Ice Out

 With the chilly spring and winter extending late this year, much talk was when the ice would go off the lakes, and if in time for fishing opener. Watching the stages of "ice out" is one of the most fascinating things living by a lake. The ice changes colors as the wind, rain and temperature all play a role on the progression on the ice disappearing. Last week when the ice was getting ready to break up, we had a rain shower move through and 30 minutes later it cleared to the northwest and allowing the sun to shine through and light up the southeast shore. A rainbow also appeared making for a rare and beautiful scene as fog rolled off towards the south.

I tried to get on the ice one more time with the fatbike but the last time I tried, there was too much water from the sudden melt of snow. making it very mushy on top. The ice was solid and safe but hardly possible to ride.

 Once again, Jens was one of the first ones to test the open waters.

 The final stages of ice out see slivers of ice that remind me of the early Superman movies when Superman was looking for kryptonite.

 The loons were ancy, waiting for the ice to go off and returned with just a little bit of open water which was unusual compared to other years. I was in the kayak exploring the open waters when one came bombing down and literally belly flopped on the open water. Never seen anything like it.

 Fun exploring on the open water with the kayak. Depending on the wind direction this crack would be as wide as the paddle, open up 20-30 feet than close back up. Eventually it was the crack that split open the lake and provided the open area for the loons to return on photo above.




I was in Bemidji last Saturday and found over 90% coverage. The ice was pushing up on the south shores making for another spectacular scene. The same day was when Mille Lacs and Lake Winnipeg had some incredible ice push.

 In the woods, the smaller lakes went off a bit earlier and always a sign when the trails will be rideable (if no rain) as the frost is out enough to have good riding surface. Jake back home last week for a few days and fun to hook up for a mtb ride, rolling past twin lake.

Fishing action has been quiet. Have seen one boat and Bruce was fishing from the dock this week when he was visiting.

Winter to Summer to Winter

 May 4th and skiing on fresh snow. At 5:30 this morning it was very bright and didn't expect it to be white out. The natural thing to do was go skiing. Lot of the small ponds and sloughs were open water and hard not to pass by one and kick up some woodies or mallards getting ready to do their spring thing.

 The snow went fast as expected with summer like weather last weekend. Not dry enough to melt all the snow but at least we could ride on the gravel roads. Jack has been itching to ride and finally got out.

 The past 4-6 weeks has blended together. It seems like it has been a long month of March. Lot of spring hockey action which has been fun. Down in the cities a few weeks ago and enjoyed some late April skiing on the Valleywood golf course. Bumped into Odd Osland. Always fun catching up with the Nordic legends.

 This spring has been particularly fun for Jens and nephew Garrett as they have been playing together on the same team.

Jon has been participating in the Reebok High Performance program and advanced to the Final 54 group for the 16 age division. (Rushing up the ice past two Edina state champion players, Miguel Fidler and Tyler Nanne above in the crossover game where they played the 17 age group). After watching 16 or 1997 born players the last 5-6 years, it doesn't surprise me two of the 16 age group beat 17 age group teams. A very deep pool of talent and fun to watch the kids progress and see where they end up.

 Last week we took a quick trip to Duluth to visit Jake who is wrapping up his first year at St Scholastica. Got a job at Ski Hut and will be working and training in Duluth in the summer.

 Last day of April enjoyed a ski at Snowflake and the next night Jake raced on May 1st with 25 other diehards. What a spring!!

The fatbike continues to provide some great fun while we wait for spring to hit full stride. A few select mornings it has frozen down hard and able to sneak out one morning for a full lap of the Loppet race course.

Most people won't want to hear this but I will be surprised if we don't go through May without another snowfall. There is no control over the weather and just have to make the most of the hand that is dealt. I am sure the Loons were hoping for more open water when they returned but until then, they seem to be doing just fine with what water is avail.

Endless Winter

It's hard to go a day without someone talking about how long this winter had dragged on. Started this post before the big storm hit central and southeast MN on Thursday...wow, what a crazy April!  Just a few inches up here today but the past week has seen snow every day and there is more snow this week than there was a this time last week! We have had 7 months in a row of snow! Fargo has been breaking records and the more moisture that adds to the snowpack and lack of significant melting this spring so far could make things interesting in a few weeks if it warms quickly. Last year the unusually warm spring made good headlines for the warm weather being connected to global warming. This spring the global cooling folks are licking their chops. It's almost comical to read both point of views and some of the claims. There are charts showing global warming and charts showing global cooling and polar ice cap increasing.

Last year at this time, the trails were free of snow and we were mountain biking on the trails. As of today, there is still 1-3 feet of snow in the woods. However, fat biking has been a total blast with the top layer of the snow pack turning over to a crust that makes it possible to go anywhere. I have been fortunate to hit it a few mornings and the surface is like slickrock found in Moab, UT.

 Even the singletrack has been rideable cold mornings when everything has frozen down hard. Mile marker one pretty much buried. Is going to be mid to late May I am guessing before the trails dry up proper.


 
 One morning the crust was absolutely perfect and the ski trails were like paved paths making for incredible fun. Especially on the smooth groomed trails and the up and downs of North Loup ski trail.

 Jonell and I have been skiing more together this month than the previous 5 months combined!I put Jonell through some pretty interesting conditions last year during 30daysofskiing so nice to have top notch conditions.

 There will be days that are absolutely stunning and the thinking is there will be no more like it but we keep experiencing surreal days the third week of April.

It's one thing to be able to skate ski late in the year but to have classic tracks such as last weekend when you could say it was "mid winter" in the morning has been awesome.

 Wildlife has been acting funny trying to figure out what is going on. Jonell saw this beaver coming home last night and it would not move. Geese and swans have been on the trail near water areas coming back to the nesting grounds and the deer are still in herds with groups of 70 seen in the fields near Callaway.

 

 When we had a few days of melting  the water was flowing and filled a low spot near our house. Froze down hard again and was possible to skate and play a little hockey. A year ago we were mowing here! The lake is still covered with snow and if conditions melt and freeze right, I see lake hockey in May!

Even humans are acting funny. Not sure how this guy got his car to do this.A recent trip to town saw a guy running around in his underwear outside, multiple people stumbling in the parking lot of the grocery store apparently under the influence of something.

Cranking out another ski deep in to spring. Goal is to ski in May!!

Scamping

This week Jonell and I made reality our dream retirement home with the purchase of a Scamp. To be honest, I did not know anything about the Scamp until fellow mountain biker Jay "Hollywood" Henderson came rolling in to Maplelag with one a few years back with stories a plenty of cycling adventures and other excursions.   

 With the great outdoors the living room to unlimited adventure, all else that is needed is a place to rest at night with the capacity to make mac and cheese and hot dogs. No bathroom but sure we can manage. Jonell and I put in a lot of time in a tent when we first dated including a lot of rainy and a few snowy nights. This will be a nice upgrade!

Last summer we were passing through Backus, MN, the home of the Scamp factory and stopped to take a look at the finer details. After a lively visit with the Scamp people, we almost pulled the trigger for a fall delivery but held off. Thanks to some help, we were able to make things happen for a delivery this spring.  The factory cranks out around 400 a year with the 13 and 15 footer models most popular. There are tons of options available. 

 Final adjustments before rolling out. The sales office and detail room provided some good entertainment.

 

Have to credit to Jonell for taking charge on making it happen. Looking forward to some fun adventures!

Birthday Blessings

Last week I celebrated my 43rd. The day was about as good as it gets and worthy of a post. A few years back when I was going through Lyme disease, I wondered if I would ever be able to be active like I was pre-Lyme. Each year after being treated with antibiotics, things got better and took the advise of the infectious disease specialist to push myself physically and focused on keeping positive and opted out of iv antibiotics. Anyways, at the end of the day on Tuesday March 26th, 2013 I was thankful for everything I was able to do with my amazing family. 

Up until last week, I was able to keep half of the ice rink skateable. Had to flood each night and do some patch work but all worth it to be able to skate in the evenings and mornings with the kids. Tuesday before school, Jens and I went out for a half hour.

Around lunch time, Jonell and I went out for a ski on Sukkerbusk and Bullhead lake trail. The snow was in amazing shape for March 26th and cooler temps kept the snow dry and fresh.

Scenic side of Bullhead lake. Jonell and I don't get out much during the "season" so having snow late in the year is always a treat.

 

Jon is super busy during the winter with hockey and hard to do much anything else with late night practice and many afternoons staying in town to avoid multiple trips back and forth. We went out skate skiing when he got home from school doing a lap on Skaters waltz. 

After skiing, we were back on the rink with Jack skating and playing a little hockey.

Jake came home Tuesday night and after having dinner at my mom's house, we went out for a ski skating again on Skaters Waltz. Conditions were fast and pretty much perfect. Again, incredible for March 26th.

Supper at my mom's house with her famous Italian beef roast and spaghetti and original Friday salad served in the lodge. Thanks mom and family for the great day!

A most excellent week continued as we made our way west for four days of skiing in Red Lodge MT for Easter break. The days consisted of skiing, eating and movies. Watched a lot of Disney movies for a change of pace with Lion's King getting the top nod. Wrapped up the 30daysofskiing and posted a lot of pictures on that blog. Working on a video this week hope to have finished some late night......

I brought my road bike along rode each day, just short and easy days after skiing. The last morning before we left went on a new road and did a nice Cat 3 climb from the little old town of BearCreek up to Red Lodge. An amazing contrast from the plains to the mountains. Temp in the lower 50's most days making it feel like spring and opposite of our spring around here which still finds tons of snow.....no complaints!

From State to State

Big event weekend past was Jon's team competing in the State Bantam A hockey tourney. This year MN hockey split the youth levels like high school having a AA and A division. This allowed smaller schools like Detroit Lakes a better chance to get to state instead of having to go through larger AA associations like Brainerd and Moorhead. It also allowed more powerhouses in the cities like Edina to give more kids the chance to go to state that might be finished with hockey after Bantams. Lot of pre season discussion on the split but personally I feel it was a good deal even though not entirely in favor of having schools like Edina spread their dominance at all levels.

 Pep rally at the arena earlier in the week. Great to have all the local support. 



First game matched up vs East Grand Forks and took the win putting them in the semifinal vs Edina. Tough loss losing 0-1 on an evenly matched game and fantastic netminding by both sides. Third place game matched up vs Crow River. After a 4-1 early in the third period, four unanswered goals by CR giving them the third place crown. Overall a great season and solid placing at 4th place.

 Jake was up in Alaska for the week, racing in JR Nationals and fought through being sick the two weeks previous to make a good showing and racing his guts out, literally. Best day was the sprints ending up with a 20th place overall and best finish in three years of competing at Nationals. Nicely done Jake.

 Saturday morning had time to sneak over to the Graystone trails and participate in the "Whiteout" a 10km race remembering local rider and skier, Jim White who sadly committed suicide a year and a half ago. It was good to ski hard on a super fun course, connect with some good people and mix things up on the 30daysofskiing quest.

 There was a good turnout of spectators for the games and very nice for non team related folks to come and support. Couple games the cousins came to support even with busy hockey themselves including Reagan in Bantam B state and Garrett in the Youth Hockey Hub Squirtacular. After the third place game, a scout from the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL congratulated Jon as he had been listed with the club. Here is a link that explains what it means. Jon will try to attend their prospects camps the next six months but will be playing high school next season at Detroit Lakes to set things straight.


 

Sunday night got hit nicely by good ol fashioned blizzard. Total snowfall around 7" but an impressive wind shutting stuff down in eastern ND and western MN Monday. Kids had snow day so Jens and Jack helped packed for three hours helping knock out a lot of trail. Endless winter continues!!

Back Door Beauties

Last week Jon's team was in Anoka for Regions. After losing the first game to Hopkins 4-5, they went on to win the next four games and a trip to the state tourney which is next weekend! Very exciting games and the team all played their roles to help achieve this accomplishment.

After the first night, we were driving through Elk River (staying at the Warner family) and noticed "the pit". Two ice rinks with a oval around it. Jon wanted to skate a bit and I had our outside skates along so we went to check it out.

Wasn't really sure how to get down there so took a paved path down. Car put in park, and slid down almost to the ice! Might of been illegal but no one came by so all good. 

 Drove by during the day and have to say one of the coolest outside set ups I have ever seen.

 

With one of the top ski areas in the metro, Woodland Trails, nearby, made a visit on both Saturday and Sunday to enjoy the top notch grooming and excellent conditions. Once again, I am on a quest to ski 30 days in a row in March. The goal is to Nordic ski whenever possible and if conditions or situations prevent that, other forms of skiing allowed.

 It has been a great season and excited for state and seeing what the team can do. Of course, very proud of Jon but also the team.

Big thanks to the Warner family for being great hosts and providing fantastic hospitality. Both days in between games, Jon was able to take 2 hour naps which just doesn't happen in a hotel. Really made a difference I feel. We became very superstitious on the approach to each game. 

This past week we had our our nephew Ripley and niece Claire. It was a blast having them. Skied three days with them and make uncle proud seeing them do so well. Check out the 30days blog for more photos. They were very helpful in the kitchen, especially Claire and really did help out big time. Blog posts might be few this month with daily postings on the 30 day action. Winter lodging season ends at Maplelag after this weekend, even though we have the most snow we have had all winter!! Looking forward to some great skiing this month!