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July 4th through 10th, 2022

Last week was the big chunk of summer that we had all been dreaming about and looking forward to since late last September. It was warm bordering on hot all week. There was sun, flat water, some thunder, and a rainbow. All the elements for some hardcore summer adventure! Most of the rain came at the start and end of the week. Monday night's rain total, seen here, was over twice that of Sunday's. Sunday's rain was preceded by some extremely pleasant weather with just a shade of watery doom in the sky just west of Lucerne. A little bit of visible sunset was left after Sunday's watery doom passed, resulting in a rainbow just above the bar. Sunsets at the start of the week were good. Sunsets at the end of the week were better. Both ski shows last week were not rained out, but Monday's was a close thing. A popular activity on the north end of the lake is to try to launch a personal water craft past the tree tops. They never make it, but that didn't stop them from trying. Again and again and again... Many days last week saw their highs push past 80°F. The water temperature was just under 74°F so we took the opportunity to enjoy some time under the lake. On Thursday, a small group was sent out on a rescue mission to retrieve some equipment that found itself lost in some of the deeper water of Lucerne. Halfway to the bottom, at about 25 feet, we hit the thermocline. After descending 10 more feet, the divers agreed that their ungloved hands were not going to "get used to it" during the search, so we returned to the surface. A check of the dive computer showed the water temperature below 25 feet to be 39°F. The more experienced diver had brought and subsequently donned his gloves. We went back down with the gloved diver searching the bottom while the barehanded gentleman kept an eye on him while hovering just above (and sometime falling below) the thermocline. After about 15 minutes of looking, we surfaced. Disappointed by not finding anything, but very refreshed. Other shallower dives on the north end of the lake were far warmer and more successful. The cribs are full of fish. They're mostly somewhat curious panfish, but a huge bass will cruise by every now and then. Above the water, well above the thermocline, milkweed is starting to pod. Other summertime flowers are also starting to explode in color. The extreme colors are expected to be with us for the next several weeks. In addition to the 39°F temperature, the bottom of the lake also gets a little dark at 50 feet. There's a plan to return to the deep and continue the search after we warm up and get more air in our tanks. Until then, summer will continue to barrel along with 2 ski shows per week (every Monday and Wednesday at Water's Edge), hot weather, and warming lake water. The lake temperature on Sunday (above the thermocline) was 75°F. With all that summer coming, there's bound to be a few passing storms. When you head to the store to bulk up the dwindling supplies of energy drinks and ibuprofen, you might want to pick up an umbrella.<br><br><br>-Nemo will bring gloves next time.

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