North Shore Morning

Anna Speck and Gladys Dockan are sisters; Everson sisters. They grew up on a farm on Maple Hill just outside of Grand Marais, where music was a part of everyday life. In this edition of Moments in Time, they share their memories of a special bus trip during World War II.  Produced by Carah Thomas.

This is the time of year when turtles appear all over the back roads in the West End. Pretty much anywhere that a road goes near a lake, stream or swamp, you will see numerous turtles crossing the road or perched along the shoulders. These are females who are taking advantage of the soft, sun-warmed gravel on the roadside to lay their eggs in holes they dig with their back feet. Most of the turtles you see are western painted turtles, but every once in awhile you can see a huge snapping turtle.

Every year I see a few turtles that have been hit by cars, which always makes me wonder why? Did the turtle dart out in front of the car? I can just hear the driver now, "It came out of nowhere. Really, the turtle hit me." It's frightening to think that someone could be so inattentive in their driving as to not see a turtle on the road. I simple can't believe that anyone would be so mean as to hit a turtle on purpose.

Back in the early 1960's a crew member at the old Sawbill Lodge, during a slow day at work, took a can of white paint that was kept in the boathouse for lettering numbers on boats, and painted the name of each person working at the lodge that year in small, neat letters along the edge of the shells of half a dozen turtles. For years, we would see turtles named Betty, Linda, Buck or Dusty sunning themselves on logs during the summer. Eventually, we didn't see them anymore and I had pretty much forgotten about it, until 1990 when the legendary Rainbow Gathering was held near Barker Lake here in the West End. The Rainbow folks had put a large sign on the beginning of the Sawbill Trail that read: "You cannot reach the Rainbow gathering by traveling on this road." In spite of the sign, we had several groups that wandered into Sawbill, lost and looking for the gathering. One cheerful group, driving a VW van, arrived at our store wondering where the Rainbow Gathering was. After giving them directions, I asked them if they hadn't seen the warning sign when they turned up the Sawbill Trail. The driver responded by saying that he had seen the sign and read it to his passengers, who happily told him to ignore it and keep driving. Then he mentioned that they were all glad about being lost because they had seen a turtle crossing the road near Sawbill Creek and had decided to stop and help it to safety. "And," he said, "the turtle's name was Dusty! It was painted right on his shell!" This was roughly 30 years after the turtle had been labeled by the bored lodge worker. The Rainbow People were delighted that the cosmos had directed them to become acquainted with Dusty the turtle. I shouldn't have been too surprised, as Wikipedia informs me that western painted turtles can reach sexual maturity by the age of 6 and can live up to 55 years in the wild.

Congratulations to Silver Bay entrepreneurs Lyn Singleton and Lisa Larsen who have opened a new bakery in Beaver Bay. It's called the Honey Bee Bakery and is located in the Beaver Bay community building. The products include a variety of pastries and breads, along with sandwiches, soups and coffee. I've heard very positive feedback on the pasties. Lyn gets up in the middle of the night and does the baking, while Lisa, her daughter-in-law, handles the books. Local businesses are the life blood of our economy, so be sure to show your support to this wonderful new enterprise. Even if you don't want a fresh, warm, sticky, sweet caramel roll, force yourself to stop at the Honey Bee Bakery and have one.

It's not too early to reserve your spot for the eighth annual Lundie Home tour sponsored by the Schroeder Historical Society. This year the tour is Saturday, July 14th. It will feature several homes and cabins in the West End that were designed by the famous architect Edwin Lundie. This year, some additional homes will be toured that were designed by author, architect and "Cabinologist" Dale Mulfinger. Mulfinger will be present on the tour and will be giving a presentation that day at the Cross River Heritage Center in Schroeder. As always, the tour will be followed by the popular "dinner on the ledge rock" with live music and beverages. There is a suggested donation for the tour and reservations are required, so contact Suzanne at the Cross River Heritage Center, 663-7706, for more details. Dale Mulfinger's presentation, however, is free and open to the public.

Returning to the subject of turtles for a moment: did you know that if you are a Minnesota resident under the age of 18, that you can take, possess, rent or sell up to 25 turtles for use in a non-profit turtle race?  But, the western painted turtles that you take, possess, rent or sell for use in a non-profit turtle race must have a longitudinal shell length of more than four inches. It's the law.

Things are heating up in the Lake Superior basin. Temps are rising, ice cover is shrinking and life is changing. In this edition of the Lake Superior Project, we look at a time when Lake Superior was much, much colder.

The faucet has been turned off by Mother Nature for several days. We are drying out along the Trail.

Remnants of the big rains, however, are still being felt as lake levels continue to rise. With inland waterways still gushing lake-ward, beaches have all but disappeared on most bodies, and docks are floating higher than they have in several years.

Docks that are not floaters are either at surface level or have been raised to avoid being repositioned with the action of waves and currents. At Wildersmith, the dock has been escalated twice in little more than a week as the Gunflint Gal continued to climb. I’m in hope that the rising water will stabilize soon.

With Gunflint Lake higher than its been in several years, a neighboring dock that was thought to be secure on shore last fall suddenly was discovered as a moving craft one evening last week. Luckily, yours truly was in the right place at the right time, and with the help of a passing fisherman rescued the Tom Sawyer-like platform before it ended up in the woods several miles down the lake. Perhaps there have been more of these episodes in other locales throughout the territory.

Area weather this first week in June has been extremely pleasant in spite of a few nights that saw patchy frost as May ended. Guess this was just another natural reminder to folks around here that early gardening can be touch and go. I would guess that as we head into week two, gardens will be getting serious about growth.

Speaking of growing things, this is becoming a bloomin’ place. Wild roses have been seen showing their pink faces along area roadsides, and in the shadows of the forest canopy, moccasin flowers are out. On a not-the-most-exciting side of the flowering forest, those beautiful, but somewhat unwelcome non-native lupines are beginning to open their rainbow spires.

Meanwhile, the yard at Wildersmith is alive with the bluest blanket of forget-me-nots that have ever presented themselves. By alive, I mean it is much more than just countless thousands of diminutive azure petals. The blooms are alive with the throngs of buzzing critters. I haven’t waded in there, but I have to assume that they are bees or maybe black flies. Whatever insect, that drone of life is another unique setting of nature singing its song.

Phenologically speaking, the leaf-out is now complete with the first week of June. Our sugar maples along the Mile O Pine are finally unfurled.

An interesting thought comes to mind that in two short months, that foliage will have noticed that daylight minutes are diminishing. Thus their short life will begin to wane as chlorophyll production slows and those magnificent yellow, red and orange pigments take center stage. I wonder, with every summer breeze, if they’re already whispering an autumn tune.

News has come from the gang that gathered to complete final clearing of the Gneiss Lake Trail on the Chik-Wauk site. Their work is done and the Trail is ready for serious hikers. Signage is yet to be installed but I’m told that the path is marked with flagging, and some tree blazing from pre-blowdown days can be found to help guide one’s journey to blueberry hill.

My 9 to 5 day of volunteering at Chik-Wauk Museum last week gave me a chance to observe the ultimate in parental commitment. I watched as momma loon spent the entire eight hours sitting on her eggs with not a moment of relief from her mate. He was not to be seen, apparently off on an extended day of fishing.

One has to be mindful that this probably happens day after day, but one would have thought that the guy might have at least checked in once in a while. She even hooted a couple “eagle overhead” alerts that failed to register a concern.

I felt kind of sorry for the gal, yet admired her dedication to those encased cherubs. Some of us humans could do well to take a lesson in parenthood from the wild neighborhood once in a while.

Lastly, a reminder is extended to Gunflint Trail Historical Society members that the next monthly meeting is coming up this Monday, June 11. The meeting will once again be held at the Gunflint Lodge Conference Center, beginning at 1:30 pm. In addition to being the annual meeting, the agenda will feature a time of remembrance honoring Gunflint Trail friends and neighbors that have passed from our midst in the last year. All are welcome.

Keep on hangin’ on, and savor the land of sky blue waters!

Airdate: June 8, 2012

Photo courtesy of Michael Grogan via Flickr.

Recently, Steve Robertson, a naturalist with the Forest Service in Tofte, sent me a web link to the Forest History Society. I had never heard of this non-profit before, but have since learned that it was founded in 1946 and has been diligently collecting and disseminating historical data from our nation's forests. Steve directed me to their searchable database of historic photos and I was delighted to find quite a few very old photos of the Sawbill Campground, the Sawbill CCC camp and several wilderness lakes near Sawbill.

All of the old photos are fascinating, but two of them particularly caught my eye. The first was a camping scene in the Sawbill Lake campground from 1937. It is a pretty typical camping scene except that it includes all women and two are wearing dresses. We used to have a customer who canoe tripped in a skirt for many years, but otherwise, we don't see too many dresses around here. The second photo, also from the '30s, is of a road sign on Highway 61 in Tofte that lists what can be found up the Sawbill Trail and at what distances. Most of the places would be somewhat familiar to modern eyes, but it lists a "Plouff Resort" 17 miles up the Sawbill. I had never heard of Plouff Resort, but Brian Henry, retired forester from Little Marais, told me that he put some research into it when he ran across references to it in the records at the Tofte District Office of the Forest Service when he worked there. He actually found an ariel photo of the resort, which was located on the Old Grade Road, just off the Sawbill Trail and just south of the CCC camp. Brian found the site on the ground, but reported that there is really nothing left except a few scraps of metal.

Bill Plouff and his wife, whose name I can't remember, were well known pioneers along the Sawbill Trail. I presume they ran the resort that bore their name. Our family first came to Sawbill in 1957 and the Plouffs were already long gone, with only the creek, now mispronounced as "Pluff Creek", to remember them by. The late Dick Anderson, from Grand Marais, used to tell stories about working for the Plouffs when he was a kid. At that time, Dick said that they lived in a cabin on Kelly Lake. It makes me wonder if the Plouff Resort was somehow connected to prohibition. There were several resorts during that era, located in obscure spots in the woods, where it was possible to get a drink, along with maybe a card game and other illegal diversions. It's interesting that this colorful history is so little celebrated in this part of the world. I suppose it must be the influence of Scandinavian culture.

Knowing that a resort can disappear so quickly and completely makes me think about the permanence of all the human activity here in the back woods of the West End. The time may come when today's establishments are just a dim memories - hopefully, not anytime soon.

Now is the time to start thinking seriously about Marion McKeever's award winning fishcakes at Satellite's Country Inn Restaurant in Schroeder to benefit the Birch Grove Foundation. The fishcakes, along with baked potato, coleslaw, green peas, bread, rhubarb pudding and kringler, coffee, tea and milk, will be served in two shifts on Tuesday, June 12th. The first shift is over the lunch hour from 11 am to 1 pm. The second shift is during the dinner hour from 4 pm to 8 pm. Seatings are every half hour. There is a free bus departing from Birch Grove at 11:15 am for the 11:30 seating, courtesy of the Grand Marais State Bank. The bus is for all ages, but call Birch Grove if you plan to ride, so they know how many to expect. I can say from wonderful personal experience that Marion's fishcakes rank right up among the best on the shore. Not only is this a chance to help Marion make a generous contribution to Birch Grove, it's a chance to taste a genuine North Shore delicacy. Tickets are available at Satellite's, Grand Marais State Bank - Tofte Branch, Birch Grove Center, or by calling Patty Nordahl at Birch Grove, 663-7977.

Tofte 4th of July celebration is coming up fast. Don't forget to peak up your training for the infamous Tofte Trek 10 K run, founded by Jan Horak 33 years ago. You can pre-register online at toftetrek.com. Also, a reminder that the parade starts at 2 pm this year, so plan accordingly. Volunteers are still needed to run the bingo and help with children's activities, so contact the ever busy Patty Nordahl at 663-7977 if you can help.

I would like to add my condolences to all the many friends and family of Muriel Michaelson, of Tofte, who passed away last week. Muriel was an institution in Tofte and will be missed by all.

Phoebes are small birds that are common in our woods, but are most often heard and not seen. I've been noticing a pair of phoebes all spring that have been hanging around the windows of my office. Last week, I finally found their nest. They built it out of moss right on top of the outside light fixture above the front entrance to the Sawbill Store. As customers come and go, their heads pass less than two feet from the nest. The phoebes seem unfazed by the passing people. So far, most people haven't noticed the nest, but that may change when the eggs hatch and the chicks start calling for food. If need be, we will certainly block off that entrance and direct people to the side door until the chicks leave the nest.

A Public Input Meeting on the new Cook County Community Center is scheduled for 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, June 5 at the ISD #166 campus in Grand Marais. The community gymnasium will be the venue if there is a large crowd. If the group attending is smaller, the meeting will be held in the Jane Mianowski Conference Center. The meeting is designed to gather input on the new conceptual design for the center. There also may be a tour of the west end of the school bcomplex to see how the space could be reused.

In this interview, WTIP volunteer Mary Manning talks with Community Center Steering Committee chair Paul Sporn about the meeting.

Deane Morrison is a science writer at the University of Minnesota, where she authors the Minnesota Starwatch column. In this edition of Northern Sky, Deane explains what's going on in the first weeks of June. There's a partial eclipse of the moon on the fourth and a rare transit of Venus on the fifth. Learn more in this edition of Northern Sky.

Read this month's Starwatch column.

Learn more about the transit of Venus:
University of Minnesota's Venus Transit page
More on safe solar viewing during the transit of Venus from NASA

Photo courtesy of Mark Mathosian via Flickr.

Art Fenstad is a third generation North Shore resident. His kind eyes and gentle manner add warmth to his stories. He has a lot of knowledge of the North Shore—his family began fishing Lake Superior after emigrating from Scandinavia. They settled in Little Marais. But Art’s family didn’t rely solely on commercial fishing to survive. Like many fishing families on the shore they helped establish the lodging and tourism industry. 

A soaking of the Gunflint Trail continues as we have wrapped up May. I heard mention of starting to build an ark. Boat building would surely be an appropriate activity when put up against the potential for fighting wildfire that, by the way, seemed to have been going on for an eternity in border country.

The rain gauge at Wildersmith has collected nearly five inches of precip’ since the skies started opening up some 10 days ago. This is just wonderful, as similar amounts have fallen throughout the upper Gunflint watershed.

Lake levels in the territory are coming back up to snuff as rivers and streams are roaring with gushing liquid. On a recent windless morning, I heard the roar of Bridal Falls, which is several miles down the lake, echoing off the Canadian hillside in its cascade toward Gunflint Lake.

A trip toward the end of the Trail finds that waterfalls, usually trickling over the granite above Larch Creek southwest the Seagull Guard Station, are pouring water at a rate not seen in years. The crashing water there and many other places just makes one gush with relief from the long wilderness thirst.

Temperatures, meanwhile, have been seasonally pleasant, cool and just right for the moose and me. With the continuing rain, clouds have allowed only limited glimpses of sunshine over the past seven days.

When Sol has peeked out, however, it’s warmed enough to get those hungry black flies out in swarms. Netting up as I do, they’ve still found a way to get at me a number of times. Thus, I’m inflicted with several unnerving, itchy, swollen wounds.

If this isn’t enough misery, bring on the antihistamines as those stinging skeeters will be getting in line to have the next crack at us. With plenty of pooled breeding grounds being filled to overflowing, the biting forecast looks pretty bleak from now until August. Everyone had better have those window and door screens patched up!

So be it for all those nasties of the woods. It’s time to celebrate the final stanza of spring. Babies of wild neighborhood critters are beginning to feel their way in this new world. And the soon to be “strawberry moon” of June (Ode’imini Giizis) is pointing us toward the summer Solstice.

Time is jetting by as we see the longest segment of daylight on the horizon, and the ensuing trend in another direction. How can that be? Seems like we just flew past the shortest day a few weeks back?

With the passing of Memorial Day weekend most, if not all, seasonal folks have returned to paradise found. Lakeshore docks are jutting out, winter resident rodents are being evicted from cabin walls and all those inadvertent frozen water system leaks are being fixed.

Meanwhile, the green tunnel through the woods is often seen crawling with caravans of vehicles stuffed with gear and topped off with a canoe or pulling some type of boat. Summer is officially declared in spite of what the calendar says. It’s America’s vacation time and the Gunflint is the target for many.

News from the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center is that the loon pair has settled in and is sitting on eggs. With a little good fortune, perhaps we’ll have some more little Petes and “Repeats” like last year.

Viewing through binocs or a high powered camera lens from the museum front porch will afford some extraordinary up-close wildlife opportunities. So come on up, but hush is the word, chicks in the making!

On a final note, many up this way are anxiously waiting for the inaugural run of the Towering Pines Canopy Tour that is under construction on the grounds of Gunflint Lodge. Set to open sometime in early July, the zip line naturalist journey from platform to platform through the trees tops overlooking Gunflint Lake should have the flying critters in the area doing a double take.

Several of we locals are wagering on who will be the first to try it out. I have some ideas but will not divulge my thoughts. However, one thing for sure, it will not be yours truly. I’m as high off the ground as I wish to be, just sitting here at the keyboard.

Keep on hangin’ on (no pun intended), and savor a trip through the forest by any means!

Airdate: June 1, 2012

Photo courtesy of John Lillis via Flickr.

Back in March, local musher Frank Moe travelled to St. Paul by dogsled, a distance of 362 miles.  When he got there, Moe handed Governor Mark Dayton 13,000 petitions in opposition to copper/nickel/sulfide mining in Minnesota.

Moe spoke with WTIP volunteer Tracy Benson on the Wednesday, May 30 A.M. Community Calendar show about what's been happening since the journey, and efforts to create a documentary about it - "Sled Dogs to Saint Paul: The Race for Clean Water."