NORTHERN PADDLE & TRAIL NEWSLETTER WINTER EDITION 2012 Northern Paddle and Trail’s Annual Meeting this past December was a great success. Of course the star of the show was the food. Boy, do we love our food and there is nothing better than a potluck for trying someone else’s cooking or showcasing our own. Those in attendance had the opportunity to cast their vote for the new Board of Directors even though the ballots could not be counted until the mail-in deadline was past. The Cedric A. Vig Outdoor Classroom was the perfect place to hold the meeting even if no one took advantage of the trails beforehand. We did , howev- er, stand on the deck with beverage in hand and watch other skiers pass by! Ideas to move the club forward were taken from the floor. Some of the suggestions were as follows: To schedule quarterly meetings with the idea of fleshing out our activities calendar when we are closer to the actual time of year it will be scheduled for. (we all realize how hard it is to know what we will be doing six months in advance) — To encourage having co-leaders for activities. — To gather feed-back regarding past activities. — To discuss ideas for better advertising of our club. — To share more with other silent sport or- ganization in our area. These meetings may or may not have a speaker or activity connected with them. All in all it was a very productive meeting. Be sure to mark the next quarterly meeting on your calendar. NOTES FROM THE EDITOR NPT is starting a new year. We already have many activities on the schedule, but we are hoping to get many more. The best way to do this is to get all of our members to become even more active and to bring in new members. Here are some suggestion to help make this happen: If you are a member and are not automatically receiving NPT instant messages from Yahoo Groups, you need to contact Marge at 715-362-6118, and she can take care of it for you. Plan on attending our next Quarterly meeting where we will be putting more activities on the calendar for spring & summer. This is a good opportunity to schedule an activity or find a co-leader to help you. We will share a potluck and hopefully be able to include a short hike . Bring a guest. Next meeting is Sunday, April 15th, 1:00pm at the CAVOC , and we are planning to include geocaching. If you have ideas for speakers, we are always looking for anyone who has traveled to interesting places, competes in outdoor activities or has an interesting hobby etc.. Bring your ideas to a meeting or to the attention of any Board of Directors member. If you have friends or family who have participated in or expressed an interest in NPT, and have an email address, we will email them a copy of our latest newsletter. Check out our Website and tell others about it, www.northernpaddletrail.org. BOARD OF DIRECTORS TREASURER Lynn Zibell 715-546-2131 Mike Shores 715-420-0284 Marge Mehring 715-362-6118 Dan Mehring 715-362-6118 Char Schneider 715-499-0785 NEWSLETTER EDITOR Jean Johnson 715- 369-1433 Jean Johnson 715-369-1433 Jay Joppa Hosted a X-C ski at the Northwoods Golf Course in January . Being a very persuasive person, Jay asked for and got, six inches of new snow just in time for his ac- tivity. Way to go Jay! Dan, Catherine, Lynn, Mike, Jay Larry and Marge is behind the camera JANUARY MOONLIGHT X-C SKI Hosted by Marge & Dan Mehring On a beautiful moon-washed evening , nine crea- tures of the night set out from the parking lot to ski, snowshoe or walk to the shelter on the McNaughton Trail. There was not much snow on the trail and what was there was rather hard but we moved along in small groups , glow sticks hanging from our clothing, laughing and talking as we drew the crisp air into our lungs. The first to arrive at the shelter, started the fire and soon everyone was there, pouring a hot drink and en- joying a slice of Old Fashion Up-side Down cake with whipped topping. Marge announced that it was Dan’s birthday so we all had a second piece. After stuffing ourselves, we watched as the moon grew brighter. Someone suggested that we walk further from the shelter , so we strolled into a for- est of black skeleton trees and watched as a col- orful moon dog appeared above us. We are so lucky to live where we do. Thank you Dan & Marge , it was the perfect evening. —JJ BEV ENGSTOM’S SNOWSHOE What a perfect day to snowshoe! Temperature in the teen, no wind and sunshine. We hiked the beautiful trails though Bev’s property along the Wisconsin River. We divided into two groups — The “hard core” were to do a 2hr. Route, the ”soft core” a 1 hr. one. After 1 1/2 hrs., we ended–up back at Bev’s house at exactly the same time! What the heck happened! Upon arrival back at the house, we dove in to refreshment consisting of a choice of beverage & appetizers , then on to hearty soups. We finished it all off with the best left-over homemade Christmas candy I’ve ever eaten. Thanks Bev — Well done! — JJ CALENDAR OF EVENTS January 29th Sunday -- Join NPT at Minocqua’s Winter Park to ski/snowshoe/tube. Between 10 AM and 3PM we will have a table set aside for NPT members to gather at during a day individual fun. Lunch around 12:30 pm. Contact Michael Shores at 715-437-0570 or 715-420-0284 for details. February 4th Saturday 1pm -- Snowshoe the Hanson Lake Trail. Intermediate difficulty level for this snow- shoe around Hanson Lake. Trailhead is just north of the WI Motor Vehicle Building on Hwy 47. Contact Jay Joppa at 715-362-3731 or 715-499-1022. February 12th Sunday 1pm -- Cross –country ski the Anvil Lake Ski Trail. Enjoy the chickadees while skiing! Meet at the Anvil Ski Trail parking lot on south side of Hwy 70 about 7 miles east of Eagle Riv- er. Contact Larry Zibell 715-546-2131 Both easy and intermediate trails available to ski. February 25th Saturday 1pm -- Winter Bonfire & Fun at Squash Lake. Enjoy the warmth of a late winter bonfire and the fellowship of joyful people. Spend the afternoon playing ice shuffle board or ice fishing or hik- ing and warming up by the bonfire. By about 5:oo the fire should be down to great cooking coals. Where: At Dan & Marj’s cottage; 2853 Bay Dr. Rhinelander Time: 1:00 pm to 5:00pm or ?Bring: what ever food you would like to cook over the fire & dress for the weather. March 9, 10 or 11th -- Check out Canoecopia with other NPT members. This is the Midwest’s largest canoe and paddle expo held every year at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison off of John Nolan Drive. Check out Rutabaga’s website for a schedule of daily events. Contact Mike Shores at 715-420-0284 if you’re interested in going, or connecting while there with the NPT group. April 15, Sunday 1pm -- Quarterly planning meeting and Geocaching activity at the Ced A. Vig Outdoor Classroom. Potluck afterwards and planning some more outings for spring and summer. The Cavoc is on South Shore Dr. 1.1mi east of Rhinelander. Go east on Cty. P at the intersection of the Hwy 17/ Cty. P ( Shopko). Turn left at first rd. on left –Faust Lake Rd, then take an immediate right onto South Shore Dr. May 31st Thursday 3:30PM – 7:30pm -- Paddle the Pelican River after work from where the Lake George Creek goes under Hwy 8 to where Hwy 8 crosses the Pelican River. This paddle is INTERMEDIATE difficul- ty and will start at 5:30 p.m.. Contact Carol or Guy Hansen at 715-282-5810. June 6th Wednesday 5:30pm -- An after-work paddle on the Rice Creek downstream to Oneida Lake. There you will portage a small dam into Hancock Lake and paddle to the landing. Meet at Hwy K put in at the culvert . To get there at the Hwy 47 and 8 intersection, take Hwy K about 8 miles past the Oneida Coun- ty Landfill. Contact Jay Joppa at 715-362-3731 or 715-499-1022. Slightly above beginner difficulty level. June 8-10 Fri- Sunday -- Camp and paddle the Pine River and/or Border Brule Rivers. We wiil be camp- ing at the Lost Lake Campground in the Nicolet Nat’l Forest. Take Hwy 70 to FR2450 to Lost Lake Campground. On Sunday, we will paddle the Border Brule starting at 9:30 am, meet at the campground. This is an easy paddle with 1 small drop that can be portaged. Contact Jean Johnson 715- 369-1433. MORE ACTIVITIES ON NEXT PAGE………... ACTIVITIES CONTINUED ……. June 9th Saturday -- Paddle the oxbow of the Pine River near Florence. This is an easy hour or so paddle and a 1/4th mile walk back to the put in. Contact Mike Shores at 715-437-0570 or 715-420-0284. June 9th Saturday. 9:30am -- For a longer paddle on the Pine River meet at Lost Lake Nat’l Forest Campground. This is a paddle of a totally undeveloped stretch of one of WI’s Wild Rivers. Difficulty de- pends on whether you run or portage a Grade 2 rapids.