Gravel appearing.

Hello mud!

This is the shot at mill hill pointing north.  The East Bay people cleared the road all winter and now they are seeing the frost come out of the ground much earlier than cottagers north of Tusk Trail.

Lots of snow still on Clarke Rd, but some patches of mud showing.  Snowmobiles still on the lake.

Road condition

The coming week will be the most difficult of the year since the road transforms from snowmobile friendly to ATV friendly, and back again!

Snowmobile traffic on Clarke Rd heading to the 'riffles' on Baptiste Lake.  The snowmobiles run over open water.  A waiting boat and staff haul out machines that don't make it. Machines are heavily covered with duct tape to prevent water from hitting the belt, which could lead to instant sinking.

Pumpstand

This might be of interest to people pumping water from the lake.  BW had this installed by the Pump Shop in Haliburton.  The bottom legs are filled with concrete to stabilize the unit.  The pump sits at the bottom of the drilled unit and is held in place by a 4 by 3 inch reducer.  The drainage pipe fits over the top to stop the dreaded beavers from chewing the potable water line (can you image the beavers doing this in the winter--I can!)

Sap

First day sap flowing, Tuesday March 10.   It is so warm that streams of water flowing down Clarke Rd south of mill hill.  Get ready for muddy season.

Traffic to the lake

Lotta traffic down and up causeway hill to and from the lake.  Deep snow on the lake.  No slush.

Marker

Someone had placed a 1 inch metal pipe, about 3 feet high at the south end of the island, solidly in ice.   Probably a marker for snowmobiles.  Unfortunately, at night with a blowing wind this pipe is a danger to a rider.