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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 17:35:20 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 22, 2011 17:35:20 GMT
Wonderful photos Kimby. Does the river freeze at all during the winter or is the current to swift where this picture was shot? It is so nice to be able to have the bison near to view, many people do not have this opportunity. It was snowing like Christmas here yesterday, but today all is gone and the sun is glowing and melting it away. Cheers! Mich
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 18:39:04 GMT
Post by Kimby on Mar 22, 2011 18:39:04 GMT
Many of the rivers in Yellowstone are fed by thermal features and are too warm to freeze. But I think the Madison is mostly too swift flowing to be frozen at the moderate temp of the day we were there.
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 18:48:31 GMT
Post by Kimby on Mar 22, 2011 18:48:31 GMT
Winter "fun" I can't figure out the appeal of hunching over a cold wet hole in a frozen windy lake in a dark tent trying to outwit a fish. But plenty of people do it on our lake. And it gives us something to watch during the long winter. As does this: Because the lake is so windy it's a favored spot for wind sports, both summer and winter. Besides the kite skiers, there are kite boarders who do this with a snowboard. Now kite-skiing is a sport I might consider, though you need to wear a helmet because the kite can lift you right up and drop you on your head. But you don't get wet - unless you hit very hard and go right through the ice! (Since they drive trucks on the ice, that's not very likely.)
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 18:51:23 GMT
Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2011 18:51:23 GMT
I confess that ice fishing has always intrigued me, particularly that bit about cutting the round hole in the ice and expecting something to happen.
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 19:16:35 GMT
Post by onlymark on Mar 22, 2011 19:16:35 GMT
So ice fishing hasn't anything to do with catching ice then?
And what do you do with the circle of ice you cut out? Put it back?
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 20:07:18 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 22, 2011 20:07:18 GMT
Ice fishing can be a wonderful way to spend a day in our long long winter season. It is most fun when you go as a group with someone that owns an "ice shack" (shelter where you can go in to get away from the wind), and ice ogger (sp?). The ogger is a large corkscrew that makes the nice perfect hole in the ice. You then have fishing lines that you hook and bait and lower down into the water through the hole. Bait can be worms, leeches, minnows my dad has even used canned corn on the hook. You do catch fish, some people just put them back and do this as sport fun but most take home for dinner. When you are done for the day it is proper to leave a branch of stick protuding from the hole to give others walking on the ice warning that there could still be a hole there.
The fun is being with your friends dressed up warmly out on the crisp snow covered ice and enjoying some sunshine (hopefully) with a thermos full of coffee, hot chocolate or warm wine. Some people bring out a whole picnic meal that is layed out in the ice hut for all to enjoy a nibble. Cheers! Mich
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 20:32:00 GMT
Post by Kimby on Mar 22, 2011 20:32:00 GMT
auger is the word you seek, mich. Thanks for the description of a day on the ice. I imagine I'll become quite familiar with the variations on the theme visible from our windows. I don't expect to pick up the sport myself, though. Much rather sit inside by the fire, or in the sunlit windows than on an upturned bucket on the ice. Or do something active outside in the snow. We're contemplating how to create a skating rink on the ice. Perhaps we can drop a hose in an ice fisherman's abandoned hole (since we don't have an auger) and use a gas powered pump to flood a rink that will freeze like a sheet of glass.
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 20:36:12 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 22, 2011 20:36:12 GMT
Thanks Kimby, auger is the word! Your description of how to make an ice rink will work, that is how it is done here. Our friends would make one each year for their son who played hockey. They did a brilliant job, had spotlights up for night skating as well. Cheers! Mich
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 21:39:11 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 22, 2011 21:39:11 GMT
We get a little bit of snow here too!
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 21:45:15 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 22, 2011 21:45:15 GMT
My husband built these stairs up to our driveway at the road, imagine shovelling these each time it snows! Cheers, Mich
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 22:00:27 GMT
Post by Kimby on Mar 22, 2011 22:00:27 GMT
Mich, maybe Mr. Mich can come help Mr. Kimby build steps down to our lake cottage from the plowed road above it. We can't imagine how we will keep the driveway open with the way the wind drifts the snow into it. We may have to pull our provisions in on a toboggan...
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Winter
Mar 22, 2011 22:52:01 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 22, 2011 22:52:01 GMT
You will find ways when you are living there and each winter is different. We actually looked at having a funicular built but is was a little to expensive, so Mr. Mich made the stairs and we keep them clear. Sometimes the snow is dry and light and Mr. Mich blows it off the stairs with the leaf blower. I know there is someone on our board who despises them but Mr. Mich has had to have back surgery and we had to find a way to accomodate him and the snow. Mich
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Winter
Mar 23, 2011 5:10:24 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Mar 23, 2011 5:10:24 GMT
Oh my goodness! You say each winter is different. Do you always get that much snow? Wow!
Great pictures, Mich. The stairs are beautifully built. I can see some ice on the treads. Do you all have to hit them with a hair dryer or heat lamp or something?
What beautiful surroundings -- so clear. It must be quite hilly there.
I have to ask -- how did it occur to your dad to put corn on the hook?
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Winter
Mar 23, 2011 15:38:58 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 23, 2011 15:38:58 GMT
Thank you Bixa, no we do not always get that much snow. I would say we have a 10 year cycle. This year was year 2 of my so called cycle. Last year and this year we had not very much snow and was very very cold. For the next 8 years we will have a lot more snow each year, so much we will have to shovel off our roofs for fear of crashing through. That picture was a year we shovelled the roof off twice, these winters are warmer as well.
Yes, there probably is a bit of ice on the treads of the stairs as the sun will melt the remainder and cool it to ice, that is where our well tread winter boots are needed. Yes, it is hilly around here, no mountains, but beautiful hills and valleys.
Ahh, the corn. My dad is one of those fishermen who knows to try anything for bait, as long as it has color and a scent the fish will come. He has even used marshmallows. I will post a picture of a fish he is holding that I caught (using worms).
Thank you for the encouragement and help through my learning process to achieve a photo post Bixa and Kimby! Cheers, Mich
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Winter
Mar 23, 2011 15:51:11 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 23, 2011 15:51:11 GMT
I am sorry Kimby, not an ice fishing picture but I wanted to show Bixa the fish I caught. Also, we do not keep our fish, we through them back after we show our dog Jeb them, he waits for the boat to come back to shore so he can see the fish. Then we release them back and he tries to chase them. Cheers! Mich
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Winter
Mar 23, 2011 18:51:50 GMT
Post by Deleted on Mar 23, 2011 18:51:50 GMT
I admit that I would never fish for just "sport" -- I feel that fish caught should be eaten (if they are the correct size and of an edible species). However, I absolutely hate scaling and cleaning fish, so I only fish if there is somebody I know who will be doing that job. Yes, I am a poor excuse for a human being.
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Winter
Mar 23, 2011 20:45:07 GMT
Post by mich64 on Mar 23, 2011 20:45:07 GMT
Kerouac, sport may be the incorrect word, a past time perhaps. We love being out on the boat and fishing helps pass the time while enjoying an early morning boat ride. By putting them back we are keeping the lake stocked of fish and for them to live and get bigger. I guess it does sound cruel to catch for fun, it is how we were raised, but we did eat the fish when we caught them when I was a child. My father would always filet the fish so I do not know how to do it, which is another reason for me to put them back. When we lived on the east coast and had a cottage on the ocean we would go digging for clams, those we did not waste. I love them. I can not however, ever bring myself to drop a lobster into a pot of boiling water. Cheers, Mich
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Winter
Mar 24, 2011 18:45:21 GMT
Post by cheerypeabrain on Mar 24, 2011 18:45:21 GMT
Beautiful winter photographs and I really love the bison pics....how amazing to see them in the wild. We don't usually have more than a few inches of snow here, in the city where it's warmer than the countryside we only get a sprinking most years...this winter was the most severe we've had for years...it was snowing all December (pretty unusual here) and well into the new year. We don't usually get prolonged periods of freezing temperatures either. Lulled into a false sense of security I didn't wrap half the tender species of plant that I've been growing. Big mistake In a bid to hype up the snow here the media often talk about 'millimetres of snow' 25 mm sounds a LOT more exciting than an inch of snow!
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Winter
Mar 24, 2011 19:41:37 GMT
Post by Kimby on Mar 24, 2011 19:41:37 GMT
We joke that our local ski area reports their snow accumulation in "metric inches". If the recorded snow report says "5 inches of new powder" we figure it will be more like 2 inches (at 2.54 cm per inch). That way we are never disappointed.
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Winter
Mar 24, 2011 19:42:13 GMT
Post by Kimby on Mar 24, 2011 19:42:13 GMT
a winter kite boarder
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Winter
Apr 9, 2011 21:12:13 GMT
Post by Kimby on Apr 9, 2011 21:12:13 GMT
Here's an aerial view taken from the plane as we headed off on our trip to New Zealand in 2006. (We are located on the back side of the more distant point = peninsula. That's a ski area in the foreground, about a 20 minute drive from the cottage.)
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Winter
Dec 31, 2011 21:09:43 GMT
Post by Kimby on Dec 31, 2011 21:09:43 GMT
Winter Fun! Cross-country skiing: Kite boarders: Ice fishing (not sure this is really "fun", but since we counted over 3 dozen people doing this on a Sunday, I guess it must be): The early bird catches the fish: (The state places no limit on salmon, as they want to encourage the fish to grow to trophy size by reducing their numbers.) The really sophisticated icefishermen use underwater cameras: Though we also saw some fellows on their hands and knees, peering into the water with their hands cupped around their faces and their hoods draped over the hole like an old-time photographer with a view camera. Sorry no photo. Somehow didn't get any photos of the snowmobilers....
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Winter
Jan 7, 2012 6:22:29 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 7, 2012 6:22:29 GMT
I just finally got to these pictures. Made me a bit cold, Kimby, in spite of the brilliant sunshine, but the fishing looks excellent. Those salmon must be hungry!
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Winter
Jan 11, 2012 21:38:28 GMT
Post by Kimby on Jan 11, 2012 21:38:28 GMT
Hoar frost!
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Winter
Jan 11, 2012 21:52:55 GMT
Post by mich64 on Jan 11, 2012 21:52:55 GMT
Excellent detail Kimby!
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Winter
Jan 13, 2012 4:37:52 GMT
Post by nycgirl on Jan 13, 2012 4:37:52 GMT
Wow, so lovely!
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Winter
Jan 13, 2012 5:24:39 GMT
Post by bixaorellana on Jan 13, 2012 5:24:39 GMT
Echo! Echo! That second one in particular is a miracle!
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Winter
Jan 13, 2012 14:52:33 GMT
Post by Kimby on Jan 13, 2012 14:52:33 GMT
Thank you! That second one I wasn't sure about. It's a bush about 3 feet off the ground, so a lot of it is out of focus.
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Winter
Jan 27, 2012 15:14:41 GMT
Post by Kimby on Jan 27, 2012 15:14:41 GMT
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Winter
Jan 31, 2012 14:41:50 GMT
Post by imec on Jan 31, 2012 14:41:50 GMT
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