Wildersmith on the Gunflint - September 04

Wildersmith on the Gunflint     by     Fred Smith
September 4, 2020    
           
As days fly by, so have the years. Yours truly is entering year eighteen of doing this weekly scoop on upper Gunflint Trail happenings. It hardly seems possible, but I can still remember Vicki Biggs-Anderson, then Editor of the Cook County News Herald twisting my arm to pick up the column that was briefly authored by Ginny Anderson of West Bearskin Lake, following decades of extraordinary reporting by Gunflint icon Justine Kerfoot.                                                   

Starting  September 2^nd, 2002, the next seven years were spent scribing for the newspaper. I am delighted to have seen new opportunities open with this great WTIP Radio endeavor. Once again, my arm was wrenched by then station manager, Deb Benedict, and it has been a blessing for sure.                                                                                                                                                                                 

I’m so thankful for the many kind listeners who tune in each week, or read the Wildersmith website posting.  And to the staff that have been so accommodating, patient and helpful, I am so grateful.                                                                                                                                                    

So I’m off into the wild northland this week sharing tidings of autumnal arrival. A pleasant week saw “fall” gaining added momentum. Our recent step back to drought like conditions has been tempered with a timely rain in this neighborhood a few days ago. While the amount was not of the wash-out intensity, over one-half inch filled the puddles and moderated fire danger for the time being.                                                                                                                  

In spite of that dubious dry landscape situation, “Mother Nature” is a moving the ritual along toward the annual color spectacular. A trip along the Trail or back-country roads last weekend found several green things heading into the autumn times of their life.                          

Moose Maple leaves are in a state of rusty oxidation while the granite highlands are speckled with golden tokens on a growing number of paper birch. Along the Mile O Pine, the gravel pathway has begun to accumulate leaflet memories of a dwindling summer.                                    

With the Fireweed all but gone, other late season blooms are taking over. Golden Rod and lavender Asters are filling in to do battle for sun and rain along with a sundry of invasive blooms not worthy of mention.                                                                                                                        

In this mad world of un-ending technology advances, having a website or re-upping an out-of-date marketing concoction is a right of passing for survival so to speak. Living out in the wildland, somewhat distanced from urban madness, us woodsy folk still cannot escape watching web schemes either.                                                                                                                      
However, our web watch is more focused on the original fiber makers. As summer draws down, these days are the best for observing Arachnids at work, or at least, the results of their marvelous nighttime artistry.                                                                                                                           
Although “skeeters” are pretty much gone by now, there are still plenty of insects to be caught in a variety of spinner traps. After all, spiders have to eat too!                                              

At the Smith’s, we watched an orb web for several days as it hung on, glittering with dew in the early morning sun. What a remarkable creation, engineering preciseness that worked to a “T” catching night-time nutrition for some eight legged being. Before winds demolished it, the silken netting was strewn with uneaten bits of many late hour feasts.                                                                                                                     

Times of frost are nearing when the architects of thread will disappear for a few months. So put down your smartphones, get out and observe a “real” natural world web before it’s too late.                                                                                                                                                
With bear hunting season now open, and ruffed grouse seeking but two weeks away, all woods users are reminded to dig out the fluorescent apparel. “It is the season” to be seen in this dashing safety attire.                                                                                                                                                              

Another word on the “gathering season”, the tempo has stepped up around the yard with rodents of all kinds. Trip after trip with jowls packed full are the business of the day. Aside from breakfast, the gnawing little varmints are non-stop from trough to depositories unlimited. The little critters must have exceptional GPS systems in order to re-locate during cold snowy times                                                                                                                                                                  

As the meteorological summer is over, there will be some splendid days of colorful changes ahead. Plan a day trip up the Trail to enjoy this often short lived spectacle, and perhaps visit the magic of Chik Wauk. Trails and picnic sites will be splendid, and the Museum is open!                                                                                

For WTIP, this is Wildersmith, on the Gunflint Trail, where every day, is captured with natural magnetism!