Some nice sunny periods this AM. which took Paul and I up the tower hill to get the scoop on what's up. Apparently the workers will be back on Monday to get the job finished with a 2 month time schedule. Will keep you up to date. Great brunch a Gert and Pauls's today, thanks again.

The rest of the day was quite warm with the thermometer going above 0° C.

More pics from yesterday

A few more pics from yesterday from below the dam to the old bridge footings.

Snow keeps falling

Out today after clearing the snow, another few cm. overnight. Pic of the homestead, down the street, one for Dave and some spruce needles. Went for a walk down to the dam and back up through the bush to the road, I'd figure around 1o"+

More snow on the way

Finally had to go out and get the snowblower going this AM. Accumulations of three or four days over 10cm. At least I got the rust off the blower and moved some gravel. More of the same weather for the next few days.

Have had some time to identify new lichens from the rock outcrop east of Lost Lake. One is Wooly Foam Lichen and the other Rock Tripe (the blackish one)

Lake solid

Last night cold with no wind the lake began to freeze over about 5:30PM and by AM was completely stiff as far as I could see. Light winds today and a bit of warming temperatures didn't change it.

Yesterday I got out to the snowshoe trail off of the Bouche cut road. I thought I would see how far I could get without getting too wet. As it worked out with the beaver dam broken a lot of the area I could get around. I could have went right into MacIntosh but cut back out to the road and came back to the highway past the big beaver pond .

The white blanket arrives.

Yes the snow came last night and more during the day on and off. Just a few pics from around the area.

Ice in the bay

Cold night last night about -12C degrees. This AM there was a thin coat of ice in the center of the bay. I think if it had been calmer the whole bay would have froze.

By 10:00AM the wind had come up and piled it along the shores. The rest of the day it snowed on and off with about 5cm. on the ground.

Spotted a rare wood curlew on its way south and was lucky to get a shot of it sitting on a rock.

Winter slowly creeping in

Cool, windy and scattered flurries today. The wind chill was about -11C.

Headed west of town to find some shots, its amazing when all the colour and plants are gone there is not much left. Finally clicked in that this transition time will bring snowy vistas later on.

The pond at Hedlund marsh is freezing as the snow is coming down. A stop at the Wapus shows more ice along the edges of the flowing creek. Down by the Notch Dam at Duncan Lake the water is flowing quite good. At the outflow into the Wapus the rock wall is starting to ice.

Mosses and Lichens

A few pics yesterday while snowing. Went up to the new tower, not much going on since the last time. Hope they will finish before the winter really sets in.

Juniper moss with a cap of snow, Reindeer Lichen, and a new one British Soldier Lichen, the red caps resemble the red hats worn by British troops stationed in the Americas

Back again

Went down to visit Kate in Huntsville last Monday, got caught up on all her news in Huntsville, and had a good supper at the local Chinese restaurant. After that we went and found Pat Kirkby and Mike who had just moved there from Gowganda. They seem quite pleased with their new place and quite content.

Tuesday over to Dave and Kitty Peck's, longtime friends. Dave and I spent the rest of the week deer hunting. After 3 years of hunting there I saw my first deer . A flash of a tail and the back quarters. Next year I hope to see the rest of it.

Didn't take too many pictures as the weather was pretty wet except for the first day I stopped at the Sequin River which you cross to get to their property.

Anyway back at home yesterday and plan to get more pictures over the next few days.

Nice weather starting to close down

After a few beautiful days the weather is starting to return to seasonal levels. A bit of rain tonite and tomorrow followed by snow by Monday.

Not many pics this AM but one from the top window looking out towards the river coming into Gowganda Lake. This is a new view for me as several trees have been removed from across the street.

A summer day

Great day for an ATV trip. Paul Trudel and I headed for the Chown Rd. West on Highway 560 west of Gowganda. This road has been logged for several years, the last time I was on this bush road was in 2003, since then it has grown to quite a system of roads going up almost 30km.

Around the 15km. marker there is a huge hill with a vista that is well worth taking in, I'm sure you could see 25km or more if the air was clear. Today it was blue with haze.

Some of the older areas have been reforested, and others look like natural regeneration as they are thicker than hair on the proverbial dog's back.

Found and interesting trail that goes right into Shillington Lake, right where we canoed this summer and thought there was no one else around. There is a boat cache there and a site for a tent.

We logged about 85km. today. This will probably be the last ATV trip of the season. Unless....

Tower almost complete

Yesterday the last sections were hoisted to the top. The two last sections were the heaviest of the lot. They carried a trusses to relieve the stress of the cables and attachments for the hardware. The weather was very dark and getting good pics was difficult, some photo manipulation was used.

Today I went up this afternoon when the sun was out and got some good ones of the new top and the men putting up the safety rail for climbing the tower and putting the lights on. The picture of the two towers is taken from the old school property.

Mixed blog

Up to the tower this AM but the wind was to strong to lift the last two sections. They are also much heavier than the rest as they have mounts for the equipment. Will be back up tomorrow.

Coming home last week from town they were burning the slash piles right close to the road, it didn't make for very good driving as you couldn't see when you were going through the smoke.

Down the Mann Ridge Rd. for a pic session with some Tree Clubmoss or Ground Pine, Trailing Arbutus, and a scenic view of Fryingpan Lake and a bit of Hangingstone Lake.