Wildersmith July 29

With the fifth July weekend at hand, out northland bids farewell to month seven. Looking to August, we wilderness folks are hoping that we’ve seen the last of that blistering summer character.

The atmosphere in the upper Trail mellowed at the end of last week, and the territory has dried out from the gully washer of 10 days ago. It would be swell if the worst of summer was now behind us, although the current reprieve could be temporary as everyone knows. The comforting thing about this place is that summer sweltering seldom goes on for more than just a couple weeks.

That big July 20th rain raised havoc with area roads and driveways. With unofficial amounts ranging from 3 to as much as 7 inches, washout ruts and gullies are testing driving skills. We now have some real nature-made speed bumps on many backcountry roads.

I’ve been hearing numerous reports of some humongous snapping turtle observations. They’ve always been here but for some reason they are becoming more brazen.

One has been seen laying its eggs in front of a fellow’s garage door, some distance from the more usual shore-side happening. Meanwhile, a gal was sitting on a dock up along the Sag Lake corridor dangling her feet in the water recently when one snuck up and took a bite of her toes. I guess the bites were minor, but would that ever be a shock! I’m told that there was a stringer of fish tied near by so that would be a good indication of why Mr. Hardshell was hanging around.

Another critter visit came to the west end of Gunflint Lake when a male, female and juvenile white pelican landed and hung out for about an hour. A website search found them to be quite rare in this area. The observer is thinking that they might have been displaced by the many Canadian wildfires in their breeding grounds of Ontario.

Blueberry picking is intensifying throughout the burned out hills of the Ham Lake wildfire. Traveling along the Trail will soon require attention to more than the usual critter crossings. Harvesters will be pulling off and on to the roadway in dozens of locations. This brings on the need for caution, so slow down, and be on the lookout for folks with buckets of blue, as well as a rising of the Blueberry Moon (Miinike-Giiizis).

Many of the summer yellows are showing signs of fading, being replaced by some of the later season golden blooms, namely those starry black-eyed Susans. Meanwhile, lupine spires have gone to the green seedpod stage (perfect time for pulling if you want to rid the invaders).

Adding to the floral color show are the brilliant magenta licks of fireweed. Being an almost fall flower, it seems as though they are coming on early; then again, it’s almost August. Perhaps this might be a prerequisite of an advanced autumn coming. We can only hope so!

With the onset of month eight, I will be looking forward to the first turning of sugar maple leaves. It happens almost like clock work soon after the first week of Auggie as a couple youthful saplings along the Mile O Pine suddenly realize that daylight minutes are on the downslide. When that happens, it will be only a few short weeks until the big splash of color is on!

Keep on hangin’ on and savor the rippling blue waters!

Airdate: July 29, 2011

Photo courtesy of Simply Bike via Flickr.