UP tapping

[fishman]

Cheer up yoopers, only 5-6 weeks till tapping(hopefully). Is this the year we’ll be boiling into May?

[goose52]

i will have to use snowshoes & a shovel but i hope to be tapping on 3/15

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/hermansville-mi/49847/march-weather/2211119

[UPventrure]

i will have to use snowshoes & a shovel but i hope to be tapping on 3/15

https://www.accuweather.com/en/us/hermansville-mi/49847/march-weather/2211119

Still planning on tapping this weekend? I think we are as well Saturday.

[nasion]

Thinking about tapping this weekend as well in the Keweenaw. First I gotta find where I left my sugar shack, dig out the sugar shack, evict any critters living inside, clean all my equipment... we'll see if I get to it! Looks like sap flowin' weather is on the horizon though.

[Boone]

We tapped 91 trees in the western end of the U.P. And the sap was flowing yesterday. Good luck, but I know you get a little more snow up in the copper country.

[goose52]

Put out 110 taps this weekend. we walked on top for most of the time. used shoeshoes too. some bags have a couple of inches of sap so will be collecting soon. the first few collections probly won't be much fun. on a positive note, i found my trailer and woodpile!

[UPventrure]

We put in approximately 150 in Saturday snowshoeing was a must.

[goose52]

UPV, where u located in foster?

[UPventrure]

I'm with Plungerke. I believe you were out there last season.

[nasion]

Got my 38 taps in yesterday afternoon and the sap was already flowing in the south-facing trees. Looking forward to a good week ahead!

[fishman]

I tapped 100 on Sunday and Monday. A few had up to a gallon or two today but most had a pint to a quart. Looks good in a few days though

[goose52]

I'm with Plungerke. I believe you were out there last season.

Was wondering how u guys were doing. Sap was flowing yesterday. Collected 135 gal on snowshoes will be starting a boil here shortly. If u guys are up to slumming n a beer i could meet u at odettes gate when i can get a wheeler to it. Probably take another week of melting tho.

[UPventrure]

Sounds good. We were out in snow shoes yesterday too. We only picked 65 gallons. In a couple weeks wheelers are probably going to be the preferred method of travel. The roads know its spring. ��

[Plungerke]

Goose52
Here is the updated RO system, made it shine this time.

[Alpal12]

Just put 25 taps up. Will do more tomorrow. Slow drip. I think we are just starting. In the watersmeet area

[goose52]

Goose52
Here is the updated RO system, made it shine this time.

as usual your fabrication amazes me! awesome!
speaking of fabrication, my son has a bug up his butt to make a new arch for next year but has mislaid his plans. do you have any plans or dimensions for something like that?
mark

[goose52]

Just put 25 taps up. Will do more tomorrow. Slow drip. I think we are just starting. In the watersmeet area

alpal, i pulled my taps this past weekend but u are probably just smarter than me. i think u will get plenty of sap and will not have to fight as much snow as we did (altho u get more in the bond falls area than we get here). good luck!
mark

[UPventrure]

We had a pretty good weekend. Went through 320 gallons of sap ranging from 2-3% and made 11 gallons of syrup. My daughter jumped in and helped haul firewood and washed some barrels.

1998019981
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[Alpal12]

Have about 30 taps set up. I dont live in the UP, family has a lakehouse so our caretaker gathers the sap for me during the week then I come up on the weekend to boil. Didn’t get up there until about 1 am on friday and then woke up at 6 am to get all the boiling equipment ready. Started boiling around 9:30 am. Had an astonishing brix reading of 3.9. About 3pm on saturday I started feeling the lack of sleep and was exhausted from hauling buckets and equipment around all morning. Fell asleep while sitting on my couch. Woke up about 45 minutes later and immediately realised that I had passed out for too long. Ran outside to charred, burnt maple syrup. 2 gallons of syrup made from a little over 40 gallons of sap down the drain. If you were in the UP on Satyrday April 6, 2019 and heard someone screaming and cussing at the top of their lungs, that was me.

[nasion]

Oh no! That sucks, hopefully you get some more decent weather and sap along with it. I've got an auto-feed on my setup this year that's been a big help. It's an insurance against nodding off or getting too busy. I tend to keep it flowing in at just slightly faster than it can boil off (on average). That way if I get busy/fall asleep and forget about it the worst that'll happen is it'll fill the boiling pan with sap as the fire slows.

[fishman]

Finished up my last boil this morning. An additional 3.5 gallons takes me to 21 gallons bottled with an additional 3 gallons boiled down to sugar. Best year ever by a pint. Pulled taps when they were still running good due to no wood left. This next year will be the he year that I finally get ahead on my wood supply. Bought a vacuum filter press this year and it was worth every penny. My blood pressure stayed at a manageable level while filtering. Till next year sap savages.

[Plungerke]

The warm weather makes everyone get trigger happy but it looks like we will be waiting a couple weeks yet. Snow depth is going to be a battle again this year but for us at Sticky Bush it is a Journey not a race so we will just take our time and enjoy the woods with family and friends, no matter how hard it may be it’s not Work if you love what your doing.

Everyday in the sugar bush with family and friends is a gift from god, have a great season my fellow sugar makers!

[grapestomper]

I am waiting. Way to much snow.
Was cutting wood yesterday and there is at least 2' of snow against the trees still.

[goose52]

Fighting all that early season snow and ice last year wasn't much fun at my age... will check the temp forecast in 2-3 weeks and then decide when to tap... i have been getting things organized and keeping the road in plowed... i hope the LP truck can get in but the road sure is narrow

[Plungerke]

Sunday we are planning on packing trails around the bush, if the forecast it favorable we will tap some trees. The snow depth appears to be more than last year for the beginning of season, we are having problems with the roads narrowing also.

[goose52]

UP Propane made it in to camp so there will be a stove, gas lights, and a shower at sugar camp this season! i will also be heading to camp this weekend and will try packing some trails down in the bush but the 11th would be the earliest i would tap this year. weather underground makes it sound like you might get some sap next week if you do decide to tap. good luck.

[Plungerke]

We are all in, 180+ taps with buckets. Was all done on snowshoes, the crew is tired tonight. The first trees tapped (about 11:00 AM) had about a quart by the time we finished. Now it’s the waiting game to see what this week brings us.

[Big_Country]

Anybody north of L’Anse planning on starting before April 1st?

[goose52]

spoke too soon. LP diver called 2 days later and told me he got stuck going in. he's looking into getting a smaller truck to try again but i don't have much hope... will probly have to do something with 100# tanks.... not happy.... maybe now they will listen when i ask them to fill me up right before deer season regardless of my tank level. sorry for the rant but i"ve been going round with these people since i built the camp..anyway, the predicted temps are looking good so i will start tapping this weekend and hope that the warm weather has knocked the snow depth down by the time i get there. as plungerke says it's a journey so i will do what i can and take a breaks when i have to. glad to hear the sap is running up in fatherland.

[nasion]

Anybody north of L’Anse planning on starting before April 1st?

I tapped earlier this week outside of Chassell, as did several others I saw. Good looking weather coming up.

[UPventrure]

Lot of frozen sap in buckets this morning. Going to be a challenge to collect and boil down.

[Northbound1]

Just checking in with other yooper sugar makers. Im tapping by Stanley lake in iron country. Drilled on Feb 28th and did first boil on March 8th. Delt with thawing ice out of totes also, hopefully that's not going to happen every weekend. First year for me, lots to learn im sure

[Big_Country]

I tapped on Saturday. The forecast drew me in.

[grapestomper]

Will be doing my second boil in Dickinson County tonight.
Other than lots of snow not to bad.