The Heat is Back On

It got hot again last week. High temperatures soared back into the 80s°F and dew points pushed into the 60s°F making for some very special sticky hot. That all ended in a soaky conclusion, but it was a wild ride while it lasted.

At the start of the week, a forecasted ginormous storm hit a wall of reality and dropped a meh amount of rain on the lake area. The storm did have some impressive wind that tipped lots of stuff into the water and knocked out the power in Laona for a few days, but impressive amounts of bluster will not do much to stop the lake level from falling. Lake Lucerne's level lost 5 inches in July. When coupled with the 4.5 inches lost in June, it's no wonder many are having issues getting boats off lifts.

Wednesday evening's ski show was hampered by some strong, swirling winds. Footing acts were canceled and pyramid acts were all bouncy in an entertaining, but painful way.

The large and enthusiastic crowd seemed amused.

The wind quickly passed and the lake flattened out nicely. Someone should have skied.

Almost all nights were calm, mostly cloudless, and also had a glaring lack of skiers.

Close to the end of the week, the Footstock moon was halfway full and bright enough to tan by.

The best way to beat the heat last week was to get under the lake. Fortuitously, I also had a third of a tank of air to burn before having the tank filled. This confluence of resources was to lead to underwater adventures!

In a first adventure, a lone diver intended to find a deeper crib that is 120° from our pier and out about 200 or 300 yards. The diver ended up getting distracted by a fish or something and got all lost. While the diver did not know where he was exactly, he did know the shore was to the west so getting back wasn't hard. The second dive would have another diver added for both safety and superior navigation.

Thanks to better compass work, the crib in question was located.

It was pretty full of fish. In retrospect, we should have marked it to add to a fishing adventure later that evening.

The old giant stump that lies under only 10 feet or so of lake was visited on our way back. Future dives are planned to retrieve several iPhones, some other equipment, and a check on the condition of the old launch we last visited a few years back.

The humongous thistles on the north end of the lake continue to add spectacular color to photographs and seriously poke the un-cautious.

On Saturday evening, the real rain started.

By Monday morning, dormant lawns were waking up and the lake was two inches deeper.

Despite the cooler, wetter weather, some families still spent all day on the water.

During the summer, on a dry week, the lake drops about an inch. Last week was many things, but thanks to the weekend, dry it was not. This was a good start. We'll need a similar rain event this month to arrest the recent record drop in lake level. The cooler and slightly deeper lake will host 3 more ski shows before closing the book on 2022. The two Wednesday shows will be filled with their usual greatness, but the alumni show, on Sunday, August 14th, should be really fun.

-Nemo vows to not dive alone again.

The Heat is Back On

August 1st through 7th, 2022