Black’s Cliff Resort’s Birch Bark Blog

End of summer and things have slowed down a little bit.  What does that mean…  the remodeling starts.  Wigwam was next on the roofing list.  Craig wasted little time in making himself at home on the roof

2nd side almost done

When a project gets going at the resort there is never a shortage of inspectors that stop in.  Tom Lindeman stopped by to check out the progresss

Fastest nail gun in the North.  Keep in mind, this is his idea of a perfect retirement, coming over and roofing on Craig time 11:00 am til 4:00 pm.  Lunch provided and beers in the fridge at all times keeps the roofing tiles moving

Now here is the question, will he finish porch as well.  So far he has done 1/2 of Shamrock, Kaubashine both sides but not the porch, Muskie Inn both sides but not the porch.  The only absolutely completed roof so far is the office and it does not have a porch roof.  Craig has claimed he can get the porch done before Thursday when it is rented… we shall see.  Otherwise we will continue the new 2009 resort look of half rolled roofing and half shingles.  If he completed one porch roof it would just not look right with the rest of the resort 50- 50

We had a knock at the door and found Poe’s fan club waiting to give him a treat.  Part of Poe’s job is to eat left over steak bones when delivered.  He is more than willing to fill in this part of the resort dog tradition.  He follows the famous paw prints of previous steak bone consumers, Shelby, Nanook, Gonzo, Penny and Tulip

Truly a rough life

7am this morning.  Mists on the lake and Muskie fishing

The Mergansers that Poe scared off the raft

This guy was enjoying a morning that most can appreciate behind a desk

Beach Sentinel

Ducks off to enjoy the views down the shoreline

I am not sure what the word record is for the oldest water skier for the country is, but I think for Lower Kaubashine I have one for many to shoot for.  Grandpa Berchtold celebrated his 78th birthday by taking a turn around the lake.  Jean was offering her encouragement from behind

Anyone that needs inspiration to live a full life has to keep this picture in mind.  Howard and Jean also bike with their family to town from the resort every morning while on vacation for breakfast at the Island Cafe.  Jean’s new knee has slowed her down a little this year and she drives to Blue Lake Road to pick up the bike trail there.  Howard gave his family and all of us something to shoot for.  Here is to water skiing again at 79 and beyond!

Maynard Black and his big fish catch of the day.

Has the wood shed really changed over the years?  Saftey has changed and the big open saw we have traded in for the chain saw.  I would love to have the old car though.  Maynard Black  is pictured above and I am not sure who is in the woodshed

The old saw.  Definitely not something the insurance company ever wants us to bring back.  Maynard and helpers, there were always folks to find to help.  Maynard was the Tom Saywer and the white picket fence.  He always found help

Anyone remember the days of the outhouses at the resort?  The last of them was taken down in the 80’s it was between Holiday and Norway

When the relatives arrive from the east we are guaranteed one thing..   Trees are coming down

The Bullet from the East is an arborist with a landscaping service in Washington DC.   Dave prides himself in being able to take down big trees and land them where they are supposed to land.  Craig saves the  most difficult trees for Dave each year.  This year we could have used him more often as the list of what the guys hit with trees grew.  Dave is also responsible for saving the oak that grows through the Perch a few years ago.  Check out the lines holding that tree up and know it was a major Black family project including a tow truck and Craig’s credit card with the arborist supply magazine.

Dave started off limbing this dead tree next to Wigwam, as Uncle Dave and Craig talked about the tree being 4 feet tall back in 46″ in the good old days and arguing about which of them may have planted that tree to close to the cabin

Craig and Troy spent time on the ground tying back small maple trees creating a landing pad for Dave to aim for

Dave enjoying the top of the tree

Craig calculating where the tree would land.  Back up til you can see the top of the tree through your legs and that is where the tree will reach from the ground.  There is Black Family Geometry tricks passed down through the ages

Dave back on the ground with the tools of the trade in his trunk.

Sending up the tie to the top of the tree

Dave Senior, anchoring the tree with a comealong.  Of course Dave Junior was shaking his head at Craig’s come along that he bought on sale.  The Arborist Catalog came out again along with Craig’s credit card so next summer there will be a better come along for when the Bullet from the East arrives

Tigtening things up and eyeing up the landing spot

Ya know, while I was up in the tree doing all the work, you guys could have been sharpening the saw

Discussion going on..  notice who is doing the work

cut is started.   Looking to the sky for wisdom.  Will Wigwam get hit?

Prayers being said

Tree leaning in the right direction

Timber…….  Maple trees were saved, but a balsam did get landed on.  Another tree taken down without hitting anything by Dave to add to his list, which is much longer than the list of trees Craig and Uncle Dave have

The Bullet from the East pulled into the Black’s Cliff driveway.  Better known as Dave Black Jr.  For years we have joked with Craig about his Ford cars.  During the 80’s he had a thing for Ford Fairmonts and had 2 matching ones in the driveway.  When the Black’s from the east arrived in their cars they always had us in envy, they were not Fords and they were always cool.  Craig finally got over his love of the Fairmont (they finally died and Katie flipped one) and now Dave Jr shows up in a Ford.  This is not your daddy’s Ford Fairmont!

I am sure we never opened the hood of the Fairmonts to look at the engines beyond making sure a squirrel had not died in the air filter.  Cool engine Dave…. I hear it goes 0 to 140 in a matter of seconds, the metal bar on top helps it hold to the road in the corners.  Maybe Katie needed that on Camp 9 road 25 years ago and she might have kept all 4 wheels of the Fairmont on the ground

Hey Uncle Craig, I will race you in your RV to the Ice Cream store

Up to Labor Day we have some deals going and nightly rentals available

August 25, 26, 27, and 28th Wigwam 125/night 2 people, 160/night up to 4 and 200/night up to 6

August 27th and 28th Muskie Inn same rates as Wigwam above

August 29 – Sept 5th Shamrock 3 night minimum reduced rate for smaller groups

August 29, 30, 31 and 1st Holiday 3 night minimum same rate as Wigwam above

August 29, 30, 31, 1st, 2nd and 3rd Red Pine starting at 140/night

Bear Den 30t -5th strarting at 140/night

Restawhile 2bdr 3 and 4th

We are full Saturday and Sunday of Labor Day Weekend

I have one cabin left on the 7th Kaubashine that will be starting at 125/night

Call for availability after this

Why is the beginning of the cross country season at the highschool an important thing for the Birchbark blog? It means that I am up early to get get a child to practice and early morning pictures will be coming with fog and frogs.  This frog seemed to be loving posing for me this morning

This is my screen saver at the moment on my computer. Pic came out nice

Lower Kaubashine on the first morning of 7:30am practices more to come with the mists of Lower Kaubashine. The frogs of Lower Kaubashine were a nice change

Late summer at the resort.  I heard from the news over the last 5 years we are down 3 feet in precipitation.  We have been listed nationally as severe drought along with some part of Texas.  Farmers have been given special permission to get water from ponds and streams

I think we have started to see more leaves than normal change early.  I think it does have something to do with the drought.  We have only mowed the lawn once or twice this summer when we usually do about 6 times

Thankfully we did have some rain come in last night.  I know we have not bailed out the boats too often this summer

In other news we have seen more and more people using the wireless internet lounging around the office area.  They all say the view makes doing work (or just checking their facebook Farm Town) worth while