Hottest Week of the Year

July 16th through 22nd, 2013

Lake Lucerne
Summer is in full bloom here in northern Wisconsin. The days are long, sunny and hot. The nights are short, much less sunny and hot.
Lake Lucerne
Not much rain though. The north end of the lake enjoyed over 3 inches and over 2 inches of water from the sky the previous two weeks. We got almost 0.2 inches this week. Weak. We need more rain to keep the lake level going up.
Lake Lucerne
The ski show on Wednesday evenings (Monday evenings also for July) has been much more consistant than the rain. From the opening barefoot line...
Lake Lucerne
...to the closing mega pyramid. All the acts have been great, but it's the falls that we really like.
Lake Lucerne
Some of the tumbles occur away from the viewing crowds. Pyramid building falls into this type of splash. Keep your eye on the formation on the starboard side of the boat.
Lake Lucerne
Splash!
Lake Lucerne
The two ski bomb-out is always good for a bounce or two.
Lake Lucerne
No bouncing this time, just sliding.
Lake Lucerne
The backwards ski kid's fall was good. His entire body was underwater except his head. The judges award him an 8.5 out of 10.
Lake Lucerne
10 out of 10! Sort of the opposite of the backwards ski kid.
Lake Lucerne
Note the arm clawing for the sky in the middle rear of the formation. 9.5 of 10.
Lake Lucerne
Flying above the water and your ski (canoe paddle) will not win you the "Captain's Hat" but will produce a high score! 11!
Lake Lucerne
The spray-the-kids-on-the-dock fall is not technically a crash but good screaming though.
Lake Lucerne
It was hot this week. That did not stop campfires from being lit. Thursday's campfire had a bit of a twist to it. A hollow log was discovered earlier in the week providing the missing component of a "Dragon Fire". Stop by some time and we'll explain how to make one.
Lake Lucerne
If you define Summer as June, July and August, Summer is half over. In some ways it seems to be flying by way too fast. In other ways the long days, heat and bugs are getting old. Well, at least the bugs anyway. The lake temperature (taken 6 feet under the surface) hit a record 83.5°F this week. Swimming was nice. I don't think the lake can hold that temperature long, which is fine. The upper 70's (°F) are good too. The lake dropped about an inch this week due, in no small part, to a lack of rain. More rain is predicted this week. Let's hope we get it.


-Nemo, counting down summer days one ski run at a time.