Slimy Pebble Trip!

Ok, it has been one month since my first grandson, Roan, had arrived.  I waited for things to calm down and being 500+ miles away, it was time for a Road Trip.  I left last Monday around 6:30 am and headed across Highway 10 towards Bay City.  Then it was down I-75 to 23 towards the Ohio Turnpike.  I was making good time and the roads were dry.  Suddenly before me was a sign beckoning me in.... the little town of Dundee!  This is a great place to stretch my legs and unbend my back.  I love Dundee....Gee, what is this? ... a store by the highway?  Cabela's!  I'll just stop in for a short visit.  A half-hour later, I had to leave, it was too tempting and I had miles to go.  Finally, signs for the Turnpike.  I filled up with gas and started heading East.  I arrived in PA around 2:00 pm and decided top stop at Slippery Rock University to get a Visitor's Pass for three days, knowing I would stop in to see friends.  I'm still in the computer so they printed me a Parking Pass and I stopped over to the Special Education Department.  I only saw the secretary and two other professors but found out they would be having a Faculty Meeting on Tuesday.  I was going to be staying with friends in Grove City but decided to head over to Duffy Road to see the grandson for the first time.  Leslie's mom and dad from Colorado had been visiting for the past few days so I could say hi to them also.


As soon as I entered I was greeted and handed my Roan.

One month old and he is already taking charge of things in the cabin. It was a special moment to be holding my grandson.

Ok, this is all you are going to see on this blog....pictures of Roan so you can depart now or stay with me for more of the same.  Here is is letting me know that his stomach is upset..boy, those Stauffer's have a lot of gas!  I could feel him tense up and then feel him expell!!!

Right now, he is still sleeping and eating.  He likes to sleep during the day.  You know what that means......long nights for the parents.  He likes to have his right hand up near his face.

It has been awhile since I have had an upset baby in my arms.  I guess he is just developing those bagpipe blowing lungs.  Who does he look like?  I can't tell.

Ryan came in from work and took over.  Of course, there were three grandparents in the room so Leslie had been spelled during the day.  Ryan like to keep the bib on during the day.  He said he has learned that the baby can go through a lot of outfits in one day if the bib isn't on!

Leslie said she was hungry so Ryan cooked her an omelet.  Having been a chef, Ryan is an excellent cook. Now that baby and mother were fed, it was back to the baby.

I am proud of Ryan, he steps right up and takes over the care of Roan.  He wants to learn as much about parenting that he can.   There was a little concern that the baby might have a slight fever and so Ryan gets out the new baby thermometer to practice with.  I think that is a great idea, practice now before you really need to!

I am waiting for the moment when they learn to keep that penis covered but I guess they have already learned that trick.

I think that he has some of Leslie's features and I can see some of Molly here also.  What do you think?

He does have a head of hair.  I took this picture for his Aunt Barb.  I said he had lots of hair and I wasn't kidding.

Leslie's dad, Glen,  gets a fed, changed, and sleeping grandson to hold.  With all the visitors, Roan got held a lot.  Roan is a good baby.  He even sleeps through Ryan's bagpipe practicing.

Leslie and Leslie's mom, Carol, get some down time.  New mothers have to grab a nap when ever and where ever it is possible.  Tuesday night,  Roan did sleep through most of the night so the schedule is developing.


Tuesday night we we all went out to the Brewery for supper.  Ryan got to show off his son to friends and Roan slept through most of the meal.  He awoke hungry so he was fed before we left for home.

Carol is holdhing her grandson on the last day of her visit.  I am over 500 miles away but being from Colorado must really be hard on the other grandparents.  I'll be out the end of April as I promised Aunt Barb a road trip to see her nephew.  The first grandchild of the Middleville Stauffer's on my parent's side of the family.  I was sorry that my parent didn't get to see that the Stauffer name is still going on.

This is a shot of the cabin's new fireplace.  It was re-lined and a new rock face was installed before they moved in late December.  They have a small, cozy cabin.  It is nestled in the woods and it is their's!  They have plans for an addition and extra bedroom but I think that Ryan and Leslie want to get Ryan's workshop in the barn set up first so he can spend more time at home.  I'll be out in the Summer for the next building project.

Wednesday morning I drove to Butler, PA to Heritage School at Butler Community College where Ryan works.  He teaches blacksmithing and is the Environmental Field Trip coordinator.

http://www.crazypyper.com/


While there I saw two of his new projects. 

This is one of his many hand-made pattern welded knives. He teaches blacksmithing and knife making and iron works.

This is the old Case tractor that he and his Venture Crew (high school boys and girls scout organization) are restoring.  Last year they restored an old hay wagon this is the tractor that will pull it around the campus.

Every thing that could be taken off was cleaned, repaired, and re-painted.  The engine was over-hauled and it fired up so all that remains is some re-assembly of some of the parts.

This shows a few of the new parts that had to be installed. The students have a light-weight airplane that lightly crashed that was donated to them.  They will re-store that next.  Leslie is worried!!

Realizing that the kids have had non-stop company and needed some family time, I decided to head back home.  As I walked out to the car, I noticed Ryan has marked out his property beside the front walkway.

I think this was to bug his mother-in-law!  She was marking the new grandson with lipstick kisses!!

Smelt Fishing

Smelt fishing is a lot harder than dipping netfulls out of the stream.  I recently wanted to try smelt fishing as there were two good lakes around that had smelt.

First there is Crystal Lake in Benzie County between Benzonia and Frankfort.

Max. length 8.11 miles (13 km)


Max. width 2.5 miles (4 km)

Surface area 9,854 acres (40 km2)

Average depth 70 ft (21 m)

Max. depth 165 ft (50 m)

http://www.visitbenzie.com/uploads/Western_Benzie_Map.pdf
 
 
This is a big lake and I found out that the boat launch off Lobb Road is where some people fish or you can go to the North side near Herdman's Point.  You want to get out in 40-60 feet of water but the easy way is to just go where the shanties are.  You can see that they line the area effectively.  I try to get there about 6:30 pm so it is still light out to see where you are going. Crystal only has about 6" of ice so you don't need a power auger.
 
 

 
Three important items for fishing for smelt.  One is a lantern to see by.  The propane lantern works great as you don't get fumes on your hands and it isn't smelly. Second is a underwater 12V light. You have to use your trolling battery.  Don't try the smaller Vexilar battery, they don't last over 2 hours.  Third is the Vexilar to see where the fish are staging.  You can just fish over a wide range of depths to find the fish and they move following the zooplanton.  In 45 foot of water, I have found smelt in from 20 to 40' depths.  See how the Vexilar helps pinpoint where to fish.
 
I'll get back to fishing for smelt but thought I would cover the next lake; Green Lake is in Grand Traverse County near Interlochen.
 
http://www.fishweb.com/maps/grandtraverse/green_lake/index.html
 
There are three launch sites for parking.  One on the North, one at Interlocken State Park, and one on the Southwestern point off Betsie River Road. All are good for smelt.
 
Surface area: 2,000 acres
 
Maxium depth:  102 feet
 
Ok, back to fishing for smelt. When I first decide on a spot near the shanties, I drill three holes in a triangle pattern, with the point hole near the direction of the wind.  Then I set up my shanty so the point hole is close to my portable shanty and the wind is to my back.  The hole closest to the shanty  gets the Vexilar and the underwater light, so my fishing lines in the other two top base holes don't get caught in the wires from the Vexilar and light.  Then I am usually ready to light my lantern and place it above the light hole and between the fishing holes.  Are you with me?  Getting set up is important so when the biting starts, everythings works out for land the fish.
 
Then I get out my lightest ice fishing rods.  I still use a small spring bobber because they smelt bite very lightly.  I tie on a plain size 12 wet fly hook about 1' up the line and tie a Hali jig on the bottom.  The Hali jig is weighted and has the small single hook handing down on a very light chain.  I use wax worms and/or spikes for smelt.  They seem to last all night with only one or two replacements.  Since I fish with two rods, I usually put spikes on one rod and wax worms on the other. I am checking what is working best.
 
 

 
Here is a picure of only using two holes and I quickly decided I needed a separate hole for the Vexilar.  I lost a few fish by hitting the cord or transducer. You can see the orange, green and red lines on the Vexilar.  The heavy green is the bottom and the red and yellow are fish.  I can turn the gain up so it highlights the small fish and I can tell what depth they are at.
 
I can see on the screen as my jigs are going down the hole.  If I am marking fish, I usually put one jig on top and the other rod below the fish.  Or, I fish one rod higher and one rod down in the next layer of fish.  Then you just wait and jig. Sometimes the fish want a little action and sometimes they want it on a deadstick.  When the smelt are moving you can see whole swarms of color on the Vexilar.  When you pull the portable shanty cover down over you and onto the ice, it is nice inside.  You have cut the cold & wind and the lantern keeps the shanty comfortable.
 
 

The smelt aren't big but they are tasty fried up fresh.  These were from Green Lake.

These are the smaller smelt from Green Lake. I think they are tastier than the larger smelt.

These are the larger Crystal Lake Smelt. I keep hearing about guys getting a bucket load of these guys but I have progressed from getting 0 fish one night to 4 fish and recently getting 18 smelt on two different nights.  I fished Tuesday night in a slight freezing rain from 6:15 pm to 10:30 pm. before I gave it up.  I think I have to rest my sore neck and try to stay out longer.  Usually there are only a few guys left fishing when I leave around 11:30 or 12:00, but will try it later when my neck feels better.

 
 
 
I know, I didn't have any green or yellow vegetables on my plate but I was hungry and chowed down.  It is fun to eat these little guys.  The frying softens the bones and spine so you eat the meat, bones, tail, and spine right down.  Yummy!

Skiing Up North

I decided to go downhill skiing as the weather was nice and it wasn't blowing!  Caberfae is only about 17 minutes from my house and I have a seasons pass!  You can't beat the $99 season pass for Monday - Fridays.

http://www.caberfaepeaks.com/

This is the entrance area where you get your ticket and the sign says only 85 miles north of Grand Rapids.

This is the back of the Main Lodge where you can get ready for skiing or get something to eat.  I leave my ski bag in here by the fireplace.

Here is the hill map.  You have to start out in front and work your way over to more advanced runs.

I usually ski alone and just recently got a name of a person to ski with.  I decided to just do a couple of hours today.

This is the view first view of the first slope.  The base is solid and a light snow covering the base.  I keep wishing for more snow but we haven't had a lot.  Last year we got 185" of snow.

This is the middle slope and looking left or west to the Black Diamond hill.  The fence is to stop you from even thinking about skiing down this side of the hill.

Here is another shot of the middle hill.  I took this shot from the chair lift.  The seat gets pretty high in the air.

This is not on the ground!  I'll try to get another shot from higher up the lift.

This shot shows you are above the trees!  I remember have a safety bar when I was younger but they have eliminated that from the modern lifts.  Don't lean forward!

You think the little pole and rope would keep you from falling over...think again.  The hill was built up during the contruction phase and it is a high hill with steep sides. Keep away from the edges children.

I meet some neat people on the 5 minute ride to the top every time.  Most are from downstate and just here for the day.  I am lucky to live so close.

This is on top of the Black Diamond Run. It is pretty steep.  The view at the top is great.  You can see for miles.    I love to ski at night to see the surrounding lights.


I am very careful and ski within my ability.  I am alone and have to drive home by myself so I enjoy myself but remember that I don't heal as fast as the kids that ski here.

You can see the snow machines that they make their own snow with when the weather doesn't cooperate.  The hill is in great shape.  I just heard that about 400 school kids are due here by 4:00 pm.  Lots of schools have ski trips here during the week and some schools have races and ski meets so I try to schedule around them!

OK, last ride up and get one more good run in before I call it quits.

A great day of skiing...no falls....no broken bones...... Priceless!



Next month I fly out to Salt Lake City to ski several areas.  First time out there and I'm looking forward to some great skiing.  So, in the meantime, I'll just practice a couple of times a week for the trip.  Hope the ride up the hill is shorter than the ride down!

Skiing with the Bear!

Yeah, skiing with the Bear!  My brother, Gary, called and told me to meet him at Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes with cross country skis and snowshoes at 10:00 AM.  The Goggle Map said it was 53 miles and one hour and 15 minutes to the Bear in Empire, MI.  As I headed out, I programed the GPS and it said I'll arrive at 9:30!
The GPS is taking me an interesting route but I trust it.  After going by Crystal Mountain it puts me on 31 North and I know I am heading in the right direction.  Then a quick left turn and I am heading North.  OK, this GPS is great!  The next turn indicated is coming up but it is pointing to a unplowed road!!!

Not to panic, I just go by and hear the pleasant voice saying "..recalculating".  "Turn left".  NO, I want to go North!  Suddenly I am on 22 and keep going until I see 22 South!  I want 22 North!  Ok, 15 minutes out of my way , I turn around and head 15 minutes North.  Now the arrival time has changed to 10:10 AM!  Instead of being 30 minutes early, I am now 10 minutes late!  I finally arrive, no thanks to the GPS!!

We leave my car and and head up to the Scenic Drive of Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

www.sleepingbeardunes.com/

We are ready to cross country ski up to the famous Dune Climb overlooking Lake Michigan. The road is closed for the winter so the only way in is by foot or ski! It is only a mile or so.

One car is in the parking lot and a trail of snowshoe prints is on the path.  We follow the path and it takes us over to the road to the top.  Wow! This is a wide cross country trail to the top!  Then I realize that the trail is the paved road that goes up.  It has 3-4" of snow and hasn't been plowed all winter. 

We take a shortcut across to the other road and get away from  the snowshoe tracks.  It is pretty easy going but a ways to get to the top.  It is maybe a mile up the road!  Suddenly the road looks like is is going up more steeply ahead!  Yes, the road got quite steep and we started up!  A little ways up and we stop and remove our fleece jackets and tie them around our waists.  When you cross country ski, you burn up a lot of calories and you get hot!  You don't want to sweat because you will chill down and get cold.  I has huffing and puffing trying to keep up with Gary.  He is faster on skis than I am.  He would get way ahead and then stop to wait for me and then head out again.  I didn't stop to rest like he did!  I couldn't!   ...or I wouldn't keep up!

 

We had to take our skis off and hike up to the very top.  It took us about one hour and 20 minutes to get here.  This is where the famous Dune Climb is.  Kids run down and then climb back up the 400" hill!  In the summer, that is!  There were no other tracks up here.  We did see some coyote tracks and deer tracks.

Right behind Gary is the steep hill down to the shore of Lake Michigan.  Behind him is the look-out point.  The wind blows the snow off and the sand is just below the surface.

Yes, that is how I felt!  The wind off the lake made it a little chilly.

This is looking down the dune climb area.  Can you see that it is pretty steep?  It takes kids (usually teenage boys) about 25 seconds to reach the bottom.  They start out running down and then start tumbling and falling and rolling down.  It is a long ways down to the beach!   Then they start up!  They are trying to walk upright but after 15 minutes and only 50 feet of progress, they are on their hands and knees climbling slowly up.  It takes 30-45 minutes to climb back up and they are pooped!

This is looking to the north.  That is South Manitou Island off in the distance.  The Indian legend is that a mother bear and two bear cubs tried to swim across Lake Michigan.  The two cubs didn't make it and the islands are the two bear cubs and the Mother Bear was the giant dune looking back  for the cubs.

We slid back down to where we left our skis and headed down the other side of the loop.  We were discussing if it would be better to take the gradual up hill route on the way in and the steep down hill route on the way back and we decided that it was better to climb the short steep hill up and ski the gradual rhill down.  It was a slow gentle ski down until we hit the middle hill!  Then things speeded up.  I waxed my skiis before we left and they were not gliding very fast at the beginning of the day.  I guess the friction of the snow gradually polished the wax as I was picking up speed on the long down hill.  It wasn't too fast but it was saving us much time on the downward trek.

 

This is one last shot of the trail coming down.  No tracks, we were the first ones in a while to do the 2 mile loop!




We loaded up the car with our skiis and Gary handed out packed lunches that he brought!  What a great brother!

That was a tasty meal!  I know what you are thinking!  No, that flask contains Peach ice tea, really!!!

A nice winter day, a great ski trip, time with my brother...priceless!

Flying on Hard Water!

I just had a nice visit from a SRU friend from PA.  He was coming over to sail his ice boat on Lake Charlevoix in a regatta.  Ben drove over on Wednesday and spent the night with me catching up on news about Slippery Rock.  We left Wellston at 7:00 AM for Boyne City.

Here is Ben's truck with his sailing gear.  The launch site was just North of the marina in town.  The ice was 4" thick of good solid black ice with only a small 1" covering of snow.  Ben wanted to have Thursday and Friday to practice as this was his first outing of the season.

I noticed two local ice boats were stored over on the side.  This was good new for Ben.  He could leave his boat on the ice overnight and save an hour of setting up time. They use ice screws to hold them in place overnight and put on covers.

We carried out four long bags of gear, two storage crates of stuff and all the equipment needed to set up the ice boat. The wood plank was unpacked first.  Ben had the plank constructed for his weight.  It has a bow to it that flattens out two inches when he is on it.  The black end pieces holds the two back blades.  Ice boaters have several blades for different conditions and for practicing and racing.  They carry tools to sharpen the blades if needed.

The Polish fiberglass body was fastened to the plank with one bolt.  It is a simple cockpit and you can see the long handle in front that steers the front blade.  Ben bought this ice boat body from the Polish Racing team that races in the USA and then sells the boats after each race to save on shipping costs back to their country.  Most ice boats are hand-made with wooden bodies.  I'll show you some pictures later in the blog.

In the background you can see about 14 wooden pallets that were donated from a local store.  The ice in front of the ramp was weak and since it was going to warm up, the ramps would be needed to carry gear out on the ice.  This saved  some money over buying several sheets of plywood and is sturdier to walk on. In this picture the steel blades have been attached with one bolt at the end of the plank.  The edge has a sharpened V  point and cuts a track in the ice or fingers if you happened to have it run over you.  That is another story.  The snow on the ice is a problem.  It slows down the boats.  Here only an inch of snow is on the ice so the race is on for Saturday and possibly Sunday.  The racers start over for the race from several states and keep track of news on the way to find out if it is still on or moved to another location or state.  The weather and ice conditions can change in a heartbeat, so the racers have to keep checking.  Ben wanted to have Thursday to set up the boat and get re-acquainted with it. 

Ben is attaching the front blade to the boat.  The small narrow black strip on top of the boat is the ball swivel for the mast.  You can see the thin wires going to the front blade for steering control as you move the pivot arm in the cockpit.  Some of the terms I am using might not be the correct racing boat terms but you get the general idea.

Ben was glad to see a local boater show up as it is better not to practice by yourself.  There have been two deaths in the ice boat community this year when boats went through the ice.  The black masts is just set down on the swivel ball and held in place by the three guy wires.  Two wires go to the end of the plank and one to the front of the boat.  The tension is adjusted to allow flexing of the mast.  There is a lot of tuning to make the boat sail properly.  Ben said that about 80 percent of the ice boaters are summer sailors.  It is obvious that certain sailing procedures would be the same. Ben has a 38 foot sailing boat in Erie that needs a semi-truck to haul around.  That is why it stays up there. This sport is different than many other sports.  The older competitors are usually the better sailers.  The boats are sailed in categories accoring to size, weight and experience.  All things equal, the older guys with more experience are faster.  Ben said that a small 2 to 5 percent advantage in summer sailing at 5 mph doesn't mean as much as in winter ice boating where the boats are going 50 mph.  So a small advantage on the ice means a much faster boat.

Ben's friend has a pleasure boat and is getting out his sail.  It is a handmade boat.  Pleasure sailors enjoy the ice as much as the racers and still enjoy racing just for the fun of it.  Racers are competitive!   On Friday, they will set up a course so the boats are all going in the same direction.  They set up a diamond shaped course that you have to follow.  Each boat can take a different path but have to navigate around all the points of the course.  The changing winds causes different tracks around the course. Today, you just sail and keep an eye out for the other boats.  Two boats traveling at 50 mph each and heading for each other can cause a big impact.  If they crash, the boats always take heavy damage.

The sail is in the groove and getting threaded up the channel on the mast.  The sail is a stiffer, plastic-like material rather than like the soft nylon sails used in the summer.  The front blade has a metal band that can be dropped down  around the blade to act as a brake to keep the boat in position until you are ready to sail.  The wind could start you soaring before you are ready without the brake.

The sails are up and the boats

are ready.  Now the pilots have to get their sailing gear on. 

Ben has his practice jacket on that has a built-in life preserver and a pair of ice picks.  Practicing the ice boating is more dangerous than the races.  Today, Ben and others will check out the ice conditions and help determine the best course setup.  Notice the spiked shoes that Ben is wearing for the running starts.

Ben is psyched!  It is the first ice day of the season for him.  He wants to get re-acquainted with the boat and get some ice time in.  Today is a little dangerous as everything has to be checked out; the boat, the controls, the ice and the conditions.  There is no course so today everyone is just warming up.

You can see the tiller for steering the front of the boat.  Ben has his helmet on, goggles and leather gloves.  To start the boat sailing , he positions the boat at a slight angle to the wind and by pushing on the two back guy wires and pushing off with his ice spikes the boat starts to move.  It is a running start.  Then he stands up on the plank to get into the cockpit.

He is off for the first run of the season.

I'm sailing, I'm sailing!  The boat can reach speeds of 50 mph so large lakes are preferred.



After watching for a while, I decide to go ice fishing.  I drive down the lake to an area away from the racing.  I have never fished this lake so I look for a place that has ice fisherman on it.  I head out and talk to the others out on the ice.  It seems that perch are in the area and maybe some walleyes.  I set up and drill a hole.

My first fish on this lake and a double header!  I release the fish and think I am going to have a good day.

I hear a swishing noise and look around.

Ben sailed over and stopped to check on me.  The ice is thinner up here.  He is enjoying the sailing but the snow is piling up in front of the runners and makes the boat slower.  It is getting warmer and the snow is starting to melt off. Will they be able to race on Saturday and Sunday? 

I came back to the launch area after fishing.  No more bites and it was time to head over and meet my brother, Gary, for dinner.  Here are some shots of the pleasure ice boats that are handbuilt by their owners.  The wood is beautiful.  They are heavier than Ben's racing boat.

The ice is 4 inchs thick and clear.  When I was walking on the ice I could see right through to the sandy bottom.  It looked like you were walking on a thin piece of glass.  A little eery!  The snow is melting off and hopefully the water won't freeze bumpy overnight.

Here is the last shot.

These boats are very beautiful. Ice boating is big in Wisconsin and Minnesota.  Some of the races will be there. You have to travel quite a distance to race your ice boat.


Check out ice boat races, maybe one will be held near you.  Maybe the pleasure boaters will be out on a lake near you.  Hope you enjoyed this blog.