On a recent snowshoe hike, Nate kept teasing the girls by shaking the snow down on their heads. As you can see, once in a while this trick backfired.
Christmas Eve Day Snowshoeing
One of our family activities for this Christmas Eve day…snowshoeing. Merry Christmas everyone! From Half Moon Trail Resort…..Dave and Mary, Ryan, Liz, and Mabel, Sarah, Nate, and Michaela
Wild Christmas Tree
Here is a follow up to our wild Christmas tree post. Thought you might like to see the tree in the house and decorated. Nothing fancy here, just simple white lights and all the kid’s ornaments. We work hard at finding unique ornaments for each of our kids. We have done this for a long time, so we sometimes have to look hard to find a wild tree that “has enough branches for all of our ornaments”.
Cutting a Wild Christmas Tree
We cut another wild Christmas tree off our property this year. Sometimes it takes a lot of looking and a wild tree is always a bit sparse and misshaped. However, there is still some gratification doing it the old fashioned way! Although balsam fir probably makes the best native tree, we were content with a small white spruce this year. The photo below shows Michaela with her head stuck in the tree; she is actually cutting it down.
Winter Pines
Many of our guests that walk and ride “out on the road” will appreciate this winter shot. Mary and I were headed up to Bemidji yesterday to finish our Christmas shopping when we noticed this view. These pines line the road about a quarter mile north of our driveway, about half way to the public access. When I stop to think that these trees were seedlings when we bought the resort 17 years ago, it helps put time in perspective. As time marches on, we very much appreciate living and raising our family here.
Rink Rake
Our simple rink rake plus many feet hose to reach the skating rink. This “T” shaped contraption is simply PVC pipe and a shutoff valve connected to a garden hose on one end and a pipe with a row of small holes on the business end. The attached towel spreads the water out in a thin even, layer. We have been able to salvage half of the rink, but the other half, as expected, has flooded and slushed out.
Thanksgiving Hockey
The resort is a great place to host holiday get-togethers. We have the extra space in the lodge and Mary is a great cook. And, there are plenty of ways to burn off the extra turkey and stuffing. These photos are from our Thanksgiving hockey game with extended family. Thanks to Bob Hammerstrom (a photo journalist who has shot his fair share of sporting events! and my brother-in-law from New Hampshire) for these photos.
Digging Out
We are digging out today after our first major snow storm, about 12 inches on the level so far. Mary is excited to get a good snow cover on her dormant perennial plants, but the kids are disappointed with what this will do to their skating rink: the heavy snow on the early ice will cause the water to push up through the inevitable cracks. The resulting frozen slush ruins the rink beyond our capacity to repair it with our homemade rink rake (a nifty contraption designed to spread a thin layer of water on the ice).
Freeze Up
Last night the lake froze; at least our end of the lake. I was able to get out for a few minutes this morning for some photos. In a couple shots you can see large frost crystals. The cold temps in the forecast will probably seal the deal. It is fairly smooth, so the kids are hoping for “no snow” for a while, so we can skate around the edge of the lake.
Frosty Sunrise
We are making a transition; the leaves are gone and the lake is ready to freeze. On cold nights the mist from the open water will frost the trees. Here is a shot of Boot Lake at dawn on one of these mornings.
Last Color of Fall
In our neck of the woods, the tamarack trees are the last to change color and drop their leaves (needles!). Interesting that this “evergreen” will drop all of its needles like a deciduous tree. The small tree is on the lake shore in front of the lodge, and the large, beautifully shaped one is by the campfire. These photos were taken about 20 days ago, so by now, all the needles are down, and the lake is just starting to freeze around the edges.
Fall Color
Our fall season is in full swing. The leaves are still near “peak color” in the Park Rapids area. We still have not had a killing frost here at the lake, but the leaves are starting to fall. I mulched leaves for the second time today.