Wildersmith on the Gunflint: February 6

As the full moon of February lit up our lives through this first week, Old Man Winter took a half-hearted swipe at our territory. His offering was in the form of bitter cold readings to kick off month two.

How cold was it? Temperatures in the Wildersmith neighborhood were buried below zero for several days into midweek with overnight lows hanging out around minus 30. It was so cold last Saturday night, our deck either expanded or contracted with three thundering claps, raising me from slumber in horror!

His highness Mr. Frosty, however, forgot this seasonal package for the North should include snow, of which barely an inch dusted us last weekend. A recent trip to Trail Center for our midweek dinner outing featured a huge bull moose along the way. It’s probably a bit of an exaggeration, but the big guy seemed to loom nearly 10 feet tall from toes to tips of his ears as those golden eyes reflected our vehicle headlights. Thankfully, he only challenged our “right of passage” for a few moments before stomping off into the forest. To our surprise, the return trip found Mr. Moose back out near the same spot around the burn area of Little Iron Lake. The county-supplied lick of road salt must have been intensely tempting to this iconic fellow.

A big cousin of the local pine marten clan has been viewed recently. To avoid the attraction of trappers, all I’ll share that is the fisher has been seen at undisclosed locations down this way. Seldom seen observations of this critter found it to be a healthy looking specimen.

Gunflint Trail area dog sled races are now into the books, but the hills are still alive. The sound of barking dogs cedes to the drone of snowmobiles this weekend. The sixth annual Cook County Snowmobile Club Fun Run is the weekend feature out this way. Registration for the event can be made at either Devil Track Landing or Hungry Jack Lodge between 9 a.m. and noon this Saturday. The always energetic “poker card run” is to be concluded by card hands due back at the Landing by 5:30 p.m., with awards, food and fun to follow. Hope everyone has a safe day!

Elsewhere in the county, the 12th annual Snowarama power sled excursion for the benefit of Easter Seals runs this Saturday as well, beginning at Grand Portage. This event has a website, so check it out for additional information.

More winter activities throughout the county begin today with the kick-off of the annual Winter Tracks festival. Many cold/snowy events are scheduled from now through the 15th. Check out the Winter Tracks Festival website for more details.

Back to sled dog events, I’m told plans are on hold for the annual Mush for a Cure which has benefited National Breast Cancer Research over the past several years. Guess another sled dog event has scheduled on the same date, luring many of the “pink” participants away. It’s too bad organizers of such events couldn’t have better communicated/coordinated dates so each could have had their day in the snow.

Alas, the football season is over! Don’t take me wrong, I’ve been as avid as the next guy, with my enthusiasm dating back to the days of Doak Walker, Jim Brown, Alex Karras, Bart Starr, Mike Ditka and the like, when they played for little money and love of the game. I still treasure the days when I got to play and later had the privilege of coaching many fine young men in the high school game. But it’s hard not to be cynical about America’s game with the shenanigans and egos of players and coaches who cash in with obscene millions of dollars when we have so many countrymen living in hardship.

This cynicism is further magnified when some ungrateful participants behave like a den of cheats and crooks. Yet we label the main event, “Super?” Moreover, the malarkey of so-called professionals is hyped by uncounted numbers of self-appointed media experts to the point of being regurgitating nonsense. So I watched, the somewhat, “Super Bowl” with tongue-in-cheek zeal. Guess this NFL phenomenon might easily be equated as a microcosm of our country in general. Sadly, millions of our fellow citizens continue to feed the beast (just fathom, the cheapest ticket at nearly $10,000). It makes one wonder if we will ever regain a sense of perspective.

Ooops, just fell off the soap box!

Keep on hangin’ on, and savor the mystery of life in the wild!

(Photo courtesy of Kidsandcauses on Flickr)