Wildersmith on the Gunflint: August 29

The Wildersmith two are back in the woods. After a swell time with our daughter in Iowa, we’re happily home in the wilderness quiet.
           
For 57 years the Smiths were citizens of what most would call organized civilization. Having been away from urban America’s hubbub for 15 years, it’s culture shock to go back after being graced with the serenity of border country living. Our unorganized territory is oh so sweet!
           
August 2014 is a near has been. How could it have slipped away so quietly? As America takes another monthly break for the Labor Day holiday, summer’s gone, in spite of the calendar still calling for another three weeks. And for many, parting with warm season elements is difficult to accept.
           
One can sense our warm season demise;  in whispering winds, browning tangles of roadside weeds, the apprehension of ripening tomatoes and maturing garden produce,  aspen hills and valleys turning to gold, dwindling daylight minutes with hurried sunsets and the early fall animal rituals.
             
The fading of this short season should not be taken with too much alarm. More good things are just over the borderland horizon. We year-round residents welcome the renewing of solitude after a busy summer, with the upper Gunflint at the threshold of autumn’s Technicolor explosion.
           
Tinges of yellow, orange and red are fringing some of the maple leaves along the Mile O Pine. While the last flowery blooms twinkle with their final hurrahs, rose hips and high bush cranberries are aglow like scarlet holiday ornaments. The area will be a leaf peeper’s enchantment in a couple weeks.
           
Speaking of rose hips, many find them a tea drinker’s delight following a frosty end to their time of maturation. The quaint fruit of the rose is rich in vitamin C, but don’t attempt eating one; I’m told the fuzzy innards could bring on some gastric distress.
           
Although I wasn’t present to observe such, I find the Wildersmith neighborhood received some valuable moisture during my absence. The frequency and duration are a mystery but proof was in the rain gauge where 1 inch was captured.
           
However, at this scribing, the area is moderately dry once more. So care should be exercised with any burning activities.
           
The Gunflint Lake water temp at the dock has slipped to the high 60s (68 degrees) and is probably following suit on other area bodies. Such would indicate that atmospheric conditions during my time away were certainly not like the muggy heat experienced in southeast Iowa. Living up here for a decade and a half kind of has me forgetting the miserable sticky corn growing times of my previous life.
           
The area looks to be busy for the next few days as several families and property owners gather to commence a beginning of the end for cabin days throughout the Gunflint forest. 
           
Another memorable sweet happening will be held on Sunday. The annual Gunflint Trail Historical Society pie and ice cream social will take place on the grounds of the Chik-Wauk Museum and Nature Center. The craft of area pie-making artisans and frozen sweet cream will be served from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m. along with coffee and lemonade.
           
Everyone is invited to come up and enjoy not only the treats of the day, but also the magic of this special place at Trail’s End. The event is a fundraiser for the society in support of museum operations, with a free-will donation being appreciated.
           
Of course the museum will be open for viewing and several local authors will be on hand for book signings. The Chik-Wauk gift shop will also be holding an end of season parking lot sale. So it looks as though several bases can be touched by making this upper Gunflint journey a must do!
           
Keep on hangin’ on, and savor the end of the summer song!