Drip.  Drip.

Drain.  Drain.  Drain.

Go back to the lake

from where you came!

Like it?  You can sing it too.  Any tune you see fitting will work just fine, I promise.

People don't seem to believe how much snow we really still have here.  Sometimes I don't believe it myself.  Here are some pictures for proof.

Good thing the Berry Patch opens in June!

Would you want to go to those places?

"Dude.  Where's my truck?"

So that was on a sunny day.  The next day was rainy, so I got out between raindrops.  Back to gray skies!

This town cleared out fast!

"Excuse me.  I'm looking for Fort Wilkins..."

If you recognize that last sign, you know that it's a huge sign that says "Fort Wilkins State Park."  If you didn't know that sign, you'd be lost.

Which day was it?  Thursday night through Friday we had another blizzard.  I figured we got 13 inches here in the Harbor by the amount I shoveled.  It was pretty comical seeing all us harborites out shoveling in April -- twice that day.  Cursing or trying to make light of it all.

Luckily we also have a few good men who travel around in their snowblower, tractor, plow, etc. helping out the folks who are majorly snowed in.  Bless your heart.  You know who you are.

So the waterfalls should be amazing in a few weeks.  Or a couple.  I just checked out Jacob's Falls on M-26 by Eagle River the other day.  It's quite snow covered, but it's starting to run underneath!

That day I also got to watch the sun sink into frozen Lake Superior near Great Sand Bay.  That was magic in itself.  I realized that I haven't seen the sun set over the lake in months!  It truly is a treat.    

If you live in a warm(ish) area with actual grass and maybe some daffodils, keep us in your thoughts.  Send us some sunshine.  And even sing the snowbank song!

The Blizzard Week

This past week shut the sunshine out behind gray clouds and let in consistent blizzard-like conditions.  Thursday seemed a bit ironic, as we listened to the blizzard warnings and looked out to blue skies... all day.  Before I get into blizzard details, I'll show you some of the pictures I took on Thursday -- the day before the blizzard struck.

That day I went out to Aaron and Allan's ice fishing shanty.  It sits at the mouth of Fanny Hooe Creek in the harbor.  If you've driven by there, you've probably seen it.  From there I snowshoed along the shore.  I caught a glimpse of this seldom seen sight.

A range light on the winter shore

Carrying on, I thought you might like to see the terrain I was walking on -- especially with Brockway in the background.

Uneven harbor snow terrain and Brockway Mountain

Along my travels, I saw a few glassy ice thingies that let the sun shine through.  I don't think it magnified the sun, though.  If it did, there would have been a hole where the snow melted.  Wouldn't that be something!

A window of ice

I guess I should tell you that my goal was to hike to Porter's Island and check out the lake to the north.  I heard rumors that there was open water in the distance, and I had to see for myself.  

I'm not going to lie.  The Big Lake just doesn't have the same effect when it's covered in snow and ice like the rest of the world.  I wanted to see some sparkling blue waves.

But before I got there, I saw a work of art that the snow uncovered.  Yes!  Put a little color in the day!

Lichen uncovered by the sun and wind

You know how it's really fun to take the South Beach Trail of Hunter's Point all the way to the point, then see your first glance of Lake Superior once you're out there?  That's what I tried to do that day.  I didn't want to look up too far, so that when I saw her open waters, I would be high atop Porter's Island.

That turned out not to be much of a challenge.  I was already on this shelf of Porter's, and I still couldn't see any water.

Another plate of glassy ice

 See what that shelf is made of in the picture above?  Bumpy ice.  That's what I got to climb to get to the top of the shelf of Porter's to take the picture below.

Open water waaaaaay on the horizon

I can't say that I was disappointed at how far away the water was.  And that I didn't see any waves.  Or that I couldn't even look at it for very long because the high winds seemed to blow right through me.  No.  It was marvelous to see a little bit of Her Majesty without all her winter layers on.   It gave me hope that spring will still come.

But not yet, as the blizzard reminded us.

So, this blizzard.  It was all over the news.  The Weather Channel people even came to Houghton to check it out.  "Over a foot of snow!"  "50 mph gusts and sustained winds!"  "All schools closed for Friday!"  "Stay in your houses!"  "Do not go anywhere!"  And so on.  

I remember the last time they predicted an actual system blizzard like this.  It was maybe 4 years ago.  It had all the same predictions.  And the next day, when we all looked out of our windows, it turned out to be a bust.  "I'll believe it when I see it," is always my motto.

This year was a little different.  I looked out the window Friday morning to see about 5 inches of snow.  But it wasn't the fluffy snow like we've been getting.  The warmer temperatures turned it into cement snow.  It would have easily been a foot of fluff.

Then, get this.  The winds have been blowing hard all the way until now.  They are still blowing nearly 20 mph.  This created drifts of monster proportions.  People's doors, vehicles and driveways were buried.  And here's the biggest doozy: M-26, near Great Sand Bay, was closed for four days due to 12 foot drifts.  FOUR DAYS!  Those poor people (and yes, people live there) were probably stranded.  At least they have a good story to tell!

According to Jeff at the Gas Lite, the Farmer's Almanac says that once March hits, this snow is all going to melt from 70 degrees and sunshine.  If that happens, we'll have floods and raging waterfalls.  I'll let you know how that goes... it's almost March!

The Sunny Day After

Do I really need to tell you that we had another blizzard yesterday?  Do you really want to hear about 40 mph winds shooting snow sideways like daggers into my cheeks?  Do you really care that five minutes after I tromped through the drifts my boot prints were already covered up?  No!  You don't!  And I don't want to talk about it.

Here is what I want to talk about.  Today the sun is shining, and the ice encapsulations from yesterdays, ehem, storm are delightful.  These are some pictures I scored from in front of the Harbor Haus.

A view of The Gap and shore

The Crow's Nest behind the ice-laden shore

Porter's Island from the icy shore

I slid down this to get to the shore

The rocks with their ice shells

Well, that shore is a lot of ice!  

For some more good news, Copper Harbor won the $35,000 grant to build a sweet new trail!  Thanks to you if you voted for us!  And thanks to Bell Bike Helmets for awarding us this opportunity.  This trail project will commence once we can, you know, see the ground.

I apologize that that's about all I have for you right now.  Due to my back failing me again, I have been unable to go out for adventures and capture the moment.  Don't feed me sympathy; I just have to figure it out.  

On the bright side, I've had plenty of time to work on my next book!

Well, you have a wonderful day now, and I'll do the same!