Oh What A Beautiful Morning!

Today was the perfect day for a morning walk. I was the only one of our four going so I had the entire walk to myself. The walk is along our side road for one mile and then back. Walking along the road lets you see and hear things that a car just buzzes by.

The first thing is to smell the fresh air. With no wind at all today and a nice dew on the ground, everything smelled fresh and clean. The dew keeps the road damp so even an occasional car doesn’t throw dust into the air. I saw five vehicles on my walk this morning.

The noise is the next thing to be noticed. No need for an iPod when you can hear the birds singing everywhere. In the background is the almost constant call of the chickadee. That is the only call I know because the chickadee just says its name over and over again. Sometimes it adds an extra dee or two. Who knows what other birds are talking to me but each one has a distinctive song that comes out as clear as a bell. Sometimes are bird will fly overhead and I can hear the swoosh from its wings. There was one boat that went down the lake and its motor added a little mechanical sound for a few minutes.

Finally we are down to what can be seen on a walk. Most of the trees have leafed out. Strawberries are blooming in the road ditches. Several trees are getting ready to flower. The pin cherry trees should be blooming next week. The lupines are coming up in the ditches. In about 3-4 weeks there will be lupine blossoms all along the road. You will need to see a picture of them. If it is rainy, there are hundreds of earthworms on the road. I wonder how they can live in the packed down surface of a dirt road. We have renamed a section of the road “Rabbit Corner.” That’s where we have seen the rabbit this spring.

Later I walked down by Cabin #26 and looked at the lake. Here is a picture of what I saw. Too bad I don’t have time to just sit on the swing and watch the day unfold. Instead I am in my office writing to you.

Bruce was busy yesterday working on some masonry projects for the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center. One project is to put in some slate as an entry way just inside the front door. If any of you have walked around our property, you will have noticed piles of rocks in many places. These are rocks that Bruce has collected during our many building projects. He has mentally cataloged all of them.

So when he was thinking about the slate entry way, Bruce remembered a large slate rock in one of his piles by the outfitters. If he could just split that, it would be big enough to make a one piece entry rock. Yesterday was the splitting day. He had to lift the rock with the bobcat. With his masonry hammer and some pegs he was able divide the rock into three sheets. Here he is moving one of the sheets. If you visit the museum after it opens next year, be sure to notice the rock when you walk in.

One of our neighbors has a baby squirrel. They think that its mother was accidentally live trapped and moved to a different location. This 3-4 inch squirrel is hungry! He chases all the birds off the feeder when he wants to eat. Of course, he is not quite as good a climber as an adult would be so it is a project to get up the feeder. The other day my neighbor was in her garden when the baby squirrel came running up. She stood up and he ran right up her leg almost to her knee before realizing the mistake. Already this squirrel has visibly grown since they first saw him.

Summer is here now so it is time for some of you to be visiting us. We look forward to seeing you.

Memorial Day is Here

This has been an unusually windy spring or so it seems to me. Yesterday the wind was howling outside and there were white caps on the lake. In spite of all, the fish are biting well. The walleyes are starting to leave the spawning beds but are still scattered on the lake. As the water warms up, they will form into schools, which makes life easier for the fishermen.

All our trees are bursting into leaf. We have a green fuzz from the new leaves that you can see as you look across the lake. Of more importance to me, I can lie in my bed and look at the leaves on the poplar trees outside my window. For those of you who live south of me, that may not mean much. But when you only have leaves for five months of the year, it’s nice to see them come.

Summer birds have also been appearing almost on a daily basis. There was a pair of trumpeter swans on the lake. Meanwhile Sheryl has a great little movie of the first hummingbird to appear

at the outfitters’ feeder.We always look forward to the return of the hummingbirds. Bruce and John Silliman saw a Baltimore Oriole at our feeders this week. That is really an unusual sighting.

This year for the first time we are getting overnight hikers stopping at the canoer cabins at the outfitters. So far we have had seven people in three different parties. It isn’t a lot but I can’t remember when we have had any hikers come through. They are hiking the KeKeKabic Trail from here to Ely which is about 42 miles. They are also connecting to the Border Route Trail which goes to McFarland Lake east of us. One party even had a small dog along. The dog had his back pack to carry his food.

Wednesday was one of my favorite days of the year. Our spring order of flowers arrived. Between what we use at the lodge and what our neighbors get we had about 300 flats and baskets. In addition there were 10 36” white pines and 10 clumps of 8’ birch trees. Ronnie and Rick are hard at work getting the ground prepared. With an early Memorial Day, we don’t really want to plant too much until closer to June 1st. Here is a picture of one of the neighbor’s flower order.

Memorial Day weekend is already here. It looks like a good one. People are making the reservations much closer to their arrival date which makes us nervous. They are, however, calling in steadily for summer reservations. We are pretty close to full for the holiday weekend. In these tough economic times we appreciate every reservation.

It is a cold a miserable day today. The temperature is about 34 degrees and we have a strong northwest wind. Even in front of my house, we have good sized white caps. The east end of the lake must be just rolling. Snow flurries are coming down too.

Meanwhile Bruce and I got home from our morning walk about 8:15. We have been walking with our neighbors, Bob and Sharon Baker. Both couples are going with two other couples to Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking just before Labor Day. So, we are trying to get into a little better shape. Here are Bruce, Bob and Sharon ready to go this morning. Luckily I get to be the photographer.

Now don’t get the wrong idea. We really are not walking together. Bob was in the National Guard for many years. He sets a pace of four miles to the hour. Sharon and I most definitely don’t walk that fast. We do about two miles in 50 minutes. Bob and Bruce go over three miles in that same time.

Except for today, it has been quite nice and I think we are all doing better. It is fun to see the game as walking down the road. For several days there was a snowshoe rabbit about ¼ miles down the road. Every part about him had turned brown except for his feet. They were still white. We have also heard calling loons. Today we even heard a loon above the wind and waves.

My garden has been trying to claim some of my attention. Yesterday I finally made it out. We got some small white pine seedlings this year. For years we have planted but never been really successful. A friend whose parents had owned a tree farm suggested a new method of planting to me. I went up into the garden and cleaned out a space we were not using. It was just a mess with grasses growing all over. After crawling around weeding on my hands and knees, I was a mess too. But I planted 33 trees about 8 inches apart. Here is what they look like.

My friend Terry tells me to let them grow for two years. At the end of that time each one will have a nice root ball instead of those thread roots you usually plant. So, I planted and watered yesterday. Keep your fingers crossed.

Fishing has been fairly good. The walleyes are still spawning. The Cross River and Little Gunflint have lots and lots of females filled with spawn. In a few days the males will come in to fertilize them. Most people catching the big females have released them so they can spawn. In a few years we will catch their children.

Lake trout (any kind of trout) fishing has been good. Today as we walked there were hundreds of worms on the road from last night’s rain. Bruce says that these earthworms are good for catching trout. No matter how good they might be for bait, I’m not going out on the lake today. It just looks nasty.

Fishing Opener

Gunflint Green Up last weekend was a rousing success. About 325 people planted 25,000 trees. That’s just over 75 trees per person. In our rocky soil, planting trees is a project. Add to that the fact that burned trees, fallen trees, soot and loose rocks are all over. I went out for a few minutes to meet some of the planters. Many of them were like Mary Indritz and her daughter Paige, shown in this picture.



They live in Roseville, Minnesota, and have a cabin on Poplar Lake. Son Jack was also planting with them. The Gunflint community has really come together to help give our forest as helping hand.

This weekend brings the Minnesota fishing opener. Gunflint Lake is totally clear of ice as is Magnetic. Although I haven’t been down there, North Lake and Little Gunflint should also be open. Loon Lake went out yesterday. Saganaga and Seagull should be open. The lakes in the mid-trail vary but if you started blowing from the proper direction, they would go out. It should be a great opening weekend.

We are getting ready to jump into the season. Jason is bringing over the first dock as I write this. I can see him coming across the lake. It is a perfectly calm day which is what we need to get the docks in place. In fact here is a picture of the dock coming in to be attached to the main cribbing.

Friday night people will start checking into the lodge for fishing. Bonnie says that our first outfitting groups will be going out next week. I don’t know how another winter passed so quickly.

We went out to dinner with friends last night. Some of you may remember our neighbor on Tucker Lake who burned part of his favorite hat last winter while burning a brush fire. A spark landed on his hat and eventually started burning hat and head. A couple days ago, Tom received a package with this letter in it:

Dear Mr. Schank
We understand you had a head fire causing some discomfort to your melon. We are enclosing a special fire hat to prevent any more fires of the same nature.
These are special hats for use on small fires only, if your needs are larger save the aluminum pan from Thanksgiving and punch a center hole in it.
Replacement pans can be purchased at your local grocery store.
Thanking you
Mr. Bill Spark
G.M. Fire Dep
Here is a picture of Tom modeling his new hat.

Tuesday Bruce and I went out to put in minnow traps. He carried the traps and I walked along. This is Bruce looking at a trap he has just placed on a hidden pond about ½ mile in.

He was worried about getting enough minnows because the water in the ponds was quite low. Yesterday he checked the three traps for minnows. I couldn’t go but Bruce said he couldn’t even carry out all the minnows. These native dace minnows that he traps are the best ones of fishing in our area.

Some blogs I really struggle to get pictures for. Then there are others like this one that just seem to overflow with pictures.

Spring Happenin

It is a gray windy day today. My barometer seems to indicate that we could have rain which is not all bad. It rained yesterday and last night some. The rain combined with the wind will help the ice go out soon. In fact right now we are probably just waiting for the northwest wind that starts to push the ice down Gunflint to the east. The wind today is south so that helps melt the ice but not take it out.

From my window at the house this morning I noticed a new deer kill on the ice. Here is a picture I tried to take after walking down to the shore.

All the birds flew away when I came but some eventually came back. I think you can see the two eagles. There were also sea gulls, crows, and ravens. By the end of today it will all be gone. You can see from the picture how black the ice is.

While walking down I noticed that the pussy willows we popping out. I also noticed (and picked up) a couple of plastic bags that had blown done sometime in the winter. It is always amazing what appears when the snow goes. Bruce and I try to get everything put away in the fall but something always appears next spring.

Spots of open water are appearing all over. Jon Schei, one of our fishing guides, just couldn’t wait to get his boat in the water. He went over to the west end of the lake where the Cross River is flowing in and cutting a large hole in the ice. Sheryl took a short video of this which I hope to be able to attach to this blog. Turn your speakers on because the sound of the water and the fishing boats sounds pretty good after all the frozen months. If not, you will have to be satisfied with me standing in front of the rapids at Campsite #18 in the Trails End Campground.

This weekend is the 2nd Annual Gunflint Green Up. About 300-400 people are scheduled in to plant trees and to release trees that were planted last year. A huge tent has been erected in the parking lot behind the outfitters for Friday and Saturday nights’ dinners. On Friday there will be exhibits in the conference center about green living. It is a great way to kick off the summer. I’ll let you know how it goes next week.

We are getting ready to start fishing. All the guides are working on their boats and equipment. I, of course, think that fresh fish would taste really good. Don’t suppose that either Bruce or I will get out to fish a little but you never know.

In addition to this blog, I have been asked to write a blog the Minneapolis Star Tribune. It is going to appear in the new Club Outdoors section online. They have about 18 bloggers from all over the state to help provide that little bit of extra local knowledge about outdoor sports in Minnesota. They are trying to get the blogs going tomorrow. I wrote my piece. I will figure out the address and let you know where to find me. The idea is to write on Monday and Thursday. So now I will be coming up with three different blogs each week. This will test my abilities as a writer.

For reason I don't necessarily understand, this video is at the end of the blog. I try next time to get it in the proper place.

We Are Closer To Open Water

Bruce and I had a great trip to Missouri last weekend. Nick and Sandy Halteman, Miranda’s parents, belong to a fly fishing club there. The club was having a one day show and we put up a little booth to advertize the outfitters. As this picture shows, Grandson Zach was our biggest helper there.

The show was held in a church. In exchange for the space, the church’s youth group sold us breakfast and lunch as a fund raiser. Lunch was prepared by a local man who smoked some pork for sandwiches. It was wonderful.

The only bad part about the entire trip was coming home. In Missouri (and probably where most of you live) the trees and shrubs were blooming. The grass was green. We got home Monday to several inches of new snow. What a downer!

Luckily on Tuesday the wind blew and yesterday it was in the 50’s. So, almost all the snow is gone. I was even able to get out into the garden and start cleaning my vegetable beds. The chives and rhubarb are starting to come up. There are leaves on the strawberry plants. Most important, the ground in the beds is not frozen. Of course, after two hours of crawling around weeding, every muscle in my body complained. It is the Advil time of year.

There are lots of other signs of spring. This week I have seen many returning birds: juncos, grackles, starlings, bald eagles, and seagulls. The North Brule River is starting to run, which indicates when our ice will go out on Gunflint. Don Brazell, the long time Gunflint Trail postman, said that when the North Brule ran freely (we are not quite there yet), the small lakes go out in a week and the large lakes go out in two weeks. With that in mind, open water is just around the corner. Bruce and I drove over to where the Cross River enters Gunflint. There is a noticeable channel of open water reaching a couple hundred feet into the lake.

As I sit in my office today, the wind is really blowing hard. The skies are clear. The temperature at 10:15 a.m. is 50 degrees. Another important factor in spring thaw is that it did not freeze last night. All these things combine to melt the snow and ice. Several days of these conditions would really speed the spring thaw along. Even a little rain would help. We will see what happens by next week.

Meanwhile spring chores are moving along at the lodge. April seems to be a month when we are overwhelmed with projects. Here is a picture of the guys moving out an old hot tub from Cabin #7 in preparation to putting in the new one.

Jason had to remove the window to take the old unit out. The new one is shaped differently and will come in through the doors. In a week or so, all six new tubs will be completely installed.

Carpets in cabins have been steam cleaned along with every other portion of the cabins. We had some new housekeeping staff start working. Bonnie told them to take everything off the walls before washing them. The girls even took the electrical switch box plates off! Even Bonnie doesn’t go quite that far.

The kitchen has been cleaned to within an inch of its life. Every piece of equipment has been taken apart and cleaned. The hood over the stove was scrubbed. Floors in the coolers, entry way and dry storage have been painted. Yesterday our first food order of the new season arrived. The Bistro will open on Friday evening, April 24th. Justine’s will be opening in May.

So now all that we are doing is waiting for you to come up and visit.

With Easter coming tomorrow, the Gunflint Trail is entering a special fifth season that only people who live in areas with dirt roads have – the Mud Season. The ground is not thawed but the snow is melting. That means that water turns every road into a muddy mess. Here is what our driveway looks like.
We track in more dirt at this time of year than during the entire rest of the year.
Of course, this is also the time of year when we are really tearing everything apart to deep clean.

The kitchen is closed (until 4/25) and there is no food coming out. That means the managers cook for themselves. The other day was my turn and we had goulash. As is usual, I made twice as much as we needed so we ate this again the next day. The lunches we normally get are great but it is good to have something different. Also we don’t eat quite a much as when the cooks plate it for us.

Speaking of deep cleaning, even the front desk people get involved in this. Annie was washing up a storm the other day.

When the phone rings, she just dries her hands and answers as if she had nothing better to do. By the end of the day, your clothes are filthy dirty and, hopefully, you have taken a few reservations.

Jason, our head of maintenance, has his hands full this spring. We are replacing 6 hot tubs. He is trying to get them all in during April. It is a huge project but will bring us totally up to the new rules. Surprisingly, all the old tubs are quickly being snapped up by neighbors for use in their own homes.

With all the restaurants closed on the Trail, our Wednesday night dinner group has had to resort to going to individual homes. The other night was my turn. There were 8 of us and the meal is really easy because it is potluck. Everyone has their own specialties that they like to bring. Fran brought a great corn dish, Sue baked potatoes, and Melissa made sure we had a chocolate cake for dessert. I threw a turkey in the oven. After dinner we played Hand and Foot which is a variation of canasta that works for a large group. The women beat the men. Their excuse was that they wanted us to go home happy. No one in our group really takes any game seriously so it is a night filled with laughs.

In case you think that all this talk of spring means my gardening days are coming soon, here is a picture of the garden now.

I think it will be some time before I get into it. The ice on the lake is perfectly solid too. Yesterday we saw a truck out there driving. There is still snow on the lake. The lake conditions are just perfect for skate skiing. As I am writing this, I can hear snowmobiles on the lake. It is about 45 outside today. This morning it was 19 so we didn’t even start melting until late morning.

Wednesday Bruce and I are taking off for a short trip to Missouri. On the way we will stop in Northfield to visit St. Olaf College where Grandson Tanner has been accepted. I am particularly pleased because it’s where I went to school.

Bruce used to tease me about going to a “cow college.” My response was that he was an Ivy League snob (Cornell) who got in through the school’s desire for geographic distribution. Put a nickel in any couple who has been married as long as we have and all these repetitive stories come out. Our kids know them all and just groan.

After the St. Olaf visit, we will spend the weekend with Robert, Miranda, and Zach. You know who’s the most important of those three to see. Then on Monday we will be attending a food show in Duluth. Who knows what tasty new ideas we will get for the dining room.

With Easter coming tomorrow, the Gunflint Trail is entering a special fifth season that only people who live in areas with dirt roads have – the Mud Season. The ground is not thawed but the snow is melting. That means that water turns every road into a muddy mess. Here is what our driveway looks like.

We track in more dirt at this time of year than during the entire rest of the year.

Of course, this is also the time of year when we are really tearing everything apart to deep clean. The kitchen is closed (until 4/25) and there is no food coming out. That means the managers cook for themselves. The other day was my turn and we had goulash.

As is usual, I made twice as much as we needed so we ate this again the next day. The lunches we normally get are great but it is good to have something different. Also we don’t eat quite a much as when the cooks plate it for us.

Speaking of deep cleaning, even the front desk people get involved in this. Annie was washing up a storm the other day.

When the phone rings, she just dries her hands and answers as if she had nothing better to do. By the end of the day, your clothes are filthy dirty and, hopefully, you have taken a few reservations.

Jason, our head of maintenance, has his hands full this spring. We are replacing 6 hot tubs. He is trying to get them all in during April. It is a huge project but will bring us totally up to the new rules. Surprisingly, all the old tubs are quickly being snapped up by neighbors for use in their own homes.

With all the restaurants closed on the Trail, our Wednesday night dinner group has had to resort to going to individual homes. The other night was my turn. There were 8 of us and the meal is really easy because it is potluck. Everyone has their own specialties that they like to bring. Fran brought a great corn dish, Sue baked potatoes, and Melissa made sure we had a chocolate cake for dessert. I threw a turkey in the oven. After dinner we played Hand and Foot which is a variation of canasta that works for a large group. The women beat the men. Their excuse was that they wanted us to go home happy. No one in our group really takes any game seriously so it is a night filled with laughs.

In case you think that all this talk of spring means my gardening days are coming soon, here is a picture of the garden now.

I think it will be some time before I get into it. The ice on the lake is perfectly solid too. Yesterday we saw a truck out there driving. There is still snow on the lake. The lake conditions are just perfect for skate skiing. As I am writing this, I can hear snowmobiles on the lake. It is about 45 outside today. This morning it was 19 so we didn’t even start melting until late morning.

Wednesday Bruce and I are taking off for a short trip to Missouri. On the way we will stop in Northfield to visit St. Olaf College where Grandson Tanner has been accepted. I am particularly pleased because it’s where I went to school.

Bruce used to tease me about going to a “cow college.” My response was that he was an Ivy League snob (Cornell) who got in through the school’s desire for geographic distribution. Put a nickel in any couple who has been married as long as we have and all these repetitive stories come out. Our kids know them all and just groan.

After the St. Olaf visit, we will spend the weekend with Robert, Miranda, and Zach. You know who’s the most important of those three to see. Then on Monday we will be attending a food show in Duluth. Who knows what tasty new ideas we will get for the dining room.

Last weekend was the tenth edition of Books in the Woods at the lodge. Between two authors (Libby Fischer Hellmann and Ann Bauer) and our coordinators (Joci Tilsen, Jim Bour and Lisa Wagner), we had about 40 people. This picture shows the Joci, Jim, Lisa, Bruce and I on the last night. I think that everyone in the group had a good time. One of the best parts about this event is that all the discussions are small group. That means everyone really gets a chance to ask questions. It is a big difference between what we have and listening to a lecture with 200 other people.
Of course a big part of the weekend was food. That always seems to be the case at Gunflint! Here is a picture of one of the tables at Saturday night’s dinner.

Mark Darling’s keyboard music in the background just added to the extra ambiance in the lodge that night.

On Sunday Bruce and I went out fishing for a bit. We might as well have taken a nap for all the luck we had. Bruce missed one bite but that was all the action we had. Of course, we were out driving around checking other spots. It is such an amazing feeling to just drive the car across the lake. When the ice goes out in May, I will have trouble recapturing the feeling of driving on the ice. Right now, I have trouble thinking about driving a boat across the water. In addition to trucks and cars, the lake had quite a few ATV’s and snowmobiles running around. I don’t think the catching part of fishing was too good.

Last week the Gunflint Trail lost another one of its senior citizens – Irv Benson. Bruce and I think that he may be the last of that generation to live on the Trail. Irv came up here after serving the Air Force during World War II. At that time there were a bunch of single guys in the Saganaga/Seagull Lake area. Some of them included the Powell brothers, the Waters brothers, Irv, Art Madsen, Jock Richardson, and Benny Ambrose. Most of these men found all they needed in life by living in the woods.

In 1950 Irv married Tempest Powell. From her he learned all his woods skills. The two lived on an island home on Sag that they built themselves. It was a combination workshop and home. That way both got what they wanted. They lived there for many years until it was too difficult for Tempest to get around and she moved near her daughter in Silver Bay. Irv remained on Saganaga until this winter when he moved to town where help was available.

I only met Irv a couple of times. Saganaga is just far enough away that I don’t get up there too much. Bruce’s mother, Justine, carried on a great correspondence with him over many years. I have many of the letters he wrote to her. They go back as far as 1979 in my files but there were probably earlier ones.

Here is a paragraph from one of the letters: “Beaver seem to be scarce these days. Same deal as every fall, one tries to be in ten places at once getting traps out, and sleeping/eating habits get sort of erratic, as does the care of clothing and where one puts his various scents. Tempest said I didn’t smell too good when I got home last night, but I feel that this opinion is rather selfish, as she certainly doesn’t have to be as close to me as I do during the next few weeks, and the externally induced aromatics will probably wash or wear off in time anyway.” It is always a great loss when last of these old timers goes.

On the spring-is-coming front, it is snowing outside now. It is now 3 hours after I wrote the original blog. The snow is so thick that you can’t see across the lake. We have about 3-4 inches of new snow. Bruce went to town and said that it is much worse as you get closer to town.

We had some melting this past week so slowly the total depth of snow is going down. The ice on Gunflint Lake has lifted. That means it has broken away from the shoreline and is now actually floating on the water. All the water from melted snow has drained off the ice which is why we it is so nice to drive all over.

Another small sign of spring appeared Sunday night as Bruce and I drove home from the neighbors. We saw a skunk on the shoulder of the road. Skunks hibernate during the winter. It seems a little early to see them but nonetheless a very welcome sign of spring.

This blog is a little earlier in the week because Bruce and I are going to man the Gunflint Lodge booth at the convention center for three days over the weekend.

March Madness

We have had our own variety of March Madness on the Gunflint Trail. It has been our weather! As you have seen the past couple weeks there has been a snow storm and then lots of melting the next week. For variety this week, we tried a little freezing rain on Monday. After we had a nice sheet of ice on everything, our daughter Shawn tried to drive home. Within 6 miles she was in the ditch two times even at 10-15 MPH. They inched their way back to Gunflint. I was due to go into town later in the day. Needless to say, the trip was cancelled.

So Tuesday it rained and rained and froze at night. Our power went out for about 3-4 hours during the night. I was just starting to think about serving breakfast in the lodge when the power came back on. Other staff members were also thinking about no power. Jason, our maintenance head, was planning on coming down to get Bruce’s ice auger to drill holes to get some water. Everyone had their little plans but luckily we never had to use them.

Yesterday (Wednesday) it was in the mid-thirties for most of the day with a drizzle coming down. Last night the drizzle turned to snow. Once again we have snow out the window.

Of course, the overall amount of snow has gone down drastically with all the rain. Inch by melting inch, we are losing our snow. No more skiers are due at the lodge so we’re all happy to see it melt.

The lake ice on Gunflint is still safe. We are all watching an ice house still on the lake. It is a good size wooden one and frozen in. With yesterday’s rain, then snow, and then freezing (it was 20 degrees this morning), that ice house is stuck even more solidly than it was last week. Each day during lunch we watch to see if anyone is trying to get it out. The guys are waiting to see the chain saws come out to cut it free. That’s a really messy, wet way to release the fish house. We will be glad to look out the window at the process.

Bruce got out for a little ice fishing on Saturday. The ice is perfect for just driving out to his new favorite spot. Here he is with two nice trout.

Shawn and her friend were out fishing too but only Bruce caught anything. We had to send the trout home with those who got nothing.

Last weekend was also dog lover’s weekend. We had an abundance of dogs in the cabins. John, our naturalist, spent part of Saturday afternoon introducing the dogs to skijoring. Here he is explaining the equipment to his group.

John’s dog, Rudy, is a real expert at skijoring and he just loves it. In fact, Rudy got a little bored listening to John explain everything. There was a fair amount of barking as Rudy expressed his impatience with John.

On Tuesday (31st) we will be closing the kitchen for almost a month. The last couple days in April we will start up again. Meanwhile, it is deep cleaning time – never one of our favorite projects but very much a necessary one. Every piece of equipment will be taken apart and scrubbed to shine. We always think that cleaning is done as we go along but this week shows us how much is missed. The guys really do a great job at this project. I understand that some painting is also planned for this time.

Bruce talked with son Robert in Missouri the other night. It seems that Grandson Zach went fishing with Nick and Sandy, his other grandparents. Zach hooked and landed on a fly rod a 15-inch rainbow trout all by himself. Pretty good for a 9 year old! Robert said that Zach was pretty proud of himself. We were too.

Ou cabins are now full for the Green Up during the first weekend of May. I understand that overall reservations are up from last year. After the horrible weather we had last May, it’s is really good to hear that people are still interested in tending the forest. Motels in Grand Marais still have space for the weekend.

A Hint of Spring

It seems like the mothers of all our employees read the blog. This week I want to say hello to Sandy Schreiber in Tualatin, Oregon. Her daughter, Kacy, works for us in the housekeeping department. This summer she will be a server/bartender at the lodge. So, hello Sandy!

We are kind of getting hints that spring may be coming our way. If you remember, last week I took a picture out the kitchen window of Bruce snow blowing our 10-inch snow storm. Just a few minutes ago, I took another picture from that same window.

What a difference a week makes! Of course there is no sense in getting excited about this. Mother Nature will still have more snow to dump on us.

The side road is now bare of snow and dry. That is my signal to start walking again. This summer I have a special reason to walk. The week before Labor Day we are going to Rocky Mountain National Park to do some hiking with two other couples from around here. Tom and Melissa started their walking program yesterday so I had to get going too. I must say that it felt good to be outside doing something. I am going to have to up the pace a bit if I plan on doing any mountain hiking. Right now the question is how sore will I be tonight? The first day of two miles usually leaves me groaning. I hedged my bets and took some Advil.

Last Saturday was the Mush For The Cure. Gunflint Pines and Mary Black sponsor this fun run to raise money for breast cancer research. In addition to dog sled teams, there was a special race for the skijoring teams. Adam Trefoil, our winter cook and summer guide, entered the skijoring run. Here is a picture of him all dressed up in his finery.

He placed last but we were still very proud of him. Adam’s dog, Mick, is only 11 months old and has just a couple months of training in skijoring. They will do much better next year. We are also very proud of the fact that of the 40 teams, Adam placed 10th in the amount of money raised. The whole event raised $23,000 which is very good for only the second year.

As spring approaches, it is time to think about the Gunflint Green Up. You may remember this event from last year. It is held on the anniversary of the Ham Lake Fire of 2007. Last spring almost 500 people came and planted 50,000 trees on Saturday. The weather was contrary as usual. On Friday night just as everyone was gathering in the tent for dinner, we had a constant downpour of rain. Overnight it changed to snow and we had about five inches in the morning. Everyone, however, had come ready to work in any weather. The ground was thawed under the snow and the trees went in. Then the melting snow was there to water them.

I worked with some local Girl Scout troops. They were young pre-teen and teens. They ate, sang, and planted constantly. They probably did as much as any adult. I like to think that in 20 years some of them will come back with their children. Can you imagine being able to point to a good sized white pine and tell you children that you planted that one?

So if you think you would be interested in participating in the program, just go to http://www.gunflintgreenup.com/ (or it might be .org). All the details for this year’s program are given at this website. It is a wonderful way to teach us all about stewardship of our forests.

The Gunflint Trail Association and its outfitting companies have just come out with a new book that might appeal to some of you. It is called “Becoming A Boundary Waters Family.” Sue Arendt edited several people’s writings for the book. The premise is that there are lots of family activities that anyone can do with their children (or grandchildren) to teach them about the woods. As more and more Americans live the cities and suburbs, this book offers a great opportunity for parents and children to become familiar with the northwoods. The book is about $15 plus shipping and sales tax. I know you will all be surprised to hear that we have it for sale.

I will be watching the progress of spring all week and bring you an update in my next column.

March Is Here

The first week of March was really quite nice. We all got used to melting temperatures during the day. On Tuesday reality hit us. A storm moved in from the west with lots of snow in it. Here is a picture I took in the afternoon of a deer looking for any kernels of corn still left in the yard.

All the deer were covered with snow just like this one.

The next morning the temperatures had dropped to just below freezing. Bruce got out the snow blower and went to work on the path to the house and just in front of the garage door. Here he is.

The wind had blown most of the night so we got a lot of drifting. Jason was plowing so much snow that it was coming over the top of the plow. Jacob had trouble with the snow blower icing up. Don and Steve wished that their shovels would ice up but they just kept throwing snow around.

After Bruce was finished on the path, I went out with an 18” ruler to see how much snow there was. Most of this is new snow.

You can’t really read the depth in this picture but we got 10” of new snow. Needless to say, the ski trails and snow mobile trails are wonderful. The only problem is getting them groomed fast enough for people to get out on them.

One night this week we had our friend, Lisa Wagner, over for dinner. As you may remember, Bruce had just gilled and gutted one of the trout he caught last week. So I made a bread dressing with apples and shrimp in it. I just piled it on the baking pan and then draped the fish on top. After smelling it for an hour, we all dug in. There is something wonderful about baked fish that just flakes with a fork. Bruce was trying to tell me how healthy it was. I had to remind him of the ¼ pound of butter in the dressing. At any rate, we all pigged out and finished every morsel of fish.

Bruce and I are off to the Cities this weekend. Last weekend we exhibited at the Women’s Expo in St. Paul. This weekend we will go to a gift show for items to sell in the gift shops. Then on Sunday Bruce will place orders while Shawn and I man our booth at the Twin Cities Wedding Show. I am getting a little tired of weekends in the Cities. The best part about it is dinners. Last weekend we hit an Italian restaurant, a Chinese joint and a Jewish deli. Needless to say, Grand Marais does not offer much in the way of ethnic cuisine. Who knows where we will be this weekend for dinner.

Reservations are coming in steadily for March. I always wish they came in faster but this year we are just pleased to be getting them. March is going to be quite busy due to the good snow conditions. People are still making reservations at the last minute and we are happy to accommodate them.

Summer reservations are also coming in steadily. Bruce has been spending a lot of his time on marketing. We are lucky to have four really good people answering the telephone at the front desk. Their attitude is that we have worked hard to get these phone calls and we aren’t wasting them. When you call to make your summer plans, I am sure that you will be pleased with the help they give you. So much for the commercial.

I wish you could all see the view out my window today. It got down to 14 below last night with a full moon. Today the sun has been shining brightly and warmed it up to about 20 degrees. The new snow is just sparkling in the sunlight. All the old gray melting snow is covered up. The lake snow is full of small dips and hills from being whipped up by the wind. There is still a little wind. It is a perfect March day.

It's Busy Up Here!

Before I start, it's time to say hello to Annie and Eugene Greeno. They are Bonnie at the outfitters parents. They were just up visiting the kids over the weekend. Annie is an exception canner of pickles, saurkraut, tomatoes and tomato soup. In fact all of her canned goods are to die for.

Life on Gunflint Lake has been busy this past weekend and into the week. On Saturday the various activities for Winter Tracks were held up and down the Trail. At Gunflint we hosted the Snowboot Ball with dinner and dancing. About 100 people turned up. This was after a very busy afternoon in the bistro with people stopping by almost constantly.

On Sunday Winter Tracks was over but the local snowmobile club hosted a trout derby on the lake. Here is a picture of the scene that afternoon.

A road had been plowed on the lake so people could drive on it. Needless to say, our ice is plenty thick. Fishing was good and they accumulated an entire board of fish for the contest.

On Monday some neighbors were out fishing. They came across a tip-up (used for ice fishing) that was frozen into the lake. Someone must have set it and forgot to bring it in. At any rate the neighbors dug it out and started to reel in the line. There was a 9-lb. trout still hooked on the line. The funny part was that this fish would have been the big winner the day before.

Monday was also a busy day at the lodge. One of the middle school classes came up for some winter activities. They sledded, fished, played broomball and carved snow figures. We had lunch for them at the lodge. Several fathers came up to do a little ice fishing. For the third day in a row the lake filled with fishermen.

Of course, by this time even Bruce is ready to go fishing. He and Bob Baker went out this morning. Bruce had a couple things to do before he could go out so Bob got a head start on fishing. He caught 3 trout and released one of them to stay at the legal limit. Here are the two Bob kept.

Ten minutes later Bruce came out.

I went out after lunch to see how they were doing. The lake is so perfect that I just drove out to their spot. Before Bruce left I asked if he wanted a sandwich packed but he was in too much of a hurry to even think about food. When I got out on the lake, it was a different story. Where were their sandwiches and coffee? So back I went to the lodge to get sandwiches, cookies and coffee. Not only do they want take-out service but they also want delivery service.

The guys caught two more trout (one while I was getting lunch). While Bruce was cleaning ours, he remarked on how easy it was to just drive out on the lake. The conditions have to be perfect but does it make fishing easy. One of our trout produced two big fillets – two dinners for us. Bruce gilled and gutted the other one. I will stuff it and bake it one night for dinner.

While we have been looking at the lake, Sheryl has been looking at the great ski trails. Here is her picture of one of the newly groomed trails.

In the background is the high cliffs. March offers some of the most wonderful skiing of the entire winter. It warms up during the day. Today was in the 30’s. It felt like summer. I know that a day in the 30’s in May will feel like winter.

Now only are the ski trails in great shape but the snowmobile trails are wonderful. We had two guys stop in for lunch yesterday who had snowmobiled from Side Lake up north of Hibbing. They said all the trails were wonderful. Each weekend we are seeing lots of machines stop by for lunch.

If you are looking for one more ski trip or snowmobile run, this is the place to be. The trails are all in top notch condition.

The Best Ambulance Run

Bruce, Shawn and I got home from Jamaica late on Monday. It was a great trip. We interviewed around 200 students which kept all of us busy. It is not just one visit with each student. Many of them come back to talk several times. We also have over 50 students who were returning so they had lots to tell us. Some of these kids have been in our program for three years. Now they are moving on with us to a twelve month program. It is an exciting time for them and for us.

This was Shawn’s first visit to Jamaica with us. She was just overwhelmed with how nice the students were. It is something that Bruce and I have always felt but we tend to forget. So now we are all invigorated to find the 200 jobs we need for everyone.

Of course, there were a few changes. Our Jamaican coordinate, Arlene Garrick, is in Oklahoma doing course work for her PhD. We missed her but learned to work with a new bunch of teachers who had been well trained by her. Sharon Black and Suzette Morrison took good care of us.

Our greatest find was Clive. He is the taxi driver who took us to our schools every day and picked us up after the interviews. He recommended restaurants, found the factory outlet for T-shirts and got us a stapler. Our most interesting adventure with Clive was on our last day. He was taking us to the handicraft market. It was two o’clock and none of us had eaten. So Clive took us to Miss Carmen’s. It is in the middle of the market that locals use. There were no tourists around. The snack bar is made from a 40-foot freight container. Shawn and I had jerk chicken while Bruce had oxtail. It was all excellent!

One other interesting event happened. Mid-week one day we returned to the hotel to find everyone bustling about. The general manager and the operations manager were standing ready to greet someone. There were police and soldiers and red carpets. So Bruce went up to the operations manager to find out what was going on. The King and Queen of Spain were staying at the hotel that night and all the fuss was to greet them. So we stayed to watch. When they arrived, King Juan Carlos walked past us and smiled at Bruce. Anway that is Bruce’s story and he’s sticking to it. It is one of those things that is no big deal but is still fun to see.

Flying home the airlines gave me an extra freebie – a cold. So I have been wimping around for several days and don’t have a lot to tell you. Pictures will have to wait until next week too.

There is, however, one wonderful event that occurred last night. We have a large party staying in Cabin #2. One of them was 9 months pregnant. Last night they came to the front desk to say that the baby was coming. The rescue squad came out in force and quickly had the mother and father on their way to Grand Marais. There were many volunteers to make this run.

As it turned out this was the couple’s fifth child. The mom was an RN and the father was an EMT. The other children were three girls and one boy. Yesterday was the boy’s birthday. The squad moved along to the hospital. Towels were being warmed where hot air came into the back. With the driver there were six attendants ready to help in anyway.

Just as they headed down the hill into Grand Marais, the father delivered his son. The baby was dried and wrapped in the warm towels and placed with his mom. At the hospital were two doctors and a host of assistants ready to finish the job.

It was the first time this rescue squad has ever had a birth. Everyone agreed that it was the best of all possible runs.

A Little Melt and New Snow

We have had some thawing weather the last few days. About all it has done is to make a mess in the parking lots and driveways. Jason Merrill, our maintenance head, has been out with the bobcat clearing away the slippery slush. When the main driveway starts to melt, it is always a mess. Even with all-wheel drive, it is hard to get up the driveway. So Jason goes and scoops it all up and piles it out of the way. Here is a picture of two of his piles.

They don’t look too pretty until they are covered with snow again. Right after scooping up, they are just brown yuck. It is the gravel from the driveway that gets mixed in with them. When these piles melt in the spring, they leave behind a pile of gravel that can be spread on the driveway again. In case you are wondering, we still have lots and lots of snow on the ski trails.- and the forecast is for 4-6 inches more.

Last night the temperature slipped below freezing again. The misty rain turned to snow. Because the branches were wet, the snow stuck to the freezing branches as if it had been glued on. This morning we had some beautiful trees with every branch covered with snow. There was very little wind so even now at 4:00 p.m., there is lots of snow on the trees. Here was the view off our front porch this morning.

Tucker Lake seems to be providing the best stories this week. In the winter with lots of snow one of our neighbors burns brush piles that he has collected all summer. Last weekend his wife was at a quilting retreat and he decided it was the perfect time to burn some brush. In honor of the occasion he wore his favorite stocking cap – a Snoopy cap. He got it from his daughter when she stopped using it at age 8. (The daughter is now 37 but Bruce tells me that men particularly like these well used articles of clothing.)

At any rate, the neighbor is busy with his burning project. After a bit, he begins to smell fumes like something other than brush is burning. Then it starts to smell like hair is burning – a very distinctive smell. He thinks that maybe there is a death animal at the bottom of the burn pile. In a few minutes his head begins to hurt – badly. He pulls his hat off only to discover that a burning ember has started burning the hat and worked its way down to his hair and scalp. Luckily a handful of snow solves the problem with little damage. Of course, even with a 2” hole, the hat is good to go for several more years.

A mystery on Tucker Lake has also been solved this year. Our neighbors there have gone through three blue fire number signs. I am sure that you have seen these signs. They are the assigned identification numbers each house has so that the fire department can find you in case of a fire. I suppose the signs are about 4” by 6” and blue with white numerals on the Gunflint Trail.

Well, these people are now on their third sign. All the blue and white paint is gone from the face of the sign after a short time. No one knows how. Last week they finally saw two Blue Jays pecking the paint off the sign! An examination of the ground beneath the sign did not show any blue flecks. The birds must either be eating it or storing it for future use. The question now is, “How do you stop them?” You wonder what started this. No one else has reported anything like this.

Bruce and I are off the sunny Jamaica on Monday. Before you get too jealous, let me tell you that this is a purely business trip. The two of us and our daughter, Shawn, are going to interview students for work in the U. S. during the summer college break. We go to Kingston which has no tourist development. We interview from 7:30 in the morning until 6:00 at night with no break. Lunch is delivered from the school’s cooking class while we continue interviewing. After dinner we often interview more students at our hotel. And did I mention that there generally is no A/C in the room we use at the school. So, all of you can take pity on us.

We will be back at Gunflint on the 23rd with no tan.