December Winter

Oak Point is in the grip of winter weather. The Oak Point Road has a crust of snow and ice from the beginning to the end. Today we are getting the Arctic cold that is on its way south to the area that has the blizzard and snow today. I enjoy my winter days when we have a nice arm fire going in the fireplace and plenty of football to watch on TV.

Outdoor Tree

We have two Christmas trees at our house on Oak Point. Pictured is the outdoors tree that we cut down in the forest. For a $5.00 fee you can get a tag to cut a tree in the Chippewa National Forest. We went out on Wednesday afternoon and looked at numerous trees before we settled on this one. When they grow in the wild, most look like "Charlie Brown Trees" they are not trimmed, but if you look through a couple hundred you can usually find one that fits your needs.

Leech Lake Association

Annual Christmas Dinner

Coming up this coming Thursday December 16th, 2010 at the Ranch House Supper Club. Social Hour 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm, then our speaker Doug Schultz Large Lake Biologist, MN DNR and his topic will be "What Does a New Leech Lake Management Plan mean to me?". Dinner served at 7:00 pm with selections of prime rib, walleye, chicken supreme, and chicken and ribs.

Leech Lake Management Plan

The 2011-2015 Plan which is authored by Doug Schultz, our speaker is available on line at www.mndnr.gov/leechlake. It's a 40 plus page report that you might want to review before listening to our speaker.

Anne M. Dunn

Anne M. Dunn an Ojibwa author and storyteller, and former resident on Oak Point was a feature speaker at a program held at the Cass Lake Library recently. She told a number of her stories she learned from her mother and grandmother as a young girl growing up on the Leech Lake Reservation. Oral legends and animal fables were an important source of Ojibwa history that has been told and retold over many, many years.

This coming Thursday, December 14 at 4:00 pm the Cass Lake library has an interesting speaker and author, Anton Treuer, a BSU faculty member will speak about his new book, "Assassination of Hole-In-The Day".

White Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving on Oak Point was white and cold. We had two snowfalls last week, one on Monday the 22nd, and the second one was on the afternoon of Wednesday the 24th and into the morning of Thanksgiving Day. We went to visit with our son, Matt and his family down in the cities. Thanks-giving is all about family and friends and the start of the Holiday Season. We all got a chance to say what we are thankful for.

We are getting another snowfall today Monday the 29th. The National Weather Service has a winter storm warning for our area today until noon tomorrow with new snows from 6 to 10 inches. With all the new snow one can easily see the deer tracks all over the places that I hunted. The big game specialist for the DNR was quoted as saying, It's looking like once everything is said and done we are looking at about 215,000 for the state wide kill."

Leech Lake ice has a lot of water on top of it thanks to the heavy snows. Walker Bay, Steamboat Lake and some of the larger lakes still have some open water. Yesterday I saw some fish houses out, which I think is way to early. I can't think of a Thanksgiving where we could go ice fishing this early.

Leech Lake Area

Watershed Foundation

The Leech Lake Area Watershed Foundation is a non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote activities that preserve and sustain the national resource of the area for the use and enjoyment of current and future generation. The Leech Lake Watershed is one of the 15 sub watersheds that drain into the Upper Mississippi. Our watershed consists of 674 lakes that all drain into Leech Lake. The total area consists of 855,000 acres of which Leech Lake is 111,500 acres. Our watershed is located in Cass, Hubbard and parts of Beltrami Counties. It's home to half of the Minnesota naturally reproducing Muskie lakes. One-third of the watershed area is in public ownership such as county, state and federal.

November Winter

We have moved into the winter season here on Oak Point. It's cold and snowy this morning. The ice on Leech Lake is as far as we can see all around the Oak Point area. The 2010 deer hunting season quietly ended Sunday evening, November 21st. I went out for the last time and sat in a stand and saw no other hunters or hear any shots. I had a great hunt, but no deer this year. It was good just to be a part of the annual hunt.

Oak Point Resort

Our neighbors Lee and Laura Nupson have been busy this fall at their resort. Pictured here is the latest addition, they built new living quarters above their lodge for them selves. Lee told me that they are doing quite well this year and that they are looking forward to December, because they have a number of reservations for their cabins and spearing houses. They will be putting out the spearing houses just as soon as the ice is strong enough. Its good to hear that they are doing well this year. I might be interested ion renting one of their spearing houses a time or two over the upcoming holidays. The Oak Point Resort has a website at http://www.oakpointresort.com/ or phone them at 218-335-2993.

Beltrami Electric Coop.

Our supplier of electric power on all of Oak Point is Beltrami Electric Coop. out of Bemidji. They have been around this past week notifying their clients that starting in mid December they plan on removing trees and brush in the oak Point area underneath their over head power lines. This is nothing new, they have been doing this clearing process about every 5 to 7 years for some time. It's necessary to protect us from power outages and the chance of danger to our property and persons. What is new though, is that they plan on coming through one year after the mechanical clearing and apply a herbicide to control resprouting of trees and brush. Along the Chippewa Beach Road area this can be as close as 250 ft. from Leech Lake. This makes me nervous and I plan on checking into this. The US Forest Service does not allow them to spray on any of their properties.

Beltrami Electric has someone to call and his name is Dan Edens, Manager of Operations at 218-444-3649. I call and talked to him how you can opt out of the spraying and he told me that before they spray they will be contacting each of us and we can decline to have our property sprayed. If you have any concerns about this spraying you can contact me or call Dan Edens.

First Snow

We woke up to our first covering of snow this morning. We must have 2" to 3" of the wet snow, compared to the 10" to 12" that they got down in the cities. The temps right now are in the low 30's with a forecast of somewhat higher temps for the next few days, so we are hoping for the snow to melt. Our son and family who live in south Mpls. were some of the unlucky homeowners whose electric power was knocked out.

Deer Hunting

Deer hunting continues here on Oak Point. The number of hunters in the woods are down some this weekend from last weekend, but still lots of blaze orange hunters are out. I had the privilege of going hunting with Gilbert Starr on Saturday morning. Gilbert grew up on Oak Point, Starr Point area, and he knows the area like the back of his hand. He show me the area that he has hunted over the years, included various tree stands. He has plenty of stories of successful hunts, both deer and bear, associated with various stands. With the new snow on the ground maybe that can help me locate a deer. The Minnesota DNR estimates that nearly 90,000 deer were taken during the first weekend from the approximate 450,000 hunters in the woods. I have until November 21 to get my deer.

Miscellaneous

Saw my first flock of swans flying over this morning. They are usually the last migratory birds that use the Leech Lake area as a stop on their way south. Saw some birds on the lake yesterday, I don't know if they were fisherman or duck hunters, but I suspect their days are limited. Usually by Thanksgiving we have some ice on the "big lake". We typically don't see any ice fishing houses out until sometime in December. Been burning plenty of oak wood in our fireplace these shorter days since we are back on Central Standard Time. Darkness comes early. So a warm fire and a warm supper in the oven is welcome. I cooked a bear steak in the slow cooker that turned out real tender and very tasty and was a great main dish with some locally grown potatoes.

It's That Time Again

The opening of the Minnesota Deer Firearms Season started on Saturday November 6th. It's like a state holiday here on Oak Point, second only to the Fishing Opener. Lots of hunters took to the woods Saturday morning. I have never seen more hunters out after the local deer herd. Oak Point is located entirely in Zone 197 where the season runs until Sunday November 21. I heard many success stories. Most of the larger parties had at least one successful hunter. I heard of one party that had three deer to their credit.

I went hunting myself for the first time in about 15 years. I was not successful myself, or should I say "not yet". I still have plenty of time. I had to borrow a rifle, buy some new blaze orange clothing, build a deer stand and bake some oatmeal cookies. I even had to find my hunting knife and sharpen it up. I had the help of my grandson Aaron, who visited us during the long MEA weekend, building the deer stand. Maybe sometime in the future we can get him up here for some hunting. It did feel strange sitting in the deer stand and listing to the Loons doings their musical serenade.

The weather we had was just great. We had wake up weather in the low 30's. Saturday we had a high in the high 40's and today we made the 50's with a calm winds. No rain. The strong winds that we had last week brought down some flocks of Bluebills ducks who fly over the surface of the water with a whistling noise.

Indian Summer

The weather we had this first full week of October was simply spectacular. We had sunny skies, and warm temperature in the 70's and even hitting 80 degrees a couple of days here on Oak Point. Lots of visitors up to their cabins to do fall chores these last few days. Most of the docks and lifts are now in, mine included. In many neighborhoods groups get together and work as a team to bring the equipment in. These are borrowed days that I am sure we will be paid back with cold temps fairly soon.

Leaves

Another fall duty we all have on Oak Point is leaves. Actually I think the Oak leaves are down earlier this year then some of the years in the past. I think this is the case since many trees budded out earlier this spring then normal, so the time has come for the leaves to fall. Many of us have cleaned our leaves once this fall with the full knowledge that we will have to do it one more this fall. I will have to mulch the leaves at least once more this week.

Hunting and Fishing

The local duck hunter chased the local birds out already and they are waiting for the big flights to come in. Grouse hunting has been spotty, with a few birds taken by the hunters that work for their birds. No more bear sightings and very few deer sightings. I understand that the bow hunters have not seen many deer. I was lucky enough to draw a doe permit this year. Good reports on the Walleye fishing. Lots of fish being taken on the rocky points like Pine Point and Big Hardwood in the evening.

Garden

Picked a few green peppers and zucchini for the last time. I still have a few potatoes and beets to dig that I hope to do this week, then I begin the task of tilling the garden. I sort of dread this task for some reason. I guess I hate to see the season end.

Twin Cities Marathon

Our daughter-in-law Stephanie Nitchals ran her first marathon yesterday on a chilly October morning. Her time was 3 hrs and 53 min. and she stayed under 4 hours. This is the mother of our 3 grand kids. She took up running about two years ago. Their were 11,ooo runners that started the race, with about 9,000 finished. They estimated that 300,000 spectators lined the 26 miles of the streets to watch the race. She was the 357th woman to finish the race. We are real proud of her reaching this goal she set for herself.

Frost

We didn't have a frost here by Leech Lake, the big lake effect keep us warm on both Saturday and Sunday morning, but a few miles away from the lake there was frost. I took in my winter squash and dug the last of my baking potatoes this morning. I believe that our growing season has officially come to an end. Beautiful day today with heights for casted in the 60's and 70's this week.

Fall Chores

With the help of my neighbor and friend Dennis Yepma, we brought in my boat for the season. Took the boat into the marine shop to have it winterized and serviced for next year. My dock and lift are ready for those people to come this coming weekend to put that equipment up on shore. Had to take my leaf blower in to be worked on, should be able to get it by tomorrow.

High Speed Internet

I know that I have mentioned it before, one of our luxuries is the high speed Internet and cable TV that we get through Paul Bunyan Telephone out of Bemidji. I am able to get most of the sporting events live on my TV screen. This week the Twins start post season baseball. I get most of the NFL football games on Sunday, Sunday evening and on Monday nights. I am able to play fantasy Football with my friends on our computer. Not bad for living in the Chippewa National Forest.

Walleye Meeting

A reminder of the October 13th meeting that the DNR is having at the Walker HS Commons to discuss the proposed slot change from 18 to 26 inch fish to 20 to 26 inch fish. The meeting is from 6 to 9 pm. I plan on going and voicing my support for the change.

Fall Colors

This last weekend the colors out on Oak Point had to be at their peak. This past week when Minnesota had its deluge in the southern parts of our state we got close to 2 inches or rain which brought down some acorns and leaves. Fall officially arrived on Wednesday the 23rd. Still no killing frost, but that can't be far off now.

Black Bear/Deer Hunting

No more stories of successful hunts. But more sighting along the road. In fact my wife saw one going after some still green grapes along Chippewa Ch Rd just adjacent to our home. The bear are after the food to fatten up for the long winter nap. According to the DNR the number of bear kills lags behind last year.

Deer hunters are talking about where they are going to put up their stands this year. A few die hard archery deer hunters are taking to the stands. That sport takes an enormous amount of patience waiting for the deer to come by. Lots of leaves still on the trees and shrubs make it very difficult to see the deer.

Fall Chores

I am having a hard time getting my fall chores done. I have been splitting wood, not for this winter, but for the 2011-2012 season. My wood shed is just about full, but my pile is still high. I have been mulching my leaves already when I mow my lawn. We will start to pick up the leaves about one month from now. The Oak leaves stay on for some time. I have begun taking apart my garden. Still have some beets and potatoes to dig and some winter squash to put away. One chore that I need to get at is bring in the boat and getting it ready for winter storage. I will take the boat in to change the oil in the four stroke engine.

Biggs Family

Congratulation to the Biggs Family of Plymouth, MN for their purchase of Lot # 14 in Oak Point Estates. They plan on starting building yet this fall. This makes the 6th lot sold with 7 more lots left. Our thanks to the Biggs Family.

Fall Weather

When I left for my walk this morning it was 38 degrees out. Fall Equinox happens this coming Wednesday, Sept 22nd. We have not had a killing frost yet, but that can't be long away.

Today was also the first day of the 2010 Grouse Hunting Season. Heard many shotgun blasts coming from the woods this morning as many hunters were after the early season action with the young dumber birds. Most of the reports for the Grouse season are down from prior years harvests. It was also the first day to archery hunt deer. Duck hunting begins on October 2nd this year.

Oak Point Bear

Pictured here is Ray Copa with his first black bear that he shot on Wednesday evening the 15th of September. The bear was taken about one mile from his home here on Oak Point Road. Karen called a number of us to help him get the bear out of the woods. Congratulations to Ray.

Ray is my walking partner and the day before he got this bear we had seen a rather large bear cross the road about 300 yards in front of us. I have also talked to three other people who have see bears on the move this past week. The theory is that they are eating heavily now trying to get that extra layer of fat for the long cold winter hibernation.

Wild Rice Harvest

The 2010 season is over already. Those in the know say that the harvest was only about 1/3 of the 2009 harvest. The theory is that with the high water levels and brisk September winds have knocked a lot of the wild rice off the stocks early, leaving just a little for the pickers this fall. I will speculate this will mean higher retail prices.

Garden

The 2010 garden season is coming to a halt. I have some potatoes, winter squash and beets left to harvest, and then it's time to plow the soil to prepare for next year garden.

Leech Lake Walleyes

The Minnesota DNR is considering whether to maintain or modify the Walleye regulation on Leech Lake. A public meeting is scheduled for October 13th at the Walker H.S. Commons area from 6 to 9 pm. The two plans they are looking at are to maintain the current 4 fish limit, but modify the 18 to 26 inch slot size to 20 to 26 inch size with one fist over 26 inches. This plan would allow the new size to revert back to 18 to 26 inches if the DNR felt it was necessary. The second plan is to keep the s8 to 26 slot size as they are now. I have been suggesting the new size so for one I am going to show up and speak for the change. I would suggest that others who have strong feelings show up as well. I will try to remind people before the October 13 meeting date.

Fall Colors

We are still maybe one to two weeks away from the peak colors, but still the maples are just truly beautiful. The Sumac bushes are turning red. The green oak leaves have not started to change colors yet, will have to wait for that first freeze.

September 2010

September is here, the days are getting shorter and the temperature is getting cooler. Hunting season has begun for bear. Deer hunting for members of the reservation and some wild ricing harvesting in the Narrows. The large beds of rice in Steamboat Bay are not open yet. We are having Labor Day Weekend so plenty of extra people are enjoying the long weekend at the cabin. We had visitors, our son and grandson are visiting from the cities. Football season will be upon us soon. We had our draft for our Fantasy Football.

Had a couple of thunderstorms this past week with over an inch of rain. Had some strong winds associated with the rain storm the night of Sept 1st that came out of the east. A number of property owners facing to the east had damage to their docks and boat lifts. One person had some damage to their fishing boat. We had one tree dowm on Oak Point Estates, but nothing serious.

Garden

The end of the growing season is coming on for the garden. Had our first meal of beets last evening. Might get a few more green beans, a few summer squash and cucumbers yet, but with the cooling weather and shorter days the prime growing season is behind us. I will have to dig potatoes and harvest the winter squash soon.

Maple Trees

Some of the leaves of the maples are starting to change their coloration. Pretty soon we will have lovely reds, yellows and orange leaves that make our falls so beautiful. It will be 4 to 6 weeks before any serious leaf raking has to take place. With the rains still coming down we will have to keep mowing the green grass at least once per-week.

House Progress

The Christenson new house on Oak Point Estates is making some serious progress. I know that they want to be able to work inside this coming winter.

Nice Weekend

Leech Lake was busy yesterday and today. Lots of boats on the lake, people at their cabins, traffic on the roads. I think people wanted to get one more good weekend before Labor Day Weekend which is coming up in two weeks. We had warm temperatures but a good stiff wind off the lake kept us cool. We had 2 inches of rain in two storms during the week so that keeps the garden and the grass green.

Fauna

Bear hunters were in the woods setting out bait and putting their stands out for the up coming season. Continue to see deer on the Oak Point Road which should mean a successful deer season for the local hunters. Some of the young ducks and geese are starting to take flight. Have not heard any successful fishing reports on the lake. Been seeing more boats in the evening trolling in the Goose Islands flats.

Flora

Garden continues to produce produce for us. Right now tomatos are the prime crop. I have been picking them early and put them out on our picnic table to finish ripping. Green beans are pretty much finishing their season. Cucumbers are still producing as well as summer squash. We have a good crop of winter squash and pumpkins on the vine. Lots of potatoes for the fall and winter harvest.

This Blog

Taking a motor trip to Michigan this coming week to visit a sister and her family near Detroit. So the net result will be no blog next weekend.

Mid-August

We awoke this morning to much cooler temperatures than we have been having in August so far. We had cool mid 50's this morning. The high for the day was 65. Now when you are used to 90's, its quite a change. We had over 2.5 inches of rain this past week. The lake water temps are still high with temps in the mid to high 70's which are quite high for such a large body of water like Leech.

Our grandchildren spent a few days with us this week and all of us had a good time. They swam, sewed, fished, boated and ate us out of food. But a good time was had by all. The 7 year old second grater caught the largest fish probably a 2 lb. rock bass off the dock. It always takes us a few days to get things back to normal after their visits.

The water level in the lake are still quite high, usually by this time of the year I am having problems getting my boat off the lift, but not this year. Getting some reports of Walleyes being caught in the Goose Island flats trolling Shad Raps. My grandson and I tried it twice with no success.

Fauna

Bear hunting begins in two weeks time. This weekend was the first time hunters could bait for bear. The MN DNR says that there are ample berries and wild nuts this year with all the rain we have been having. So baiting might not be as productive. In our area there are plenty of acorns from the oak trees this year. So far we continue to see plenty of your deer sightings in the woods, especially when we take walks in the morning along the Oak Point Road.

Flora

Garden continues to grow. Enjoying cucumbers, green beans, summer squash, tomatoes and new potatoes. Still mowing the yard at least once a week. Usually we see the end of the weekly mowing by this time of the year, but with all the rains we have been having I had to mow my lawn again today.

Pictured is some Jewelweed which is natures antidote for poison ivy.

Dog Days of August

What I call the "Dog Days of August" came upon us this past week. Hot days cooling at nights, garden growing with new produce every day. It gets dark a little after 9:15 pm so I can get to bed early again.

Flora

Mid-summer flora is starting to appear. I am including some photo of some Jerusalem Artichoke, they have nothing to do with Jerusalem and are not Artichokes. The flowers are like the Black Eyed Susan with a more yellow center, but grow taller, sometimes to a height of nine feet. They have an edible tuber that resemble ginger roots. They are high in carbohydrates with a consistency like a potato when eaten raw, when they are boiled they are soft and mushy.


I am also including a picture of some Asters that is a wild flower that I have found over at Oak Point Estates. They flower in late summer or early fall and are purple or blue in coloration.

This past week I have harvested some smaller tomatoes, green peppers and some sweet banana peppers. I made a dish of stuffed peppers using hamburger and cooked wild rice, and a topping them off with a cheese and Ro-Tel dressing. They were real good. Also for my wife's birthday I made her my blueberry pie recipe.

Fauna

Some of my neighbors are reporting some Walleye catches in the area. Some are using bobber-stopper rigs with leeches around the outer edges of week beds and some are trolling Shad Raps in 10 to 12 ft. of water. My grandson is coming to visit this coming week so I will have to take him fishing.

Pictured here is some young mallard ducks starting to get some color. They have to get some flying lessons in before duck hunting season starts early on Saturday October 2nd.

August 1st

It doesn't seem possible that we are in August already. Weather wise we have been getting plenty of rain still, gardens and lawns are green maybe two much rain for the tomatoes they are getting yellow leaves by the soil. Enjoying green beans, new potatoes, onions, cucumbers, summer squash, green peppers and lettuce. We have been busy the last 10 days. We had the damaged roof on the garage repaired, so we decided to have the house roof shingled as well. We had our hardwood floors refinished so that met that all the furniture had to be moved out. And you all know that one thing leads to another, so we have been busy.

I am adding some pictures that are interesting. Our neighbor Dennis Yepma has a new sailboat that he is learning to use. Also I was driving through the narrows the other day when I saw an unusual sight, I saw 14 Turkey vultures in one tree. Unfortunately someone had dumped some fish guts on the road and they were cleaning up the mess. I would hope that whoever is doing that would stop.

President Mike Rief

Mike is on his 4th term as President of our Oak Point Property Owners Association. He is already looking for someone to take his place for next year. Mike says that the thing he enjoys most about the presidency is meeting and working with all the good people up here. He enjoys lining up the speakers for the annual meeting and working with the local media.




Mike and his wife Joyce have their permanent home in Buffalo just west of the twin cities. They live on the NW corner of Buffalo Lake. Mike is fully retired from his job as the controller for General Dynamics, Government Systems Division. They were the Department of Defense Contract Unit where 95% of their business was with the US Navy. They built computers for the F-18 fighter jets among other things. Joyce is also retired from the education field where she was in physical education, school counselor, and finished as a principal at Minnetonka High School.



Mike is an old Navy man himself. Going to Navy OCS after college at St Cloud State. He spent a number of years on navy ships based out of Brooklyn Navy Yards. He then spent 14 years in the Naval Reserves where he retired as a Lt. Commander.



Mike and Joyce have three adult children. Two boys and one girl. Their daughter has triplet boys who are 9 years old and live in Zimmerman. They bought their place on Mounds Point from Les Spitzack in 1999. Their cabin use to be owned by Glen and Verna Sickle who have plenty of stories about their time up here.



Mike claims the main reason he bought property up here on Leech Lake was for snowmobiling. Last year both he and Joyce put 1,100 miles on Leech Lake and 1,100 miles other places on their sleds. One of Mikes stories up here was the time they went to Walker Legion Meat Raffle on sleds. When they left to go home from where the Chase Hotel is they left across the ice when it got foggy, real foggy. So they decided to go back to town and followed their tracks back. They found the Heartland Trail by Marine Max and followed it back to Erickson's Landing. They took off across the ice once again keeping Sandpoint to their left and followed paths heading east. They new they were safe when they could see Christmas Lights on Mounds Point.



Mike's other major story about snowmobiling was when he was marking ice chunks at ice spearing fisherman had cutout for their spearing holes. Mike would mark these chunks so that other snowmobiler's would not hit them. Well wen mike stepped back and you guessed it, he fell into the hole catching himself by his left arm and was able to putt himself out, wet and all alone. It was about 30 degrees out so he was able to start his sled and hurry home before he froze up.



Mike and Joyce also enjoy playing golf at both Longbow and Sand Trap course's. They enjoy cruising Leech Lake in their pontoon boat looking for sand beaches and other places of interest. Fishing for Mike is the early season Walleyes and Sunfish.



If you want to get involved with the Oak Point Association, give Mike a call and volunteer.

Summer Time

It's the middle of July! The garden is doing just great. We have ample and timely rains with approximately 2 inches falling this past week in four different occasions. We now enjoy green beans, new potatoes, green and yellow zucchini, cucumbers as well as the leaf lettuce and green onions. All the rain also means more weeds and bugs. The lawns are lush and green so that means more mowing and trimming.

We made raspberry jam today. Not the wild raspberry, but the pick-your-own variety that are at their prime right now. That jam will go great with toast in the mornings. We are freezing some raspberries to enjoy later. Lots of great fruit to enjoy this time of the year.

Seeing more deer along the road in the mornings with one good reason, "deer flies" are out, and they have a nasty bite. For my morning walks I have been going to buy one of those fish net face masks when I go to town, but I keep forgetting.

Arty Youngren

People enjoyed last week personal profile of Arty Youngren. I always enjoy writing them because I always gain some new insight on Oak Point. Suggest some people or ideas that I should write about. Either email or talk to me this coming Saturday at the Oak Point Picnic.

Two Things to Remember

Remember to go to the Oak Point Picnic and Golf Outing next Saturday, they are always fun. Second, the time to comment about the Leech Lake Draft Management Plan is now. You can comment until the end of July. Go to my July 4th Blog to gain access to the Draft Management Plan so that you can comment.

Thanks

Our thanks to Jim and Karen for their purchase of lot # 3 at Oak Point Estates that closed last week. That makes our 5th lot sold. We have 8 lots left to sell. Stop over and see the progress on the new home being built on lot # 11.

Ardy Youngren

Ardy Youngren is pictured here with her oldest son Larry. They are spending some time up at the family cabin this summer.

Ardy Youngren and her late husband Bill are long time property owners here on Oak Point. They bought their cabin at 10500 Chippewa Beach Road back in 1969. Just prior to buying their cabin they were fishing with another couple at Red Rock Reef just east of Pelican Island and they were catching big Walleyes one after another. So they were sold on Leech Lake. Next they ran into Lon Ivan who took them out to Squaw Point to show them some cabins. They ended up buying the place which was the first one that they saw on a contract for deed which was 41 years ago and went back to Joliet, IL which was their home. Bill owned and operated Ace Root Beer Stand which was a car hop drive in that also sold food. The Youngrens had three children, six grandchildren and now 16 great grand children.

The next time they came back was at Easter Vacation in 1970 and they couldn't find their cabin and had to call Lon Ivan for directions to get there. This was before the present modern road system with the looping road by the Narrows. Pastor Schmidt from the Chippewa Bible Church had a tractor that he used to pull cars through the wet areas by Welch Lake.

Some of their neighbors at the time were the Savolas, Browns, Howlands, Reidel, Ray, Schuppe, Obergs, Darko, Loves and Nobles. Harold Kleen was the area handyman while he ran the Oakdale Resort. The telephone was a party line that ran trough the woods attached to trees to get here. The Youngrens' took their laundry to Walker by boat and would bring groceries and supplies back with them.

Some of their memories included the big storm of 1979 that destroyed their boat and store station. They have a plaque made out of one of the remaining boards from the boat that is attached just outside of their back door. They remember all the great fishing trips primarily after Walleyes. They remember one summer they put a new roof on the cottage and the garage. They remember Albert (aka) Oh-Gee-Che-Dah and his sister Susan Starr who lived entire life out on Oak Point. They remember some of the relatives losing a prop out on the lake. The forest fire in the Little Hardwood area in the 1970's that they called in to the forest service. They remember when son Dan swam to Goose Island and back. Ardy gave me a file titled Squaw Point Road, which contained all the correspondence, petitions and news articles about the efforts to get the modern looping road built in the early 1980's. The total effort took many years to get done with a total cost of less then $1.5 million that was completed in 1984. Contract that to the 2010 road improvement costs of approximately $3.3 million and took quite a bit of time to get done as well. Some of Ardy's best memories are about the family gatherings and the great food they ate.

Ardy said her husband Bill closed up his business in Joliet earlier and earlier every year fall so that they could travel north to their cabin. They use to stay until November when they headed back home. After they sold the business they spent the entire summer up here fishing, riding bicycle and doing what they enjoyed doing.

4th of July

The fireworks started early today for the Nitchals household, we had a thunderstorm that came through our neighborhood and left 3 1/4 inches of rain last night and early this morning. A large branch from an Oak tree came crashing down on one of my garages putting 5 holes in the roof. Always something new to deal with. I have the mess cleaned up already and got a temporary patch over the holes. Will have to deal with the insurance company tomorrow or Tuesday morning.

The 4th of July is a busy midsummer holiday at the lakes. All up and down the neighborhood the lake places are filled with family and guests. My brother and sister-in-law were here staying with us, my sister and her husband were at their place along with two daughters and their families. The weather was warm, humid and windy which brought on the thunderstorm this morning. We had highs approaching 90's for three days. Had a chance to speak to a number of neighbors all wanting to talk about the heat.

Flora

With the rains the flora is thick and green here on Oak Point. Pictured here are some flowers call Crown Vetch which is a perennial legume that grows 2 to 3 ft. high and has white or pink flowers atop. They can be used as erosion control or cover crops. We see them growing down at Oak Point Estates. Another wild flower out is the yellow toad flax which are in the ditches and open areas where we find the white daisies. Wild raspberries are starting to ripen already but not enough to pick for some ice cream yet. Hope to pick them before the birds get them all.

Our garden is doing nicely, thank you. Young green beans are about an inch long. Plenty of leaf lettuce for salads. New potatoes and pea pods from my brother garden. With the rains last night, I will not have to run the sprinkler for awhile.

Fauna

Saw plenty of wildlife this week. One morning while walking we saw four adult deer and one fawn. One neighbor saw two bear cross the road. Lots of young ducks, geese and other waterbirds. Fishing reports are not good right now.

Draft Leech Lake Plan

Go to the Minnesota DNR Website at http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/ and on the main page they direct you to the draft Leech Lake Management Plan under news. You can try www.mndnr.gov/leechlake . The DNR is inviting public input.

Oak Point Association

We had an excellent program at our annual meeting on Saturday the 26th of June. Our speaker was Doug Schultz, Large Lake Biologist for the Minnesota DNR located here in Walker.

The principal item on his agenda during his presentation was the Spread of Aquatic Invasive Species. He wants property owners and boaters to be aware of the problem and then what they can do about it here on Leech Lake. Doug thought that our water quality on Leech is generally better then it was in the 1950's and 1960's when untreated septic water was getting into the lake. We do have some limited invasive species in our lake they are the Eurasian Watermilfoil that is some of the harbors, Purple Loosestrife, Curly-Leaf Pondweed, Rusty Crayfish and Chinese Banded Mystery Snails. The best way to protect our waters is to prevent hitchhikers on our fishing boats and trailers. Remove any visible mud, plants, fish or animals before transporting any equipment, eliminate water from live wells, motors and minnow pails. Never release plants, fish or animals into a body of water unless they came out of that body of water.

Doug also spoke to us about an update to the Leech Lake Walleye Management Plan that will become public on July 1st. He reviewed for us the current regulation of the 18 to 26 inch slot fish, the special limit of 4 fish, the Cormorant control program and the fish stocking program. The new plan will have a survey associated with it which is your chance to voice your input about the slot size and the special limit. I will try and send along a copy of the survey when I get one.

Doug also spoke briefly about the status of the Musky in our lake, which he pointed out was still very good. You have a chance to volunteer in the spring when they tag Muskie's which sound like fun. Doug can be contacted at doug.w.schultz@state.mn.us . Very excellent program.

Summer 2010

It must have rained about everyday this week. We had over an inch of rain on Thursday morning. The grass on the lawns is growing very fast, just finished mowing once again. No need to water the garden. Had two meals of lose leaf lettuce this week. Weeds are growing fast.

With all the rains the lake level is up once again. The wheels on my dock have two or three inches of water on top. This is a good sign going into the summer dryer months.

Mayflies

I think we are finally at the end of the Mayfly season, what that means is that now it's time to clean windows and get ready for the 4th of July. Doug Schultz answered a question at our annual meeting about Mayflies by saying that their presences in Leech Lake is a good sign of the quality of water that we have.

Daisies

The wild flower of the week is the common white Daisy which has white petals with a yellow center. They grow in open areas where they can get plenty of sunlight like pastures, ditches, vacant lots, etc. This perennial flower blossoms in June and July and is quite common across most of the midwest states. The Showy Lady Slipper is still blossoming and can be still found.

June Storms

The main topic of neighborhood conversation this past week was the weather. Early in the week we had cool, wet and overcast skies that was the continuation of the previous weeks gloomy weather. On Wednesday we had a nice day with warmer temps. Then on Thursday, when we had all the tornadoes in Minnesota, we had winds and an inch of rain. On Friday afternoon we had very high straight line winds from the west and southwest. We had at least 4 trees down on the Oak Point Road that partially blocked one lane. One big massive Oak tree down in my neighborhood. Many branches and leaves down on the lawns that had to be cleaned up. We had 3 smaller trees down at Oak Point Estates that are already cleaned up.

Showy Lady's Slipper

The Minnesota State Flower made its appearance this past week. It's a wild orchid native to northern North America. It has been protected in Minnesota since 1925. It's illegal to pick or transplant this flower. Many people consider it to be the most beautiful flower in the state. It is a brightly colored flower that has one or two blossoms on a single stem. White petals sit on top of a white pouch streaked with pick. It flowers in early June to mid July, about two weeks later the Yellow Lady Slipper. This orchid prefers more sunlight then its yellow cousin. This plant has a long life span and that some times be up to 100 years. The stem of this plant has a hairy appearance with the "hairs" causing irritation to some people.

We find the flower in the road ditches where it gets more sunlight. The best place that we find them is in the Highway 371 ditch just north of the intersection with the Oak Point Road. This past week we must have seen hundreds of them in this location. If you visit this site please take your pictures, but please leave them alone so that we can enjoy them for years to come. We also find them in various location along Oak Point Road.

Mayflies

Thursday winds and rain riled up the lake water and led to a major hatch of these flies. They were so thick they kept my motion detector light on my garage all night. Let's hope this will be the end of this years hatch.

Goose Island

In doing some research this past week I came across an ancient map by Antoine Nau, who working from Zebulon Pikes Journals, he showed and called Goose Island by name. This map is over two hundred years old. This doesn't answer the question of how Goose Island got its name, but its had the name for a long time.

Fauna

The unofficial report that I heard this week continues to be good for walleye catches, but the high winds have had a negative impact.

Still seeing White Tail Deer along the Oak Point Road in the mornings. Good numbers are younger deer.

The number of Minnesotans that want to hunt bear has increased to approximately 18,500 applying for permits. But the number of permits that the DNR issue is down to 9,500. The DNR estimates that there is 20,000 black bear in our state. About 30 % of the permit drawers end up not getting the license, plus the success rate for those that do get a license is about 30%.

Garden

Enjoyed some fresh green onions which is the first produce from the garden this spring. We should be able to pick some leafy lettuce by the end of the week. Green beans are about two weeks out yet. The growth has been slowed by the cool, overcast skies we have been having. However this week, the first week of summer promises to be more seasonal in temperatures which will help the garden grow.