Lake Vermilion Real Estate

I had to drive up towards Lake Vermilion’s Moccasin Point the other day.

I was surprised to find the rebuild of old Highway 77 was well underway.  I’m sure that those who regularly travel that stretch of county road are relieved to know the old surface will soon be renewed.

The County refers to this project as Project Number SAP 69-677-008.  It was awarded to the low bid contractor (with a bid of $4,187,000) at the St. Louis Board of Commissioners meeting on February 2, 2010.

Can you think of other Lake Vermilion area roadways that should be replaced or refurbished?  Well… St. Louis County has a 10 year plan for the County road system.  And there are other Lake Vermilion roadways included in the current plan!  Details for the Cook end of the lake are here.  Details for the Tower end of the lake are here.

A little patience may be required.

Thin Lake Vermilion ice + 4-door GMC pickup = Ice Fishin’, Minnesota Style!

We’ve had a pretty widespread outbreak of spring-like weather over the last couple of weeks. And then… in a cruel change of direction this morning’s sky filled with snowflakes.

The premature sixty-ish temperatures were around long enough to develop a certain entitlement quality. Could we deserve this April weather in March?

No.

As if playing out the old joke, Mother Nature turned to look upward and we all stopped and did the same. Only to have today’s snow flakes hit us in the nose.

It was nice joke while it lasted. I’d be happy to fall for it again.

We’ve had a run of warmer and wetter than average weather.  That always triggers the “When will the ice go off the lake?” question.

Lake Vermilion ice-out information is available at  LakeVermilion.com.  They have a page dedicated to all things ice-out including their annual ice-out contest.

The graph helps illustrate that mid-April to mid-May is the time frame for Lake Vermilion to become 100% open water. We have a pretty good start on the thawing process so far in 2010.  Will we beat the earliest ice-out date of April 10, 1945?

Stay tuned.

MyMinnesotaWoods is a website produced by the University of Minnesota Extension and Department of Forestry Resources.

Rural property owners will find lots of good stuff at each website.  One example is this nifty map showing the location and contact information for professional foresters who can assist with the development of a woodland stewardship plan. (The map reveals two contacts in the Lake Vermilion area.)

James A. Fitzpatrick’s Traveltalks were billed as “The Voice of the Globe”.

In just 10 minutes, this nearly 70 year old film illustrates Minnesota’s best visitor attractions under the description of “Land Of Plenty”.  View the YouTube video here.

Thanks, Bob!

I received a timely reminder today.

I got an informational piece via the ol’ news feed that refreshed my awareness of Lake Vermilion’s camping site opportunities.  With a slight hint of Spring in the air it was a welcomed prompt.

The information highlighted the Hinsdale Island area camping sites.  Hinsdale Island is a very picturesque area of the lake.  The State of Minnesota maintains 11 total campsites in that area and you can view their location on this map.

You could start planning your summer camping trip now!