Pine Ridge Resort News & Views

Already the middle of December.  The first major snow storm of the year missed us up north but the wind and the cold didn’t.  We’re looking at windchills tomorrow morning around -25*.   And just a few months ago, we were complaining about it being too hot.

The resort has been all closed up now for about a month.  We had deer hunters in for the opening of deer season and, after they checked out, we finished shutting everything down except the Sarajac cabin which is available all winter long.  Earlier in October, we pulled the docks out of the lake and drained the water lines from the seasonal cabins.  Except for a few really cold days in early October, we could have left the water on through deer hunting.  But since that early cold snap already broke a few water lines, I wasn’t going to chance that.

The weather has been strange this year.  July was cold and windy.  August was seasonal but September was just beautiful.  Guests arrived for their stay with all their cold weather clothing and didn’t have any t-shirts, which is all we needed most of the month. We actually had warmer water temps in September than we did in the middle of July. Go figure. 

Then, thinking the beautiful fall weather would continue, my kids flew in from Portland and Chicago to take me on a canoe trip to Minnesota’s BWCAW (Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness), one of the most pristine wilderness areas in the country.   We all love (all does not include Donna) canoeing in the BWCAW.  Took Evan on his first trip up there when he was 12.  Leah was 14 when she made her first trip.  

Fortunately, we checked the weather forecast before we headed north and saw that it was going to be cold.  Cold and then some.  For those of you not familiar with the BWCAW, as a wilderness area, there are no boats allowed, it’s paddle only.  There are no motels either, you sleep in a tent. One that you carry in on your back.  And it’s one of the few areas of the world that the McDonalds haven’t been able to penetrate so you have to carry all your food, clothes and camping gear in a pack on your back.  You are on your own.  And in October, with predicted temps in the 20’s, there were no other campers around.  We didn’t see anyone for 5 days.  Which was kind of the point actually. 

Our first day out, we paddled through snow showers.  Our first night out, temps dropped below 20*.  We had to break through ice to get in and out of the first portage.  We had snow falls 4 out of the 5 days we were out.  And we had a ball. We were ready for the weather and it really wasn’t a factor. 

After that short diversion and back at the resort, the rest of October was miserable.  It rained 21 days in October.  I’m quite sure that we never had one full day of sunshine the entire month.  So we’re thinking the worst about November.

One beautiful month.  Every day in November had temps above average and many of them were 20* above average. No rain, no snow and no cold.  Many years in the past we have been ice skating on Girl Lake by Thanksgiving.  I saw a guy on a jet ski on the lake 3 days before Thanksgiving and we could have gotten the boats out and gone fishing after eating our turkey.  Jack Lake wasn’t even froze over so it was covered with ducks and geese resting before they had to finish their trip south.

So now we’re in December and it feels like January.  Our high temp today was 3* and tomorrow we’ll be lucky to break 0*.  And it’s not even winter yet. 

Well, anyway, the resort is closed down and ready for whatever comes. We did some rehabilitative work on our septic system this fall to be sure there are no problems in the summer busy time.  The big fall project this year was to tear down our old supply cabin/storage building that has been rotting away since we bought the resort and put in a foundation for a new building to be erected next spring.  That will make a major improvement in the first look appearance of the resort when guests arrive.  And the new building will also house a washer/dryer for guests to use during their stay. 

Now it’s time for the Holidays.  Donna and I  want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.  Have a very safe and warm New Year. 

Many of you have seen Dan Krone on various outdoor TV programs talking about the rusty crayfish that has invaded many of Minnesota’s lakes.  Dan has done a lot to help eliminate as many as possible and our guests here at Pine Ridge Resort want to do their part.  So we eat as many as we can.

Dan was here last night and boiled up over 30 pounds of cray fish for us and not one was left at the end of the night.  Three weeks ago another group also cleaned up a cooler full and one of those guests took 50 pounds home with him to share with the folks there.

So I thought I would post some pictures of our crayfish eaters.  It’s a pot luck and everyone contributes a salad or a dessert and Donna and I bring the sweet corn that gets cooked right in the same pot as the cray fish.

The family in the yellow shirts are the Pittelkos.  They are celebrating their seventh year here at the resort.  The Willmer family has been coming for nine years.  Both the Hoffman’s and the Bouma’s have been coming for at least seven years.  It is a great week and we really enjoy having them all stay with us.  Here are the pictures.

Luke, Austin and Will love to play with their food before they eat it.

 

 

Sherry Muir put together this recipe for a fish fry several guests organized and it was really a hit.  I have never been a cooked cabbage lover but I had seconds of this.

Hello All:

Here is the cabbage recipe Terry wanted. I hope you like it.
Sherry

Fried Cabbage
1 head green or red cabbage, sliced
2 - 3 apples (past their prime is perfect)
1 - 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
½ lb of bacon
Cajun Seasoning
½ cup vinegar and ¼ - ½ cup sugar (or sweetner), mix to dissolve

Cut the bacon into small pieces and fry until done, but not crispy. Quarter cabbage, onions and apples, remove hearts/core and slice, but not too thin.

Add all of this to the bacon, sprinkle with Cajun seasoning, cook over medium heat, covered and stir frequently. It will begin to brown and caramelize (you may need to add more bacon grease or cooking oil). Continue to add Cajun seasoning to the spice level you like. When the mix is a nice caramel color, and the vegetables are done, but not mushy, add the vinegar and sugar mixture. Stir fully, cover and let simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

Please understand that I don’t really use a recipe, so all of the amounts listed are just my best guess. Feel free to adjust as you see fit and add most any fruit or vegetable that is past its prime.

So now let’s see some more recipes.  We have one for baked fish that we like a lot and I’ll get that posted soon.  I still want to get Paul Davis’s BBQ’ed ribs recipe.

And tonight, weather permitting, we’re doing a cray fish boil.  Dan should be here in a couple of hours to start the cooking.  I’ll get some pics on my next post.

That question has two answers.  First, where has the time gone?  It can’t really be August already.  Every Friday our guests look around and wonder how the week went by so quickly.  I can’t figure out where the summer went.

And the second answer is “what’s going on with this wacky weather?”  It just hasn’t been a Minnesota summer.  We have not had one 85* day and only a few over 80*.  It’s been very windy and that is quite unusual.  Once we got past the middle of June, the rain started to fall again.  Everything is spring-like green up here.  Usually, by August, the grass is brown, the trees are drooping and the lake level has dropped so you need a step ladder to get into you boat off the dock.

Not this year.  Lake levels have stayed at their spring time level, everything is green and you need two blankets to keep warm at night.  Everyone is wearing sweat shirts instead of bathing suits.  It seems as soon as the water temps reach 70*, another cold front comes through with 20 MPH winds, stirring up the lake and dropping water temps back to the low 60’s.

Fishing has been erractic. Crappies, bass and northern have been good but we think all the walleye migrated to California where it’s still warm.  Hopefully, they’ll be back for the great fall fishing we’re used to having.

We had a great time last week with one of our annual crayfish boils.  Dan Krone, local guide and “what ever it takes to put bacon on the table” resident, cooked us up a cooler full of Woman Lake rusty crayfish and sweet corn.  Each cabin brought something pot-luck and we sat around in our sweat shirts in July cracking crayfish and eating great food.

It’s always fun to watch 8 year old kids playing with their dinner before it goes in the pot. And it fun to watch those same kids eating crayfish while some of their squeamish elders wrinkle up their noses.  Eating crayfish is not something you do in a hurry.  It takes quite a few of the critters to make a decent meal.  That’s where the great pot-luck comes in handy.

It’s a chance to try some tasty new dishes and some wonderfully familiar ones.  Several people at last weeks boil wanted to try some of the other recipes and asked if I could put up a category on the Blog for sharing recipes.  So I removed a couple of categories that weren’t getting used and added “Favorite Resort Recipes” to the list.  I’m hoping Sherri will add that cabbage recipe we all drooled over.  And a couple of weeks ago, Paul Davis was telling me how he cooked BBQ’ed ribs in a homemade sauce.

So share those recipes and don’t forget to add your name.  If you haven’t already, you will need to register to make a comment to the Blog.  Then, at the bottom of each entry is a “Comment” button.  Click that and add your recipe.  I’ll transfer it to the “Recipe” category where all can read them.
Now if those of you arriving next week can just bring some sunshine and warm weather with you, all will be perfect.

See you on the lake.

Which explains why I haven’t been adding much new to the blog the last month or so.  I don’t think it rained an inch here all of May and the first couple weeks of June.  Now it’s raining (much to the dismay of our current guests) and we have gotten over an inch during the past week so it’s nice and green here and the lake levels are good.  Summer arrived today and we’re finally getting some summer like weather.  It’s been very cool and quite a bit more windy than usual but it has been warm and sunny for several days now with our current rain as the exception.

Fishing has been different this year with the late spring.  Last week guests were still catching crappie with eggs in them.  Very late for their spawn.  And just a couple of days ago we starting catching female bluegill and sunfish on their spawning beds so there should be some excellent bluegill fishing for the next week or so.  Not sure but I don’t think the bass have spawned yet.  Water temps in the shallows have just reached the upper 60’s in the last few days.

Walleye fishing has been very poor so far this season. Earlier, as I mentioned in my last entry, bigger walleye seemed to be all that we could catch but there were very few of them.  Then, for the last week to 10 days, all we could catch were 8″ to 10″ walleye.  Cute litte things but you just couldn’t justify putting them in the pan.  Now, this morning we caught several bigger fish that we could put in the live well without embarassing ourselves.  Hopefully, it’s a trend.   I’ll let you know in a week or so.

As you may have seen on our web site, we have added a new boat to the Pine Ridge Resort fleet.  It’s a beauty.  A 2009 Lund 1625 Rebel XL tiller with a 50 HP Mercury 4-stroke outboard.  Four deluxe seats, 55 lb thrust trolling motor with CoPilot, live well and bait well, a Lowrance depth finder and vinyl flooring for easy clean-up. Here’s a pic with myself and Chris Heir, a regular guest in the seats.

The photo was taken by Jeremy Heir

I’m doing my best to get the thing broken in so it will be all ready when someone wants to rent it. Sometimes this resort business is such a hassle. 

So summer is here, the water has warmed up for swimming, and the fish are cooperating for the most part.  I’ll try to do better in updates to the blog.  See you at the lake.

The calendar says June and that means warm air, warm water, swimming and suntans.  So far, all we have seen is layers of sweatshirts and raingear to keep the wind from chilling our bones.  It has been a very cool and windy spring all over the north country and we are ready for some warm, sunny days.  Now I suppose it will go to 85* with no wind.  I guess you need to be careful what you wish for.

On the other hand, it has been a very busy spring here at Pine Ridge Resort. Lots of big and little things have gotten and are getting done that should have been done some time ago.  Three more cabins have been repainted, new doors have replaced some of the worst of the old ones, a new stairway down to the lake was constructed at Colonial, and now I’m working on the old boat trailer that has been sitting in front of my garage for 2 years.  When that is all fixed up and new seats are installed on the boat, I’ll have a unit that guests can trailer to some of the many smaller lakes around the area to check out the fishing on them.

Speaking of fishing, it has been so-so this spring.  With the weather changing every day, it’s hard to find a pattern to the fishing and the many windy days have limited the time people wanted to be on the water and the places they could fish when they went out.  The water temps are very cool for this late in the season. Still not over 60* as of June 7. We’re getting some sunshine now for the last couple of days so I expect that we’ll finally get over 60* by the weekend.  I got an email from a guest asking about water temps and I recommended that they bring their insulated swim suits.

With those cool waters, fish spawning is delayed which is keeping the fish in shallow water longer.  Last week, guests were still catching some very nice crappie.  Below are Steve and Rob Ferenz, long time guests here with a couple of their catches.

Blue gill are starting to move onto spawning beds now as are the bass.  Should be a couple of good weeks of fishing left before we move into summer patterns.

Walleye have not been very cooperative yet this year.  For a while, it seemed like only the big fish were biting and very slowly.  Several fish over 20″ were caught last week including this 26″ beauty my brother caught trolling a minnow on an jig along the south shore of Woman Lake.  The fish was successfully released.

Now is seems like all we can catch are 8″ walleye.  My neighbor was out a couple of nights ago and caught 25 - 8″ fish in about 3 hours.  He finally did manage to boat a couple of eaters but the little ones were all over the bottom of the lake.  Bodes well for next year, I guess.

My brother, Bruce, my brother in law and I had a great 5 days fishing lake trout in Canada mid-May.  We have done this fly in for three years now and really have a good time.  No big fish but plenty of them.

All in all, the season is off to a pretty good start.  Occupancy has been good except for this week and we’re just about filled up until late into August.  There are a few scattered openings, several next week, one in July due to a reservation change and several in early August.  The economy has definitely been a problem for quite a few of our guests and we hope that things turn around faster than predictions forecast.

We have a beautiful day going here today so I’m going to get outside and find something to do.  Like that is a problem.  Take care and we hope to see you at the lake this summer.

With less than two weeks until opener, it’s a busy place around the resort.  I’ve been trying to do some posts lately to keep folks up to date but wasn’t able to.  Just found out that the space allocated on my host server for the blog was filled up and needed to be updated.  Hopefully, we’re back in business now.

The big news, of course, is that the ice is off the lake.  Last Thursday, with temps in the mid-70’s and a brisk wind, the ice began to move about 9:00 am.  The sheet broke in half around noon and by dinner time, over half the lake was clear of ice.  By Friday morning, it was all gone. 

Al Roehl and his boys will be here this Friday to help install the docks. Al and the boys have been helping me put in and take out for probably about 15 years now.  I love it when the docks go back in.  Boats on the water can’t be far behind.  I’ll try to post some pictures of the docks going in.  If we’re lucky, there won’t be any rain or snow in the pictures.

The other important spring project is spring cleaning in the cabins.  This year we had a major change when the two housekeepers who have been with me for ten years decided not to clean this year.  There are lots of people out there looking for work but finding the right ones who will committ to being here every Saturday no matter what else comes up and who will do a great job cleaning is a big concern.  We think we have them now but time will tell. 

This year, all the bedroom carpets will be shampooed.  That happens tomorrow.  Most of the walls have been scrubbed and the curtains have been washed and ironed.  Another big step was turning on the water to the seasonals.  Did that today and I’m always nervous.  Is there still frost in the ground?  Did any of the pipes spring a leak over the winter?  Will all the hot water heaters still work? So far so good.  Four cabins are on without any sign of leaks and the water is hot.

It’s a great time of the year.  The loons are back and calling every day,  Wood ducks are in the nest box.  Spring peepers are noisy all night.  And we have over 4 gallons of pure maple syrup in the cupboard.  Soon the crappies will be biting.  Great time of the year.

There aren’t any reservations for fishing opener yet but the rest of May is pretty active.  Slow openers are not unusual here.  The premier opening lakes in the area are Winny, Mille Lacs and Leech. Hopefully, we’ll get some nice weather and the fish will be biting.

So pull those boats out the garage, check out your motors, clean the dust off the fishing rods and pick up some nightcrawlers in the back yard.  Or buy some red tails on your way north.  It’s another Minnesota fishing opener.  See you on the lake.

here we go

You know spring can’t be far behind when the geese start nesting in the channel by Longville.  They have been back for a couple of weeks now and it’s great to wake up in the morning and hear their honking as they squabble over nesting sites.  We were even treated to a pair of swans swimming with the geese for a couple of days as they took a break on their migration further north.

Pussy willows are another sign that things are getting better.  Donna and I walk several times a week and the pussy willows are opening up along the road by the resort.

Robins are back. Not sure what they are eating right now but we have been seeing them for a few days.

One really positive sign that soft water will soon be here is open water in the channel between Girl and Woman Lake.  We walk down Sarajac Rd. a mile or so and last weekend noticed that there was open water in the channel.  The ice breakup always starts there.

But, of course, my most favorite sign of spring is when the sap starts flowing in the maple trees.  We just finished up last years maple syrup this past weekend so it’s time for a new batch.  I have 15 taps out now and several of the trees are putting out over a gallon of sap a day.  Others are still waking up.  In a couple more days there will be enough to start boiling. 

And then, there is my least favorite sign of spring, the April Fools blizzard, which we are enduring right now. Forecast for the next couple of days is for 6″ to 12″ of new snow.  Hang on a minute while I think of something positive about an April snowstorm.  Oh yeah, it helps put water back in the lake and we have been low the last couple of years.  I’m sure the folks up in Fargo have a different opinion about that.

So, generally, it appears that spring is here.  Once we get rid of this snow we’ll be able to get outside and start cleaning things up for fishing opener.  It always happens fast at this time of year.  One day we’re having snow and a week later there is open water and the loons are back calling day and night as they begin their spring ritual.  The first boat will be on the water before all the ice is gone and then the crappie will start slipping into the muddy boat channels looking for those early bug hatches. Hard to imagine right now, with 20 mph winds, 28* temps and snow falling, that our first guests will be here in six weeks. 

Hope to see you then.

For reasons that I’m not really sure of, it’s been quite a while since my last posting here.  There hasn’t been much going on resort wise but still, in the past, I’ve found things to write about.  So I can’t really explain why I have been AWOL these past few months. 

The worst part of my absense was that in my last post, I encouraged people to respond so that I would know someone was actually reading what I was posting.  And many of you did.  I appreciated that a lot but then, well, again, not sure why I haven’t been writing.  I do like writing posts.  Seems like even when I didn’t have much to say I could always put in several hundred words.  I’m sure those of you who have been to the resort find that very surprising.

Anyway, I’m back and I’m pretty sure now that I’ll once again be making regular posts to the blog.  Just hope that those of you who were reading haven’t given up on me.

So, news of the past few months.  Shortly after my last post, Donna and I packed our bags and took a plane ride out to Oregon to visit our son, Evan.  Evan is in Portland where he is the quality control officer in a small lab that does soil and water testing.  Donna and I spent five days with him and we had a fanastic time. 

The first couple of days were spent sight seeing along the Colombia River Gorge.  What a spectular place. Flying into Portland, we saw three mountains sticking through the clouds, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens and I forget the name of the other one.  Strange site to us flat landers.  The Gorge itself seems to be all staight up and down.  Whatever flat space is available is covered with people or roads.  Beautiful scenery.  We hiked in to see about a half dozen water falls, some dropping over 500′.

We drove up to Mt. Hood one day.  Started the morning off at sea level, drove up the mountain into snow country where people were actually skiing and snow boarding, and finished the day back at sea level in a rain forest where many of the trees were over 100′ tall and covered with moss. Incredible.

Then it was off to the ocean.  I have been to the Pacific once but Donna had never seen an ocean before. We walked along a sand beach that didn’t seem to have an end.  Took in a couple other beachs, got caught in a fast moving rain storm that came off the water, and watched some kids surfing.  Got a couple of great pictures of the sun setting behind a point with the waves breaking on the shore.   Here are a couple of pictures. The first is Donna, Evan’s friend, MaryAlecia, and Evan.  The other is the sunset.  Pretty obvious on that one.

After we got back from Portland, things were pretty quiet here at the resort.  We had a lot of snow in December but January and February were mostly just very cold.  My biggest pleasure in the winter is snowshoeing.  I try to get out a couple of times a week for two to three hours in the woods south of the resort.  It’s so incredibly satisfying to me to be out there all alone in the woods and it’s a real bonus when I can actually see wild life while I’m out there.  Deer are very hard to walk up on since they are so tuned into all the sounds in the woods and, with me on shoes that are 3′ long, it’s pretty noisy.  So I try to get out when it’s snowing and the wind is blowing to cover my presense.  And I have seen deer several times.  And, once, I walked up on two wolves in a heavy falling snow.  All three of us were pretty surprised and I’m glad they decided to leave first. 

I was out snow shoeing yesterday just ahead of this storm we just had.  Didn’t see anything but had a great walk.  We ended up with about 6″ of new snow but lots of wind and lots of cold air this morning.

I’m definitely ready now for warm air and soft water.  If the past is any indicator, we could be hearing loons on the lake in 5 - 6 weeks.  But between now and then, it will be maple syrup time.  Once the day time temps start to get above freezing, the sap starts to run in the maple trees.  We collect the sap and boil it down into pure maple syrup.  And it’s about time.  I only have about two pancakes worth of last years syrup left.

Well, that kind of brings things up to date.  With the coming of warm weather, things happen quickly here at the resort.  There’s a lot to get done before guests start to arrive and not much time to get it done.  Last year, the ice didn’t go off the lake until 8 days before fishing opener and we barely had time to get the docks in and the cabins all cleaned before guests arrived. Several people have already signed up for our Work Week to help get things ready this spring. 

Before I end this posting, there is one last thing.  One of our long time guests has just had surgery to remove a tumor in his head and it turns out that the tumor is an agressive cancer.  For those of you who have watched our web site over the years, you probably remember me including pictures and stories about the Armstrong family.  They have been coming to the resort for almost as long as we have owned it.  The Armstrongs are a big, wonderful, and very close family.  Earlier this year, their mother, Mona, passed away and their, father, Wayne is in a nursing home.  Now, just last week, doctors found and removed the tumor in son Kevin.  Next week he starts chemo and radiation therapies.  Kevin could use all your thoughts and prayers.  There are lots of fish yet to catch and he intends to get his portion so, if you have a few moments, please include Kevin in your thoughts and prayers.  Thanks.

So, that’s enough for now.  I better get outside and finish cleaning up the driveway so Donna can get the car in when she gets home from school.  Take care, all, and I’ll be back soon with more postings.