Black's Cliff Birch Bark Blog

Excerpt: With the cool weather this week, Steve headed off on a Mercer adventure. Mercer is about 40 minutes from the resort on Hwy 51. It is a unique small town that boasts the worlds biggest loon. Clare the loon greets you as you come in to town. Mercer is also known for having a Loon Calling Contest every year... Read more

Excerpt: Every Friday is the beginning of the emotional roller coaster of the resort. We say goodbye to one group and toast a wonderful week or 2 on Friday night with one group The melancholy realization that in 51 weeks we will do this again but week number 52 is the fastest of the entire year. This downward roller coaster... Read more

Excerpt: This is one of my favorite panoramic views. It has been rainy and the old steps look neat in the rain. It has been a cool few days but folks are still happy to just be in the woods Gloomy quiet lake. Very unusual for July. Looks like the weather will be improving after today Quiet lonely beach Even... Read more

Excerpt: The guy who took down our big pine last week sent me some more pictures from up above that I wanted to share. This one is neat looking down at Wigwam with the crane coming down the driveway. Gives you a birds eye view of the resort we do not get to see View from the pine looking out... Read more

Excerpt: I It has been a cool week but the flowers are still blooming and guests have been finding other ways besides swimming to keep busy We do not mind the cooler weather as it lets us get some projects done. The office building has gotten a new deck in the last week. Katie's loon circle was on the deck waiting... Read more

Excerpt: We received yet another 2 inches of rain and the lake is on the rise again. It is now a high or higher than it was this summer and ready to go over the dock Beach wall barely keeping the water at bay. Thankfully no big ski boats are out on the lake bringing in waves The little blue... Read more

Excerpt: Throw back Thursday pic of the day. This one is from the rec room in the basement in the rocking and rolling days of the juke box. I am not sure who is in the pic maybe someone can identify. Good times were always had in the rec room. Speaking of good times I ran into a resident of... Read more

Excerpt: Summer has arrived and the blue dock is the place to be. Gloria and Linda in their spots that they claim every Sunday morning after arriving to catch up on everything that happened during the year. Murry had her spot in the shade The McLinden family brought up their hammock to create the perfect spot next to the lake... Read more

Excerpt: It has been a stormy week on the lake. When the sun is out you get down to the lake to enjoy summer. When the storms roll in time to head in. I took this about an hour before a deluge of rain Crappies have been biting. The spawn is at an end and it looks like a good... Read more

Excerpt: Everyone in the resort this morning jumped out of bed, to a thunderbolt striking the big pine between Muskie and Birchwood. Thankfully everyone was ok after the ambulance and firetrucks left the driveway. It will be sad to loose this tree but we will have to have it removed. 2 TV's, all the TV boosters and the entire internet... Read more

Excerpt: We took time away from the resort to experience the newest best thing in Minocqua the ZipLine. I did a high ropes course 25 years ago at camp Saint Croxi in Hudson Wisconsin. I always was interested in doing it again. I am not a lover of heights and hate going on the roof of cabins so I was... Read more

Excerpt: Summer is here, school is out both elementary, high school and college and time to play on the water. Jake and Grant out hanging on the new paddle boards showing why these are fun to try out Someone always ends up in the water Hey want is that in the water ahead of us? Not a submarine headed by... Read more

Excerpt: It is spring and time is short. I took a lot of pictures working the last few days. Painting to straightening docks from the ice damage. Big thank you to Chris and Amanda Moran who came up to help for 2 weeks. Enjoy the pictures This last picture makes me laugh. At the end of the day Troy was sitting... Read more

Excerpt: Katie has been raiding my dad's 50's and 60's slides. Take a trip back in time today. Somethings change and some remain the same Craig clinking the old row boats. Sinking them to get the wood to swell and taring up the holes. I am glad we do not have to do this anymore Maynard my grandfather fixing something... Read more

Excerpt: The Doering family is having a great time fishing this week. This nice Northern was one of many they caught this week. Their fishing report is the bass are biting like crazy but throwing them all back out of season. One of the many bass they caught and threw back. This one came in at 19 inches. Now one... Read more

Excerpt: 1 day of getting ready and setting up for the craft fair in Torpy Park and 2 days of a craft fair ment not a lot of time to take pictures. It was a long winter and I did not realize how long til I unpacked all the socks and fingerless texting gloves and actually looked at the amount... Read more

Excerpt: View off Jack's landing this morning. Birds are chirping and sun is out. Beautiful early spring day This pic is for all those regulars who hang on Jack's Landing in the mornings sipping coffee and enjoying the view. You know who you are out there Cedar Swing waiting for someone to come by and sit.... Did I mention I... Read more

Excerpt: Jeff Nimmo shared some fishing pics from last week when fishing was just starting to pick up. This Walleye was 22 inches Jeff's favorite fish of the week this nice fat Northern. I can not remember how big he said it was Small mouth coming in at 19 inches. All caught and released back into the lake. Nice fishing... Read more

Excerpt: We had a busy Memorial Day weekend welcoming guests and continuing to get the resort ready for summer. With the late spring our painting and planting flowers is behind but we are slowly catching up. First of all, the fun new stuff. We purchased 2 lake paddle boards which will be for rent this summer. Grant and Ben had... Read more

Excerpt: If I had more time to spend taking pics I would have calm lake and people fishing pics, Lillies of the Valley in bloom, new born fawn on the road with its mom. Instead we are working hard still and getting the resort ready and we all feel a bit like Craig above who has been working on Norway's... Read more