The ice went out on Little Ollie Lake yesterday (May 7) and two days ago ice was out in Wampus and about out in Aspen along the Clearwater Road. Jim Raml on Seagull Lake reported the that Meditation Lake was free of ice two days ago also.
Seagull was beginning to open in the bay infront of Raml's house but the main part of the Lake was still ice covered.However, even the mid size lakes in the mid Gunflint Trail area, such as Poplar, West Bearskin, Hungry Jack, were still socked-in and it is unlikely that most of them would be open before the fishing opener this weekend.
Finally the snow is slowly disappearing. In sunny places it is all gone. However in the woods and where it is shady several inches of snow remains. Also there is still snow along the Banadad but not enough left to ski. With morning temperatures in the low twenties it will be awhile before the few remaining snow patches in the woods leave us.
As for the Lake ice, not even the small lakes such as Road and Swamper, which are among the first to open, have even started to lose their ice. I suspect it will be at least the second week in May before the ice is off most of the lakes and even then many of the larger lakes might still be cover with ice. So folks- look for a late fishing opener!
Sixteen inches of snow or more in the woods, the Banadad and adjoining trails are tracked and the skiing is great! According to weather.com our current snow condition should last at least through the weekend- March 30.
Take in some great skiing while enjoying Twenty-Five percent (25%) off on any two or more nights stay anytime through the end of March at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B, Cabins and Yurts
The Gunflint Green Up is a tree planting weekend May 2-4 and you're
invited to be part of it.
The centerpiece of the Gunflint Green Up is the planting of 75,000
pine seedlings in public areas affected by the 2007 Ham Lake
Fire. We know we can't replace the trees and cabins that were lost
last year, but we can look ahead and plant a pine forest for our
future. We are doing this for the Gunflint Trail neighborhood, and
also for the greater community who find peace and meaning in this
special place.
To facilitate organization of the anticipated 500 planters, we have
registration on line- go to sign-up
Registration is $30/person and includes the Friday Welcome Picnic,
Saturday box lunch and Thank You dinner and dance, event t-shirt and
the cost of trees and equipment for the planting weekend. Please
register by Earth Day, April 22.
Need lodging for this important event or for the following weekend to help replant in the Poplar Creek-Little Ollie Lake area? Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B has set-aside their lodging for these two weekend and is offering a lodging - Special to volunteer tree planters.
Barbara and Ted Young owners of Boundary Country Trekking, a northern Minnesota adventure company and the Gunflint Trails' Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B were featured in the latest Cook County News Herald. The Article in the papers Senior Section was entitled, "Lifelong adventurers Ted and Barbara Young package fun for all." To view the article click on News Herald .
The Gunflint Trail's annual winter festival - Winter Tracks begin today and run through Monday, March 3. The event is put on by the lodges and people of the Gunflint to celebrates the "best of winter." This year along the Gunflint Trail you will find snow sculpture carved by local artist at Swamper Lake, Trail Center, Laurentian Divide and Gunflint Lake Overlook. Snow "huts" are displayed at Bearskin and Trail Center.
You can find local artwork for sale during Winter Tracks at Bearskin Lodge, Trail Center, Gunflint Lodge and Gunflint Pines Resort. The festival's grand prize is Nancy Seaton's orginal art work- "A Snowflake" a copy of which is on this year's Winter Tracks button (above). Seaton's painting will be award at a drawing from Winter Track participants following the festival.
Events begin at Golden Eagle Lodge at 10 am today with an introduction to snowshoeing and a guided trek followed by "knit by the fire" at Heston's Lodge from 2-4 pm. One new event this year is Boundary Country Trekking's - Volk's Ski and Firepot Buffet scheduled from noon to two pm on Saturday.
See all the events scheduled for Winter Tracks at http://www.wintertracks.com/schedule_2008.doc
Join other friends of the Gunflint at the second annual Gunflint Trail Tree Planting weekends. At Poplar Creek Guesthouse and cabins two weekends have been dedicated to helping reforest the area from the affects of this past summer's Ham Lake Fire and the ongoing reforestation of the Poplar Creek/Little Ollie Lake area damaged by the 1999 BWCA Blowdown.
Gunflint’s Ham Lake Fire Green-up Tree planting- May 1-4, 2008 Tree planting in area burned by the Ham Lake Fire. We provide tree planting instruction, planting equipment and tree seedlings, two nights lodging with Barbara’s famous breakfast each morning. Note a $30 participation fee will be charged by the Gunflint Green-up Committee. to cover the cost of: Friday’s forest education programs, buffet and program by noted photographer Layne Kennedy; and Saturday day of tree planting, box lunch and evening dinner and dance.
- Two (2) nights (May 2-4) $79/ person plus taxes and $30/person participation fee Double occupancy. 4 person minimum at cabins
- Three (3) nights (May 1-4) $119/person plus taxes and $30/person participation fee. Double occupancy. 4 person minimum at cabins
Little Ollie Lake BlowdownTree Planting -May 9-11, 2008
We provide planting instruction, planting equipment and tree seedlings, two nights lodging with Barbara’s famous breakfast each morning. One day planting trees with trail lunch. Picnic-barbecue dinner at B&B on Saturday night. Also included during your stay is a discussion on the Area’s Fire history and Reforestation.
- Two (2) nights (May9-11) $79/person plus taxes- double occupancy
Skiing the Banadad, Firepot Dinner at a Yurt, Sleigh Ride and Snowshoeing featured on this morning's "Good Morning America." To view go to "winter on the Gunflint. and then click on "weekend window" on the upper right hand side of your screen.
Grand Marais and the Gunflint Trail were recently selected by Good Morning America to be a featured destination for their Sunday morning program segment, Weekend Window. Following the theme of “Winter Destinations – Off the Road”, the production team came to discover the arbor village of Grand Marais and the historic Gunflint Trail. The shoot took place February 12th and 13th , and notification came today that this segment will air during the last 5 minutes of the hour-long program this Sunday, February 17th .Producer Jennifer Pirone selected three activities up the Trail for the project. The cross country ski adventure features five skiers –skiing the Banadad Ski Trail to the Tall Pines Yurt for a Mongolian firepot dinner. The skiing activity was hosted by Boundary Country Trekking. Next was the nostalgic sleigh ride with 2,000-pound Belgian horses and a lantern-lit trail at Okontoe Family Campground. It was a “wrap” with snowshoeing at Pincushion Mountain, with its Lake Superior backdrop. Local citizens provided the “talent” for the activities as well as the narrative to describe just how terrific a winter in the area can be.
The Grand Marais/Gunflint Trail segment, in addition to being aired this Sunday morning on ABC, will also be vailable for viewing on www.abcnews.com, (click Good Morning America,then scroll down to GMA Weekend). See for yourself why our winter wonderland is among Good Morning America’s choices for “one of the most beautiful places in America”.
A three-person production crew from the TV show Good Morning America video filmed on the Gunflint Trail and along North Shore this week.
The production crew’s first stop was at Poplar Creek Guesthouse B&B where they filmed skiers traveling along the Banadad Ski Trail to the Tall Pine Yurt. The crew then filmed the skiers arriving at the yurt and next inside the yurt enjoying Boundary Country Trekking’s Mongolian Fire Pot Dinner. Local skiers who served as models for the production were Jan Sivertson, Peter Monkres, Jan Lemke, Debbie Benedict, and Barbara Jean Meyers.
The crews next stop was at the Mark and Nancy Patten’s Okontoe for the filming of a horse drawn sleigh ride followed by hot chocolate at the Patten’s 1903 log homestead
The following day the production crew were guided on a snowshoe hike up the North Shore’s Kedunce Creek by Kelly Dupre and Judie Johnson. The hike took them along the creek’s scenic deep gorge and past “caves” and water falls.
It is expected that Good Morning America will be airing the production sometime within the next two
