Custom Cabins March  2019 eNews
March is coming to a close in northeast Minnesota, and the warm temperatures of late have helped spring come surging in with abandon.

One of the signs of spring is our Second Annual Ice-out Contest. The link to the contest is https://forms.gle/b8pDBTWPNqn9o86D7 So, if you were to follow our web cam at www.customcabins.com to watch as the ice melts from the left of the screen to the right, and check the weather prognostications, you too could be a winner via a gift card. We are offering a $75.00 prize for first place, $55.00 for second place, and $35.00 for third place. You can claim your winnings on line or in person from any of three Ely vendors-WintergreenNorthernwear.com, Piragis.com, and KondosOutdoors.com. Each of these local businesses supports goods made in Ely, MN. You must have your guess entered (one per person) by April 4th. No nighttime guesses. Trust us, we will not be up all night long to measure totally exact times. We work from sun up until a bit after sun down.

So onward to the events of March in and around Ely, Minnesota. The month started out with really fierce weather, very cold temperatures, and nasty winds.

We have friends who have a cabin across the lake from us and who have dreamed of spending a few days in their cabin towards the beginning of spring. Well, they chose the beginning of March. They used snowshoes and pulled a freight sled, with all of their supplies. Even with the "shoes", the fluffy snow was almost up to their thighs, and the sled collected a lot of snow which made it very difficult for them to pull. In addition, it was very cold, snowy, and the wind was definitely "rearranging" the snow that was falling along with the snow that was already on the lake.

After about a two hour trek across the lake with their gear, they got to spend another half hour shoveling snow in order to get into their cabin which has no winter water, but it does have a good wood burning stove and a propane oven. After the cabin finally warmed up some five hours later, they were very comfy.

Three days later, the winds had calmed down and our friends were able to snow shoe back across the lake in only 35 minutes.  Feeling that they had not had enough winter experiences, they went to Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge and each ran a team for about four hours. You can see there was still a lot of snow.

Some other neighbors who have a cabin toward the west end of Moose Lake caught this beautiful picture of our house at the top of the hill.  It appears as though the sun was highlighting our camp. You can also see how high we sit above Moose Lake..

As the month moved on, some of the snow melted or blew away, or at least it had from Hibbard's Creek which is the creek you cross on your way to Custom Cabin Rentals. While the ice had not melted, it was getting close.

With the sun rising higher in the sky, we are beginning to have warmer and more spring-like days.  The deer are beginning to come out of their winter homes and graze where the snow has gone away.

There is a pair of trumpeter swans that have returned to the area.  Here it appears as though one of the adults is giving directions to the youngsters that were swimming nearby. The youngsters have dark feathers, but upon maturation, they too become a beautiful white.

Last week a friend of ours skied up to Birch Lake to fish for the day. He said it was an excellent day to ski because most of the snow was off the lakes.  It took him about two hours to make the trip to his destination.  He used a hand auger to drill 20 inches through the ice to get to water.  He managed to catch this northern pike using smelt as bait.  The fish measured about 38 inches long.  It was entirely too big to keep, so he carefully eased it back down the hole.

This week, Fall Lake opened up.  There is a bit of snow around the edges, but we think we can safely say spring is on its way.
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