Black's Cliff Birch Bark Blog

Excerpt: It was a frosty day. For those in the south starved for some pics of snow we have it still up north Kind of quiet the next week with folks getting ready for Christmas. The cabins are quiet but that will not last long.... Kaubashine and Shamrock this morning. I am hoping our warm up is not too bad... Read more

Excerpt: I get asked quite often, how much snow is there in the woods? We were out gathering boughs for our Christmas wreathes and there was enough for Troy to put his snow pants on and enough snow hanging on trees that he got a snow shower while gathering boughs. Loading up the truck with balsam and headed to Muskie... Read more

Excerpt: This picture is the front of the new 2015 Black's Cliff Calendar. I had to do it a little differently this year. For some reason my computer and Walgreens did not communicate well. After spending 6 months with customer service calls and reloads and frustration I gave up. This year I am using MixBook. I can share the calendar... Read more

Excerpt: Since Thanksgiving we have been busy decking the halls and getting the first Christmas decorations up. Black Friday means only one thing in our family, not shopping, but tree lighting. Troy and I spend most of Black Friday untangling lights, hunting down extension cords, splitters and more lights. We ended up lighting up 16 outside trees this year, with... Read more

Excerpt: Thanksgiving time at the Cliff. All hands on deck to help make the meal. While the turkey was cooking I made my annual rounds around the resort to catch all the families in the resort getting ready for the big feast The Urbaniak family just arrived at the resort Thanksgiving morning and it was time to get the bird... Read more

Excerpt: In Wisconsin they say if you don't like the weather wait a few minutes and it will change. This is the picture this morning. We are back to winter and snow covered People have their winter coats out and are using them. Earlier in the day the scene was spring below This is the pic I took yesterday morning... Read more

Excerpt: Deer Camp 2014 arrived this weekend. We had 5 groups of hunters at the resort. Most of them regulars. Over the years they have established their spots in our 120 acres we have in addition to the resort. With the restrictions on doe hunting this year it was a lean year for hunting. We did have one of our... Read more

Excerpt: Winter Park is opening for Thanksgiving Weekend. Here is info for anyone that is interested. 2 cabins left for Thanksgiving. Just bring your blaze orange is going skiing. We are thankful for our trails and guests...and we miss you already Before our full chalet & trails opening on Monday, December 1, Winter Park will open for another special session of... Read more

Excerpt: Nothing is as exciting as the day the new septic gets installed. Craig is in Arizona and believe me he wishes he was here. Something about digging up and old tank and ripping up lots of the yard gets the blood pumping with excitement in the Black Family. I just look at it as a 10,000 dollar bill in... Read more

Excerpt: When the resort quiets down in the offseason the deer get a little bolder. This one came walking past our house during the Packer Game on Sunday at twilight. I almost thought she was going to go down the beach steps. The deer have been coming in for acorns and eating our pumpkins Deer Hunters start arriving on Friday... Read more

Excerpt: We were out of town for a few days and returned to the resort to find the lake frozen over Boats in hibernation Time to head inside and button down the hatches. We have several cabins left open for deer hunting season and 2 cabins left for Thanksgiving Birchwood and Red Pine. Give a call if interested. Christmas to... Read more

Excerpt: Apparently Hazelhurst is the epicenter of the polar vortex snow storm How much snow did we get... how much is coming... we lost track Steps to the beach somewhere under all that snow Raft slowly sinking under the weight of snow Craig texted from Arizona wondering how much snow we had gotten. I sent him this picture. Did I... Read more

Excerpt: Winter has arrived a little early. The fire pits are all set but you have to be quite hearty to sit and enjoy a fire, but if you bring something along... The best way to keep yourself warm by a fire in the winter. Only thing is you need more thing.. Your best friends. The warmth of some whiskey... Read more

Excerpt: I conned Troy into helping me put a canoe back in the water to take a few pics from out in the lake this morning. Had to also go to Eagles Nest to find a paddle, where they had all been put away Heading down the shoreline in a stiff breeze The Point was prettier than the picture does... Read more

Excerpt: The guys needed me to hold something for their roofing project at Muskie and talked me into coming up the ladder. This can be a comical feat as I hate going up on the roofs and getting on and off the ladder. Muskie's porch roof is one of the few I will go on. While on the roof and... Read more

Excerpt: Truck parked next to Muskie Inn..... Tools on the back step.... means one thing, the guys have a new project. With cold rain and possibly snow coming tonight they have decided to fix Muskie's porch roof They have one day to rip off and put the new ice shield roof on. Craig had it delivered on one of his... Read more

Excerpt: Snow arrived and we were almost ready for it... almost. Beach chairs up from the beach looking a bit forlorn this morning in their winter coat of snow Pumpkins this morning were a little confused. This one had its brain frozen and was still smiling Eyes open and realizing that snow had invaded Halloween. Not happy about it one... Read more

Excerpt: The leaves are off the trees and it is time to get to blowing and raking the resort Steve armed with one of our blowers to do the first task which is to blow all the roofs off The views are great from the roof tops. He can have the views, I will stay on the ground We had... Read more

Excerpt: Katie and Jack every year share with me their favorite vacation pics. In between naps on Birchwood's swinging bed they snapped a few pics Fishing with dad on one of the last warm days to enjoy the blue dock Hmm.... why is the fishing pole left on the beach? Maybe they were enjoying the sun too much to throw... Read more

Excerpt: Late fall and the fall shut down has started. The big white pier is out of the water and the slide looks very lonely without it The raft seems to be floating in the middle of the lake aimlessly Boats are still in the lake through this weekend Leaves are mostly on the ground The bees nest that freaked... Read more