Last week I returned home from a week up at the cabin. I had tried to find someone to go, but no one was available so went by myself. My Sister did come up the last couple days I was there to visit and see the work accomplished.
Last year we had two episodes of flat line winds. They either tipped over or broke off most all of the larger trees on the place leaving it a very dangerous woods to simply walk around in. It also closed most of our trails by uprooting trees into them or snapping them off and the tops falling into the trails or hanging overhead. Most of the trees are very large aspens. up to 30" in diameter. I spent 8 days clearing trees from fields and trails where I could, and built one new trail almost a half mile in length because the old trail was pretty much obliterated. Much of the mess back there God will have to take care of because it is just to dangerous for a guy and a chainsaw. I thought I's share a short video that shows some of the mess and some of the before photos of the front field. I have some after pictures on my phone yet along with some U.P. photos I took in the evenings. I'd work all day, then go to what seemed like my own giant bath tub to clean up. Northern Lake Huron. It was after labor day and there was absolutely no one around. The weather was glorious. Low 70's during the day and low 40's at night. I never saw a cloud in 8 days and best yet, never saw a bug! The east end of the U.P. is in a state of drought and really needs some rain which I think they will get this week.
Storm damage - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HygwtIqkbUk)
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10001/frontfield-before1.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1537447576)
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A mess and I agree, it is sometimes much easier to detour around than to recover old trails/roads. Safer too! :o
Thanks for sharing.
Jim Rogers
Here are some after photos of the front field clean up. What a mess it was. Glad to have my 8n up there!
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Place of Rest. Very comfy!:)
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Next two photos are where I would go to clean up in the evening. Northern Lake Huron, about 5 minutes from the cabin. Each night I was there by myself. It was awesome. Because of the very stable sunny weather the water was quite warm, although it dropped twenty degrees over night the last day because of storms way to the south that turned the lake over.
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Looks beautiful there Jeff. Only question I have is did you remember to put the antifreeze in the TV? :D
Here are a few photos I took while I was gone. All are taken at the cabin, or within just minutes of the on short little drives to look for deer and such after working during the day. I just love it up there. Last year I did not go up after the pigroast, and through the year, I didn't hardly go up at all and I could feel it. Its a place to get my soul right.
Field off the gogamain swamp road, on my way to Thompsons general store to get an icecream cone.
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End of pier at the Raber Bay boat launch
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There are deer in the photo somewhere.
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Along M134 minutes from the cabin
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Stump from a broken aspen from years ago along a cabin trail
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pileated woodpeckers have been busy here.
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Back field at the cabin trail cam photo
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There is an eastern Bluebird on top of the pole I was trying to get a photo of. Turns out the Stars and Stripes was the real star.
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Shot of the back of the cabin from the corner of the yard.
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Near the Cranberry floodings, south east of the cabin
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Somewhere along Zeigler lake road, which is the same road as the cabin, except renamed west of M48. probably 3 miles away.
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More invisible deer. they were out there.
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A big lighting struck whitepine on the shore of Zeigler lake. Quite remote with like one or two cabins on it.
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Oh YEA! Whitefish dinner at the Yooperman bar in Goetzville 10 minutes from the cabin. Pronounced "Gatesville". You take your life in your own hands if you go in and pronounce it goatsville in front of the yooper loggers. Me, I just call it "GO EATS VILLE!
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Pic I texted home to say hi to Tammy
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My 8N parked behind the cabin
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Freighter out from the DNR Marina in Detour Village
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I guess its a weed
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Picture can't do it justice that afternoon. Multiple shades of aqua as a freighter passes out from raber bay coming from limeisland.
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Witches broom in a spruce in the cabin woods
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liv
With the 8N it should have made the job easy.
Good luck with the rest of the mess.
Wow would love to be there it is beautiful nothing quite like that here in East Tx.
Jeff there is truly something about the woods that is comforting and relaxing. Spent 4 summers in the mountains on horseback. Sure do miss it.
When the kids were 11 or so we would go for a week of riding in the mountains. The memories are strong.
Beautiful area, Jeff! Those windstorms seem to be getting more frequent, and you have wisdom to stay away from that windthrown timber.
Nice pictures.
I clean up those blow downs and use them for fire wood. BUT most of mine are small fir.
That grey Ford reminds me bad experience while skiding. I flip over , had a skull fracture. The slope was long enough that the tractor continue his run so I was not stuck underneath. The accident happened 3/4 mile of my home. Very lucky , I walk the first 100 feet and went in a black-out, my angel took care of me and brought me home. I woke up at the corner of the house. Spend 1 month in the hospital. No after-effect. Life is good! Still enjoy skidding but not with a grey Ford
I won't pull with an 8n. to dangerous. I was using the back blade to push brush and chunks of wood up to the edge of the field. I did have an incident. I had a block of wood that I was pushing catch on the blade, pick the blade up, then pick up the entire tractor rear end off the ground. That was the last couple days I was there when my Sister came up. She was out in the field watching. I'll give her a call, she might even have a picture
She had some video, but after I was hung up.
Clearing with the 8n - YouTube (https://youtu.be/oRssgOcQ9Uo)
One evening before I returned home I went into Detour to check the forum and send some messages as most days there is very little service at the cabin. I sit at the marina and watch the boats. As I sat there I saw the Drummond Island Ferry coming in with a log truck on board. I tried to make it to the Ferry dock before it got there, but arrived only as it began to unload.
A maple float. Load coming from Drummond Island - YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KKvNy2E1-y0)
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Wow, quite a load of wood there. Couldn't quite see it but I think that trailer had 6 axles on the ground and two raised? Half expected to see the ferry jump up when he came off!
8 axles are typical here.
Jeff,
Some great pics of the Eastern UP. I love it up there, and spend any vacation time I have in that area.
I have a buddy that owns some land outside of Rudyard, and I've spent many days hunting the area and fishing the St. Marys River. My fishing grounds are a little north of Raber Bay; I prefer Munuscong bay, because of the Muskys. I also fish the upper river for Salmon and Steelhead, and enjoy the same in the Carp river in the vicinity of where it crosses I 75.
I took my daughter up there for the fourth of July this year, and reserved a cabin for Labor Day, but the high winds we had here just before that weekend re-arranged my priorities.
I can relate to the "Soul Right" comment. It's been a while, but I've always enjoyed the All you can eat combos (Perch, Walleye, Ribs, etc.) at Raber Bay Bar.
I'll sign off with a quote from Henry David Thoreau (I think): "A weed is but a flower whose virtue has not yet been found."
At least your blind is still standing, my best ladder stand is laying with it's blown down tree.
Corrections welcome.....
Sorry, it was Ralph Waldo Emerson.....
Speaking of blinds, I really stayed busy while up there and that was another project. I cleared a new trail back about a quarter mile to a place I saw buck activity last year, from there I cleared more new trail to get to my brother in laws blind that was totally cut off. Its a real mess back there, but his blind survived, but that is another story and another job.
I was going to put a new blind back in this new spot but got to thinking, I don't want to waste my time in an area until I prove it to be productive, so I'll put a pop up blind back there this year to start.
I took another blind kit up with me that I had made a webwork swap for. I decided to put that up in the back feild and hunt there this year, instead of the elevated blind. I've had some close calls up there from icey steps. The new blind sits below it and I cleared a sneak path so I can get in and out of it without spooking deer out of the field. At night with the other blind, you have to spook the deer to get out. In the pictures below the elevated stand looks huge, but it is actually the same size as the new ground blind.
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Great pictures Jeff. You have a very special place there in the U.P.
Here is a photo from my trail cam from when I was up there. I had to look at it for a little bit before I knew what it was.
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Thanks for the trip! Beautiful area up there. Those blow downs do look bad and something Mother Nature will need to deal with. Hate to see the damage. That plate of food looked very tasty and a good reward for some hard work.
I liked your bathing accommodations, a whole lake! I was expecting you to indicate it was cold, glad to hear it was warm enough.
I understand the need to go to a place like that to get your soul right. That is the way I feel about our place in Va.
I appreciate the sister's video. I love to hear the governors on those old Fords work. Those a great old units and yours seems to be running great.
Nice pictures 8). It's great to get away for a while, to bad there was work involved.
Looks like you could use one of them 2hp stump pullers yourself.
Beautiful country and a nice cabin!
The cabin is one of the few places where I can go and see lumber I sawed out at the big mill. We started building it in 1994, hauling a pickup load of materials up at a time. The cabin and land belong to my Sister, but I have my own room and the cabin has my heart.
A great place to be. Great pictures, it is a very diverse landscape. Too bad about the blow down areas, but there will be new soil and new trees in time. Thanks for sharing the experience.
Really pretty up there. Is this an island, or a ship?
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If it's an island, ever been to it? I used to live by the water, and had a coleman canoe I'd take out. There was an island about five miles downstream, but I was never able to get to it. It has an abandoned house ruins, and I believe a lighthouse on it, but they've been long disused. I moved away, and my boat got stolen. The replacement was a slug in the water, so I've never revisited. Power boaters go there a lot, so it's probably trashed, but it's still something I'd like to do.
I see what you mean about that picture. Looks like a coyote at first. Maybe food for the coyotes. A deer.
Nice videos and pictures.
It is an island, there are dozens and dozens, probably hundreds of islands In northern lake Huron and on up into the St. Mary's River.
I'll take the fried whitefish and french fries ;D.
Whitefish is quite good. When I was a wee young 'en a few of us went ice fishing and caught a bunch of white fish, cooked em up and noticed they seemed to have quite a few more bones than ususal - turned out they were suckers - oops!! Kept us alive is all I can say.
I didnt eat any of that plate of fish and fries that night. The yooperman has an awesome soup and salad bar. Homemade soups that night was potato Pierogi and Vegetable Beef. As usual, I filled up on the soup and salad. I brought a package of hamburger buns up with me and a dozen eggs as I always do.
The whitefish dinner is $17.95 there is enough fish there to make 8 fish sandwiches. Enough fries to use as fried potatoes with eggs for two breakfasts. So, I eat good for 3 or 4 days for around twenty bucks plus tip.
Yes, it sure is good fish up there and I think Jeff and I hit a couple other fish diners up that way a few years back. All great places for fish. One we stood in a line out the door. ;D :)