Deer Park Lodge

"You Must Believe In Spring"

We woke up this morning with a minus six degrees and about one and half inches of beautiful snow. We are supposed to be on a short warming trend for the next few days. Everything, and everybody, could use a nice reminder that Spring is close by. Like the title of the song suggests, you must believe!

There continues to be a lot of snow on the ice out on Muskallonge Lake. To fish we are probably drilling holes 30" deep to get to water. Speaking of fish, it has been on the slow side. Sounds like it has been that way all over though. But it didn't stop us from catching enough pike for a good meal last night.

Snowmobiling is awesome. Trails are in good shape and are not very busy. It seems like our guests are getting more miles in on the trails this year than in years past, which is certainly a reflection on how smooth the trails are. The weather man has us down for several more inches of snow tonight. Spring riding looks to be fabulous.

We have several openings after the welcome beginning of Daylight Savings Time, which arrives on March 9th.  This is a great time to visit the U.P. - we get longer and much sunnier days (Check the chart - we're talking sunset at 7:40 PM when DST kicks in!) Plus, the snow will probably be at its peak, and packed down enough so you can get out and explore the woods. The ice bluffs on nearby Lake Superior are really cool.  Plus, there's not a lot of folks around, so you'll have the whole north country pretty much to yourselves.

Give us call and we'll be happy to get you set up.

(906) 658-3341

Get Outside and Do Something Today!

Mike and Monica

Plenty of snow for Vintage Snowmobile One Lunger 200

Snow, Snow and more Snow and it just keeps on coming. This past week we picked up a bunch of snow, which was alright because this time it didn't come with a bunch of wind and severely cold weather.  Even though the last couple of mornings have been in the low single-digit-degree range the sun has come out and warmed us up to reasonable upper teens and the low-20's range.  This weekend it is suppose to be fabulous getaway weather with sunny skies and temp staying in the mid-20's. (NOAA forecast)

Big race this weekend for the Pine Stump Guys.  For the past 6 weeks they have been restoring a 1971 Sno Jet for the first annual Vintage Snowmobile One Lunger 200.  This sled looked like it came out of Farmer Jack's back-forty after sitting there for 30 years. But low and behold the guys got this thing not only running really well, but also have it shined up and looking good. If the old suspension can hold up during the race these guys might make a good showing.  The race is Saturday at the TMC Motor Sports Park in Newberry, with over 40 entries.  Should be allot of fun to watch. For more information you can call 906-293-9330.

Just for fun, here's a video of a '77 Sno Jet, another old Sno Jet doing some old school donuts, and a bunch of great pictures of various vintage sleds to give you an idea what we're going to witness this weekend. The picture shown here is from Blake Read's amazing Sno*Jet site.

The snow conditions are as good as anyone could ask for.  If you are interested in riding deep snow in the big woods, now is the time. Check the latest TASA report for Newberry and surrounding areas. We have several openings at Deer Park Lodge after the first week of March, so if we can be of some help getting you set up, feel free to contact us .  Until then get outside and have some fun!!!

(906) 658-3341

Cheers,

Mike and Monica

We Survived Another Storm

Just when it seemed that we had the storm of the year two weeks ago, we get blasted again with another huge one. This time the sustained winds had to be up in the upper 30 mph range and lasted at least 24 hours. 

I am not sure how much snow we got out of it, but the drifting in our yard and throughout the neighborhood is pretty amazing. All day long on Sunday we were in survival mood. When we woke up Sunday morning we couldn't get out the front door of the house because it was drifted in so bad. The cabin next to the house was in worst shape. The drifts in front of that door were at least five foot high and at least eight foot deep.

Throughout the course of the day we had to go out regularly and shovel the snow away from the doors, and I am not talking about a little bit of snow.  Visibility for the most part was zero, hour after hour. I tried to get the big tractor out and move some snow around but the visibility was such that I couldn't see where I was going, or if someone else was coming down the road. 

It took us all day on Monday to get the driveways opened back up and usable.  We also had to remove a tremendous amount of snow away from the buildings, out of all the window screens, out of the pole barn (as snow was blown in through the soffits) and even our old phone booth was plugged full of snow. 

If we see another storm like the past two this year I have no idea  where or how high the snow will pile up. Right now, the TASA report out of Newberry says there is anywhere from 26" to 39" of snow, with a base between 9" and 14". It sure seems like a one of the winters that we have come to expect but haven't seen for several years. The woods around Muskallonge Lake and the shores of Lake Superior are awesome with all the snow hanging on the trees. Really a beautiful site to see.

What really surprises us is after all that wind how much snow remains on the lake. We thought it would be totally wind blown. It is amazing how many drifts are on this big open ice covered lake, and how hard they are.  I tried doing 20mph on my sled yesterday going out to my ice fishing shack but that was too fast for my comfort.

All of this snow will hopefully mean good things for our water table come spring.  The lakes, marshes and frog ponds will need all the moisture they can get. It appears that March riding will be really good this year.  We have several openings after the first week.  This is our favorite time of the year to ride. Generally the days are much warmer and or course longer (sunset will be pushing 7:00 by mid-month), plus the snow is packed down so you can literally ride anywhere you want.  We love cruising the clear cuts and large open area.

Call (906) 658-3341 to make your reservation!

Give us a call, and come on up and check it out. And check back later for some storm pictures.

Mike & Monica

Days are getting longer - tell the fish!

Our weather seemed to have settle down a bit since last week. In fact, up until today we were running a bit above normal temperatures.  The snow slid off our roofs yesterday and caused things to pile up more.  The snow is piled up so high the front of the store is now just about covered up. The banks across the road are probably 6 feet high now.

We had a beautiful snow on Monday night with about 5 inches coming down in two hours. Today turned colder and it will stay that way for several days now.

The trail reports (Grand Marais | Newberry) have been excellent so far. Last Saturday was the first time we heard the trails were getting busy. Now that we are into the middle of winter you can expect weekend traffic to be on the busy side. If you have the time, normally you can find much less traffic and great trail conditions throughout the mid-week. Come up on a Sunday or Monday and ride for a few days - you'll be glad you did.

Fishing has slowed considerably, but being the optimists we fishermen are, it will certainly be picking up as the days get longer and the sun gets warmer. Check this chart - you'll see we'll gain about half and hour of daylight in the next 10 days, 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the evening. Yes!

Until next time,

m & m