Ice-Out Spile-Out Week

April 10th through 16th
The ice went out early last week. It was one of the strangest ice-out events we've ever witnessed. Usually the breakup and removal takes a few days, but this year the ice that covered the lake on Sunday was simply gone on Monday. The extreme rain event is strongly suspected to have been the reason for the instant open water. The lake got at least two inches deeper during the storm. The in flowing creeks and streams have become swollen torrents that will push the lake level up even further. Huzzah! It looks like the heavy rain opened up Lake Metonga, too. If we could only get some green on the tree tips, it'd look like Summer. The day after ice-out didn't look anything like Summer. It mostly melted by the weekend, but the Summer momentum was blunted. As soon as the ice went gone, water fowl were floating all over the North end of the lake. The loons seemed to be the happiest and most loud. The maple syrup season ended with a bump. We gathered over 800 gallons of sap in 4 days and kept the fires under the boiling pans lit 24 hours a day. In addition to gathering and boiling , there was filtering and bottling. By the weekend, the sap had slowed and the trees were close to budding. The sugar mules were sent into the bush one last time to pull buckets and spiles. The Great Bucket Cleaning of 2017 was well attended. Still, your presence was missed. There were an awful lot of buckets. First! Cold! Ice-out, the end of maple syrup season, and the coming Summer were celebrated with a grand bar night last Friday. Again, you should have been there. The lake got still deeper by the end of the week. We can't remember a wetter Spring, but the result will be a fuller lake. The numbers are in. The lake is 7.5 inches above the nail. That's over half a foot deeper than it was just before ice-in. The temperature of Lake Lucerne is at 47℉. That's a little warmer than just before ice-in, but still more than cold enough to induce smurfism (high pitched voice (mostly screams) and blue skin). Typically, the lake level peaks at the end of June. One foot above the nail is within screaming distance. Yay! <br><br>-Nemo, waiting for 15℉ more before leveling that lift.