North Shore Weekend
- Saturday 7-10am
Superior National Forest Update - August 9
-National Forest Update – August 8, 2019
Hi. I’m Steve Robertsen, interpretation and education specialist with the Superior National Forest. This is the National Forest Update for the week of August 9, 2019. It’s late summer: fireweed and asters are blooming, blueberries are ripe, locusts are buzzing, and a few white crowned sparrows have begun singing as they work their way south. It’s a wonderful time to get outside and go for a walk in the woods.
Our recent batch of cloudbursts has damped down the forest so that fire danger is low right now. That’s giving our fire people a chance to do some fuel reduction work along the Gunflint Trail. You may have noticed that there are piles along the Gunflint from the Brule River to the East Bearskin Road. We are using contractors to clear out small diameter balsam fir in this area. Small firs are what are called ladder fuels – trees that basically can carry a fire up to the tops of the big pines and start a crown fire. We’re clearing them out along roadsides so that in the event of a fire, the road would remain usable for evacuation and fire fighting for a longer amount of time. You can expect to see this activity along roads for the next three to five years.
Cloudbursts have also given us a chance to do some grading, so roads are mostly in good shape. We aren’t aware of any washouts from the rain, but it wouldn’t be surprising if there are. If you encounter any, please let us know so that we can get those areas repaired. Culvert work is continuing on the Grade, but is currently not requiring long closures. Expect only short delays if you are traveling in that area. The wet weather has made working in the woods difficult, but logging operations are continuing in some areas. Watch for logging traffic in Tofte on the Dumbell River Road, Wanless Road, Perent Lake Road, Lake County 705, the 4 Mile Grade, The Grade, Cook County 27, and Cook County 8. In the Gunflint District, hauling is going on on the Lima Grade, the South Brule Road, the Cascade River Road, the Pike Lake Road, Cook County 7, Cook County 6, and on the Superior Hiking Trail southeast of Cook County 6.
We’ve been talking for a while now about Smokey Bear’s 75th birthday – and it has finally arrived! On August 9th you can party with the bear, get a picture, and sign a birthday card. Smokey’s look has changed through the years, but his message has remained the same… well, ok, it did change a little. He used to say ‘Only you can prevent forest fires’ and now because we understand that some fire is necessary for good forest ecology, he says ‘Only you can prevent wild fires’. Accidental human caused ignitions are not what we want on the forest, and Smokey has been right all these years… only you can prevent them by making sure your campfire is dead out, following regulations on burning brush, and teaching your children not to play with fire. It’s sad to say, but in 2016, data showed that still 9 out of 10 wildfires were caused by humans, around 60,000 each year. Only you can change those figures.
Smokey’s mischievous cousins are still misbehaving at some of our campgrounds. Be sure to look for current bear alerts at the campground registration kiosks, or talk to the campground host about bear activity. But, whether there is activity or not, keep a clean camp, store food in your vehicle, and dispose of garbage immediately in the proper container. Bar dumpster lids after closing. It is much easier to keep a bear from becoming a problem than to deal with a bear once it has become a problem.
So, join us for Smokey’s birthday, or do what he probably would like to do and go for a hike in the beautiful summer weather, snacking on blueberries as you go.
Until next week, this is Steve Robertsen with the National Forest Update.
Wildersmith on the Gunflint - August 9
-Wildersmith on the Gunflint
by Fred Smith
August 9, 2019
The universe has passed the half way point between the solstice and the equinox, and summer days are beginning to wane. Nevertheless, Gunflint happenings continue with zest. Aside from angling, paddling, hiking, swimming and countless other North Country recreation opportunities, several organized events remain before vacation time ends and school days begin.
In advance of itemizing things on the calendar, summer days are edging more toward fall. I see a few immature maples trees have joined Dogbane in the observation of decreasing daylight minutes. Some of these twiggy youngsters are feeling the notion to ease chlorophyll production in favor of autumnal pigments.
At ground level, more gold has popped out in the name of Black eyed Susan’s. One cannot drive too many places along the Trail or back country roads without catching a glimpse of their bright yellow faces giving you a dark eyed wink. Several other aurous blossomed plants are waiting in the wings, and may debut during the next week.
Upper Trail weather conditions have been near perfect since our last WTIP gathering, warm, but not hot, with a couple meager rain showers keeping the August dust to a minimum.
Following the mid-Trail fundraising celebration of a few days ago, this next week is a buzz with events to keep everyone hopping from place to place.
Monday finds the Gunflint Trail Historical Society kicking things off with their August membership meeting. The site is the Seagull Community Center (fire hall # 3) beginning at 1:30 pm. Following business reports, the program features Richard Fink sharing history of “The Bunn Family of Swanson’s Lodge.” Treats and conversation will follow. All members and friends are invited.
The schedule for later in the week gets really hectic. Friday, the 16th, the Dark Sky Caravan arrives at end of the Trail for the first of its two day run. Programs get under way in the University of Minnesota Duluth Geo Dome at 6:00 pm in the Seagull Community Center, and extend until 10:30 both Friday and Saturday.
As darkness consumes the territory, telescopes in the adjacent parking lot will provide visitors with a chance to get up close and personal with the full “blueberry moon” as UMD students provide assistance and commentary on our Trails’ end night sky.
This is a great show and was well received last year. All residents and visitors are invited. It would be a good idea to bring bug dupe and a flash lite (it’s extremely dark when it’s time to find your vehicle at departure time). The Gunflint Trail Historical Society will be serving beverage and treats too.
Then on Sunday, folks can get a double dip of activities. At 2:00 pm Dr. Seth Moore, from Grand Portage will be presenting a Sunday program in the Nature Center at Chik-Wauk. Dr. Moore will be sharing his research information on Lake Trout.
Things move back down the Trail for the 7th annual Gunflint, Woods, Winds, Strings and a Little Jazz Concert. Music will ring out into the forest beginning at 4:00pm in Fire Hall #1. A meet and greet the artists reception will follow in the Schaap Community Center. Last minute ticket reservations can be made by contacting Patsy Colemen @ 313-673-6202.
One final event notice is extended reminding Trail folks and others within listening distance to mark their calendars for the annual Pie & Ice Cream Social put on by the GTHS at Chik-Wauk. Sunday, September 1st is the date to mark as we celebrate the Labor Day weekend. Serving the sweetness of Gunflint Trail pastry artisans begins at 11:00 am and runs until 4:00 pm.
As a special treat, the Northshore Community Swing band will also be playing to sweeten the day even more, and early Holiday shopping can begin at the Chik-Wauk sidewalk sale. Being a Society fundraiser too, a suggested donation of $5 per slice per person is appreciated.
As a reminder to all who usually provide the pies, Coordinator, Judy Edlund would like to hear that your pastry will be appear. Please give her a call at 388-4400 to confirm.
Phew, is that a list or what?
In closing, if you didn’t get to the Nature Center last Friday or Saturday, to be in on the Monarch hatching, or observe it on Facebook, you missed a rare, seldom seen natural world happening.
Seven chrysalises opened into those orange and black beauties right in their screened incubator. After drying their wings for four hours, they were happily released into the border country wild.
Don’t despair if you missed the first batch, and are interested, there are additional ops to see this magic, as several more egg to caterpillar to chrysalis to butterflies, are being monitored in the facility. Watch for progress updates on the Chik-Wauk website over the next couple weeks. Those who watched were simply enchanted!
For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, each so incredibly beautiful and naturally comforting!
Superior National Forest Update - August 2
-Superior National Forest Update - August 2, 2019
Renee Frahm is a Visitor Information Specialist with the USDA Forest Service, Superior National Forest.
Wildersmith on the Gunflint - August 2
-Wildersmith on the Gunflint by Fred Smith August 2, 2019
August has slipped in the back door just when folks were getting accustomed to July. While some bemoan month eight as summer at its end, there are many days left on the summer calendar. With wild babies yet to grow and flowers still to bloom, the Gunflint territory can look forward to warm season opportunities for a few more weeks.
Notwithstanding all this summertime talk, I’ve detected a snippet of fall in a few places along back country roads. Yes, Dogbane is signaling of change to come with its ground level golden hue. Along with fireweed, these perennial north woods floras seem to always be the first to spill the news. Added to this reveal, a few days ago brisk northwesters and high temps barely into the sixties confirmed my autumnal disclosures with a cool air freshness requiring the closure of windows at Wildersmith.
Previous to our brief cool down, the upper Trail had been privy to splendid atmospheric conditions. With about an even split between days of sun and clouds, temps have been tolerable, while a couple of thunder boomers sandwiched in, coughed up nearly an inch and one half in the Wildersmith neighborhood and likely more in the elevated mid-Trail areas.
A couple of lightning strikes caused some angst for fire and emergency crews. One such set off a small blaze over near Daniels Lake and another struck near a campsite of Girl Scouts in the BWCA. In both situations, after affects resulted in the fire being controlled by FS crews while Search and Rescue folks found the scouts to be unharmed.
As August is the month of the Ojibwe, “blueberry moon”, reports tell me the harvest of the blue-purple gems is not too prolific in several secret patches. Guess, a lot of bushes just have no fruit, and what berries being found are somewhat small. Not knowing what’s to blame, we’ll tack it on the black fly pollinators and the “rain gods,” both of which did not fulfill their usual responsibility. Nevertheless, pickers are still out along the Trail in the bush gathering what they can.
From what I can see, June berries, and wild raspberries look to be sparse as well. However, it appears there will be a bumper crop of mountain ash and thimble berries both of which will be welcomed by the bears.
Speaking of harvests in another aspect, the green count for Canoe Races “43” has been tallied. This years’ contribution to the Gunflint Trail Volunteer Fire and Rescue Department was over $22,000. Adding a little race trivia, over 120 racers participated and just fewer than 400 people were served in the food tent. A job well done by all!
With the paddling races into the history books, attention points to the next Trail event. Wednesday, the 7th is the big day in mid-Trail neighborhood. Activity begins at the mid-day hour with the flea market, Gunflint’s version of “American Pickers.” At the same time, artisan creations will be on sale in the boutique, and this is followed by the, always fun, live auction. The afternoon concludes with the quilt raffle drawing. All County and Trail residents and visitors are invited, it’s always a blast!
Excitement in the mid-Trail area will have barely settled down, as eleven days later, on the 18th, the forest will break out in an afternoon of music, with the Gunflint Woods, Winds, Strings and a Little Jazz. Many talented area performers, both returning and new, will strike the first notes at 4:00 pm in Fire Hall #1.
Seating is limited to one hundred fifty, and reservations go fast, so get on the phone to Patsy Coleman @ 313-673-6202 ASAP. Proceeds from both of the above mentioned events go to the GTVFD after expenses.
Last week I mentioned the increased hummingbird activity around Wildersmith. In the days since, the chase for nectar has broken into all out warfare. The combative little gals/guys are in non-stop airborne combat with aerial acrobatics probably unheard of by even the most skilled USAF flyers.
When a stop at the sweetness bottle does occur, the pause is for scarcely a couple seconds. It’s a wonder they can even get a gulp before being driven off. In any event, it’s made for a wild air show, daybreak to darkness.
In closing, mark your calendars for August 16 and/or 17. The GTHS in partnership with the University of Minnesota Duluth is bringing the Dark Sky Caravan up to end of the Trail once again. Come and celebrate a rising of the “blueberry moon” and the fiftieth anniversary of landing on the moon. More details next week.
For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, as our summer song leads into the final stanza.
To Minnesota with Love - Driving in Delhi
-“To Minnesota with Love” is an audio-postcard series by Christina MacGillivray with stories from around the world produced exclusively for WTIP.
Christina is a transplant from Minnesota to India where she has lived for eight years. She produces films in different countries and “To Minnesota With Love” are stories from these travels.
In this edition, Christina tells us about "Driving in Delhi".
Wildersmith on the Gunflint - July 26
-Wildersmith on the Gunflint by Fred Smith July 26, 2019
It seems hardly believable we can see the end of July as this Gunflint scribing comes your way. But it’s true, as our next WTIP gathering will be in August.
While a major share of the Midwest was sweltering in miserable heat over the past week, we in the Northern Riviera dodged a bullet. Although it was warm and sticky at times, we can be thankful the mercury was nowhere near the triple digits.
Further appreciation is expressed with another good dose of rain since our last audio meeting. A nice down pour dropped nearly an inch in the Wildersmith neighborhood.
The wet occurrence came during a brilliant, but spooky lightning display over Gunflint Lake and the surrounding area, just a short time after the annual canoe races finished the forty-third yearly paddle.
It would seem the forest couldn’t have avoided a lightning strike somewhere. To date though, I’ve seen neither smoke nor heard reports of such. However, one can never rule out a sky to ground contact smoldering that might pop up in days ahead. In the meantime, Gunflinter’s will keep their fingers crossed hoping there is no issue.
Speaking more of the canoe races, the event was another huge success with throngs of people cheering on the racers in a sundry of different race classes. Further, visitors and supporters dug deep to pool funds in support of our firefighters and emergency crews. While contribution dollars are still coming in, there is no final tally to report, but it appears 2019 will be similar to the $20,000 plus of last year.
Two items can be confirmed though; number one, the winner of the Wenonah Kayak is Dan DuCharme of Hudson, Wisconsin, and number two, is everyone had a good time! Huge thanks are extended to organizers and their crew of community volunteers on a job well done!
With August in sight, I’d like to give a shout out for the seventh annual afternoon of the Classical and Jazz Music concert. Gunflint Woods, Winds, Strings…and a Little Jazz will be collaborating with a “Sound of Music” in the Gunflint Forest on Sunday August 18 at 4:00 pm. The event will again be held at the Fire Hall #1 (Mid-Trail).
Tickets can be reserved by contacting Patsy Coleman @313-673-6202 or online @ [email protected]. As in past years, all proceeds, after expenses, will go to the GTVFD.
The mid-Trail hoedown fundraiser organizers remind folks, tickets are still being sold for their big raffle on August 7th. The time for this event commences at the noontime hour with the flea market, at Fire Hall # 1 & Schaap Community Center.
To say it’s busy along the Trail this time of year is pretty much and understatement. Activity at the Chik-Wauk Campus continues. This weeks’ Sunday program at the Nature Center features a concert with Jazz Guitarist Briann Morrison and Vocalist partner Roxanne Bergland. This end of the Trail performance will begin at 2:00 pm and all visitors, friends and neighbors are invited. The concert is free, but goodwill donations are appreciated.
I’m hearing bear activity in the mid-Trail area has diminished somewhat. Perhaps it’s due to the coming of the blues, blueberries that is.
The “Biggest Blueberry Contest” is now under way up the Trail. Designated weigh-in sites are posted, and I’m beginning to see empty vehicles parked at the usual spots along the black-top indicating pickers are out there somewhere, buckets in hand.
There have been no reports of harvest quantity, but the recent rains must have helped. We’ll see what reports come in during the days ahead.
During my volunteer day at the Nature Center last Saturday, I observed a number of excited pickers bring in their prizes to be weighed, many of them youngsters, with blue stained paws, so not all were being weighed.
Finally, while bear activity appears to have calmed, arrivals and departures from the hummingbird nectar station at Wildersmith have exploded. The mini birds have been AWOL for long periods so far this summer, but all that is history now as they are tanking up at the rate of a bottle a day. They have even dive bombed me, as I put up the re-fills. Happy days are here again!
For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, as July pulls away from this idyllic location!
.thumbnail.jpg "Star Map July 2019 by Deane Morrison")
Northern Sky: July 20 - Aug 2
-NORTHERN SKY - Deane Morrison
July 20 - August 2, 2019
Today, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing on July 20, I’d like to talk about how it happened and why it was scientifically important.
On July 20, 1969 the moon was a waxing crescent in the evening sky. The Apollo 11 astronauts had a landing site all picked out near the border with Earth’s shadow, where it was just past sunrise. As the computer aboard the lunar module, the Eagle, guided them down, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin watched the moonscape go by below them. At about 33,000 feet, an alarm suddenly went off. Nothing in their training had prepared them to figure out what it was. They spent several minutes trying to identify it before Mission Control finally told them not to worry; it was just the Eagle’s computer reacting to being overloaded.
While the astronauts were chasing this wild goose, the lunar module used a lot of propellant fuel, and when the fuel tank dipped to half full, the propellant started sloshing around and knocking the module every which way. The sloshing also set off a “low fuel” alarm prematurely, and so the crew thought they had less time to land than they actually did.
These issues also kept Armstrong from checking out the landing site visually. At about 2,000 feet, he finally did, and he saw that the site was a boulder field—not smooth ground at all. At about 540 feet, Armstrong took manual control of the spacecraft. Despite the disruptions, he was able to guide the lunar module past the boulder field and set it down with just 20 seconds left before they would have been forced to land wherever they were or abort the landing.
Apollo 11 brought back 46 pounds of moon rocks. In all, 842 pounds of moon rocks came back on Apollo spacecraft. The oldest are 4.5 billion years old, same age as Earth. They indicated that the moon, like Earth, was also once covered by an ocean of magma. But unlike Earth, which has an iron core, the moon has very little iron and came from the same stuff as Earth’s mantle. These findings support what was once a radical idea: that the moon didn’t condense out of the same cloud of solar system material as Earth, nor was it captured later by Earth, but it formed when another planetary body collided with an infant Earth that was still molten. The collision knocked out material from Earth’s mantle, and perhaps from the other body, and this material coalesced to become the moon.
Also, moon rocks record impacts from collisions, and the number of impacts apparently spiked around 700 million years after Earth and the moon formed. An explanation for why so many more objects should have been flying around the solar system and hitting the moon—and Earth, of course—at that time is part of a leading theory of how the solar system formed. Simply put, it says that early on, gravitational interactions between Jupiter and Saturn destabilized the entire solar system and pushed the orbits of Saturn, Uranus and Neptune farther out. This changing gravitational landscape disrupted the orbits of numerous small bodies far from the sun, collectively called protoplanetary debris, and scattered them throughout the solar system. The result was an outbreak of collisions that lasted until most of the debris was cleared. And this outbreak, called the late heavy bombardment, left its signature in the spike of impacts imprinted in the moon rocks.
Scientists are still debating exactly how the moon formed and what the moon rocks tell us. But by any measure, these rocks are among the most valuable items of all time.
Deane Morrison writes the Minnesota Starwatch column for the University of Minnesota’s Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics.
Wildersmith on the Gunflint - July 19
-Wildersmith on the Gunflint by Fred Smith
July 19, 2019
Commencing this weeks’ Gunflint scoop finds the weather outside’s been frightful. Hot and humid has quite a few of us thinking of frost, including the moose. The land of natural air conditioning is on the “fritz.”
One positive about the atmospheric conditions was the territory at long last got a dose of rain. Amounts were spotty from the few reports received with the mid-Trail area getting the most. In this Gunflint Lake neighborhood, the Wildersmith gauge gathered just shy of eight tenths of an inch. Then another round dumped a half inch or better just a few days ago.
Although we can always use more, it soaked up the forest floor to ease wild fire danger somewhat. One thing it didn’t do was add much to the watershed whereby declining lake levels might be stabilized.
So with lake water temps going up, surface levels are still going down. By the way lake water temps here on the Gunflint Gal are hovering around the seventy-two-degree mark.
A related rain note comes with a minus sign. The moisture seems to have energized, excited and enraged the mosquito population. Couple this blood-sucking component with the stickiness, and conditions have made for less than human comfort.
It’s hard to tell if the rain did the wild berry crops any good. I’ve been getting a few discouraging reports on the blueberry crop, and my observation of June Berries looks about the same.
While thinking of the sweet berry harvest, those thoughts probably seem a little premature. However, my speculations of autumn were awakened a few days ago on a trip up toward end of the Trail.
Hidden in a few select locations, I observed golden leaves on some juvenile birch trees. It could be the dry conditions are responsible, but maybe not as the daylight minutes have diminished since the solstice, sending a signal to some green things. I’ll get a lot more excited about the autumnal coming when I see Dogbane turning gold along the roadsides.
In related flora notes, as the summer calendar completes the one-third segment, early blooms of the invading Hawkweed and Lupine are beginning to fade and rosehips have cast off those rosy-pink petals in a number of places. In the mid to late summer categories, I see Cow Parsnips and Fireweed making initial appearances along with that nasty sweet white clover, so perhaps the juvenile birches know something we don’t
All of us at WTIP are in a recovery mode after a great six day run for the “Radio of 2000 Lakes” summer membership drive. What a sensational showing of love and support for North Shore Community Radio.
The Board of Directors, staff and dozens of volunteers are indeed grateful for the pledges by new and renewing members and business underwriters to keep this radio “phenom” going full speed ahead. Thanks so much!
Joining the WTIP family can still happen, so if anyone listening missed their chance to pledge, it can still be done with a call or a click.
Final results of the forty-third Gunflint Trail canoes races are yet to be revealed as the event completed a paddling extravaganza this past Wednesday. I’ll have details in next weeks’ news.
In the meantime, folks along the Gunflint should mark their calendars for the next big Community happening. The annual Mid-Trail flea market, gift boutique and auction will be held on Wednesday, August 7th, at the Schaap Community Center.
I’m told the 2019 quilt edition is another beauty, and tickets are on sale throughout the area. So one and all should get their tickets, you can’t win, if you don’t enter. The drawing for this grand prize will end a day of fun and fundraising for the GTVFD.
I just received word from the Nature Center at Chik-Wauk about a natural world exhibit that not many humans get to observe. A live display of Monarch caterpillars in the chrysalis stage of development has been brought in from a milk weed patch in the north woods. It will be interesting to watch their progress toward the day when they can be released as orange & black beauties. Visitors better not delay getting up there to see this marvelous exhibit “Mother Nature” will not wait.
Sunday programming at the Chik-Wauk Nature Center resumes this weekend. The Campus welcomes back David Battistel, Gunflint Researcher/Historian from Thunder Bay. David will talk about “LeeBlain…Ghost Town of the Gunflint.” The program will commence at 2:00 pm, all are invited to hear this seldom heard chapter of Gunflint history.
A reminder that Tuesday, “Kids Day” at the Nature Center continues 11:00 to 4:00, and Tuesday USFS presentations also happen up at the Museum beginning at 2:00pm.
Also next week, look for new programing on Thursday afternoons, beginning the 25th. Campus visitors can take a trip through the “Nighttime Galaxy” with Joel and Josh in the Nature Center, beginning around the three o’clock hour.
This is the first event in a pilot of exploratory partnership between the GTHS at Chik-Wauk, the USFS Gunflint Ranger District and the University of Minnesota Duluth. More information will be forth coming.
For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, as the buzz of summer takes on many meanings!
Superior National Forest Update - July 19
-Superior National Forest Update
Steve Robertsen
July 19, 2019
Midsummer. Warm days, sun, mosquitoes, and thunderstorms. It’s a time of year for all kinds of outdoor activities, and the busiest time out in the Forest. People who have been out have been asking the Forest Service a lot about outbreaks of spruce budworm in several places around our side of the Superior National Forest. This is a species of moth whose caterpillar specializes in eating the buds and needles of spruce, although in reality, it is more often found eating balsam fir instead of spruce. It will first cause the ends of the branches to go brown, then strip the needles from the tree, then create large silk bags which shelter several of the insects while they pupate and change to the adult moth. It is a native species, not an invader. Like the eastern forest tent caterpillar, known locally as army worms, spruce budworm has outbreaks where a certain area on a certain year will host huge numbers of budworms. Trees will recover if they are in good health to begin with and if they are not defoliated two or three seasons in a row.
On a forest scale, outbreaks are usually left to run their course, ending once the food supply has been reduced. Dead trees after an outbreak can be a wildfire hazard, so we often do some type of management to reduce fuel in afflicted areas. Individual trees, like a favorite in your yard, can be treated with the insecticide Bt. This insecticide is effective, but also kills other moths and butterflies which are both lovely and beneficial, so it is best used in a limited way to save specific trees.
Of course, there’s more than just budworm out there though. The Heck Epic mountain bike race takes place this weekend. The course runs from Two Harbors to Grand Marais and back. Bikers will be fairly well spaced out, so watch for individual bikers on roadsides. You should also be watching for log trucks because there is a fair amount of log hauling going on. In Tofte, haulers are on the same roads as last week – the Dumbell River Road, Wanless Road, Lake County 705, the Four Mile Grade, the Grade, and Cook County 27 and 8. On the Gunflint District, hauling is happening on the Lima Grade, South Brule Road, Greenwood Road, Firebox Road, Blueberry Road, Cascade River Road, Pike Lake Road, and Cook County 6 and 7. There is also hauling across the Superior Hiking Trail southeast of Cook County 6.
Beginning this week, culvert replacement will be happening on the Grade’s east end from Brule Lake east to Two Island Lake. I’m planning on staying out of this area entirely for a while. Not only will the driving be difficult, but you can expect waits of up to thirty minutes when the culvert is installed.
Some people are using this time to do their own road work by clearing roadways leading to their cabin or favorite area. If you plan to clear brush from a remote Forest Service road, please stop by the office and pick up a permit first. The permits are free, and we appreciate the help, but we need to keep track of when work was done on what road, so just take a couple of minutes to grab a permit before you begin. The Gunflint office will also have information on permits for burn piles to dispose of the slash you generate when you brush the road.
Speaking of burn piles, a large bear was sighted in several places this past weekend. He was carrying a shovel and wearing a ranger hat and was riding on a Forest Service truck in the parade for Bay Days in Silver Bay, and also was hanging around up in Grand Marais getting ready for Fishermen’s Picnic. If you see this bear, don’t worry, he’s friendly. He sure gets around a lot for an almost 75 year old bear, and he’s getting ready for his birthday party in August. He did stop by to thank everyone who has been out on the Forest this year – we are all doing a good job of being careful with fire so far in 2019, and had a fire free Fourth.
Keep up that good work, enjoy summer on the Superior, and remember what the bear says: “Only You Can Prevent Wildfires”!
Wildersmith on the Gunflint - July 12
-Wildersmith on the Gunflint by Fred Smith July 12, 2019
Month seven is cruisin’ along the Trail as we inch toward its’ half-way mark. The territory has remained in a summery way over the past week.
Going into this weeks’ scoop, the hot temperatures and humidity of July’s first segment have mellowed into to more normal North Country ranges. While the human comfort level has improved, folks in some areas of the upper Trail are getting increasingly tense about the dry landscape.
The Gunflint Lake neighborhood and northward went another week with scant precipitation. At Wildersmith moisture recorded could not reach the tenth of an inch mark on the gauge. Couple this measly amount with less than two tenths from the week previous and a crunchy forest fuel load is easily understood. Meanwhile spotty sections down the Trail got a good dose just around firecracker day easing concerns down that way, for the time being.
With wild fire danger approaching the extreme level, it would seem governing agencies should invoke complete burning bans before someone or something sets the forest on fire. Adding to nervous thoughts regarding our dry situation have been several days of smoke in the air. While smellers were taking note early in the siege, it came to full bore last Sunday when billows came rolling southward from fires in the NW of Ontario.
In lieu of waiting for rain to fall and smoke to lift, I would suggest area residents do some preparedness work by wetting down their properties every couple days or so with the wildfire sprinkler system. Building an umbrella/dome of humidity within the systems perimeter offers a good measure of protection.
Border country heads toward the monthly mid-point with the Ojibwe, “half way” moon in a few days (the 16th). Along with this monthly lunar celebration, the Gunflint Community is looking forward to excitement of the forty-third annual Canoe Races.
Wednesday the 17th is the big day on the waterfront at Gunflint Lodge. Activities get underway at 4:30 with the food tent opening, presentation of silent auction items and a six o’clock call for the first race.
Organizers are hoping for a big turn out once again, as the event works to raise funds in support of our great volunteer fire and EMS crews. Tickets for the grand prize drawing remain on sale throughout the business Community and during the night of the event. This years’ winning ticket holder will take home a splendid Wenonah Kayak.
Just as this event takes center stage, another highly important happening will be ending its run. However, as this scribing hits the air, the “Radio of 2000 Lakes”, summer membership drive is in the middle of its’ six day journey.
If listeners haven’t already re-upped or plan to join anew, the time has come to take the plunge into the cool of Northland Community Radio. Dive-in, broadcasting opportunities are beckoning for your support!
It is WTIP.org to join online; toll free @ 1-800-473-9847; 387-1070 locally or stop in at 1712 West Highway 61 to make your pledge. Don’t wait, keep the WTIP radio connection at the top of its game, every contribution matters!
Un-scheduled activities continue along the Trail. Most noteworthy have been some recent larcenous reports of bears in mid-Trail neighborhoods. I’m told bear break-ins have been confirmed at a number of residences.
It’s a good bet the hungry bruins are being tempted by human carelessness of some sort. Everyone can help in this matter by taking in those bird feeders, and securing odorous refuse. Remember bears will not be a problem, if we are not a problem.
Other reported animal goings-on have not been so raucous and have often made for interesting photo ops. Included are sightings of wolves, fox, coyotes, moose, beaver and white tail fawns.
A report came to me telling of a big wolf stroking a long distance swim on Gunflint Lake, while a subsequent sharing told of two beavers doing some unusual saplings harvest along the shore just down lake from Wildersmith. Yet another happening involves the Wildersmith wood chuck who was caught dining among a quartet of squirrels the other morning, what a remarkable five some!
The Gunflint Community is mourning the loss of two neighbors. Longtime residents Paul Kelnberger and Robert Einsweiler have recently passed from our midst. Both of these gentlemen were deeply respected and involved in the Community. To their survivors and friends, sincerest of condolences are extended from our Gunflint Trail family.
For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, in the calming of forest green.