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mai 11, 2008

Denis, Charlie, Pat, and Kody in the otter for the first flight of the season Jonathan looking down on a cool site… open water by the dock; ice on the main beach It was with great relief that we got news on Friday that the Back Bay at Aikens was open and that we could indeed fly in on Saturday morning. When we flew over the lake, we were welcomed by an icy tundra! Virtually the whole lake has ice on it right now, with the only open areas being the Back Bay and most of the Gammon River. The ice is just starting to retreat from the beach, but it's going to take several very warm days to rid us of this ice! Pat with the culprit who broke into the old laundry room Pit trolling near ice for lakers Seagull standing on the ice There is always a moment of trepidation as you step on the dock for the first time in the season. You wonder how the camp wintered... were there any big trees that fell over in a storm, did a bear manage to break in to the kitchen, did we forget to drain the water out of something important, how did the docks hold up over the winter, etc. We could tell right away that the new dock withstood Old Man Winter's test. As we spread out through camp to do the inspection, it was clear that the camp was in awesome shape! The only glitch was that a prairie chicken flew through a window in our old laundry room... it found the only window in camp that hadn't been boarded up for the winter! Moose tracks on beach Sunset over ice Gorgeous sunset Opening day is normally a very busy day, and this year was no exception. However, everything went very smoothly as we were able to get the power going, the water system, the hot water re-circ line (very important for those hot showers after a cold day outside), and the kitchen. Pat even threw in one boat so that we could go scout the ice on the lake. We were only able to get as far as Beacon Rock in the front. It appears that the ice is still several inches thick; and possibly up to a foot in some areas! We tried a quick troll for some lakers, but to no avail. The first fish of the season was eventually caught by Pit... although it was a little hammer-handle pike as we re-entered the Back Bay. The first day ended with a memorable sunset over a frozen lake; what a gorgeous sight. Special Note: Now that we have landed at Aikens, you can expect the updates to be posted with a lot more regularity. We are aiming to update this newsletter blog every two days for the rest of the summer. Thanks for tuning in and here's to a great 2008!!!