Freeze, thaw, freeze thaw. Thaw. Thaw. Thaw. Thaw. Most, if not all ice and snow on land has disappeared, which is not totally the norm for these parts in March. It sort of feels like winter had just started to get rollin, before it was cut short by these temps in the teens.

Put this birch bowl aside to dry, several weeks ago now. I'll probably be able to pull it out and sand it later this summer, along with all the other projects that have been stockpiling on the drying rack.


Just another rad shot of the lakes from NOAA.


peace
e

photos: eric berglund

Download the full size satellite image from NOAA here.

OK, so if you've checked this blog for a while now, you know a few things... of which A) Certain themes repeat themselves from one year to the next based, mostly on season and pass time; B) Thunder Bay Ontario is situated on Lake Superior; C) Winter can be long and drawn out in northwestern Ontario; D) Weather and Lake Superior are interesting subjects.

Which leads to:
The Fresh Aspects brief archival history of Lake Superior ice conditions in the month of March

And some photographic evidence:

March 5th, 2010 (most recent quality image).


March 10th, 2009- holy hell, look at all that ice!


March 10th, 2008- more than 2010



Despite the 3 feet of ice that may exist in some of the embayments on Lake Superior, we have seen significantly less ice cover in comparison to the last couple of years. So the forecast models put out in late fall 2009 were correct in predicting the outcome of a El Nino season.

So have i been surfing then? The short answer is NO. It doesn't matter how little ice there is, if there aren't any storms or significant winds, other than the common Northerly flow during the winter, there aren't many waves to be had.

The upshot has been a mild winter with good skiing and recent 14C temperatures, which i have to admit is pleasant despite the fact that i truly love winter.

peace
e

photos courtesy of NOAA GLERL Coastwatch

Natural glass work

30th B-day ski yesterday with Oskar. Unbelievable out there and finally starting to tap into my "old man strength" (which only gets better with time).

Finished up this first flour scoop sunday morning between waffles & bacon with O and N and skiing.


peace
e

photo's by eric berglund

Great sheets of black ice out there on the bay.




These days: Family time, tons of good skiing, warm winter weather and Olympic maddness.

peace
e

photo by: eric berglund

Fun filled weekend, mostly outside.

Quiet chairlift ride and snowy trees at Lutsen Mountain.


Checking the ice situation before headed out to drill some holes.

The northshore was loaded with whitetails this weekend and we were dodging them the whole way down to Lutsen Mountain on sunday. These four were no exception and opted to try and climb the vertical, crumbling, iron rich cliff like mountain goats, rather than jump the guard rail on the other side. Jumping the rail however may have lead to certain death as they plummeted towards lake Superior. The option to try and climb may be a sign that we won't see flying deer any time soon.



Oh, i was ask in the comment section below what i shoot with. Either it's RAW capture with the Canon 30D and a variety of Canon lenses or it's the Olympus Stylus 790SW point and shoot.


peace out all.

photos by: eric berglund

Shot this a week ago down the shore amidst 12-14' piles of ice. North winds and sunny skies prevail today. Still cross country skiing in these parts, although tomorrow might be the last hooraw for the dog and i.



photo by: eric berglund

glassy perfection

Nature's glass creations.





Dang...check this simple and enjoyable piece by compadre Joe Conway of
Wool Wood & Whiskey

peace out friends

photo's by Eric Berglund

Been off yonder as of late...hittin the road so to speak. Checkin the status on the northshore; visiting some family; getting some lessons in Swedish bowl carving technique from the sage elder down in Fridley, MN.; relishing the taste of some Surly brew and embracing the fact that we still have some winter left to contend with. All this among other things.

Glimpses of spring, Lake Superior
March 25th, 2009.





peace
e
photos by: eric berglund

Ice


photo by: eric

For interest sake and since we are getting hammered by a blizzard as i write this, lets have a look at the ice situation out on the lake in comparison to last year on the same day. This should bring to light the incredible lack of surfing that has been going on in this part of the world.

Here we have, what i was bemoaning last year on March 10th, as far ice out on Lake Superior was concerned.

Here we have the ice situation as of March 10th, 2009. Considerably more!
And not surprising either, considering the early onset of cold this year. Environment Canada also noted that "this years ice coverage is more extensive than normal". So there you have it. Ice, ice, baby. Not sure why i even bother reporting this, like some kind of junior meteorologist or dr. icecube or whatever; considering...what will be, will be.
Interest sake, i guess.


The whole upshot to all of this snow and ice, will be the increased run-off and subsequent increased water levels in the rivers and lake Superior....so, not a bad thing.

Lake Superior Ture Color MODIS Imagery, courtesy of
NOAA CoastWatch - Great Lakes Region

Hit up Lutsen (mid west skiing at it's finest), down the way on the Minnesota northshore on saturday with my sis Signe, the bro-inlaw Andrew and Nancy. Sig and Andy rocked the slowboards...i mean snowboards, Nance donned alpine gear for the first time in years and i turned the tele's. Fun day, spring corn. Lot's o' ice packed in along the lakeshore. Sauna mania when we rolled into town in the evening. Headed for a stroll out at Silver Harbour this morning to wake our selves up...spent the day puttsin around and turning some balsa floats for some spring steelheading. Topped it off with a yoga session to finish the day. Solid weekend all around.

Posse

Sig and Andy

What the heck...more ice for ya.


photo's by Eric Berglund

Here's the surf report: NO SURF...and ice, lots of ice (See Figure 1). 18 days and counting since last in the water. Now would be a good time to be heading to Costa Rica. Life on a lake in Canada, no big surprise.

Figure 1. A very frozen Lake Superior.


On the other hand we'd be missing out on some killer ski conditions and the warm winter sun of March. Here are some shots from a weekend spent outside.



Nance Fishing

Nance Sliding





photo's by Eric Berglund

More piles of frozen water. When will it end?

photo by Eric Berglund

More rock and ice and water and a whole lot of sunshine. What a gorgeous weekend to be outside, hovering around 0C at mid day. Logged 30 km's on the skis yesterday in preperation for next weekends 50km Sibley Ski Tour and then shredded it free heel at the hill in the evening with the boys. Went for a solid hike today to check out a potential break, all be it, it may have been slightly more evident if there wasn't so much ice in this particular spot. But whatever, just nice to be out.



photo's by Eric Berglund

Saturday...-8C by the time it warmed up mid day, wind SW around 20kts at the most...short fetch...Winston and i cruised out for what we thought would be some fairly insignificant waves. Wetsuit..check...booties...check...mitts.........i had mine, Win on the other hand, had left his at home. He sported 2 pairs of extra neoprene liner socks as mitts instead...our feet may have suffered a bit. Trudge down the trail through the snow. Water looks cold, rocks covered in ice. Had to be colder than -8C...water somewhere just above freezing, not bad looking waves though. Waves built to about chest high at its peak during the afternoon....pretty rad when your expecting ankle slop....long rides...frozen feet, out of the water after two hours... dark....painful change out of the wetsuits....stoked.

Some ice from a sunday morning jaunt up into the hills

Friday..may as well throw up a shwack of pictures. -17 out there this morning...balmy. Forecast isn't looking to great for surf over the weekend. Very very off chance of maybe getting something this afternoon if the wind doesn't switch to NW..currently blowing W @ 23knots. It'll probably change. Keep occupied with skiing...might bust out the tele sticks tonight...we'll see. Anyways word.

The big lake- spring 2006

Left coast- April 2007

Solo moose hunt sunrise-2006

Left coast-April 2007

Sleepy G. backpacking- summer 2006

Hydro Bay- fall 2006