Freedom — March 29, 2019 — I have been holding off writing this report with the anticipation that there would be something exciting to share.  But, no. Same old, same old, with lots of snow on the ground and no big rain events predicted. Lots of snow this winter with road plow snow banks remaining above 3′ on both sides of the Lake Road. The north side is usually down to ground zero by this time of the year.

Lake level started the year at 406.6′. The level got down to 404.4 by early March and then, with a few warm days, it got up to 405.2 last night. The ice sheet remains solid on Broad Bay and has raised enough to produce a dry beach, and then a 3′ wide mote of  open water in most areas. Our dog is enjoying drinking lake water again.

For the last week or two there have been up to five deer taking a long walk on this ice floor around 6 a.m. most days. Our dog lets us know when they are out there. One or two of these deer have grazed the waterfront plant growth and deposited some droppings on the neighbor’s beach. We think the deer have a campsite behind the concession stand across from the marina.

I have no news on the dam construction scheduled to start this spring, and with the high snow banks am not driving to the location to see what is going on.

Twenty years ago when construction was started on our home there was no snow on the ground and the lake was open.  Last year, Ice-Out was 04/27/18.

THINK SPRING!

Bob Smart