Black's Cliff Birch Bark Blog

Excerpt: We have had a break in the cold for yesterday and today and fresh snow fell last night. The Gregory crew were not wasting anytime to get out on the trails and enjoy the relative heat wave we are having at a balmy 20 degrees. We are headed back into the deep freeze along with the rest of the... Read more

Excerpt: It was a merry Christmas at the Cliff. Who is under this hat you ask..... in an ugly Christmas sweater..... that will remain a secret Christmas brings out the best in people and our rink had a heart in it carved out of the fresh Christmas snow They would not completely admit it but I believe this is our... Read more

Excerpt: Time to go snowshoeing. We figured if we were sending so many folks down the trail we had better get out and snowshoe it ourselves, so down the trail we went You find our very quickly that having snowshoes with grippers on is a good thing coming down a hill Down the trail we go with a golden retriever... Read more

Excerpt: How much snow is on the ground? I think the top of the bird bath is a good measure. It is piling up The ice from the storm a couple of weeks ago is still on the trees with new snow on top. Until we have a good melt the trees will be loaded down. The trails in the... Read more

Excerpt: Sometimes you feel like the only one on the lae with a whole lot of snow..... Trying out the leaf blower again on the ice rink. The conclusion to this experiment is that for light snow it works fine but if there is any weight to it, it is not worth it. The old shovel method is the best... Read more

Excerpt: Cold December morning but warmer than it has been Wandering down to the lake after days in the house by the woodstove There have been tracks on the lake so time to take the first few steps out on the lake. Checking out the ice, it is pretty rough. We will start getting a rink ready for Christmas. This... Read more

Excerpt: The Black's Cliff 2014 calendar is finally ready to be ordered. Sorry about the wait. I have it done through Walgreens as usual. I can invite you to see it and you can order it and have it made up at your local Walgreens or delivered in the mail. Through Thursday the calendars are 40% off at Walgreens. I... Read more

Excerpt: Its been cold out and lots of snow. The lake should be good for ice skating right? Ummm not so much. The problem in this picture for an ice rink on the lake is the heavy snow pack. It insulates the ice making a slushy wet layer between the ice and the snow. Skating through slush is not fun..... Read more

Excerpt: We had a 3 day storm roll through which everyone in the Midwest dealt with. For us it started out as snow, switched to ice and rain and back to snow. The ice came down on the heavy wet snow and weighed down the trees snapping off some limbs. The pines in the front yard took the biggest hit... Read more

Excerpt: We had quit the blanket of snow come down last night and more expected the next 2 days. My little car struggled to get Grant to school today and had to be pushed out on to Hwy 51 by Moto Mart. It is time to put the plow on the truck. As you can see in the foreground the... Read more

Excerpt: Mack and I took a selfie out shoveling the snow as freezing rain came down. It is cold out side. Troy is off for a couple of days visiting his parents and left the shovel. Little did we know when he left how much snow was going to come down with freezing rain. Mach was loving being in the... Read more

Excerpt: It is Monday morning and time to go back to work even though most of us feel like this boat The lake is frozen over I have seen folks out walking around on it but I prefer to wait and burn a few logs on the fire. Since it is cyber Monday I thought I would post the remaining... Read more

Excerpt: Deer Camp 2013 arrived at the resort. We have several groups of hunters over the week that hunt our 100 acres of hunting land along the road. There was a lot of snow and cold to welcome the hunters and deer tracks but opening weekend skunked them, but lots of fun was had by all Lots of fun was... Read more

Excerpt: Snow arrived over night and combined with fog this morning for some great pics at the lake. You do not see open water, fog and snowy trees very often View going out the gate of snow in the pines. Snow might be here to stay ... Read more

Excerpt: Lower Kaubashine this morning Boats looking like they are sleeping for winter Nope still not a fan of ice. Staying at the top of the steps For anyone coming up this winter we are getting into the snow shoe rental business. We will have 6 pair of snow shoes to rent out for 15/day. With our new trails across... Read more

Excerpt: The other side of the lake is starting to go out There were ducks swimming along with ice but they left before I could get the pic Our side of the lake taken from Jack's Landing. Still frozen in It is raking leaves time while we wait for the lake to unfreeze Maple trees are still running like gang... Read more

Excerpt: I have been hinting for a couple of months about one of our docks becoming famous. In August we were asked if we had a old rustic dock with a good view for a photo shoot for the cover of The Minocqua Chamber of Commerce visitors book. The photographer models and dog came out at 5:30 am in August... Read more

Excerpt: Think your Monday is bad with the weather, try being Cliff today. He is knocked over by it Definitely not a day to be sitting on Lower Kaubashine waiting for the ice to go out Mack's Comment for the day "You said spring is here what the ____ happened?" We do have one visitor at the moment. The Pileated... Read more

Excerpt: We had our first snow fall that stuck to the ground last night. I am sure this will melt but it has us thinking about winter and buttoning up the last things that need to be made ready. Like 5 boats still in the water and a few docks.... these would not be in my job description Wigwam in... Read more

Excerpt: Sunrise this morning. New snow came down last night Hard to tell in this picture but snow is coming down on the lake Definitely looking like the snow is staying for now Time to start thinking about getting the plow on the truck.... then again much more fun to try to do it after and 8 inch snow and... Read more