Hike to the Amazon

     If ever you should find yourself waking up to a 20 degree day in an area where 0 degrees is the average for the month, there shouldn’t be a doubt in your mind of what to do that day. Seize the day!  Chances are the next three weeks will be brutally cold and you’ll be stuck indoors.  So when I woke up last Wednesday to an outside temperature of 21 degrees, seize the day is just what I did. It was a beautiful and sunny winter afternoon – a perfect day for an adventure in the woods. Where would I go today? I had heard from member of the Neilson Spearhead Center Committee there was a river called the “Amazon” where kids in the summer loved to explore. I decided that’s where I would hike, and after putting on my snowshoes, I headed out in search of this mysterious Amazon.

I laid a good trail of snowshoe tracks on my journey to find the "Amazon" river.

     After a good march across the lake, I hiked in knee-high snow through a small valley to find what I was looking for. A small stream zig-zagged its way through the valley. What I thought would be buried in snow was the stream known as the “Amazon.” It was a beautiful scene.

In the north-west corner of the Neilson Spearhead Center property lies a small, windy stream dubbed "The Amazon." It's fast-moving current has deterred the formation of ice, allowing for year-round water access for wildlife.

Spearing on Spearhead

     As newly weds, starting a new life together in a new environment has been a whirlwind of excitement. Through our trials of learning how to live a life in secluded wilderness we have learned there is nothing more valuable than a helping hand. My husband and I are fortunate to be “neighbors” (a few miles down the road) to an avid outdoorsman named Dan. Every now and then when we find a set of footprints followed by a sled track on the path to the lake, it usually leads us right to Dan’s fish house.

     On an unusually warm 20 degree day last week, I followed those tracks on snowshoes down to the lake to find Dan trying to free his fish house from the ice with an ice bar. “I can’t believe how much slush there is on the lake!” he said. My naivety of what slush can do a permanent ice house was aparent as I didn’t seem to know what the problem was. I’ve only fished out a portable fish house and the five inches of icey snow covering the ice was never a problem. For a permanent house, however, slush can be a nightmare to deal with as it slowly creates a frozen glue around the house.

     Fortunately for Dan, the sunny day proved in his favor and he was able to free his house from the ice. Today he would move his fish house to a new location for a better chance at spearing fish. My husband and I often enjoyed hearing Dan tell stories of the northern pike he speared on Spearhead Lake when he stopped by our portable house on occasion. His stories reminded me of when I lived in Wisconsin and heard of people spear fishing for the ever-elusive sturgeons on Lake Winnebago. But to me, these stories of spearing seemed almost like fairytales. How can someone possibly sneak up on a fish and spear it through a small hole?

    Today was my lucky day. I was about to find out when Dan agreed to share with me what spear fishing in Minnesota was all about. I captured a series of photos reflecting on this most traditional and interesting form of fishing. I’d like to thank Dan for allowing me to shadow him that afternoon – I had a great time!

It takes a big hole to spear fish effectively. Some spear fishermen will use a chainsaw to cut a hole in the ice, but Dan used a more traditional and physically challenging method. After cutting eight holes in the ice, Dan used a long ice saw to connect the holes, creating a large rectangle in the ice.

Instead of trying to remove one large rectangle of ice at one time (which would probably weigh over 200 pounds), Dan cut the hole into thirds.

Using a set of pevies or cant-hooks, one-by-one, Dan took the three chunks of ice out of the hole, a task hardly deemed easy.

I couldn't resist asking Dan if we could make an ice snowman out of the ice chunks. Lifting three heavy chunks of ice out of the lake is no light task and the look of pride on Dan's face was worthy of a picture.

With an ice-man to now watch over it, I can rest assured Dan's spearhouse will be kept safe and sound on Spearhead Lake.

The spearhouse is kept as dark as possible, allowing Dan to see clear to the bottom of the lake. Just as it is important to have a big hole to fish out of, it is important to fish on a clear lake. Fortunately for us, Spearhead Lake is about as clear as a lake can get! Five feet down is a wooden fish decoy attached to a string. Using a simple pulley system, Dan tugs on the string to move the fish in a life-like circular motion. Tied around Dan's right leg is a thin rope connected to his spear which he holds at a ready position in his right hand. When a fish (typically northern pike) moves in for a bite at the decoy, Dan throws the weighted spear at the fish. According to Dan, every now and then a spear-man will lose his spear because he/she forgot to tie the spear to a leg. It would be interesting to see how many spears are in Spearhead Lake! After spending an hour with Dan on the lake, it is clear to me a spear fisherman needs to have a steady hand, good aim and lots of luck!

Feeder Findings

     Check out my weekly updates of what’s been stopping by the feeder by visiting the “Feeder Findings” page on my blog! This week I was able to capture of a few close-up photos. If you have any interesting bird feeder stories or if you’ve encountered a new bird, let me know!

A common redpoll peaks from behind the thistle feeder to see if anyone's looking

A hopeful visitor arrives

     Yesterday morning while my husband was cutting wood by our shed he couldn’t help but pause after hearing a chatter of noise from overhead. Birds from all over seemed to be in a fit of rage. A flock of ravens circled overhead, making infuriating caws as if sounding a distress signal. The “Jay! Jay!” calls of Blue Jays as they  hopped from tree limb added to the enemble. Curious and a bit annoyed by all the chatter, my husband put down his maul, looked up and dropped his jaw at what he saw.  Fifteen yards above him sat a beautiful Barred Owl, one that didn’t seem to be at all affected by the other birds trying to scare it away, or my husband watching it so closely. After observing this new visitor for a few minutes, my husband ran to the house to get me. “Honey! Get your camera! There’s an owl right by the house!”

A barred owl stopped by yesterday morning to bask in the sun while keeping a watchful eye on the bird feeders. For this owl to be in such an open spot (only several feet away from my husband cutting wood) and hunting during the day is an act of desperate measures, a likely theme for many species of wildlife this winter.

    I walked through the snow to the shed as fast as I could. Seeing an owl so close in the daylight is a rare sight and I hoped it hadn’t flown away already. I saw it and immediately smiled.  Owls always take my breath away, no matter how many times I encounter one. Because they are most active at night, they are hardly seen by humans in most areas. Their silent flight capabilities and skilled hunting abilities make them majestic creatures of the night. But this owl also made my heart sink as I knew it was here as an act of stretched instinct. It was an act of desperate measures.

    The fact that my husband and I stood just yards away from it was a sign this owl had more on its mind than its own safety. It’s hard to tell from all of its soft feathers, but I knew the owl was hungry and stressed.  Its head turned towards the lake. Several yards down the hill the bird feeders were alive with chickadees, blue jays and nuthatches feeding their faces full of rich, fatty food. Looking at the owls eyes slowly open and close, I suddently felt sorry for it. This winter has been a cold and snowy one. It must be difficult for an owl to stalk and pounce on its prey so far under the snow. And I couldn’t help but assume by the look on its face it was also trying to soak up every ounce of the sun’s weak winter rays. How much cold can an owl take?

This very hungry Barred Owl seemed to be eagerly basking in the sun's rays

       This week the temperatures are not expected to get above zero. My husband and I have prepared for these next weeks by gathering more wood into our home, and my car just had a block heater installed in it. It seems easy for as as humans to survive in such a harsh winter environment, but I wonder if this owl will make it. Last winter I observed a distressed Barred Owl similar to this one sit above bird feeders in the middle of the afternoon. It died just a few days later of starvation. I am torn between hoping my bird feeders will give it that last-chance opportunity, but at the same time hoping the little birds don’t get preyed on because of the feeders, but how much am I playing with nature? While I contemplate my actions of feeding the little birds, I will keep my eye out for our unlikely daytime visitor and hope it survives.

Oops! Chimney sweeper crisis!

     Having a wood stove has been a bittersweet part of our everyday life here in the earth home. On one hand it’s been great having a warm fire to sit next to every night and it has definately helped keep the heating bill low. On the other hand, keeping the chimney and the stove clean has been a constant chore.

     We have been cleaning the chimney about every three weeks, which I’m told is more often than most people clean out their chimney. Since neither of us have grown up with a wood stove, we are staying on the safe side, rather than risking it.

     We have found that the chimney is rather easy to clean. What could be easier than living in an earth home to get on the roof of your home to clean out a chimney? We use a utensil that we found when we moved in. It consists of several fiberglass poles that can be screwed together with a large bristle cone at the bottom.

     We had just cleaned out the chimney a week ago, but yesterday I couldn’t figure out why smoke was coming out of the wood stove every time I opened the door. I walked outside and looked up to see if smoke was coming out of the chimney and it was. But later that night when my husband went on the roof and took a closer look at the top of the chimney, he found the top screen was full of gunk. It was an obvious mistake that told us we needed to stop burning something. We thought about all that we had been throwing away last week and realized we had been putting all of our junk mail, old magazines and other random material into the fire from time to time. It appeared that the plastics and “unnatural” material were what caused the giant blockage of black stuff at the top of the chimney. This was scary as a blockage of “stuff” can trigger a chimney fire, which is what we’re trying desperately to avoid.

     Because of the blockage we found last night, this morning my husband decided to clean the chimney out again. However, as he was scrubbing down the inside of the chimney, the fiberglass rod with the bristle cleaning cone at the end broke off from the rest of the cleaning rod and was stuck near the bottom. I panicked! “How in the world are we going to get it out!?!” I shouted to my husband. “I have no idea,” he said.  I couldn’t believe we managed to get this piece of cleaning rod stuck! What could we do?

     As you’re probably thinking right now, this is very hard to explain if you can’t see it. Since I wasn’t able to take a picture of this incident at the time, I have since reinacted what happened. Take a look at this picture. Can you figure out how my husband was able to remove the piece of cleaning rod from the chimney?

My hand is holding the piece of cleaning rod that disconnected itself from the rest of the cleaning rod. I'm simulating how it was stuck in the chimney. How do you suppose my husband was able to get it out? If you think you know, write a comment. I'll let you know if you're right! (Remember, there's another 8 feet of chimney on top of where it was stuck)