Getting Started Into Summer

We are in that time of year where things are very busy and we don’t have a full staff yet. Even Bruce and I have had to pretend to work hard. Tired or not, it feels good to be running at full tilt.

Somehow it has skipped my mind but some of you may be interested in the fishing. I talked with Guide Jon Schei about how the season is going for him. He told me that he and his guests have caught 26 walleyes over 28” long. In addition the lake trout and bass have been really biting.

Several days ago I talked with my neighbor Sharon. She and Hubby Bob went out fishing one day on Gunflint and Little Gunflint. They started out getting lake trout in the main lake. Then they moved into Little Gunflint where they caught smallmouth bass – and not little ones. By then it was getting late in the afternoon so they moved further into Little Gunflint and caught walleye. Sounds like a pretty good day of fishing!

Most of our guests this weekend were here to relax, hike and do a little canoeing. One couple took a canoe trip to different lakes each day they were here. We had a large Asian family of 23. They learned to drive boats and paddle canoes. It was fun to watch them learning. Many of our dog guests took time to go swimming in the lake. Several of the staff jumped in and right out of the lake. Burr! That is not my thing.

We introduced some changes to the Red Paddle Bistro menu. Judging by what has been ordered, the new items are very popular. We also added malts and sundaes which are going to prove very difficult for me. There is nothing I love more than a good milk shake made with real ice cream. I am going to stay out of the kitchen.

Ronnie Smith and her crew are busy planting flowers. Our shipment arrived last Thursday. With a chance of frost, no planting was done until yesterday. It will take them about one week to get everything in the ground. Then we all have to be patient for several weeks as the plants grow and blossom.

Bruce and I have also been working in our vegetable garden. Weeding was the first big project. Then chives and strawberry beds have been cleaned and gotten going. The asparagus bed has yielded one meal. Yesterday I planted 15 flats of basil, parsley and broccoli. The majority of this is used in the lodge. Today Bruce is planting seeds for squash. He also took some time out to fertilize our little patch of grass.

It’s time to make dinner and get down to the lodge for the evening meal.

A Glimpse of the Past

Yesterday, last night, and this afternoon we are getting a little rain. Things have been very dry and it is good to see the rains come. These gentle drizzles are all absorbed into the ground and don’t run off. In addition the leaves have positively popped out with the rain. They are all that lovely spring lime green. For me, an extra bonus is that my asparagus is also popping out of the ground.

Yesterday was a garage sale along the length of the Gunflint Trail. I was detailed to be the cashier at ours. Things weren’t too busy but I had a wonderful time. Lots of neighbors whom I hadn’t seen stopped by.

The best part of my day came from a small suitcase. Bruce brought it down from the house. I thought there was a trumpet from one of my boys inside. When we opened it at the conference center, it was filled with old pictures that I had never seen. So, I spent my slow times going through all the pictures. Many of the black-and-white scenes of a lake somewhere were thrown out. But there were many goodies to be found. Just looking at the pictures was wonderful and then I worked on naming people in many of the pictures.

Other items in the suitcase were newspaper articles, Bruce’s 10th grade autobiography, and some writings of Justine’s. Below is one of Justine’s paragraphs. I know it is hers because of the handwriting. I am guessing it was written shortly after the event occurred. Hopefully you will enjoy it.

“Toots came to us on the shoulders of a Forester. It was the winter of 1938 that the snow was almost chest high on the level. The deer had yarded into feeding areas and then literally ate themselves out of house and home. The deep snow hindered movement through the woods. Toots was too weak to stand and had reached a stage of starvation. I suggested that the faun be left with us – after all I had a baby [Bruce] in a bassinette and was thus clearly confined to the house. We spread papers on a portion of the living room floor, as a precautionary measure, and gently laid Toots on them. Deer are fond of many kinds of food. We gathered tender tips of cedar and offered them in supplication, we diluted canned milk with a little water, we offered pancakes with sugar, with butter and just plain, bread soaked in milk, cigarettes (they love tobacco) and plain water. None of these foods interested the deer in the slightest and it looked as if the deer was too emaciated to stage a come back. On some of the birches there are frail clusters of moss like sparsely hanging goatees. As a final gesture we gathered lots of this moss and offered it to the deer. As we held it before its lips, they parted and the moss was slowly taken. We knew then that Toots would recover. Every morning Bill would go out with a large paper sack and pluck these hanging clumps. It took about an hour to fill the sac.”

It is always fun to visit the past. Here is a picture of Mom and Bruce from about that time.

A New Season Starts

The walleye opener was quiet. We didn’t have a lot of fishermen but it seems that everyone else was up and into the lodge for meals. Saturday was very windy which made fishing difficult and cold. The wind died down yesterday and there is no wind today. The lake is like glass. The weather station on Seagull Lake tells us that the wind is GUSTING to 2 MPH.

I have some pictures to show you. The first is of the new dock going in. Jason got it in with a minimum of issues. The first time something like this is put together there are always minor adjustments to make. All went well and we now have a great new dock.

Bruce and Don are shown here playing with the wood fired oven. We have some new breads we are trying. As usual, the two of them need to get their heads into the entire process. I just was the photographer and the taster. It seems that those are the two best jobs for this type of event.

Finally, Sheryl sent me a picture of Little Rock Falls taken on May 4th. The water is just boiling over the top of the rocks. It is one of my favorite places but never has the water been flowing this swiftly for me to see. You have to remember that the ice had not gone off Magnetic Lake when this picture was taken. Sheryl and Bonnie had to canoe around the shoreline to get home. At one point they were dragging their canoe with one foot on the ice and one foot in the canoe.

One time the water was going over Little Rock Falls quite strongly when I was there. It must have been in June. At the top of the falls I saw a mother mallard and her brood. Then suddenly she took them right down the falls! In just a minute the babies popped up at the bottom. It was an amazing thing to watch. I was one of those times when you shake your head and say, "Did I really see what I thought I saw?"

New and returning staff members are arriving on a regular basis. Again this morning Bruce is giving his “Welcome to Gunflint” talk for three new people. He likes to give every new employee a talk about what it means to work at Gunflint and what our philosophy of guest services is. Some people listen well and others almost fall asleep. We never have figured out which ones make the best staff.

Then this afternoon Don, Bruce, and I are working on the menu and changes that may be made. It is always a long meeting to come to agreement. Bruce has been visiting some website with 40,000 recipes. So hold on to your hat when you come into the dining room and bistro. Actually we just gradually add or adjust a few items to freshen up the menu. Some items come from us while other suggestions come from the cooks. After an item is agreed on, it must be tested, priced, and added to the menu. Marilyn and I get involved in the describing the item on the menu.

I want to spend a little time in my garden too so it is going to be a busy day. And by the way, what am I fixing for dinner?

More Signs of Spring

The ice is going out everywhere. Magnetic is now clear and it is clear in front of the lodge. The east end of the lake is still full of ice. Jason and his crew are putting in the smaller dock today. We won’t bring the new, larger dock over until the ice is totally gone from the lake. On a still calm day like today, it is really tempting to put in the new dock. However, the wind could come out of the east and blow all the ice back down our way. It’s better to be patient.

This weekend is the Gunflint Green Up. People gather from all over the plant trees and release trees in the places burned from the Ham Lake Fire of 2007. About the same number of people are here as were last year – 160. Some people have homes in the area while others are just guests. It is a wonderful thing to see everyone taking possession of the forest and helping to improve it. Above is a picture of last night’s dinner in the tent behind our outfitters.

Birds are coming back in great numbers. Every day I see is different kind. Yesterday there were purple finches and chipping sparrows. Today a flock of grackles were outside my window. Every bird is starved and I fill the feeders on a daily basis.

Birds aren’t the only ones back. Bruce had a bear climb into his truck looking for minnow bread to eat. This happened last summer so we assume it is the same bear. One of the guests at the lodge reported seeing a momma bear and two cubs go past her cabin at midnight last night. I hope that they don’t find and food and leave soon. It is such a problem. We don’t want to the harm the bears but we also don’t want them around. Too many guests forget that these are wild animals. I have seen guests letting their children try to feed the bears – bad idea. We will see what happens. Every summer is different.

There are also many more rabbits that usual. One of the neighbors was driving down the side road. Fran counted 13 rabbits in about 1 ½ miles. We must assume that the rabbits are doing what they do best – multiplying. But where are all the fox and our occasional lynx? These rabbits should be tasty lunches for them. I hope that the rabbits don’t get into my garden lettuce.

Partridge are out drumming now. Drumming is the noise that males make when looking for a female to mate with. In the spring you can hear them any time you are outside. I spotted one up at Chik-Wauk on Wednesday. His drumming was so loud that he had to be nearby. He was right on top of a boulder but I didn’t get to see him actually drumming.

With the bedroom window open, I can hear the loons calling every night. It is a wonderful sound.

Home Again

The calendar may not say it, but summer arrived at Gunflint Lodge today. The horses arrived! Mandy and Izzy were there to put halters on and get them into the pasture. Right now they are all munching on hay, rolling in the dirt, and drinking water. On Monday the staff will be going out for rides to reacquaint the horses with the trails. We only have two new horses so they all pretty much know where they are going.

Bruce and I had a great trip down to the Florida Keys. As always we stayed with our friends Ron and Pat Malina. They have a beautiful porch that overlooks the open water. We ate every meal out there in 85 degree temperatures with a gentle breeze.

Well, there were several meals that we ate in restaurants. We have two favorite restaurants that we always visit when in Key West. One is the Raw Bar at Land’s End. I dream about Oysters Rockefeller and Conch Fritters. Bruce lives for Conch Chowder. Figuring out what comes next is always a problem. Our other must stop is El Siboney, a Cuban restaurant in a residential area. You have to know it is there to find it. Bruce always starts out with a big bowl of their homemade soup – every kind is good. I like the roast pork and he likes the fried pork cubes. Both come with warm buttered Cuban bread, yellow rice, black beans and plantains. Even without the soup it is more than either of us can eat.

Once we get past these restaurants, then it is time to try some new ones. As usual there were plenty of good ones around. The best one, however, was in the Malina household. The day we arrived Pat greeted us with steamed and chilled Key West Pink shrimp and stone crabs. Another night we ate Pat’s Key Lime Pie. I refuse to order this in a restaurant because no one makes it as well as Pat does.

Several nights we relaxed playing canasta. It is always the men against the women. Both sides managed to hold their own. Bruce and I also learned bowling via the Wii. Every day we were out walking around. We did a little shopping, or rather looking, at some of the Key West stores. For looking you can’t beat Fast Buck Freddy’s. If I had a house to decorate in the Keys (and unlimited funds), I could buy out that store.

Of course, all good things must end and we are now home. Business is looking good. More staff are arriving. Spring projects are getting done. The snow is basically gone. The ice on Gunflint Lake is pretty black this afternoon. The new dock is now floating in the water. We can’t get it back into the summer home bay yet but there is a boat and motor sitting on the shore ready to go in the moment we can.

I looked at my garden today. Hopefully tomorrow I will get started cleaning that up. I could see a few tiny strawberry leaves poking out. Then there is the rhubarb to get going. Beds have to be cleaned for basil and parsley. Chives will also be coming out soon. My iris need a tablespoon of bone marrow on them. The grass also needs fertilizer. The flower beds need to be weeded.

All of a sudden it is an endless list. I am ready to start tackling everything.

A Keys Vacation

I keep thinking that we are finished with winter but these past couple days have made me wonder. Yesterday (Saturday) it snowed off and on for most of the day. We got about 4 inches of a wet heavy snow. The temperatures hovered right around freezing and the ground is warm. As a result we never got much accumulation. Wind, however, blew snow all over. Today seems to be trying to clear or, at least, lighten up. Right now at 3:00 p.m. the sun is coming out. The new snow did bring us one interesting phone call. Someone was looking to do a little more snowmobiling now that there was fresh snow. All our trails are finished for the season. The base on them has been gone for a long time. This time of year reminds me of Bruce’s mother, Justine. She would be writing a column for the newspaper and have nothing to write. We would get a phone call with this voice saying, “Got anything for the fish wrapper?” Usually Mom would end up writing stories about nature which is, of course, all around us. So, with not much to tell you I am going to stop. Bruce and I are off to the Florida Keys for 10 days. The 85 degree weather there sounds wonderful. I’m off to pack!

Mud and Cleaning Season

I think we are officially in mud season. Water from melting snow is streaming down my driveway and anyplace else that leads to the lake. Usually the roads dry up in a couple of days. Under the snow we have yet to get mud but that is next. The paths in my garden quickly become soggy messes for a couple of days. Meanwhile the spring projects are coming along. The floors in the lodge now have two coats of varnish. A third coat will be added today in the high traffic areas. Then it is a matter of letting everything dry and cure. I understand that by Tuesday, it will be time to move furniture back in. Remember that pile of furniture in the conference center? Chris Prasil, normally a server, is washing it all down. Much of this was washed before our weddings but we still have to go over it all. Cleaning is going on just as steadily in all the cabins. Again this is our one time to really tear into all the nooks and crannies. The housekeepers will be busy from now through May with these projects. We can’t forget the kitchen in spring cleaning. The other day Adam and Hudson were cleaning the hoods and ovens. Today Jacob has the grill torn apart. Meanwhile John is washing every bowl, shelf, silverware, pot and pan in the entire place. Right now it all looks a mess but things will start to take shape soon. Some of you may have noticed that the lynx on the beam in the lodge had a torn foot. Kaci got out her needle and thread and fixed the problem. Along the way she gave him a good cleaning. We won’t talk about how much dust was in his hide. The new dock is almost done. Each day I hear, only one more day. It is hard to believe how much is going into it but Jason is a perfectionist. For example, we have over 100 pounds of nails. The dock looks huge sitting on the ice. The touchiest time will be when it is floating but there is still a large mass of ice on the lake. We need to get the dock back in a bay before it is swept into the moving ice flow. Keep your fingers crossed. Dave goes to Duluth tomorrow to pick up new motors. By the time he gets the old ones loaded here for trade-ins and the new ones loaded in Duluth, he will be sick of motors. Of course, there are people to help with the loading in each spot. Once the ice is gone, the dock staff will be busy breaking in the motors by running them some. Spring projects will continue for a bit yet. There is, however, one project that has been reduced to a minimum. Years ago the lodge and every single cabin had water drained in the fall and put back during the spring. Usually it took several days in the spring. One year someone other than Bruce drained. The next spring it took over two weeks to get water running in all the cabins. Bruce had some special words for that spring. All in all, it is a project he does not miss.

What Did We Do All Winter?

We have had some warm days and melting snow. It is my HOPE that we have seen our last snowfall for this year. Rain would be wonderful. Moisture this spring is just what we need to bring up all the lake levels. Even wonder what the winter staff does around here for entertainment? Some, of course, have TV, but not all of them. Computer games are also enjoyed by many staff members. Monday night is usually time for some low key poker games. Wednesday is time for Bags which is pitching some hand-sized bean bags into target holes. I have tried it once but could be beat by anyone. Many staff also enjoy getting out in the winter. Hudson (from the kitchen) and Lance (handyman) are probably our most constant fishermen. Hudson enjoys going out in the morning before working on the afternoon and dinner shift. Lance does his fishing mostly on days off. Both of them are pretty good. Among the gals we have our walkers. The most steady one is Bonnie from the outfitters. She takes Jason’s dog, Monster, almost every afternoon about 4:00. Sheryl will accompany her sometimes. Bonnie sets a pretty aggressive pace so you have to be ready to move on her hikes. On their days off, Marilyn and Kaci from the front desk have been doing some longer walks. Last week they went out for 2 ½ hours on the frozen ski trails. This week the trails are softer and I understand that they have a seven mile trip planned for today. Kacy (bartender) is our best skier. She likes to snowboard down at Lutsen. Kacy grew up doing it in the west and enjoys it here too. Not too many of the staff are into cross country skiing. Chrystal (a housekeeper from Jamaica) tried dog sledding the other day. Adam took her out with his dogs. She really enjoyed the ride although it was a completely new experience for her. Mandy likes to spend her off days cross stitching. Of course, her favorite subject is horses and she does beautiful work. Even the backs of her pictures are neat and organized. Adam is busy planning his next dog sled. He will be getting four more dogs this summer. That means he will have enough dogs to pull two people at a time. So now he has to build a larger sled. His girl friend, Kaci, will do the sewing to make the canvas parts to the sled. I understand that she has also been tapped to make booties for the dogs. As the seasons change, so will the staff’s activities. I am sure that Lance and Hudson will continue fishing. Adam and Kaci will probably take at least one canoe trip this summer. Sheryl and Bonnie are also planning their fall canoe trip. Even Bruce and I are planning an early September canoe trip with our friends, Tom and Melissa.

It's Spring!

Welcome to spring in the north woods. The forecast is for up to six inches of snow by midnight. Meanwhile it is misting outside. We will see what happens.

Last night was our third and last wedding of the spring. A really nice couple from Thunder Bay came down with all their friends and family. To fit the setting, Adam brought the bride to the outdoor ceremony by dog sled. Here is a picture of her arriving at the lodge. The guests are waiting up on the patio.

One of the best parts of spring is welcoming back our resident animal populations. Don Decker, who mushes for us, saw a cougar on top of the Gunflint hill last week. Don Kufahl went up to check the tracks. He said that the paw prints were definitely from a huge cat. This cat had a running stride of eight feet! Although I have seen a cougar on Highway 61 by Grand Portage, I have never seen one up here. I am sure that the animal is almost gone before you realize what it was.

We have also started to see more snowshoe rabbits. They are still pretty much white. Their feet and the tips of their ears appear to be starting to turn brown. The rabbits run so fast that it is hard to decide what is or is not brown. With all the wolves around, we are surprised to see so many rabbits.

Birds have been busy eating up our feeders. One set of neighbors were cleaned out twice by a large flock of pine siskins. Other neighbors have been cleaned out by red polls. Why one flock gets together and quickly eats all the seeds out of a feeder is a great mystery. I have not seen any robins yet so, no matter the date, spring must not be here yet.

There is an immature bald eagle on the lake now. He still needs to get his white head and tail. Seeing him fly leaves to doubt that this is an eagle. We assume that he primarily living off the deer carcasses on the lake.

Bonnie is getting pretty mad at the wolves. She doesn’t mind them killing the deer. The problem comes when Bonnie pulls the carcasses behind a snow bank. She comes back a couple hours later and the wolves have pulled it out again. The only good news is that after a day there is almost nothing left of the deer. It takes at least two deer a week to keep our wolf herd fed. From the few sightings we have had of the wolves, there is no doubt that they are well fed.

By next week, there will be even more animals returning from the south lands. Let’s see what appears.

A Helping Hand

Katie from the front desk just called me. She and Marilyn have been reading the blog I posted yesterday. Good thing they were because they found one of my bigger errors. The Mush for the Cure raises money for breast cancer (not canoe) research. This is one of those errors that is not caught by a spell checker. It takes humans reading to find my errors. Luckily for me both Katie and Marilyn are there to check all my work and correct my mistakes.

March Musings

Bruce, Sheryl and I had a good trip to Denver. We bought lots of fun gifts that you will be seeing in the gift shops this summer. By the time we got back to Minneapolis, I was down with a nasty winter cold and went home with Sheryl. On the trip home she managed to catch it too.

Meanwhile Bruce drove down to Missouri for and outfitters meeting and to pick up some hickory firewood. Don will use it all summer in the smoker. Guide Dennis Todd had gathered a huge pile of it. It was a long drive home for Bruce since he had come down the the cold by then.

Now that we are fully into March, I can see that the season is getting ready to change. We still have plenty of snow but there are differences between March and January. It looks like the buds are ready to pop out of the trees even though that is weeks and weeks away. The deer are feeding on all the buds that they can reach. Green leaves won’t come until May.

The south facing shoulder of the side road by the stable is down to bare ground. We will probably get more snow to cover it but the bare ground looks pretty good right now. The deer are pawing at it looking for any leafy tidbit. There is not much to be had.

On the ice Jason and Don have constructed a good size ice rink for a couple of weddings. After the last one on the 19th, Jason will start to build the new dock on this bare patch of ice. The completed dock will just sit there until it melts through the ice sometime in April. Once the shore is clear enough they will push it back into the summer home bay. This area is protected from the main flow of ice that moves around quite a bit during the spring thaw. Getting caught by that flow could destroy the new dock in just moments.

Meanwhile we still have some winter activities going on this weekend. On Saturday is the Mush for the Cure. It is a fun run dog sled race from Gunflint Lake to Poplar Lake. Each musher raises money to be donated for breast canoe research. Our Adam Treeful has been busy raising money and will participate in the run. Part of the fun is seeing how the mushers dress in pink. I will try to get some pictures.

On Sunday the local snowmobile club sponsors a trout derby on the lake. They plow a huge ice ring so that cars can drive on. It is a great family event. There are kids and snowmobiles all over. A lunch is served on the lake. If it is not windy, a sunny March day on the lake is wonderful. I have gotten sunburn more than once. Some people even catch lake trout. Basically it is a fun event for the entire community.

Not much more going on right now. I’ll have to get back into the local moccasin telegraph system.

Planes and Travelers

Our friend J. T. is up for a few days. Many years ago (when Robert and Lee were about 2 and 4) J. T. worked for us. His father was the editor of the Duluth newspaper and we inherited J. T. for a summer’s work. This continued for several years as he went through the stages of dock boy and guide.

Then he spent a winter with us. During that time the boys loved to play with him. He taught them a game called “Far, Far Away.” When the boys had driven him about nuts, J. T. would tell them to go far, far away. Usually they would disappear and find something to play with.

J. T. got his pilot’s license. He flew for Bruce’s brother-in-law, Jim, in Alaska. Next he got on with a regional carrier in Alaska. Eventually he got on with Southwest Airlines and is now one of their senior captains. We are very proud of him.

A couple days ago J. T. flew up in his Super Cub on skis. This morning he and Bruce went flying around the area for a while. Here is a picture of the two of them and then one that Bruce took from the air. It was a fun time for both of them. J. T. will be back up in June and he and Bruce will probably find a night to go fishing.

We have a great group of seniors in from Central Wisconsin this week. They are out skiing, snowshoeing, and dog sledding every day. The most fun for them has been driving one of the sled dog teams on the lake. Also today Don cooked a soup lunch for them at one of the warming huts on the ski trails. It was a perfect day as snow gently fell over their lunch spot. This evening Bruce and I will talk to them about the lodge history (me) and dog sledding (Bruce).

Tomorrow Bruce, Sheryl and I are off to Denver. It is time for the Denver Gift Show and we have money burning a hole in our pockets. For four days we will walk the show looking for some great gifts. My feet ought to be done in at the end.

Next Tuesday we fly back to Minneapolis. Sheryl goes home. Bruce and I head south Springfield, MO, for some outfitters meetings. While Bruce works at the meetings, I intend to visit Bass Pro and shop. We will stop March 4th at Robert and Miranda’s on our way home. Monday we should be back.

So, Ralph Griffis down in Texas, you won’t hear from me for about two weeks as we go all over the country. I am sure we will meet some interesting people and find a couple of good restaurants.

Today It's Wind

We have had several warm days this past week. I am always torn when we get melting snow at this time of year. Luckily we have a great base so there is still a lot of skiing to be had. According to the weather map (if you believe that) we are scheduled for more snow in the next couple of days.

Last night it was 37 degrees when I went to bed about 10:00 p.m. This morning at 5:15 it was 5 degrees. The drop in temperature was not nearly as surprising as the wind. Sometime in the early morning hours I could hear the wind start to howl. It really has to be strong for me to hear it in the house due to all our insulation. Also the trees on the lake side protect us from the worst of the northwest wind.

It is around 3:00 p.m. now and the wind is still roaring outside my wind. The weather readings from Seagull Lake say it is gusting up to 32 mph. I think that is more sustained than gusting. You just have to accept that today is going to be a bad hair day. I always tell the gal who does my hair to cut it for blowing in the wind. Well, no hair cut will survive this wind.

We had a fisherman come in for breakfast today. He had been out on the lake ice fishing early in the morning. Usually he uses a pop-up ice fishing house. He said that today the wind just blew it away and he couldn’t use it. In fact, at one point the wind almost blew him over. Needless to say, the fish were not biting.

As we look out the lodge windows, the wind has the snow swirling all over. The nice part is that all the loose snow is blown off the slush pockets again. By tomorrow there will be little snow or slush on the lake. We can see the bare ice from the lodge.

At lunch today we also noticed a funny something sticking up at the narrows. Bruce got out the binoculars for a look. There was an ice house (tent) right near the narrows with a snowmobile just behind it. Although it is hard to tell how close the fisherman is to the narrows, we can see he is pretty close, certainly much, much closer than we consider safe. As you know the narrows never freezes solid because of the continual moving water through there. I just hope that nothing happens.

Bruce just looked out the window right now. The fishermen are gone. They probably got blown off the lake.

I filled our wood box for the night. After going down to the lodge, a fire in the fireplace will seem very nice. Right now the sound of the wind just makes me feel cold even though my office is plenty warm.

Slush!

This past week has seen the condition of the ice on lakes change. At the beginning there were pockets of slush on many of the lakes. Then the temperatures dropped and the wind came up. This wind blew the insulating snow off the slush. The slush then froze. Now we are back to very little slush and lots of solid black ice. My neighbor say in some places it is 20 inches thick and you can see right through it.

So why do we care if there is slush on the lake? After all, the ice is still safe with slush on it. It is the getting stuck in slush that is the problem. Once you have disturbed the insulating snow, the slush freezes quickly. It also freezes in anything stuck in slush. Here are a couple stories about slush.

Years ago Bruce and I were invited down to Trout Lake to entertain some members of the press and talk about the great ice fishing in the area. Several locals brought snowmobiles with them. One of the people who came along was our then Congressman, John Blatnik. The Congressman was a complete politician who was always greeting people. He saw other groups of fishermen on the lake. Hopping on a snowmobile, Congressman Blatnik took off to say hello. Instead he got stuck a deep hole of slush – up to the snowmobile seat. Naturally, the Congressman walked away from it. Bruce and the owner of the snowmobile spent the next two hours getting the machine it. They were both soaked by the time the job was done.

Justine had two small Polaris Playmates for snowmobiles. Robert and Lee loved to drive them on the lake close to the lodge. One day one of the machines got into slush about 100 feet in front of the lodge. Bruce was at a sports show. Mom and I were the only adults around. Even though I understood the principle of getting machines out, I had never actually done it. It was another instance where Mom was the brains and I was the muscle.

Out the four of us went. We had some firewood to put under the machine and get it out of the slush. But first we had to clear all the slush out of the track. Luckily it was a small snowmobile. I would hold up the back so the machine was only sitting on its front skis. Then one of the boys would race the engine to blow out the slush. The only place the slush could go was out the back of the track right on me.

Next we put the machine on the firewood well out of the slush. Then we turned the machine off. There was still slush in the track so we dug it out with our hands. It is truly a fun job! Eventually we had the machine totally out of slush and all the slush out of the machine. Even this small machine was too much for us to pull to shore.

Now what? The machine is in the middle of the huge slush pocket. We all put on snowshoes and tramped a trail from the machine out of the slush pocket and to the shore. Every step weighed a ton as slush piled up on the snowshoes. The plan was to let the slush freeze overnight and then run the machine to shore on the frozen path. The next morning we were all relieved when the plan actually worked.

More Stories from Gunflint

As usual, we have had a busy week, Don, our food and beverage manager worked with traffic control on the Beargrease Sled Dog Race. He had the all-night shift where the Trail crossed the main road. During that time there was a two hour period when no one came through. Don turned off his flashing lights and look at the northern lights which swirled in the sky above him. While he was standing outside the truck, a bunch of noise startled him. What was it? Two moose came through. It’s enough to keep you awake all night.

Do you wonder what we all do for entertainment during the winter? Bonnie from the outfitters and Marilyn from the front desk were out and about yesterday. They decided to hike the Centennial Trail on snowshoes with Jason’s dog, Monster. The trail is 3.3 miles long. It took them a full two hours to hike it starting from the Round Lake side. They had one path that had been broken out before we got our latest snow. It was enough to follow and only went the wrong way once. Here is a picture of Marilyn and it sure looks like she is enjoying herself. Bonnie said that the views were just spectacular. I know myself that from the high point you can see the stables at Gunflint. Here is a view of the beaver ponds on the Round Lake Road.

Monster ran all over the place. The new scents alone must have been overwhelming. Sometimes he seemed to get tired and would follow the girls for a bit rather than breaking trail himself. Jason said Monster was really tired last night! I think the girls were tired too.

This seems to be the week that wolves are all around us. We haven’t seen the wolves so much as we have seen the results of their feeding. A few days ago there was a deer kill just off the side road about ½ mile from the lodge. Then last weekend there was another kill on the lake just in front of our house. Finally last night the wolves took another deer on the lake in front of Cabin #17. The guests told me that they saw three wolves at the kill this morning. By 10:00 a. m. there was literally nothing left on the ice. Even the crows and ravens were finished with it. Nothing goes to waste.

A pack of wolves need about one deer a week for food. It seems harsh to us but this is all part of Nature’s food chain. Wolves are magnificant animals. Of course, we think nothing of shooting a deer during the hunting season. Bruce and I enjoy the meat for the entire year. It substitutes for beef in our diet and is much better because there is virtually no fat.

Bruce and I are off tomorrow to visit Robert, Miranda and Zach in Missouri. Zach will be 11 this weekend in case some of you are remembering that cute little guy who rode around in a backpack with his parents. He is still pretty cute but I doubt either parent would want to carry him around anymore.