[One Paddle Short]

Ack,

The having a room to hold an event isn’t going well. We’d need to have 10 rooms rented to use the meeting room for free. Otherwise I have to put down $250 bucks (Not going to happen). So, looks like we’ll just plan on a hike to the ice caves, and perhaps spend some time at the bar in the hotel on Saturday night.

[One Paddle Short]

We can not get a meeting room at the AmericInn for Saturday evening- they are all booked as a result of birthday parties and the hockey tournament. That and the fact that they are quickly filling and have only a few rooms made us decide to look further.

We are now looking at Bayfield. There are two hotels we have contacted. One is the Bayfield Inn. The rooms look pretty nice and the off-season prices aren’t bad. There is also Seagull Bay. My wife and I stayed there last June for a couple of nights and it was fine. But the Bayfield Inn has a meeting room that holds around 50 people and they said that if we have a group staying at the hotel we can use it. Of course, that leaves a catch 22 in that we don’t know how many folks would be staying there. We are trying to come up with some way to work around that.

Anyway, they said they have plenty of rooms available at both places for that weekend. And, there is an event going on in Bayfield that weekend too. Folks could geocache in the morning and take a Polar Plunge into Lake Superior in the afternoon! Oh, I know, most geocachers wouldn’t be interested but I’ll bet Zuma would do it. 8) There is a lot of other stuff too including some kite boarding, a chance to run a sled dog team, and more: Bayfield Winter Event

Anyway, we are going to go ahead with a hike to the ice caves on Saturday, March 6th. Whether there will be a Saturday night meet and greet event or not is something still being worked on. If you are thinking of coming for the ice cave trip it would help us out to know if anybody/ how many would be interested in a Saturday night meet and greet event in Bayfield?

[One Paddle Short]

Good news, bad news.

The good news is the person we reached at the AmericInn is a geocacher. 😀 The bad news is that there is a hockey tournament that weekend and they are filling quickly. They still have rooms, but anybody wanting to stay there would need to book a room soon. They also have meeting rooms and we were told that if we have a group of geocachers staying there we could use one Saturday from 9AM- 1PM without a fee. Oh, we were also told that folks coming for the geocaching outing could get a reduced rate. However, we may want to look at trying to find a place for an event Saturday evening?

The Best Western is also filling quickly and they have no meeting rooms.

There is a Super 8 in Washburn and they are not affected by the hockey tournament (they have lots of rooms). Their rooms are also 30-40 dollars less a night. But they have no meeting rooms.

[One Paddle Short]

I told my daughter about this post. She formed a knitting club at her high school and I thought maybe they’d be willing to help with your hatless hedgehogs. No idea if you knit hedgehog hats (actually can’t imagine who is going to put hats on these 800 hedgehogs nor how they’ll stay on- and discussing the answers to those questions has provided a good amount of amusement around here 🙂 ). Also, they couldn’t possibly have any hedgehog hats ready by this weekend but if you do knit hedgehog hats, and you’d need them later on in the month- she’s pretty sure that she could get the high school knitting club on board with helping the hedgehogs.

Let us know.

[One Paddle Short]

[One Paddle Short]

@Vegas Gamblers wrote:

Question: It looks like we will not be getting snowshoes this winter (well I am still working at it). Could this be done without them.

Looking at the cache page photos, and from folks I’ve talked to who have visited the ice caves- yes. In fact all the folks I talked to didn’t have snowshoes and said there was no need for them. I think that there are so many people who make the hike that it will be packed down and hard.

[One Paddle Short]

@cheezehead wrote:

There are a few other Earth caches and there is a cache “Lost Falls” that’s been on my to do list for a very long time.

Lost Falls would be an epic snowshoe cache if you had to break trail all the way. But I’m pretty sure the trail in is a snowmobile trail so the hike would be much easier. But, from the photos on the cache page I think it would be a mistake to visit Lost Falls in the winter- unless you planned another trip in the summer. It’s just too special to only see it froze over. Cache isn’t real winter friendly either.

But, having said all that, I could probably be talked into a hike to lost falls. 🙄

[One Paddle Short]

@labrat_wr wrote:

would that be overnight Friday March5, with the trip to the caves Saturday March 6, or overnight Saturday, trip on Sunday?

Not sure how many others may have commitments on Sundays.
I would like the Friday/Saturday arrangement if I can make the trip.

I was thinking of a Saturday afternoon hike to the caves with a Saturday overnight at the hotel. Thoughts were that it would:

A. Provide folks who were within a reasonable driving distance the opportunity to drive up Saturday morning.
B. Others with further to drive could travel part way Friday night and then join the group Saturday afternoon. Sunday for driving home.
C. If for some reason Saturday afternoon has weather that isn’t great it leaves you with Sunday morning as another option. I realize that isn’t a very big spread for weather options but it’s better than no options at all.

However, we can get Friday off for travel and we’re thinking that we’ll probably go for two nights. So, if most folks want to go Saturday morning we can do that too. For that matter, this is a very loosely structured outing. Some folks could meet Friday night and go Saturday morning, others Saturday afternoon, and still others on Sunday.

We’re going to check into a room at the AmericInn for an event. Not sure how much they charge but they have some smaller meeting rooms listed on their web site. I’m not that worried about an actual event myself- I just want to go and have a fun weekend. But, it shouldn’t take too much additional work to make it an event?

[One Paddle Short]

It seems like the March 6-7th weekend works for most folks that have replied. That weekend works for us. So, unless there are great cries of unrest from the multitudes I think we can label that weekend as the Great Ice Cave Adventure weekend. So, next, we need to plan some details:

1. Hotel
2. Event or no event?
3. If an event, a cookout in the parking lot for lunch or at a hotel or restaurant in the evening?

JimandLinda- any advice on hotels?

[One Paddle Short]

Well,

It’s not easy around here to find free weekends. The beginning of February is pretty booked up. The end of January seems like it may be iffy for ice? Not many January logs on the cache last year. The best February weekend for us is the one that the Birkie is on February 27-28th. The best one for us is looking like March 6-7th.

So, here is where we are:

1. January 30-31st (maybe too early for good ice? I have no idea.)
2. February 27-28th (but this is in conflict with the Birkie)
3. March 6-7th (don’t know if this is too late- there are photos from last year from March 2nd and it looks fantastic.)

Otherwise, realizing now that we have a busy February, perhaps this plan will have to go on without us. 🙁

[One Paddle Short]

[One Paddle Short]

That is plenty of interest so we’ll go ahead with making a plan. I’ve been trying to think how to best handle the timing of a group outing. I’m thinking we base out of Ashland as I don’t think there is much for hotels north of there?

Cheesehead brought up a small water park hotel and there seems to be some interest in it. I looked it up and it must be the AmericInn. It appears that the Best Western is also very close to the AmericInn. Both places have some bad reviews mixed in with a lot of ok ones. If anyone knows of a place closer to the caves that might work post away!

I’m thinking that we should plan for a Saturday afternoon hike out to the caves. I think it would be cool to be out there toward the end of the day? This also allows for an option of hiking out Sunday morning if the temps or wind is bad on Saturday.

I don’t think we’ll be able to provide a cookout in the parking lot for this one. It’s too far and we have all four of us in the RAV there is only so much room. I don’t think we can fit the camp kitchen and food with all of the other stuff we’d need for a weekend trip.

So, if folks want an event tied into this in some way it may be best to plan something at one of the hotels or a local restaurant Saturday night?

Now, I have to somehow round everyone up in this house and try to figure out what weekends might work…

[One Paddle Short]

There is one of OPS’s near the dam, but I don’t know if it freezes over in winter enough to be safe, someone local could chime in on that one.

GCV868

Yes, it can be done. Right out from the boat landing an ice fishing village spawns every year. If there are trucks out there you can be pretty sure you can make it to the cache ok. There is more current right near the cache so be extra careful there. Usually by this time of year snowmobiles have been up and down that section of the river and it’s a regular highway. The cache is also fairly winter friendly. You’re also right that the “Cats Can’t Swim” series does not include islands and I would also add that I am fairly certain that series along the river would include some open water pretty much all winter long.

[One Paddle Short]

Congratulations to Mathman and Rick,

Looking forward to the pics! What’s this stuff though, complaining about our hard-earned path not being straight enough for you two? I had told the group last weekend that we needed to drag branches over our tracks on the way back out or some slackers will show up, use our trail, and then complain about it. Sure enough… 😯 😆

[One Paddle Short]

@benny7210 wrote:

@Team Honeybunnies wrote:

I know Benny wouldn’t mind a rematch. Takers?

I would be very interested in doing this one. The last time I was there I got with in .3 miles from it. I need to get this one OFF my list.

Lots of great suggestions but it seems like Seth has hit upon a winner. Now we just have to make it happen. Time for a new thread I think…

[Author]

Posts