Superior National Forest Update - January 17

Superior National Forest Update
January 17, 2020

Hi.  This is Renee Frahm, visitor information specialist with the Superior National Forest our National Forest Update.  It’s time to take a break from shoveling and cursing the snow, and get out and play in the snow and enjoy the reason we live up here.  Winter is great if you have the right mindset, and there have been some studies done which show that the way to chase off winter blues is to get outside and do something!

The snow is perfect for all kinds of recreation right now.  We had that wet heavy snow mixed with rain earlier, but that has been mostly covered up with fresh snow.  It did create a very solid snow base, so there are good conditions for almost everything from snowshoeing to snowmobiling.  The exception are some of the smaller ski trail systems along the shore where they lacked the equipment to break up icy snow in some places.

Maintaining a good trail takes a lot of equipment and a lot of time.  Most of our trails are groomed by trail partner organizations who use funds generated by the sales of licenses for snowmobile trails and sales of the Great Minnesota Ski Pass for cross country ski trails.  You may have read in the paper that the fund for cross country ski trails is low this year.  People are not buying ski passes.  This could be due to warmer winters in the southern parts of the state with poor enough skiing conditions that people are unwilling to pay for what may be only a couple of skis a year.  It also could be because people just don’t understand why you should pay for cross country skiing.  Either way, people need to realize that their passes fund the trails, and without that revenue, we wouldn’t have the skiing opportunities we enjoy now.  Minnesota Ski Passes are required for skiing on state grant-in-aid trails, and are now really easy to purchase.  You can buy them online at the Minnesota DNR’s website, and print them off yourself at home.

If you plan on skiing this weekend, be aware that there is an eight team high school meet on Saturday January 18th at Pincushion Mountain.  The parking area and the trails will be crowded with students and their supporters.  Spillover parking will be available on the Gunflint Trail.  So, if you are going to cheer on the Cook County Nordic Team, that’s great!  If you are planning a peaceful ski through a quiet winter woods, you may want to look at alternative trails.

We’ve had some fun at the Forest Service these past two weeks with students from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Fish and Wildlife Club.  They’ve been volunteering to help with our lynx survey program, which means they’ve been logging miles on snowshoes tracking lynx and collecting lynx scat.  The scats are later analyzed for DNA, which allows us to recognize individual animals and even lynx family relationships.  This helps us understand where lynx live, and how they are using our forest resource.  So, thank you to all these young volunteer wildlife biologists!

If you are driving out to snowshoe, you’ll find that the roads are in pretty good shape.  In fact, in many places they are smooth enough to trick you into thinking you can go fifty miles per hour.  And, while you can go that fast, you’ll also find you can’t stop if you are going that fast.  Some of the hills headed toward the lake are particularly treacherous – coming downhill from the Oberg Trailhead you’ll find you may need to keep your speed down below twenty miles an hour if you don’t want to toboggan down the slope onto Highway 61 in your car.  Just to add to the fun, snowbanks have gotten high enough to hide the deer looking to cross the road, and it seems like there are more coyotes and wolves wandering on the roads who have decided walking a plowed road is easier than wading through chest high snow in the woods.  Slower speeds on the road will give you more time to react and avoid animal collisions.

Of course, you also have to be aware of logging trucks in the woods.  On the Gunflint District, log hauling is taking place on the Hall Road, Cook County 14, Cook County 60, Firebox Road, Greenwood Road, and the Sunfish Lake Road.  On the Tofte District, trucks are using Hoist Lake Road, Lake County 7, Trappers Lake/Sawbill Landing Road, Perent Lake Road, The Grade, Cook County 27 and Cook County 8.

So, don’t let the winter blues or the gray skies take over your life.  Go out and take over winter instead, whether it is on skis, snowmobiles, snowshoes, or armed with a fishing rod and ice auger.  Trout season outside of the BWCAW opens this Saturday.  Before you know it, the groundhog will be telling us how many weeks of winter are left, so don’t let it slip away without enjoying some good old outdoor winter fun.  This is the best part of the season, so go have fun in the snow! 

Until next time, this has been Renee Frahm with the National Forest Update.