Low skies

It's funny. When we're at Shining Falls we are more attuned to the weather than at any other time of the year or any other place we travel. Being clothed properly when we're out on the water -- warm enough, cool enough, relatively dry, protected from the sun -- is important, but more so is being safe. A sunny day it seems can cloud up within minutes and a glassy Family Lake can turn angry almost in an instant. Fortunately for us, the reverse has been true today.

Overnight we experienced the most formidable storm in the four years we've been coming to Shining Falls. After supper the wind picked up and shifted from north to south, distant thunder moved closer rather fast, by dark (about 10:30) the rain came down in torrents. After midnight, frequently the interior of our cabin was briefly but uniformly lit by intense flashes of lightening and the rain continued.

Here at the lodge Pat Harristhal was was up and outside seveal times: once to make sure all the boats were secure on the beach, another time to close a normally protected outside door (under the lodge where the ice machine is which stays open to keep the ice machine cool), to check on the animals (two dogs and a cat). I stayed awake to witness the drama of it all: hearing the rain on the metal roof, peering out at the waves in the cove AND worrying that our boat tied to the dock would sink! (A sunny scene of the boat and dock is included below.) When morning came, the boat, riding lower than normal ,was still afloat. Before I could bring it over for fuel, I had to bail 7 inches of water!




Everyone -- all 15 of us -- was late to breakfast. Tal's and my plan to fish before breakfast was foiled by the fact that we slept until 7:30! Despite the weather, though, clad in full rain gear, we pulled away from our dock at 9:30 under threatening skies (which the bush pilots call low skies) having promised Chickie that we'd not go far. As we fished -- and filled a stringer -- the weather did its thing. After a fashion these two photos, both taken before lunch, depict the mercurical nature of things.

Tal has taken another guest out fishing and I'm heading back to the cabin for a bit of my book and a nap. More later.