Fall Days

My thanks go to Mark and Jeanne Scharf for today’s wolf picture. They checked into #27 early last week about 3:00 p.m. As they were about to walk down to dinner, Jeanne saw the wolf thru the window in the front door. Out came the cameras and the rest is history. I have since heard that a wolf has been hanging around the public landing on Gunflint. It could be the same one.

Two days after the Scharf’s arrived, more incoming guests saw a wolf as they were driving up the Trail. Up until the last few years, we never saw wolves. I am assuming that these and other sightings are the result of a larger wolf population.

The Pagami Lake fire is winding down. The Type I Incident Management Team has just been replaced by a Type II Team. This is a very typical event as containment of a fire increases. As of today the fire is 71% contained. We have not smelled any smoke for a couple of weeks now.

The Forest Service has completely lifted the ban on camp fires, but we still need rain. Those of you familiar with the beaver pond on the Round Lake Road will be surprised to learn that it is totally dry. Several days of a nice gentle rain would be wonderful.

This past week the ladies from Always An Adventure were with us for four nights. This group has been with us for about 14 years. They are here to get out and explore the area no matter what the weather. It was raining the day their boat trip to Bridal Falls was scheduled. Even so 20 people went on the trip. One day they canoed into Ham Lake. Another day a group of them went into Stairway Portage. There were also individual hikes they organized on their own. It is fun for us to host a group that wants to get out and enjoy the woods.

Speaking of enjoying the woods, Bruce and I did a little of that yesterday. It was a beautiful fall day so we decided to go partridge hunting in the afternoon. We spent 4 hours driving back roads until my insides were like jelly. We stopped at one of the neighbors to see the construction of their new house. During the drive we got three partridge. While it is nice to get the birds and we would have liked more, just being out and about is what we enjoy doing. It was certainly better than watching the Vikings lose their fourth game of the year.

Lunch was very busy today. Adrian, Don and I kept running for about 3 hours. Since the weather was cooperating, most people wanted to sit on the porch. We would have all enjoyed sitting on the porch too. It is the perfect place to be on these fall days. Winter is coming and the porch will soon be covered with snow.