Carlin Lake Association

Ice-out dates

 

After rain last night and this morning, we can see some areas of the ice on the lake looking darker than usual.   I'm still not ready to speculate, though, about when total ice-out date will occur in spring 2023.

Predictions for the weekend are for colder temps again, and even the possibility of measurable snow!   This winter is sure reluctant to quit!

We just passed the median ice-out date for the last 14 years:   that would be yesterday, April 27th.  

Earliest ice-out date from those years:   March 20th, 2012, and March 25th, 2010.

Latest ice-out dates:   May 10th, 2013, and May 9th, 2014.      (Last year, 2022, the date was May 4th, coming up next week.)

I'll keep you posted!

 

Sightings---but no photos

 

I was thrilled to see a wolf on my afternoon walk, in the woods across Hwy P from Carlin Lake Drive.   His fur was still thick, and he watched me carefully as I approached.   When I stopped, he waited and then turned very deliberately, watching me over his shoulder as he walked away.

I wonder if it was the same wolf we watched walk across the ice cover on the lake on Monday morning.    That morning, he was coming from the direction of John Martin's point, and crossed from east to west, till we lost sight as he headed toward Weide's and Hastreiter's.    He was too far out to take a chance on a photo.

Last week, I watched two otters scrambling on the ice, and escaping into open water on the edge.   

And, 10 days or so ago, when snow still covered the ground, we watched a white ermine, with black spot on end of his tail, play around the foundation of the house.   Later, I saw him run across the snow with a red squirrel in his mouth.   He stopped to adjust his grip on the squirrel and then continued his run toward the lakeshore.

This seems to be good wildlife watching time, before the woods and grounds green up and hide their activities.     

 

Whose woods these are----

 

Whose woods these are I think I know. 

His drive has not been shoveled though.

He will not see me stopping here

To watch his woods fill up with snow.

                     With thanks to Robert Frost

 

I thought the snow flakes in the air, most of today, would show up on this photo of snow and ponds along the road.   You won't have any trouble visualizing them, I'm sure.

 

Last night's annual meeting

 

The annual meeting of the town of Presque Isle is conducted in April, with reports from every town organization and committee.     Every year that we have attended---and last night's meeting was no exception---we have come away with respect for all the people who keep things running and make this town a good place to live.

Last night, we appreciated hearing about the EMT services and their increased number of calls, with fewer volunteers to answer them.    

The fire department told of 22 fire calls, many in communities other than PI.   Particularly, we were reminded that this is season of high fire threat, and to be especially careful.

The beautification committee has many projects and could use volunteers, even as simply as to spend time weeding.  Contact Cathy Logan Weber if this is something you could contribute.

The constable, after being elected earlier this month, has resigned, and that position is open.

The town lakes committee reported that all lakes in the township have been surveyed, and that Presque Isle is the ONLY township in Vilas County with no aquatic invasive species identified.   Of course, we were reminded to do all that we can to keep it that way.    It would be extremely expensive to try to keep either aquatic or terrestrial invasives under control once they become established.

 

At the very end of the meeting, Chair John MacLean handed the gavel to Lorine Walters.    You will know that the election on April 4th for town chair was decided by one vote---242 for Lorine to 241 for John.  Two further recounts have confirmed those results.   John commented that he is in the process of appealing the election results.   He also commented that he and Lorine get along well and remain friends.

 

April snow---and announcement for Tuesday

We thought we were done with snow for this season.  Wrong!    

Overnight Sunday into Monday the 17th, we had another hefty snowfall---about 8 inches, by my guess.    Schools and libraries are closed.     Of course, in April, we can have hopes it will melt quickly.

This is today's image of the side of our garage.   You can compare it to the photo below, when we had the ground showing two days ago.   

 

And---a reminder that the annual meeting of the town of Presque Isle will be tomorrow evening, Tuesday, April 18th at 6:00 pm.    This meeting includes reports from all local committees and organizations, as well as an opportunity for community members to speak.    

Since the results for the election for town chair are still "up in the air," this seems to be an important and interesting meeting.

The agenda for the meeting is posted on the  PI town website, and I have copied and pasted the Zoom link here, for those of you who are away from the lake.

 https://us02web.zoom.us/j/3559702176 

 

 

Comparison

 

I took the photo on the left this morning, the 15th, and the photo on the right on April 1st, both showing the side of our garage.   So in two weeks, the  2 1/2 feet of deep snow has shrunk to the much smaller piles you see here.   

Stay tuned!  Six inches plus of new April snow is predicted for Sunday night into Monday.

 

Summer weather in April

Happy spring,  Friends----

You can see I lost energy to keep sending pictures of snow and more snow during March, as it seemed it would be with us forever.    Now, we have had three consecutive, remarkable days ranging from 70 to 80 degrees, and we have been able to watch the snow shrink hour by hour.

I walked down to the lake today for the first time, and took these photos of the shoreline in our bay.    I was surprised and happy to see how much open water there is.  

  

The second photo shows the anchor for our pier last summer, and how far it is from the water level.    We had been optimistic that the water level would be higher after all the snow this winter.  

Maybe moisture will seep into the lake as snow melts into the rocks and soil?   That may be hopeful but not realistic.   Opinions?

I'll hunt back at ice-out dates and post those soon.