The One That Ended In Rain

September 27th through October 3rd, 2021

Lake Lucerne
Last week was full of seasonal color, unseasonal warmth, and some interesting weather. By the time it all ended, peak color moved into post peak and the lake was inches higher.
Lake Lucerne
Peak color arrived at Lucerne around mid-week.
Lake Lucerne
There were yellows...
Lake Lucerne
and other yellows...
Lake Lucerne
and reds...
Lake Lucerne
and later in the week, golds..
Lake Lucerne
Some trees became autumnal chimeras as they displayed all the Fall colors at once.
Lake Lucerne
Before the weekend, there was plenty of sun to light up all those changed leaves.
Lake Lucerne
There was also plenty of browns. If you find yourself chased by a bear, take a second look to be sure it's not just some unfortunate hiker that wandered into a thick burdock patch and is just bellowing for help pulling off the sticky balls of doom.
Lake Lucerne
The sun and late season heat seems to have produced a fine (and tall!) crop of bird on the North end of the lake.
Lake Lucerne
On Wednesday we visited the Eau Claire River Dells.
Lake Lucerne
There was lots of strangely rectangular rock.
Lake Lucerne
There was also plenty of rushing water.
Lake Lucerne
The air was warm and the sun made it feel hotter, but the water was cold and we forgot our suits so nobody swam.
Lake Lucerne
Plus there was that whole deadly thing.
Lake Lucerne
The clouds rolled in for the weekend and the North end of Lucerne got over a half of an inch of rain before Saturday evening.
Lake Lucerne
Few, only two that I know of, tried to squeeze in a few holes of golf between the rain and sunset on Saturday. The thick, patchy ground fog whispered of more rain to come and made finding even well hit golf balls interesting.
Lake Lucerne
Most of Sunday's rain came in a two hour period around noon. The lake level is rising again.
Lake Lucerne
In contrast to the image here, the current state of the northwoods is pretty damp. Creeks are flowing, the lake is rising, and lawn puddles are back. Last week's heat has pushed the lake temperature back up to 65°F, making it slightly more swimmable. Slightly. That won't last long. In addition to fall leaves, October's lake temperature typically tumbles into the 50s°F and below. It seems early to contemplate ice-in, but the reality is that it's less than a dozen weeks away. It's time to get in all the golf, ice-free walks, and **shudder** swimming we can before then.


-Nemo declares burdock the official garnish of Malort.