Snow and More Snow
The lake-effect snow kept on coming this past week in the Keweenaw! Steve Jurmu reported over 50 inches of snow over the course of 6 days at Tamarack Location near Calumet! The trail groomers continued to face a significant challenge rolling the light fluffy snow to the point it could be dragged and tracked. Jim Tervo tamed the Chassell Classic Ski Trail and it was my go to location this past week, but more on that in just a bit.
The past week started in the typical fashion with a swim at MTU’s SDC on Monday. Digging out the driveway took a little extra time, so I was only able to squeeze in an 1,100 yard swim. Back at home, I would shovel for the first of several times during the week. This process starts with the driveway, followed by the back deck, sidewalk, and the lakeside deck.
That evening the Chassell Township Recreation Committee met with Ryan Laporte from the Keweenaw Snowmobile Club to discuss re-establishing a snowmobile route between Chassell and the Nichols Trail. With Trail 15 re-opening this winter between Baraga and Chassell, the only ways to connect on up to Houghton and the trails maintained by the club is by way of the rail-trail (which has a lot of stop-and-go due to the many driveways and road crossings on this ungroomed route) or via the lake which can be a dangerous option. I invited Stephen Bosio from Tapiola to the meeting so we could discuss a potential connecting route by way of Tapiola. Our efforts will be focused on this potential direction. We will meet again in February to discuss progress.
On the back side of the Recreation Committee meeting, Julie and I attended the Chassell Historical Organization board meeting. There is always a lot of great conversation at these meetings and I always come away from them learning about the people and events that have shaped our community’s history. As President, my big goal this year is to tackle the last key element of universal accessibility at the Chassell Heritage Center which will involve installing lift access along the stairs to help those with physical limitations reach our collections and our auditorium which are above our building’s threshold as well as our restrooms which are below the threshold.
Tuesday I was back into town a couple of times, first to attend a Team Peninsula meeting at the Lakeshore Center in Houghton.
Afterwards, I banged out the minutes from the last Hancock Trails Club board meeting and distributed them to the board. I was back in Hancock for the monthly board meeting that evening where we learned that the club will be displaced from the DPW garage. We immediately got focused on a potential solution which will be directed at providing matching funding toward a grant proposal to construct a facility to house our equipment. We will be looking to partner with the city on this effort.
The snow kept on coming, but we got right back in it to head up to the SDC to swim on Wednesday morning. Dealing with the snow on our end cut into my time, but I still managed to squeeze in 1,750 yards.
Afterwards we ran up to Walmart to knock out our grocery shopping. I am sure the view from the Walmart in Houghton has to be one of the best ones you will find in the country!
With another round of shoveling completed, the accumulated snow had grown past the one foot mark. It was also clear that the rabbits are splitting time between the space under the boat and the lakefront deck.
Thursday morning I attended a Houghton County Brownfield Redevelopment Authority meeting at the courthouse. In the afternoon, I took advantage of the awesome job Jim Tervo has done getting the Chassell Classic Ski Trail groomed!
You can check out my GoPro video from my ski on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
Friday morning it was back to the pool where I put in an 1,800 yard swim. Since Julie and I were going to the Suomi for a late breakfast with friends afterwards, I hit the sauna while she attended her water aerobics class. While in the sauna, I had a nice conversation with Richard Brooks during which I learned about his early plow design work and later track vehicle design work. I also learned that he is the Brooks from which Brooks Road got its name which touches the western side of Churning Rapids off of M-203.
Definitely a shout-out here for the Suomi Restaurant in Houghton which serves an excellent breakfast and lunch menu! We had an outstanding breakfast and conversation with our friends Lynn and Joe.
Saturday morning we enjoyed watching the pileated woodpeckers working on our pine stumps while having coffee.
While we had intermittent sunshine during the past week, Saturday turned out to be brilliantly sunny. I would start the day by moving the roughly three additional inches of snow that had fallen overnight, but that would be the end of the recent onslaught. After bringing our trash to the transfer, we met up with our friend Mark at the Heritage Center. Julie went snowshoeing on the Chassell Snowshoe Trails while Mark and I skied the Chassell Classic Ski Trail.
You can see my GoPro video from our ski on the Remote Workforce Keweenaw YouTube channel at this link:
Do you embrace winter and have the ability to work remotely? Consider locating in the Keweenaw where you will find ubiquitous natural beauty, no congestion, and lower crime! Not sure? Come UP for a workcation to check it out! Learn how at Visit Keweenaw at https://www.visitkeweenaw.com/plan/trip-ideas-itineraries/workcations/ Visit Remote Workforce Keweenaw at https://remoteworkforcekeweenaw.com. Learn about those making the decision to locate here by following the Remote Workforce Keweenaw Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RemoteWorkforceKeweenaw.