Now we're talkin'

Flash freezing has created a gigantic skating rink on the lake.  Perhaps skating from end to end will be in the near future.

Someone has sanded mill hill with, it seems, a touch of salt to assist melting.  It looks like we are becoming more of a year round accessible area?  Road is completely drivable to the island.

Malice in Wonderland

Well nature hit our area hard last nite.  Heavy rain, wind, thunder and lightning.  Hydro flicked on and off but was never lost.  Lots of small branches down.  But, although still ice on the roads, there are ruts caused by  ATV travel that has exposed gravel.  Unknown about mill hill.

Rain, rain help our rink

Pretend you are on the other side of this picture looking at it!  The picture represents the reversed weather that we are having compared to last year!

 Mill hill is very icy.  Easy to come down, but probably difficult to go up.  Road is well packed to the island, but it is a combination of ice, slush and liquid water (similar to the rink).

What's next, maybe a power outage?

Hope for rain

Well, the rink is 'bumpy' but a bit of heat and soft rain followed by flash freezing should bring the rink up to the usual standards for the holidays.

This summer the beavers at their usual culverts were missing, (except for the Thanksgiving weekend at the municipal culvert at the township division.)  Apparently the feeling is the strong wolf population limited their domain.  But, look at the causeway!  They're back.

No skating for now

Well, this is a fine mess.  Several days of clearing of snow and then it gets warm!

On Sunday two conservation officers from Minden drove their truck onto the island.  They were checking the area for possible hunting.  The road is quite passable, but the mill hill is starting to ice up and probably will be a headache if it rains (today!) and turns a bit cold.  Traffic still going into East Bay.

Fresh snow

Four to five inches fresh powder snow.

Road plowed

Clarke Road has been plowed from mill hill north, past Africa Trail to the mainland southern cottages, which will be called the 'annex' for future reference.  Africa Trail to the island not plowed, but snow is only 2-3 inches.

Rink ready

What a great rink on Elephant Lake.  Sorry, no change shed available.  Lights soon to come.

Time for skating

Ice is a full 5 inches thick.  Time to clear the 2 inches of snow from the lake and make a skating and maybe a curling rink.