Foxy Lady

I have to tell you that at this time of year my bird feeder is about the most exciting thing going on around here. When Bruce’s mother, Justine, was writing her weekly newspaper column, this was when she would call pleadingly to say, “Have you got any news for the fish wrapper?” I thought about her today.

Saturday night we had an unexpected visitor to the feeder. As we were eating dinner a beautiful red fox came in. She walked down the steps as relaxed as could be. Coming around the corner, a squirrel caught her eye and the chase was on. The squirrel won.

Then the fox returned to help herself to some scraps of food that I had put out. I am trying to clean out my freezer and a few things have been in there too long. The theory is that it is better to feed the fox than fill the dumpster. At any rate the fox picked up a couple pieces, walked off to eat them and then came back for more. Freezer burned ham tasted pretty good to her.

The thing that amazes Bruce and I is how bold the fox is. We are sitting in a fully lighted kitchen with the window not 10 feet from the fox. She doesn’t seem to care about us at all. I wonder if the glare from the glass makes it difficult to see us.

All summer long we have been seeing fox on the Gunflint Trail. During the summer they all look scrawny and very, very thin. Well, partridge hunting has been particularly good this year and the fox must be getting their share. Just like our fox at the window, suddenly they are all beautiful. They’re fat, the fur is thick, and their tails are as full as can be.

Recently I was talking with a group of neighbors. They all had stories to tell about seeing animals. Tom and Melissa have several “pet” partridge on their road. Bruce doesn’t hunt there. Margit saw a pair of pileated woodpeckers on a walk. She was able to see where their nest was. Someone else has been seeing fox too.

We are blessed to live in a very special part of the country. Anyone who lives here can observe the local animals just as we do. It is a wonderful addition to the rhythm of our lives.

Bird Feeders

We don’t feed the birds during the summer. If we try, the bears quickly and regularly find the feeders. Bears are not animals that you want to have around the house. Now that they are going into hibernation, the bird feeders have gone up.

It usually takes a few days before the birds find our feeders. This year the chipmunks and squirrels found them first. The chipmunks are really hungry since they will soon be hibernating. The squirrels are always hungry. They are also great fun to watch. This morning I stood for several minutes watching two of them chase each other around the yard.

We are also getting a couple of migrating birds at the feeder. Juncoes are stopping by in good numbers. Who knows how they find us out of all the places they pass during migration? Also the grackles are passing through. Neither bird will not be here much longer.

The regulars have found us. Chickadees and nuthatches are in every morning. Blue jays and Canada jays stop by. Pine siskins, evening grosbeaks, and purple finches have not found us yet.

I keep forgetting to buy suet when in town. Once that is up, we will start to get hairy woodpeckers, downy woodpeckers and an occasional raven. My problem with suet is keeping it from the animals. We have martins and fox wandering around. They will eat the entire suet in one night. Tucker also tries to get at it.

By far our biggest raiders of the feeders are deer. They are plenty of them around and will be more after hunting season when the lodge starts putting out corn. Deer have learned to suck all the seeds out of a feeder. In one night all four feeders are empty. Even if I put out corn, the deer still empty the feeders.

So bird feeders (like all of life) present choices. We choose to feed whatever animals come along. With the flowers gone for the winter, every animal gives us entertainment outside the kitchen window.

Building A Cabin

It's a cold windy day today. Even though there are snow flurries in the air, the wind seems to be breaking up the clouds. Maybe the sun will shine. It would be a great improvement from the gray day we had yesterday.

The wind and the flurries brought to mind another fall in 1946. Dr. Katie Burns had finished her World War II service in the Navy at Great Lakes Naval Station. She along with her mother, sister, and brother-in-law were going to spend the fall and part of the winter building a cabin on Katie's property on Gunflint Lake. Much of the process was recorded in a series of letters that Katie's mother wrote to the youngest daughter who was in college at the time. Katie also wrote an essay on the project.

In the beginning of August, the family moved to the shores of Gunflint Lake. They camped in two tents on platforms until the house had a roof on it. A third tent on a platform served as their kitchen/living room. A fourth tent held supplies. Their luxury was a hand pump by the kitchen sink. It took them ten days to hand dig the well with a crow bar and trench spade.

Although there was a road down the south shore of Gunflint, it was 600 feet from the house site. That meant that every part of the house had to be portaged from the road. The other alternative was to bring supplies in by boat. Katie said they brought the first load of lumber down by boat and it took a day and a half to do it.

Construction went slowly because there was no electricity. Also no one had any real building experience. They had only read books about building a cabin. After seven weeks the cabin was enclosed with four walls and a roof. By then the weather had gotten to the point where camping was not much fun. The bears were also getting very brazen and had found their way into camp several times.

Although they continued to sleep in the tents for a bit, they were able to put the hand water pump into the kitchen of the house. Between that and the stove, cooking and eating were a little easier. With just the outside shell, the house was not too warm. Mrs. Burns writes that the inside temperature was "under 60."

The next most important project was to build the fireplace. You have to understand that none of them had ever done this before. All fall they gathered rocks. It took five weeks of work to build the fireplace. The really low blow was learning that the completed fireplace had to sit for two weeks before they could use it. You can imagine how wonderful that first fire felt!

The last step that winter was insulating and finishing the interior. Walls were erected. Stairs were built to the second floor. Flooring went in and was hand sanded before filling, staining and waxing. It was on-the-job training for all of these "carpenters" and they were very proud of the results.

Today it is hard to appreciate the difficulties that Katie and her family encountered building the cabin. Construction supplies were hard to get. Even grocery shopping was a major project. You called in a grocery order from the only phone at Gunflint Lodge and it was delivered by the mail truck which only came three days a week. They baked their own bread. Meat was in short supply. It was hard to find time to fish for food with all the demands of construction. At one point Mrs. Burns wrote, "My present problem is to conjure up a dinner out of 5 wieners -- our only visible meat supply." No electricity meant no freezer or refrigerator.

It was sixty years ago this fall that Katie and her family built the cabin. On cold fall days like today, I wonder if I would have been able to do it. Katie is now around 90 years old. She still summers on Gunflint Lake and is as sharp as a tack. Her stories of those early years have entertained and amazed me. Hopefully someone will say the same about me when I reach that age.

A Brush With Winter

After my last blog, you know that we got a little snow around here. Thankfully, it was not as much as some parts of the East got. Nevertheless, we got about 6 inches of snow at Gunflint. There was more at the highlands around Poplar Lake.

Friday was the actual snow storm day. It was a the perfect day to be inside looking out. We had a blistery wind with snow coming down off and on throughout the day. Bruce and I
cranked up the fireplace. All of our outside garden projects were finished. We felt very smug standing in front of a blazing fire. Our homemade soup dinner tasted great and fit the outside weather.

Bonnie Schudy, our outfitting manager, had a little different experience on Friday. She and a friend from town were on a canoe trip to Long Island Lake. Coming home on Friday they had to go through Rib Lake. As you may know, the water in all our lakes is very low this fall. Rib is never very deep so the water in the lake was down to 3-4 feet in depth. Unfortunately for Bonnie, it was just cold enough so that a skim of ice covered the lake. They had to break ice all the way across the lake to paddle home!

On Saturday morning the temperatures started to rise. Bruce and I went to town on slippery roads. Coming home in the afternoon, the road was dry and bare. The sun was out.

Sunday was also nice and warm. The wind picked up in the afternoon. The staff had started to put the dock across the lake while there was no wind. We disconnect the entire dock from the main cribbing. Then it is pushed like a barge across and tied to the shore in Charlie Cook's bay. It sits there all winter. In the spring the ice totally melts out of the bay with no wind problems. When the ice leaves the entire lake, we push the dock back for the summer. But going over this fall, the guys had to fight the wind that came up in the middle of the project. It is finished now and everyone is happy.

With all the cold weather, some outside jobs got behind schedule. So the crew who is laying the cement blocks for our new staff building was working on Sunday. After the blocks are laid, then they have to pour the cement pad for the new building. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that the warmer weather holds.

When Bruce was pouring the pad for cabin #24-25, the weather did not hold. They poured the cement anyway because there was no choice. Then the pad was covered with plastic. Finally the plastic was covered with sleeping bags unzipped to lay flat. The plastic and sleeping bags provided enough insulation to slowly cure the cement. It was a close call. It was also a mess to clean and wash all the sleeping bags.

Today virtually all the snow is gone. The wind has shifted to the east which is our foul weather wind. Bruce and I are going out to cover the small white pines so the deer don't eat them. I saw two deer at the top of the driveway this morning. We have already covered the maples and lilacs. Then I am going to cut down the last of the burdick seeds and get rid of them.

Tucker is coming down to spend the afternoon with us. He just loves to poke around outside. If he runs around enough, he may even go for a swim. The other day when we hiked into Mine Lake with snow and rain, Tucker took time for a swim in that lake. I can't imagine anything worse.

Have a good day. I know I will.

Adjusting to the Weather

Bruce and I had planned to go with Lee, Eva, and Tucker to Judge Magney State Park on the North Shore today. We were going to walk into Devil's Kettle and then visit some other spots on the shore that Eva had not seen.

As you may know, we are under a winter storm watch today. During our wanderings at night we watched the temperature drop from 47 degrees at 4:00 a.m. to 33 degrees at 8:30 a.m. There was a nasty wind on Gunflint and some of those fluffy white things coming down. It didn't seem like the time to drive 65 miles and hike along Lake Superior.

On the other hand we didn't want to give up on the day. The five of us don't get many days to do stuff together. So we came up with a plan that worked for the day's weather. First we all dressed warmly. Even though it is October we had on long underwear, hats, gloves, etc. Second we picked a hike that didn't expose us to the wind. In other words we stayed in the woods. Finally we picked a hike that was near to home. That way if the weather really turned sour, we didn't have a long drive home.

We ended up hiking in on the Kekakabic Trail to Mine Lake. Eva had never been in to the lake. There are still some remains from the mining operations of the Paulsen Mine in the 1890's to be found along the lake.

In its day things were really hopping at Mine Lake. People thought that it would become a center for iron ore mining. Geologically, this area is part of the Gunflint Formation which is the tail end of the Masabe Iron Range. There was a railroad built from Thunder Bay to the mine. They took out one carload of iron ore and discovered it was taconite. Edward Davis did not develope his refining process for taconite until many years later so that was the end of mining operations.

Today it was just a nice hike for us. Tucker had lots of sticks to chase. We threw snowballs like kids. Mine Lake is small and quiet but very pretty. It is hard to relate what we saw today with what we know happened in the past.

But my point is that no matter what your plan is, you can always find a pleasant way to spend some time in the woods. The key is to be willing to adjust to the weather. In many respects it was a stinky day outside but we had a great time.

Daily Encounters

One of the nicest things about living up here is that I have encounters with the resident animals almost every day. Now you realize that none of these encounters are a big deal. They just add a little extra zest to my days.

Let's take yesterday. The human part of my day had me taking my walk in the morning. Then I spent the rest of the morning at my computer trying to get caught up. The afternoon was in the garden getting a little section ready for winter. That night we drove down to a neighbor's home to look at movies from the 1940's on the Gunflint Trail. Nothing exciting there.

There was no wind at all during my walk. I don't walk with an Ipod or anything because I like to hear the natural sounds around me. The reward yesterday was hearing something rustling in the bushes along the side of the road. I stopped and finally located a grouse not 10 feet from me. He was not happy at being seen and quickly flew off. How many other grouse had I already walked by?

Part way into the walk I met Eva and Tucker. We walked the remainer of the road together. At one point a raven fly overhead and cawed at us. Even Tucker looked up to watch the bird.

At the end of the walk, I was coming down the driveway and noticed a squirrel alongside me. He was happily munching on a mushroom cap. I think it is one that we wouldn't eat but obviously he was enjoying it. It was easy to watch him for a few minutes.

My office at home has large windows that look out over some iris and the sky. About 11:00 the phone rang. While talking, I often look out the window to see what is going on. My reward yesterday was a bald eagle flying by. The bird quickly was out of sight but it makes your heart jump for just a second.

That afternoon we were out getting more of the garden ready for winter. As is often the case, Tucker was with us. He will run around for 3-4 hours while we dig, pull weeds, and spread horse manure. It was hard not to watch Tucker and the squirrels and chipmunks play tag together. Of course, Tucker always lost.

Finally last night Bruce and I drove to Hungry Jack. We saw several deer along the way. It's the usual about now. But we did notice that the deer are starting to change from a reddish brown hide to their more grayish winter hide.

So my day was filled with lots of small encounters. Each one was no more than a couple minutes. These encounters constantly remind me that there is another natural world surrounding and intertwining with the lives we humans lead. Sometimes it's hard to remember that in the middle of a city.

Taking Our Dog Tucker into a New "Wilderness"

In our family Eva gets the first walk of the day with our dog Tucker. The morning walk takes Tucker on the fringe of the wilderness down our side road.

Usually the morning walk is 2 mile round trip hike. Upon returning to our office Tucker takes a nap until after lunch time. Then around noon, My wife or I take Tucker on a walk down the side road for a much shorter walk so he can stretch his legs for a couple of minutes. After his mid-day walk he takes another nap until the late afternoon. Eventually Eva tries to coax me away from the office for a late-afternoon walk with Tucker. We take him into the wilderness, off all the roads, and only on the hiking trails.

When you are walking in the wilderness it is easy to see first hand how Mother Nature is getting everyone ready for the upcoming winter. All of the leaves on the trees are in peak fall colors, the grouse were on the trail eating trying to fatten up, and we saw some geese overhead flying. Tucker loves this hike because it is continually changing. Recently we have been seeing a grouse or two on the hike. Tucker usually sees the birds, stops, stares them down, then takes off full speed trying to catch them. He doesn't bark, or growl, just runs full speed. The grouse always see him and easily escape to nearby branches. Once they are safe in a tree, Tucker returns to the trail and eagerly waits for you to throw the next stick. Tucker's life returns to his normal routine.

This past weekend we took Tucker into a different “Wilderness”. It was a wilderness he had never seen before. We took Tucker to the Twin Cities. This was his first time into a city of any size. We were participating as a vendor in DoggiePalooza at Hyde Park, in Saint Louis Park. When we are getting ready to go on vacation, Tucker gets upset every time he sees us packing our suitcase. This time Tucker was going to join us, but no matter how we tried to get him to relax he didn't understand he would be joining us, until we let him jump into the car before pulling out of the driveway. We left "Our Wilderness" around 6:00 PM and didn't get to "Your Wilderness" until midnight.

When we got to our hotel room, Tucker immediately sniffed the entire hotel room. After the once over he decided that the bed we brought for him was unacceptable. He slept on the couch in our hotel room.

We got up early Saturday morning drove to Hyde Park and set up our booth. Tucker had never seen this many people at once. This was a foreign "Wilderness" to him. There were tables being set up, booths were being decorated, people we walking everywhere with their dog in tow. Dogs in all shapes and sizes were everywhere. A big giant Irish Wolf Hound was followed by a tiny dog being carried in a lady's purse. Needless to say Tucker did not get any naps in and was totally exhausted when we loaded up our booth into the back of our car and started the drive North. Tucker only woke up once on the drive home, and that was when we stopped for gas. Being a "New Wilderness" can be totally exhausting.

Morning Walks

After almost two weeks of overcast and rainy days, this morning dawned with clear skies and sunshine. As I started started my morning hike, Eva and Tucker plus one of the guests and her dog joined me. Walking down the bright sun was in our eyes and it felt wonderful.

Of course, we paid for sunshine with a hard frost last night. The frost was do to happen anytime soon. Most of us who live here love the winter and the first frost is just a step along the way to winter. Anything left in the garden is truly done now.

It was fun to watch the two dogs play as we moved down the road. I bet they covered twice as much ground as we did. Every so often Tucker to stop and stare into the woods. You wonder what he is seeing or perhaps smelling. All the time the dogs are walking and playing, their tails are wagging back and forth. Living on the Trail is heaven for a dog.

It wasn't too bad for the three humans either. Fall colors are at their peak. Due to the frost the air was freeeze and clear. I suppose the English would say it was "bracing." There is a slight fall smell to the air that is the smell of decaying leaves. To me it is a very distinctive part of fall.

Coming home the sun warmed our backs. The two miles evaporated as we talked and walked and watched the dogs play. Tucker flushed a partridge on the side of the road. A Canadian jay flew overhead. In the distance a crow told us what he thought. The slight breeze in the trees provided the background music. Our field of vision periodically opened up with views of Gunflint Lake.

I hope there is a place to walk in the woods near your home. Walking brings you truly "into" the country. It is entirely different than driving because now you are a part of the surrounding forest.

Bruce and I have made several trips to Africa. One of our favorite places is the Serengeti in Tanzania. We have spent many days observing game in the endless plain. On our last visit we had a coffee break in the middle of the plain. It was the first time we had gotten out of our vehicle. Physically standing (rather than being in a car) gives you a different feel for the vastness of this area. I loved it.

The same is true in the woods. There must be something deep within our ancestry that recognizes and responds to having nature surround us. Think about it the next time you take a walk.

Closing the Garden

We haven't had a hard frost yet, but Bruce and I are working at closing up the garden. Last Sunday we spent about four hours picking tomatoes. Even the green ones will ripen inside and be better tasting than those we buy in January. Chef Barry had his staff busy chopping and freezing everything that was ripe. They will be greatly enjoyed this winter.

When you start to pick everything, it is amazing at how much there is. In addition to tomatoes, we picked zucchini, jalapeno peppers, chile peppers, green peppers and parsley. The peppers and zucchini went to the lodge. I dried the parsley and had a big bag of parsley flakes for Eva and for me. They actually smell like parsley and are green not brown.

It's been a week since we did this and already things are growing back. There are more jalapeno peppers to pcik. Bruce brought in another dozen zucchinis. As long as there is no frost, they will continue to grow.

On Saturday I dug out the potatoes. Part go to daughter Shawn, part to Eva and part to us. We still need to perfect our growing technique for them but it is getting better.

The carrots are still in the ground. I'll let them stay there for a few more weeks. When we need carrots, I go dig them up. Also the broccoli are still growing. They have been providing us with food for almost 3 months.

Of course, harvesting is not the biggest part of closing the garden. Now I need to clean out all the leftovers from beds. That debris goes in the compost pile. Then the perennials like strawberries, chives, asparagus and rhubarb need a last, good weeding. We will plant garlic in one bed this fall. It will be the first up next spring. Once everything is cleaned and weeded, Bruce will cover it all with a thin coat of horse manure. That can sit all winter and enrich our beds for next summer. With 17 horses, there is lots to go around.

Other parts of the yard need to get ready for winter too. I will pull out all the annual flowers and put them in the compost pile. The perennials will be cut back and perhaps transplanted to another location. Then horse manure goes on top of everything. In our regrowing woods, small trees will be covered to protect them from the deer. I tried spraying them last year but was not satisfied so we will go back to covering.

Afternoons are when I do most of this work. The morning is spent in the office. I have also been trying to walk a bit in the morning. Down to one of the mailboxes and back is 2 miles. In January Bruce I will be be taking a trip to Australia. Part of the trip is a six-day hike at Cradle Mountain in Tasmania. We have to carry about 15 pounds so I am practicing. This morning I put a 10-pound bag of sugar in my day pack. The hardest problem is to not find an excuse to skip the walk. Combined with working in the garden, the walk will (maybe) talk a pound or two off.

Mix in a few meetings and you know how our fall days pass. It is a quiet lifestyle but we enjoy it.

Fall Days and Animal Sightings

I went to town early this morning for a 9:00 meeting. Just driving down the Trail was wonderful. Some of the lakes were still steaming. The sun was just high enough to shine over everything. It was such a gorgeous fall day that even the morning sun in my eyes was welcome. On the way in I saw a partridge feeding on the shoulder and a red fox. The fox was thin but looked healthy and had a full, bushy tail.

Top honors for animals sightings has to go to the minnow trapper, Bruce. The first sighting this week was a pack of three wolves that just stood and looked at him. It has always been unusual to see any wolves during the summer. They are very elusive so this was a first even for Bruce. This year we have heard of more wolf sightings that ever before.

A couple days later Bruce came across a family of five beaver. Again just seeing one beaver is unusual. The whole family is great fun. Some were on shore chewing on branches while one splashed his tail when Bruce was spotted. The others didn't move. Just like we humans, the beaver are enjoying the warm fall sunshine.

Bruce has also been particularly adept at spotting partridge. The hunting season for these tasty birds opened last Saturday. We have a nice cache of them in the freezer. Three of the birds will provide dinner tonight. Lee and Eva are coming down and it is her first partridge dinner. Hopefully she will enjoy it.

In the Kerfoot family we have a traditional fall dinner that features partridge browned and baked with cream of mushroom soup. The side dishes include wild rice with mushrooms and onions plus baked acorn squash. Just like your family, shared meals have always been part of the fabric of our lives together. So don't call us around 6:00 p.m. tonight. We'll be too busy eating.

September is moving quickly into October. Make sure to spend some time in the woods this weekend. It clears your mind.

More Fun Things

Just a quick word about the Famine Lake fire before moving on to something more fun. On Saturday we woke up to overcast skies, cooler temperatures and higher humidity. There was some rain Saturday night. Sunday brought more rain and clearing skies that afternoon. The wind shifted to the northwest. Today we have cooler temperatures and overcast skies. In the early afternoon it started a gentle rain which has continued off and on. Also yesterday the Forest Service flew in several crews to deal with the fire. The upshot is that things are pretty well under control unless something really unexpectedly happens. So, make your plans to come visit us on the Trail.

Now let's spend a little time talking about the last of our canoe trip. As with any trip in the wilderness, we had lots of animal encounters and all of them were fun.

One of the most unexpected occurred at the base of one of our waterfalls. I looked just 25 feet ahead and saw what looked like a brown stick moving across the water. Bruce thought it might be a mink. When the animal got to shore and climbed out, we discovered it was a red squirrel. Neither of us had ever seen a red squirrel swimming.

Another object moving across the lake in front of our canoe caught our eyes one day. It was an otter. He quickly swam to shore and climbed up on a rock. There he sat eating a fish and watching us go by. If he hadn't had the fish, the otter might have let us come closer to him. Otters are known as curious animals.

One morning we were fixing breakfast when a bird started flying back and forth over us. He was really talking to us. It turned out to be a pileated woodpecker. He must have been really upset with us because he just kept on and on with his tirade.

Another day we came around the corner after a portage and encountered a beaver swimming right at us. The beaver was towing a poplar branch and didn't want to let go. He got to within 10 feet of us before slapping his tail and diving. Tom and Melissa were a little behind us. They got to see three other members of the family.

Bruce spotted a seagull in the sky one day with a fish in its mouth. The seagull dropped the fish over the rocks surprising us all. Suddenly we saw why. An osprey was taking after the seagull and the gull was flying as fast as possible to keep away from the larger bird. Then a bald eagle joined into the chase. Eventually the gull evaded both larger birds and flew away.

We saw lots of loons and mergansers on almost every lake. They must be starting to think about flying south. A blue heron gracefully rose from the shore one day. There were also several species of long-necked diving ducks that we never could get close enough to for identification. Our best guess was grebes going south.

Thanks to Bruce's skill, we also encountered ample fish for appetizers several nights and dinner one night. The dinner of fresh walleye and one bass disappeared. We all felt it was the best dinner of the trip. Bruce also caught several northern which were returned to the lake. One northern broke off the lure (no leader) and then a few minutes later was dumb enough to bite again. Bruce landed him this time and got back the lost lure.

There were also things that we didn't see and hoped to see. We saw no deer, bear or moose. We saw no mallards. The nuthatches and chickadees remained unseen and unheard. It wasn't until we got down to the end of Kawnipi that we started to see a few Canada Jays. I am sure that a lot of it has to do with the changing vegetation as we came into more stands of poplar and birch and ash rather than pines.

Today we have a wet, cold rain outside. My house seems infinitely cozier than sleeping in a tent but we will be out on the canoe trails again next summer. Maybe we'll meet you there.

For Your Information

Those of you in the Twin Cities (and perhaps elsewhere) may have seen that there was an evacuation on the Gunflint Trail today due to a forest fire. This is true, however, we anticipate that it will be very short lived. Here is the story:

Due to lightening last week, a forest fire was started at Famine Lake which is just north of Winchell Lake in the BWCAW. Up until yesterday it was not doing too much. Yesterday the afternoon the south wind came up and the fire started to run north. It came about 2 miles north. The south wind came up again this morning.

At about 1:00 p.m. today the decision was made by the local sheriff, Mark Falk, to have a voluntary evacuation. As a very conservative precautionary measure we decided to evacuate all our guests. However, Bruce, Lee, Eva, and I are staying home tonight. Also most of our staff decided to stay even though they had the option of leaving.

Tonight the winds have died down. The pilots of the USFS planes acting as fire spotters land at our dock. As a result we sometimes know what is going on before anyone else. Right now the fire is 4 1/2 miles away from the Gunflint Trail. Tomorrow our weather forecast is for cooler temperatures and possibly rain if not tomorrow, then Sunday. Everyone we have talked with in the USFS anticipates that this fire will die down dramatically tomorrow. Also we know that there are several swampy places in between us and it.

As it now stands, we think tomorrow Gunflint Lodge will be up and running as usual. One of our groups who left (40 women from Eau Claire, WI) have aleady called us to say that they will be back tomorrow night. We still have lots of fall color and Indian summer weather to offer guests coming our way.

The Third Day

On every trip there seems to be one day that does not go quite as well as you hoped. Day #3 was our day for this to happen. The day started out nicely. We portaged from Dorie Lake into Twin Lakes via the 144 rod Deux Riveries Portage. A short paddle across Twin Lakes brought us to the Deux Rivieres which is shown as a small winding river of about 2-3 miles on our map.

Only a few minutes into the river we came to a beaver dam across the entire river. We were canoeing downstream at this time and the dam was easy to cross. In very short order we came to a second beaver dam. After crossing that dam, the river was shallower that we would have liked. The third dam was not far from the two previous ones. At the bottom of this dam, the river was only 2-3 inches deep. We had no real idea of how far the river continued before reaching Sturgeon Lake.

Melissa and I were sent to walk in the tall grasses along the side of the river. Tom and Bruce had to get the canoes down. Alongside the trickle of water was wet, muddy muck. The men tried sitting in their canoe and using their paddles as poles to push along but it was exhausting work. Finally they took their boots off, rolled up their pant legs, got out of the canoe and dragged the canoes forward. Each step left them between ankle and knee deep in wet mud. This last for at least a mile and probably more. By the time the canoes were on Sturgeon, both guys were beat.

Naturally, we encountered a strong head wind on Sturgeon Lake. It was our first really strong wind and not much fun especially after dealing with the mud and low water in the Deux Rivieres. In high winds like this Bruce prefers to paddle close to shore where there is a little protection.

As we paddled along, a dead tree stuck out from shore over the lake. I went around it with no trouble. Just as the middle of our canoe passed the tree, a strong gust of wind drove the entire canoe into shore. The tree overturned the canoe and put both Bruce and I in the water before we even knew what was going on. It all happened very fast.

For years we have both been telling people what to do if you dump in the lake. All of this repetition kicked into action. All four of us (Tom and Melissa from their upright canoe plus Bruce and I) started counting heads. Once there were two on the surface, Bruce and I grabbed onto our canoe. Luckily we were only 15 feet from shore. With Tom and Melissa's help, we were able to retrieve all our gear except one cup. Both of us were soaked but the temperature was warm. We paddled on.

We stopped for the night at a nearby campsite. Slowly all our gear was taken out of the pack to dry. It was surprising how little of it was wet. So everything got set up or put on the line to dry. Everyone was unhurt and no gear was lost. The sun was shining and things were drying.

Just as most stuff was dry, we noticed black clouds coming in. Rain had not been on the schedule for today on top of everything else! But, of course, there was nothing we could do about it. Tom and Bruce rigged a tarp up over our campfire and eating area. As thunder and lightening crashed around us, we stood eating our dinner under the tarp.

That night both Bruce and I had damp corners to our sleeping bags. Since the temperature stayed warm, we were able to ignore the wetness. Besides, we were both so tired from the activities of the day that sleep was no problem.

We're Back!

Yesterday the four intrepid explorers returned from our canoe trip in the Quetico. It was a wonderful trip. There is so much to tell about it that I have decided to spread it out over three blogs. Today I will give you the general route of the trip and overall impressions. Tomorrow will be the "Day From Hell." Then I'll finish with some fun encounters with animals.

Bruce and I along with Tom Shank and Melissa Anderson left the Trail on the 5th at about 6:30. By 10:15 we were on the north side of the Quetico Provincial Park at the Nym Lake Entry Point. The weather was beautiful with very little wind. We paddled for about an hour before coming to the portage into Batchewaung Lake. This 165 rods portage would be our longest. Naturally it was also when we had every bite of food for the entire trip on our backs. Each of us had to make 2 trips. I didn't quite die but it certainly brought home the fact that I am a bit out of shape. We camped that night in Batchewaung Bay.

Day 2 took us down Pickerel Lake into Pine Portage Bay and a 91 rod portage into Dorie Lake where we camped for the night. I especially remember this camp site because of a log that was perfectly placed to act as a back rest when I sat on the ground. It was almost like sitting in a chair.

Day 3 went from Dorie Lake into Twin Lakes and then down the Deuz Riviers to Sturgeon Lake. You will hear a lot more about this day tomorrow.

Day 4 we canoed into Russell Lake past Chatterton Falls and portaged into Chatterton Lake. The falls on this trip were wonderful even with low waters. It's hard to believe that much of the water from the northern part of the Trail drains toward Hudson Bay through the falls we would see. This also meant that from this point on, every portage was going uphill. Thankfully the food supply was going down. We paddled up Chatterton Lake to Split Rock Falls and stayed at a wonderful campsite where the tent spots were covered with nice soft moss. My body loved it.

Day 5 started out with the 72 rod portage from our campsite into Keats Lake. Next was "Have A Smoke Portage" into Shelley Lake. Then 3 more portages into Kawnipi Lake. There was virtually no wind so we paddled down Kawnipi to the entrance to McKenzie Bay. We were so lucky to make that day without wind in our faces.

On Day 6 we paddled to Kennebus Falls and entered the Falls Chain. First was a 30 rod portage into Kenny Lake, then a 95 rod portage around Canyon Falls , then 111 rods around Koko Falls and finally a 36 rod portage into the lake (unamed) just east of Wet Lake. Just getting to our campsite was an accomplishment that day.

On Day 7 we took the last three portages in the Falls Chain. They were all pretty short because the low water enabled us to get up close to each falls but rocks made them difficult to cross. We ended up in Saganagons and took Dead Man's Portage and found a campsite near the Silver Falls Portage.

Day 8 found us doing the Silver Falls Portage which was not nearly as bad as I had expected. Of course, our food was down to almost nothing and even I had toughened up a bit. Also the fact that this was our last portage of the trip gave us all a little extra energy. We camped that night on the mainland just south of the Cache Bay Ranger Station. There was no wind on Cache Bay was we paddled across it. Bruce and I spent a very pleasant hour or so visiting with Janice, the Quetico Park Ranger at Cache Bay. She has been there for 22 years and we all knew lots of stories about the area.

Day 9 was our last day and we had planned about 4-5 hours to paddled in across Saganaga Lake to the landing. Our lucky held. There was no wind and we made the trip in 2 hours.

Let me tell you that September is a wonderful time to be in the woods. We saw parties every day but not lots of people. The north side of the Park is primarily a conifer forest. By the time we hit the fire burns along the southern edge of Kawnipi, poplar, ash and birch trees were much more abundant. The colors were great.

The weather was warm for September. We went swimming about half the days. We had ice on the bottoms of our canoes only 1 morning. Our sleeping bags were warm and we were never cold at night.

Bruce was a breakfast and dinner cook and we ate very well. The favorite meal was fresh fried walleye (caught that day), cheddar broccoli rice and hot apple cobbler. Melissa brought lunches and we had rye crisp with sausage and Asiago cheese or peanut butter and jelly. Dessert for lunch was fruit cups, puddings, candy bars and gorp.

Melissa was also the entertainment chairman. She brought along Yahtze dice and score cards. The entire game fit into a small ziplock bag. We played 6 nights of a game each. It was an easy fun way to end the day. I've got to say that we laughed over each game and we laughed throughout each day.

Tomorrow I will give you a little bit more on the trip.

Sue Is Still On Her Canoe Trip

Sue is still on her canoe trip so I have volunteered to fill in for her so you regulars of her blog know what is happening at the Gunflint Lodge. My name is Peter, and along with my wife Jeannette, have been a guest at the Lodge, since Sempterber 5th. We are from California so this is a big change of scenery for us. I was last in the Boundary Waters 18 years ago and have been trying to get Jeannette to join me on another trip for many years. This year she agreed and I chose the Rustic & Plush Combo package at the Lodge as the best way to acclimate her.

It allowed us to spend two days in the area doing day trips, so we could practice our paddling and portaging. Then we could come back to the Lodge at night for a good meal and to sleep in a nice cabin. Since we are both over 60 we wanted confidence before heading out for a three day canoe trip in the Quetico. After two days we felt prepared and left on Friday with our guide, Brian Gallagher. The weather Friday morning was cold, windy and overcast. We were concened that a storm was on the way, but fortunately it blew over by the afternoon. We set up a base camp in Cache Bay in mid afternoon just as the sky was turning blue and the sun coming out. Since then the weather has been gorgeous. Plus, we have probably only seen two mosquitos.

Our time in the Quetico was absolutely fabulous. We are not interested in fishing so spent our time exploring lakes where we hoped moose would be hanging out. We found some magnificient no name lakes that the Ranger said had probably not been visited in the last two years. From the way the portages looked she was probably right. Gliding around these lakes is something that you need to experience because words don't do them justice. They were great areas for Moose, but even though we were quiet and searched in the right spots we didn't get the thrill of seeing them. But we sure tried.

Having our guide Brian along made the trip so much more enjoyable. He has been a guide for 20 years so he knows the area very well. He took a solo canoe so he didn't help us with the paddling, but he wanted to do the cooking, clean the dishes and carry the canoe on portages. So while the trip was hard work, he gave us a chance to relax and save some of our energy. Plus, he gave us a lot of information about the area.

We came back to the Lodge yesterday and today took another day search near Little Iron Lake, an area that is known for Moose. It was beautiful and we didn't see another canoe, nor did we see a Moose. However, just being there was a joy and besides not seeing a Moose gives us an excuse to come back.

I also want to say what a great time we have had hanging around the Lodge. The employees can't do enough for you and go out of their way to make you feel comfortable. The food is excellent and there is plenty of variety.

So needless to say we have enjoyed our visit to the Gunflint Lodge. In fact Jeannette is now talking about coming back next year. She loves canoeing and being in the wilderness.

I wasn't asked to write this blog, and we are not getting anyting for it, but I just wanted to share my experience with others who may be thinking of taking the same type of vacation. If anyone has questions or wants to share their experiences at the Gunflint Lodge with us feel free to send us an e-mail message to pfechh@aol.com. We may even see you here next year.