North Shore Weekend

There are many stories from the early days of northeast Minnesota, and it’s the mission of the Cook County Historical Society to document and record these glimpses of our past. Here’s an excerpt from a 2008 oral history by LeRoy Creech. Creech recalls a story he’d been told by Pat "Paddy" Bayle about finding the body of a 1900s fur trapper along the Gunflint Narrows.

LeRoy “Lee” Creech was the son of Judge James and Hazel (Andersen) Creech, and lived in “Creechville” in Grand Marais for 75 years. Lee worked at a gas station, the Forest Service, the Cook County School District and also owned and operated the NAPA store in Grand Marais until his retirement in 1993. Lee enjoyed fishing, playing music, and spending time at the family's cabin on Clearwater Lake. Lee died in 2012.

Patrick ”Paddy” Bayle was a former state forester and Cook County sheriff and served for 27 years as area forest ranger. Pat Bayle died in 1954 at the age of 77. The Pat Bayle State Forest is located near Grand Marais.

View the slideshow for photos of Pat "Paddy" Bayle and LeRoy "Lee" Creech.

This feature is a collaboration between WTIP and the Cook County Historical Society, and produced by Martha Marnocha.

Wildersmith on the Gunflint     by     Fred Smith
April 19, 2019     
 
Month four is screaming by as we celebrate the “Maple Sugar Moon” in the north woods. While atmospheric conditions in April can be unpredictable, it looks as though things may have settled into a more tolerable state heading into this weekend.                                                                           

Following the near miss of that so called “bomb cyclone” along the Gunflint Trail, it is possible we’ve seen winters’ last gasp. Whereas the Village had a more intense experience with the snow and violent winds, we up at end of the Trail escaped the brunt with two to four snowy inches and minimal wind activity. I guess we should count ourselves blessed with not too much winter hysteria this time around.                                                                                                                                                                                     

At the same time, this neighborhood and others in the upper Trail territory enjoyed the beauty of white ecstasy for a couple days as “Mother Nature” put a band aid on springs’ naked unsightliness. Sadly, we are starting all over again with renewed melting. Just when there were a few dry spots taking over on back country roads, we are back into squishy going again.                                                  

Speaking of melting, as the area heads toward the month’s last segment, folks are talking of lake ice. During the warmth of March, it looked as though ice would not last too long. But with winter raising its hackles over the past three weeks, one cannot be too sure just when “Sky Blue Waters” will be dashing our shores. Here on Gunflint Lake, we’ve even made some ice a few mornings in the last two weeks.                                                                                                        

Some walleye anglers have expressed concern area lakes might remained locked up on opening day, May 10. It seems doubtful to yours truly, although remembering last year the ice went out on the Gunflint gal the morning of opener. So it does, and has happened before that fisher people are nudging ice out of the way to dip a line.                                                                           

While I have yet to hear of any ursine encounters out this way, one has to wonder if on the occasional sunny days, Bruno’s aren’t rubbing the sleep from their eyes. If they woke up over the past weekend however, and stuck their heads out to falling snow, perhaps they went back to bed. In any event, I’ve begun to curtail some of my seed distribution just for good measure, and urge neighbors to do the same                                                                                                                                                

As I mentioned our occasional warm sunny days, it seems buds on some of the Aspen and Birch are bulging with excitement, then on a day when we’ve held at or below freezing they don’t appear as puffy about the goings-on.                                                                                                                                           
 I did see some pussy willow buds along the Trail near the South Brule River Bridge last week. One might wonder if the gray pearls aren’t thankful the creator blessed them with warm fuzzy coats during our recent winter interlude.                                                                                                                    
I have yet to see any robins in this neighborhood, but folks in town mention they have arrived. On another avian note, recently I got a kick out of a quartet of visiting Crows, following the new snow. Talk about contrast, the scene was as stark black and white as nature could bring into being.                                                                                                                                                                     

A couple ebony beauties were rooting through the snow in search of sustenance remains. Plowing along the feed trough, they came up seemingly annoyed with globs of white stuck to their beaks. Apparently out of sorts with their white snoots, there was considerable shaking all about, and conversation from their brothers /sisters, perhaps teasing them.                                    

In closing, while the deciduous members of the northern forest are a ways from waving their green hellos, the coniferous family is rapidly turning their winter drab to brighter energizing summer shades. It’s more than noticeable on a day of sunshine.                                                   

And speaking of our forest sentinels, it’s pretty easy to take them for granted when there are uncounted zillions as far as the eye can see. I had the pleasure of reading an article in the spring periodical of the National Wildlife Federation on the critical things trees do for our eco-system. I have been aware of some, however, the author and researchers made several points I had never considered.  It is suggested reading, either online or in the library, and will provide evermore reverence to your future walks in the woods.                                                                                                                         

For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, regardless of our worldly turmoil!
 

North Shore Morning Host, Brian Neil talks with International Wolf Center Executive Director, Rob Shultz for the IWC Update.

Despite recent snowfalls, spring is here.  WTIP's CJ Heithoff speaks with naturalist Chel Anderson about the signs of the changing season in this edition of North Woods Naturalist.

NORTHERN SKY – by DEANE MORRISON    
April 13-26 2019
 
Well, what a difference a day makes. On Wednesday, April 10, a colossal astronomy story broke. Scientists working from radio telescopes all over the world released the first direct image of a black hole. Apologies if you’ve already heard all about this, but here goes.
    
Black holes are typically found at the centers of galaxies. They concentrate matter so densely, and generate such strong gravity, that nothing that gets too close can escape, including light. The boundary beyond which escape is impossible is called the Event Horizon, and that’s the name of the team that produced the image.
    
This black hole shows up as a dark round area inside a fuzzy, lopsided doughnut of light. It lies at the heart of a monster galaxy called Messier 87, which is one of the most massive galaxies in a cluster of galaxies in the constellation Virgo. The Virgo Cluster is in the general neighborhood of our Milky Way galaxy, and both the Milky Way and Messier 87 are powered by supermassive black holes.
    
But there’s no comparison. The mass of the Milky Way’s black hole is equal to 4 million suns, while Messier 87’s black hole has the mass of 6.5 billion suns; that’s 1,600 times more. The researchers calculated the diameter of the black hole to be 40 billion kilometers, or 25 billion miles. That makes it more than four times the diameter of Neptune’s orbit and nearly the size of our entire solar system. The Messier 87 galaxy is about 55 million light-years away. It’s visible through a small telescope, and May is a good month to observe it.
    
If you want to see where in the sky this galaxy is, and maybe point out its location to children or friends, you can use stars to navigate. Start by facing south after nightfall, at 9:30 or so. You’ll see the constellation Leo, the lion, fairly high in the south. Its brightest star,  Regulus, is the point in a backward question mark of stars that outline the lion’s head. Just east of the lion’s head is a triangle of stars marking the tail and hindquarters. The brightest and most eastern of these stars is Denebola. Okay, remember Denebola. Moving eastward again, you’ll see brilliant Arcturus, not quite as high as Denebola. Much lower, between Denebola and Arcturus, is Spica, the brightest star in Virgo.
    
Put another way, we have brilliant Arcturus well up in the east, Spica far to the lower right of Arcturus, and relatively dim Denebola to the upper right of both. These three stars form a nearly equilateral triangle. In fact, they are often called the Spring Triangle.
    
If you look from Arcturus about three quarters of the way to Denebola, and then down a little, that’s where M87 and its black hole, its heart of darkness, are. On April 17 the moon visits; if you point to a spot directly west of Arcturus and above the moon, you won’t be far off.
       
In the morning sky, Jupiter and Saturn, along with the star group known as the Teapot of Sagittarius, are slowly making their way westward, like a convoy. Jupiter is kind of low but brilliant, Saturn is the next bright object to the east, and the Teapot is between them. The moon visits Jupiter on the 23rd; on the 24th it sits right above the lid of the Teapot, and on the 25th it visits Saturn.
     
April’s full moon arrives on Friday, the 19th at 6:12 a.m. That’s shortly after sunrise and before moonset in Grand Marais. With clear views to east and west, you’ll see a rising sun and a very round, setting moon facing each other from opposite horizons.
 

Wildersmith on the Gunflint     by     Fred Smith    April 12, 2019    

The sprint toward real “Zigwan” (Ojibwe, spring) in the north woods has been putting distance between itself and winter over the past seven days. In spite of another big snow forecast, one brief dash of snow and perhaps our last subzero morning has given way to April showers since last weekend.                                                                                                                            

This in mind, winter character has diminished somewhat around the territory, but muddy roads have intensified. While a few days of Gunflint sunshine have been warming, those with clouds have remained on the cool side of the ledger, hanging out in the mid-thirties, damp and raw.                                                                                                                                                                                  

The Gunflint-Loon Lake wolf pack has been hanging out along the south shore of Gunflint Lake recently, after being quietly obscure for some time. A few nights ago there was a genuine howling not far from Wildersmith. One can’t say whether the concert was in celebration of spring, a calling to feast or some other territorial alert. Then again, maybe they were announcing the birth of pack pups. Regardless, tracks along the Wildersmith shore confirm it was some kind of gathering.                                                                                                                      

Next door neighbors reported a recent sightseeing trip to Trails end turned out to be more exciting than expected. Their vehicle was brought to a surprising stop by a moose strolling along the black top.                                                                                                                                                              

The ensuing stoppage found the moose approach the vehicle for some investigation, actually getting up close and personal for a sniff of this metallic monster. One might wonder if this could have been the same moose reported to have licked road salt residue from a stopped vehicle a few weeks ago.                                                                                                                                              

Much as we humans are now able to shed a layer of winter garment, this viewing revealed the north woods icon was also in the early stages of shedding its winter coat, another sure sign the moose concur, spring is official.                                                                                                           

Adding to our melting delight at the Smith place, our serpentine of slipperiness has finally surrendered its ice. Although there is still ice and snow on the fringes, we can get up and down the driveway both on foot and in the vehicle without cleats and white knuckles.                                         
Another notable of the warming season is detected at the base of trees in the yard. As per usual, those hollow bowls in the snow are expanding by the day as warming bark and running sap exposes the surrounding earth in rustic brown.                                                                                   

One more sign of our border country times was discovered since our last meeting. The first Arachnid was caught scurrying across our kitchen the other day. Whereas everything in creation has an eco-purpose, these creepy crawlers can’t escape giving some the “willies.”                                                                                      

Though there is romance in dreams of warmer days and greening landscape ahead, the season at hand is perhaps the ugliest time of year. Months of crystal pureness has dwindled to unveil a zillion items having amassed on the forest floor over winter, making for some serious unsightliness.                                                                                                                                                                                                    
“Mother Nature’s” glory is rooted in verdant shades of summer, the mosaic of autumn tapestry and of course the marsh mellow cast of winter. In spring however, there’s just no covering up both the natural muss and humankind mistakes.                                                                                         

Then again, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. With the majesty of this great place in the universe budding with an enduring strategy of re-birth, yes, “hope, does spring eternal!”                                          

For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, as natural events energize whatever the season.
 

National Forest Update – April 4, 2019.

Hi, this is Steve Robertsen, Forest Service interpretation and education specialist with this week’s National Forest Update – a collection of things you may want to know before you head out.

One thing you probably already know is that it is our favorite season of the year:  mud season.  Not enough snow to ski, too much to go hiking, too much bare ground for snowmobiles, too wet for four wheelers.  And just to make it more aggravating, there’s warm weather and bright sun that really make you want to be outside – it’s just hard to figure out what to do once you are out there.  On the plus side, this means that this is the season when a lot of garages get cleaned out, cars get vacuumed, and yards get picked up because at least you can be outside doing those things!

If you do venture out into the Forest, be careful on the roads.  The spring melt has softened roadways, and shoulders in particular can be dangerously soggy.  Our engineer was describing one not uncommon situation where a culvert can be exposed and then worn through, creating a large pit in the road.  We try to repair roads as fast as we can, but in some situations repair is impossible until things become drier.  Be on the lookout for flags or cones that make bad spots in the road, and report any new ones that you find along the way. 

Roads also change considerably from morning to afternoon.  What seems to be a good solid road in the sub-freezing morning may thaw by afternoon into the consistency of chocolate pudding.  When driving in the morning, evaluate the roads along the way to make sure they will be drivable when you plan to leave.  When parking your vehicle on a roadside in the morning, beware of shoulders that may collapse under your truck when they thaw in the afternoon.  Lastly, there is often ice on roads in the morning and in shaded spots throughout the day.  In many ways, spring driving can be more treacherous than winter driving because the hazards are harder to spot.

The rewards of getting out this time of year make the effort worth it.  Chickadees are singing their ‘dee-dee’ song, calling for mates and setting up territories.  I heard my first red-wing blackbird of the year this week, and to me, that ‘konk-er-ee’ song is the real sound of spring’s arrival.  The male red-wings appear weeks before the females and are claiming territories in cattail marshes, setting up housekeeping in hopes of having one or more females move in.  The males do a lot of displaying, doing a sort of fluttering song flight where they try to fly while in a hunched over position that best shows off their bright red wing patches.  Away from the marshes, birds just migrating through still can’t help themselves from singing, even if they aren’t really trying to set up a territory there.

Other animals are moving around too.  If you’ve driven anywhere at all over the last few weeks, you’ll know that deer are everywhere.  They haunt the roadsides this time of year as the snow melts there quickly and grass and other plants start to green up.  Wolves, coyotes, and other scavengers are on the roads too as a winter’s worth of roadkill thaws out and is exposed for dinner. 

On August 9^th this year, Smokey Bear will be 75 years old!  All this year, we will be celebrating our favorite fire prevention bear and telling you some bear tales.  A good bear tale right now is a reminder that it is time to start bringing bird feeders in at night, shutting your garage doors, and otherwise getting ready for bears to be waking up.  Smokey will be waking as well, getting ready for the spring fire season, and we will be keeping you up to date on that as the spring progresses.

Meanwhile, if you can avoid the mud, get out and enjoy springtime in the woods!  Until next time, this has been Steve Robertsen with the National Forest Update.
 

April 5, 2019     Wildersmith on the Gunflint     by     Fred Smith      April 5, 2019    
 
Week one of April in the Wildersmith neighborhood is nearly eclipsed, and it’s hard telling what our north woods atmosphere will be like when this report comes on the air. The last weekend of March found the advance of spring stymied along the Trail.                                                         

Folks up this way awoke Saturday morning to a surprise visit from “old man winter.”  Just when many were hoping his spring break would be extended, two inches of white had been delivered to freshen up the forest. A dose of cold kept the new blanket intact for a couple days where the sun couldn’t reach, and then more of the wet white stuff came through earlier this week.                                                                                                                                                                                       
It’s a good bet spring will regain a grip sooner rather than later. In the meantime, there is still a good foot or so of winter wonder left around this place in the woods.                                                         

While all this happens, Trail businesses for the most part, are taking a well-deserved break. It’s the “shoulder season” where catching their breath with a brief vacation helps them re-up for the onslaught of summer visitors.                                                                                                                                                              

The Smith’s confirmed another rite of the Vernal season a few days ago when we spotted a momma fox. It’s a little early for her kits to be out with her, but her sagging under side gave her away as being in a motherly state. On a related note, this foxy critter was not the one who has been visiting the Smith yard during the past fall and winter.                                           

While, the ground we navigate at this time of year is trying to rid itself of those frozen crystals, our blacktop moguls along the Trail are not showing much change. Maybe it’s a little early to expect them to level up, but folks traveling the By-way on a daily basis must be tiring of those jaw-jarring jolts. All have to be thankful the County Highway Dept. has flagged them as a warning. Nevertheless, even taking these dips at slow speed can bounce you pretty good, but this ritual will pass as does other ordeals of melting season.                                                         

Another passage of animal lore from forty-nine degrees north is shared from our deck side feeding trough. To give you a little background, over the years I’ve been saving grease drippings from the kitchen. They are drained into empty 14-ounce food cans until the unit is filled, then frozen for use during the winter.                                                                                                                        

I developed a method of attaching the can to the deck rail where it is available to any hungry visitor on a first come first serve basis. Every wild being from chickadees to fishers have enjoyed a little fat at one time or another, often when some “lardy” is needed during our sub-zero nights.                                                                                                                                                                                   
While this has gone on for some time now, in their wild exuberance, during the pecking, licking and pawing at the can they have warn the connecting rig. This happening allows the can to work loose occasionally resulting in pilfering of the whole can as it nears an empty level.              

In an effort to quell this larceny, I found wedging shims of wood around the can base works fairly well in securing things, most of the time. However, when the snow is finally gone, I sometimes find a few empties between the deck and the lake.                                                                                                                                                               
With all this background lead up, I put my last can of fatty delectable out about twilight time one day last week. Of course in a matter of moments, there were a few takers before sundown.  One of these visitors was a large crow. After watching this ebony beauty gulp a beak full and depart, the chapter ended, at least for the evening.                                                                             

Next morning, my first gaze out the window found the can gone from its mounting, nowhere to be seen. A trip outside later found no sign of the tin on the ground either. Obviously, some visitor figured out the shimming scheme, left shims on the deck, and absconded with the goodies container to parts unknown.                                                                                                                                                                              

My suspects point to the crow or perhaps one of the neighborhood pine martens. I’m guessing it would be quite a task for the crow to fly off with that can in its beak, or in the clutches of its’ feet, but who knows, they are pretty crafty. Seeing such take place would have been an entertaining observation.                                                                                                                               

Then again, I’ve observed martens a time or two with their heads down in one of those cans, often even struggling to get it back off over its ears, so maybe one of these is the guilty party.                                                                                                                                                                                      
Now, for a lack of evidence, investigation of this vittles disappearance is shelved, but I’m still scratching my head in amazement. Whatever the case whoever got the oily treat was likely blessed with happiness at least momentarily and/or even a belly ache, if it consumed the whole of the contents.                                                                                                                                                                         

For WTIP, this is Wildersmith on the Gunflint Trail, where every day is great, as the “tug of war” between winter and spring lingers on!
 

Northern Sky by Deane Morrison
March 30 - April 12, 2019

Deane Morrison is a Science and Research Editor at the University of Minnesota.

WTIP North Shore Morning host, Mark Abrahamson spoke with Robert Schultz, Executive Director of the International Wolf Center in Ely, MN about the weekends successful transfer of wolves from Michipicoten Island to Isle Royale.

Listen to the interview below...

An urgent effort to relocate seven gray wolves from Michipicoten Island and Canada’s mainland to Isle Royale has ended with success. The effort, which ran from Friday through Sunday, successfully and efficiently moved seven gray wolves at risk of death because of a shortage of prey.

The operation was funded with $45,000 from the International Wolf Center and $30,000 from the Lake Superior National Parks Foundation. Through a GoFundMe account online, another $11,500 was raised.

“We are honored to have played a role in this important operation,” said Rob Schultz, the executive director of the International Wolf Center. “We have been relaying updates of the capture and transfer progress to media and the public throughout the weekend.”

Isle Royale National Park superintendent Phyllis Green said the project on Michipicoten this weekend to save those hungry wolves would not have happened if countless donors didn’t step forward.

“I just want to thank everyone who donated,” she said. “On Saturday, we were watching the money aspects of this. It really helped to have all the donations that came in. We were pretty much right on the mark for what the estimate was and what came in from donors. We couldn’t have done it without them.”

Three wolves were captured and moved Friday by teams of professionals. On Saturday, another four were moved. Of the seven, three were female. Six came from Michipicoten Island and one came from Canada’s mainland.

“They were long days, but we had a really wonderful result,” Green said. “We were coordinating five aircraft and seven wolves, arriving independently. It was very intense.”

It is believed that a 2-year-old female that was moved from Michipicoten to Isle Royale may be pregnant. If she were to give birth on Isle Royale this spring, those would be the first pups born on the island since 2014, according to Rolf Peterson, the lead researcher studying wolves and moose on the island.

“Any reproduction on the island this year would be pretty remarkable,” Peterson said. Peterson followed the weekend’s events closely.

“I was just glad it was successfully concluded,” he said. “There are so many ways it can go wrong. You’re nervous until it’s over.”

Peterson and the researchers now will wait to see how the island’s new inhabitants form their packs

“We just have to wait now until the wolves organize their personal lives and get on with things,” he said. “It’s been seven years out there since wolf predation had any impact on moose out there. It will be good to see that going again.”

The males captured on Michipicoten were close to healthy weights, but the females weighed between 50 and 60 pounds, far below what is considered healthy. The low female weights are due to the fact that the wolves on Michipicoten had run out of prey. Meanwhile, Isle Royale is populated by more than 1,600 moose, which is far above what biologists think is viable for the island to sustain. Too many moose on Isle Royale will lead to the overconsumption of vegetation, eventually causing severe damage to the the island’s ecosystem and raising concerns that the moose population may collapse.

By reintroducing wolves to the island, the moose will again have a natural predator to keep their population at sustainable levels. Scientists expect the two populations to again manage themselves as they had done on the island for decades. These seven new wolves join eight that were already on the island, including six that have been reintroduced since September through other efforts.

“Now our focus will turn to following the researchers as they study the impact of these new wolves on Isle Royale,” Schultz said. “As we move into the summer months, we look forward to working closely with the National Park Service and the Lake Superior National Parks Foundation to begin planning the next phase of wolf reintroduction efforts that are expected to occur this fall.”

About 20 to 30 new gray wolves are expected to be introduced to Isle Royale National Park over the next three to five years.

The International Wolf Center, founded in 1985, is known worldwide as the premier source for wolf information and education. The mission of the Center is to advance the survival of wolf populations by teaching about wolves, their relationship to wildlands and the human role in their future. The Center educates through its website, its ambassador wolves, museum exhibits, educational outreach programs, International Wolf magazine, and a beautiful interpretive center in Ely, Minnesota.