The Ottawa team visits us on the lake

Dwight Peck's personal website

Summer 2024

A photographic record of whatever leapt out at us

You may not find this terribly rewarding unless you're included here, so this is a good time for casual and random browsers to turn back before they get too caught up in the sweep and majesty of the proceedings and can't let go.

The Ottawa team visits us on the lake

First, some worthy views of their travel on their way here (photos by members of their team)

Niagara Falls: daughter Marlowe, son-in-law Dmitri, and grandson William (photo by Selfie)

As well as some mini-golfing and go-karting (somewhat away from the Falls) (another photo by Selfie)

And then on to Ohio on 24 June and next day, off to sample the joys of Cleveland: William, Dima, and Marlowe with Marlowe's Auntie Susan (aka our favorite sister) and . . .

. . . a visit to the Great Lakes Science Center, with a tour of the nearby docked steamship.

As well as a visit to the Playhouse Square complex and a musical entitled 'Back to the Future'

With a bit of masquerading, briefly, as Ken and Barbie, sort of

William and a new friend

Auntie Susan and Dmitri. Then on to the Wisconsin Northwoods, via Indiana, in their Chevy Bolt electric car (with a few stops along the way for charge-ups).

Arriving on the lake, 27 June 2024, and making the acquaintance of Agate

Throwing the ball for another dog (either Chester or Wilson) on the property

Choupette, not infrequently, enjoys frightening her guardians.

-- It's all about 'Freedom'!

-- I'll descend when the spirit moves me.

-- Right, we'll just watch.

A back porch gathering: Kristin, George, and Marlowe with her knitting (darning? crocheting?)

Ubiquitous iPhones always fascinate Choupie (sorry, we've been informed that that's a Samsung android).

We're fairly sure now, having made some simple comparisons, that our 'new' iPhone 13 might not have been the best choice. (Choupette doesn't care either way.)

Imagine trying to figure out what Chouper's thinking about (she can do this for an hour or more without moving a whisker).

It's so far been the June of Crappy Weather, and today's no different. But Marlowe and William, on hydrobikes, and Dima on the pedalboard, venture out.

Those are the two new Hydro-bikes (tm), a first work-out

But William's is going to need some adjustments back at base.

Now we're off, on choppy seas and a misty drizzle . . . heading south . . .

. . . towards Adjidaumo, the central island.

Bouncey . . .

. . . but fun anyway.

We've come along to see the eagles' nest on the island (the same one as the last time our guests visited us at the lake, 5 years ago).

Nice eagle's nest -- let's see how the iPhone 13 caught that one with the zoom on.

Nice nest

-- Can I go outside yet?

Another day: to the Canal -- let's go!!!! (29 June 2024)

South for a mile and a half, and we enter the canal.

The mid-lake, aka Mirror Lake, with the second half of the canal down at the far end, on the right

As always, the first task is to search round for sun-basking turtles. There've been fewer every year, but at least one last year, and another guest at Mussent Point said yesterday that he'd seen a huge snapping turtle up close.

So far, just the usual Wreckage of Nature.

We're awaiting the rest of our party.

We're coming up now on the most promising wreckage on the lake; some of their former favorite basking places have faded away or submerged over recent years.

There's the entrance to the second half of the canal -- impassable these days, unless we get a handsaw out and see what can be accomplished amongst the fallen trees, thin enough but several.

Little interest in basking turtles, apparently

Bingo. It helps to have a well-practiced turtle-eye.

He's seen us. Sorry, mate! Bask on.

La Nature in all its glory

The forest road passes just above here, over the culvert, and the Northwoods Land Trust, to which a greater part of the undeveloped lake properties have recently been donated, have gratefully installed a fine chained-down bench for admirers.

The culvert over which the road passes -- the larger next lake is 400m off that way, presently pretty well blocked up by dead woodland detritus. The arrow points to a bypass up which winter skimobilers can get over the road culvert, which doesn't ice up in winter.

Retiring back through the first canal, Dmitri is recording the experience with his GoPro.

As we progress out of the sheltered forest, we're checking our iPhone 13's usually inaccurate weather prediction, and discovering that we're meant soon to be headfirsting into 30 mph winds from the north.

Which turns out to be true. Just a mile to go to the northern end of the lake.

Pedaling a hydrobike into the wind is not so difficult as long as you keep it pointed straight ahead; if you pause for longer than three seconds, the wind turns you broadside and then you've got problems.

This actually got to be fairly taxing (evidently more so by the older members of the party), and it evoked dreams of a warm nap by the fireplace.

Next day, the Ottawa team has taken off to seek out electric vehicle charge stations around Sault Ste Marie, good luck with that.

They did make it back to Ottawa in good order.

Choupette's disturbed by still another turn in the weather.

At least it's not 110°F in the shade, with hurricanes and wildfires on the way.

We'll grab up an improving book and wait this out.

Passing once again the point by Tomahawk Bay with the little shrine on it.

Circumhydrobiking the shoreline round Tomahawk Bay, taking note of fish egg nests and . . .

. . . 'deadheads', old fallen logs still poking out at the surface.

This little cove has a small creek (centre of the photo) which leads back to a small pond, both easily located on Google Maps, but apparently mostly grown over and until recently unexplored (by us).

That's it. Last year, however, Tracy Hames, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Wetlands Association, and our fellow hydrobiker Cousin Rob finally made it through, halfway in a canoe and the other half in mud. Here's a celebratory photo of Cousin Rob at the time.

Back round the shrine point to the main lake

The shrine point from the Tomahawk Bay side (on a brighter day)

Here's an imperfectly zoomed view of mom and dad loons sailing by Mussent Point (the wee one is with them, for sure, but not visible here).

Back to Tomahawk Bay for another look at the deadheads farm. (Perhaps they're escapees from the lumbering days when logs were floated through the canal from the next lake over. But that was over a century ago.)

Another eagle buzzing our back porch

We've got Montevideo on the screen today.

The Lake in the Wisconsin Northwoods

Mussent Point is at no. 12.

Next up: The cats romp at 'South Beach' on Lake Superior, Michigan UP