Mother nature gave us a one two punch Wednesday Thursday, with quite a scare for all up here. with the temps reaching 44 degrees the snow slowly melted away on the lake. The visibility was as thick as pea soup. I was very thankful we had no one staying here. One of the employees down at rodgers had became lost on the lake. Not good, I hate to admit but I have had a couple times out there in white out condition. I guess I would say the best advice is do not panic. The first responder were notified at some point. By 830 wednesday night they gave up deciding to wait tell morning. In the meantime the temps started to plummet with a 32 degree swing in less than 20 hours. We actually got lucky with the snow fall with maybe a inch. The wind on the other hand was gusting and blowing 30 to 40 miles a hour, I think. Searching for this young man made it all most impossible. Such a dangerous citation. As the winds finally calmed down and improved visibility, they found him safe and sound. I do not know all the details, other than he got hung up on a pressure ridge at some point. He then was able to get to a cabin on the north shore which is pretty much a miracle. There are only a couple places you can even see a cabin on the north shore. I would really like to hear more about what exactly happened so it could be a learning lesson. This lake can have a very ugly side when it comes to weather. With the winds being a main culprit. Throw in a little snow and white outs are very common out there. I guess the best thing you can do is hunker down.
I personally was so relieved when we heard he had been found safe. I do not want to admit it but I thought the worst.
Thursday I had a eye appointment. Driving to Bemidji was treacherous once you got past Kellier. What normally take a hour turned into over 2. I got home just as the sun was setting. I knew I would have to plow down at the lake due to high winds plus 1 inch of snow. I headed down yesterday morning to turn on the heat to the house’s only to discover 3 foot drifts. Blue thunder got her first good work out with a tank of gas and four hours of plowing. I did also go over to hillmans to help him clear some of his landing.
We did have Quinton and Paul staying in old minnesota . They have a snow bear, they were out in those elements during the fog but stayed on shore thursday. They did fairly well with one of them landing another elusive upper red lake crappie. Jonny boy did spend some time fishing with them yesterday. He has hooked up with them before as they hit it off the first year they stayed here.
The rest of my day was spent taking care of arrivals that are staying here over the weekend. I get to visit a bit tonight so I will have a good fishing report for the weekend.
We’re planning on bringing the fleet out of the woods and on to the lake starting sunday. Jonny boy has been scouting, fishing since thanksgiving so we have some spots picked out to start the season. Once the house are on the lake I will pretty much be out there for the next 100 days so the real season starts sunday.
Since I go out of Hillmans with my rentals we help Buddy hillman on his main road. At this time he is allowing side by sides pulling single axle wheelhouses out. Make sure you check in to get any other details in the store, bait shop where you buy your road pass. Same with any other resort you may go out of.
I’ll be checking out the lake more today once we get are last guest checked in.
A big thank you goes out to all involved in finding the young man that got lost out there. Let’s all remember to use common sense out there as this is a big lake that unfortunately can have a very ugly side. Watch the weather as always plan for the worst.