caretaking

Just the moose, bear and us

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We haven’t seen the moose (the plural of moose is moose) but a kayaker reported seeing a bull moose on the beach 2 days ago.

Moose tracks are appearing closer to the keeper’s house. I sing various songs my 0.8 mile ride to the boathouse/sauna/harbor. Yesterday was Frere Jacque (I had to look up the french for the second verse). Today was Delta Dawn with totally made up words.

We haven’t seen more evidence of the bear other than visitors reporting they saw scat.

We snuck out during a brief window of fair weather this am for Tim to get his 3rd rabies vaccine from Ontario Public Health. Sunrise was beautiful. Next and last will be due in one week when we expect to be off island.

Now the winds are rising and a gale is forecast for tomorrow. At least it’s from the south. Yesterday, we had strong, cold northwest winds, which kept blowing out our propane fridge. Lucky for us, food supplies are running low. We picked up ice today for the Yeti cooler and should be fine. Dinner tonight was delicious trout provided by two young men from Minnesota.

It’s so much less stressful when a storm is predicted and you have no place to go. We’re tucked in nicely. Sauna, shower and dip in the Lake today. Yesterday was pretty cold, with the wind from the plains and Tim fired up the wood burning furnace. Things got toasty quickly.

No stress means a good night’s sleep.

A quiet ending to a beautiful weekend

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Labor Day weekend marks the end of summer in Canada and the USA. We had plenty of boats and visitors yesterday to commemorate the end of summer.

They were rafted together with more at the other docks. Two boatloads of visitors arrived by charter as well. The sauna was put to good use. A pair of young men from Minnesota cooked trout for everyone.

I participated in a stone carving workshop and made a bear as a fitting memento of our stay. Unfortunately, the head fell off and I’ll have to glue it together but the instructor, Deborah Spears, gave me an alabaster bear as consolation.

Tim helped people to and from the lighthouse while I remained at the dock and handled big business at the giftshop.

Today was a different story. Weather is coming and the last two boats left early this am. I finally had some time to try my new loom and do some bead weaving.

I don’t have the right color beads but this is going to be tiger eyes for a barrette. I like the idea of two eyes looking back.

I’ve also been busy with critter traps. Flies had overrun the kitchen when we first arrived. We found some flypaper, which definitely helped, and I made an inverted bottle trap with dish soap, vanilla, and yeast. Grocery stores don’t carry snap traps for mice so I improvised with a spackle bucket with water, and a rod with a can that spins, coated with peanut butter. So far, one for one.

Tim awakened to a bat in the bedroom during a nap, and after much discussion amongo ourselves and Public Health, he started the rabies vaccine series. He didn’t know if there had been contact and rabies is lethal. Getting the series according to schedule may be a challenge due to weather.

There’s definitely a moose and at least one calf roaming the island. We haven’t seen anything more than footprints yet.

Much of the rock along the shore is lava and there is lichen and succulents in abundance.

As predicted winds and rough seas arrived and stayed for two days. It was a good day to dry laundry but the solar panels kept blowing over.

Today, Tim is off for the next of his rabies vaccines and I’ll minds the island and visitors. This is the last day of official tours and it should be busy.

We use that boat to get to shore and I ride the 0.8 miles to and from the lighthouse on my trusty steed, which is too small, has no gears, but I love the ride.

Where saunas are de rigeur

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There are several self serve saunas along this part of Lake Superior. There’s currently no hot water in the residence but we were assured we could shower near the sauna.

The past couple of days boaters started it up themselves. We quietly observed. Sauna, jump in the lake, sauna, jump in the lake, repeat. We tried it when it was already going and I loved it – Tim, not so much.

Then we learned splashing water on the stones ramps up the heat and steam. Tim split wood from the woodpile and resupplied the sauna.

We were on our own yesterday so I fired it up. After about an hour it was up to temperature. And in we went. The lake felt lovely although it was reportedly 62 degrees. Sauna, lake, sauna lake with shampoo and rinse in between.

I barely stayed awake until sunset and, last night, slept like a baby.

From Tasmania to Lake Superior

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We met a kayaker in 2019 while we were caretakers for Tasmania Parks snd Wildlife at Deal Island. Tim reconnected with him last year and learned he is connected with the Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior, which manages several lighthouses on the Canadian side of Lake Superior.

We were interviewed and invited to Porphyry Island, located north of Isle Royale (pronounced Royal by both Americans and Canadians). It’s the end of the season and we’ll help close the island. We’ve hosted lovely visitors as well.

We drove around the north of Lake ONTARIO and Lake Superior. We thought we would swim along the way but it was cold and rainy. We found a lovely pool though and swam before one of our days’ drive.

We found beautiful places to stop and tried to avoid typical fast food.

We arrived Sunday after the fog had lifted. There hadn’t been fog for a month but then it settled in thickly for a couple of days, just long enough for us to hope the solar panels would keep up.

The local bear decided to chew up one of the cart’s seats our first night. Always the bears! Luckily we had some duct tape to repair it.

The weather finally cleared today and we could appreciate the views.

Sleeping Giant to our west.

There’s a tradition of wood fired saunas along the lake. We tried it yesterday followed by cold plunges and found it a great way to end the day. I slept like the sleeping giant.

The lighthouse is smaller than we are used to. The Yeti cup is included for perspective.

This is actually a replica of the original which was demolished when they switched to diesel in the 1960’s.

If we lose our GPS on the boat, there’s a backup Radio Direction Finder (its predecessor) in the residence.

We found the black sand beach and s perfect place to lounge today.

Now I get to organize. And sleep to the sounds of waves crashing on the shore.

Tim urged me to include one of his photos of me planning my next task.

A walk around the block

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We effectively took a walk in our “neighborhood”, around Lumpy Ridge. Lumpy Ridge is a massive granite rock outcropping that’s been sculpted by wind and erosion over the last 1.8 billion years. It features many named rock formations, my favorite is Twin Owls. Once you see it, you can’t miss it.

Twin Owls

These are popular rock climbing destinations after the Peregrine Falcons finish roosting.

I’m always pretty happy at the beginning of a hike.

Happy hikers

We were prepared for winter hiking conditions, especially after our earlier, exhausting, post-holing experience.

So of course, we didn’t need our snow shoes. It’s like carrying an umbrella, forget it and it’s sure to rain.

The views of the Continental divide were stunning. We climbed for the first 4 miles then it was all downhill after that. We ran into slushy snow on the back side of the ridge along the Dark Mountain trail. Microspikes were all we needed.

We picked a gorgeous day for it. This is an outbuilding on our neighbor, MacGregor’s Ranch, which transferred 1200 acres of lands for conservation to the NPS.

I decided to name a few of the formations myself.

I would call this Twin Chickens
Chicken hat on a post
Angry man and family
Toucan with a hat
First sign of spring on Cow Creek Trail
Home stretch

Luckily for me, we were able to use two vehicles and did not need to complete the loop, which would have added additional elevation.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch, the big boys came to visit.

It was a nice change from the turkeys.

A good time was had by all!

Beauty and illusions

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I remind myself that we are the visitors here. The turkeys are still doing their thing all around us. At least three toms, strutting their stuff, and numerous hens, chirping. They call from behind the barn and up the hill, around the buildings, and in the front field. Spring is certainly in the air.

Tim pointed out they drag their flight feathers on the ground with their display. With a little bit of snow, it looked like someone had pulled a sled around the cabins.

He also thought there was a lizard in the kitchen.

It was really a lone piece of arugula.

This moth, found on our wall, had good camouflage.

One of these is not like the rest. Can you tell which ones are from a heritage breed?

While the cost of eggs rise and the stock markets tumble, it helps to remain focused on the beauty which surrounds us everyday.

Scene in our backyard

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After a day’s absence, the turkeys returned (I actually missed them) and the flock grew to 24. There are 3 Toms and 21 hens, as best I can tell. They seem to be getting used to our presence. This morning, one Tom approached me in his full display.

Two bull elk returned. One had dropped his antlers. They were hanging out next to the barn and walked off after I spotted them.

The variety of bird song increases daily as more return for Spring in Estes Park.

When we are not busy working on the cabins and main house, I have been creating lots of projects. More to follow. A girl has got to have fun!

A post holer’s perspective

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That’s the imprint of my right hand during one of several post hole topples. I didn’t catch the two that left me lying in the snow. All was well at starting elevation, 50’s and dry trail, so we left our snowshoes in the car. Back home in the Adirondacks it’s a requirement. Here it’s just bad form.

We hiked along the Wind River, where there was enough blowdown to earn its name. Our next hike will have even less traffic so we’ll definitely bring our snowshoes.

Grumpy Rock

I can always see something in the rock formations.

Sad-faced rock

When we rounded the bend, the views dazzled.

Another great walk in the Park.

Meanwhile, back at the Ranch

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We took a road trip to Fort Collins. I had an appointment to review archives of the Dickerson sisters. These were two women who grew up on an off-the-grid homestead in the Mummy Range of mountains, where they supported themselves by running a timber operation and selling home baked goods and handcrafts. I had hoped to see some of their handcrafts but there was a misunderstanding and instead I reviewed a folder of articles, photos and clippings. I first learned of them when I read an article about a pin loom blanket made by them. This was while I was making a pin loom blanket almost next door, in the adjacent mountains.

Here’s a photo of Alice. I may try to recreate her hat. They lived together into their 80’s. I read their story in a book called Apples of the Mummy’s Eyes.

They were as poor as church mice but now their homestead is on the market for $850,000! I managed to copy their recipe for bread, in their case baked in a wood burning stove.

I am happy to share it with you.

At least, we had preferred parking due to our hybrid car.

After our visit to the museum, we hiked in the Eagles Nest open space. The landscape was much different from what we have become used to.

It was dry brush with no snow. The weather didn’t get quite as warm as we hoped but it was a great walk.

There were signs like these whenever we considered following the wrong herd path.

On our way home, we saw a small herd of bighorn (not longhorn) sheep.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch a flock of turkeys has moved in. One of the Toms struts his stuff around the grounds.

His ladies seem more interested in the meager grass and bugs in the lawn.

Now they have gone down the road a piece.

Rabbits and Mountain Lions

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We went for a walk out back to stretch our lazy legs. We met a couple of hikers, who excitedly told us they saw lots of Mountain Lion tracks. That’s all Tim needed to hear. Despite my protests, our walk got a little longer.

Once we found one print, we saw a lot.

For comparison

On our way back to the Ranch, it became clear why the campsite was named Rabbit Ears.

Today it’s blowing stink, we won’t be walking. I think a swim is in order.