The Week That Ended With Deer Hunting

November 13th through 19th
Last week started off cold and gray and stayed that way. The lake remained ice free mostly due to occasional wind and wave action. The cold seemed to keep people off the lake. We did not observe any fishermen. Nobody skied. It was noted on our way back to the lake from Southwestern Crandon that the lumpy part of the country before the Vail Pass didn't have much snow yet. Copper Mountain, just after the Vail Pass, didn't have enough snow for skiing but apparently enough for grooming. Normally, the large puddles and motes that dot the area around the lake disappear in late Spring. It's been a wet Fall. It looks like the lake is not going back down anytime soon. The condition of Knott Lane has been better. The patches of ice and frozen mud make hiking the lane interesting and bruise-y. The new Trillium Lane signs have the added touch of a list of fire numbers. Well done Town of Lincoln! The current condition of Trillium Lane is considerably worse than that of Knott Lane. Puddles in the tapping fields got more solid all week. It snowed. Not enough to cover the lawns, but it was a close thing. The bugs are gone. That did not stop this guy from looking for a wriggly lunch by boring holes in sick trees The leaf cover is at zero percent except for the oak leaves (they fall in Spring.) After sunset on opening day, the tradition of soup for the hunters at the bar included non-hunters and some fancy pants drinks this year. The lake level continues to hold at 21 inches above the nail. We would expect that to fall a few inches before ice-in, but we expected it to fall a few inches over the past two months and that didn't happen. Some of the local lakes are ice covered (Wabikon, Riley, Silver) and some are wide open (Lucerne, Metonga). With the colder weather, we expect ice formation behind Lake Lucerne's islands some time this week. Get those island ski runs in soon before the lake gets all hard and knobby.<br><br>-Nemo: Embracing the cold, missing the warm.