The Power of Positive Thinking

We all need to thank Sonia for the strength of her optimism about spring here at Cruiser Lake.  I am pleased to report that over the past 20 days since our last post, the snow levels have declined dramatically.  We are not yet entirely free of snow, but the sun, mild temperatures and winds over the past few weeks have made more than a considerable dent.  Horray!

Plow banks are all that remain in this area

Shaded areas continue to host as much as a foot of snow

Now, before we get ahead of ourselves, the lake is still completely frozen over.  There is some evidence of shoreline thawing, but only in limited areas.  I have learned from locals that it often doesn't take long once the edges start to go, but we'll see.  It was below freezing over night a few times this week, so we are not completely in positive temp territory just yet.

The road is mostly clear of snow - even the portion that was not plowed.  We haven't had a chance to walk the whole length, so I can't say for sure that it is entirely clear.  That being said, it is VERY wet and muddy in some areas.  The work that was done on our driveway in 2013 withstood the winter and the spring thaw very well.  I expect the same is true for the rest of the work done last summer, but I need to go and check.  The plowed portion of the road is mostly thawed and beginning to dry out.  The strange thing is the worst spots are on the top of 2 or 3 of the hills.  We think these areas thawed first as a result of direct sun exposure.  The surrounding ground was frozen solid and the water had nowhere to go so these areas became saturated.   We have been moving as much of the standing water off the road as possible.  I spoke to Mike Rae this week about some interim measures we could take to stabilize the situation.  Unfortunately he didn't think there is much that can be done with equipment until things dry up a bit more.  I had the opportunity to talk to Larry Hewitt last night.  He is optimistic that the frost is mostly out of the ground on exposed roads and once the thaw is complete the roads should dry up pretty quickly as standing water is absorbed.

One of the worst spots is the approach to the mill parking lot.  Ruts are upwards of 10-12" deep as the standing water has completely saturated the ground.  We spoke to someone from the mill earlier this week.  They are planning to do something to try to smooth out that spot next week.  We really appreciate their help with this as mill traffic on the road has been light this spring. 

Needless to say, as much as we would love to see you all, it is not recommended that you come up just yet.  Your vehicles would likely not survive the current conditions and the additional traffic could damage the road.  We considered moving out for a few weeks this spring to avoid driving on the road during this soft season.  Unfortunately there was so much water collecting at the basement door that we had to be here to pump out the run off.  We have a plan to address that before next year, but can't do that before the ground is completely thawed.

We found the following link on the online edition of the Highlander.  It sums up the situation quite well.  You can find it here:  http://highlanderonline.ca/snow-and-ice-update?id=785

Let's all pile on and add the weight of our optimism and warm thoughts to Sonia's incredible cosmic aura.  If we do,  I am sure we can tip the balance and encourage the Mother Nature to bring on the sun! 

We will continue to keep you apprised of the progress.  In the event that the road is passable for the long weekend, we would love to see you.  We are planning the Grand Opening of the brewery for the afternoon of May 17.  Abbey Gardens is hosting their season opening event that afternoon and we will be part of it.  We are busy making final preparations for the season - exciting!  We can't wait to share the results of our efforts with our cottage neighbours.  

Spring Stomp

We received a lovely email from Sonia last night asking about the status of the road for spring access.  After we stopped laughing, it inspired us to go for a spring stomp to determine just exactly how much snow is still on the road.  The short answer is A LOT (the reason for our LOL response to Sonia's optimistic inquiry).   For a more detailed, if not entirely scientific answer, you are welcome to view the results of our measuring adventure below.

The first thing to be addressed as we prepared for our hike this afternoon, was what equipment is appropriate for a spring snowshoe?  We enjoyed plus temperatures most of this past week, with a considerable amount of rain yesterday.  It has been practically perfect maple syrup weather with warm days and nights still below zero.  While we have had a considerable amount of melt (which we - ok mostly Micheal - have been sucking up with a shop vac at our basement door) the lake is still fully covered, but likely getting quite soft.  The snow is now unstable and even with snowshoes did not reliably hold our weight last week.  We had to put Lucy back in the house as we were concerned she might break a leg sinking so far into the heavy snow as she was bounding around trying to follow us.

We decided that it would be fastest to cut across the creek and Gren & Beth's property to connect with the road.  There is open water at the creek - has been all winter.  






Ringo managed to trot right off the edge of the ice last weekend and took a polar bear dip.   




















This led to the decision that the best gear for this spring stomp would be hip waders and snowshoes. 

You may not be able to tell from this photo, but Michael is sporting a very striking pair of neoprene bibbed waders provided by his mom.  I am not sure she expected them to be used with snowshoes but there were no contra-indications mentioned in the user manual.

After losing a snowshoe in the creek (me) - fortunately it was stuck on a rock and did not float away - we managed to slog across Gren & Beth's, sinking up to our knees on several occasions and giggling (mostly me, and not so much Michael) all the way to the road.  Fortunately James and his brother were up a couple of weeks ago for some snowmobiling, so the going was much better on the snowmobile track along the road.

Once we got to the bottom of the hill, we took our formal measurement. 

I did my best to ensure my feet were on the gravel.  The depth of the current snow on Sonia and Andre's driveway is - wait for it.....









66cm or 26 inches.








If we have plus temperatures consistently throughout the month of April and no additional snow beyond the 2-3cm we received today, maybe we will see bare ground in Haliburton county, and our road in particular, by the May long weekend.

Trust us, we wish it would happen sooner too!

We will keep you posted with updates as there are meaningful (and measurable) changes in the conditions. 

We are looking forward to seeing you all when it is actually spring here.  We need to find a date for our annual meeting - give some thought to your late May and June calendars and let me know what might work for you.