Black's Cliff Birch Bark Blog

Excerpt: Stopped down at Red Pine to see what was going on and could not resist taking a seat for a minute to soak up some sun and the view off the dock The guys have been finishing up the new stairway at Red Pine. We are abandoning the old steep stairway for this new one which is much easier... Read more

Excerpt: Splitting wood at the wood shed with the splitter Troy has discovered a new friend. This Thrush hung out all day eating grubs from the wood Troy has breaking apart. The bird is as bad as Mack at begging. It is nagging him to split more It lost its fear of people and was definitely a fan of Troy... Read more

Excerpt: Kip Cikowski who guessed May 5th, but today was the day May 6th. The next closest guess was Charlie Cikowski, Kip's relative. Maybe Kip will take Charlie out to lunch with the winnings for the 2 of them to enjoy being one of the few braves souls to make guesses in May Time to pull Cliff out of the... Read more

Excerpt: The ducks returned this week to float among the iceburgs. It was a cold wet morning with rain coming down but they did not seem to mind. ... Read more

Excerpt: I walked down the steps this morning to find Cliff in a different position. He apparently was basking in the 80 degree sun yesterday and could not get back up Cliff either could not get back up or heard the weather forecast of 2 more inches of snow tomorrow and collapsed and gave up Open water by the beach... Read more

Excerpt: After loving 70's and even 80 last week that stuff on the ground is back. Atleast we did not get 15 inches like western Wisconsin. It is still hard to look at in May. With temps going back to normal next week everything should melt away fast. For all my fishermen coming next weekend don't be to discouraged by... Read more

Excerpt: Warm breeze days on Lower Kaubashine The wind makes the warm weather perfect at the beach We have a lot of folks down enjoying the beach John Thompson has found his perfect spot on the pontoon to enjoy the wind and sun Noah got a little tired of the beach and headed to the game room to get his... Read more

Excerpt: What a difference a few days made. These pics were all taken Sunday afternoon at about 65 degrees. We took a couple of days to escape to the south to the Horicon Marsh. We returned to find big changes in the snow and ice conditions What everyone wants to know, how is the lake doing? Lots of melting occurred... Read more

Excerpt: A sight I was thinking we would never see. OPEN WATER! This pic was taken on the other side of the lake that goes out first. Very exciting. I am sure the ducks will appear today. I heard my first loon fly overhead yesterday. Not sure where the loon was headed to find enough water for it to land... Read more

Excerpt: Instead of showing the dusting of snow that came down last night, I have chosen instead to show the change in color on the other side of the lake. Finally it is not looking stark white. Temps are rising to 60 and maybe GASP 70 next week. That will move the ice along very fast. We are looking at... Read more

Excerpt: I hope this is the last time I report snow fall til next November. We got another inch of it... More pretty icicles to take pics of They got over a foot of snow just north of us, so we have something to be thankful for. It could have been worse I had to yell down at Cliff that... Read more

Excerpt: It has been slowly dripping today. It almost seems like it might be spring, but we have been tricked into believing that before Cliff had some visitors today Kathy and Randy stopping into to take pictures of Cliff for their grand daughter I think Cliff was headed into hibernation and was happy for the visit Cliff's comment to Randy... Read more

Excerpt: Is there snow in the Northwoods? Is the pope catholic? Of course we have another storm predicted for the end of the week just to keep us on our toes How is Cliff doing at his post? The lake is solidly white and it is a long haul ahead Cliff looking a little dejected with the weather report. I... Read more

Excerpt: Eagles Nest in the snow 4th coldest April on record. Yep, I would believe it. We got an additional 2 inches of snow last night. Maple Trees have again shut down. One sign of spring was the raccoon's in the bird feeder last night. They have had a rude awakening. Talking with many resort owners worried about opening on... Read more

Excerpt: As I type, I can hear the shovel scraping as Troy shovels the front walk yet again. We did not get 11 inches of snow, but about 3. 3..... 11 in April is there really a difference? All this snow has continued to keep the guys inside. My office is getting puttied and varnished. Steve has been on a... Read more

Excerpt: I took this picture Saturday afternoon when we received the first 3 inches of snow. This is my trail to some of our maple taps across the road. Saturday amongst the snow a few of the trees were still flowing, just enough to keep us cooking. When the real storm showed up on Sunday afternoon they all shut down... Read more

Excerpt: Big Congrats to Aqil and Laurie Kahn who got married this weekend. Laurie and her family have been coming to the resort since her grandfather Wills discovered the resort I believe dating back to the 60's. I babysat for Laurie and her 3 sisters and she is the last one to get married. Congrats to Laurie and Aqil! Last... Read more

Excerpt: In the hope that spring has sprung we have gotten our maple cooking pots out. So far we have collected about 4 gallons of sap. Not quite enough to get the cookers going. The trees the last 3 days have shut back down along with the temps. Wednesday looks like it is the start of warmer temps in the... Read more

Excerpt: Just as I was grumbling about winter never ending while drinking coffee, watching the weather man say 2- 4 inches of snow Friday a flock of birds invaded our feeder. Spring is always fun to see the different birds that stop through. I missed a picture earlier in the morning of 4 grouse stopping in but got the camera... Read more

Excerpt: Words escape me this morning. We are retreating to the woodstove with Mexican Chicken Stuffed Shells, 2 DVS's The Hobbit and Life of Pi, and my knitting needles and Troy's Ipad and we may make it through the weekend.... Read more