New Snow into the New Year

With the Chassell Classic Ski Trail having made it through the recent warm-up with limited damage, my fellow ski trail groomers and I were excited to see a long-range forecast that included both below freezing temperatures and lake-effect snow! We had enough new snow on Thursday morning for Steve Spahn, Jim Vaught, and I to get out on the trail with Steve and Jim in the Gator pulling the 5-foot Ginzu with the knives down (but not in the hemlocks) and me setting tracks behind them on the Polaris.

The colder weather had definitely hardened up the recently thawed snow so our plan (that I strategized with ahead of time with Jim Tervo) about tearing up those icy conditions with the Ginzu’s knives down worked extremely well.

After grabbing lunch at home, Julie and I then headed over to MTU for our first swim of the new year with me putting in 2,000 yards.

At 5:30 p.m. we had a Recreation Committee meeting at the Fire Hall with the focus being placed on our draft updated ice rink rules, the ice rink warming shack, and the disc golf course. This would transition to the Planning Commission meeting at 7:00 p.m. Briefings I would provide would highlight the County Commissioners’ December approval of the Brownfield Redevelopment Plan for the Chassell Mercantile project and KEDA’s work with the Michigan Economic Development Corporation on the last critical piece of support for the project; the updating of the Centennial Park Preliminary Engineering Study to incorporate the land swap for the property immediately south of the Chassell Bark Park (fenced off-leash dog park) including a proposed seawall to attach the marina envisioned in the study; the signing of the contract for the demolition of the former Holy Trinity Lutheran Church which is weather dependent at this point; the upcoming January 20th meeting on the Keweenaw Water Trail at which I will put forward our proposal for it to include both the Sturgeon River and Sturgeon River Sloughs as it is reactivated; the upcoming meeting on March 9th with Kris Nault from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources regarding our proposed Hamar Creek Restoration project to improve habitat for brook trout; the completion by MJO of the waterfront boardwalk project under the $495,000 MDNR Spark Grant; the status of the bathroom re-design which has been submitted to the MDNR by U.P. Engineers and Architects; and the land owner approval to allow the Marinette Street Trailhead to connect to the Chassell Classic Ski Trail with board approval to add the landowners to the township’s liability policy and the DPW plowing of a parking lot to serve the location. During new business, the Planning Commission would receive some excellent public input regarding the proposed ice rink rules and other issues pertaining to the rink.

We would pick up three more inches of snow going into Friday afternoon. Jim Vaught and I would jump on the opportunity to make another pass with the Gator pulling the 5-foot Ginzu with the knives down (but up in the hemlocks) with the Polaris pulling the 3-foot Ginzu with the knives down a bit over an inch throughout and setting tracks. The results would be outstanding!

As we moved through Dean’s woods, a lake-effect squall poured snow on us which you can watch on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Pinterest Boards at this link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/500884789824173961/

Saturday would turn out to be a clear and crisp day with temperatures in the low teens. After dropping the trash and recycling at the DPW garage, I headed over to the Chassell Classic Ski Trail to test out our handiwork from the previous afternoon. Aside from some small snowdrifts up top, I enjoyed an awesome ski!

You can see my GoPro video from the ski at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:

Late Saturday afternoon we would enjoy an awesome dinner and excellent conversation at our friends Mat and Carol’s home here in Chassell!

After a low-key Sunday morning enjoying coffee at home, we met up with our hiking/skiing group at the MTU Trails. Twenty-seven of us showed up, so we divided up into two groups.

Those of us in the more intense group ended up going almost 6.7 miles. The sun would break out along the way and make for a very pleasant ski.

As we started down the Portage Loop, we would run into the other group of skiers which included Connie, John, Jennifer, Julie, and Sue.

To make sure we went over 10k and to add some exhilaration to the experience, several of us took the run down Skidder! My GoPro battery had died at the top of the steeper first drop, but I caught the second leg on my cell phone which you can see at this link to the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel:

Taking a break on our climb back up with Zach, Carolyn, Pat, Mark, Wolf, and Jon. As we completed our ski, Julie would meet a remote worker who I was not aware of from Pelkie who was just heading out to ski. We had the opportunity to talk and I am looking forward to the opportunity to feature her in a future remote worker vignette!

With the students back at MTU this week, the pool is back to its regular hours. Julie and I would make it over to swim. I would get in 2,500 yards ahead of a meeting later in the morning with Chassell Planning Commission Chair Brian Waters. We made final tweaks to the draft updated ice rink rules/hours and to discuss a creative idea Brian has about the warming shack.

The rest of January is shaping up to be busy month, but more about that next time!

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