The morning, I watched as a male Mallard tailed a prospective mate downstream on the creek henceforth to be known as Wandering Creek. I have heard of several locals who have detected that faint trace of Eau de Pepé Le Pew upon the wind. I see trees quickening in their bark, the maples turning a shade of living gray. We have rain fall instead of snowfall, and as long as our temperature stays above 32 degrees Fahrenheit, we can drive safely but with caution. Take warning. Do not be lulled. A bridge with a wind current under its span can produce black ice on pavement. Ice form in a tiny microclimate can send one skidding for the ditch. I hope to daily herald in our spring with a frequent notes. As we lurch towards June we rejuvenate.
Many of us learn to love the snow in Western Michigan, and these folks have much to celebrate and lose this month. Oh, we'll get one more snowstorm in April, which will melt in a day. I've heard tell of two more snowmaggedons on their way, and I'll cut short my comments to be away from the lake if it comes to fruition. I'm not seeing any support in weather-reports for worry. If you don't like the weather in West Michigan, wait five minutes and it will change.
I visited the Kaleva Pub in downtown Kaleva, Michigan Sunday night, on the border of a snowmobile trail, part of a great network of snowmobile trails.. You can park your sleds across street in a park. Snowmobiles in most West Michigan counties have a right-of-way on roadways. I arrived by car and I swear no one noticed me. The staff had tuned their ears to hear the siren growl of Polaris and Ski Doo motors, the sound of affluence arriving. Saturday, the hungry snowmobilers ate their way through an inventory of broasted chicken and drank coolers full of beer.
I met a friend who had a job interview Friday, and I'm sure she landed the position. The employers reached out through this woman's friends to find her. She's spent the entire winter teaching skiing, a professional job with volunteer pay, out at the complex. Ah, my friend, thanks for making so many people feel welcome and helping them learn a lifetime sport. Sorry you'll be working through the spring and summer, but I'm sure these employers are cool and understand long weekends. I met another woman quite like her who gave all the young men and women of Grand Haven their first lessons on snowboarding at Mulligan's Hollow, near downtown. She divides her time between West Michigan and Colorado, I understand.
A pair of friends swear by the ski trails along the Pigeon River, or is it a creek, in northern Ottawa County. Rentals are available, and the trails pass through mature woods of red and white pine as well as hardwood. I rather hope Consumers Power will open the section that allows access to the mouth of the Pigeon soon.
I know another couple that fell in love snowboarding out at Hoffmaster State Park, a park known for great trails, dunes and fishslappers. One of them is following the snow towards the Utah mountains, so we'll have to keep an eye on this.
I have an acquaintance who has a Pond Hockey cup with a puck in its maw. He has proudly displayed this trophy on his desk for weeks now. He's a pretty competitive hockey player for a man who earns his dough helping to run a billion dollar business. I understand hockey has been a feature of the Lake Muskegon culture for a long, long time, predating the building of the L. C. Walker arena. I had a beer with a man at the Old Homestead, and he was telling me of his childhood hockey team. The team spent hours maintaining an ice rink on Lake Muskegon, covering it with a tarp to keep snow from ruining its sheen. He claimed, and I'll never confirm it, that his team outplayed boys from more affluent families because playing on wavy natural ice improved their balance, strengthen their legs.
The winter isn't over yet, but signs of its departure are visible daily. I just heard about some spirited guys who were kiteboarding on the open water of Lake Muskegon. Now that's adventurous.
If you luge, they will come:
I'll have to confirm again, but I'm pretty sure the Lakeside Inn caters most of the good eats out at the sports complex. I hope this means resort is keep chef on full tme, year round now:
Pond Hockey is an old custom in Muskegon, maybe as old as ice cutting on Lake Muskegon. Now, it's a reason to visit Muskegon in the winter:
Pepé Le Pew awakens
Kaleva. I say it kalee-va and I hope you will, too.
For Snowmobile Bliss, this is your trailhead:
Hoffmaster State Park has a following that is far beyond the border of Michigan.
Fishslapper State Park:
Adventure Tourism, its what for breakfast at the Muskegon Chamber of Commerce:
Is it the smoothest ice on the lakeshore or does it make us soft when we play hockey on irregular ice:
Lakeshore Sports Center. I think I'll take up broom hockey this year:
Pond Hockey in Ontario takes place in Muskoka, a wild region north of Toronto. It is talked about among Canadians as if it were a cold weather Rumble in the Jungle:
Deerhorst Resort is pond hockey heaven for Canadians. They handled another almost as important group, the G8:
Say Hello to the Hollow:
Pigeon Creek is what you seek:
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