March 9 ... The sunshine took its toll on our snowcover yesterday. I can now see a sliver of grass out on the mound that segregates our yard from Highway 11. Temperatures peaked at plus 7 yesterday before retreating to minus 8 last night. Our normal high in mid-March is minus 2. .............. Time for a pop quiz. What happens in the back of this truck? It was at our gas pumps earlier this morning.
A couple of hints: it is just returning from the Vancouver Olympic Games and the fill-up was paid for with a Canadian Government credit card. That large ‘doorway’ on the nearside is actually a fold-down ramp from which a robot is deployed. It is in fact a bomb disposal unit. Far out! The driver was a very pleasant and unassuming gentleman who told me he was so pleased not to be needed out there... not the gung-ho Hollywood bomb-squad type at all. It’s just our ‘Canadian way’, I guess. *** mac
March 8 ... Wow. What a day it was yesterday with a full afternoon-long high of plus 10. It looks like we’ll have a repeat performance again today. It has knocked the stuffing out of our roads which have bared right up to gravel and mud. It makes sledding down to the lake(s) nearly impossible now. I’ve never witnessed anything quite like this in early March. The one saving grace is cool nights which keeps things relatively dry. *** mac
March 7 ... March is one week old today and - so far - we’ve been loving it. Temperatures soared briefly to 10 degrees Celsius yesterday (50 F). Minus 3 was last night’s low. I went for a long ride yesterday which included both Kenogami and Sesekinika. I did not encounter any major slush flooding anywhere. There just isn’t a lot of surface snow to weigh down the ice as is evident in the image of Kenogami I’ve attached above. Below today’s entry I’ll attach a shot of the OFSC A-Trail crossing on Sesekinika. It is solid and it was very busy yesterday with long distance tourists. The big question is how long things will stay good. It is suppose to remain outrageously mild for another full week. A lot of running water will definitely cook our OFSC trails in a hurry. The deterioration of our ice conditions will take a lot longer but Sesekinika’s Family fish derby weekend is still two week off and Kenogami’s ice golf tournament is March 27th. Yikes! *** mac
March 6 ... We’ve hit the jackpot as far as weather goes with cold nights and warm and sunny days promised until next Friday. Now that the Olympics are over, both Kenogami and Sesekinika will be filled with people this weekend. I’ve attached a picture above of the latest thing you may witness out on our northern cottage lakes. It is the ‘8 foot garage’ phenomenon. Here’s the thing. All the big box stores sell 8 foot long tent garages, the perfect shelter for 4-wheelers, lawn tractors and lawn furniture during the off-season. Once winter arrives Canadian Tire, Walmart and all the others clear them out, sometimes as cheap as 99 bucks. They make a perfect wind shelter out on the ice. A friend uses his all summer as a shelter for his sled and has made a frame-on-skies for it so he doesn’t have to tear it down to move it. Pretty cool, eh. *** mac
March 4 ... It’s cloudy now but the sunshine will return this afternoon. All eyes are on Matachewan today as they host a groundbreaking ceremony this afternoon for a brand new gold mine... the Young-Davidson Mine operated by Northgate Minerals. 600 people will find employment getting the thing up and running. 275 miners will eventually work it producing 180 thousand ounces of gold annually. At over a thousand dollars an ounce (CDN) at the moment ... you do the math. Canadian gold mines tend to be very profitable venures these days.A friend sent me the address of a wonderful blurb written by NBC news anchor Brian Williams which I’ve made a link to HERE . Even if you did not get caught up in the Olympics, you’ll appreciate what he had to say in a “thank you note” to Canadians. ** mac
March 3 ... It is just absolutely glorious out there this morning with brilliant sunshine, calm winds and a promised afternoon high of plus 3. Ahead of 10AM we already had 3 big groups of sledding pilgrims pass through our yard - 2 headed north to Cochrane or the other southbound to New Liskeard. That means there are likely 3 to 4 times that many groups out there on the A-Trail plus more over on Trail A-108 through Kirkland Lake. Everything has been groomed since Sunday evening. ............. Congratulations to Christina Smith, Englehart’s 2010 carnival queen. She’ll preside over a full winter festival of community get-togethers for the balance of the week. *** mac
March 2 ... So much beauty out there this morning as a cool but humid night brought vigorous frost crystal growth to all the trees. These tips of the needles on a red pine in our back yard give a but of an indication on how completely decorated everything was at daybreak. Minus 14 was our low. Our forecasted high today is zero. I’ve got a wonderful assignment today. Once again this year I’ve been asked to sit on the judging panel this evening for the Englehart Winter Carnival Queen pageant. Unlike Kirkland Lake’s pageant, these young women have a ‘talent show’ evening to complete their scoring. Englehart’s high school has a great musical tradition and last year we were treated to a range of recitals including both voice, a range of musical instruments and dance. It will be standing room only this evening at Englehart’s community center. *** mac
March 1 ... It’s time to chill out. All Canadians went on a wild ride yesterday as the country shut down to watch an eventual overtime golden effort by our men’s Olympic hockey team. Wow. Then the closing ceremonies. Wow. Thank you Vancouver.
We are in for a spectacular week of weather around here as a fair weather high pressure system sets up shop tomorrow. Click HERE for a look-see at the national March temperature projections from Environment Canada. I got out for a brief sled ride yesterday and discovered a lot of fresh slush on Lake Sesekinika. I’ve included an image I captured of one of the iconic island cottages which any Sesekinikian will know well. Spring will arrive this month ... and hopefully ... it will stay. *** mac
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