More Winter Photos

After laying low all weekend, my strained back is feeling a bit better.  I am hoping to get back out snowshoeing tomorrow.  For today's blog posting, I have a few more photos I took around my yard the other day.

Yesterday the warm temperatures caused the snow pile to condense some.  The next two pictures were taken out of my bathroom window prior to the warm-up.

The wind yesterday knocked most of the snow off the trees.  The picture below I took before the wind kicked up.

I was at first excited when I saw bare ground in my yard.  This spot is due to the front end loader scraping the snow.  The second picture below shows that behind this bare spot -- there is a 12 foot snow bank.

From the bottom of my driveway there is a distant view of the sand dunes.

When I was taking the pictures out the bathroom window, I noticed this spider building a web that was connected to the snow and ice.  I wonder if this spider will make it....

Most of the snow is now off my roof, other than the snow on my sun porch.

The last picture I took of the "pile" before the condensing started.

Here are a couple of pictures I took at sunset.

Winter Wonder Land

Yesterday was a beautiful day in Grand Marais.  I was supposed to go out skiing or snowshoeing, but I tweaked my back and had to resort to driving around town to get a few photos.

The north to northwest winds from the storm blew the ice on Lake Superior back to the south shore.  This picture was taken from the top of the hill on M77 at the intersection with the dirt road that goes straight north before the curve into town.

Except for one small channel of open water.  The next two pictures were taken at the top of the hill going into town.

From the marina parking lot, I took a picture of these snowmobilers that were hanging out on the swimming beach.  I don't think it is legal for them to be down there.

I don't believe that they are driving on the bay, but they are.

The photo below was taken from the parking lot at the end of Coast Guard Point.  The view looks east toward what used to be Lonesome Point.  There is not much of this point left due to erosional forces over the last few decades.

While parked at the end of the point, I took the following picture looking north out of the channel.  Due to the drifted snow, only the top of the lighthouse can be seen.

Ice on the breakwall....

The museum is snowed in.

The snowstorm the other night piled snow up everywhere.

Year to Year Differences in Grand Marais Spring Beach

I have received a few emails lately asking when people should head to Grand Marais to hunt for agates.  My standard response is that the day of first-rock opportunity varies between early March and late April, depending on the year.  For curiosity sake, I decided to look at my blog postings for late March to see what photos I have of our local beach.  The differences from year to year are quite amazing.  This blog only goes back to 2009.

2009--March 29
Ice still was clinging to shore, but there was some available rock on the beach in patches.

2010--March 24
 No ice or snow:  beach completely open for agate hunting.

2011--March 28
The beach was mostly still covered in ice.

2012--March 28
The snow and ice had already melted:  the beach was completely open for agate hunting (in Grand Marais and east of town; not in the national park, of course).

 

2013--March 21
 I guess I didn't get any beach photos in late March last year, but I did take the photo below out of my sun porch.  Although the snow pile/drift on the south side of my house is higher this year--last year was very close.

2014--March 28
The pile is higher this year.  At this point the beach is still mostly snowed in.  I will head down the beach in the days and weeks to come and report back on available first-rock.

Most Beautiful Snow Storm of the Winter

I woke up this morning to no power, most likely caused by the close to twelve inches of snow we received last night.  Power was not resotred until mid afternoon.  You don't appreciate electricity until you don't have it.

While I was waiting for the power to come back on, I went out and snowshoes around my yard.

The top of the clothes line pole is around seven feet off the ground.  Notice how low the wires are due to snow load.

The east side of my sun porch is not buried, but the snow is deep enough.

South side of my sun porch.

South side of my house.

For the first time since I lived in this house -- the snow is higher than the roof line.

My house is buried on the right.  The front end loader clearing my driveway is in the center of the picture, the other side of the snow bank.

Next I walked around my property.

 

The snow pile in front of my garage is four or five feet taller than the roof.

Then I snowshoed next door to look at the collapsed roof on the neighbor's barn.

This ancient barn could not hold the snow load.

This bee hive, which is around two feet tall, was formed on the side of the barn.

Back over to my house...