At Home on the Lake
There it is – at last!
Cresting the hill, we catch the first glimpse of the lake, amazing clouds, indigo sky - the welcoming view of Squirrel Lake. Boy, it looks great! Free of the car's confines at last, everyone's ready to stretch stiff legs and take in the clear light and fresh air.
What to do first? Summer: jump in the lake! Fall? Walk along the shore or through the woods to see the colors and critters! Or hop in the kayak and cruise along the shore! Winter? Throw on a sweater, turn up the heat (well, a little) or start a fire in the fireplace... or strap on some skiis or snowshoes. Everything's right there!
Head out the front door, grab the bug/tick spray, and head up the "high trail" to enjoy the beauty of the forest. This trail follows the various logging trails created over the last 50 years. Jean and Ronnie Mattison planted thousands of Norway (red) pines in the 1960s, working with the fledgling Trees for Tomorrow program. Along with hemlock, birch and oak the pines are part of a managed forest plan, which offers prime habitat and periodic selective harvesting for healthy forest growth.
Today those logging trails are "paved" in clover, sweet-
grass and strawberries. Admire the multitude of wild-
flowers, hear the ravens heralding your interruption, gather pine cones to kindle the evening's fire, perhaps glimpse a deer or wild turkey over the next hill, and take a break on a bench overlooking the intersection of trails, wildflowers and woods . Each walk seems to offer a different wonder, from a tiny blossom to an eagle perched overhead with it's catch. In the winter, follow the same trails on snowshoes or skiis under brilliant skies and a profound silence in winter white.
Its all about being comfortable. In the house, a limestone fireplace warms the living room. A wall of glass sliders bring the outdoors in, and open on to a broad deck overlooking the shore. There is plenty of room for relaxed dinners, naps, games and long conversations. The line between indoors and out is further softened by the screened-in porch, which also serves as a favorite sleeping spot. There are three roomy bedrooms and two full baths on the main floor, plus amenities to keep everyone at ease: a laundry room, roomy garage, office/library space. A walk-out lower level includes a pool table, full bath, and rec area that can comfortably sleep extra guests.
The house overlooks broad lake vistas and brilliant sunsets from the house, the deck, the dock, or along the shoreline trail – the "Indian Trail." Each evening brings another dazzling painterly panorama, changing color by the minute and ranging from a silvery shimmer to a frenzy of neon clouds. When summer draws to an end, the forests take on the sunset colors with breathtaking intensity and speed. Winter snowfall brings a remarkable new, minimalist palette, with shadows adding blues and purples to the gray, black and stunning whites. See photos of the house here, and the surrounding land and water, here.
The shoreline path is irresistible, too - the narrow path winds along the shore in a lovely blend of forest and water. Wade along the shore, pause to watch a boat power by, listen to the waves and the wind in the pines, glimpse an eagle overhead with a band of blackbirds in hot pursuit, or watch the loons diving, preening and filling the air with their tremoloes. Plovers, mergansers and kingfishers are busy along the shoreline. Wade in clear water on the sandy or pebbled bottom as schools of minnows flash by, or crayfish scuttle from your shadow.
Farther off a fish jumps to signal feeding/solunar hour, and a fishing boat hums by en route to a meeting with a walleye, bass, or muskie. Each walk seems to offer a different wonder, from a tiny blossom to an eagle perched overhead with it's catch. Underfoot, pine needles and moss, bracken fern, wintergreen and blueberries catch the eye. You might spot amazing wood forms, an impressively-toothed jaw from a muskie, or an eagle feather, to the sound of waves lapping the shore feet away.
More about Squirrel Lake
Squirrel Lake is 7 miles long, 46' deep at the deepest point, and little over a mile wide. The crystal-clear water reveals the pebble or sans along much of the shoreline, larck in other places - much to the delight of the bass). A large island lies near the center by the deepest channel of this spring- and stream-fed lake. The Squirrel River opens into the river at the south end. The north end (where the muskies roam) has a couple smaller islands and a public boat landing. Also on the northern side of the lake is Inkpot Lake, a small lake that has a very different ecosystem: tamarack and larch trees stain the water dark brown with tannin, bog grass, reeds and march plants form a spongy, shifting bank. Lily pads and logs offer habitat to painted turtles, frogs, and muskrats, and a heron can often be found hunting up dinner.
Located in the Northern Highland Forests in northern Wisconsin, Squirrel Lake is in western Oneida County between Minocqua (the Island City) and Lac du Flambeau, the heart of that Ojibwe reservation. Straight north on 90/94 from Madison, then continue north on 51, hang a left on 70 West and there it is. (See Resources tab)
The endless forests conjure ghosts of the logging boom that populated the early towns; the spaces between - the lakes and trails - invoke the moccasined feet that passed before.
Drought, hailstorms, disease and tornadoes have challenged the coniferous sentinels that edge the shoreline, and the deciduous trees are more evident as the forest evolves in response. Norway pine, white pine and hemlock are battling aggressive sugar maples, which grow with weed-like ferocity, oak, poplar and birch.
