Wildersmith on the Gunflint - July 17
Wildersmith on the Gunflint by Fred Smith
July 17, 2020
How can this be happening? We have surpassed the half-way point of July, and it seems the calendar just flipped over into 2020’s seventh segment. Although the calendar says we have plenty of warm season left, summer looks to have started its’ slide with the Independence Day celebration. I know some folks who declare summer is over after the 4th fireworks.
Summer character released its hot, sticky grip on the Gunflint territory over the past few days. Daytime temps slipped back into the low seventies in this neighborhood, and night times into the fifties. While it has been a pleasant relief for the moose and me, we are likely to get another dose with August peering around the bend.
Whereas forest management agencies have abandoned the campfire ban and other burning restrictions, claiming widespread rain, it seems ill-advised as rain has been spotty in the upper Gunflint.
While places in the mid-trail area got deluged recently, if the area around Gunflint Lake and northward had been assessed, it is evident fire danger has not been suppressed to any extent. At Wildersmith, two separate rain events in the past week trickled a mere total of one-third inch.
This is not exactly what one would call a drought terminator. It is prudent for residents to be diligent with regular sprinkler system applications to their property. The forest is still crunchy dry and most streams have dried up.
With the scarcity of rain in the past weeks, amazingly the berry season is getting under way. I’m told hikers are finding blues along some of their treks, and wild raspberries are coming on. I’m keeping eyes on a secret patch of Juneberry bushes, but they have a ways to go. In any case, there’s a good chance the berry harvest will be discouraging unless the heavens provide some kind of juice.
The Mile O Pine neighborhood has experienced some candid animal sightings in the past week. A lone wolf made its’ presence known on a couple different occasions, while a momma bear scared the “hee bee jee bees” out of a gal as she walked down the MOP unknowingly past her cubs. Guess the worrisome momma bear stood upright and grunted a warning, but otherwise made no aggressive moves. No harm, no foul as the lady moved on without further interruption.
Another one of those serene north woods mornings caught my attention a few days ago. The day began with sun peering through uncountable foliage openings to spotlight an equal number of golden splotches on the forest floor.
It was cool enough to condense moisture on every green component, including a night time installation of arachnid fiber art. Air currents were minimal, but just enough to make the fiber sway at times, glistening as beams lit up teardrops of joy, celebrating another dawning.
Moments of quiet, calm, unassuming, beautiful peace! So comforting in a world oppressed with human turmoil!
On a concerned side of the ledger, serenity as we know it throughout the Superior National Forest and BWCA is about to be diminished if a telecom behemoth has its’ way. Word is silently permeating about in regard to a bigger communications tower being erected above Gunflint Lake that will include wilderness connectivity for cell phones. The current tower will be replaced with a new, even taller structure.
While some advocates will swear the need for such, a good many more will be aghast to think our border country natural world is now succumbing to electronic tentacles of civilization. The spread of this telecom connectivity threatens the cherished wild character of serenity and presence, dictating “digital roads” everywhere and beyond, all to the benefit of corporate telecom profiteers.
At the expense of ever diminishing, precious, protected land, one has to wonder how this can happen when the Wilderness Act stipulates, there shall be no commercial enterprise in the designated wilderness. The intrusion of cell phone noise pollution into the solitude would also seem to be in violation of federal laws, specific to the National Environmental Policy Act and the National Historic Preservation Act. Food for thought, Gunflinters!
In closing, big thanks go out to new and renewing members of the WTIP family. Once again, you have stepped to the plate during these uncertain times in support of your Community Radio station. You met the goal! Over $30,000.00!! It goes without saying, you are the greatest!
For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day, is, an incredible blessing!
Tweet