Fish Bowl

I was on the ice for the first time today. Kevin Lund skated over across the lake yesterday so I figured the lake must be safe!



The lake froze over on a calm and snow less night so the ice is beautiful and clear. I figure we have at least a solid 4 inches everywhere and more towards the shore. It is like a sheet of glass! Imagine a glass bottom boat. Our ice rink is officially open for the 2008-2009 season! The ice is so clear in most spots that you can see the bottom in water up to about 15 feet deep. I saw some fish and many submerged logs and the weeds look interesting through the ice. If you have never experienced clear ice like that it is a beautiful site. While on the ice I just stopped for a while and listened to the ice tones, ah peace and relaxation, what a stress reliever. Glad I got to enjoy the clear ice before any snow and very soon the kids and I will have the surface all carved up with skate tracks.



I also spotted an eagle that landed on the ice and appeared to enjoy a meal it had captured and carried onto the ice......... I tried to get a picture but as soon as I went outside it flew off.



Hope your holiday was wonderful.



Jon



Partly sunny and 30+ degrees today.

Ice Skaters

Watched a group of people out on the lake ice skating. I haven't been on the ice yet to know how thick it is but they were skating all over. The entire lake is a perfect sheet of ice for skating.

I wonder if it is one of those years that you can see through the ice and see weeds and fish? I guess I will have to check out how thick the ice is tomorrow. The kids really want to skate now.

Made it home from Minneapolis this afternoon. From North of Little Falls to North of Motley 2 inches of snow...... Glad we didn't have to drive through snow the entire way!

Take care and enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.

Jon

Ice walkers...

Sunny and a beautiful 30+ degrees today.

I saw the first ice walkers yesterday evening. I couldn't tell exactly who it was but I think it was someone from the Saunders. They actually were aced out by some brave deer the other morning, the deer came out next to the Netten's walked out about 75 yards got smart and turned around.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jon

Ice Tunes?

Some people have iTunes and those of us lucky enough to live on Gilmore year round had IceTunes last night. If you don't know what iTunes are see this link and I will let Wikipedia explain, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes but IceTunes I will explain. IceTunes is the wonderful music the lake makes as the ice forms and thickens. Sometimes its just cracks and pops other times it can be deep thunderous booms in many different tones. I love the sound of it. It reminds me of nights spent in sleeper fish houses as a kid. When the ice gets thick and the weather is very sub zero some of the big cracks actually shake our home... no surprise there since it is built into the ice ridge.

The IceTunes are not as melodious as the Loon Calls of spring and summer but still are something to enjoy to help pass the winter along.

Cloudy and 26 degrees here today with slight flurries off and on.

Jon

Coyotes?

First look at this years ice sheet. Winter does get long for me but I do enjoy the look of the lake after it has frozen over. Each year it freezes over differently. More on that some other time.....

Coyotes are today's topic. In the 12 plus years we have lived on Gilmore I have noticed that most nights of the week if you go outside about one to two hours after sunset you can hear the Coyotes yelping. I think its what gets some of the dogs around here (including mine) barking. Sometime in late August I realised that I had not herd the Coyotes lately. I started going outside in the evening intentionally to listen for them and not a single yelp...... Weird huh? I started to do a little research on Coyotes and I found out that if you have Timber Wolves in the area they will either kill the Coyotes off or the Coyotes will move off! Was this the answer? I haven't seen a Timber Wolf or heard any in the evenings so I could not be sure... Fast Forward to the morning of the second Sunday in October, we were on our way to church when we saw what I thought was a coyote crossing CO RD 40 just on the west side of CO RD 7, but was it a Coyote? Looked a little big to be. We hurried to the power line that crosses 7 just south of 40 and sure enough a Timber Wolf staring at us! To my amazement that night I herd two Wolves howling that night and the next 3 nights. I have heard them about 9 times since then. I also was lucky enough to see one coming out of the swamp between 40 and Get Around Road.

Mystery solved the Coyotes have been replaced by Wolves..... how many I wonder? I know at least 3 by hearing 3 howl from different directions. It would be interesting to take a walk through woods and swamps around here after some snow fall to find some tracks.

How will this affect the deer population around here I wonder. I wont mind if we don't have to fight to keep the deer out of the garden next summer.

Enough for today.

Jon

2008 Swimming Season ends!

Last nights low of 7 degrees and no wind put an official end to the 2008 swimming season.....(Gilmore Froze over completely).... well for me it ended sometime in August. The last time I know the kids were in the lake was the middle of October but I am sure they snuck in a quick splash when I wasn't looking after that. I guess if your one of them thar polar plunge types you could still get out a chainsaw and make your own swimin' hole. You should wait for the ice to get some thickness first.

Well I wonder who will be the first one on the ice this year? How about the first one to drill a ice fishing hole? By the looks of it this morning the cats have already tested the ice, I am sure they are wondering what happened to their favorite drinking hole.

I am sure I will hear this question this weekend, "Dad when can we start skating on the lake." My answer will be the same as always, as soon as the ice is thick enough. Hopefully it will get thick enough to walk on before we get too much snow so the ice rink will have a smooth surface.

The picture above is of last years rink, Hopefully I will get a post in for a light for this years rink.

Jon

Gilly in cyberspace.... the begining!

Welcome to my Lake Gilmore blog.... I have no specific intentions for this blog other than sharing what is happening on our beautiful lake! My goal is to share what the weather is like, pictures and other random bits of nonsense...er I mean information. If you get tired of seeing pictures from my families side of the lake feel free to share a picture with me and I shall post if for you! If you have something specific to share let me know and I can post it for you.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Jon