North Shore Morning

Money Matters is a new feature on WTIP's North Shore Morning.
Scott Oeth is a certified financial planner and adjunct professor who has taught financial professionals about retirement planning and wealth management strategies.

Money Matters with Scott will air on WTIP on the First Wednesday of the month on North Shore Morning.

It's a whole different world underneath our snowpack.

WTIP's CJ Hiethoff talks with naturalist Chel Anderson about subnivean microbes in this edition of North Woods Naturalist.

Superior Reviews - by Lin Salisbury.
"Olive Again" by Elizabeth Strout.

In this edition, Lin reviews Elizabeth Strout's "Olive Again", the sequel to her best selling book, "Olive Kitteridge".

WTIP's North Shore Morning host, Jane Alexander talks with Cook County Public Health and Human Services Executive Administrative Assistant, Sara Hadley for this month's PHHS update.

Superior National Forest Update – January 30, 2020.

Hi.  This is Steve Robertsen, education and interpretation specialist with the Superior National Forest and our National Forest Update.  We are just about done with the cloudiest January on record, so let’s all hope that February has some of those clear blue skies that Minnesota is famous for.

My personal favorite winter weather is clear bright sun and a temperature of about 10 to 15 degrees.  And no wind.  10 to 15 degrees means that snow isn’t wet at all, and I can use green wax on my skis which hard enough that it doesn’t get my hands all sticky.  It also is cold enough that you don’t get overheated when you are skiing or snowshoeing, but isn’t so cold that you need spacesuit level outerwear to keep from freezing.  I’m firmly in the camp that gets annoyed at weather forecasters on the radio that sound happy and excited by winter weather when it gets into the upper twenties, or even above freezing.  It’s winter.  It’s supposed to be cold.

The dogs in the Beargrease dogsled race last weekend are mostly in that camp as well.  It was a warm race this year, great for race watchers, but a bit harder for the dogs.  For those that turned out to watch the race, it was, as it always is, a lot of fun.  And for those who were racing, thank you!  The Beargrease and the Gunflint Mail Run are always among the highlights of the winter.

The coming weekends offer some fun of a different nature.  This weekend, February 1st, the Cook County Snowmobile Club is having its annual fun run.  Snowmobile trails may be pretty busy, so be sure to watch out for snowmobiles at road crossing, and if you are on a sled, watch for cars as well as your fellow snowmobilers.  Visit the Snowmobile Club’s website at cook county snowmobile club .com for more details.

The following weekend, on February 15th, the North Superior Ski and Run Club is having the annual Pincushion Ski Festival.  The Ski and Run Club will have racing and touring in several categories from skate skiing to wooden ski events, followed by skijoring and the Y-Ski Winter Carnival.  Visit their website pincushion trails .org for more details.  And, while you are online, visit the National Forest website too and download a georeferenced map of the Pincushion Trails to your phone.  It’s always nice to know where you are. 

And, of course, one more time… if you are skiing, make sure you have a Great Minnesota Ski Pass.  If you’re snowmobiling, make sure your machine is properly licensed.  These passes and licenses pay for the trails you use, and are required on trails like Pincushion Ski Trails and the North Shore State Snowmobile Trail.  As much as we may wish otherwise, groomed trails do not spring magically up in the winter woods, and if we want to continue to enjoy them, we have to pay for them.

Roads are in good shape, but watch out as some freezing drizzle is in the forecast.  Things can get slippery in a hurry when that happens, and often the ice isn’t visible.  Be sure as well to keep your car’s windshield washer tank filled up – you can go through a lot of that with freezing drizzle.  Snowbanks on roads are restricting vision at intersections, so be cautious.  We’ve had several moose seen recently.  Moose are not dumb animals, and they realize that it is lot easier to walk on a plowed road than it is through drifts of snow.  Unfortunately, they don’t realize that puts them in danger from cars.  It’s great to see a moose, but not so great if the moose is about ten feet from your bumper and you are going forty miles per hour.

There’s a bit of timber being hauled, so you’ll have to watch for trucks as well as moose.  If you are in the Gunflint District, trucks are using the Hall Road, Cook County 14, Cook County 60, Firebox Road, Greenwood Road, and the Sunfish Lake Road.  On the Tofte District, trucks are using the Trappers Lake/Sawbill Landing Road, Perent Lake Road, The Grade, and Cook County 27.

So, although some may think it’s crazy, I’m going to hope for colder weather, at least for the next month.  I think all of us can get behind hoping for more sun, and no more freezing drizzle. 

Until next time, this has been Steve Robertsen with the National Forest Update.
 

Wildersmith on the Gunflint     by     Fred Smith
January 31, 2020    
           
The territory heads into February having been on the mild side during January’s last segment. Although we have not been above the freezing mark in this neighborhood, temps in the teens to twenties have been not only comfortable, they’re down right balmy. Clouds having been the order, if there‘d been any sunshine, one would have been tempted to slip out onto the deck and catch a few rays. Gunflinters are tough!                                                                                            
 

The snow happening in the upper Gunflint of a week ago did not match the previous weekend. Nevertheless, the Wildersmith fluff accumulated enough to require a few more hours of shoveling, blading and blowing to put the stuff in its place. All of this occurred while I battled my annual episode of the January “crud.”                                                                                                       
 
With the second sled dog event of the season quietly trekking through the Gunflint woods last Monday, and being so unusually warm, one would think it was not as pleasant as the canines’ and their mushers appreciate. These furry athletes have a much greater affection for minus temperatures, so there was likely slower daytime running and more aggressive running in the darkness hours.                                                                                                                                                              

It seems certain, this leg of the 36^th John Beargrease Marathon, through the Gunflint wilderness, was a laborious test of their love to run. One hopes a little cool down blessed them as they headed toward the Grand Portage finish line. See the John Beargrease Sled Dog Race online for more historic insights.  By the way this was a qualifying event for The Anchorage/Wasilla to Nome Iditerod.                                                                                                                                                             

Speaking of laboring, yours truly has a number of cold season tasks including wintertime brush burning and a few sawdust producing jobs in the wood shop. Notwithstanding the sniffles and coughing, I have been delayed getting at those jobs in order to rake snow off the roof. This past week was my second repetition since the first of 2020.                                                                                                                                    
 

This necessary, but un-pleasant chore has an equivalent value similar to cleaning up the woods after a wind storm. Of my favorite things to do in wild country, it’s about a minus one, on a range of ten.                                                                                                                                                           
 
“Survival of the fittest” and “being the cleverest” are buzz slogans in our “wild neighborhood.” I observed an interesting happening confirming being clever is a necessity of life in some situations. This circumstance involved a couple blue jays at the feed trough and a ham bone.                                                                                                                                                                           

The jays were recently hanging out with many of the neighborhood blue bully clan feasting on seeds, corn on the cob, suet, peanut butter cakes and a left over ham as the daily special. Quite a menu Huh! The jays took a keen liking to the greasy residuals on the bone.                                                                                                                     
 

For once they seemed actually courteous, lining up one after another to peck away at the goodies. This went on for better part of an hour until the boney process was nearly bare.                   
 

As final pecks appeared to be in order, two of the “Gunflint Blues” were on the tray together, within inches of each other. One, appeared to have rank over the other, perched right on the bone, and stabbed a chunk of remaining soft tissue. Proudly, it straightened up in front of its’ kin showing off the prized element.                                                                                                                         
 

Bad decision! Before it could lift off, the other cocked its head, and promptly pecked the porky treat right from the other’s beak, going air-borne in an instant.                                                                              
It was not exactly an act of picking the other’s pocket as one faced-up and without hesitation, pilfered right in front of the victims’ eyes..                                                                                                                          
 

This avian antic was obviously “clever,” if not more, plainly opportunistic. In the animal world, like many human situations, “survival” incorporates being clever and opportunistic. This wild country incident was an amusing example, as it revealed itself at the Wildersmith critters’ lunch line.                                                                                                                                                                                    

For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, as all of Nature has meaning and beauty!
 

What do cold weather courting and snow depth have in common?  Great Horned Owls have to carefully manage both of those things this time of year.  WTIP's CJ Heithoff talks with naturalist Chel Anderson to find out more in this edition of North Woods Naturalist.

Students in the “Otters” classroom at Great Expectations School in Grand Marais are excited to announce an ambitious educational adventure. The class of 17 seventh- and eighth-graders will be traveling to Costa Rica on March 10-17, as part of Global Education Squads.

Global Education Squads is an organization that works to improve education around the world by connecting volunteer schools like Great Expectations with host schools and communities in underdeveloped areas like Ghana, Honduras, and Costa Rica.

While in Costa Rica, students will help build needed infrastructure and will work with local students in a classroom or daycare setting. In the evenings, students will attend classes and activities to learn about the area’s culture, history, and environment.

For more information about Global Education Squads, visit their website.

To help meet the costs of this service-learning trip for the Otters, a Go Fund Me page has been set up. Information can also be found on the Facebook page for Great Expectations School.

A lively fundraiser is also planned for Sunday, January 26 from 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the First Congregational Church in Grand Marais. There will be a chili feed, a bake sale, live music, a silent auction and the opportunity to meet the students working to get to Costa Rica.

The community is invited to “help support kids who want to make a difference.”

WTIP's Rhonda Silence sat down with two students who are making the trip, Grace and Sol. Here's more on the event and the upcoming fundraiser. 

Wildersmith on the Gunflint     by     Fred Smith
January 24, 2020    

Our Gunflint January is heading into its’ last stanza, swooshing along like cross country skis on a border country trail. I guess the age of reason is lost when contemplating the way time slips away.                                                                                                                                                                          

We’ve reached the meteorological coldest point of the season in this part of the world with one month of the winter calendar into the books. By next week at this time, the beam of light from the February express will be barreling toward the station.                                                                   

That being said, for those longing for warmth of spring, conditions will begin slowly ticking upwards as we’ve already gained a half hour of daylight since the Solstice. A sure sign “Zigwan” (spring) will eventually come, arrived in the mail the other day as I received the first seed and plant catalog.                                                                                                                                                                 

However, at this point we north woods folks know what can happen over the next three to four months. We have yet to experience a long Polar Vortex and snow in May is almost always a possibility.                                                                                                                                                                 

The recent “snowmageddon” was intimidating throughout the Arrowhead with a variety of new amounts ranging up to nearly twenty inches. It made for difficult travel conditions, and for the first time since we’ve moved here, there was a warning of “no Travel advised” on the Gunflint Trail during the height of the storm.                                                                                                                     

Along the Trail, depths ranged from near fifteen inches in the mid-Trail area to six inches up toward end of the Trail at Seagull Lake. Here in the Wildersmith neighborhood, the Smith’s recorded nine.                                                                                                                                                                                  

Since there’s no business like “snow” business, folks needing the white stuff to sustain their cold season livelihood are ecstatic. For those of us who have to plow, scoop and pull it off roof tops, it’s becoming a challenge finding room to stack it all.                                                                  

While yours truly remains passionate about the build-up and beauty of crystallized liquid, I must confess my aging body groans a little when removal occurrences become too frequent. A couple inches are as bad as a foot, you have to deal with both, and this neighborhood gets frequent nuisance snows requiring attention. This being noted, Gunflint Trail life still beats the mayhem of urban living, and heat of more preferred retirement locales.                                                              

As usual, those living along the Trail, in the higher elevations “Snow Zone”, have had much more to date. At Wildersmith our cumulative total is sixty inches since the fluff was first measureable in October.                                                                                                                                   

Heavy snow did not deter fisher people on the opening day of lake trout season. Mini settlements of temporary shacks sprung up on area lakes like spring plant shoots on a sunny day. The first anglers sped by Wildersmith before daylight last Saturday morning.                                                    

My good friend down the Mile O Pine, and a couple buddies from Metropolis, report the ice on Gunflint Lake, where they were located, at fifteen inches with minimal slush difficulties.                                                                                                                                                                              

While their catching fortunes were not too exciting, the adventure of ice fishing is always great. I’m told trout they pulled through the hole were small and not prolific, but its’ likely those circumstances could change at any moment. Other anglers surely hit some big ones on at least some of the 1500 lakes in the county. Regardless of catching fate, the lure of the search will go on as it has for countless centuries.                                                                                                             

An interesting critter combination showed up for hand-outs recently. The foxy gal was here as usual and grabbed her treat, retreating some distance to gnaw of the frozen fowl. It was at this moment a pair of whiskey jacks swooped in attempting to grab a share of the goodies. In this case these treats were left-over hash browns.                                                                                               

They had barely pecked up a few shreds when the fox took notice and ran them off, once again, scarfing up another poultry part and moving a way to enjoy. This scene was repeated again with members of the local blue jay clan barging in with their gray cousins only to be dispatched once more. In the end, my furry friend prevailed but it was not a pleasant dining experience having to eat and run repeatedly.                                                                                                               

As I digest this happening, I’m wondering if those Jacks (gray jays) were following that fox, knowing wherever it traveled, there was likely a morsel of nutrition to be had, perhaps like ravens and vultures pursuing land based critters to a kill site                                                                                         

Sadness prevails again this week along Gunflint Lake as word on the passing of another longtime resident has been received. Barbara Graham of Des Moines, Iowa and a seasonal resident on the Mile O Pine passed away on Wednesday, January 15^th in hospice care at the age of 97.                                                                                                                                                                                   

Barbara and husband John, who preceded her in death, were among the earliest residents along Gunflint Lake on the MOP, dating back into the early 1960’s. Barbara was a charming friend and neighbor. She so loved this special place, Barbara and her family have supported many causes along the Gunflint Trail with gracious philanthropic acts of kindness. 
                                                                           
Gunflint Community condolences are extended to her family and many friends.                                        

For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where we savor the majesty of every day in this natural world!
 

From bear cubs being born to artic smoke and steam devils, there's plenty happening in the natural world as we approach the end of January.

WTIP's CJ Heithoff talks with naturalist Chel Anderson about the marvels of January in this edition of North Woods Naturalist.