Enter the Mud Season - Part 2
Spring definitely took its time getting here this year in the Keweenaw! We open up our Airbnb property for the season the weekend of Michigan Technological University’s graduation and it was not a question about if we were going to have snow in yard and ice on the lake, but how much.
Fortunately (at least as far as opening our cabin was concerned) the temperature on April 24th actually got up to around 70 degrees here in Chassell which really knocked back the snow and was followed by a few days in the 40s that kept chipping it away. Recent wind had brought down a lot of spruce seed cones and smaller branches into the yard, so every time I had a little more yard to work with I was out there raking. It becomes a bit of a multi-step process.
One thing about a near 70 degree day when you have a good deal of snow on the ground is that you can count on a lot of runoff! We headed down to the Sturgeon River south of L’Anse to hike the North Country Trail to Canyon Falls and Plumbago Creek. The river turned out to be a raging torrent! The force of the water going over the falls and through the slate walled canyon was something to behold!
You can check out the GoPro video I shot on this hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
While this warm day really helped to substantially reduce the snow in the yard and to allow me to get a lot of the remaining raking completed, mother nature dished out another helping of snow the last week of the month!
By the time our first guests arrived on Friday, the snow had melted in the backyard except for the glacier along the cabin and a small patch in the yard in front of it. We did have our annual runoff swamp in the front yard, but the scrap 2 x 6’s, scrap plywood, and scrap pieces of the floor system from the garage project proved to be useful elements for creating a bridge between the driveway and the side yard. Speaking of the garage, the newest beer can wall has taken shape adding quite a splash of color!
Many thanks to Phil Sladek (dba Early Bird Construction) for his outstanding overall work on the garage project and his great finishing work on these shelves!
With the Airbnb season underway, it was time to get out for a hike to celebrate Julie’s birthday. We headed down to the Baraga Plains with our friends Mark and Jennifer to hike out-and-back on the Peter Wolfe Chapter’s segments 53 and 52 that run north and east out of Big Lake. This is a great time of year to get out there as there are no mosquitos which will not be the case at the end of May. This was the reverse direction of the mowing I did on these segments with the brush hog back in July when this area was a sea of ferns. You can get a feel for this area by checking out my GoPro video of the hike on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
The forecast is calling for five consecutive days of dry weather in the week ahead. At this point we will hope that holds up and allows us to get out for some more hiking in the week ahead!
Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Would you value living in a place with ubiquitous natural beauty that has NO congestion? Consider locating in the Keweenaw where you will be surrounded by amazing places! Learn more about us by checking out our website at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com and learn about those making the decision to locate here by following our ongoing series of vignettes on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw