Unsung Heroes

This blog is in honor of all our Veterans out there, our true unsung heroes, that have served our country, as we are all fortunate and grateful for your service. Thank you so very much.

The concept of unsung heroes also came up recently as my pastor in Illinois is retiring and just gave his farewell sermon. ( I am able to watch online, as we're still at Tall Pines as I write this).

Pastor Tim led his church for over 30 years, but talked about the unsung heroes that are the fabric of the church and its growth. This particular church started very small in the 80's and has grown significantly. While this transformation happened under Pastor Tim's leadership, it really was about God putting the right people there to help Tim's vision come to life. Unsung heroes are the ones that do important work, but oftentimes behind the scenes, or underacknowledged.

This sermon made me reflect on the vision of the previous owners of Tall Pines, and how each one of them are woven into this beautiful place we can all enjoy today. The tree stumps that remain from storm clean up long ago, the remnant logs from the original cabin 1 in a shed, a small kicker motor left from a camp boat of long ago. A pyramid of old beer cans found behind paneling in the laundryhouse that used to be a staff cabin. So many have left their handprint on Tall Pines since 1947. They are unsung heroes- Renny and Alice Ballard, Walt Hoover, Chuck and Nancy Hubert, Gary and Chris Mclaskey, Pete and Donna Clagett, Steve and Andrea Grupe, their families, the numerous dockhands and laborers that have worked on the camp. I hope its not for many years that we pass the torch of Tall Pines on, but when that time does come, I hope that our vision contributes to the legacy of all those that have come before us.

The official season leaderboard results. Some of you that had made it on the board early in the season I know were curious if your record held, so finally no more waiting...

Only a few fish pics for this last blog as the snow came earlier than expected and stunted our fishing opportunities.

Buddy Jeremy came up for a long weekend and the boys got into a lot of fish, and much warmer than last year at this time:

Since this was post season, we will not be counting this for the leaderboard, but this was one heck of a giant northern!

Quite a few of you this season have shared "small fish pics" and can relate to this:

With the fishhouse winterized, Ryan's gone old school these past weeks in filleting off the docks, just like in 2020. With a beer and a sunset like this as company, he wouldn't want it any other way:

One of the last campfires of '23- there's just something soothing about the crackle of a fire:

A good visual of water level changes- looks to be about 5' lower since May of '22.

And for those not on social media, here's a couple of recent post pics:

Some incredible hikes and off-road exploring in October:

And just like that, October 27th, the snow came...

Though definitely earlier than we would have liked, the first snowfall always looks majestic:

Moose sightings have been fun to witness, and these 4 were just across the bay one recent morning:

And on a warm 28 degree afternoon, Ryan and buddy Dave landed this thick muskie:

And October 11th (left pic) we moved the second set of docks to link up with the main- easy peasy. November 2 (right two pics) was a little more interesting. We kept waiting for the sun to melt the snow, but it just never happened:

What did happen though, was two days later lake 1 was ice! We learned quickly how the Wabaskang can change so dramatically in a very short window.

While we've started on some projects this past month, we've either been short on supplies or the weather halted completion, so stay tuned for what we've been up to. Keep an eye out for the annual holiday newsletter which should be emailed before Christmas where we'll share lots of info including '23 recap, updates, and '24 details. And the Big Fish Gallery for 2023 is now up on the website! So many pics this year, that I had to narrow to the top 100. Thanks to all who have shared pictures this year.

I tried to email all our Tall Pines family about openings for 2024; if you did not get that and would like to be added to my email list, please email us at info@tallpinescamp.com Basically, we are filling up for next year. We do have some select openings for July/August/September. We'll begin marketing those shortly, so if you'd like to be a part of the 2024 season and haven't already booked your stay- please reach out soon. With this being the last blog for the year, we wish you a happy Thanksgiving. That's a wrap and I'll be back in the spring :)