5/4/23 – Today new crewmember Eli took his turn drilling through and measuring the ice. He reported the total held at 25″ made up of a 18″ solid ice base topped with about 7″ of slush and rotten ice. As Eli was measuring the ice Jessica spotted two moose coming out of the woods onto the lake near the north end of the campground, the two appeared to be a mother and yearling. -Owen Jr
5/2/23 – Over the past couple of days the spring crew has started arriving. Per tradition we sent them out to check on the lake. They reported 25″ from the bottom of the ice to the top of the slush. 11″ of which were ice and 14″ compact slush. -Jessica
4/25/23 – Yesterday morning the stars aligned for prime lake skiing conditions. On his way to take advantage of the first, and maybe last, spring lake ski of the season Dan measured 23″ of ice (varying in quality) and 8″ compacted snow. He reported some open water along shore, mostly in the narrows. -Jessica
4/20/23 – Winter storm warnings and winter weather advisories have been the name of the game this week. Monday we added 9″ of sloppy snow with more coming down today. As a result all the water that was previously on top of the ice has since been covered up/refrozen, but even with all that we’ve made a little progress since the last measurement. This morning’s test hole showed 18″ of solid ice with a top 12″ layer of compact slush and snow. That’s 4″ less ice than a week ago! There is a caveat however, ice thickness can vary from one side of a test hole to another, so although there are 18″ here, there might be 20″ not far away. Even so, I’m taking this measurement as a win and not asking too many questions. -Jessica
4/13/23 – After reaching a high of 79° yesterday the solid ice held steady at 22″, with the top slush layer dwindling to 6″. In the woods we have just under 2 feet of snow which means we lost over a foot in the span of a couple days. Looking at the forecast however, it appears we’ll soon be headed into second winter. -Jessica
4/11/23 – This afternoon’s ice check revealed 22″ of solid ice, plus 11″ of slush.
We reached 72° for a brief few moments this afternoon which has really done a number on the structural integrity of the snow (posthole city in the woods) and added a good amount of water on top of the ice past Mouse Island. -Jessica
4/6/23 – Yesterday afternoon Clare started off the ice out countdown by drilling the first test hole of the 2023 season. She reported 24″ of solid ice, with 18″ of snow and slush (some frozen, some unfrozen) on top of that.
Meanwhile in the woods we still have a good 3 feet of snow. Sooner or later things are going to start melting…right? Stay tuned for further updates! -Jessica
3/31/23 – Yesterday afternoon while out for a walk my eyes caught a telltale sign of spring! The first pussy willow sighting of the season! Today I noticed a few more have come to join the party. -Jessica
3/22/23 – As of today the snowpack has officially outgrown the yard stick with an average depth of 37 inches. -Jessica
3/15/23 – Over the past couple weeks I’ve been looking at the yurt wondering if I should do another round of snow removal. Ideally the snow will slide off by itself in warmer weather, but no such luck so far. Hearing about the Duluth mall’s partial roof collapse yesterday was all the motivation needed to get the job done…
In other news, we now have a snowpack of 32″ in our neck of the woods. Each Wednesday I measure the snow depth and send the total off to the Minnesota DNR. They use this measurement, along with others throughout the state, to put together a snow depth map published every Thursday afternoon (see link for the most up to date map). Also interesting to compare and contrast are the past snow depth maps which go back to 2016. -Jessica
