North Shore News Hour

Bill Hansen has been the voice of the West End News for the past 5 years. Bill’s daughter, Clare, will be taking over this weekly report, and Jay Andersen recently spoke with both Bill and Clare about this transition.

Landon, Talon, and McCoy report the latest school news.

Click here for archived editions of school news.

Noah and Wren report the latest school news.

Excitement is building as the birthday of all birthdays nears. Our holiday season is officially in the books for 2016 as the lonesome pine sentinel along the Trail has been lit for yet another year.

What a joy it is coming around the curve and down the hill beside Birch Lake to be greeted by the towering spruce all aglow with hundreds of twinkling bobbles to break up the darkest of darkness. Thanks to those folks on Birch for lighting up our wilderness lives. 

Another kick-off for our season’s greetings is recognized with the annual Borealis Holiday Concert of last weekend. A number of our Gunflint Trail neighbors lent their voices and instrumental talents to this “joy to the world” spectacle. Congrats to all participants and organizers.    

Add to these humankind happenings, the arrival of the full Ojibwe “little spirit moon” within the last few days, and one could not ask for a brighter time in the final stanza of the year.

Conditions for winter time fanciers have been given a boost over the past seven with our first extended cold spell, better late than never. While new snow accumulations to date have been minimal, what’s on the landscape currently has been secured by Arctic cold.   

How cold was it? Not too terrible compared to days of old, but enough to get one’s attention when stepping out the door enroute to the woodshed for an armload of fire wood. An expectation of more sub-nothing temps by this scoop’s air time might make our Wildersmith low temp of -12 last Sunday morning pale in frigidity.  
                  
The arrival of zero and below temps finds the yet to be frozen Gunflint Lake a steamy cauldron. While waters are warm in comparison to the air above, this yearly occurrence has ghostly plumes drifting ashore from this warm/cold interaction. Accordingly, every appendage up into the shoreline forest is coated in delicate crystal frosting.  

The magnificence of this nature-made artistry is almost beyond comprehension. The frosted elegance is the subject of which Hallmark cards are made. The only stopping of this “Jack Frost” decorating show will occur when the winds calm, allowing the Gunflint Gal to put on her winter coat. 
                                                                                                              
Meanwhile, our winter advance is peaceful and quiet. With exception of chattering critters and snapping tree bark, our snowy landscape is still, in and of itself. Flakes are profoundly quiet as they accumulate, but once on the ground, the buildup can become somewhat vocal, as we humans disturb the covering by stepping in it.  

Such has become evident with the decline in temperatures during recent days. I find walking through the marshmallow mass to be fascinating, as each step meets the crystal surface compressing our fluff. Perhaps listeners, too, have noted a difference in tonal quality from warm soft snow to the crispy dry cold stuff. 
                                                                                                                         
Whereas, our earlier precipitation descended barely in a solid state and landed on warm earth, trekking in such happened in mere quiet, then to a slight “squoosh.” Over the past few days, a discernible change is noted while tromping in the drier crystal add-ons. As temps declined, it might be said each step caused the snow to mildly “bark” back at me. As the temp neared zero, each imprint then seemed to “squeak," and on Sunday morning, when it was well below zero, the squeaking became a deeper, hollow resonance. 

I’ve read of such tonal exchanges while walking in the snow from a weather observer in Iowa, and sure enough, he seems to be right on. So, if you ever see me walking down the road on a winter day, seemingly talking to myself, I might be just visiting with the white majesty beneath my boots.     
                                                                                                                                                                    
On another subject, as this territory is in the flyway for many migratory birds, I came upon an informative article in the December/January Nature Conservancy publication. If such interests you, I’d recommend finding a copy and looking at the scribing, “Safe Flight—100 Years Of Protecting Birds.” The content is interesting commentary for digesting on a cold winter night. 
                                                                                                                                                 
For a final note, since this is also bear country, another thought provoking article appears in the recent Sierra magazine for January/February of ’17. Although this reading is focused on brown bears of the Northern Rockies, it has relevance to those of us who live in black bear territory. “The Return Of The Grizzly” by Aaron Teasdale relates to human/bear interactions, much like we experience here in border country. Again, if listeners can get a copy, the author relates an insightful look at how we should be living in close proximity with Ursine.    
                                                                                                                                                        
For WTIP, this is Fred Smith, on the Trail, at Wildersmith, where every day is great, in a superbly natural way.
 

(Photo courtesy of Tom on Flickr)
 

Hi. This is Renee Frahm, visitor information and administrative support specialist, with this week’s National Forest Update - information on conditions affecting travel and recreation on the east end of the Superior National Forest. For December 16, here’s what’s going on in the Forest.

 Only about a week to get out and get a Christmas tree for this year! Tags are five dollars, but if you have a fourth grader in the ‘Every Kid In A Park’ program, they can get a free tree tag! When you are looking for a tree, keep an eye out also for the dense clusters of branches often called witch’s brooms. While witch’s brooms might seem to relate more to Halloween than the current season, they are caused by Eastern Dwarf Mistletoe. Mistletoe has long been considered a mystical plant, and the tradition of kissing under it was once considered a promise of marriage. Peace treaties were also signed under mistletoe, and warring couples could kiss and make up beneath a ball of mistletoe. So, depending on who you are tree hunting with, you may choose to steer them under, or take them far away from any mistletoe you find!

There’s a lot of winter though before summer travels begin. We’ve lost over six hours of daylight since June 21st, so if you think it has been dark, you are absolutely right. We are close to the longest night of the year, the winter solstice on December 21st, but after that low point, our days will start to lengthen again. The average temperature lags behind day length though, so it won’t be until much later that we start seeing increases in average temperatures. Since you can’t do much about our long cold nights, you may as well get out and enjoy them. Winter is one the best times to go stargazing. The cold air is still and dry and gives a better view of stars than the warm wet summer air. Long nights mean you don’t have to stay up late to see the stars, there are no mosquitoes, and there’s better chances of seeing the aurora as well.

We finally have some snow on the ground, and our trail partners have been working on grooming cross country ski and snowmobile trails. Most ski trails are in the process of being groomed. Pincushion and Sugarloaf ski areas are compacted, but not groomed, although that information could already be out of date. Similarly, bogs in the Flathorn-Gegoka ski area were insufficiently frozen for grooming, but with our recent cold spell, that may have changed. Check our website for links to the grooming organizations, which will give you more up to the minute information on trail conditions. Snowmobiles need a bit more snow that skis, so most of the snowmobile trails are still not groomed, and many are closed.

While you’re out checking out trails, you may find some log hauling going on. On Gunflint, hauling is taking place on Greenwood Road, Firebox Road, Trestle Pine Road, Rice Lake Road, Clara Lake Road, and Honeymoon Trail.  Portions of Firebox Road and Trestle Pine Road are also designated snowmobile trails, so snowmobilers need to be extra cautious and aware that hauling may be taking place on these roads. In Tofte, you’ll have logging traffic on the Grade and Trapper’s Lake Road. Please use caution when driving or recreating in these areas. 

There will be no update next week, so happy holidays to everyone from the Superior National Forest! Enjoy the woods, watch out for mistletoe, and until next time, this has been Renee Frahm with the National Forest Update.

This is a busy time of year for Santa’s elves – and WTIP's Sherrie Lindskog was lucky enough to be able to talk with an elf.

Cold weather swings and not-the-usual suspects at the bird feeder.  WTIP’s Jay Andersen talks with naturalist Chel Anderson about the winter so far.

(Photo by Amit Patel on Flickr)

Tucker and Sophia report the latest school news.

I was very happy to hear the news that the effort to build rental housing in Lutsen that is targeted toward people who live and work in the West End took a big step forward this week. A $325,000 grant was awarded by the Minnesota Department of Trade and Economic Development to the Cook County/Grand Marais Economic Development Authority. This is a key piece of financing for a 2.7 million dollar plan to build 16 market-rate rental apartments in Lutsen.

The housing shortage in all of Cook County is severe, so this project, along with one planned for Grand Marais and one for Tofte, will be a big step toward easing the shortage. One Roof Community Housing, based in Duluth, is bringing their vast experience as a key partner, hopefully to all three projects. This is not the complete solution to the problem, but is a giant step in the right direction. We owe a debt of gratitude to the many people who have been working on this for so long.

Speaking of good news, I recently saw a report from Visit Cook County, the group that markets Cook County as a tourist destination, that tourism dollars county-wide are up 25% in the last five years. This is significant because it was a little over five years ago that the four parts of Cook County -- Grand Portage, Grand Marais, the Gunflint Trail and the West End -- decided to pool their marketing budgets and promote the county as a whole. Elaborate financial safeguards were put in place to make sure that each area was treated fairly, but even so, it was hard to build trust among the parts of the county that had been in competition with each other for so many years.

In the ten years before Visit Cook County was created, tourism was declining each year, leading up to the recession, which really took a toll. It is now crystal clear that the decision to work together has paid off handsomely for all. In fact, in the last year, Grand Marais has shown the most growth, which is obvious if you spend any time at all in town.

Our local marketing expertise is getting better all the time and the tools available for targeted marketing are also improving fast, so barring any unforeseen disaster, we should see robust growth for at least a few more years, especially in the slow seasons. Congratulations to the hard working staff of Visit Cook County for their success.

Word is out that ice skating has begun on inland lakes. It's not ideal, as there is some snow on the ice, but if you're willing to skate through the snow or do a little shoveling, there is good lake skating to be had.

Be careful - and I speak from personal experience - to always check the ice depth before you skate. Never skate alone and always carry ice picks to pull yourself out if you do fall through. You should also have dry clothing in a waterproof backpack or at least have access to dry clothing and a warm car nearby.

With some wistfulness, I would like to announce that this will be the last time you will hear me as the regular voice of the West End News. I am delighted to report that my very capable daughter, Clare Shirley, will be taking over this commentary, just as I took it over from my dad many years ago. I may be substituting occasionally for Clare when she is busy or out of town, so I may get a chance again to talk about the bloodmobile or the Birch Grove Carnival in the future, which makes me happy.

Even though I'm now officially a "townie," my heart will always be in the warm and wonderful West End.

For WTIP, this is Bill Hansen with the West End News.

The Cook County Chamber and Moving Matters are hosting two “Walkabout” workshops to explore the things that might be done to improve the “walkability” of Grand Marais. WTIP’s Jay Andersen spoke with Jay Walljasper, who’ll be leading the workshops.