Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year


Well it's time to wipe the slate clean for another year and start again. Hopefully all will be well around the world and Gowganda. Happy New Year to everyone.

Out on the snowshoes and up to McIntosh Lake for the first time, spent a lot of time going around close to the shore as the ice was cracking and bending in some spots. There are a lot of marshy areas and runoff coming in around the edges which make it soft in some spots.


Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Sunny and bright this AM


Out for a short while along the road west of town for some pictures. The temperature has moderated abit after yesterdays cold snap.
The first one is the Montreal River at the bridge looking north and the second out at Hedlund's marsh.

Monday, December 28, 2009

Back from Lindsay yesterday



Back home about 4:00 PM yesterday after leaving about 9:45 AM from Lindsay. Roads wet and dirty all the way up until New Liskeard and then the sun almost came out. Great to be back although this AM was windy and cold with temps now down to -20C and windchill of -33C a far cry from Lindsay temps of above 0C and raining.
A picture of some of the night decorations in Lindsay and one of Carol and Brian's house.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Merry Christmas from Lindsay

Spending Christmas with my sister and family in Lindsay. Kate is working at the resort all of the holidays and Jeremy and family busy in Sudbury. Will catch up to them in January.
Today's pic is what will be on some peoples minds for tomorrow, this was taken in Minden a couple of days ago at Ron Cook's place, he has a resident flock there and calls them "the girls". Again have great Christmas.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Hard going thru the bush

Out for a walk yesterday on the sshoes again trying out a new harness. Taking a little time to get used to. Took a sidetrip without the sshoes thru the bush to Diabase lake, hard going with all the snow in the trees. Went out on the ice a short distance but there was too much cracking going on for my comfort level. Will wait until January before any fishing for me.
Will be on the road tomorrow for a few days, will try to post along the way with some pics. A Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Dull and cloudy today

Temperatures up today but very blah sky all day. Lot of lights through town now, its getting to look a little Christmas like. No extra snow amounts since last post.
Picked out an picture from a couple of weeks ago just before the ice set it, the small island in Bankers Bay.

Monday, December 14, 2009

This happens to my feet every winter


I don't know what happens but as soon as there's some snow this seems to happen every winter. This year it's earlier and not quite as much snow but it just happens. Went out to the Bouche Rd west of town and mushed up about 2km. and then back down. Only about 8-10 inches of snow but its good to get some exercise. Just enough to get the dust off the snowshoes.
A pic of the creek that flows out of the beaver dam.

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Missed the big one


The storm that hit central Ontario a couple of days ago missed Gowganda. We had about 20 cm. of snow and lots of drifting from the winds fortunately the clean up was quite easy with a couple of days of snowblowing.
Kate in Huntsville said her car was buried so deep that she couldn't even see it the morning after. Parking lots were not cleared out and few made it to work at the resort. Even the trucks coming from Toronto with the fresh produce and meat never made it.
Today's weather was mostly sunny with temperatures moderating quite nice. A couple of pictures from today.

Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Lots of snow on the way


Starting tonight we are in a winter storm warning for this area. The storm, all the way from South western USA is expected to dump 15 to 25 cm of snow here along with high winds later on. Finally we can get the snowblowers out they have been idling in the garage long enough.
Here are a couple of snow pics from the other day up the Edith Lake Rd.

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Visitor to the feeder

Not to much melting going on today. Lows tonight forecast around -12C. Time to put another log or two in the furnace.
Hairy woodpecker loving the new suet and seed block below the feeder.

Friday, December 4, 2009

Looks a lot like winter




About 10cm of snow here this AM, not enough to get the snowblower out yet. Some of the bays in the bigger lakes have a layer of ice across them and small ponds are solid all the way. I guess all good things come to an end as we are expecting more tomorrow too.
Out to the beaver pond at the Bouche Rd it was frozen right across. Some rose hips and alder cones along the edge of the road to Edith Lake. Click on the beaver pond it is a panorama.

Monday, November 30, 2009

Snow yesterday and today

Well it's been a great November but the snow has finally come and more on the way. This last month was a great bonus. Oh well bring on whatever you have now.
A pic from last week at the bottom of Duncan Lake, Mosher Lake to be exact.

Saturday, November 28, 2009

Revisiting the horse loggers


My brother in law, Brian up from Lindsay for a few days and I took a trip into the Beauty Lake Road for a look at the horse logging that is going on. They have quite a block of forest to do and expect to be there all winter. These loggers are hired by Domtar to work in areas close to developed sites where the noise of harvesters, skidders, delimbers and large logging trucks could cause problems. They are also very enviromentaly friendly while working too, and it gives Domtar some needed good PR relations with the public.
There are several loggers there that are woking in the area, they all have areas where they work indepedently in the same area. The horses are in great shape and are anxious to work. We talked to a group from Belle Valle that had two horses. One man with the chainsaw and two pullers with horses hauling out the logs. The logs were coming out depending on the size one or two at a time per horse. Logs were fallen and trimmed before being hauled, attached to the chain at the end of the harness and then moved to a location where they were cut to size for the truck to pick them up. This process moved over and over again with little distubance of the ground far from the mess the skidders leave behind, even young trees were unharmed in the process.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Showers but still mild

Yesterday was fairly dark and gloomy but from this pic of Miller Creek east of town you wouldn't know it
Actually I had to use the tripod as the shutter speed was so low.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Weather still holding


November temps have been great, I have used less firewood this November than I have for years. Hopefully the trend will continue.
Yesterday afternoon out cleaning up the snowshoe trail, it's always surprising going in when there is no snow and see the flagging tape so high up in the trees, just shows you how much snow was there. Will still have to spend a couple of more days on it.
Todays pic is taken from the other side of the lake of the small island and the lake with some Lightroom help.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Another good one

Getting lots of late season work done outside, bird feeders up, evestrough cleaned, putting things away and generally enjoying the weather.
This afternoon I was checking the new snowmobile trail east of town. This will allow the trail to bypass Stumpy and allow better grooming down towards Beauty Lake Rd. Just the first kilometer is of this trail is being fixed up the rest of the trail is old forestry roads down toward Sunshine Lake. Some pics of this tomorrow.
Again todays pic is down at Edith Lake looking towards the north over the boat landing.

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Is this really November


Almost 2 weeks of great weather in the middle of November, sunshine, tempertures 10 degrees over normal what next. Tomorrows supposed to be better.

Out for some pics today around Edith Lake, here is one of the rapids.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Finally back home



Left on the 9th of November to go to Huntsville to see Kate, arrived hearing good news that she had passed her final exam for her chef's papers. A long time coming and a lot of work, congrats again. The next day on to my friends place near Parry Sound for some deer hunting, hunting in the AM and working on his storage facility in the afternoon. This is some storage shed 90'x40'x23' when this is full he will be able to use his other garage and move around in the house easier. Weather great everyday so we got quite a bit done but far from finishing. On the last day of the hunt I ruined the week by getting a doe.
The same day I was going to Sudbury to see Jeremy, Stacey and the boys at their place in Lively. A day and half there and back to Parry Sound to help with more of the construction. Home finally yesterday around supper time. It sure is great to get back to the quiet and sanctity of Gowganda.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

What a nice day



Day broke without a cloud and the temperature just kept going up the rest of the day. It was about 14C by late afternoon.
Fortunately we had planned an ATV trip today what a conicidence. Five machines, Ed and Faye Barnstaple, Mary and Dave Bullock, Gord Clark, Paul Trudel and meself. Up the north power line across to Halliday Lake and back down the Grassy Lake Rd about 84 Km round trip.
At one spot just before Halliday lake a huge beaver dam had flooded the road, making it just about impossible with the depth of water. Just to make the beaver happy we started lowering his pond about 8 inches by opening up some holes in the dam, this was just enough to get the machines through even though it was well up over the floor boards.
Couple of pics when we stopped for AM break and one later at Halliday Lake for lunch, the dogs even enjoyed the ride.

Friday, November 6, 2009

Frosty AM

Out for a load of wood early in the AM and the sun was actually out for a while. All the tops of the hills were frosty like this one. Shortly after this the snow came down so hard you could hardly see through it. The rest of the morning continued with wet snow.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Cool weather with light snow

Still cool with a bit of snow and wind. The weather toward the end of the week is supposed to be a bit better. Very quiet in town not to many moose hunters and few trucks. Just starting to feel like the town is going into hibernation for the winter. Smoke coming out of most of the chimineys these days, you can always tell who is up early in the mornings.
A few icicles in the tamarac beside the garage this AM.

Monday, November 2, 2009

It sure is getting dark here early now


With the time change on Sunday it sure closes in early now. I kept looking at my watch and thought it wasn't working but sure enough sunset comes pretty early 5:01 to be exact. Seems to make the evening so much longer.
Out yesterday with some new equipment called Pocket Wizards. They allow you to remotely fire flashes and the camera with a press of a button. Up to 1600 ft. so it says. Can't imagine ever using it that far away. This will improve (I hope) taking flash pics. The flash will be off camera and will give less of a deer in the headlight look. It will be good taking some pics of flowers under a heavy tree cover for example. Will have to wait for next spring for that to happen.
Stopped for some pics of fall blueberries on a high ridge, and a small beaverpond reflecting the sky.
On another note the Gowganda Website has been removed from Yahoo Geocities as it was closing, the new site is here. Check it out and add to the numbers of visitors. The site is now funded by the GCRA. Thanks

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Need to see a little blue sky


Been pretty dull and damp for the last several days. Thought I could find a pic with some clear sky, here's one with some great clouds around the towers.

Monday, October 26, 2009

Who is eating the bread crumbs

Finally found out who was eating the bread I was throwing out. A Canada Jay, Whiskey-jack or meat bird.

Friday, October 23, 2009

From snow to freezing rain

Today remained fairly cool with a brisk wind. Tonight the sound of freezing rain on the windows isn't pleasant. I pulled out the generator and got it ready to go. With the wood furnace going I don't like it when the electricity fails. The fan has to keep going to keep the firebox cool.
After seeing the early morning sunrise I should have expected this weather. As they say red skys at night sailors delight, red skys in the morning sailors take warning. This is this AM's sunrise.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

It's too early


Looked out the window last night around 10:00PM didn't look too bad. This AM was another story. Lots of snow could hardly open my storm door to get out. Shovelled out the door and a path to the garage. Finally the snow plow came through and plowed in the end of the driveway. Got that all cleaned up and another came through talk about Murphy's Law. Got out the tape measure there was 15cm.
By late this afternoon there was a hint of sunshine coming through.

Monday, October 19, 2009

From Crane Lake lookout


Another from the ATV ride Crane Lake to Roadhouse Rd. Nice weather today 12C with a little cloud, just right for getting some loads of wood. Days are drawing in so quickly now it's sundown by 6:30pm and sunrise around 7:45am.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Outlook Point/Forestry Point

Out early yesterday AM taking some pics with the sun coming up. This one of Outlook Point looked better in black and white and then I used a sepia preset.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Getting up to speed again



Out for an ATV trip south from highway 560 on the Crane Lake Rd around to the Roadhouse Rd. Great day a little chilly but the sun and clear skys finally came out in the afternoon. The fall colours were great, lots of frost in the ground in the AM. A good deep frost with a wind will likely take a lot of the leaves away.
Pictures of Bear River near just off 560, some fall pitcher plants near Crane Lake, and a small waterfall at the same spot.



Friday, October 9, 2009

Finally the sun but not for long



A bit of sunshine if only for a short while got me out early taking some pics. The trees are now at their best after this it's all down hill. Cooler weather down to -5C will put an end to the colours.Finally the top light on the new tower is blinking over Gowganda, final tune up of the tower will begins Tuesday. The new hi speed is all that it was supposed to be and allows many people in town the opportunity to get the information they want without waiting.
Happy Thanksgiving to all.