>> Karen Smith and I had an enjoyable paddle one afternoon earlier this week. We floated down Medway Creek, which is a class I run though the outskirts of Lonon. We came upon lots of white-tail deer, and even some green grass. What we could not get over was that it was still February, which for around here usually means solid ice, snowbanks and the like. I had no idea that the Canada-USA-Mexico free trade agreement would affect our climate so much. As much as I like paddling, I miss my winter. Should I appeal to the parallel accord's Committee for Environmental Cooperation to get things set back the way they were? Richard Culpeper www.geocities.com/~culpeper >> ************************************************************************** * It has been the much the same in Minnesota. Last winter had lots more snow than usual. I-94 between the Twin Cities and Fargo was closed several times because of blizzards, and there were drifts up to twenty feet high in the western part of the state, which later fed the record floods on the Red River. I spent most of my weekends pulling snow and ice dams off the roof instead of skiing. This winter, in contrast, has been unusually mild and dry. February was our fourth warmest and second driest on record, with temperatures reaching into the 50s (F) several days in a row. Linda and I canceled our mid-month camping trip in the BWCAW because it was too warm and sloppy. In the Apostle Islands in western Lake Superior, the ferry to Madeline Island ran all winter long; normally people drive back and forth in the winter on a temporary road on the ice. This week temperatures are nearly back to normal, with highs in the low 30s, but there is talk of returning to the 50s again next week. I haven't skied all winter, though I did snowshoe one weekend. Chuck Holst *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:32:47 PDT