Winter Is Coming

We knew it was going to happen sometime soon. Even so, it was a bit of a shock to wake up to a dusting of snow on Monday morning. Snow at this time of year doesn’t last but it is a reminder of things to come. Then on Wednesday the temperature was down to 20 degrees. I had to go to town. All the ponds along the way were iced over. Even Little Iron Lake had a skim of ice on it. When I can home in the mid-afternoon, there was still ice on the ponds and Little Iron. This morning was a different story. The temperature was 38. It was sunny and even the wind felt warm. It appears that we are going to have several warm days over the weekend.

Fall chores continue to move along. Here is a picture of Jason moving the main dock over on Wednesday morning.

The entire dock was covered with frost and looked quite white. This job is always done on a glass calm lake. Jason said that it is just a slow ride over.

Another fall chore is to protect our greenery from the winter feeding habits of deer. As many of you know, we have lots of deer coming in for corn during the winter months. Sometimes we can have upwards of 40 deer in the front yard. They also like to browse on the bushes and trees that we have planted. So we try to cover them with burlap or chicken wire each season. Last year the Tamarack down by the creek in front of Cabin #3 took a beating. So this year Ronnie Smith, our head gardener, was taking no chances. Here is a picture of what she did.

That is chicken wire five feet up the trees. In case you are wondering whythe pine tree Tamarack is yellow, here is the answer. Tamarack are the only pines to turn color and lose their needles every year.

Bruce and I have gotten out a couple of times for partridge hunting. Last Friday was pretty good and we got three birds. (We ate one on Sunday with wild rice and acorn squash.)Today was so wonderful that we went out. I even brought my camera to take a picture of our results. That must have put a hex on our efforts. We got nothing more than a nice ride which isn’t all bad.

Have you ever wondered where the Gunflint rocks in the main lodge fireplace came from? They are not found anywhere else around here. Paul Weiblen from the University of Minnesota Department of Geology and Geophysics recently sent me an explanation of the rocks. It is an amazing story that is hard to believe.

About 2 billion years ago, a meteorite 10 miles in diameter hit the earth near what is Sudbury, Ontario. That’s about 500 miles east of us. It formed a crater more than 150 miles wide. In the process a large cloud of ash, rock fragments, gases and molten rock (known together as ejecta) rose into the atmosphere and spread around the globe.

Our share of the ejecta got sandwiched in between the Gunflint Iron Formation and the slate of the Rove Foundation. The next step was when some magma (part of the Logan Intrusion) seeped into the rocks. The true ejecta of our layer contains accretionary lapilli. These are small concentric rings that were formed by repeated layers of ash and melted rock droplets.

Another interesting part of this was the speed with which scientists theorize this event reached Gunflint Lake from Sudbury. The fireball would have been here in 13 seconds. It would have been hot enough to ignite trees and cause third degree burns. In another 2-3 minutes earthquakes strong enough to collapse buildings would happen on Gunflint. In another 5-10 minutes the airborne ejecta would have covered Gunflint Lake with a layer 1-3 meters thick. After about 40 additional minutes an air blast with wind speeds up to 1,400 mph would reach Gunflint. In an additional 1-2 hours the area would experience a huge tsunami.

Since I have clearly plagiarized these last three paragraphs from the article, here is a website that will give you more information: www.unb.ca/passc/ImpactDatabase. It is to a website that describes 174 meteorite impacts world-wide. This one is listed in North America and named Sudbury.

Next time you are in the lodge, take a good look at the main fireplace and think about where it came from.

Fall Projects

It is a beautiful fall day today. We have a south wind and the temperature is probably in the high fifties. I never look at a thermometer so that is a guess on my part. All of us are starting to get the itch to start fall projects. Dave Schudy is out today cutting up firewood. He said the phone is not too busy and he just wanted to be outside. Steve Gibson from the dock is also at the woodpile. He is splitting the firewood. Here is a picture of the two of them.

Dave is in the back with the chain saw. Steve is at the splitter. The red truck is backed in close so Steve can just throw the split wood into the truck for delivery to cabins.
I saw them up in the outfitters parking lot when I took this picture.

It is of a 24’ Voyageur canoe that we just bought for next summer. The canoe can hold about 10 people. It came with paddles and the little shed you see. Next spring we will move the whole thing down closer to the dock. I have never ridden in one of these canoes so that is something to look forward to.

On Tuesday the horses left for the winter. Mandy and Jacob have been busy cleaning everything up for winter storage. Yesterday I found them in the outfitters. Every saddle is washed, oiled with Neatsfoot Oil, and stored in a plastic bag. Today they are working on the saddle blankets. They both are people who have a place for everything and everything in its place. During the winter Mandy will be a server in the dining room and Jacob will help with outside chores and in the kitchen.

Jason Merrill, our head of maintenance, has lots of projects too. Today he moved the smaller dock across the lake. We store the entire dock in one piece back in a bay where the wind can’t get to it and the ice just melts out around it in the spring. Here is a picture of Jason pushing the dock across.

We push the docks just like you would a barge. The first time we tried to pull them and almost pulled the entire dock apart. After this weekend, Jason will move the main dock over too. That dock is so large that it is only moved on a day when there is no wind and the water is like glass.

The birds seem to be getting ready for winter too. This last week we have seen the snow buntings migrating through for the first time. The hummingbirds are gone. The loons are pretty much gone too. You still see an occasional one but they aren’t calling on the lake any more.

We are even seeing a few more partridge. If Bruce and I could get out hunting, we might even have a partridge dinner. As with most families we have a favorite fall dinner with the partridge. It starts with slow roasting the birds in the oven with cream of mushroom soup covering them. I wonder how we ever cooked before Campbell’s came up with cream of mushroom soup. Then we must to have wild rice with mushrooms and onions. The final addition is acorn squash baked in the oven with a little butter and brown sugar added at the end. I am ready to start eating now.

Bruce and I were in town last night for a political meeting. Not my favorite but we have to participate, I guess. At any rate we drove home after dark. We saw three fox and four skunks. Luckily everything was well off the road. I hate to come across dead skunks because the whole road stinks. The skunks should be about ready to hibernate soon.

As soon as I finish with the blog I am going out to harvest carrots and potatoes. Those two are about all that is left in the garden. We will be using some of them for the wine weekend dinner on Saturday night. I know I will be filthy after the harvest. It seems the only way to get potatoes is to get on your hands and knees and dig them out. Carrots are a little easier but not much. I will bring them down to the lodge along with the acorn squash, butternut squash and onions for the dinner. Whatever is not used Bruce and I will eat over the winter.

So by the end of the day, all of us will have made a good start on fall projects.

Sheryl and Bonnie's Trip, Part 1

Daughter Shawn and I spent last weekend in Minneapolis. We exhibited at a bridal show in the convention center. It is a great way to make contact with people looking for a honeymoon location or a wedding spot. Here is a picture of our booth there.

We talked out heads off and hope to get a few folks to spend some time with us next year. There were even a few parents who were looking for a place to get away after the wedding.

This weekend Bruce is off to New York taking Grandson Tanner to visit colleges. They will visit 4 different schools over the weekend. As of last night (Friday), two were good and one was a dud. The dud looked good on line so I guess that is why you try to visit the actual school. It will be fun to see where he ends up next year.

One night we went down to town for dinner with friends who own one of the bigger resorts on the North Shore. It was interesting to note that they had been so short of help this fall that the wife and all managers were making beds on some days. Here I thought that just happened at Gunflint!

We also made an unexpected purchase. Sometimes things just appear that you have wanted but never found at a good price. We bought a 24-foot voyageur canoe for use in the naturalist program. I think it will be great fun for groups to take out on the lake.

The rest of this blog is devoted to the first installment of Bonnie and Sheryl’s trip. This starts on the first day of their trip and I am just going to let Sheryl tell the story:

Whoa! What the heck is that up ahead? Well, it looks a little like white caps. Where did that wind come from all of a sudden? Why is the wind coming from the west and the south at the same time. No singing the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, it’s too early in the trip. Okay, let’s pull over and look at how we’re going to get across this crazy mess. Realize now that we are traveling north to south across a very wide part of Pickerel Lake. If you’ve been on Gunflint Lake on a windy day you’ll understand, and know this was way worse (or better if you’re the whitecap!) Pickerel Lake is 17 miles long from east to west, the wind is from the south and the west and we’re trying to head south. The map shows a small island that possibly a feather could hide behind, that’s a couple hundred yards, then a slightly larger island called Lookout Island, then two islands that look like mismatched earlobes. Later I would think this was my brain that had finally separated! We make it to each of these islands, paddling hard, sometimes on the same side of the canoe which is not normally recommended, and finally get in a somewhat sheltered area between these two lobes since the map DISTINCTLY shows navigable water between them. Guess what…nice white sandy beach, some old moose poop and then a big swamp. This is the first map error we make notes about. So we paddle back out into the crazy lake and make our way around this island, definitely do NOT want to camp yet, its only noon! We make our way toward a campsite and notice some guys fishing, they’re in Canadian canoes (no licenses displayed), and paddle on toward the site. There are two canoes, two more guys, looks like they’re packing up camp. Just as we round the bend we notice lots of bare skin on two more guys!!! I will admit, it was plenty warm to be sunbathing and I sure hope they used sunscreen on the more tender areas they had exposed. Polarized sunglasses must not work on naked men, I checked with and without the glasses on and there was no difference. We kept on going, Bonnie lost her first hat to the wind and it sunk immediately. It was her favorite hat! We finally made it to a narrow spit of land where there was some current pushing us back the way we came. There was also a campsite so we decided to pull over and wait out the wind. It was 1:04 pm and we really wanted to be off this lake. Our map showed only about 2 more miles to our first portage to Bisk Lake and we were definitely getting there for sure! You know how it is when the adrenaline is pumping and you just want to keep moving? We ate lunch, walked around the campsite, looked at the pretty rocks in the water, marveled at the white caps pounding onto shore, tried napping, studied the maps both upside down and right side up, walked barefoot in the sand, chased some squirrels…It’s about 2:00 now and I’m getting antsy. Bonnie can somehow manage to nap. While I’m up by the fire grate chasing squirrels, I notice through the trees some canoes coming our way. We’re prepared to give up the site since we have no intention of staying here tonight. As the canoes approach I recognize the insignia on the boat, and I recognize the paddlers as the same guys from the last campsite. Wouldn’t you know it, they’re still naked! These guys rented their canoes from an Ely store that sells outdoor gear, apparel, rents canoes, and is located on a corner on Main Street. I won’t mention the name in case they don’t allow naked canoeing in their rental boats. I hid in the trees, but managed to take a few photos for posterity (no pun intended). Finally at 2:45 we decide to get moving, sink or swim is our motto!

Here is the picture that Sheryl took.

I am not sure if it will be censored or not. Next week I will give you another installment from their trip.

Fall Flies

Fall weeks seem to speed by. Our cabins have been filled with guests enjoying the fall colors and looking for moose. This week has been particularly successful on both fronts.

It appears that this weekend will be the peak of the fall color. Here are a couple of pictures I snapped right on the lodge grounds. This first one is of the maple tree right next to the naturalist’s board across from the lodge entrance.

During the summer months it is over shadowed by the big spruce but this is the time of year when the maple really comes alive. We planted this tree when Robert was 4 years old and Lee was 2 years old. That makes them 31 years old.

The second picture is of the Euonymus bush by Cabin #6.

For obvious reasons, the common name of this shrub is Burning Bush. Again it is rather unremarkable all summer long. When the leaves change, it is transformed into spectacular color. Our neighbor, Fred Smith, told me about this bush and I’m glad that I listened.

Up and down the Trail every view is filled with the varying shades of red and yellow leaves. Yesterday we had a really strong northwest wind. There were lots of white caps at the dock. I expected to see lots of colored leaves being blown off the trees. But surprisingly, there were very few leaves in the air. The leaves must just not have reached that magic point where they release from the branches.

This morning we had calm winds but it was still overcast. The lack of wind was a real blessing as several parties were scheduled for an airplane ride to spot moose. Rides in small planes are not fun with lots of wind so it was good that the wind cooperated. Unfortunately, the moose did not cooperate for the morning flights. The last two afternoon flights were for two grandparents who had brought their two grandchildren up for the Moose Madness package. They saw seven moose. The 10-year old granddaughter informed me at dinner that she spotted one of the moose herself. It was fun to hear her tell the story.

One of our parties in the bistro tonight was a property owner on Poplar Lake and her siblings. I was asked by one of them to say hello to Dr. Chuck McCarthy. Apparently Dr. Chuck came up here 60 years ago and worked for Bruce’s mother, Justine, when he was 15 years old. He was a city boy and learned about the northwoods from her. One of his stories is about jacking a cabin up to level it. In those days the foundations on many of our cabins heaved as the moisture in the soil changed. Someone would have to periodically jack the cabin up or down to level it again. Mom instructed this young man to put a marble in the middle of the floor. The moving marble would tell them which corner to jack up. When the marble stopped moving, the cabin was level. Bruce just confirmed that this is what his mother used to do and that it was quite effective.

The animals in the forest continue to re-appear as the number of people on the Trail diminishes. Several guests have spotted otter off the dock. Bruce and I saw an 8-point buck in our driveway one night last week. Some guests went looking for moose this morning. They didn’t see any moose but they did see a bear and a red fox. A bald eagle swooped past my bedroom window two mornings ago. The pair of coots is still hanging around with the mallards. None of these spotting are any big deal but they continually remind us of the birds and animals who share the forest with us. They also remind me of how lucky I am to live here.

The Picture Blog

This is the picture blog. I had my camera handy plus others contributed some pictures.

It has been a really busy week which I why I am late in writing. Bruce and I spent Wednesday in Duluth running errands. While we were gone, one of our repeat groups of ladies from Wisconsin checked in. I don’t even want to count how many years Always An Adventure has been with us. Here is a picture of this year’s group.

Starting on Thursday, John Silliman had planned a full schedule of activities for the group. Even Bruce and I got to take them out a few times. They went fishing, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, wolf calling, moose calling, horseback riding, massaging, and more things than I can remember. Of course, we always left time for meals. One of the ladies was out with Dennis Todd fishing. Here is a picture of her catch, a nice 30” walleye, which was returned to the lake.

Thursday night also gave us our first frost but not too hard a frost. So Friday afternoon, Bruce and I spent an hour getting in some vegetables from the garden that we didn’t want to freeze. Here is Bruce with the butternut squash and the spaghetti squash.

I think there are a couple zucchinis in there too. He also rooted around the overgrown pumpkin patch. I thought we had a couple dozen but he found about 50! Finally we spent some time gathering green tomatoes. They will ripen quite nicely in the garage.

It was a good thing we spent the time harvesting. Here is what we woke up to Saturday morning.

The thermometer by my kitchen read 28 degrees. We were glad that everything was safely inside. All that is left to bring in are the carrots and potatoes. There appears to be a bumper crop of both of them.

Jenny Hughes, who does our massages, had an interesting experience this week. Jenny has been spending some of her time on a hunting stand trying to shoot a bear. She hasn’t had much success with the bear. However, she has done better with the moose. The other day a big bull moose came up to stand right beneath her stand. Apparently Jenny was quiet and still enough that he didn’t realize she was there. Now Jenny is not going to shoot the moose but she still has to balance a rifle in one hand and her camera in the other hand without alerting the moose below. Here is one of her pictures from the moose meeting.

That is Jenny’s leg in the picture. At the last report yesterday, the bear have still remained quite elusive.

Sheryl and Bonnie have been busy with housekeeping this week. They still promise me stories and pictures from their canoe trip.

Before starting in on the week’s happenings, I need to say hello to Annette Cozzi. Annette is the mother of Annie who works on the front desk. Annie says her mother really enjoys the blog so, “Hello, Annette. We are having a beautiful fall day today and wish you we here.”

One of the great things about running a resort is that you get to share special moments with your guests. This is a picture of Dave and Donnie Harvey who celebrated their 54th wedding anniversary with us.

Bruce and I have known them every since their sons worked for us about 25 years ago. We took a trip hiking in Nepal with them in about 1988. Since then we have gone to Bali, Tanzania, and Turkey with them. Of course, there have also been many trips up to Gunflint. They always come to fish and spent three days out with Dennis Todd. Their picture has appeared in several of our brochures with impressive strings of fish. I think they limited out on everything during this trip. At any rate there were two baskets of fish fillets to go back to Indiana. Take a minute and join us as we celebrate the marriage of two wonderful people.

It is getting to the end of the season for our birds and ducks that fly south. The hummingbirds are gone from my feeder and everyone else’s. The feeders will be drained, washed and stored for next summer.

I talked with some guests who had an interesting experience with loons on Tucker Lake. Tucker is very shallow in some places. These folks were paddling through a shallow area that was in bright sun. They looked down and could see the loons swimming underwater. It was an adult and a youngster. The adult would catch a fish and give it to the youngster. It might have been a fishing lesson. At any rate our paddlers watched the underwater activities for over an hour. The wife is especially enamored with loons so it was really exciting for her.

So now we have a picture of some fat old lady (me) feeding the ducks.

A couple weeks ago I told you how the mallards were just starving as they prepared for the long flight south. After lunch Bruce and I went down to the dock to get a picture of the mallards eating out of his hand. It didn’t work that way and I became the model. Anytime we walk down, the ducks are right there hoping for a handout. They all march up ready to eat out of your hand.

Kind of hanging on the edge of the mallards were four ducks I didn’t recognize. They were smaller and gray with white beaks. A few minutes with the front desk bird book helped identify them as immature American Coots. Even if they had been mature, I would not have known them. It is the first time we have seen them on the dock.

Yesterday there was a single merganser hanging out with the mallards. Usually we see flocks of 10-15 mergansers at this time of year. They have a very distinctive way of bobbing through the water and all diving together. Who knows why this one was alone.

Even as we think about all the birds and ducks flying south, many of them stay with us all winter long. One of my favorite is the Gray Jay. We used to call them Canada Jays but I guess the politically correct name had been changed to Gray Jay. They are also known as Whiskey Jacks and Camp Robbers. I recently read an article about them and found out some interesting facts. The Gray Jays mate for life and build their nests very early in the spring. The eggs hatch early and the young can survive temperatures down to zero and even a snowfall. We think of the birds as voracious eaters but actually they are getting food to store in caches all over the woods. It must really take a lot of food to keep these (or any other) bird alive during our winters.

Next week I am planning on including a few pictures from Sheryl and Bonnie’s canoe trip. They had a great time and are just bursting with stories to tell.

Fall Activities

Like all weeks, this one has been busy. Over the weekend, we hosted BOW (Becoming an Outdoor Woman). Between students and instructors there were about 90 people. This picture shows a fishing seminar held on the patio of the lodge.

The classes are divided between one third fishing, one third hunting and one third other outdoor recreations. Of course, everything was topped off with some wonderful meals from our kitchen. With any group, we always seem to go through lots of food.

I think part of the reason people are hungry is due to the fall weather. It is just a little bit cooler and we are starting to eat some fall foods. One of the entrees for this group was pot roast. We also roasted some vegetables one night. Wild rice added to the fall feeling.

The views outside are definitely starting to look like fall. Our maples are turning red. The poplar and birch are just giving a hint of the yellows to come. I think our peak of fall color should be in 10-14 days. How long it lasts really depends on the winds. If we have some calm weather, the leaves stay on the trees for a long time. Of course, the day eventually comes when we have a good strong wind. The leaves are in the air constantly. Then you can walk through the woods and kick the small piles of fallen leaves. I remember doing that as a child and still love to do it.

There has not been a frost around here yet. We had a little up on top of the hill but my basil survived. I am hoping to get out and harvest the basil today. I pull the plants and cut off every single leaf for pesto. The pesto freezes really well. A little pasta, some grilled chicken, parmesan cheese and walnuts combined with the pesto makes a wonderful winter meal. Only problem is that we tend to eat too much.

It is also time to harvest other produce from the garden. The acorn, butternut and spaghetti squash are ready. Pumpkins are just about there too. It is time to bring in the parsley plants and dry them for winter’s use. Carrots, onions and potatoes will hold for a bit longer. This has not been a good year for tomatoes. The yellow tomatoes are doing the best. Cherry tomatoes have just started to ripen in numbers. Only one red tomato has come out of the garden yet. It was just too cool during most of the summer.

The full moon is just past its peak. What a beautiful harvest moon it has been. I watched the huge yellow globe come up last night about 8:30. Along with the harvest moon, our days are getting shorter. The days get about three minutes shorter every 24 hours. One it gets a little colder, we will start another fall and winter occurrence – fires in the fireplace. One of the best parts of living in an area with distinct seasons is that each season brings you special treats to enjoy.

Last night was one of those special treats. Bruce and I went down the lake to Campers’ Island with a bunch of neighbors. There we had the last fish fry for the season. Our plates were loaded with fried potatoes, baked beans, fried walleye, salad, corn bread, watermelon, and cookies. I am trying to attach a very short video of the event to this blog. It's not quite center correctly but that will come next.

The best part of the video is that you can hear the fire crackling and the fish frying. I am sorry that you can’t smell the fish and the fire. Everyone went home just groaning from overeating.

I am still “in training” on the front desk. Yesterday I learned how to enter inquiries into the computer system. I still have not totally mastered the art of taking reservations, checking people out, or checking people in. We had five checkouts today that I was going to learn on. When every one of them was checking out, I was on the phone, selling something in the store or talking with other guests. At least I can remember my passwords now. By next summer I might be totally conversant in the front desk computer. Then it will be time to move into the dining room and bar. Richard, our head bartender, is waiting to teach me how to tend bar! It is going to be very interesting.

Yesterday I was able to do one activity that hasn’t changed. We needed someone to take people on a pontoon boat ride. Ten guests and I took off at 2:00. I still knew how to drive the boat. Talking and telling stories is something I have never forgotten to do so the 1 ½ hours passed quickly. At least no one went to sleep. The dock boy was called away so I had to dock the boat myself. Hadn’t forgotten how to do that either.

It really was a wonderful day to be out on the lake. We went across to the north shore to look at where the fire burned in May, 2007. It is amazing to see how much growth has already occurred. Now there will not be giant red pines for a number of years but there is a start. Bruce remembers watching this same shore line grow when he was a boy. A fire swept through in 1936 just two years before he was born. He remembers that it looked kind of “scraggly” for several years. That is what we will have too. By the time I came here in 1964, the north shore was a fully grown forest. It never entered my mind that the forest has burned just 28 years earlier.

I’ll keep you up-to-date on the progress of fall color. It is my favorite time of year.

Rainy Days

It is a rainy day today. We even have a little thunder and lightening. Some fishermen stopped in this morning to buy Canadian licenses. I asked if they had good rain gear since they were going out on Saganaga for the day. Not only did they have their rain gear but they had forgotten their sunglasses. Sounded like they were subconsciously prepared for today.

Last weekend was fun. We had a wedding for 80 people here. I took a quick picture of the beginning of the ceremony.

The bride was paddled into the dock. In this picture she is just about ready to be helped out of the canoe. I held my breath but there were lots of people to help her. Getting out of a canoe against a dock can be a little tricky especially if you are wearing a wedding dress. The ceremony only had a little rain on it and then everyone went up to the conference center for the reception and dinner with dancing after.

Now that there is not quite a much activity around the dock area, we are starting to get the mallards hanging around all the time. It is quite a large flock and they are hungry! They are not the only hungry birds around. The flock has caught the attention of a bald eagle. He likes to sit on top of one of the cedar trees just to the east of the sand beach. The mallards are diving into the water and plainly uncomfortable while the eagle is around. We haven’t seen him take a duck yet. I am trying to keep my camera in my pocket to get a picture. The other day I ran down to the house to get my camera but the eagle was gone when I got back.

Other animals are starting to make their presence known. Don has seen both bears and a wolf walking down from his apartment (on the back hills) in the morning. He said that the wolf was very large and healthy looking. We won’t be seeing any deer around until after the hunting season and after the lake freezes. I saw a fox the other day but it wasn’t Gimpy. I keep watching for him. The hummingbirds are going wild drinking all my sugar water. They must be storing up for the long flight south. All the flowers in the yard and the feeders really attract these little beauties.

Speaking for flowers, now is the time when we plan and order next summer’s flowers. Ronnie Smith (our head gardener) and I met today to review the order.

It always takes a long time because we both love to talk about what we are going to do in the various beds around the lodge. In addition to ordering flowers for us, we also order flowers for any of the neighbors who are interested. One of my favorite days is just before Memorial Day when the truck brings in our order. Several neighbors help sort it out and everyone picks their stuff up that day. It is just beautiful to see the order come in.

Don, Bruce and I also entertained a visitor from our major food supplier, Upper Lakes Foods. Jay likes to keep us current with all the new offerings. As usual he had some interesting items. I ate too much especially since we went out to dinner afterward!

This weekend will be busy. We have a group of 90 women here. They are participating in a program called BOW or Becoming an Outdoor Woman. It is put on the state DNR. The women take classes on various subjects such as fishing, cooking fish, orienteering, etc. They are usually a great bunch of instructors and students. At any rate we will be busy housing and feeding everyone. I will try to remember to take a picture or two.

Have a good weekend yourself.

The Days Go By

Time always seems to get away from me before I get the next blog written. So here it’s over a week and I am just getting around to the next installment.

Labor Day weekend was beautiful but a little too hot and humid for me. When the weather gets like this, Bruce and I enjoy sitting on the porch with iced tea in the afternoon. In fact, here he is.

Our guests, on the other hand, were just loving it. The many of them were eating outside on the patio. We all know that these beautiful, warm days will not be with us much more. Especially in the evening hours, people just seemed to luxuriate on the patio before, during and after dinner.

Bruce wants me to put a commercial in this time and here it goes. For the past year we have been developing a Planned Unit Development (PUD) comprised of the cabins on the west side of the lodge. You can’t imagine all the hoops that are jumped through for this. At any rate we have finally completed all the legal requirements and fulfilled all the regulations.

Starting now we are offering 1/5th shares in several of our cabins. You buy it for life and pay a monthly maintenance/taxes/insurance fee. A 1/5’s share means that you get to use your home every fifth week throughout the year. We have a schedule of exactly which weeks this means for several years out. Two weeks each year are set aside for deep cleaning. If you are not using your week, the cabin goes into our regular rental pool with you getting a share of the cabin rental.

As you can imagine, there are lots of details to this project and lots of questions. Bruce, as a newly licensed realtor, is handling it all. You can e-mail him at bruce@gunflint.com. He is available by phone during the day at 218-388-2294 and at night at 218-388-0876.

Meanwhile, I am learning to work the front desk again. Last Saturday I learned to sell pop! What this actually means is learning how to put the sale into the computer. I am slowly coming up to speed on our computer system. Pretty soon I hope to be able to take a reservation. Almost any questions that guests and visitors ask, I can answer or at least make up an answer (who is going to question me?). These darn computers are another thing. Pretty soon I will have it down.

Another project is testing recipes for the Wine Dinner. This is Bunny Mills, our baker.

A little later today we will be making “Mediterranean Twists.” They may appear instead of crackers with the soup course. It is all a matter of testing until we get the right combination of tastes. Needless to say, we have lots of volunteers to be the testers!

Outside our windows, fall is definitely coming. The hot, humid temperatures moderated with rain last Tuesday. My garden is starting to die off but the tomatoes still need to ripen. They will probably finish turning to red in the garage. Garlic, green beans and pea pods are done. The last of the raspberries are in the freezer. We are starting to harvest a few potatoes and carrots for a meal but they need to stay in the ground and grow some more. The same is true of the eggplant and jalapeno peppers. Our zucchini, however, is growing huge. Besides the kitchen, all the neighbors have gotten their share.

I have made zucchini relish several times. One time was really a disaster. In the morning neighbors and I cut up the vegetables and set them to soak until evening. We went down to Trail Center for dinner. Upon coming home, I put the jars in the dishwasher to warm up. The vegetables were drained and washed. The sugar, vinegar and seasonings were added and everything was turned on. I went down to the office for just a few minutes to work on the blog and promptly and totally forgot about my cooking relish. Bruce discovered it smoking away. Not only was the relish and pan destroyed but the ceramic glass top of the stove was slightly melted. What a mess! For the next batch I sat in the kitchen during the entire cooking time.

Time to put on my staff shirt and go down to the lodge. It is going to be a quiet day but those are also good learning days.

Back to Writing

As you all know, I have taken a sabbatical this summer from the blog. Well, September is here and I have to start writing again so here we go.

Bruce and I got away for a 3-night canoe trip with our friends Tom and Melissa. Because it was such a short trip, we decided to base camp on Saganagons. We went over Silver Falls and then Dead Man’s Portage and found a perfect camp site. With two days to relax, that is pretty much what we did. The first day we canoed into Wet Lake. The bass were biting pretty well so we got an easy dinner. The next day the guys got a northern and a couple small bass. That became dinner too. I cannot tell you how good really fresh fish tastes.

This was our first experience base camping. After a busy summer, we really enjoyed it. You are out there in the woods and can’t do a thing about any problems at home. Bruce and Tom’s big project of the day was to find the “proper” kind of firewood for our cooking fire. Bruce particularly likes beaver wood or pieces of drift wood for his cooking fire.. Melissa was able to spend two hours one night getting the perfect sunset picture. With digital cameras you can just keep clicking. The picture below shows us getting breakfast one morning.

Melissa is trying to capture the mist on the water. Bruce is our cook – oatmeal with all the fixings (walnuts, craisins, raisins, and brown sugar). As a treat we carry in one fresh orange per couple per day. I sat one afternoon and just watched the clouds go by. You can imagine how often I do that at home. It’s probably as often as you do.

Once we got home is was truly back to work. Bruce is working full time at the lodge and I am helping here and there. We always loved our day job so this is fun again. Of course, it helps that we have a really great group of managers. The one thing that we particularly enjoy doing is talking with the guests at night during dinner. So if you are here for dinner, expect to see us.
Another project has been planning for some upcoming special weekends at the lodge. For example October 23-26 is our Wine Weekend. Quite a bit of planning goes into it. This picture shows some of the early planning.

Jessica Mizia, our sales person from The Wine Company, brought a selection of wines for us to sample. Bruce and I along with Don and Marilyn spent four hours on this little project.

As with any block of time at the lodge, we had lots of interruptions. Don is a member of the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire Department. He got called away for an hour or so to fight a brush fire on the Mile O’Pines Road. We had a new girl working as a waitress so I tried to watch and give her directions. Then there were several homeowners who stopped in for dinner. We would talk with them for a bit. A group of four men walked in for dessert. They were going on a canoe trip and wondered if Bruce Kerfoot was still around. Bruce walked over to talk with them. Pretty soon they were talking fishing. Bruce had to go down to our house to get them a sample of the latest and greatest bait – GULP. These are artificial leeches kept in a special solution that smells great to fish. Occasionally Marilyn would have to answer computer questions from Chris at the front desk.

I am sure that Jessica thought we were crazy but such is our life. We sampled about eight different wines and talked about entrees that they would “pair” well with. Like anything else, you gotta learn the lingo for wine dinners. Pairing refers to matching wines with food. We didn’t seem to drink that much – all those bottles are still pretty full. Even so, I slept well last night.

It is good to be talking with all of you again. I’ll be keeping you current with all of the goings on at Gunflint Lake.

what is going on at Gunflint Lodge recently

Hello-

Since my mom last blogged about the Gunflint Green Up there has been lots going on. First the fishing season opened. Dean Janke e-mailed us a couple of pictures that we are going to post. This picture was taken on the 12th, which was considered the first day that the ice was "out" on Gunflint Lake.



Since we started this blog by talking about the fishing I will give you an update on how it has been so far this spring. The reports from the guides is that they are catching "hogs" (a hog is an official fishing guide term on the Gunflint Trail...it means any walleye longer than 28"...28" is considered a trophy walleye) on a daily basis. I will get a couple of pictures from Jon Schei's digital camera so you can see some of the walleye he is catching. In the mean time here is another picture from Dean...only his fish are a couple of lake trout.



One of our managers at the front desk, Dave, was out fishing with his dad the last couple of days. So when he came in this morning for today's motor permit I got the low down on the last couple of days. Just by seeing the smile on his face I knew he had caught a couple of good sized fish...the only question was how many and how big. Yesterday they caught two "hogs", one over 29 1/2" and another at 28", plus several smaller walleye around 14-18". Dave reported that they did not catch a ton of fish, but everything they caught was either decent sized or a "hog".

We have had lots of new staff arrive in the past 10 days or so. John Silliman, our head Naturalist, has been taking them on a property/history tour of the resort. You can see their faces go from shock to smiles as John fills them in on the rich history of the resort and some of the crazy things Grandma did when she was running the place. After a couple of days of training the new employee's eyes look confident and ready to handle the next guest's request.

As we have more fish reports come in we will be back in touch with pictures so you can see how our guides are guests are doing.

Have a good memorial weekend.

Lee

A Great Weekend

Last weekend was the Gunflint Green Up. What a huge success! Things didn’t seem too promising on Friday. By dinner time there was a steady rain. Luckily the huge tent set up in the outfitters parking lot was kept the dinner dry.

The tent saved us lots of problems because we could feed over 300 people at the time in it. It had heat. It had lights. And it was dry. As the rain continued during the night, we all got a little concerned for the next day.

We really didn’t know what to expect when the morning dawned with snow on the ground, but it melted by late morning and the sun came out. Even with the snow on the ground, people appeared ready to plant. Not only were they ready to work but they were going to have a good time doing it. Especially as the day got nicer, I heard many people remark how great it was to be out in the woods.

I planted over by Round Lake. Part of my planting crew was two troops of Girl Scouts from Grand Marais. Here I am talking with some of the leaders about where to plant.

Even though these were young girls, they worked very hard. If any of them were my grandchildren, I would be quite proud. Not only did they keep at it but they sang while they worked. A favorite song in the morning had to do with drinking sassafras tea. It is one of those songs with a short verse that you sing over and over until your voice gives out. Here is a picture of one of the girls planting a tree.

Another thing that kept these girls going was an abundance of food. They seemed to eat their lunches in mid-morning. Then about noon, they gathered at the Ham Lake Public Landing. The leaders spread two large tarps on the ground and everyone sat to eat all the food they had brought in addition to their lunches.

On Saturday night almost 400 people were served dinner in the tent. Everyone appeared to have had a great day. Not only did they find lots of people to share their experiences with but they also found many of their neighbors who had also been out planting. In the end there were over 50,000 trees plants by over 400 people.

On Sunday the Ham Lake Run was held. It started from Gunflint Pines and ended up at Trail’s End. There was the full length race and then a shorter race that started further up the Trail. About 140 runners participated. The weather was cool and dry for the race. Those who know more than I do felt it was perfect. Here is the start.

Both the tree planting and the half marathon race were successful because a lot of people who worked hard all winter to plan. Nancy Seaton from Hungry Jack Outfitters headed the Gunflint Green Up and Sue Prom from Voyageur Canoe Outfitters headed up the Ham Run. A great deal of support especially in the tree planting came from the U. S. Forest Service. Without their help and their willingness to think out of the box, these events could not have happened.

Lots of other spring events are going on around here. The juncos are migrating through on their way north. We will see them again next fall. The robins are everywhere as are a large assortment of song birds. Some of the smaller lakes have lost their ice but Gunflint is still hanging in there. The ice is very gray and rotten looking. I get the feeling that a strong northwest wind would take it out in a day. Sure hope so because fishing season opens on Saturday.

As is often the case with one of us, Bruce was awake and wandering around the house the other night. He heard an animal crying and went to look out the appropriate window. In the yard were three either brush wolves or coyotes. There were two adults and one smaller one. Because of the darkness, he was unable to identify them exactly but it is not something we see very often around the house. We did have one come down the drive last week but that has been it for the winter. So, a little excitement in the middle of the night.

Next time I write the ice will be off the lake and we will be fishing again.

Gunflint Green Up

It’s been so long since I wrote that I am almost embarrassed. In my defense, I have spent the last two weeks fighting a rather nasty infection. I’m finally over it and back to normal.

All around me spring has been bursting out. Well, that was after we had two snowstorms that Mother Nature surprised us with. One dropped twelve inches of snow and the other was only four inches but it blew all over. After several warm days with sunshine and wind plus a little rain last night, much of the snow in the open places is gone. We are on the winning end right now.

While Bruce and I have been out exploring with spring fever, we have seen lots of pairs of bald eagles. Mostly they have been feeding on the road kill that comes out as the snow melts. He is one of them I managed to get a picture of.

Of course, the pair of red fox is hanging around for any food that they can beg off of us. Yesterday, both Gimpy and the Mrs. were in the yard. Gimpy had a few words to say when he thought the Mrs. was taking too much food. This morning they were both back at different times to see what we had.

You can also see in this picture how much snow has melted around the house.

One day Bruce and I stopped just past the road the Moosehorn. This area had been severely effected by the Blowdown. In April of 2000 (the first spring after the Blowdown) it was just depressing to look at the bare, gray area.

The Forest Service did a great job cleaning up the downfall and replanting with red pine. A year or so after the planting they did a “release.” Young pine trees have to fight with the broad-leafed plants for their share of sunlight. Often the pines get killed because the broad-leafed plants block the sun. In this case, the Forest Service sent in crews to cut away the leafed plants and “release” the young pine to sunlight.

Now it is about 7 years since the original planting. You can see what a beautiful grove of trees is coming up behind me. There are trees 4-5 feet tall and looking very healthy. My grandchildren will see tall pines in this area.

Which brings me to the Gunflint Green Up. As we all know the Ham Lake Fire burned not only some of these replanted areas but also mature stands of trees. In 2007 there was a small spontaneous gathering of people to start the replanting of our forest. If you have been reading the Minneapolis or Duluth newspapers or listening to the radio, you know that this year there is going to be a huge tree planting party on the anniversary of the Ham Lake Fire.

Spear-headed by Nancy Seaton at Hungry Jack Outfitters, a group of people has been planning this event all winter. Their goal is to have 500 people plant 75,000 trees on Saturday, May 2nd. When they settled on these goals, everyone took a big gulp. Well, it looks like the people are coming and the trees will be waiting for them.

Right now there are almost 400 people signed up to plant. Local residents are organized to lead planting teams, distribute trees, hand out lunches, park cars, and serve dinners. Everyone expects have a very successful tree planting event. Even with this many people, we can only plant a small portion of the burned over area so next year we will do it again. And then the next year too.

If you would like more information or to sign up, go to http://www.gunflintgreenup.com/. All the necessary information is on that website. It is going to be a great event where the community of those who love the Gunflint Trail will come together to give the forest a helping hand. I hope to see you there. You will know me because I can’t plant anything without getting filthy dirty. I can’t wait!

Fire at Hungry Jack

In spite of a couple of snow falls this last week, we are starting to get spring fever. The snow has been several inches that gave a wet, sloppy road for a day but that is about all. This morning the temperature was 19 above with clear skies. By later this afternoon we will have some melting. The south-facing roof of our home is pretty well clear of snow.

Unfortunately, I have some bad news to report today. On Wednesday afternoon the main lodge building at Hungry Jack Lodge burned to the ground. Although the fire department responded quickly, the building was full engulfed in flames when they arrived. The department was there all night to make sure that nothing else caught on fire. Here is a picture of the building taken the next morning. It is not a pretty sight.

All of us here at Gunflint and along the entire Trail are feeling for Forrest Parsons, the owner of Hungry Jack. If anyone reading this has a reservation or knows people who go to Hungry Jack, pass the word along. All of the reservation records and guest files were lost in the fire. I can’t imagine the nightmare of trying to recreate that information. If you can help, be sure to call Forrest at 218-388-2265.

This is the time of year that animals seem to come out more. The other day Bruce and I were stopped at the junction of our road and the main road on our way to town. I noticed an eagle soaring above. As we watched it settled onto a branch where another eagle was perched. We seem to think that eagles mate for life so this is probably a pair waiting for spring just like us. Naturally, I didn't have the camera with me.

Our fox are back with us too. Gimpy appeared at our house this morning. So, Bruce and I are going through the freezer to see what we can give him. As with any chest freezer, ours has stuff at the way bottom that can be tossed.

Yesterday afternoon some deer appeared out my office window. Bruce could not resist the chance to feed them. Here he is. Although the picture doesn’t show it well, he is actually scratching the ears of the deer who is eating.

Of course, we are also starting to think about the garden. While we were on vacation last fall, the dozen day lilies were received for us. We kept them tightly sealed and in our cold garage all winter. A week or so ago, I got them out and potted them. Next stop was in front of our south-facing kitchen window. This picture shows you how they are doing now. It really brightens up the kitchen and they will go well in the garden in June.

Today I plan on starting some basil in the house. It is one of my favorite herbs for cooking. As in years past, four flats of basil will arrive with flowers the end of May. Most of that is used in the lodge kitchen all summer long. I wanted, however, to try growing some from seed. I’ll let you know how it works out.

Even on the Gunflint, spring is slowly coming. We are all anxiously waiting for its arrival

Maybe Spring Is Coming

This is supposed to be a quiet time of year but we are keeping pretty busy.

Last weekend was the “Run for A Cure.” It is a dog sled run to collect money for breast cancer research. The 30-mile race started on Gunflint right in front of Gunflint Pines. Everyone was encouraged to dress in pink. So here is a picture of Mark Black – all 6 foot 7 inches of him.

Eighteen teams participated in the run. The day was perfect. It all started out with a pancake breakfast at the Pines which we also enjoyed. The race started about 12:00 and finished down at Trail Center in the late afternoon.

Did you know that we have a 9-hole golf course on Gunflint Lake this winter? A man who works along the North Shore loves to golf which isn’t generally possibly up here in the winter. As an alternative, he comes up to Gunflint and camps each weekend on Campers’ Island down the lake during the winter lake trout fishing season. Fishing isn’t quite as good as golfing but it is better than nothing.

Well, our friend still likes to get a little golf in. So, in the bay immediately west of where Crab Creek comes in, he smoothed the snow and built a 9-hole golf course. It’s for irons only and I am sure he uses colored balls. The lake trout season is closed now so the course is closed.

I told you that Bruce had good luck fishing on North Lake. As a result three couples of us decided to go down on Sunday for the last day of the season. As soon as the women were included, we had to plan a picnic lunch. The guys don’t get into that quite as much as we do. Sunday morning we headed out on four snowmobiles. It was a perfect day – blue skies and no wind. In fact the only thing wrong with our day was that the fish were not biting.

It took us about 30 minutes to reach North Lake. Bob had brought his power auger so drilling holes was no problem. Melissa took off to take pictures of the frost on the shoreline. Photography is her passion more than fishing. The rest of us settled down to try to attract some fish. Here is a picture of me sitting on a snowmobile chair. You can’t see my hole but it is just within an arm’s reach.

Bob quickly got three bites but couldn’t bring them in. Bruce also got a bite but nothing came of it. After a couple of hours we decided to move to another location. We all moved and got settled in. It was lunch time. I had something playing with my line. Finally it bit and I brought in a four-pound northern. Sharon also brought in a six-inch lake trout. Then everything stopped.

We moved to another spot but still not luck. Finally we went back to our original spot and still nothing was interested in our bait. By 3:00 we were ready to go home. The day had been beautiful but the fishing didn’t match.

Travel on the lake has been really easy with no slush and good solid ice. Even so, there always seems to be someone who can’t figure things out. One night last week Bob and Sharon noticed a car driving all over the ice. The next day Bob and Bruce passed the car. The driver had tried to drive through a snow drift. He got stuck so badly that the middle of the car was held up by the drift and all four wheels were off the ice. He was shoveling when they went fishing and still shoveling when they came. So time later in the day he got the car off the ice.

Finally, we had a surprise inspection of our canoes yesterday. Here is a picture of the inspector hard at work.

I know that Easter is close because some bare patches of ground are starting to appear along the side of the road. Our road is bare. The deer are trying to get a meal from any the brown grass that has appeared.

Have a good Easter weekend.